My Ultimate Comfort Food!

On days that I just feel like indulging because I have had a rough week I make my favorite go to comfort food!  The last few weeks in Louisville have been rough.  We have not been adjusting well.  It is not that Louisville is bad or anything.  However after you have spent the last 8 yrs. of your life in a place like DC well any move is going to be hard. 

After having a few long weeks and eating things to take the place of my favorite comfort food I finally decided to just make it….I eat 3 out of the 4 servings.  I know bad! but I could not resist and honestly I wish I had some tonight!  I have the stuff to make it however I know I will eat too much if I make it!

This is what I call Swiss chard, sausage, and potato Au gratin!  It is sooo good! 

 Recipe:

One large potato sliced thinly

Two bunches of Swiss chard chopped

3 to 4 sausage links

¾ cup milk

¼ cup heavy cream (if you want you can use another ¼ cup of milk but it might be a little soupier)

½ Cheddar cheese shredded

½ cup Parmesan cheese grated

1 package of fresh mozzarella *optional

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

Garlic *optional

1 Tb olive oil

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Heat olive oil in a pan and saute garlic for about 2 minutes.  Add sausage to the pan and cook til sausage if completely cooked, then set aside. 
-In a sauce pan heat milk (or milk/heavy cream mixture).  Once the milk is starting to get hot add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Once the milk mixture is completely hot/almost boiling add Parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese.  Continuously stir until cheese is melted and you have a creamy sauce then set aside.

Now the layering! 

-Place the Swiss chard in the pan. 
-Next top the Swiss chard with the sausage. 
-Next pour half of the sauce mixture over it reserving the rest for the top! 
-Now add the layer of thinly sliced potatoes and pour the rest of the sauce over the top. 
-Last but of course not least!  You can top it with a cheese if you like but honestly who says no to CHEESE!  This time I used fresh mozzarella but in the past when I did not have that type I have use shredded cheddar. 
-Now put foil over the top, put it in the oven, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes depending on your oven. 

This servers 4 large dinner portions.

When it is severed if I am feeling super cheesy (which I always am!) I add a sprinkle of freshly shredded parm or cheddar.

And then of course ….don’t forget the WINE!!! A Pinot Noir Rose

Taste of Derby

Last night I attended my first Louisville social event! It was a charity event in preparation for the Kentucky Derby called Taste of Derby.

http://discover.kdf.org/taste-of-derby-festival/

Taste of Derby was actually a fantastic event to make my first social event in Louisville.

First reason is because 60 % of the proceeds goes to a local charity called Dare to Care (http://daretocare.org/about_us). Dare to Care provides services to ensure that no one in Louisville goes without an active healthy life through food and community programs.

Second reason it was a great event to be my first is because I love food and alcohol! It was great there were about 30 local restaurants providing samples from their restaurants and by sample I mean small plates. Within an hour of being there Nikki and I were full but who could stop with so much good food!  There were probably 10 or more alcohol vendors providing samples of their beverages. So by the time we left we were definitely full and feeling good!

My favorite food sample of the night was the seared Hawaiian Ahi Tuna severed by Mitchell's Seafood as for bourbon well it was all good! If you are ever in Louisville and have the opportunity to go to Taste of Derby I would definitely suggest going.

Old/New City

Recently I moved back to Louisville, KY. I have been away from Louisville, the city I grew up near, for about 8 yrs. So basically my life has been turned upside down. Even my dogs are having issues with the move.

As for culture and level of interesting things to do in Louisville it is actually pretty high. I previously lived in Washington, DC where you can have almost anything at any time and there are people from all over the world living there.

So the layout of the people living in Louisville is not very diverse and there is still a lot of segregated neighborhoods. When moving back I chose to live in the West End of Louisville which is considered the less desirable neighborhood to live in due to it being a lower income neighborhood. I love this neighborhood and everyone I have met so far are as lovely as can be. Due to there still being a lot of segregation in Louisville people are afraid of things that are different from their immediate surroundings. Not me.....The kids on my street are fantastic and honestly I really don't care for kids that much. My neighbors are great. I have had to get my car battery jumped twice by random strangers who were very sweet and happy to help. Despite the stigma that surrounds the West End of Louisville it is a great neighborhood with a lot of potential.

That being said we are moving  the food scene in Louisville and surrounding areas has become quite amazing since I left 8 yrs ago. There are now really amazing famous chefs located in Louisville and lots of farm to table type restaurants. And lots of PORK and BOURBON! Also a ton of local brews, pickling is big here(which I love), and fresh veggies too. All of which are quickly becoming staples in organic/hipster/up and coming food scenes in all of the major cities. So here is to experiencing my new/old city in a new way!