The Farmhouse Tap & Grill

I have decided to venture away from New York City restaurants and write a few posts of delicious meals I had while roadtripping through Vermont and Maine. The first night on vacation began with an amazing meal at The Farmhouse Tap & Grill. The place was packed on a Saturday night, doesn't take reservations, and had about an hour wait. However, they have a cool bar space and an outdoor patio that you can hang out while you wait. I didn't mind the wait, as the food and drinks were worth it. We had been here about three years ago and I remembered how great it was.

The atmosphere is hopped up, with lots of noise and people. It is a large space that still maintains a cool gastropub feel. It specializes in local American food and has loads of craft beers from Vermont. They also offer half pours of beer, which allows you to try lots of different kinds. The service was good and appropriate. They were attentive and friendly. They came around to help when you needed it and left you alone, if that is what you prefer. 

To start, we ordered Adam's Berry Farm Blueberry Salad, a special salad, that had kale, rainbow chard, cucumbers, turnips, and blueberries. It was sweet and yummy. They also divided the salad for us, which I always think is nice when you tell them that you are sharing something. After that, we ordered a Mussels entree from the specials, that came with a sweet corn broth, tomatoes, ham, and fries. We also split a Farmhouse Veggie burger that was homemade and served with cheddar cheese, kimchi, and pickled jalapenos on top. It was spicy and we gobbled it up. They also have lots of cheeses to order, other burgers, and main dishes. I would love to try some more of their food. 

It is no shock that there is a long wait. They have perfected the food and brought a great beer list to go with it. There isn't much or anything that I would change about it. I hope to be back in Vermont soon to go again. 

*The Farmhouse Tap & Grill - 160 Bank Street, Burlington, VT

Slow Cooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Last weekend, some of Rick's extended family came over for dinner. I needed a meal that could easily serve 8 people (including a few teenage boys) and that didn't require me spend hours slaving over a hot stove. My first thought was to grill out, but the weather forecast called for thunderstorms, so that was a risky proposition. My second thought? Something in the slow cooker, of course! I love that I can throw a huge amount of meat into the slow cooker, leave it for hours, and come back to an easy-to-assemble dinner. 

For this particular meal, I decided to make slow cooker shredded buffalo chicken sandwiches. The recipe is ridiculously simple, it feeds at least 10 people, everyone can prepare their own sandwiches with as much meat as they want from the slow cooker - everyone wins. Also, it can be served multiple ways, and can be made to work for any level of tolerance to hot sauce. I am a total wimp when it comes to spiciness, so I'll typically top my buffalo chicken sandwich with a little bit of light ranch dressing (I'm partial to Bolthouse Farms ranch dressing), which tones down the spice. If you want to kick it up a notch, feel free to add extra Frank's Hot or other hot sauce.

If you are looking for a low-carb option, the buffalo shredded chicken also tastes delicious in a lettuce wrap (the lettuce also mellows out the spiciness level). For this, big leaves of romaine lettuce work perfectly.

I served the sandwiches with corn on the cob and a spinach & berry salad, and there were no complaints from our guests. In fact, since Rick's cousin asked me to post this recipe on my blog so that his mom could make it for him, I would say the dinner was a success! Here you go, Erik!

Slow Cooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

(adapted from Emily Bites)

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs. raw chicken breast (can be frozen or defrosted)
12 oz. bottle of buffalo sauce (I used Frank's Hot)
1 oz. package of dry ranch mix
2 tbsp. light butter

Hamburger rolls (or romaine lettuce) to serve
Light ranch dressing (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the raw chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken, and top with the dry ranch mix. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours, until you can easily shred the chicken.
2. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it using 2 forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, add in butter, and stir. Cook on low for another hour to allow the chicken to soak up the sauce. (Don't worry if it looks like there is a lot of sauce when you first shred the chicken - it will all get soaked up!)
3. Serve on a hamburger roll (or in a large piece of romaine lettuce to make a carb-light wrap). If you would like, top with light ranch dressing.

Pappardelle with Shrimp

I received a couple of great cookbooks for Christmas, but due to my slight obsession with Pinterest for finding recipes, I haven’t been making full use of them. This week, though, I pulled out one of my favorite Weight Watchers cookbooks for inspiration, and found this great pasta recipe.

The pappardelle was more expensive than the boxed pastas, but so much more fun to eat! And the lightness of the egg noodles made a big difference in taste, so I would splurge on buying the proper noodles.

As for the sauce, I was thrown off a bit by the presence of eggs when I first looked at the recipe, but it really caused the sauce to stick to the pappardelle. The mint added a surprising twist to the flavor - and we had enough fresh mint left over for a mojito or two!

All in all, it was a light and delicious dinner, and met my requirements of being quick and easy to make, with few ingredients. This is being added to my list of favorite pasta dishes.

