Mummies

So this isn't necessarily a recipe but more of an inspiration for a meal Nate and I make annually for Halloween - Mummies. If you have any form of social media or own a television I'm sure you've seen these advertised this time of year but I highly recommend making these for a fun theme meal whether you have kids or not!

Mummies

1 can Crescent dough
4 all-beef hot dogs
*4 Lightlife meatless dogs (obviously these are not required if you're not of the veggie persuasion)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Cut each Crescent triangle into strips and wrap around hot dogs until they are covered in a criss-crossing pattern. Repeat until all hot dogs and dough are used. Space evenly on the foil-lined sheet.

Bake the mummies for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. I would also recommend rotating the sheet halfway through the cooking time.

Top the mummies with your favorite hot dog accoutrements (yellow mustard for the win) and enjoy with the ever sophisticated frozen crinkle cut french fry.

Stay tuned for Scary Shrimp Scampi!

Cadaver Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade

Happy Sunday, readers! I feel like I need to stop apologizing for the lack of posting regularity - it's probably not going to get better. We are almost at one of my favorite days of the year! So we are almost at the end of my creepy-named meals but I definitely still have some up my sleeves so prepare yourselves!

I've been trying to challenge myself to make recipes I've never made using the myriad of cookbooks in my cabinet, so Wednesday night I decided to challenge myself to make crab cakes from my Daphne Oz The Happy Cook cookbook.

Cadaver Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade

 The Remoulade:
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, grated (or pressed if you're lazy like me)
1 1/2 Tbsp capers, roughly chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives (I omitted these)
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 Tsp hot sauce (I definitely added more than that)
1 1/2 Tsp lime juice
1/2 Tsp salt
Freshly cracked pepper

The Crab Cakes:
1/4 C mayonnaise
1 egg
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tsp seafood seasoning
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 C breadcrumbs
8 oz jumbo lump crabmeat (I used plain, old canned crab, drained)
1 Tbsp olive oil

To make the remoulade, whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until use.

For the crab cakes - whisk together mayo, egg, lime juice, seafood seasoning and salt. Add the breadcrumbs and crab meat and combine. I ended up having to add a little more breadcrumbs because my mixture was a little too wet to stick together properly. Form the mixture into 4 equal-sized flat patties.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the patties in olive oil for 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown and crisp.

Top each cake with a healthy portion of the remoulade and enjoy! As you can see, I served these cakes with the classiest of side dishes - frozen crinkle cut fries.

I was able to get exactly 4 cakes and they were delicious! The flavors were spot on, the remoulade was creamy, cool and flavorful! I think these crab cakes would be even more excellent if I were able to find jumbo lump crab for a reasonable price.

Stay tuned for more recipes!

Zombie Zucchini Meatball Sliders

So I really tried to get all these blogs out last night but I had been typing so long my fingers and wrists started getting sore and my eye lids began to droop so I gave up and went to sleep. So I'm finishing off the blog-marathon today!


My final recipe I needed to catch up on was something that frankly I was skeptical about but I'm happy to report it worked out well! A few weeks ago for a catered lunch at work, I had ordered BBQ for the office. I was the unofficial office hero. I ordered Carolina pulled pork, BBQ chicken, macaroni and cheese, hush puppies, coleslaw and banana pudding. In addition to all this food, the caterers also gave us 36 potato rolls. After the lunch was over and all the little scavenger people who weren't in the meeting filled up their plates and to-go containers I was left with an unopened bag of potato rolls. While I could've used these rolls to make some duck friends outside, I decided to instead be selfish and use them for my own enjoyment in the form of slider rolls!


I have always loved sliders, they are perfect for tricking your body into thinking you're eating more than you actually are. You wouldn't eat 3 whole burgers (well, maybe you would but I wouldn't) but 3 sliders I don't give a second thought to! Plus who doesn't think little food is just adorable?


Since beginning my pescatarian lifestyle, I have scoured Pinterest for recreations of my favorite non-vegetarian recipes. I happened to come upon a recipe for zucchini meatballs and immediately wondered how these two things could possibly be similar at all but I'm happy to report that zucchini are an excellent meatball-maker.


Zombie Zucchini Meatball Sliders

3 medium zucchinis, grated and dried
Salt, to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C fresh basil, sliced into thin ribbons
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 C seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 C shredded parmesan cheese, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 potato rolls, cut in half
1 C marinara sauce
Giardinera, for serving


Using a medium grater, grate zucchini into a kitchen towel-lined bowl. Season zucchini with salt and toss with your hands. Pull the sides of the towel over the zucchini and squeeze out any excess moisture, this will help the balls stick together.


Transfer the dried zucchini into a clean bowl and add in garlic, basil, egg, breadcrumbs and 1/4 C of the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 1/4 C patties and set aside. I ended up with exactly 12 patties.


Spray a skillet over medium-high heat with cooking spray and cook patties until they are golden brown on both sides. I let mine go roughly 5 minutes per side.


