Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

4/10/2024

Here's a version of a classic potato dish for sweet potatoes! It's great for a weeknight meal, but is also great for entertaining.

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

4-6 sweet potatoes
8 Tbsp. butter, sliced thinly
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt, to taste

Serves 4-6
Cook time: 45 minutes

Preheat oven to 400, bake sweet potatoes until soft, but not cooked through. Once sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, sliced into them 2/3 of the way, but not all the way through. Insert a slice of butter into each slice, then top each sweet potato with pecans and cranberries, drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle with salt. Return to oven to cook through.

Chestnut Cream Sauce

4/10/2024

This is a great sauce that can really fancy up a meal; I often use it with an inexpensive cut of meat to dress it up. You can even turn it into soup by adding more liquid.

Chestnut Cream Sauce

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 carrot, minced
14 oz. chestnuts (pre-cooked jarred or vacuum-packed), chopped
1 cup water
1 cup cream
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Saute shallot and carrot in olive oil until softened; add remaining ingredients and cook until everything is soft enough to be blended with an immersion blender. Once blended, allow to simmer for about 30 minutes so flavors come together.
This is a great sauce that can really fancy up a meal; I often use it with an inexpensive cut of meat to dress it up. You can even turn it into soup by adding more liquid.

Pumpkin Soup

4/10/2024

This is so easy to make! It's not the quickest recipe, but the hands-off cook time is what is long - not the hands on time. I list apples in the recipe, but have substituted with applesauce in a pinch! So easy and so delicious!

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cups pumpkin, chopped
2 cups apple, chopped
6 cups stock
salt and pepper, to taste

Pumpkin Soup
Serves 4-6
Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours

In a medium Dutch oven, heat olive oil until it shimmers. Saute onion until softened, then add pumpkin, apples, stock, salt & pepper. Once vegetables are softened, puree using an emersion blender.

Sweet Potato Gratin

4/10/2024

A sweet twist on a classic dish. This dish is festive enough for any holiday get together but easy enough for a weeknight. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Gratin

Ingredients

3 lb. sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup Gouda, grated

Serves 6-8
Cook time: 45 minutes

Preheat oven to 350. Using a mandolin, slice sweet potatoes into thin slices. Meanwhile, melt butter is a medium sauce pan; once melted add flour and whisk in; cook until the roux is blond in color. Slowly add the milk to roux to create a bechamel; be patient and keep whisking while cooking; allow mixture to thicken.
Shingle in sweet potato slices in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Pour some of the bechamel over the first layer of sweet potato slices. Keep layering sweet potatoes slices and bechamel until you run out (try to finish with the bechamel). Sprinkle with grated cheese and cook until browned and bubbly.

Manchego-Stuffed Dates

12/22/2023

These are so simple and easy to make, but taste extraordinary! Such a great way to entertain during the holidays when dates are easy to find! If you want to assemble these a couple of days in advance you can, but wait for the honey and paprika until just before serving.

Manchego-Stuffed Dates

Ingredients

12 Medjool dates, split with pits removed
1/2 fennel bulb, sliced thin
4 - 6 oz. Manchego cheese
2 Tbsp. spicy honey
sprinkle of paprika

Makes 12 dates

Julienne fennel into very thin strips; you could even shave the fennel with a very sharp vegetable peeler or use a mandolin. You will need 12 slices of celery.
Thinly slice cheese into 12 slices roughly the same size as the celery. Stuff each date with a slice of celery and a slice of Manchego and set on a platter.
Drizzle stuffed dates with honey and sprinkle with paprika. Serve immediately.

Monte Cristo Sliders

12/22/2023

This recipe makes a lot of sliders to feed a crowd, but can be halved or quadrupled to make as many as you need. They're full of classic Monte Cristo flavors with a crispy, buttery coating to mimic that deep-fried flavor. Enjoy at your next party!

Monte Cristo Sliders

Ingredients

2 packages Sweet Hawaiian dinner rolls (12 rolls per package)
24 slices deli turkey
24 slices deli ham
2 sticks butter
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup dijon
1/4 cup raspberry jam
24 slices havarti, or other mild cheese
powdered sugar, for garnish

Serves 24
Cook time: 30 minutes

Melt butter in small sauce pan or in microwave, add Worcestershire sauce to butter. Pour 1/4 melted butter in bottom of two disposable aluminum pans. Keeping rolls together (do not pull apart), slice down the middle to create two "sheets" of tops and two "sheets" of bottoms.
Place bottoms in pan with butter. Spread mayonnaise and mustard on bottoms and shingle on half the cheese, top with turkey slices, and then shingle on remaining cheese. Spread the tops with the raspberry jam and close sandwiches up. Pour remaining melted butter over tops; then cover with parchment paper and wrap with aluminum foil. Place a dish or tray just large enough to cover the rolls on top (some thing that will fit inside of the aluminum pan....possibly another disposable aluminum pan) and then place a heavy item like a cast iron skillet or cans of tomatoes, or even a brick wrapped in foil to press the sandwiches down. Sandwiches can be cooked immediately or stored in refrigerator for a few days until needed.
When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350 and bake hot browns, covered, for 25 minutes; uncover and let cook another 5 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove carefully to platter. Slice hot browns according to scored marks for rolls and you'll have 24 individual Monte Cristo sliders. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Crab Dip in Endive or Tomatoes

12/22/2023

These are as simple as they are delicious! Easy to make and a real-crowd pleaser, these stuffed tomatoes (I also like to use endive and keep the dip in a container in the center of a platter filled with endive leaves so everyone can dip their own) are made with lump crab....but if you're feeding a crowd feel free to use crab claw.

