There was no way to adequately name this recipe.  Honey Peppered-Bacon Pork Tenderloin on a bed of carrots, red onions and garlic cloves slow-simmered in Pinot Grigio…………So I just stopped at Honey Peppered-Bacon Pork Tenderloin.  The real name should be:  ”OH MY GOSH, I THINK I JUST WET MY PANTS THIS PORK LOIN IS SO FLIPPIN’, FLAPPIN’ FANTASTIC!“…………or something pretty similar anyway.”  I had a pork loin that I wanted to do something a little different with.  I didn’t want to grill it.  I didn’t want to cut it into chops and fry them.  So I decided to give it a rub down in some Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend, then wrap it in peppered bacon an drizzle honey all over it.  And well, it’s just about the best pork loin I’ve ever put in my mouth!!!!  It was simply to die for!

So let’s make it!  Here’s what you’ll need:

A pork loin, of course!  :)  Honey, peppered bacon, Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend, whole garlic cloves, a red onion or two, carrots and………….

Some Pinot Grigio wine……….I forgot to put it in the photo above.  Whoops!  Sorry!  I promise I wasn’t off drinking the stuff somewhere!  LOL  Now here’s what the “real” chefs will tell you about cooking with wine.  Always pick a wine to cook with that you’d want to drink.  If it’s not good for drinking, it’s not good for cooking.  Well, here’s the problem with that……I’ve never met a bottle of wine yet that I’d want to drink.  I just don’t like it.  Tried it.  Can’t make myself like it to drink.  But I DO love to cook with it.  So I can’t tell you if this particular wine was good for drinking or not.  But I CAN tell you it was dadgum FINE for cooking with!

So let’s get started.  You’ll need to peel the carrots or have your ankle-biters do that.  That’s a great job for ankle-biters!  If you want to use baby carrots so  you don’t have to peel them, feel free.  I just really prefer the whole carrot and peeling it.  And if you really don’t want to, you don’t absolutely have to peel your carrots.  There’s nothing wrong with eating the part you peel off.  Most folks just prefer peeled carrots.  It’s up to you!  To peel……or not to peel…….that is the question………Amy’s question…….not Shakespeare’s.  I don’t think he cared all that much about peeling carrots.

Peel the red onion or onions.

Now cut it into quarters and then into fairly large chunks.  And cut your peeled carrots into 1 1/2″-2″ long pieces.

Like this……….But leave the garlic cloves whole.  If you have never eaten a cooked whole garlic clove, you are missing out!  They become so sweet once they’re cooked!

Now drop them over into your crockpot.  Make sure they are all mixed up so the onions aren’t on one end, carrots in the middle and garlic on the other end.  You’ll want to really stir them around!

Sprinkle the veggies generously with Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend.  Could you substitute something else here?  Well, yeah, I suppose you could.  Do I recommend it?  No, I don’t.  Other spice blends won’t give you the punch of flavor you get from Wildtree blends.  And they’ll be filled with sodium out the wazoo, additives, preservatives, dyes, MSG and probably a whole lot more stuff you can’t pronounce and didn’t even realize was edible……..and probably ISN’T supposed to be edible, but it got put in there anyway!

Pour about 1-1 1/2 cups of Pinot Grigio over the veggies.  According to Wine Intro:  ”Most pinot grigio wines are created in Italy. The Italian version of pinot grigio is typically dry (not sweet) and light, with a mineral taste to it. Californian variants of pinot grigio tend to be richer in flavor, but still have the mineral taste. Often, they finish with a lemony or citrusy flavor.”  I just know that this particular wine imparts a fantastic flavor to the veggies!  But now, let’s work on the star of this show!

Sprinkle the Wildtree Garlic Galore all over the pork loin.  Make sure you get both ends and all the way around.

Like this!  You really want to coat it!  Then we’re going to seal all that flavor in.

Start by laying the strips of peppered bacon across the pork loin.  Make sure to tuck them under the bottom.

It will look like this when you’re finished laying the bacon across.  It’s ready to go in the crockpot now.

Carefully place the loin on top of the vegetables in the crockpot.  You could certainly do this in the oven as well.  But this is something that would be a very easy prep the night before.  You could prepare it all, slide the crock into the fridge, pull it out the next morning and turn the crockpot on.  Dinner’s done when you get home and you’re a ROCK STAR with this meal!

And as if pig on pig wasn’t fantastic enough, you’re going to make it even BETTER now!  Drizzle honey over the top of the bacon.

Just look at all that honey!  Oh man!  You can’t imagine how good this thing smells!

Now put the lid on, turn that sucker on and forget about it if you can!  If you’re going to be staying in the same house with it while it cooks, you absolutely will NOT be able to forget about it because the aroma of it cooking is going to drive you insane!  But if you’re like me, just knowing you have this thing  cooking while you’re gone is going to STILL drive you insane!

And in a few hours, you’ll have this:

OH MY SWEET MOTHER OF PEARL!  I wish I could put a feature on here where you could smell this!  You’d be falling out of your chair about right now!  All that’s left to do now is slice it and put it on a plate!

A little something like this!  It became fast friends with some Springs Smashed Spuds on my plate!

Honey Peppered-Bacon Pork Tenderloin

*  1 pork tenderloin

*  1 pkg. peppered bacon

*  1/2 cup honey

*  1/4 cup Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend

*  1-2# carrots, peeled and cut into pieces

*  1-2 red onions, peeled and cut into chunks

*  10-20 fresh garlic cloves, peeled

*  1-1 1/2 cups Pinot Grigio wine

Peel carrots and onions.  Cut into large chunks.  Mix vegetables with whole garlic cloves and place in the bottom of crockpot.  Sprinkle generously with Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend.  Pour wine over vegetables.  Sprinkle pork loin generously with Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend.  Lay strips of bacon across the pork loin, tucking each piece under the bottom.  Carefully place loin on top of vegetables in the crockpot.  Drizzle honey over the bacon.  Turn crockpot on high for a quicker cook or on low if you need it to simmer slowly all day long.  Allow loin to set for a few minutes on your cutting board before attempting to slice.  Slice pork loin and serve hot.

I served this with Springs Smashed Spuds and good ole Southern-style green beans with chunks of ham and onion simmered low and slow all day long until those green beans were good and dead!  ;)  It would also be fantastic served with Twice-Baked Potatoes, Au Gratin Potatoes, Hashbrown Casserole,……well, most ANY kind of potato really!  It would also be great with Long-Grain and Wild Rice, Macaroni and Cheese, Stuffing, a big salad, DIRT………..it would be good no matter how you served it or what you served it with!  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and my Phat Babysitter/AB2’s 2nd grade teacher/mama of my precious God-Daughter did!

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to share this or ANY recipe with you!  I have LOTS of recipes photographed and hope to get to share those with you soon!  Much love to you all!  I sure have missed you!!!!

And if you’re interested in the Wildtree Garlic Galore seasoning blend or anything else from Wildtree, you can go here to order and just browse around:  www.amys-whatscookin-goodlookin.mywildtree.com

Baby, it’s COLD outside!  WHEW!  I mean evil cold!  The kind of cold we Southerners are just not built for!  And this kind of cold weather begs for a big pot of soup or chili or STEW!  Oh yeah!  Beef Stew!  That’s just what it’s begging for!

Ah, Beef Stew!  Hearty!  Rich!  Delicious!  And SIMPLE!  When you add simple in there you’ve got the perfect recipe!  Today, I’d like to share my own version of a recipe shared with me (and many others) by my friend and former boss Lisa.  When I was a stay-at-home mom all those years, I worked for an online forum designed with moms in mind.  Lisa shared this recipe over and over at Moms Online.  It was a favorite there and it’s a favorite at my house to this day!  It truly is THE BEST Beef Stew I’ve ever tried!  Over the years, the recipe has evolved to reflect my own family’s taste and the end result is the Beef Stew you see above.

Let’s make some!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Stew beef, frozen English peas, potatoes, carrots, onions, paprika, fresh garlic, soy sauce, beef broth, tomato sauce, fresh-cracked pepper and flour.

