Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

I was looking for a good side dish for last Thanksgiving and found this on the November issue of BHG. I wasn't too crazy about adding thyme so I used spices that were more in line with fall and the holiday :)

Ingredients:
4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 sweet potatoes (about 1 lb)
2-1/2 cups milk (I used 2% milk!)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely ground white or yellow cornmeal
4 eggs, separated
2 tsp baking powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 2-quart souffle or casserole dish with about 1 tbs of the butter; set aside
2. Soften the sweet potatoes. I just placed them in a dish and microwaved them for about 10 min or until soft. When cool enough to touch, remove and discard peels. Mash in a large bowl
3. In a large saucepan, bring milk, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, honey, and black pepper to a low boil over medium heat
4. In a slow steady stream, whisk the cornmeal into the milk mixture
5. Whisk constantly for about 4-5 minutes, until mixture is thick and pulls away from the bottom of the pan
6. Remove from heat; cool slightly
7. Add mashed sweet potatoes, egg yolks, remaining 3 tbs butter, and baking powder to cornmeal mixture; stir thoroughly to combine
8. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until it forms soft peaks. Gently fold/swirl the potato-cornmeal mixture into the egg whites. Do not beat or the egg whites would lose its volume
9. Spoon batter into the prepared greased dish. Bake for 35-40 min, until internal temp reaches 165 deg F. Edges will be firm and center a bit soft
10. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 min. Serve warm

Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Loved TCF's Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake but it was time consuming to do the cake and the cheesecake then combine! One time, saw a red velvet cupcake at Starbucks but it wasn't that good, according to Bradley and it had butter cream frosting on it. So, found this recipe for red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting... best of both worlds!

Ingredients:
Cake
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 tsp white vinegar, mix lightly)
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
3/4 to 1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 1-1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1-2 tbsp red food color (put in small amounts at a time, until you reach your desired red shade)

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz (1 brick) cream cheese, softened, at room temp
4 tbsp butter, softened
4 tbsp solid shortening
1-1/2 to 2 cups confectioners or powdered sugar (depends if you want it to be really sweet. In future, I'll just use 1-1/2 c because the 2 cups masked the cream cheese flavor)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk, if necessary

Directions:
Cake
1. preheat oven to 350 deg F. Spray or butter the pan or line cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk and vanilla, set aside.
3. Blend flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in another bowl, and set aside.
4. Cream the sugar and oil together on medium-high speed in a large bowl fitted with a whisk attachment.
5. Add one egg at a time and whisk.
6. Add vinegar and food coloring, and beat the batter well.
7. With mixer on low-medium speed, add half of the flour and cocoa mixture to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk mix, ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the side of the bowl as needed between additions. Mix until batter is nice and smooth with no lumps.
8. Pour the batter into prepared 8x8 inch pan, or divide evenly between the cupcake tins.
9. Bake cake for 30-40 min, or until a toothpick comes out. Bake cupcakes for approx 20-25 min or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
10. Cool square cakes or cupcakes completely on wire racks before frosting or freezing. Cool round cakes 10-15 min before loosening, then remove from pans and cool completely.
11. Double the recipe if you want to make layer cakes, with the frosting in between layers and top of cake.

Frosting
1. Using a stand mixer, and fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium to large bowl and a hand mixer, beat softened cream cheese, butter, and shortening together on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a tim and beat after each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl when necessary. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
3. Turn mixer to low, add vanilla and beat again, adding milk only if needed for proper spreading or piping consistency. Cover bowl with damp towel until ready to use.

Square cake: frost all sides or pipe rosettes on top
round cakes: if layered, smear a good size dab of the frosting on a plate. Place the 1st layer of cake. Spread a thick coat of frosting over this layer and place the second layer on top, pressing down lightly to seal. Frost the sides and top of cake using an off-set spatula, making sure to seal all edges evenly. Using a pastry bag, you may put in rosettes on top of the cake.

cupcakes: spread the frosting over the tops of the cakes. leave as is or add sprinkles, colored sugar or finely crumbled red velvet cake crumbs.

Tilapia Croquettes with Red Bell Pepper Gravy

Salamat Rachael Ray but i put my own spin on this! I was thinking of ways to cook Tilapia besides frying it or baking it in foil packets and Rachael came to the rescue! She used cod though I think!

