Sweet Potato Banana Crumble Casserole

Let’s face it…unless you live in the South, the only time that most of us think about making anything with sweet potatoes, or yams, is during the holidays. Well not anymore!

I must admit that I have given sweet potatoes a fair shot every year…to no avail. Sweet potatoes/yams + me = unhappy tastebuds. Until now! This dish is so good that it could be served for breakfast, a side for dinner or a dessert. I LOVE this casserole! Finally, sweet potatoes and I have a relationship. A wonderful love affair…even my little Grace loves this (minus the crumble, go figure).

View complete posting: Sweet Potato Banana Crumble Casserole ~ If you like sweet potatoes, you will love this recipe...if you don't like them, then you will love this casserole. Perfect as a side or dessert dish!

This morning I stumbled upon a program on Ovation that was showcasing Paris. It seemed completely appropriate since I was posting my latest breakfast “Divine Stuffed French Toast”. As I was typing away, I heard the word “chocolat” uttered in a French accent. In a split second, what I was working on took a back seat…I mean, come on…they were talking about “chocolat” and “cacao” for Pete’s sake!

Apparently there is this wonderful even that takes place annually in October in the beautiful city of Paris…

View complete posting: Salon du Chocolat ~ A Chocolate Lover's Heaven

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

My husband & I love pulled pork sandwiches. Unfortunately we are about 9 hours away from our favorite barbecue joint, Sweet Lumpy's BBQ located in Temecula, California. SO I came up with this recipe for a hassle-free version of a pulled pork sandwich. Smother it in some of Sweet Lumpy’s Bar-B-Que Sauce and we have a hit!

I start by preheating my oven to 250°F. This pork needs to cook nice and slow in the beginning, and then the heat gets turned up a bit for the last hour of cooking.

Now I know that traditionally pulled pork starts with a nice chunk of pork shoulder, but the idea here was to make a hassle-free version that could deliver flavor as well as not make the “pulled” part so time consuming. So when I’m out looking for my meat, I go for the pork loins. They are so easy to cook and have a relatively low fat content, so there is virtually no trimming needed.


View complete posting: Pulled Pork Sandwiches ~ An easy, hassle-free recipe

Southwest Chicken & Chorizo Soup

There are no words to describe just how much I LOVE this particular soup. Oh the amazing comfort food that it is…so perfect for cold or rainy days. There is so much in it that is good for you (minus the chorizo) that there are even more added benefits than just making you feel warm and cozy inside.

Here we go! The base of this soup is really these little goodies. Basically you could use all of this without having the chicken and corn added in because it’s just that good. But having the chicken and corn in the pot just bring the whole soup up a notch.

Sheppard's Pie With Cheesy Potatoes

I love not having to throw things together in the evening for dinner. Having something in the fridge or freezer that is ready to just be placed into a preheated oven just seems like heaven to me.

So, I came up with this version of Sheppard's Pie with a cheesy potato topping. My husband absolutely loves it and it is perfect for those nights when you really don't feel like cooking. Make it 1-2 days ahead and then just pop it from the fridge to the oven to the table. The beauty of this recipe is that it serves 8, which means that you could split it and have two dinners for 4 ready with the same amount of effort.

Start by taking 10 medium sized potatoes (or 5 large russet potatoes),

peeled and cut into halves so that the pieces are relatively all the same size.

Place the potatoes into a pot filled with 8 cups cold water. Then crank the heat on the stove up to high to get things boiling. When the pot is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and allow the potatoes to cook a total of approximately 20 minutes. Check the tenderness of the potatoes. If they are not easily pierced by a fork, then allow them to cook an additional 5 minutes, or until tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, I take 3 pounds of lean ground beef and place it in the largest skillet I have. Again, turn the heat up to high to start rendering off the fat. Then add a bit of black pepper to get things going flavor-wise.

As the meat simmers, my multi-tasking abilities get put to use and I peel & cut the carrots.

Try to grab the ones that are about the same size, then cut them into 1/4" rounds.

I like to keep the carrots as close to the same size as possible, so the larger pieces get sliced in half. Tip: If you like to avoid the peeling process, pick-up a bag of the pre-peeled baby carrots the next time you're at the store.

Check on the meat and give it a good stir. The more fat that is rendered off now the better. I don't want it to be dry, so there will be some left in the pan, but trust me, you don't want to have a cup of beef fat in this dish. *Bleh!*

Take the time to stir the meat around the skillet occasionally. Pink meat is not wanted here, we want everything to be nice and browned.

Alright, after about 15 minutes go ahead and start spooning out the rendered fat into a heat resistant cup or bowl. Be sure to leave a little in the pan so that the meat isn't too dry.

Time to add in my onion soup mix. I used to make this dish with fresh onions, but then discovered that the onion soup mix brings out a much richer flavor in the meat.

Now I add in my carrots, a couple cans of diced tomatoes (not drained), and a bag of frozen corn. Stir it around, getting everything well mixed together.

Although this is really starting to look good, not to mention smell extremely appetizing, there still needs to be a little bit more simmer time, about 15 minutes.

And just to kick it up a notch I like to throw in 3 tablespoons of Cabernet Sauvignon. This gives the dish such a great flavor...very much like the sauce for Salisbury Steak.

Oh, I almost forgot to add one more ingredient! Sea salt, just a touch (well, 1/2 teaspoon) to help bring out more flavor.

While the meat continues to simmer, I take the potatoes and drain them. Then pour them into my mixing bowl. Time to put my mixing paddle to work. I set the speed on 2 and pour in the whole milk. This helps make these potatoes nice and creamy.

After the potatoes have been broken down a bit, I turn up the speed to a 6 and watch these steaming hot potatoes become light and fluffy.

