Mashed Sweet Potatoes
INGREDIENTS
6 Peeled & Cubed Sweet Potatoes
¾ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Cup Butter
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper
1/8 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 30 minutes until tender. Drain and put back into pot. Add the butter and let melt for 1 minute. With an electric mixer on low, blend the potatoes for 30 seconds. Slowly add the cream a bit at a time and continue beat on low. Add the salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Beat for another minutes until smooth. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm. Serves 6
Brussels Sprouts In Butter & Lemon
These Brussels Sprouts are so much better than what I grew up on. I have always been a fan of Brussels Sprouts, but the sauté and butter & lemon at the end make this vegetable dish sing!
INGREDIENTS
1 Pound Fresh Brussels Sprouts
6 Tablespoons Butter
¼ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
¼ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper
½ Lemon
Remove any ragged outer leaves on the Brussels sprouts and throw away. Steam the sprouts for 3 minutes until just tender. They should be nearly cooked all the way through. Do NOT overcook. Strain the hot water and place the sprouts in a bowl of ice water. Cut the sprouts into halves. In a large sauté pan over a medium heat add the 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the sprouts, salt and pepper and stir. Increase the heat a bit and cook for 2 more minutes. Make sure not to overcook or the Brussels Sprouts may become bitter. Turn the heat to low and add the rest of the butter. After 30 seconds turn off the heat. Stir in the melted butter. Squeeze half of the lemon over the sprouts and give a quick stir. Remove from the pan and place in a serving dish. Serves 6
Whisky Apple Sausage Stuffing
INGREDIENTS
4 Cups Diced Apples
½ Cup Raisins
1 ½ Cup Apple Juice
2 Teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Sage
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 ½ Cups Melted Butter
¼ Cup Whisky
1 Chopped Medium Shallot
1 Pound Cooked Sausage Links (Remove Casings)
8 Cups Sourdough Stuffing
1 ½ Cups Chopped & Toasted Pecan
In a large bowl combine the apples, raisins, apple juice, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, sage, kosher salt, butter and whiskey. Combine and set aside. In a separate large bowl add the cooked cut up sausage, chopped shallot, sourdough stuffing, pecans and combine. Next add the apple-raisin mixture over the bread and sausage mixture. Mix to combine. Stuff a turkey or whole chicken with the stuffing or transfer the mixture to a well greased loaf pan. Bake in the turkey/chicken or uncovered at 400° F for 45 minutes or until the top is crusted. Remove from the oven and serve. Serves 8
Camille’s Delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake
I made this delicious holiday Pumpkin Cheesecake. It is a great alternative to pumpkin pie.
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.
Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours, but overnight is best. Serves 8
Pumpkin Soup
Not sure what to do with those Halloween pumpkins? Make pumpkin soup! It is a nice change of pace and goes well on a crisp fall day.
INGREDIENTS
2 Pounds Pumpkin
1 Large Onion
1 Large Potato
1 Large Carrot
1 Celery Stalk
3 Cups Vegetable Stock
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Cup Cream
½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
½ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Chives or Italian Parsley To Garnish
Cut open the pumpkin(s) and remove the seeds. Cut out the meat of the pumpkin making sure not to use the skin. Chop up the pumpkin into chunks. Peel and chop the onion, potato and carrot. Remove any strings from the celery and then chop into pieces. Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and add all of the vegetables (including the pumpkin). Cook gently over a medium low heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and don’t allow the vegetables to brown. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the vegetable stock cube. Stir. Simmer for 25 minutes over a low heat until the vegetables are just cooked. Turn off the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Pour the soup into a food processor and pulse until the soup is a purée. If you don’t have a food processor you can use a blender. Return the puréed vegetables to the saucepan and add both the salt & pepper. Add the cream and gently heat the soup for 10 minutes over a low heat. Add more vegetable stock if you would like to thin the soup out a bit. Remove from the heat and ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with chopped chives or Italian parsley. Serves 4
Sweet Potato Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes
2 Cups Unbleached Flour
½ Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
5 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
10 Tablespoons Butter
½ Cup Milk
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 2 inch chunks. In a medium saucepan, heat the sweet potato chunks and enough water to cover to a boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain. Place cooked potatoes into a medium bowl and mash well. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 425° F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, light brown sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and cooled mashed sweet potatoes. Mix just until combined. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into an 8 inch square. Cut the dough in half. Cut each half into 10 equal pieces. Gently place the biscuits 1 inch apart on two large cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. Place the cookie sheet on 2 separate oven racks and bake the biscuits for 14 minutes until golden brown. Make sure not to over bake. Serve warm. Makes 20 biscuits.