While your patties are cooking, line a 9X13 casserole dish with the bottom halves of your potato rolls. Put about 1 Tbsp of marinara sauce on the bottom of each roll. Place cooked patties on top of the marinara and top with another 1 Tbsp of marinara and a sprinkling of cheese (I had some pepper jack in the fridge that was on the verge of turning so I cut it into quarters and used it on some of the sliders as well). Repeat with remaining patties.


Broil your assembled sliders on high for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven and top with the top half of the roll and broil for another 2 minutes (as you can see from my picture, I let mine go a little too long).

If you're like me and can't imagine eating food without some sort of pepper on it, before devouring your little sandwiches, remove the top bun and put on some giardinera or pickled jalapeno for a spicy and briny bite.


I was feeling lazy so we ate these sandwiches with some salt and vinegar potato chips. They did however go exceptionally well with the homemade hopped hard cider Nate made and we broke into!


Enjoy your Tuesday, readers! Stay tuned for more great recipes to come!

(Casket) Cheesy Grit and Ale Soup

This recipe I got from Cooking Light magazine which Mama Hart so graciously subscribed for me. I love this magazine! The recipes are clear and concise, their Facebook videos are fun to watch and the articles are informative. I made this recipe on Saturday for dinner before Nate and I went off to watch a Halloween movie double-feature at a local park and it was the perfect fix for a chilly fall day.

(Casket) Cheesy Grit and Ale Soup

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 C 2% milk
12 oz brown ale
1 1/2 C vegetable broth
1 1/2 Tsp salt
*3/4 C grits (the original recipe calls for stone-ground)
3 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tsp cornstarch
1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
Popcorn, for serving

In a large stock pot over medium heat, saute onion, celery and garlic until softened. Stir in milk, beer, broth and season with salt. Using an immersion blender, liquefy the onion and celery (you'll thank me later). I did not liquefy my soup and had large chunks of onion and celery in my otherwise smooth and creamy soup. It wasn't the most ideal.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and whisk in grits and stir occasionally until thickened.

In a bowl, toss together cheese, cornstarch and cayenne pepper. A 1/2 C at a time, stir in cheese making sure to allow the first batch to completely melt before adding more. After all the cheese is added in and melted, mix in mustard and Worcestershire sauce adjusting seasoning accordingly.

I choose to top my soup with popcorn because there is an adorable tavern-style restaurant Nate's grandma frequents that tops their beer-cheese soup with popcorn and it just adds the perfect little crunchy bite to the soup.

We were able to get about 8-10 C of soup out of this recipe and the flavors of the soup keep getting better as they sit in the fridge marinating.

Ghostly Guinness and White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

Here we are, post 3 of 5! Chugging right along here and watching Donnie Darko a great film if you've never seen it. It's on Netflix, watch it immediately or we're no longer friends. I'll wait.

Ghostly Guinness and White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb macaroni or other shaped pasta
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2/3 C Guinness stout
1 1/2 C 2% milk
1/2 C half and half
1/2 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 oz jalapeno cream cheese (or plain if you're not of the spicy persuasion)
3 1/2 C shredded white cheddar cheese
Crunchy topping (recipe to follow)

Prepare pasta according package instruction. 

In a 6 qt dutch oven over medium-low heat, melt butter and add in flour. Whisk together and allow to achieve a delicious golden color. Add in beer, milk, half and half, seasonings and mustard. Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to thicken for several minutes.

Add in cream cheese and 2 1/2 C of the shredded cheddar cheese. Whisk until smooth. Toss the pasta into the cheese sauce and stir to combine.

Top the macaroni and cheese with the remaining shredded cheddar and the crunchy topping. Stick under the broiler for 3 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Crunchy Topping for Ghostly Guinness and White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 C panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.

This macaroni and cheese was rich, delicious and yielded about 8 cups of macaroni and cheese for Nate and I to enjoy! We ate it Friday night and this evening for dinner and still have about a cup and a half serving leftover in our fridge for Nate to enjoy for lunch this week.

Garland Raleigh

Hello again, readers! We gotta stop meeting like this, it seems like you were just here and now you're back again! Well, since I know you're at the edge of your seat just waiting to hear what's next I'll clue you in!

At the beginning of the school year, Nate and I decided to get together and make a weekly lunch date due to the fact his schedule would not allow us to eat dinner together on a nightly basis. Friday we decided to go to Garland Raleigh. You may or may not recall my post about the Moroccan-Inspired Chickpea Bowls I made back in early September, don't worry, I put in a hyperlink so you can refresh your memory! Anyway, these bowls were inspired by a single bite of Garland's Moroccan "Hummus". Since I had the single fateful bite I've thought about going to the restaurant for a heaping plate of my own and I finally did it!

Truthfully, prior to learning Garland was a restaurant, I would walk by it on my lunch hour and assume it was a nightclub. Garland is only open for lunch Wednesday through Friday and the exterior of the building is covered in mirrored glass. I think you can understand my confusion. Fun fact: their upstairs neighbor "Kings" is actually a live music venue. Garland is located at 14 W Martin St, Raleigh, NC 27601.