Time for my hubby's favorite...colby cheese. I can't even begin to tell you just how amazing this makes the potatoes. 

Add a bit of sea salt and butter. Then the topper...finely shredded colby jack cheese! Oh yeah, we have some seriously cheesy potatoes happening here.

Back to the meat...take it off of the stove and start spooning it into a large 5 quart baking dish. I smooth it out so that everything is nice and level.

Now to spoon on the potatoes. Same thing with the potatoes...smoothing them out to make it level and equal for all parties who will be enjoying this dish later.

Now this is optional, but why on earth would you deny yourself the extra touch of cheesy goodness?

I like to top off the sheppard's pie with another 1/2 cup of shredded colby jack cheese. Then just cover it with aluminum foil and place it in the fridge until it's time to get it in the oven.

A few hours later....I preheat the oven to 375°F and start off with the dish covered for the first 15 minutes.

Then remove the foil for the remainder of the cook time (15-30 minutes depending on oven) so that the cheese gets melted and browned and the center is nice and hot. (If baking right after assembling the dish, then bake for 15-20 minutes uncovered until the top is toasted golden brown.)

Onto a waiting plate and we are ready to ENJOY!

Ahhh...this is comfort food at it's finest.

And then it's gone.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This past Thanksgiving was the first time that I have ever made cranberry sauce. Now I don’t understand why I had never endeavored to make it from scratch before. I mean, I grew-up with the beautiful can mould of cranberry sauce in my grandparent’s serving dish every year…and thought nothing of it. It tasted good and it was cranberries for Pete’s sake! But after savoring this sauce, I will be hard-pressed to give-in to the convenience of the can again. Come on…how could you not want to take a big spoonful of this lusciousness?!

There are very few steps needed to make an absolutely delicious cranberry sauce. However, if you are not up to this indulgence, then by all means...think again.

 To start, in a large saucepan bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir frequently so that the sugar does not stick to the bottom of the pan and dissolves completely.

Add on bag (16 oz) of fresh cranberries to the boiling sugar & water. Adding the cranberries will cool the temperature of the water, so we need to bring the pot back up to a boil.

In the meantime, get your cutting board out and let's put it to use. Take 1 granny smith apple (you could use a gala apple in it's place) and chop it into bite size pieces. You could do this by peeling your apple, coring it, cutting it into 8 wedges, cutting each of those in half lengthwise and then chopping each of those slices into bite-sized 1/4" pieces.

However, I take full advantage of this tool...my handy dandy apple slicer/corer. Then I just slice off the skins of each wedge. Half each wedge lengthwise. Stack several wedges and cut them into 1/4" thick slices. So there are basically a ton of little apple triangles all over the cutting board. (which I then have to spend time fighting off my triangle stacking girls)

Once things start boiling again, you will begin to hear the sweet melody of popping cranberries. Time to lower the heat so the mixture will just simmer.

Look at how beautiful and robust the color is from these berries! And the smell! Ohhhhhh the smell!Mmmmmmmm!

Alright, back to the cutting board. Take 1 cup of walnuts and chop, chop, chop. They basically need to be the same size as the apple pieces, maybe a little bit smaller.

Time to get the citrus involved.

 Cut 1 orange and 1 lemon in half and juice.

Be sure to remove all seeds! There is no need to make an emergency trip to the dentist after dinner.

It is now time to add the walnuts & apples to the pot.

If you are a fan of raisins, then this would be the time that you add about 1/2 cup of raisins to the pot.

Grab a spoon and stir everyone in the pot.

Add orange & lemon juices.

Take one of the orange halves and zest 1/4-1/2 teaspoon into the sauce. When that zest hits the cranberries...WATCH OUT! Again, the aroma is amazing.

Now it's time to measure out 1/4 cup Grand Marnier. I love this stuff! Anytime I can work it into a dessert of any kind, I will. If you are not a fan of Grand Marnier, or you just don't have any on hand, then juice the other half of the orange (1/4 cup) and add it to the sauce instead.

Give it a stir again so that everyone can mingle.

 

Spices, spices...throw in the spices! Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. If you have fresh nutmeg, then by all means, get out the little grater and grate away.
Lest we forget to add 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves. So little it almost gets lost in there, but so very good. If you are really a fan of cloves, then go ahead and bump it up to 1/4-1/2 teaspoon...you know what you like.

Give it another stir and then continue to simmer on low heat for another 10-15 minutes. This will allow all of your spices to do their work. Try to contain yourself, don't give in to an early spoonful...it is worth the wait.

Remove from stove and allow the saucy deliciousness to cool.

Then pull out your favorite little serving dish and spoon in plenty of cranberry sauce. This is perfect with turkey or any holiday dish!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Water
1 Cup of Granulated Sugar
1 (16 oz.) Bag Fresh, Whole Cranberries
1 Chopped Granny Smith Apple (Gala Apple can be used as well)
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1/4 Cup Grand Marnier (optional)
1/2 Lemon, Juiced
1/2 Orange, Juiced
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg, Ground (freshly grated if available)
1/8 Teaspoon Cloves, Ground
1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon Orange Zest (to taste)

Directions:
In a large sauce pan combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add the cranberries and return to a boil.

Once a boil is reached, lower the heat so that the mixture simmers. When you hear the popping of the cranberries and the liquid becomes a burgundy shade it is time to add the rest of the ingredients.
Add apples, walnuts, Grand Marnier (or 1/4 cup additional fresh juiced orange), lemon & orange juices, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and orange zest. Continue to simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool. Serve in a side bowl with any holiday dish! (Makes Approx. Eight 1/2-cup Servings)