happy friday! are you doing something fun this weekend? we are visiting family friends up in north GA. tuesday is our 2 year wedding anniversary, and we actually spent our wedding night at this particular cabin, so it will be so lovely to be back there so close to our anniversary. are you doing anything fun this weekend? sometimes, the best thing is just to be home, get some laundry done, and make some yummy food. that is what our last couple of weekends have looked like. it’s been so good for the soul.
we have been using our crock pot a ton already this fall. this past weekend i made the chicken you’ll find below as well as a crock pot pot roast! it was my first time making a pot roast at all, and i kinda just winged it, but it turned out delicious. would you want that recipe? or does everyone pretty much have a tried and true pot roast recipe…? let me know!
chicken in a creamy white wine sauce
not the prettiest food, but WOW is it flavorful and delicious!! i made this on a whim last weekend and it turned out amazing. it’s easy and really only requires three basic steps. (dump ingredients in, make a roux, stir it all together.) i couldn’t wait to share it with you guys! we love this creamy chicken over rice or pasta — though i think it’s best over rice. hope you make this and love it!
ingredients:
1 package boneless/skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup chardonnay
1/2 cup chicken broth
1.5 tbsp italian or greek seasoning (we used this one)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup cream cheese (for dairy free I like Kite Hill brand)
2 tbsp milk (I used oat)
4 tbsp flour
1/4 cup of grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
make it:
place the first 7 ingredients in the crock pot.
top with 4 tbsp butter.
put the crock pot on high and cook for 4-5 hours.*
after 4-5 hours, once chicken is cooked. carefully remove it from the sauce and reduce the heat to low.
in a saucepan, make a roux: melt the remaining 4 tbsp of butter over medium heat, then whisk in the 4 tbsp of flour until thick and combined. take off heat and stir in the the 2 tbsp. milk.
once the roux is combined, pour it into the crock pot mixture and then add in both types of cheese (cream and grated).
stir this mixture until combined and let sit until it thickens a little bit. then add the chicken back in and keep the crock pot on warm until you are ready to eat!
* my guess is that you could do this on low for 8 or so hours, but i cannot recommend it because i have never actually done it!
do you like popcorn?
and what i mean by that is, do you love popcorn? we really love popcorn. we don’t have a microwave (i know, i know) so we make it on the stovetop and i am here to tell you it is 1000000000x better on the stovetop. promise. here’s how we make ours:
heat a few tbsp (enough to cover bottom of pot) of avocado oil, ghee, or butter in a deep pot. give it a generous sprinkle of sea salt, then turn heat to high. drop in 2-3 kernels of popcorn and cook until you hear them pop. once they pop, the oil is hot enough. add in the rest of your popcorn (1/4 c for 2 ppl, 1/2 cup for 4) and shake the pot until you start to hear popping. turn the heat down to medium to avoid burning and put the lid on. let pop for a few minutes, shake. when there is about 5-10 seconds between each pop, the popcorn is done. melt some butter and mix it with the popcorn. add sea salt. i like to put nutritional yeast on mine (it gives it a delicious cheesy flavor), but wil just likes his with butter and salt. enjoy with a glass of red wine or your favorite movie.
also — we had the most delicious popcorn on saturday night at a wine bar here in town. it was tossed in a mix of calabrian chili oil and honey butter, giving it this amazing sweet-and-spicy flavor. YUM. i wish i had taken a picture!
cocktails with wil
it’s the first friday of the month, so you know what that mean! wil is sharing a cocktail recipe! this is one of our favorite fall drinks: the quarter horse. enjoy!
The Quarter Horse (a riff on the Kentucky Mule)
2oz high rye bourbon (I used Eagle Rare for this, but something like Wild Turkey 101 would work well too)
4oz ginger beer
1/4oz lime juice (or the juice of half a lime)
1/2oz 1:1 simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Fall is here guys, and this drink, or really anything that has bourbon and ginger ale/beer, is what I live for in the fall. This drink is a slightly touched up version of the Kentucky Mule, which is a classic, and a Bedford go-to.
This one is super easy to throw together during a commercial break, or if you’re an Auburn fan like us, a seemingly unnecessary official play review. I built this one in a mixing glass, but you can also just build it in the glass. Add all your ingredients into your glass, stir slowly but thoroughly and garnish with a lime wedge. That’s it!
You don’t have to have seasonal drinks (like only drinking dark beer in winter), I’m a firm believer in the idea that whatever you like is what you like. That being said, I make a hard switch to bourbon cocktails as soon as the temperature drops below 85º, and that switch has happened in the Bedford/Cushman house, so look forward to some cozy, warming, spicy cocktails for the next few months!
thanks wil! :)
pick of the week:
usually i’m here with a music recommendation for you, but wil and i have started a new show this week and we just can’t stop watching. the show is called “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” and it’s on HBO Max. OH MY GOODNESS. if you like travel, history, food, wine, and stunning visuals, this show is for you. Tucci is an italian-american actor and he spends 6 episodes travelling around to different regions of italy, eat the regional specialities (like fresh mozzarella that was made 30 seconds ago!!), talking to locals, learning about the area, and more. it’s just so dreamy! we went to italy our honeymoon, and we can’t wait to go back. it is just the most magical place.
Looks like I got my weekend food plans!