Start out by peeling the veggies.  If you happen to have a few ankle biters at your house, they’re the perfect folks for this task!  Ankle Biter #2 is a fabulous little carrot and potato peeler!  So I put him to work!

See?  He’s a fantastic little potato peeler too!  Ah, the joys of having kids big enough to help out in the kitchen!!!!

While AB2 peeled, I was doing the chopping.  Cut the potatoes in half and lay them cut-side down on a cutting board.

Cut each half into 2 or 3 wedges.  I cut the larger potatoes into 3 wedges and the smaller ones into 2 wedges.  It all depends on how large you want the potato chunks to be.

Then cut each wedge into chunks.  We like the potatoes in fairly large chunks.  But you can cut them whatever size you and your family enjoy!

Slice the carrots.  I like to cut them on the bias, meaning cut them at an angle.  Anyway you want to cut them is fine!  I just think they look purty sliced on the bias like this.

Cut the root and the tip off the onion and remove the peeling so it looks like this.

Cut the onion in half root to tip and lay it cut-side down on the cutting board.  Cut it into half-rings like this.  For this stew, I like the onions to be in large chunks much like the potatoes and carrots, but you can certainly dice them finer if that’s how you prefer them.

The potatoes, carrots and onions are READY!!!  Just set them aside while we prepare the meat.

Place the cubed stew beef in a large mixing bowl.  You can certainly cut your own stew beef.  A nice sirloin tip roast makes fabulous stew beef.  But honestly, the best of this stew I ever made, I used bison cubes instead of beef.  Now THAT is some fine stew!  Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have any bison wandering around our place out here for me to shoot and haul back up to the house to dress and process into useful cuts of meat.  And Whole Foods is over a hundred miles away where I can get ready-to-use bison.  So I was relegated to using regular ole stew beef that Tall Skinny Man rustled up at the not-so-friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Sprinkle the flour on top of the meat.

Add the paprika to the meat and flour in the bowl.  This recipe is what made me “discover” paprika.  Before this recipe, I thought paprika was only for sprinkling on top of potato salad and deviled eggs to make them pretty because that’s what my Moma used it for.  I never realized just how much fantastic flavor it has until I started making this beef stew.  Now I use it when I made roasted potatoes.  I put it in other soups.  I sprinkle it on pork chops.  Trust me!  Paprika is good for way more than sprinkling on potato salad and deviled eggs!!!

Now stir the flour and paprika around with the meat until all the cubes are coated.

Like this.  Make sure each piece is evenly coated and you don’t have some pieces that don’t have any flour or paprika on them.  Now just set these aside while we put together the liquids that will make the “stew” part of the stew.

Pour the tomato sauce into a large mixing bowl.

Now add the beef broth.  I generally try to use the lower sodium varieties of any broth because the “regular” is so salty.  And this still has plenty of salt in it so I don’t add any additional salt for this recipe.  Just because something says “Less Sodium” doesn’t mean it’s LOW sodium!  Always keep that in mind!

Add some fresh-cracked pepper.

Now for some minced garlic.

Add in the soy sauce.  Again, I’m using the less sodium variety.

Give it a whisk to combine it all well.  Make sure it’s well-mixed.  Now we’re ready to start assembling the stew!

See this fantastic machine?  It’s a life-saver, folks!  When you know you have a super-long day ahead of you and still have people at your house that think they have to eat dinner…..this is the ticket!  I travel a LOT for work and sometimes after I’ve traveled, I’m just too whipped to come in and stand in the kitchen and make a right and proper dinner for my family.  But I can get up in the morning when I’m fresh, throw something in the crockpot before I leave for work and when I come home, dinner is DONE!  Or pretty close to it anyway!

Now with that said, I have to extol the virtues of that little plastic bag you see inside my crockpot.  For me, the main drawback to using a crockpot has always been cleaning the sucker.  If you own one, you know it can be a monumental pain the backside to clean!  A couple years ago, I discovered these liners.  They’re made by Reynolds; the folks that make aluminum foil.  They’re in a little box in the same section where you buy foil and plastic wrap.  I can’t even tell you how highly I recommend these liners!  I haven’t used my crockpot without on in over two years!  WON’T use my crockpot without one!  So make sure you get some of these little jewels before you make this stew (or anything else in your crockpot for that matter!!!)  They are worth every penny!

Start by adding the meat to the crockpot.

Now add the potatoes, carrots and onions.

Pour the tomato sauce mixture over it all.  If you feel like you don’t have enough sauce, add another can of beef broth.  We like a very thick stew, but if you prefer the “gravy” part to be more of a soupy consistency, go ahead and add another can of broth.

Give it all a stir.  Make sure the meat and vegetables are well-combined.

Just like this.  And now, it’s ready to go!

Remember that commercial from a few years ago that used the catch-phrase, “Set it and forget it?”  Well, set the crockpot on high and then forget it……..at least until you open the back door in the afternoon and get a whiff!  I believe Tall Skinny Man’s exact words were, “I didn’t know whether to cry, pee in my pants or pass out it smelled so good.”  And well, I guess you just don’t get a higher compliment than that, huh?  So just wait til this is done!  The insane aroma is going to just about knock you down it smells so good!  God help you if you have to stay in the house with it all day long while it’s cooking!  You’ll be gnawing on your own arm to keep yourself out of it while it’s “stewing!”

OK, so let’s pretend TSM just said that because we just walked in the door…….we’re not QUITE ready to eat yet.  We’ve got to add the English peas.  Dump the bag of thawed English peas into the crockpot and replace the lid.  Let it cook another 30 minutes or so.  This gives you just enough time to make some cornbread muffins, some homemade pimiento cheese sandwiches or grill up some grilled cheese sandwiches.

Make sure to give them a good stir, then replace the lid while you’re preparing the rest of dinner.

And NOW, you’re ready to eat!  I’ve tried a lot of recipes for beef stew.   This beats them all hands down!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Crockpot Beef Stew

*  2 lb. cubed stew beef

*  1/2 cup flour

*  1 Tbsp. paprika

*  1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

*  3-5 potatoes, peeled and cubed

*  1 large or 2 medium onions, cut into chunks

*  2 15 oz. cans beef broth

*  2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

*  1/2 cup soy sauce

*  fresh cracked pepper and minced garlic to taste

Peel potatoes, carrots and onions.  Cut potatoes and onions into chunks and slice carrots on the bias.  Mix stew beef with flour and paprika.  Stir until all pieces are well-coated with flour mixture.  Mix tomato sauce, beef broth, fresh-cracked pepper, garlic and soy sauce together.

Place stew beef in the bottom of the crockpot.  Top with vegetables and then pour tomato sauce mixture over all.  Stir until meat and vegetables are well-combined.  Place lid on crockpot and cook on high until meat and vegetables are tender.  Add thawed English peas, stirring them in to combine.  Cook an additional 30 minutes.  Serve hot.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

This stew is fantastic with a cornbread muffin or some kind of cheesy sandwich to dunk in it.  My favorite way is with a homemade pimiento cheese sandwich.  But I’ll take it just about anyway I can get it!  And IF there’s any left, this is even better after a day or two!

A HUGE thanks for my pal Lisa C. for sharing this recipe with me and so many other people years ago!  It is a winter staple at our house!  I hope you enjoy!  I promise it will warm you to the bones!  Have a fabulous day!

]]> http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?feed=rss2&p=1600 7 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1492 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1492#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:56:10 +0000 Amy http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1492

Comfort in a casserole dish!  Oh how I love me some homemade Chicken Pot Pie!  Ankle Biter #1 could eat his weight, his brother’s weight, his daddy’s weight and mine in Chicken Pot Pie!  It’s one of his very favorite foods!  I don’t make it often because it’s a tad labor intensive.  Not hard, mind you!  Just a little more work than I normally have on a work night.

