Holiday Indulgence

The Holidays are all about indulgence. Many delicious dishes come to mind including one of my favorite indulgent desserts, Pecan pie! In my family growing up we always cooked all the main course dishes and got store bought pies and cakes for dessert. It wasn’t until I really became interested cooking that I wanted to figure out how to bake, and what was so difficult about it? In my cooking I tend to not use exact measurements, but with baking you typically have to or else your finished product will not turn out the way you want it.

Unlike cake and other baked goods, pecan pie is one of my favorites because the measurements don’t have to be exact, and its pretty fool proof, just how I like it!  Buying a store bought crust for your pie cuts your prep time in half, and the filling is made over the stove, so it’s a lot like cooking.

There is something that is just so rewarding about baking your own desserts for the holidays, and this one is so delicious and fun to make with the family!

 

 

 

Chocolate pecan pie

 

Ingredients

 2 pie crusts, store bought already in baking dish.

 Filling:

5 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4-cup light corn syrup 

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups chopped toasted pecans

1 to 2 tbsp bourbon 

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup Dark chocolate chips

 

 

 

Directions

Set separate racks in the center and lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Put a piece of parchment paper or foil over the pie shell and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift sides of the parchment paper to remove the beans. Continue baking until the pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

While the crust is baking make the filling: In medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bourbon, and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.  Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. Put the pie shell on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the hot crust, sprinkle chocolate chips over top of filling.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes. (If the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil half way during baking.) Cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.

Steaming 101

Fish recipes can often be tricky for some people. Unless you are familiar with how to cook different types of fish and what pairs well with them, it’s hard to find recipes that will always turn out delicious no matter what. An “En Papillote” fish dish lets you make a delicious French style dinner quick and easy. "En Papillote" simply means that the fish is wrapped in parchment paper before you cook it. This is an awesome way to cook fish and vegetables simultaneously and the fish comes out tender and delicious every time. The paper seals in all the flavor and aroma, which is why this cooking method is so popular. For an outdoor grilling day, you can also replace the parchment paper for foil.

I use this cooking method with fish ALL the time. It is one of my favorite ways of steaming which I learned in culinary school. Usually the foods that taste the best are also the easiest to make with minimal ingredients. So that makes this dish pretty cost efficient as well!

In addition to the fish, you can add pretty much any vegetables you like. You might like to add some diced tomatoes, sliced carrots, peppers, capers, lemon juice, or lime juice to the package, as well as the butter or oil and the seasonings. Halibut, tilapia, salmon, and red snapper are all suitable fish for cooking En Papillote because this cooking method works best with firm, meaty fish.

 

Halibut En Papillote

 

Ingredients:

 

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 (6 ounce) Halibut fillets

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lemon, thinly sliced

½ lb grape tomatoes, sliced in half

2 heads bok Choy, leaves removed

½ cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut four large rectangles of parchment paper and fold in half; unfold. (about 25 inches)

Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil in the center of one of the parchment paper folds, place fish filets over oil so not to stick when baking.  Dab a bit of butter over top of the fish and season with salt and pepper.  Place about 2 lemon slices over seasoned fish. Divide garlic tomatoes and Bok Choy evenly over fish.

Fold top half of parchment paper over fish and crimp to seal; place on two baking sheets. Once everything is in place, open paper a tiny bit and evenly distribute wine into all of the paper pouches, re-cover.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-16 minutes, switching baking sheets halfway through cooking time, until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Serve immediately.

Flavor of Fall

Well, it's fall and that means holiday meals to come, my favorite time of the year!  The flavors of fall and winter are inherently warm flavors that make us feel cozy in the cold. Apples, pumpkin, cranberries, squash, and cinnamon are a few of foods synonymous with this time of the year. More forgotten than not when it comes to fall and winter meals, is breakfast, and it’s the most important meal of the day! Now this recipe isn’t the healthiest type of breakfast, but ya know, it's not bikini season right now people so chill out! If you wanted, you could substitute the sugar with Splenda or Agave nectar, and the flour with whole-wheat flour to make it a little more figure friendly. But really, in my opinion it’s all about portion control and you can eat whatever you want.

This is a great recipe to get the kids and the family involved in the baking process on a cold and snowy day. Great paired with a cup of Joe, or just as a mid-day snack, your family and friends are sure to love these creamy, moist, pumpkin cream cheese muffins!

 

 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

 

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp brown sugar

 

4 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

5 tbsp white sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp chopped pecans

 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin

1/3 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, and then set aside.

For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, canola oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes

Funny Food

This is one of those feel good, comforting dishes that I love to make for my guests, and when I am catering. It’s easy to make ahead, the ingredients are mostly items that you would find in your refrigerator anyways, so it makes it pretty cost efficient and it will totally impress whomever you are serving it to.

I originally came up with this dish a couple years ago for comedian/actor Garret Morris. Garret Morris is one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live” and continues making people laugh with appearances in many different commercials and TV shows. He lived in my former apartment building so I would always see him around. Currently I was filming for my show “Dishing With Celebs” and invited him to come on and share his favorite foods and recipes with me. He told me he knew nothing about cooking, but he loved shrimp and Louisiana cooking so he would leave it up to me.