Pappardelle with Shrimp

(adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook)

Ingredients:

8 oz. pappardelle (a flat egg noodle, which can be found freshly made or packaged in the pasta aisle of the grocery store)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

⅓ cup dry wine

1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

2 large eggs

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions:

1. Cook pappardelle according to package directions; drain.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in la arge nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add broth.

3. Beat eggs, 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese, and the pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in ½ cup of the hot broth from the skillet.

4. Add the mixture to the skillet, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to simmering and stir in pasta. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.

5. Spoon into serving bowls and sprinkle with mint and remaining parmesan cheese.

*Serves 4 (this recipe can easily be halved to serve 2 people)

Lasagna Cups

Having grown up with an Italian mother, I am a HUGE fan of lasagna. If I could choose only one entree to eat for the rest of my life (without thinking about my waistline!) it would be my mom's lasagna. The problem is, I have no self-control when presented with an entire pan of lasagna. My sister and I could polish off half a pan without batting an eye.

Because of this fact, I am always on the lookout for recipes that involve making lasagna with built-in portion control. I had great success with using a muffin tin to make buffalo mac & cheese bites, so I looked for a lasagna recipe that would also utilize the muffin tin. Lo and behold, I found one that used wonton wrappers in place of lasagna noodles! 

The recipe that I used called for 2 wonton wrappers per lasagna cup, which seemed a bit excessive for my taste, so I only used 1 wrapper for each, and added in some lean ground beef for extra protein. (I should note that I actually used egg roll wrappers instead of wonton wrappers because they were all out at the grocery store; the egg roll wrappers are a bit larger, so I just cut off the last half-inch or so of each wrapper.) Additionally, I played around with the order in which I added the ingredients to get the perfect layered lasagna. Feel free to add more or less meat or cheese, depending on your preference.

The result was delicious, and because it wasn't very carb-heavy, I could indulge relatively guilt-free in 3 lasagna cups. Rick actually asked to bring in the leftovers to work today, which is a sign that he really enjoyed them as well! These are so easy to make, I will definitely add them to my regular rotation.

Lasagna Cups

(adapted from Catching Fireflies)

Ingredients:

12 Wonton wrappers (typically found in the produce section of the grocery store)

1 lb. lean ground beef½ jar tomato sauce
⅓ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
½ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I approximated the amount of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses)
Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat.
2. Take the pan off of the burner and stir in the tomato sauce.
3. Spray the muffin tin, and place one wonton wrapper into each cup.
4. Layer a spoonful of beef mixture into each wrapper, followed by a layer of ricotta cheese, and another thin layer of beef mixture. Then top with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 12-14 minutes (until the wrappers are browned and the cheese is melted). Once cool, the cups should easily pop out of the tin.

*Makes 12 lasagna cups (2-4 cups per serving)

Chicken Parmesan Burger

Like any standard American, I like a good old fashioned hamburger. However, I try and limit my red meat intake, so I will often cook up a turkey burger when I'm at home and in the mood for a burger. Then one day I stumbled upon ground chicken in the grocery store, and since I am always looking for new ways to eat chicken, I decided to give it a try. 

After doing some Pinterest searching, I found this recipe for chicken parmesan burgers. A combination of a burger and chicken parm? Yes please! These burgers are juicy, flavorful, and ridiculously easy to make. You simply combine the ingredients in a bowl, form four patties, let them refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and then throw them in the oven! I don't like to heat up my kitchen unnecessarily when it's this hot and humid outside, so I used the convection oven and they came out perfectly. 

The first time I made the burgers, I forgot to buy a shallot, and the burgers were still delicious, but I think they were even tastier the second time with the chopped shallot. Rick discovered how easy it is to chop shallots (as well as onions) in the food processor, so I didn't have to spend forever dicing it up by hand. (Just make sure that you chop in small bursts and don't totally pulverize it!)

This recipe makes 4 burgers, so I cooked up all 4 at once, but didn't add the sauce or cheese to 2 of them and just froze those cooked chicken burgers for later. They defrosted and microwaved perfectly a few weeks later.

Chicken Parmesan Burger

(adapted from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:

For the burgers:1 lb. ground chicken
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3 tbsp. chopped flat leaf parsley (fresh or dried)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely diced
Salt and pepper, to taste

For serving:
Pasta sauce
Part-skim mozzarella cheese (sliced or shredded)
Hamburger buns

Directions: 

1. Combine all of the burger ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well by hand until thoroughly combined. 2. Form the mixture into 4 patties. Refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the broiler. Spray the broiler pan with cooking spray. (I cooked mine in the convection oven. You can also grill them on an outdoor grill.) 
4. Broil the burgers for approximately 5 minutes on one side, then flip and broil for approximately 5 more minutes on the other side until fully browned and cooked through. 
5. Remove from the oven, and top each burger with pasta sauce and cheese. Place back under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve on hamburger buns.

*Makes 4 burgers