He and I would like to share it with you today.  Here’s what you’ll need to make the pastry for it:

All-Purpose Flour (also sometimes referred to as “Plain” flour), cream cheese and butter.  You’ll want to let the cream cheese and butter soften to room temperature before making this pastry dough.  It’s super simple!  And if you want, you can add some spices to the pastry dough.  I usually add some fresh-cracked pepper and some of the seasoning I’m using in the pot pie or quiche or whatever I’m making with the dough.

Unwrap the butter and add it to your mixer bowl.

Now unwrap the cream cheese.  You’ll need 1 and 1/2 bars for this recipe so cut one bar in half.  Add it to the mixer bowl.

You’ll need 4 cups of All Purpose Flour.  Set it aside after you measure it.

Cream the butter and cream cheese together before adding the flour.

Add about half the flour and begin slowly mixing it into the cream cheese and butter mixture.

Add the rest of the flour and any spices you wish to incorporate into the pastry dough.  Mix until the dough forms into a ball.

When the dough is ready, it should look like this.  Divide the dough in half then flatten it into a disc.

Now wrap the dough in plastic wrap or wax paper and slide it into a ziplock bag and refrigerate it until you’re ready to roll it out.

While the dough is chilling, let’s make the “pot” part of the pie.  Here’s what you’ll need:

Frozen mixed vegetables, a couple potatoes, an onion, garlic, sage, fresh-cracked pepper, other spices or spice blend of choice, boneless/skinless chicken breasts or tenders, butter, flour and milk.

Put the chicken on to boil in a stockpot.

Add sage to the pot of chicken.

In another stockpot or Dutch oven, put the mixed vegetables and chunks of peeled potatoes on to boil.

Let’s dice an onion up for the sauce now.  Peel the onion and cut off the root and tip.

Cut it in half root to tip and lay it face down on the cut-side.

Slice each half into thin half-rings like this.  Then cut across them to finely dice the onion.

You’ll want it diced fairly fine like this.  Set the onion aside while we roll out the pastry dough.

If you have a pastry mat, use that to roll out the dough.  If you don’t, use wax paper.  Sprinkle some flour onto the pastry mat or wax paper like this.

Place one of the discs of dough on the floured wax paper.  Leave the other one in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Now sprinkle the top of the dough with a little flour.

Now begin to roll out the dough.  Roll it to whatever size and shape the baking dish is you’ll be using.

I’m using a 9″ x 13″ baking dish so I’ll roll this out into a rectangular shape.

It doesn’t have to be “perfect.”  Just get it roughly into the shape you want.

Fold the dough in half.  That will make it easier to put into the baking dish without tearing.

Make sure you spray your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray before adding the dough in.  Lay the dough across half the pan and then unfold it.

Now begin gently and neatly tucking the overhanging dough under around the edges.

As you can tell, mine could be a little neater, but it will work!  My dough had gotten a little too warm and it was beginning to misbehave.  Due to the amount of butter in this dough, you’ll have to work fairly quickly because it will get warm and hard to work with if it becomes too warm.

Place some wax paper into the pan over the dough.

Fill the wax paper with dried beans or rice to help the dough keep it’s shape while you pre-bake the dough before adding the filling.  Now place into a pre-heated 350° oven.  Bake approximately 30 minutes or until the dough is cooked completely through.

Drain the chicken and allow it to cool until it can be handled to cut up.

While the chicken is cooling, let’s make the sauce for the pot pie.  Melt the butter in a skillet or sauteuse pan.

The butter is about ready to add the onions.

Begin sauteing the onions in the butter.  When the onions are almost translucent, we will add the flour to begin the white sauce, but we’re not quite there yet.

Now add some seasoning of your choice.  I chose a no-salt, no-MSG chicken seasoning I got at Sam’s some time ago.  Since I developed this recipe, I have discovered Wildtree all-natural products.  If I were making it now, I would use one of the many seasoning blends available from Wildtree such as:  Lemon Rosemary Seasoning Blend, California Garlic Pepper Blend, or Rotisserie Chicken Blend.  Also add some fresh-cracked pepper and minced garlic.

Now add some sage to the onions.

Add the flour to the onions to begin the white sauce.

Stir the flour around into the onions until all the flour is well incorporated into the butter and onions.

Add the milk and stir.  Keep stirring until the sauce thickens up.  Turn the sauce off and set aside while you prepare the chicken to add to the sauce.

Lay the cooled chicken out onto a cutting board.

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Cut the chicken as small or as large as you like.

Drain the mixed vegetables well.

Return them to the pot.

Add the chicken to the vegetables.

Now pour the white sauce into the veggies and chicken.

Stir the sauce into the veggies and chicken until it’s all well-combined.

YUM!!!!!!!!!!  And if I’d left it just like THIS, Ankle Biter #2 would’ve eaten HIS weight in it because it resembles soup or a very thick stew.  But see, we’re about to put it into a casserole dish and by nature of being in a casserole dish, Ankle Biter #2 thinks this isn’t fit to feed to the dogs!  ***rolling eyes***  Now just leave it on the stove for a few minutes and let’s roll out that other disc of dough.

You’ll want to roll it out just like you did the other piece.

Now using a pastry cutter or a paring knife, cut the dough into strips about 1/2″-3/4″ wide.

The strips will look like this when you’re done.  You’ll need about 12-15 strips for a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Pour the “pot” part of the “pot pie” into the already baked crust.  See how the dough shrunk, even though we added the dried beans?  If we hadn’t put the dried beans in, it would’ve shrunk all the way down into the bottom of the pan and there would’ve been no crust up the sides at all.

Spread the veggie and chicken mixture out evenly inside the crust.

We’re ready to begin laying the strips of dough on the top in a lattice work design.

Begin by laying strips horizontally.  Place them as close or as far apart as you like.

Now go across vertically until the pot pie is completely covered with strips of pastry dough.  Return to the oven approximately 25 minutes or until the crust is brown and cooked completely through.

And in a few minutes, this is what you’ll have!  YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chicken Pot Pie

*  1-1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders

*  5 sticks butter, softened

*  1 1/2 bars cream cheese, softened

*  4 cups all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup for white sauce

*  ground sage, chicken seasoning blend of choice, garlic and fresh-cracked black pepper to taste

*  3 cups milk

*  1 lg. onion or 2 medium onions, diced

*  1 lg. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

*  2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

In a mixer bowl, combine 4 sticks butter and 1 1/2 bars cream cheese.  Cream butter and cream cheese together until well combined.  Add half the flour and mix into butter mixture.  Add remaining flour and any spices you want.  Turn mixer back on until the dough forms a ball.  Remove dough ball and divide into two equal portions.  Flatten each ball into a disc and place in plastic wrap or wax paper inside a large ziplock bag.  Refrigerate until well-chilled.

Boil chicken with sage.  Boil until chicken is tender.  Remove from broth and allow to cool.  When chicken is cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces.

Boil mixed vegetables and potatoes until tender.  Drain and set aside.

Roll out 1 piece of dough on a floured surface.  Roll to fit the size casserole dish you plan to use.  This recipe will fill 1-9″ x 13″ pan or 2-8″ square pans.  Spray dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Fold dough in half and lay across baking dish.  Unfold to cover entire dish.  Tuck the edges of the dough under around the pan.  Place wax paper or foil inside dough and fill with dried beans.  Baked in a pre-heated 350° oven approximately 30 minutes or until the dough is cooked through.  Set aside while preparing the remainder of the dish.

Melt remaining stick of butter over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until nearly translucent.  Add additional sage, spice blend of choice, garlic and fresh-cracked black pepper.  Stir to combine.  Add 1/4 cup of flour to onions and butter.  Stir until well-combined.  Cook about 2 minutes before adding milk.  Stir or whisk milk in and cook until sauce is thickened.

Pour sauce into drained mixed vegetables.  Add diced chicken and stir to combine.  Pour into baked crust.  Set aside.