Now, I’m no expert on Louisiana style cooking, but after trying out a few different recipes of my own I decided on this one, and he agreed that it reminded him of home. Garret and I ate these by themselves, but you can serve them as appetizers, over a salad, over grits, and pretty much anything! So I hope you enjoy them!

 

Stuffed Shrimp Wrapped in Prosciutto

 

2 cans crab meat (drained)

1-cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/3-cup mayonnaise

1/4-cup ketchup

2 tbsp prepared mustard

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

10 jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined

10 slices prosciutto

Directions

Combine first six ingredients; mix well and set aside.

Butterfly shrimp with a knife. Stuff shrimp with about 2 tablespoons of crab filling.

 Wrap entire shrimp with sliced prosciutto.

 Place bundles in a 13x9x2 baking dish.

 Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (Any extra crab stuffing may be spooned into a greased 1/2 quart casserole and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.) Serves 5.

Salty, Sweet, Tangy, Creamy Goodness!!

This bacon wrap is one of my favorite appetizers. I’ve used it for years in my catering because it is so versatile and easy. I’m not really sure where I got the idea, but it encompasses every taste I would want into one small bite. Salty, sweet, tangy, creamy goodness! Mostly everyone who I offer it to has never had anything like it before and they always come back for seconds.

I always know when I have a winner recipe when other Chefs/cooks use them. I recently catered my friends birthday party with Jamie Spears (Brittany Spears’ dad) and he told me since the last time I cooked with him last summer he has made these Bacon Wrapped dates at all of his family gatherings and catering jobs and people just love them. So needless to say, it’s pretty cool to think that Brittany has tried and liked them. lol.

Much like raisins or dried Pineapple, a Date is the fruit of a “Date Palm tree” which has gone through a drying process and can be used for a number of purposes. I love snacking on them plain, just remember to take out the seed in the middle!

Sometimes with this recipe I leave the blue cheese out, but I’ll leave that up to your preference. I just like the contrast of all the different flavors going on, so let me know how you like it!!!

 

Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates

Ingredients

1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half

1 pound pitted dates

4 ounces blue cheese

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Slice dates in half, and open them up. Pinch off pieces of blue cheese, and place them into the center of the dates. Close the halves of the dates, and wrap a half-slice of bacon around the outside. Secure each one with a toothpick. Arrange in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bacon is crisp. Turn dates over after the first 20 minutes for even cooking.

The "Other" Sandwich

I’m always trying to think of new and creative ideas for h’orderves and appetizers. Most of the time people just end up buying some frozen puff pastry style appetizers or just putting out some store bought chips and salsa. I always like turning something that has already been done into something completely different. For example, this h’orderve emulates that of a cheese sandwich, but instead of bread I use potatoes, and instead of a cows milk cheese I use a goats milk cheese. (Which my Lactose intolerant friends love) The only time consuming part of this dish is the boiling of the potatoes. And the rest you can handle pretty easily. If you do not like sour cream or lemon, of course you could substitute with another creamy sauce of your liking, but for me, that tart bite of the lemon cuts through the creamy goat cheese with that little crunch of the peppery Arugula, taking the appetizer “sandwich” to a whole new level!

 

 

 

 

Potato and Goat cheese appetizer  

 

6 yellow Potatoes

4-5 oz goat cheese

1 bunch arugula

4 oz sour cream

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

 

 

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water until fork tender, about 30 minutes. Be careful to not over cook so potatoes so they will keep there form when cut. Let potatoes cool. Cut potatoes width wise 1 ½ inch think. Season each side with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, mix sour cream, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

To assemble, crumble a piece of goat cheese on top of 1 slice of potato. Place a couple arugula leaves over top of goat cheese, and then place another slice of potato over arugula. Drizzle lemon sour cream over top, and then place a toothpick into the middle to keep the form of the h’orderve. Repeat until ingredients have been all used.

 

Fresh and Easy!

When you think of grilling, it’s rare that you think of dessert. Especially when it is considered fresh and healthy. I first created this recipe for my show Bikini bbq, (www.bikinibbqs.com) and since have used it many times at daytime bqq’s and everyone has loved it.  Everyone loves dessert, but during the summer, I like something that is light and easy to make. What I like about this recipe is that you can use the ingredients to your discretion, and its very hard to mess up. So I hope you enjoy this simple and healthy classic of mine that will definitely impress your guests!

 

 Sweet peaches with honey walnut sauce

 

Ingredients

4 peaches, halved and cored

2 tbsp. sugar

1-cup yogurt

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. orange zest

3 tbsp. honey

 

 

Directions

1) Preheat grill.

2) Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the peaches, shaking off the excess.

3) Grill peaches until they’re slightly soft.

4) In a bowl, mix together yogurt, walnuts, cinnamon, orange zest and honey.

5) Place peaches grill side up and serve yogurt mixture over top.