Crab Dip in Endive or Tomatoes

Ingredients

4 head endive or 15-20 cocktail tomatoes
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/4 cup mixed herbs (such as parsley, tarragon, basil, thyme, etc.), chopped
1 lb. lump crab meat, picked over and drained

Serves 15-25

Cut the root end off the endive so the leaves are roughly the same size. Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, red onion, herbs, and salt and pepper. Gently fold in crab meat.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve dip in bowl and let guests scoop it out with endive themselves.

Mushroom & Lentil Shepherd's Pie

12/19/2023

This is a vegetarian version of shepherd's pie that is so rich and delicious you won't miss the meat at all! Plus, it's mostly made with pantry ingredients to it's easy to throw together on a whim.

Lentil & Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb. potatoes, chopped
1/2 cup milk, divided
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups mixed mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh herbs, chopped (I use sage, parsley, and thyme, but it's your choice)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups stock (I use beef, but again, it's your choice)
1/2 cup dry lentils
2 cups baby kale, packed
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. Wondra or AP flour
Salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 4
Cook Time: 1 hour

Preheat oven to 375.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, once boiling add potatoes and cook until fork tender. Once potatoes are boiled, mash with potato masher or ricer, then add 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. milk and the butter. Stir to combine and set aside.
While water is coming to a boil, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent, add garlic and cook for one more minute. Add chopped mushrooms along with salt and pepper. Allow mushrooms to brown and release water, then add herbs and cook for another minute or two; then add tomato paste and allow to cook for another minute.
Add stock and bring to a boil, add lentils, cover and cook until lentils are cooked through, about 30 minutes. When lentils are cooked add kale and bring back to a boil, meanwhile make a slurry with remaining milk (2 Tbsp.) and cornstarch. Once boiling add slurry and boil for one minute. Reduce heat to low and add balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes for all flavors to combine.
Add mushroom mixture to casserole dish and dollop with mashed potatoes. Gently spread potatoes out over mixture so mushrooms are completely covered and back, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Camelia Baskets

12/19/2023

These are twist on a classic tuile cookie, which is a moldable caramel cookie that has a creamy filling. These are not difficult to make, but do require a lot of patience! I've included an "easy" version at the bottom of the recipe. I like serving them in the winter when the camelias begin to bloom with mandarins, kiwi, and pomegranate arils.

Camelia Baskets

Ingredients

Baskets

5 Tbsp. butter
5 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup cane syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
Filling
3 cups cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Fresh seasonal fruit for garnish

Makes 20-25 baskets
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 and position rack in middle of oven. Grease a muffin pan and the back of a round 1/4 cup measuring cup with non-stick spray; you'll be using the measuring cup to press the warm cookies into the muffin pan mold; if you don't have round measuring cups, use a shot glass or something slightly smaller than the muffin pan.
Combine butter, sugar, cane syrup, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved; do no let come to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool slightly while you combine the flour and ground ginger. Sift dry mixture directly into the wet batter and stir until it is combined into a paste.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, place 5-6 heaping teaspoons of the mixture. Make to space these out because they will spread a lot. Gently spread each mound of mixture with a greased spoon to flatten a little. Bake 6 minutes, turning the pan at the 3 minute mark. While baking start loading up your next pan of cookie mixture.
After 6 minutes, remove pan from oven and let cool slightly. Using a small offset spatula gently remove a cooked cookie into the muffin pan, quickly and gently press the greased 1/4 cup measuring cup into the muffing tin to create a basket shape from the cookie. Working quickly repeat with remaining cookies. Let set up for about 2 minutes until cold and crisped before removing from tin. Continue cooking and creating baskets until all batter is used up.
*This is time consuming and can be frustrating. If the batter in the pot starts to get cool to work with you can gently reheat it, if the cookies on the sheet get to crisp to mold into the muffin pan you can reheat them in the oven. Just go slow and take your time. And yes, you can use mini-muffin pans, but it's just adding more frustration, so be ware.
When ready to serve, whip cream until stiff peaks form, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Pipe cream mixture into baskets and top with fresh fruit to serve. Serve within 15 minutes; the crisps will start to soften from the whipped cream quickly.
*If your baskets don't turn out well or if you don't want to spend the time to make them, just pour the cookie base baking sheets (divide between two or three) and bake according to directions. Allow mixture to cook and break into shards - when ready to serve you can pipe the whipped cream into a pretty vessel and top with fresh fruits and shards of cookie.

Spoonbread with Candied Peppers

12/19/2023

This ooey-gooey spoonbread is a great alternative to cornbread. It's rich and yummy and when topped with extra butter and candied peppers it's over-the-top delicious! Use pepper jelly if you can't find candied peppers.

Spoonbread with Candied Peppers

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsp. cane syrup (or honey)
1 tsp. salt
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 can corn creamed corn
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 eggs
4 Tbsp. butter, sliced (optional)
8 oz. candied peppers (a.k.a. Cowboy Candy) or pepper jelly (optional)

Click he Serves 6-8
Cook time: 35 minutes

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, then add melted butter, sour cream, corn kernels, creamed corn, and salt, stir to combine. Add dry ingredients and combine.
Pour into a greased 2-quart casserole dish and bake for 35-40 minutes until set.
For the optional candied pepper topping: using a chopstick or skewer, poke holes in all over the top of the spoonbread, top with pats of butter and a jar of candied peppers.re to edit.