Roll out second disc of dough.  Cut into 1/2″-3/4″ strips with pastry roller or paring knife.  Lay pieces horizontally across the pan, then lay them vertically in a lattice work-style.  Return to oven and bake approximately 25 additional minutes or until top crust is done.  Serve hot.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

This morning, it is WICKED cold here in my little part of the world.  It’s all of about 9°!  If there’s any weather that screams for……….BEGS for comfort food, it’s this weather!  This is the kind of food that will warm the bones!  Perfect food for a cold (and possibly snowy!!!!) day at home.

Enjoy!  And I hope you’re warm wherever you are!

Yummmmmmmmmmmm!  Now with that said, let me give you a true confession.  I don’t dig sandwiches as a general rule.  I don’t consider them “real food.”  To me, sandwiches are something you eat as a snack to wait until it’s time to eat “real food.”  But paninis are a whole different thing than your average sandwich.  They are a sandwich on steroids or something like that!

I started making this panini a couple years ago.  Since then, it’s become a favorite at my house.  They menfolk that live here could eat this sandwich everyday!  Even the picky little #2 Ankle Biter loves and asks for this panini.  And it’s so easy, the kids can make it or at the very least help out a LOT making it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ciabatta rolls, bacon, Granny Smith apple and Cheddar, er, Colby-Jack cheese.

You can use any bread you like.  We love these Ciabatta rolls because they’re thick and chewy.  But I’ve made this with sourdough bread and several other types of bread with great success.  So use whatever bread your family enjoys!  The bacon?  If you want to fry up your own bacon, knock yourself out.  Someday when I have time, I’m going to use some Peppered Applewood Smoked Bacon.  But the day I made these, I was going for quick and simple.  And there’s nothing simpler than pre-cooked bacon!  The apple?  Gotta be Granny Smith?  No, not at all!  If you prefer a different apple, use your favorite.  My family just enjoys the tart bite the Granny Smith apple gives this panini.  Finally, the cheese?  I hear you.  “Hey Amy!  Didn’t you say this is a CHEDDAR Apple Bacon Panini?”  Yep, sure did!  Colby is similar to cheddar cheese.  Colby is dyed orange like typical cheddar cheese is, but doesn’t go through the cheddaring process.  It’s a softer, milder cheese than cheddar.  But it’s what the Tall Skinny Man came back from the store with.  So that’s what I used the day I made the photos for this recipe.  Given my preference, though, I would use a sharp cheddar.  But you could absolutely use several different cheeses.  If you like a little bite, use a pepperjack cheese.  If you’re going for super gourmet, use some crumbled goat cheese or gorgonzola.  Those cheeses would make this panini so decadent!!!!!!  You really can’t go wrong!

Now, let me just say that the best version I’ve made to date of these included a Cranberry Horseradish Mayonnaise that I made to go on the bread before adding the apples, bacon and cheese.

See this Cranberry Horseradish Blend from Wildtree?  Last time, I made these, I mixed a little of it in with some Light Kraft Mayonnaise and spread some on the bread.  It made these THE BEST we’ve ever had.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize I would be making these again so soon and I was out of this blend when I did these for photos.  If you’re interested in the Cranberry Horseradish Blend, you can order it here:

www.amys-whatscookin-goodlookin.mywildtree.com

So let’s make them!

Use a corer to take the core out of the apple.  This is simple enough the kids can do it for you!  If you don’t have a corer, you might want to do this step yourself with a sharp paring knife.

Slice the apples into rings.  If you won’t be using them right away, you might want to dip them into some lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

Open up the bread and you’re ready to start layering!

Lay a couple apple rings on the bread.  If you wish, you can add a slice of cheese first and then add the apples.  It depends on how cheesy you want it.

Add some bacon.  This was four slices of the pre-cooked bacon.  Honestly, I think that bacon comes off anorexic pigs because it’s so skinny!  If you cook your own bacon, get the thick-sliced kind!

Add the cheese and put the top of the bread on and you’re ready to grill them up!

Put a couple on your panini grill.  If you don’t have a panini grill, you can do this on a George Foreman grill or even in a skillet.  If you have to do it in a skillet, set another skillet or other heavy pan/pot on top.

It’s preferable that they heat from both sides at once.  But if you’re using the skillet method, you’ll have to apply the pressure with a heavy pot of top and then flip over to heat from the other side.

See that fantastically drippy cheese?  That’s how you know it’s about ready!  Oh my, but these are just about perfect!  Grab a plate or platter and start taking them off!

And there ya have it!  Cheddar Apple Bacon Panini!  Fantastic by itself or with your favorite soup!  We had this with the Loaded Potato Soup I shared recently.  But it would be wonderful with some Broccoli Cheese Soup, Cream of Asparagus Soup, or Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cheddar Apple Bacon Panini

*  Ciabatta bread, Sourdough Bread or your favorite bread

*  Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

*  Cooked bacon slices

*  Sliced Cheddar cheese (or Colby Jack, Pepperjack, or your favorite cheese)

*  Cranberry Horseradish Mayonnaise (Optional)

Core and slice the apple(s).  Split ciabatta rolls, spread with Cranberry Horseradish Mayonnaise if you wish, then layer apples, bacon and cheese.  Grill until the cheese is melted.  Serve hot.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

These make a hearty addition to your soup dinner or they’re fantastic by themselves.  I hope you enjoy these little sandwiches!  Have a magnificent day!

]]> http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?feed=rss2&p=1470 7 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1424 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1424#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:23:51 +0000 Amy http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1424

It’s December.  It’s cold.  And that just begs for SOUP!  There’s just nothing else in the world that warms the bones and screams “COMFORT” more than a hot, steaming bowl of soup!  So today, we’re going to make some Loaded Potato Soup.  This soup is not your “normal” potato soup!  We’re going to add all kinds of extra flavors to it!  And when we’re done, your little pea-pickin’ heart is going to be singing!

Let’s make some Loaded Potato Soup!  Did I mention it’s LOADED?  Cuz it is!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Russet potatoes, onions, green onions, garlic, heavy whipping cream, fresh peppercorns for grinding, sour cream, ham pieces (the “seasoning” pieces that will often say “Beans and Greens Seasoning,”) bacon bits (or you can cook your own bacon and chop it up) and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Peel the potatoes………….Now with that said, you’re certainly welcome to use any potato you want for this, but I prefer russets for this.  If you prefer red potatoes, use those.  And in all honesty, if you’re in a tight pinch and have absolutely NO time to stand and peel potatoes, a couple bags of frozen cubed hashbrowns will work wonderfully!  I prefer to make it with potatoes I peeled myself, but if you’re craving potato soup and have no time to stand and peel 5-10 pounds of potatoes, those little bags of hashbrowns just can’t be beat!

If you are peeling potatoes and not using the hashbrowns for a quickie potato soup, cut the potatoes into chunks like you would for mashed potatoes.  Cut them fairly large so you will have some texture to the soup.  If you cut them really small, it will be a much smoother soup.  Either way will work, but we prefer a potato soup with a little more “chunk” to it.

Put the potatoes in a large stock pot and cover them with water.  Add just enough water to barely cover them.  You don’t want to drown them.  You’ll be pouring off most of the cooking liquid when they potatoes are tender.

Add some fresh-cracked pepper to the potatoes.

And add LOTS of garlic!

Now while the potatoes are cooking, let’s get the “Loaded” part ready.  Open the ham seasoning pieces and lay them out on a cutting board.

Using a sharp knife, cut the ham into small pieces.  You’ll need a super-sharp knife for this because a dull one just will not get the job done!

Now dice up your onion.  I like LOTS of onion for this.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Take the outside off the onion then cut it in half root to tip.  Lay it cut-side down like in the photo and then cut it into several thick slices.

Turn the onion sideways and cut across the thick slices you made to cut the onion into small chunks.  If you like it diced fine, by all means, cut it into smaller pieces.  Again, I like the layers of texture in this soup with the large chunks of potato and the large dices of onion.  But do what you and your family like!

The onions are ready to go in the hot tub!

Get your pan or skillet super hot!  See this fantastic pan?  I HIGHLY recommend this pan!  It’s a Calphalon sauteuse pan.  Tall Skinny Man got me not one, but TWO, for Christmas!!!!!  I LOVE THIS PAN!  OK, back to your regularly scheduled program.

