Potato Parmesan Pie

Another Iron Turkey 2011 recipe, actually comes from weight watchers, only 4 points a serving, but you’d never know it. So good.

Ingredients

- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes

- 1 Tbsp plain dried bread crumbs

- 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp olive oil

- 1 chopped small onion

- 2 tsp chopped garlic

- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese plus 1 Tbsp

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

- 2 beaten large egg whites

- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Peel and cube potatoes. Cover with water and cook until fork tender. About 20 minutes. Drain potatoes reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking liquid.

2. Spray spring form pan and dust with breadcrumbs.

3. In skillet heat 2 tsps olive oil and sauté chopped onion and garlic until golden. About 8 minutes.

4. To the potatoes, add reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mash well.

5. Cool 5 minutes and stir in onion/garlic mixture, cheddar cheese, egg whites, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and rosemary.

6 Spread in spring form, Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, top with be golden.

5. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and cut in 8 wedges.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- We did not use a whole onion, we thought that would be a bit too much.

- This can be made and refrigerated up to a day ahead of time then baked after letting stand at room temp for one hour.

Bogart’s Butterscotch Brownies

My sister and I used to eat these brownies all the time in college. Denise (friend, college roommates, and my maid of honor) worked at Bogart’s restaurant in Raleigh and would bring this home for us after a late night at work. It was so good and we were nearly crushed when Bogart’s closed this year. HOWEVER, the recipe surfaced on the internet after its closing and we had to try it for Iron Turkey 2011. YUM!! Just as good as I remember it. Hope you enjoy it too!!

Ingredients

- 1 pound (4 sticks) butter

- 1 1/2 lbs. brown sugar

- 4 eggs

- 2 tablespoons vanilla

- 5 cups flour

- 1 teaspoons baking powder

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 2 1/2 cups butterscotch chips, divided

Captain Morgan's Caramel Sauce

- 2 C sugar

- 1 C water

- 1 oz. corn syrup

- 2 oz. heavy cream

- 2 oz. butter

- 3 oz. spiced rum

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Get out a 9x13 baking dish--no greasing necessary.

3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt to combine well. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating to combine well. Stir in 2 cups butterscotch chips.

5. Spread batter into greased pan and top with 1/2 cup butterscotch chips.

6. Bake nearly 1 hour until a tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let cool before cutting into 3-inch squares.

Captain Morgan's Caramel Sauce

1. Place sugar, water and corn syrup in medium saucepot and bring to a boil. Allow to turn a dark amber. If crystals appear on sides of saucepot, brush sides with clean pastry brush and cold water.

2. Combine cream, butter and rum. Whisk into sugar mixture. Serve warm over the top of the brownies.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- Recipe makes 12 HUGE brownies. It is not good for you at all, but it is better served with ice cream. The restaurant served it with coffee ice cream, but I don’t like coffee flavor so we did caramel vanilla ice cream.

- Next time I will try to bake this in a large bar pan, I liked the brownies thinner than they came out using a 9x13.

Creamy BLT Coleslaw

Another Iron Chef recipe for 2011… this was a great alternate to the typical coleslaw recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 5 cups shredded green and/or red cabbage or packaged shredded broccoli (broccoli slaw)*
• 1 cup shredded carrots (2 medium)*
• 1/2 cup sunflower kernels
• 1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

• Salt

• Ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Crumble bacon; set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine the reserved drippings, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, and celery seeds. Add cabbage, carrots, sunflower kernels, tomatoes, and green onions; toss gently to coat. Stir in crumbled bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer coleslaw to a bowl or storage container; cover and chill overnight.

3. Serve within 2 hours after removing coleslaw from refrigerator; discard any leftovers.

** Recipe comes from Better Homes and Garden.

Spinach and Bacon Stuffed Pork Loin

This is one of the recipes the guys cooked for the 2nd Annual Slivensky Iron Chef competition. It was AWESOME. Totally recommend this recipe, and since our 3 typically-not-in the kitchen husbands made it… it should be pretty easy for all you cooks out there.

Roast
6 slices side bacon or pancetta, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup (50 mL) dry white wine
1 pkg (10 oz/300g) spinach, trimmed
1 cup (250 mL) fresh bread crumbs
3 to 4 lb (1.5 to 2 kg) boneless pork single loin roast
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper

