King's Chef Diner

It makes me smile that the Hazzards are Food Machines.  True Foodies.  It's no secret the love of food is passed down within the ranks of a family.  I am from a family of great cooks and it began with my Mom.  My  8 brothers can all cook, some better then others, some are sensational cook's, and some are in the Food Industry.  My two sisters are also Wiz's in the kitchen, and our eyes roll back in our head over great deserts!  We all pay homage to great food and fabulous cooks.  Praising verbally and always in multiple statements how much we are enjoying the food. 

This Hazzard Clan of mine loves to call or text one another and discuss in length the next recipe they are creating,or one in which they just simply consumed.  Elaborating about the colors, the flavors, the textures, the deliciousness, how we wish we could have shared it together that very moment.  We are always planning our next food encounter.  Often that planning stage takes place while we are still enjoying a meal!  Yeah, we are Foodies with a capital F.  Savoring every delicious morsel, analyzing what secret spice we think is in a particular dish we have tried.  We are like Kitchen Scientist.. trying the tasting formula over and over again, until we have the ingredients figured out. 

So you see it should come as no surprise to you that our vacations require intense planning around places to eat.  And that my friends is where King's Chef Diner comes in to play - located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's an eclectic  joint with great energy and fun Servers and Cooks. Phenomenal food!  Huge portions, all served with their home made Green Chile Sauce on the side, or heaps of  fresh jalapeno slices.  Reasonable prices, and a Clean Your  Plate Club Sticker when you finished every bite.  That honor went to my husband the skinniest guy in our group!  This 6ft.'3, 184 lb guy finished his plate of a giant Reuben sandwich stacked 5 inches high layered with fresh jalapeno's and a side of home fries.   He then methodically finished my other 1/2 of sandwich which was Corned Beef and Swiss with mustard and jalapeno's on rye bread plus fresh sliced fries.  He ate it all, each bite better then the first.  But the piece de' resistance went to my daughter Kates meal, which consisted of the juiciest 14 oz. hand cut sirloin steak I ever tasted, plus two eggs, homemade hash browns and Texas Toast.  The price tag on this magnificent Mama Jama was $13.95.

The surprising moment of this days Brunch went to my son Jonathan who ordered the 1/2 lb. custom burger of angus beef with bacon, cheese onion and smothered in a giant layer of jalapeno's.  This was a mountain of delicous-ness that made you wonder how anyone could wrap their mouth around such a tall bite.  the burger was cooked to perfection of medium rare just juicy and dripping wonderful-ness!!

Let me NOT forget the sinfully creamy, cheesy-cheese fries.  Each fry was the perfect crisp bite on the outside, soft potato on the inside and each one dripping in melted cheddar  Talk about delicious. If you ever find yourself in Colorado Springs you must stop by for a full delicious belly of food from King's Chef Diner! 

So my friends when in Colorado Spring be sure to put Kings Chef Diner on your To Do List.  We did and so did Food Network.  We are all in agreement you won't find a better breakfast or lunch anywhere..bring your BIG pants, you're gonna need em!!

Sharing pix of our great food experience @ Kings Chef this summer, while on our Fierce Cross-Country  Bike Road Trip!  Hazzard Road/Food Warriors ROCK!!.
Kings Chef Link

Sexy Summer Bruschetta

 What??  The temperatures are hot and sultry and your ready for a light fare.  Try my Sexy Summer Bruschetta on for size.  Super simple, delicious and sultry!

 

These 90 + degree days in Florida it's time to abandon the hot stove  and make it quick and lite. 

Summer is the perfect time to get creative with the grill.  Why not toast your bread for the Bruschetta  on the grill rather then fire up that oven.  We had this great summer dish over the fourth of July weekend, it was so easy.  First it's happy hour of ice cold Home Brew served in a frosted glass.  Well THAT part of our evening was so refreshing we extended happy hour right into the dinner hour! : }

 

Suggestion:  Serve a few sides with your Bruschetta for those with a healthy appetite.  We enjoyed some fresh melons that were in season, some leftover cold sliced chicken and shrimp.  Put your stamp on it.  Switch it up, add what's interesting to you..on your plate or on your Bruschetta.  Just keep it simple and pure and it's a guaranteed winner!!  