OK, see that spoonful of loveliness?  That would be bacon grease!  There’s nothing quite as good as some pig cooked in pig!  But if you don’t happen to have any bacon grease on hand, olive oil, vegetable oil, canola, butter, whatever fat you have on hand will work fine.  This is NOT health food!  This is comfort food!   And pig is mighty comforting at my house!

Let the bacon grease melt and get super hot.  Or let your oil and/or butter get super hot.  Just remember if you use butter, you will need to also use some oil also because the butter can’t take the high temperature without turning brown.

Now add the onions and ham to the hot pan.  The smell will instantly make you sing!  It’s fantastic!!!!

Keep an eye on it.  You want to keep moving it around the pan until the ham and onions are caramelized.   It will take a few minutes, so be patient!  Trust me!  It’s well worth it in the end!

They’re starting to sizzle now!

See how the pan looks when you move the ham and onions aside?  Those beautiful little brown bits on the bottom?  That’s when you know the natural sugars in the onion are cooking out and you’re about there!

You’re THERE!  They’re ready!  Just turn the heat off and let them sit there until you’re ready for them.

In the meantime, drain the majority of the water off the potatoes.

Now add the potatoes back to the pot.

Pour in the heavy whipping cream.  Don’t be shy!  Remember, it ain’t health food!  Your weary soul needs some comfort and this is just the thing for that!

Give it a good stir until all the cream is combined with the potatoes.

Now add the sour cream.

Stir it in until it’s well-combined.  You don’t want to see any of the white lumps from the sour cream.

Now add the ham and onions.

Oh my gravy!  This soup is HAPPY now!  It’s VERY happy!  And you’re just about to be very happy too!  Because it is <_> <—-this close to being ready to eat!

Now slice the green onions!  You’ll be adding those to the top of the soup.  YUM!!!!!!!!!

I like to use both the onion part and the “green” too.  If you prefer one or the other, just use the part you like.

Now serve it up in a bowl and add some of the shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of bacon and some of the green onions.  Oh my goodness!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODNESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!  Did I say that already?  That’s OK, because it bears repeating!  Park this fantastic soup beside your favorite sandwich and you’ll be in comfort food heaven!  I can’t even tell you how delightfully comforting this soup is!

Loaded Potato Soup

*  5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed

*  16 oz. sour cream

*  1 quart heavy whipping cream

*  fresh cracked pepper, to taste

*  minced garlic, to taste

*  2-3 onions, diced

*  1 pkg. ham seasoning pieces

*  1 bunch green onions, sliced on the bias

*  1 pkg. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

*  1 pkg. bacon bits or 1 pkg. bacon, fried and crumbled

Peel and dice potatoes.  In a large stockpot, cover potatoes with water.  Add fresh cracked pepper and garlic to taste.  Do not salt!  The ham, bacon and cheese will add salt to the soup later.  Boil until potatoes are tender.  While potatoes are boiling, cut up onion and ham.  Fry in bacon grease or oil/fat of choice until onion and ham are caramelized.  Drain most of the water off the potatoes.  Return potatoes to the stockpot and pour in the heavy whipping cream.  Stir.  Add the sour cream and stir until well-combined.  Add the ham and onions to the soup.  Stir them in.  Ladle the soup into bowls and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions.

And friends, that is Loaded Potato Soup!  The ultimate in comfort food!  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do!

Stay tuned because I’ll be sharing the sandwich you see beside this soup.  It’s a Cheddar Apple Bacon Panini!  My family LOVES paninis!  So be on the lookout for that recipe to show up here soon!

Have a fantastic day!

]]> http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?feed=rss2&p=1424 8 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1397 http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1397#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:13:09 +0000 Amy http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1397

Right now, just go ahead and get down on your knees and say a prayer of repentance.  Trust me!  You’re going to need to beg forgiveness for your wicked soul after making and eating this pie!  Cuz it’s just downright evil, wicked, mean and nasty GOOD!  Me?  I’m just plum ashamed of myself for serving it!  And with Praline Ice Cream on top, to boot!  Lord, have mercy on me!  Forgive me, for I have sinned!

Y’all wanna sin too?  LOL  Honestly, this pie will just flip your wig!  I’m a fat woman and I love to eat!  But dessert usually isn’t my “thang.”  But this pie?  OH YEAH BABY!  Ummmmmmmmmmmmm!  Did I mention evil?  Wicked?  Mean?  And NASTYgood!?  OK, yeah, I thought so, but I think it bears repeating!

Years ago when I was baking for other folks, I started making this pie as part of a Holiday package.  The turkey was great!  Dressing too.  But folks went crazy over this pie.  Kentucky Derby Pie, or as it is sometimes referred to as just Derby Pie, came from Kentucky about half a century ago.  It started as the specialty pastry at a little inn in Prospect, Kentucky called the Melrose Inn.  It got its name from putting a bunch of names for the pie in a hat.  And VOILA!  Kentucky Derby Pie was born!  It actually has nothing to do with the famous race held in Churchill Downs every year.  But it has everything to do with FABULOUS!

Let’s get started making this delightfully sinful creation!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips, pecans and pie crust.

Bought pie crust, Amy?  Seriously?  You don’t make your OWN pie crust?  Well, you see, it’s like this.  See this beautiful lady?

That’s my Granny.  You see, Alene could make pie crust that would make you cry!  The flakiest crust that ever passed your lips!  Those of you out there old enough…..do you remember those Loretta Lynn commercials where she was hawking Crisco because it made the best pie crust?  Well, ole Loretta made a lot more money than my Granny ever saw in her lifetime, but I guarantee you, that mess she called pie crust couldn’t hold a candle to the magnificent pastry that came out of my Granny’s kitchen.  Can I make pie crust?  Sure I can!  But mine ain’t gonna make you cry like Granny’s would.  So why make all that mess on the counter rolling out dough if it’s not going to be positively spectacular when you’re done?  Thus, bought pie crust!

So let’s put this pie together!  It’s so simple your kids can do it!

Start out by pouring the sugar into a mixing bowl.

Now add the flour in with the sugar.

Melt the butter.  I use my Pampered Chef microwave steamer bowl for melting butter.  Once the butter is melted, set it aside to cool for a little while.

When the butter is completely cool, add it to the flour and sugar mixture.

Give it a little mix.  It doesn’t have to be completely mixed yet.  Just get the dry ingredients wet so they won’t clump when you add the eggs.

See?  Like this.  It’s not smooth, but the big clumps are gone.

Break the eggs into a bowl individually.  Once you break one egg and know it’s OK, add it to the mixing bowl.  You always want to break eggs one at a time and add them one at a time so you don’t end up ruining a dish by adding a rotten egg straight into the mixing bowl.  If you break them one at a time into a separate bowl, you can just toss the one bad egg.  That’s a good rule of thumb for any baking.

Now mix the eggs in and beat the mixture well with a wire whisk.

Add the vanilla after you’ve gotten the eggs well incorporated into the batter.  But let’s stop a minute and talk about vanilla.  Y’all, if you don’t ever listen to another word from me, listen now.  PLEASE, use real vanilla.  Please don’t use that “imitation” vanilla.  Get real vanilla extract!  It really DOES make a difference in taste!

Whisk until all the lumps are gone and the vanilla is all stirred in.  And you could stop right here and bake this pie up and it would taste just grand!  But we’re about to make this pie happier than a dead hog in the sunshine!  What makes a dead hog all that happy, sunshine or not?  I dunno personally, but that was an Alene-ism and since we’re making pie, I thought I’d throw in an ode to Granny there.  I just know this pie is about to get crazy happy!

Throw in some chopped pecans.  You can chop your own, but I’m a little too lazy for that.  I bought ‘em already in pieces!

Now add semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Make sure they’re semi-sweet and not milk chocolate.

Now fold those into the batter.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, mercy me!  Somebody shout “GLORY” and pass the offering plate cuz surely there’s a sinner out there that just came to know Jesus over this pie!