White Wine and Rosemary Cream Sauce
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tsp (5 mL) finely minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup (125 mL) dry white wine
1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
2. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, fry bacon until crisp. Drain off fat. Reduce heat to medium and add shallots and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute or until translucent. Add wine and spinach and sauté just until wilted. Transfer to bowl and let cool completely. Stir in bread crumbs.
3. Meanwhile, place pork on board with fat-side up. Starting at right side and knife parallel with board, cut pork in half, almost but not all the way to left side, to butterfly. Open up loin so it lies nearly flat in one layer. Pat flat. Starting in the center of opened loin and knife parallel with board, cut in half on the left side to butterfly again, almost but not all the way to the end. Butterfly again on the right hand side. Lay open. It will unfold like a fold-out section in a magazine, with four segments. Lightly pound with a meat mallet to make even thickness. Sprinkle both sides of pork with salt and pepper.
4. Spread cooled spinach mixture evenly over cut side of pork, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) at one short side bare. Starting opposite bare edge, tightly roll up jelly-roll style and tie with kitchen string. Heat clean frying pan over high heat until hot. Add roast, fat-side down, then sear on all sides. Place in roasting pan; set frying pan aside. Roast the pork uncovered for 50 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 155° to 160°F (68° to 70°C) and a hint of pink remains in pork. Place on cutting board and tent with foil. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
5. To make sauce, heat reserved frying pan over medium heat. Add any juices from roasting pan and bring to a boil. Add shallots and rosemary and sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Add wine and bring to a boil, stirring. Boil until wine is reduced by half. Add cream and boil until slightly reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Serve slices of roast drizzled with sauce.

Recipe from LCBO.

Ham & Cream Cheese Wrapped Asparagus

An easy and cost effective appetizer. These were a huge hit on Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:

1 Bunch - Asparagus
8oz - Cream Cheese
2 Tbls - Sour Cream
1/2 tsp each - Oregano
                      Thyme
                      Tarragon
                      Basil
Salt & Pepper - To Taste
4 - 6oz - Thin Sliced Ham

Steps:

Blanch asparagus for 2 mins, and quickly shock in ice water to stop cooking process. Set aside on a hand towel to dry while you prepare the cream cheese filling.

Wip room temperature cream cheese with sour cream and herbs till smooth and light in texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut ham into ablaut 3 inch squares (or what ever shape about 3 inches in size). Pipe a small amount (about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide) of cream cheese mixture onto center of each square. Place blanched asparagus onto the piped mixture and wrap ham around.

Chill till guest arrive.

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

I LOVE brussel sprouts but I know it’s not a big hit with most people. HOWEVER… this recipe is awesome!! Try it, you’ll like it… unless you are Brian Raynor! :)

Ingredients

- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, stem trimmed and quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 slices local thick sliced bacon, diced, fat rendered and fat reserved
- Lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

- Blanch sprouts in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes, or until just tender, and put into ice water to stop the cooking process. Allow to cool in ice water for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from ice water and dry sprouts very well.
- In a large skillet add all the bacon fat plus 2 tablespoons canola oil place over medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add Brussels sprouts and caramelize well on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes or until sprouts are cooked through but still have a slight crunch.
- Remove from pan, toss with rendered bacon, season and serve.

Wild Rice and Cornbread Stuffing

Thank you Emeril, we loved the new stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving this year!!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Basic Cornbread, recipe follows, or 4 cups crumbled leftover cornbread
• 3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking dish and set aside.

To cook rice, combine 2 cups chicken stock, water, and rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 1 hour. Drain rice and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add onion and celery and season with salt, Essence, and black pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add parsley and thyme and cook another minute. Remove from the heat and add to bowl with rice.

Add 4 cups of crumbled Basic Cornbread and pecans to the rice mixture and stir to combine. Transfer rice mixture to baking dish. Drizzle remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock and butter over mixture. Bake until cornbread is golden and crispy, about 20 minutes.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Basic Cornbread:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, or bacon fat, plus 1/2 tablespoon, softened
• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1/2 tablespoon butter.

Combine eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a separate large bowl, and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake until top is golden brown and edges have pulled away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- My sister made this and said it was pretty easy. She didn’t put pecans in it and she used Jiffy cornbread instead of making the homemade.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen blog, but of course I altered the recipe. :)
It's perfect soup weather!!

Ingredients:
1 small can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese
2 chicken breasts (cooked and cubed) or 1 large can of chicken

Directions:
In crock pot, combine all ingredients and cook for 3 to 4 hours on low. Top with pepper jack cheese and serve. Can also be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- I left out the onion, used canned chicken, and HOT enchilada sauce.
- Great EASY recipe... ENJOY!

Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna

This is an easy one, with easy ingredients. It was something different for a quick throw together meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked

1 1/2 to 2 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 to 2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions
Combine evaporated milk and Ranch dressing and pepper in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce will thicken slightly. Layer half of lasagna noodles, chicken, sauce, and cheese in well-greased 9×13 pan. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- I rarely have or buy evaporated milk, so I used skim milk and thickened with a little cornstarch.
- I used can chicken.
- Next time instead of lasagna noodles I will use penne or rotini-- I think this recipe would be better as a "casserole" type dish instead of a layered lasagna. If you make it the original way, you'll see what I mean.