Warm Gruyère, Roasted Garlic & Thyme Dip

It is about 21°F this morning. The cold always me makes me crave crave warm, cozy dishes. This gruyère, roasted garlic and thyme dip  is just the thing to take to a New Years Eve cocktail party, or simply enjoy on the sofa after a long day, with your feet kicked up (build a fire in that fireplace, while you’re at it!).

I went to a cocktail party this fall (potluck style), and there were at least three different spinach and artichoke dips! Tasting and comparing them all was fun, but really? Three versions? Seems everyone was on the same page that night. I LOVE spinach artichoke dip, and this dip hits the same craving but mixes it up a bit.

The first step in this recipe is to roast a whole head of garlic. Have you roasted garlic before? YUM. It becomes golden and soft and spreadable. I roasted an extra head of garlic while I was making the one for this dip just so we could have it. It makes the best garlic garlic bread or compound butter. You may as well make the most of having the oven on!

Surprisingly, even with a whole head of garlic in this dip, it’s a subtle flavor — not a “I’m going to be breathing garlic for the rest of the night,” flavor. The gruyère and cream cheese soften it. Thyme adds an herbaceous note. The leftovers (if you have leftovers — in the realm of cheese that’s a rare story) do well as a sandwich spread or tucked inside of an omelette with sautéd mushrooms.

The new year is almost here! Wishing everyone a joyful 2019!

Warm Gruyère, Roasted Garlic & Thyme Dip

Published December 7, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 75 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 head of garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil or avocado oil

8 ounces sour cream, at room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese

2 ounces gruyère, finely grated, plus 2 tablespoons for topping

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon minced parsley for garnish

For serving: crudités, crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Directions:

1. First, roast the garlic: preheat oven to 350° F. Chop the very top off of the head of garlic. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive/avocado oil. Place in oven and roast 45 minutes, until cloves are golden and soft.
2. Allow garlic to cool until you can easily touch it without burning your hands, about 15 minutes. Squeeze garlic cloves into a medium-sized mixing bowl, discarding of the garlic papers. Mash garlic.
3. Add sour cream, cream cheese, 2 ounces gruyère, salt, black pepper, and thyme to bowl. Use a fork to mix until well combined.
4. Spread cheese mixture in a ramekin or cocotte dish. Do not over fill—make sure there is at least 1/4-inch of extra room in the dish to avoid bubbling over. Top with remaining 2 tablespoons gruyère, and place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and just starting to brown in spots on the top.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before sprinkling with minced parsley and serving with crudités, crackers, or crusty bread.
6. Leftovers? Eat them cold as a spread on toast, sandwiches, etc, or re-warm the dip in the microwave for 30-second intervals or in an oven until warmed through.

Savory Oatmeal

At 7:30 PM, two hours into a bouldering session at the gym, pretty much anything sounds delicious. Like oatmeal. I’ve never liked oatmeal. Oatmeal cookies are great and baked oatmeal is amazing, but sloppy gluey oatmeal in a bowl? Ugh. Yet last week, there we were: It was 7:30 and we were still at the gym, starting to feel our stomachs rumble. And somehow, we started talking about oatmeal -- savory oatmeal. And it sounded good. Better than good, it sounded amazing. 

This was the dream-state I was in when I first started thinking about this recipe.

Obviously the dream stuck, Because the next day, at 7AM, I was making savory oatmeal. At 8AM my bowl was clean. I had never eaten a bowl of oatmeal so good. It wasn't until 8:03 that I realized I was running really late for a meeting. Not just a meeting, a breakfast meeting. 😯

I hurried out the door and made it to the meeting on time (ok, five minutes late) but I was full. So, I didn't get to eat out for breakfast that day (breakfast is one of my favorite meals to eat out for!) But you know what? That bowl of oats was worth it. 

What’s in the bowl:

• A savory blend of oats, fresh thyme, butter, and even a bit of nutritional yeast (you can skip the nutritional yeast if you can’t find it in stores, but I love the cheesy flavor it adds).

• Sautéd veggies. This recipes calls for leeks and kale, but use what’s in season: roasted red peppers and bacon bits topped with fresh avocado? In! Grilled zucchini with onions? Yes!