Lookie there!  It’s ready to go into a pie crust.

So let’s do that.  Pour the batter into a prepared pie crust.

Just like this!  In the oven it goes!  And in a few minutes, you’re going to be smelling something heavenly wafting through your house!  This might be a good time to tell you that you probably shouldn’t ever just make one of these at a time.  It’s a good thing to just go ahead and double everything and make two.  Cuz one is NEVER enough!  EVER!  And it’s just as easy to whip up two as it is to make one.  Trust me on this!  You will SOOOOOOOOOOO be sorry if you only have one of these in the house.

And there you go!  Kentucky Derby Pie in all its glory!  I think I might just hear the Hallelujah Chorus playing now!  It’s that amazing!

Kentucky Derby Pie

*  1 cup sugar

*  1/2 cup flour

*  2 eggs

*  1 stick butter, melted and cooled

*  1 cup pecans, chopped

*  1/2 bag chocolate chips

*  1 Tbsp. vanilla

*  1 deep dish pie crust

Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.  Pour the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Once the butter is cooled, add it to the sugar and flour mixture.  Stir together until the large clumps have disappeared.  Add the eggs one at a time, then stir into the mixture until well incorporated.  Add vanilla and stir.  Add pecans and chocolate chips.  Fold those into the batter.  Pour into a pie crust.  Bake in a pre-heated 325° oven for 1 hour.  Serve warm, straight out of the oven or room temperature.

Whew!  Words almost fail me now.  What else is there to say about this pie?  It will rock your world!  This is great for the Holidays!  You can make up 6 or 8 of these pies and wrap them and throw them in the freezer!  Then when Thanksgiving or Christmas comes along, take it out and let it get room temperature.  It will be just like you baked it fresh!  This will be great for your Holiday dessert buffet, church potluck, work party or Sunday night supper!  This pie also makes a wonderful home-baked gift!

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as we do!  Happy Holidays friends!

So the holidays are upon us!  Time to start sharing some new recipes for you to try out!  The recipe I want to share with you today came from my friend Leigh in Texas.  Leigh got it from her friend Nancy, also in Texas.  And these little bundles are just the bomb dot com!  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!  Like smack-your-Mama good!  Leigh and Nancy, I took a few little liberties with your Company Green Beans!  Don’t beat me!  It’s what I do!  Thanks for sharing this delightful dish!

You won’t believe how simple they are!  And they’ll make a fabulous alternative to the same ole tired green bean casserole folks trot out every year for the holidays.  Don’t get me wrong!  I’m not hatin’ on some green bean casseroles.  Cuz I love ‘em too!  But sometimes you just want to try something new and different.  These little Green Bean Bundles fit the bill for both new AND different!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Whole green beans (fresh or frozen), butter, garlic, bacon and brown sugar.

Now let’s talk about these green beans just a second.  You don’t want huge green beans like you would snap or break and turn into “cut” green beans like you would cook with a big ole ham hock in them.  You want the really skinny green beans.  Sometimes they will be referred to as “hericot vert.”

Amy, what in the world is a Heri-Cot Vert?  You sat there and asked it out loud, didn’t you?  Come on!  I know you did!   Hericot vert is French for green beans.  Hericot means bean and vert means green.  French green beans are usually a little longer and thinner than our typical green beans.  They work especially well for this because they’re so tender.  So if you’re using fresh green beans, look for the ones that are labeled as “Hericot Vert.”  Sam’s carries them most of the time.  And you’ll definitely be able to find them in the produce section of most grocery stores in larger cities.  But down here in Podunk, you best not ask the friendly neighborhood produce stockboy for Hericot Vert because he’s likely to think you’re cussin’ him.  In which case, go over to the frozen food section and pick up the frozen whole green beans like you see in the photo.  Kroger has some fairly nice little whole skinny green beans in their steamable frozen bags.  Just get those so the produce stockboy doesn’t smack you in the mouth for “cussin’” him!

If you use fresh, you’ll need to either steam them or blanch them a few minutes before proceeding to the bacon step.  Here’s what you do with the frozen ones:

Steam them in the microwave according to package directions.  Notice my little microwave there?  Uh huh.  Say buh-bye to it.  It gave its life for these green beans!  ***blowing Taps***  It began to spew smoke and gave up the ghost on me while cooking this little bag of beans.  So I had to take a little break between this bag and the next step to hop on down to Lowe’s and fetch a new microwave.

While the beans are steaming, place the bacon on a cutting board and cut the bacon in half right down the middle.  You want it to be plenty long enough to be able to wrap completely around each little bundle.

You’ll want to let the green beans cool a bit before this step or you’ll end up with very burned fingers!  See those fingers?  They belong to Tall Skinny Man.  He rendered assistance in this process.  He’s a very good green bean bundle wrapper!

Put together about 10 little beans (if they’re the skinny ones) into each bundle.  If you have the fatter green beans, you may want to only use about 6 or so.

Wrap the piece of bacon around your little bundle of green beans and lay the bundle in your baking dish.

Repeat until you have a whole dish full of little bundles like this.

Aren’t they purty?

Now let’s go make the sauce to pour over them!

Melt the butter in a shallow pan.

Add the chopped garlic to the butter and give it a nice stir.  Make sure the heat isn’t on high.  You only want to mellow the flavor of the garlic.  Adding it to blazing hot butter in a blazing hot pan will result in disaster!  Garlic is wonderful cooked, but when added to a pan over super high heat, it burns very quickly and becomes bitter and icky!

Now add the brown sugar to the butter and garlic and stir until it’s well-combined.

It looks like a rich, thick caramel when it’s ready.  This only takes a minute or so.

Spoon the brown sugar sauce over each little bundle.

Keep spooning the brown sugar sauce on until each little bundle is well-drizzled with it.

Now you’re ready to bake them!

And when they’re ready, you’ll have a dish full of sweet and sassy little green beans bundles like this:

The oven dries them out a bit, so if the appearance is off-putting to you, you could certainly cover the dish with foil for a portion of the baking time.  That would keep them from appearing dried out.  However, it’s also going to create steam which may alter the integrity of your sauce.  So be cautious about trying this.  You might want to just “tent” some foil over the dish as opposed to fully covering it.

Leigh’s and Nancy’s Green Bean Bundles aka Company Green Beans

*  Fresh or Frozen Whole Green Beans or Hericot Vert

*  1 lb. bacon (each slice cut in half)

*  1/3 cup brown sugar

*  1 clove garlic crushed or 1 heaping Tbsp. minced garlic from a jar

*  1 stick butter (unsalted)

Steam or blanch green beans.  Allow to cool before you make the bundles.  While the beans are steaming or cooling, cut the bacon in half so that each original slice is made into 2 slices for wrapping around the bundles.  Once the beans can be handled, make a bundle of about 6 if they’re large or 10 if they’re skinny green beans.  Wrap 1 slice bacon around each bundle.  Lay each bundle down in a baking dish.

To make the sauce, melt the butter over low heat in a shallow dish.  When the butter is melted, add the garlic and brown sugar.  Stir until the mixture resembles caramel.  Drizzle over each green bean bundle.

Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 35 minutes.

NOTE:  If you want to make a large dish of these without going to the trouble of making individual bundles, cut each slice of bacon into about 6 pieces.  Make sauce and add bacon pieces to sauce.  Lay green beans in a dish and pour sauce over the top.  Bake as you would the bundles.

And there ya go!  So simple!  These make such a fantastic presentation on a plate!  They would make a wonderful addition to your holiday table or buffet!

Thanks again to my friend Leigh, who I love dearly and to her friend Nancy who she loves dearly for this recipe!

Stay tuned!  I *hope* to have more holiday recipes coming up.  Do y’all know who I need to talk to about getting a few more hours in my day?  That would sure help!  Have a great day and Happy Holidays!  They’re rapidly approaching!!!

