Category — Holiday

For me, side dishes on big holidays are the hardest. I want to do something new each time and yet sometimes I feel limited.  Strange, I know, with the amazing variety and selection of produce these days, but true all the same. Well, this side is perfect for Christmas…it carries through the red and green theme and is a crowd-pleaser too. The vinaigrette is great in summer or winter and goes great with greens for a delicious fresh salad and equally great with about every vegetable under the sun.
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I made these easy and pretty grapes for the first time about 15 years ago for a holiday open house. They are a perennial favorite. The cheese and nut-coated grapes make such a stunning presentation when placed on a pedestal with fresh grapes and leaves and are perfect to set on a bar at a party.

Since there are only 4 ingredients this recipe certainly qualifies for my “easy-breezy” category and if you have kids around, they will love helping make them. If you are putting them together alone, use one hand to roll or lightly coat the grapes with the cheese mixture and keep the other hand clean to roll the cheese-coated grapes in the nuts and place them on a plate, otherwise, you’ll end up with a gooey mess.
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I’m hosting a dinner party tonight and will be serving another of Jennifer Markett’s scrumptious dishes. She calls them cigars, but after making them today, I’d rename them stogies, look at the picture and tell me what you think. Since I’m serving a large variety of appetizers, I’m only going to make half a batch of these. When a recipe calls for 1 egg and you need only half an egg, crack the egg into a bowl and beat well, 1 large egg equals about 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons). So use only 2 tablespoons of beaten egg, and for this particular recipe, save the remaining 2 tablespoons for brushing the wonton wrappers.

When assembling a number of the same thing, it’s easiest to do it assembly-line style… layout about half of the won ton wrappers (they dry too quickly to do all at once) and top each with the filling.  Brush with the egg one at a time, or it too will dry out or begin to stick to the counter, and roll.

My hope is that all the recent and upcoming appetizer recipes will help with your holiday party planning. After all, Christmas is now less than 3 weeks away … take a deep breath, stay calm, and have fun with your holiday entertaining.
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These stuffed peppers are my idea of delicious and classy “poppers” and are a Christmas tradition in our house. The pink salmon against the green pepper looks great on a holiday buffet.

This past July I made these for Jeff and Jen while we were spending a week at their amazing lakeside log cabin in Northern Wisconsin. It’s hard to call it a cabin, because it’s such a big beautiful home filled with rustic and classic décor, happy kids running about, great food, and tons of fun! I call it The Log Mansion. Plus, to get out of our 110+ degree heat in July and relax in the cool pines with great friends… truly a slice of heaven on earth!

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At last, the day has arrived – whatever leftovers haven’t been eaten, given away, or frozen; are going in the trash. Marissa and Connor head back to their respective universities this evening. Care packages are going with them and then I will have my refrigerator back!

This recipe is a perfect example of when to use light sour cream and cream cheese. There are so many other prominent flavors going on here, that you’ll never taste the difference. When the sour cream or cream cheese is the main flavor, then I prefer to use the real thing, because you can truly taste the difference. As for the fat-free versions – not a good choice – they don’t bake up as well. When a recipe calls for canned green chilies, always go for the whole chilies and dice them yourself. They are better quality than the “already diced”, and it takes only seconds to cut them up.  “Goodbye turkey, see you next November!”

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Today is my friend Kim’s birthday. Kim is the daytime assistant at Les Gourmettes Cooking School (I assist with nighttime classes).  She is a talented chef,  yoga instructor, wife, mother to four, and a wonderful friend – Happy Birthday, Kim!

Above is a picture of our Thanksgiving dessert table; the apple tart, pumpkin pie, plus pilgrim hat, and turkey sugar cookies. Hope your Thanksgiving was a wonderful mix of family, friends, and good food!  Here is a recipe to use up some of your leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. It is equally good with leftover stuffing as the bottom layer of mashed sweet potatoes.

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Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours from Me and Mine!

A perfect Thanksgiving side dish inspired by a recipe in a 2002 issue of Bon Appetit. Pictured above are the two main parts of the dish, the creamy corn mixture and the topping consisting of breadcrumbs, bacon, green onions, and fried onion rings. They may be made a day ahead, covered, and refrigerated separately.  Also pictured is a package of the instant or “quick-cooking” grits used to thicken the corn mixture.

The fried red onion rings are delicious and well worth the effort, but if you wish to take a shortcut – substitute them with the prepared fried onion rings you find in the grocery store. You know, the ones used in the classic Green Bean Casserole. If used, eliminate the 1/4 cup flour, the red onion, and the 1/2 cup olive oil from the ingredient list and eliminate the 3rd paragraph from the procedure portion of the recipe. Use 1 1/2 cups of purchased onion rings in their place.

Triple Onion Creamy Corn Gratin with Bacon

6 bacon slices, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (white and light green portions), divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and diced
8 cups frozen corn kernels (about 2 1/2 pounds), thawed
2 cups whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup quick-cooking grits
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 packed cup grated Monterey Jack  or Pepper Jack cheese

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This is a gourmet take on my grandmother’s traditional sage stuffing. She did not add the apples, sausage, pecans, or cranberries. It took her son, my dad, a couple of years to get used to my version, but now I think even he would miss those yummy additions – although he probably won’t admit it! The picture above is all the components, prepared and ready to put together before stuffing the bird (excluding the pumpkins, of course, those are for decoration!). The dominating flavor is still the sage, so be sure not to skimp on that. And remember to tear and dry out the bread at least 24 hours ahead of time.

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Recycling is a wonderful thing… not only with paper and plastic but with food too. Of course, the most basic form of food recycling is reusing leftovers, taking the leftover beef from a roast, and making burritos, for instance.  Or in this case, using the red wine poaching liquid from the poached pear post on 11/18/09 and using it to flavor this wonderful Thanksgiving side dish. Don’t fret if you didn’t make the poached pear recipe but want to make this, just use red wine in place of the poaching liquid.

I’m using frozen “petite whole onions” also known as pearl onions for this recipe.  Until about a month ago, I did not even know that pearl onions were sold peeled and frozen. What a find, all these years I’ve been meticulously boiling and peeling them myself!

The soaking liquid for the dried mushrooms is also reused here.  If you have any left after using the 1/2 cup asked for in this recipe, freeze it and use it to enrich sauces or deglaze pans in the future. And be sure to recycle those Thanksgiving leftovers too! I’ll post plenty of ideas after  Thursday.
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