Garland Raleigh

Decor: the inside of the eatery was beautiful and rustic. A lot of dark woods and unfinished fixtures, two large windows provide natural light and the walls are adorned with large murals and paintings. It's the perfect combination of eclectic and chic. Walking into Garland you'd think you were in Chicago or New York - not Raleigh. We were seated toward the front of the restaurant but it definitely appeared to be larger than you'd think. I may be wrong, but it appeared there was another room off the main dining room. The bar was also beautiful and I plan to go back there for a drink very, very soon.

Food appearance: food looked good but I wouldn't necessarily say it was groundbreaking presentation or anything.

Food taste: I ordered the Moroccan "Hummus" and Chili Peanut Cucumber Salad lunch combo for a whopping $11 and was frankly shocked at 1) how much food I was given and 2) why I've never eaten here before! The hummus was served warm with the chickpeas whole and tasted utterly magnificent! I can't even identify the spices used other than they were spicy and there was definitely clove. Everything was tied together with house-made crema and fresh cilantro! The "hummus" is served alongside crisp tortilla strips but I just scooped mine up with a fork and eat the tortilla strips by themselves with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. The salad was a mix of lettuce, cilantro and mint tossed in a chili-lime vinaigrette and topped with crushed peanuts. I've never had a salad that left me salivating before, but this one certainly did. I'd order this massive amount of food again at first chance!

Nate ordered the Garland Pork Tacos which were the marriage of Korean BBQ meets Mexican street food. He was shocked that 3 small tacos filled him up so much.

Service: our server was a little less attentive toward the end of our visit but I will attribute that to it being the end of service and her trying to leave after her shift on time. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Cleanliness: again, it was the end of service so there were a number of dirty tables and place-settings at the bar, but I attribute that to it being the end of the lunch hour.

I would love to return to Garland for lunch and again for dinner, drinks and a Sunday brunch. Their menus are diverse and sound scrumptious.

Beasley's Chicken and Honey

So I've been doing plenty of cooking, but not a whole lot of blogging, which I'm sure you've undoubtedly noticed - so prepare yourself for a slew of posts tonight! You're welcome! I hope you had no plans for this evening because I'm about to take around 20 or so of them! YAY ME! So let's get crackin'!

As you are my loyal fans, I'm sure you popped over to this post because you just read all about my Poltergeist Green Chile Posole (in a Crock Pot) and heard about my lunch trip to Beasley's Chicken and Honey. Now I'm sure your first thought is "Lindsey, as a pescatarian why are you going somewhere that has chicken in the name?" Well, I'll tell you: veggie sandwich. It may sound odd that a restaurant that's famous for it's fried chicken has a truly phenomenal vegetable sandwich but Beasley's delivers.

I've been to Beasley's four times now - twice as a meat-eater and twice as a pescatarian and all times were sublime! Beasley's Chicken and Honey is located in the heart of downtown Raleigh at 237 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601.

Beasley's Chicken and Honey

Decor: Beasley's is a very small restaurant. Comfortably, I would be surprised if it sat more than 30 or so guests. There is a large L-shaped bar, a long communal table in the center of the restaurant and smaller tables surrounding. The menu is written on chalkboard on the walls and everything is a mix of industrial and rustic-farmouse style.

Food appearance: Ashley Christensen's name is on it so you know the food looks as delectable as it tastes. Food is served on silver platters, plain white plates and drinks are in mason jars.

Food taste: Tuesday's lunch was the Veggie Sandwich (served a la carte) and a side salad. This vegetable sandwich is so good even my non-vegetarian boss ordered it instead of the chicken! The sandwich is stuffed with alfalfa sprouts, ripe avocado, Hoop cheddar cheese, and thick slices of tomato on two slices of buttery toasted bread slathered with horseradish mayo. Now if you're not salivating there's something seriously wrong with you. The vegetables were fresh, the bread crisp and buttery and the horseradish mayo tied everything together like a big bow!

The salad was a mix of lettuces, cucumbers and juicy pieces of tomatoes tossed in a red wine vinaigrette! A cool thing about Beasley's (besides everything) is that all the sides available minus the gravy on the mashed potatoes are vegetarian! I've never been to a more vegetarian-friendly chicken joint in my life!

Other menu items of note are the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich (delish), the Chicken Biscuit topped with sweet honey and the Pimento Macaroni and Cheese Custard which is every bit as decadent as it sounds. My other boss ordered the Chicken Pot Pie, which looked more like a chicken soup featuring a flaky thin crust but she said it was good.

Service: Despite the chaos that was ensuing from the filming of the Travel Channel episode in the center of the restaurant, service was excellent! No glasses were empty, dirty plates were not left long and our server even bosed up my leftovers himself! I've never been disappointed with any of the service I've received at any of the AC brand restaurants and Beasley's is no exception.

Cleanliness: Every time I've visited the restaurant, everything's been neat and tidy so I can't attribute their exceptional cleanliness to the fact they were filming there but I'm sure it helped!

I would recommend anyone a trip to Beasley's to absolutely anyone in the Raleigh area or anyone anywhere even close to the Raleigh area! Really, it's that good! Look for the back of my head coming to a television tuned to the Travel Channel near you!