I know it’s still a little over 2 months before Thanksgiving, but there’s no time like the present to start sharing some ideas for your holiday table.  For me, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only redeeming factors to fall and winter so I start planning and anticipating them early!  I absolutely love the holidays!  They’re all about family and bringing them to the table together.  And I’m all about that!  To me, there’s nothing better this side of heaven than having your family around the table together sharing the love of good food.

So I thought I’d go ahead and start sharing some holiday cooking and baking ideas with you now in case you’re a little OCD like me and have to plan, plan, PLAN in advance.  And if you’re not, go ahead and make this for Thursday night dinner!  It’s all good!

This is simply a new spin on plain old mashed potatoes.  Not that there’s anything wrong with plain old mashed potatoes.  I love them too!  But sometimes you just want something a little new and different.  This is how you can take a classic and make it even better.  Mashed potatoes are a comfort food for me.  I think they probably are for most folks.  So they show up on my table a LOT…….in lots of different ways.  This is one of them.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Potatoes, sour cream, butter, heavy whipping cream, fresh cracked pepper, garlic, sweet onions and salt.  Forgive me for forgetting to set the garlic in the photo.  If you’ve been reading around here very long, you know to expect garlic in just about everything, huh?

Start out by peeling the potatoes if you want.  If you’re using small red potatoes, you could certainly boil them whole and leave the skins on when you do the mashing.  It’s entirely up to you!  But for this recipe, I did peel the potatoes.

Put them on to boil.  Now leave them alone while we’re getting those amazing caramelized onions ready!  Soon, your kitchen it going to smell so good it will knock you down!

Put a skillet on the stove to get hot and add the stick of butter.  Let the butter melt over medium heat while you’re cutting up the onion.

Hello, Love!  Sweet onions!  Ahhhhhhh, bliss, I tell you!  I adore sweet onions!  Vidalias, 1015s from TX, just gimme some sweet onions!  We’re soon going to make this one even sweeter!

You’ll want to chop off both ends of the onion first.  Then remove the peeling from the outside layer.

Set the onion up on its end and cut it down the middle like this.

Now lay it over on the flat side and begin cutting it into half-rings.  I like them fairly thin for this.

Then I cut each “half-ring” into thirds to make shorter pieces.  Since you’ll be adding these to mashed potatoes, you don’t want really large pieces.

The butter’s just about ready.  Turn the heat up on high to get it really sizzling before adding the onions.

Now slide the onions off into the sizzling butter.  And excuse this really dark photo……I’m not exactly sure what happened to make it so dark.

Throw in that garlic I forgot to put in the “What You’ll Need” photo!

Now add a few grinds of fresh pepper.  I especially love the larger pieces of peppercorn in this dish!  But if you’re STILL holding out on buying that pepper grinder and using fresh cracked pepper, plain old pepper will work fine.  Add in the salt here too.

OH MY GOODNESS!  OH MY GOODNESS!  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wish I had a pan of these RIGHT NOW!!!!!!  Have I mentioned how much I love onions?  These are just about ready!  Just a few more minutes.  The brown is the “caramelized” part.  It’s the natural sugars in the onion caramelizing like sugar would if you cooked it like this.

The onions are almost done and I bet your potatoes are nearly done too!  So warm the heavy cream in the microwave.  You don’t want to boil it.  Just get it warmed through and through so you’re not pouring cold liquid into hot potatoes.

Give the potatoes a good drain.  You don’t want any of that cooking liquid left behind because it will just dilute all the incredible flavor you’re working so hard to put into these babies!

Pour the drained potatoes into your mixer bowl.

Now let’s whip them!  They’ve been very, VERY bad potatoes.  But with a good whippin’, we’re going to make them good!

Start slowly pouring in that warmed heavy cream.  Adding warmed liquid to your mashed potatoes helps avoid them becoming “gluey” like they do when adding cold liquid.  You’ll want the mixer on a low speed while you’re doing this or you’ll be cleaning mashed potatoes off your kitchen cabinets from now until spring!  And I don’t know about you, but cleaning mashed potatoes off my cabinets is not exactly my idea of big fun!

Once you have whipped the potatoes until all the lumps are gone, you’re ready to add the onions.  Pour them in to the potatoes while the mixer is off.  Restart the mixer and just incorporate them.  No need to whip them anymore.  They have promised to never, EVER be bad again!

And finally, because they weren’t decadent enough already, add the sour cream and turn the mixer on low again until it’s just blended in.

At this point, if any of the local stores could have been bothered to carry it, I would have added some Gruyere cheese.  Gruyere cheese is a Swiss-made cheese with a very creamy, nutty flavor.  It’s vastly different from what we traditionally know as “Swiss cheese.”  It doesn’t typically have the large holes in it that we commonly think of Swiss cheese having.  When aged, it can develop holes, but the younger, nuttier cheese will not.  I VERY MUCH wanted some in these potatoes.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make a trip to Whole Foods to pick up any before I made them.  So they went without.  But if you have time to plan ahead of time for these and can make a trip to Nashville or Birmingham or anywhere else there’s a Whole Foods, I highly recommend buying a small piece of Gruyere to grate for these potatoes!

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

*  8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

*  1 large sweet onion

*  1 stick butter

*  2 cups heavy whipping cream

*  1/2 cup sour cream

*  salt, fresh cracked pepper and fresh garlic to taste

*  1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

Peel and dice potatoes.  Boil potatoes until tender and drain well.  Melt stick of butter in skillet.  Prepare onion by slicing off each end and removing the peel.  Cut in half then slice into thin half-rings.  Cut each section of half-rings into thirds.  Add to hot butter in skillet.  Stir to coat each piece of onion with butter.  Add garlic, black pepper and salt.  Continue cooking onions until they become a nutty brown color.  Whip potatoes with a mixer, slowly adding the heavy whipping cream until the potatoes are silky and smooth.  Add the onions and sour cream and mix just until they are incorporated into the potatoes.  Add cheese and mix once more until all the cheese is evenly distributed throughout the potatoes.  Serve immediately.

If you can’t get your hands on any Gruyere cheese, you *can* substitute other cheeses, but I don’t recommend it.  I certainly don’t recommend using a bag of pre-shredded cheese.  I’m not too good to use pre-shredded cheese.  I use it all the time.  However, just not in this dish.  Those onions have such a delicate flavor, you don’t want to overpower it by using a super strong cheese.  You worked hard to make those onions taste the way they do, so don’t make them the red-headed step-child of this dish by using a cheese that would totally come in like the ADHD child and take over the dish.  KWIM?

I was inspired to come home and make these after eating something similar in a steakhouse.  It was like eating mashed potatoes with THE BEST French Onion Soup you can imagine inside the mashed potatoes.  So I was determined to create the same thing at home.  And these were born!

As you can see from the top photo, I served them with a grilled pork chop.  But they are amazing with a grilled steak like I originally had them in the steakhouse.  They would be fabulous with grilled chicken or roast beef!  And if you do want to serve them for the holidays, these would be absolutely spectacular with a brown sugar-glazed ham or a prime rib!

I hope these make your mouth water just looking at them and thinking about them like they do mine!  And I hope they give you a new idea for a different spin on mashed potatoes for your holiday table, your Sunday dinner table or your Thursday night table!

Have a great day!  Thanksgiving is exactly 11 weeks from tomorrow!

So I guess you all know that I’m a cookbook and cooking magazine fanatic, right?  I mean, that just kinda stands to reason.  If you DIDN’T know that about me, well, now you do.  Shocker, huh?  Yeah, I figured it would be.  I recently got my Food Network Magazine in the mail and toward the back they had “Salad on a Stick.”  Apparently, it was something from a festival or a fair………an attempt to make fair/festival food a little healthier than the typical corndog, funnel cake, smoked turkey legs and deep-fried Twinkies on a stick.  I’m always trying to come up with new, fun salads for my family.  When I saw this, I knew I had to try it!

It was super, super simple to do!  Tall Skinny Man stuck the veggies and cheese on the skewers while I was cutting up the veggies.  The original recipe didn’t have cheese, so that’s my addition. The simplicity of this will make it a wonderful addition to your Labor Day picnic table or just your Sunday dinner table for that matter!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cherry or grape tomatoes, cheese cubes of choice.