• Fried egg. Yes, with an extra gooey yolk, because I love that. Cook to your preferences.

• Cheese! Goat cheese, but really, any time of cheese is fine.

This recipe is easy to mix up with different veggies and different types of cheese. And I’ve discovered the real secret to why this is so good, which is that I love eggs and cheese and butter. Yes, I admit it. This bowl would be just as good to me if it was served over warm quinoa instead of oatmeal. So, if you, like me, don’t really love oatmeal you might want to try quinoa in this recipe instead. Or, if you've always be on the edge with oatmeal, give this a shot -- it's something different and just might win you over. Just don't make it the same morning as a breakfast meeting, because it will keep you full! 

Savory Oatmeal

Published May 29, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the oatmeal:
• 1-1/2 cup water
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1 pat butter

For the toppings:
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 leek, sliced into half-circles
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup kale, roughly chopped
• 2 fried eggs
• 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
• Additional salt & pepper for serving, and/or hot sauce

Directions:

1. Start the oatmeal: Heat the water in a sauce pan until it simmers. Add the oats, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and thyme and cook uncovered for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pat of butter, and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring in the butter. Remove springs of thyme and discard. Turn off the heat.
2. While the oats are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a skillet. When the oil glistens, sauté the leeks and garlic until soft & fragrant. Add the kale, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bright green.
3. Using a wooden spatula, push the greens to the side of the skillet, making room for the eggs. Heat the last remaining tablespoon of coconut oil in the pan, and when it’s hot, crack both eggs into the pan. Cook to desired doneness — leaving the yolk runny if you prefer (the runny yolk and oatmeal are a great combo!) or cooking until the yolk is hard.
4. Assemble: divide the oatmeal between two bowls. Top bowls equally with kale mixture, and add a fried egg to each. Sprinkle half of the cheese over each bowl. Add additional salt & pepper to taste. Serve with hot sauce if desired.

White Wine Cream Sauce Chicken & Thyme

In France we saw endless fields of lavender, ornately designed royal gardens, and vending machines stocked by local farmers with the crop of the day. In France, we missed lunch almost every afternoon because in Bourgueil, shops close up after 2 and if you're just strolling into town for a bite to eat, you're fresh out of luck. 

We saw at least one Château a day, traveled almost exclusively by bike, and learned that a map really does you no good when roads have no signs or names. It flooded, and we drank plenty of wine.

In France, we cooked coq au vin in our little apartment, when all of the restaurants were closed. We tried to eat like the French, even when we couldn't figure out their schedule! 

It's almost impossible to tell which parts of this dish are inspired by French cooking and which are just habits learned from my mom. This coq au vin-inspired dish has home cooking written all over it:

• It starts with shallots: French shallots are French, aren't they?! Despite the fact that my mom virtually always has a shallot or two laying around, cooking with them always just feels a bit fancier to me than cooking with onions

• After you sauté the shallots, pour on the wine (in this case, white). It sizzles and pops, and in true chef fashion you should probably take a sip or two from the bottle between stirs. Get a French wine if you want to feel extra French

• Stir in the cream, and watch the sauce go from brothy to rich and creamy. Many a person has added cream to sauce... but is it very French? Maybe, or maybe not. But who cares! It's cream! And it tastes amazing. Just do it.

• Finish with thyme, fresh and herbaceous. Any even if your thyme wasn't grown in France, you can pretend it was. Top off you glass of wine before you sit down to eat.

White Wine Cream Sauce Chicken & Thyme

Published October 12, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken breast 
• 1 shallot
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (for dairy-free, try canned full-fat coconut milk)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 springs fresh thyme
• Optional: 1 cup fresh baby spinach

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts to the pan, and brown on each side until golden (about 5 minutes each side). Move chicken to a plate and set aside.
3. Dice the shallot, and add to the pan. Sauté until soft. Add the garlic. Sauté for another minute. Pour wine into pan, and scrape bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to deglaze.
4. Pour cream into pan, and stir gently until incorporated. Add spinach, and stir in until wilted.
5. Place chicken back in pan. Bring sauce to a slow simmer (if you turn it too hot, the cream may curdle). Add salt & black pepper, and leaves from 2 springs of thyme. Allow to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with thyme leaves from remaining sprig of thyme, and serve hot.