Pumpkin Cake
This cake is so easy to make. It is a nice dessert or can be eaten as a breakfast cake. You can put frosting on this cake if you like, but I don’t think that it needs it.
INGREDIENTS
3 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Olive Oil
5 Eggs
3 1/3 Cups Unbleached Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 ½ Teaspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Allspice
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2/3 Cup Water
15 Ounces Pumpkin Puree
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a Bundt pan or two 9x5x3 inch cake pans and set aside. In an extra large mixing bowl beat the sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla and set the sugar mixture aside. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Alternately add the flour mixture and the water to the sugar mixture. Beat on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in the pumpkin and then spoon batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 1 hour until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan(s) and cool completely on a wire rack. Serves 8
Cranberry Apple Pie
This pie is such a nice holiday pie. Cooking the berries, sugar and orange peel with the flour before pouring it over the apples gives the pie a better texture and flavor. The chopped pecans add a nice crunch as well.
INGREDIENTS
Pie Filling
1 ½ Cups Chopped Cranberries
1 Cup Sugar
½ Teaspoon Grated Orange Peel
1 Tablespoon Unbleached Flour
1/3 Cup Cranberry Juice
6 Tablespoons Chopped Pecans
3 Peeled & Sliced Tart Apples
½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Butter
Pie Crust
3 Cups Unbleached Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Sugar
½ Cup Shortening
½ Cup Cold Butter
9 Tablespoons Ice Water
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. With a pastry blender (or two knives or fingers) cut the shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles cornmeal. Dice the butter into cubes and cut in until the largest pieces are the size of a dime. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour & fat mixture. Toss with a fork and continue until the dough is moist enough to hold together. Roll into a ball and cut in half. Flatten with halves into two disks. Wrap the pieces of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate to give them a rest for 30 minutes or more before rolling out.
Preheat your oven to 425° F. Grease a 9 inch pie plate and line with half of the rolled out dough. Put the dough lined pie plate back in the refrigerator while making the filing. In a large saucepan, cook the cranberries with the sugar, orange peel, flour and cranberry juice for 20 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and cool. Remove pie plate from the fridge and sprinkle half of the pecans in the bottom of the prepared pie plate. Make 2 layers of apples on the top of the nuts. Sprinkle these with cinnamon and dot with butter. Pour the cooled cranberry mixture over the apples and sprinkle on the remaining pecans. Over with the remaining (rolled out) dough and crimp the edges. Bake for 30 minutes until the crust is golden and the berries are bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool before slicing. Serves 6
Chocolate Cinnamon Cake
INGREDIENTS
2 Cups Unbleached Flour
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Butter
1 ¼ Cups Sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a bundt pan. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl beat the butter and 1 ¼ cups of sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in the vanilla. Next beat in the eggs one at a time. Reduce the speed to low and alternately beat in the flour mixture and sour cream. Combine just until blended. In a separate small bowl combine the chocolate, pecans, ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon for the crumb mixture. Pour half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the crumb mixture next and then the rest of the batter, ending with the last of the crumb mixture. Gently cut through the batter and crumbs with a knife. Bake for 45 minutes. Cover the top of the cake with foil and continue baking for 15 minutes longer until done. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from the pan and finish cooling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serves 14
Vanilla Babka
INGREDIENTS
2 Cups Unbleached Flour
1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Unsalted Butter
1 ¼ Cups Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
Powdered Sugar For Dusting
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a bundt pan and set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a separate medium bowl beat the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time. With the mixer on low speed, alternate beating in the flour mixture and the sour cream. Beat only until mixed in. Bake for 40 minutes. Cover the top of the cake with aluminum foil. Continue baking for 20 minutes longer. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a rack and cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar. Serves 12