Start by cutting the lettuce in half.

Then cut each half into thirds.

Now cut each third into thirds so you have nice chunks to put on the skewers.

Peel the carrots and then cut them into large chunks.  I used a “crinkle” cutter, but you can just cut them on the bias with a knife if you don’t have a crinkle cutter.  “On the bias” means to cut at an angle.

Slice the cucumber on the bias also.  They’ll need to be fairly thick so the skewer doesn’t cause them to break.

Skewer all the veggies and the cheese up in any order you want.  Just alternate so that you have about 3 chunks of lettuce on each skewer and end with either a chunk of cheese or a tomato so the tip the skewer is covered.

And in a matter of minutes, this is what you’ll have.  I can’t even tell you what a huge hit these were!

Salad Skewers

*  1 head iceberg lettuce

*  1 box grape or cherry tomatoes

*  1 bag cubed cheese of choice (or cube your own from a block of cheese)

*  1 bag carrots

*  1-2 cucumbers (depending on their size)

*  salad dressing of choice

*  skewers

Cut head of lettuce in half.  Then cut each half into thirds.  Cut each wedge into thirds making “chunks” of lettuce.  Peel carrots and slice on the bias.  Slice cucumber on the bias.  Slide vegetables and cheese onto skewers ending with a cube of cheese or a tomato on the pointed end of the skewer.  Serve cold with favorite salad dressing.

These are so versatile!  You could also add mushrooms to them.  Any color bell pepper would be pretty on them too.  If you had room, a small chunk of red cabbage would be a nice addition.  A floret of broccoli or cauliflower would work too!  Make it into whatever you want it to be!  These are just the ones I chose to use.  But you can certainly come up with your own combinations that you and your family enjoy!

This is a great way to get the kids in the kitchen “cooking” with you!  You could have them help peel the carrots or stick the veggies on the skewers if they’re big enough to handle that part.  Make it a family affair!  My kids LOVE to be in the kitchen with me.  And I’ve found it’s a lot easier to get kids to eat something they might not otherwise eat if they got to help make it!

I hope this is a fun new way for you to eat salad at your house!  And if you’re looking for a new salad dressing to use instead of the same-old-same-old, give my Orange Vinaigrette a try!      http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1022  I posted it a couple weeks ago.  It’s a new and different spin on your plain old vinaigrette salad dressings!

Happy Labor Day to you and yours!  My family and I are heading next door to Unk’s house to eat some of his phenomenally fabulous BBQ ribs and chicken.  That man could flat out beat anybody on that BBQing!  I’m taking some on my Very Best Baked Beans that I shared with you recently.   http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1086   And I’m also taking some German Potato Salad, Cold Pasta Salad and Margarita Slaw.  I’ll share those recipes with you sometime!  )  Be safe and enjoy your family this holiday weekend!

Is that gorgeous or WHAT!?  And phenomenally delish!  I’ve grilled pineapple for years and I’ve made honey butter to slather on it.  But this?  THIS was insane!  Oh my goodness!  The smell of that molasses and butter mixed with lime zest……….SHAZAM!  Man alive, it was something else!  I imagine this will be my “go-to” grilled pineapple recipe from now on!  When we get ready to grill and I ask, “What do y’all want me to grill,” the youngest ankle biter always screams, “PINEAPPLE!”  Now he’ll be screaming for THIS pineapple to go on the grill!

It’s SUPER simple!  Let’s make some!  You’ll need just 4 items:

A fresh pineapple (or two or three!!!), butter, molasses and a lime.  It just doesn’t get much easier than this!!!

If you’ve never cut a fresh pineapple up before, don’t panic!  It’s not nearly as daunting as it might look!  Start out by laying it on its side on a cutting board.  Make sure you have a super sharp knife.  Cut off the top and set it aside.

Now cut the bottom off just like you did with the top.

Stand the pineapple back up and begin cutting the sides off.  You’ll just go with the curve of the pineapple.

You may have to trim a little bit after the initial cut.  See how I didn’t get all the way down to just pineapple?  I trimmed that off a little bit more.  Then keep cutting until you have all the outside off and the fruit inside exposed.

Like this………Now you’re going to lay it back on its side and and slice it into thick slices.  I got about 6 slices from one pineapple.  You can probably slice a little thinner than I did and get 7-8 maybe.  But I wouldn’t slice it any thinner than that.

Once I have the pineapple sliced, I core it with an apple corer.  This step is not absolutely necessary.  You can leave the center core in the pineapple.  It’s perfectly edible.  However, the texture is a little icky to me.  Ankle Biter #2 LOVES it!  He stands at the table while I’m coring pineapples and eats the centers as fast as I can get them out.  It’s much harder than the rest of the pineapple flesh.  So it’s up to you whether you take it out or leave it in.

They’re ready now.  So let’s prepare the molasses-lime butter!

Start by placing a stick of room temperature butter in a bowl.  ***note to self:  Never use a “butter”-colored bowl to demonstrate anything with butter again! ***  Sorry about that!

Zest the lime over the butter.  We’ve talked about zesters/microplanes before.  But since we might have some new folks with us, let’s talk about them again just a minute……….if you don’t have a zester, I HIGHLY recommend buying one.  You can pick one up at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $15, give or take.  You can’t do this with a normal grater.  It will dig too deep into the outside of the fruit and you’ll end up with some of that white stuff underneath the top layer.  It’s called “pith” and it is VERY bitter.  You don’t want to get any of that into your butter mixture.  It will wreck it!

See how it’s the greenest part of the lime?  Make sure you use a very light stroke across the zester so you just get this part of the rind.  It imparts SO much flavor!  Just the juice of any citrus fruit doesn’t have this much flavor.  So you’ll definitely want the zest in there!

Now add the juice of the lime you just finished zesting.  If it has seeds, you may want to juice it over a small strainer to make sure none of them go into the butter mixture.

Take a fork and start mashing the butter and zest together.  You want it to be fairly well incorporated before you add the molasses.

Now add the molasses.

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wish you could smell this!  It was absolutely unbelievable!

Whip the molasses and butter with a whisk until it’s all mixed together like this.  Now set it aside while the pineapple is grilling.

Make sure the grill is super hot.  Lay the pineapple on the grates of the grill.

Wait about 5-8 minutes and then flip them over.  You just want to grill them long enough to make grill marks on them.

Once the pineapple has grilled a few minutes on both sides, brush the molasses butter on them.  Let it set on one side about 2 minutes and then flip them over again and brush the other side.  Grill an additional couple of minutes.

See how the butter has begun to melt and drip?  That means they’re just about ready to come off the grill!

And when it’s finished, it’s positively delightful!

Grilled Pineapple with Molasses-Lime Butter

*  1-2 fresh pineapples

*  1 stick butter

*  zest and juice of 1 lime

*  1/2 cup molasses

Peel, core and slice fresh pineapple.  Mix butter with lime zest and juice.  Mash butter up with the zest and juice.  Add molasses and whisk together until well incorporated.  Grill pineapple slices on hot grill about 5 minutes on each side.  Brush molasses butter onto pineapple and grill an additional 2 minutes.  Flip again and brush with molasses butter.  Remove from grill and place on a serving dish.  Pour the remaining molasses butter over the top.

See how simple that was?!  You make this to go alongside your grilled chicken or pork chops for Labor Day (0r any other day for that matter!!!) and you will be a ROCK STAR!!!!!  If you’ve never grilled any fruit before, I can’t tell you what you’ve been missing!  Grilled pineapple is wonderful!  I’ve also grilled bananas, which I hate, but the ankle biters enjoy.  And I’ve grilled cantaloupe and honeydew melon as well.  Give it a try if you never have!  I promise it’s amazing!  You’re going to have your whole world rocked!

Start planning that Labor Day picnic menu!  We’re just a few days out now!  Time to enjoy some end-of-summer grilling and swimming with the family!