 

Cathy

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 fresh tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounce prosciutto mozzarella cheese roll {room temp] *this is a ready-to-eat cheese type roll sold in your grocery store near the packaged imported cheeses, refrigerated section.
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Method

 Baking choices for your bread! Grill or oven...

If in the oven -Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

If on the grill place slices over medium heat for a minute on each side.. it will toast quickly with the olive oil on the bread.. if possible place bread on a raised rack on the grill to avoid charing. Flip bread til golden on each side.

3: While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes. Slice the prosciutto mozzarella cheese roll into 1/4 inch slices then cut each slice in half. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil and the prosciutto mozzarella . Add coarse black pepper to taste.

4: Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

5: Place bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. So many ways to present and serve this: place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Golden Gratin Egg Muffins

 

Do you need a little wiggle room for your favorite sins?  Like, sinfully rich dark chocolate or red wine and crusty artisan breads!  Well ok then, let's talk healthy, nutritious, savory and easy. 

 

My Golden Gratin Egg Muffins are a meal in themselves.  How can it be sumptuous, yet low in cholesterol, high in protein, big on flavor and bursting with fresh garden vegetables and easy?  I'm gonna tell you just how I came up with this savory decision!.

 

My Egg- brainer came to me when deliberating over the Thanksgiving leftover saga.  As I stared down the ziplock bag of stuffing in the fridge,my eyes glanced to the item residing in a tall yellow container commonly know to man-kind as Egg beaters.

Well the light bulb went on in my brainer...and a recipe was born.  Why not use a tablespoon of  stuffing placed neatly into the bottom of a  well greased cupcake tin, then start layering the egg mixture along with leftover turkey pieces some cranberry, egg beaters and top with cheese. The aroma of  these Golden Muffins baking in the oven brought everyone in the kitchen as if they were in a trance!~!  Simply stated, the aroma of these Egg'rs in the oven will have everyone in the house on alert and arriving in your kitchen to just tear em' up!  They are just that good.

So try this out.. tweek my recipe to your liking with health and taste preferences.  The version you see below is brimming with fresh zucchini and red peppers that are in season.  This gorgeous twosome dance well with melted swiss cheese and a savory crust of pumpernickle and rye croutons I used as my crust. 

Did I mention they freeze beautifully?  Yep - 2 in a ziplock, pop in the freezer and send em' off with hubby to work.

                                Golden Gratin Egg Muffins 

 

*Preheat oven to 400.

*Lightly spray cupcake tins with oil

**Makes 12-18 individual servings

 

Ingredients

1 quart Egg Beaters Southwestern flavor

8 oz. shredded lite swiss cheese {or your pref. of cheese type}

1 green zucchini squash  sliced thin

1/2 cup of chopped sweet red bell peppers

2 cups of cubed wheat, pumpernickle or rye breads

Note - stale breads work best - I keep a stash of them in the freezer for bread crumb making

OR: You can  substitute Stove Top Stuffing rather then the cubed bread idea.

1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth

Sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese

 

Place your bread cubes in a mixing bowl and add in the chicken broth a little at a time.  When the bread is sticking together without being to wet, your ready to go.  Sometimes it's a 1/4 cup of broth sometimes its more. Now place a tablespoon or so of the stuffing mixture into the bottom of the cupcake tins.

 

Pour into a separate bowl the quart of Egg Beaters, add in the peppers, swiss cheese and zucchini.  Feel free to whisk in a bit of milk for a lighter consistency.  Spoon egg mixture into each tin a little more then 3/4's full.  Now grate a bit of fresh parm over the top of each muffin.  Place the egg filled tins onto a cookie sheet in case of spillage.  Bake 25 minutes or until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack  in a non-breezy area.  You can expect the Egg muffins to fall a bit once removed from the oven. Don't worry, they are still gorgeous!!  Once cool enough to handle run your knifes edge around the edge of each Egg muffin to loosen from the pan.  Remove egg muffin from the tin and "dig in"!

