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Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears

‘Tis the season for everything pear! These goat cheese stuffed pears look gourmet, are so easy to make and taste amazing. Use any type of pear (I think red pears look best) slice 4 in half and scoop out middle with a melon baller or spoon. Combine 4 oz goat cheese (Vermont creamery apricot and thyme is to die for in these), chopped dates, honey, toasted pecans, kosher salt, a dash of cinnamon, and ground pepper. (Use any type of cheese and toppings you love, the possibilities are endless.) Stuff cheese mixture into pears. Fill baking dish with some apple juice or cider then place the Stuffed pears on baking dish. Cover and cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Place pears on top of any type of greens you like. Bon Appetit! For your Traeger: cook on 400 degrees for 20 minutes and it’s twice as good!

Pumpkin Orzo with Fried Sage

Bringing dinner to a friend on this chilly rainy day. Cook orzo to package directions (I used 16 oz whole wheat orzo and chicken broth instead of water). Drain and set aside. Sauté 3 Tb of butter, fresh sage leaves, chopped onion or shallots, and s&p until cooked through. Add 3/4 C chicken broth and 1/2 C milk and simmer until it starts reducing. Add 1/2 C canned pumpkin (a little goes a long way in this dish) and stir until combined. Add orzo and Parmesan cheese to Pumpkin mixture. Bring grape seed oil or veg oil to a boil and drop fresh sage leaves in for 5 second to fry. Use slotted spoon to remove and salt right away. Use as garnish for the orzo.

Lobster Roll and Homemade Fries

Cooking for people I love is one of my greatest loves! Steam, grill, or broil lobster. Add crab or langostino to add volume so you don’t have to use all lobster. Mix with mayonnaise, a dash of Dijon mustard, lemon juice, chopped chives, green onion, and s&p. Chill in fridge for a couple of hours before eating. Butter roll and put on a dash of seasoned salt then broil. Homemade baked French fries- slice russet potato and soak in water. Dry then drizzle on Evoo (more then you think) and seasoned salt (more then you think). Bake at 450-500 then broil to get crispness. Keep adding seasoned or kosher salt. Potatoes need more salt then you think.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

I made these Stuffed sweet potatoes for a cooking segment I did this past month and I can’t imagine going back to sweet potato casserole ever again. 12 large sweet potatoes 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cup light brown sugar 3/4 cup all-purpose flour Dash of ground cinnamon Dash of salt 1 cup toasted pecans 1 cup mini marshmallows Wash and prick the sweet potatoes and place on a cookie sheet. Bake or TRAEGER for about 45 minutes or until soft and squishy inside. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and flour together until it’s crumbly-looking. Add the cinnamon, salt, pecans, and marshmallows until combined. Once the sweet potatoes are done baking, slice them down the center and open up to make room for topping. Stuff the sweet potatoes generously with the topping and return to the oven or grill. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and brown. These are especially amazing on the Traeger with that hint of smoky sweet flavor.

Stacked Cobb Salad

The other day I was eating string cheese and wheat thins for lunch with my kids when my husband sent over a picture of the most beautiful stacked salad he was having at lunch in Minneapolis. Today, I grabbed some ingredients from the salad bar at my local grocery store, turned on Giada while the girls were napping, and ate like a Queen! Having a food stacker is helpful for this but not necessary. (A food stacker looks like a giant round cookie cutter and can be found at any cooking store.) A measuring cup, cookie cutter, or can might work. I decided to stack a Cobb salad but feel free to use any ingredients you like! I shredded iceberg lettuce and added a little dressing to it. Chopped tomatoes Chopped hard boil eggs Diced bacon Blue cheese Sliced purple onion Avocado Lump crab meat Arugula micro greens Add each ingredient on top of each other and press down firmly. Hold down ingredients and slowly pull up stacker. I whipped up a dressing of lemon juice, EVOO, chopped garlic, and…

The Best Cornbread

My girlfriend served this cornbread at a dinner party last week and I have dreamed about it ever since. It’s the Banderas copycat recipe but it’s even better, if you can believe it. Tonight I made it for the whole family and it rocked our worlds! 1 cup butter, melted 1 cup granulated sugar 4 eggs 1 (15 ounce) can creamed-style corn 1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in creamed corn, chiles, Monterey jack and cheddar cheese. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to corn mixture; stir just until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a wooden pick inserted into center of the pan…

Jamaican Street Corn

Jamaican Street Corn! 6 ears of fresh corn on the cob, leave them whole or cut in half 2 c. coconut flakes, toasted 1/2 c. mayo 1/2 tsp. grated ginger 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 1/2 Tbsp. curry powder Lime wedges Mix all the ingredients for the mayo together and set aside. Grill the corn until caramelized. Once off the grill, brush the ears with a coat of the spiced mayo and then roll the ears in the coconut.

French Onion Soup Cups

Greeting your guests with these individual French Onion Soup cups, will warm them right up on a chilly fall night. Ingredients 5 Tb butter 4 sweet yellow onions, sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 2 bay leaves 2 fresh thyme sprigs Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3/4 apple cider 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 quarts beef broth 1 baguette, sliced 1 block grated Gruyere Cheese Directions Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and s&p and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, ~25 minutes. Add 1/2 carton of broth and apple cider, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer about 5 minutes and get all bits of onion off the bottom of the pan. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10-15…

Thanksgiving Dumplings

Last day of Thanksgiving leftovers and this Turkey soup with Stuffing dumplings did not disappoint. Use turkey broth from leftover turkey carcass or packaged broth. Add onion, celery, carrots, corn, mushrooms, leftover thyme (or any other herbs you like), S&p, garlic, and chopped poblano peppers. Heat and simmer for an hour or two. Add leftover turkey. For stuffing dumplings, add an egg to leftover stuffing and season if needed. Combine and make little balls. Place stuffing dumplings into soup and allow to cook for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Vegetable Soup

A new year calls for Vegetable soup to help keep all those New Years resolutions. I love this soup because it’s so healthy, versatile, and keeps in the freezer. I made a huge pot and plan to eat it for most lunches over the next couple of weeks and we just had it for dinner last night. Anything goes for this soup so don’t be exact, throw in any fresh ingredients you have around. Heat EVOO in a large pot. Add diced onions, garlic, and leeks- stir until softened Add carrots, celery, zucchini, and bagged cabbage- stir until cooked through Add fresh tomatoes and 3-4 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes- continue cooking Add 2 cartons of your favorite stock and your favorite herbs. I added basil, thyme, bay leaf, garlic powder, onion salt, and s&p. Simmer for 2-3 hours My favorite part about this soup is the add-ins. Today we did kielbasa, parmesan, basil, and red pepper flakes. Other favorite add-ins are pasta, brown rice, chicken, beans, beef, anything goes! Keeping you healthy and happy in 2015.