 

Alternates: 

* Add a tablespoon of melted "I Can't Believe It's Butter" to the bread crumb mixture, if your feeling like calories and fat aren't on the agenda for the day.

* Try this dish with your favorite leftovers.  The leftover turkey and a 1/2 teaspoon of cranberry sauce  with whole cranberries in it was just delicious and don't forget the swiss cheese baked in! Wowza!!

There's a million ways you can go with this and none of them equal a mistake in the kitchen.

Enjoy!

Homemade Focaccia Bread

Can you imagine hot from the oven - homemade, Asiago Focaccia Bread??  Well it takes 18 hours from start to finish. 

Kate my daughter is a "master of the bread making category".  The results are exquisite.  A pad of butter melting into the glorious air holes on a slice of warm Focaccia will have you salivating with sweet anticipation~!

Amazing work  Katie... and bread just disappeared in two days!

Thanks Mom!!! I will take it from here. This is Hazzard #2!!! 

Focaccia Bread is a very Time Consuming. My Bread takes at least 18hrs. (Always Keep Track of Times) ^__^ I find bread making very calming. And this bread proves that simpler can be better!!! I am going to give you my most FABULOUS TOP SECRET RECIPE. Now this is not your everyday persons recipe, this is in grams and will need a gram scale. ( This is a True Bakers Recipe) This recipe makes one big sheet pan Foccacia Bread. Also Remember TIME is Very Important with bread!!!

Poolish (This is a starter dough)

Ingredients: (you can use Active Yeast)

Bread Flour 333.3

Water 70F 333.3

Yeast Instant 1g

Step 1:  Use 70F water and the yeast and stir till completely dissolved.

Step 2: Combine all of the above ingredients and blend together to a smooth consisntency.

Step 3: Cover so that no crust can form. (saran wrap also write time on it)

Step 4: Allow to ferment at room temp over night.

Notes: The ideal scenario would be eight hours at 68F. But in a classroom environment the time is longer so the amount of yeast has to be reduced. Good rule of thumb is that if the poolish is going to mature for 18 hrs reduce the mount of yeast by 25%.  Try not to let it go over 18 hr mark.

Final Dough

Ingredients

Bread Flour 620g

Water 102 F if using a Hobart mixer, if using ABS 5 degrees (using a kitchen aid be sure to give your mixer time to cool or you can burn the engine out.) less 410g

Yeast 6.6g

Salt 18.3g

Poolish 666.9g

Step 1: Place water, poolish, yeast, salt, flour in vertical mixer. Mix on 1st speed for 6 minutes. (medium if using Kitchen aid) Mix on 2nd speed for 1 minute.

Step 2: If using ABS mixer, mix all of the above ingredients on the first speed for 3 minutes. Mix on 2nd speed for 1 minute. (may take more than 10 minutes) Or until dough is picking up. (that is when dough picks up from the sides of the mixing bowl) 

Step 3: Place dough in oiled(spray oil is fine) container making sure that the internal dough temperature in 75F. If not place in a warm environment till desired temp is achieved.  Cover dough and write time on saran wrap. 

Step 4: In an ideal situation the dough will get one stretch and fold every 45 minutes.

Step 5: Three to four stretch and folds over the duration of 3 hrs.

Step 6: If dough still touches all four sides of the bins then another stretch and fold is necessary.

Step 7: Total time of bulk fermentation should not exceed 3 hrs.

Step 8: Place dough in full oiled (spray oil is fine) Sheet Pan, without parchment!!

Step 9: Work dough to the edge of the pan. When dough resists, let it rest for 10 min. Work dough to Edges.

Step 10: Let dough Proof (or rest while covered) for 20-30 min. 

Step 11: Bake at 410F in convection oven for a minimum of 30 min. ( I Bake it  for 15min then sprinkle on Ramano Shredded Cheese and Shredded Asiago Cheese.)

Man... My fingers are tired!!! If you survived this blog and recipe you should get a Gold Star! ^__^ This is the 2nd Hazzard Over and Out...