Ingredients:
Tilapia croquettes
1 lb tilapia (about 3-4 pieces)
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
salt
pepper
1 tsp old bay seasoning
3 tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3 tbs finely chopped fresh thyme
1 egg
2 cups breadcrumbs (italian or plain)
1/4 cup oil

Red bell pepper gravy
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
2 cups chicken stock

Directions:
Croquettes
1. to a large skillet, put about 1/2 inch of water and simmer.
2. wash the tilapia fillets and pat dry. season with salt and pepper.
3. zest the lemon and reserve.
4. season the fish with the lemon juice.
5. once the water is simmering in the skillet, cook the fish in it for about 8 minutes.
6. meanwhile in a bowl, combine the reserved lemon zest, garlic, onion, celery, parsley, and thyme.
7. once the fish is cooked, flake and add to the bowl.
8. discard the liquid and place the skillet back on the stove. heat about 1/4 cup of oil on medium.
9. to the bowl, add some salt and pepper and bay seasoning. mix just to combine.
10. add the egg and the breadcrumbs and mix.don't worry if the mix doesn't seem to be okay to make patties. once you scoop up some and form a patty, it'll will come together.
11. form into patties.
12. get some more breadcrumbs and carefully dredge the patties in the breadcrumbs. be careful. maybe instead of dredging, just sprinkle breadcrumbs on the patty.
13. cook the patties in the oil about 5 minutes each side. watch out that it doesn't burn.

For the gravy:
1. discard the leftover oil from the skillet where you cooked the patties.
2. melt 2 tbs of butter (low heat so it wont burn)
3. saute the garlic, shallot and red bell pepper, about 3-4 minutes
4. add the flour, mix, make sure it doesn't clump up. cook about 1 or 2 minutes.
5. add the chicken stock and cook until it thickens
6. season with salt and pepper to taste

Steamy Kitchen Recipes and Food Blog

http://www.steamykitchen.com
My lifesaver last New Year's feast!

A Family Tradition

Another Christmas has come and gone and one thing that was very evident during that time was my family's love for food and cooking. Across the globe, family members planned, prepped, cooked, ate, photographed, and blogged/Facebook'd/tweeted/Instagram'd about all the good stuff each prepared for our respective Christmas and New Year's feasts.

For me, it started with watching my dad prepare our Noche Buena feast of chicken stuffing, corn soup, and the infamous ham sauce. In my house, my dad was the primary cook during special occasions :) I can still remember being tasked to prep the ingredients and how he would ask me to repeat the process if I didn't cut something to the correct size. I eventually graduated to helping in sauteing and stirring, under his guidance, of course! I don't remember exactly when I was finally "allowed" to cook a dish on my own but I can still remember the feeling when I finished cooking the corn soup!

The one thing that my dad didn't do much but I seem to have gotten a knack for is baking. One day I found this Betty Crocker cook book passed on to him by my Lola Mama. I started looking through it and asked if I could try making one. He told me the easiest to make would be the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So Pineapple Upside Down Cake it is! It turned out really good and soon I was trying out the other recipes in the book. To this day, it remains my "bible" for baking. My now "famous" Banana Cake is from this book -- with some modifications, of course!

My mom was with me during the holidays and after seeing all the posts from the family about cooking and food, she made a comment on how I inherited my love for it from my dad, who got it from my grandmother, and it looks like some of my cousins got theirs from a parent from my dad's side of the family as well. This made me realize cooking is one my ways to honor my dad. Come to think of it, of all the modifications I've done to recipes I've tried, I have never deviated from my dad's recipes for corn soup and stuffing.

Oh, about that ham sauce... I never did get the recipe for that... my brother has it and has continued the tradition of making it!

Quick Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

Had some leftover chicken breasts and a package of shrimp so I decided to extend these by making them part of a pasta dish.

Ingredients:
1 package thin spaghetti
1 package shrimp, cut into small pieces
leftover chicken breasts, cubed (about 1 big piece or 3 pcs of chicken tenders)
1-1/2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bottle Prego Onion, Garlic and Herb pasta sauce
1 small can of black olives, sliced

sausage, fried, sliced (optional)
1 cup water
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
1 bayleaf
Parmesan Cheese
Breakfast or Italian sausage, cut into small pieces (optional)


Directions:
1. In a large skillet, heat on medium high the olive oil and add garlic.
2. When slightly browned, add onions. Saute for about a minute.
3. Add the can of diced tomatoes. Simmer for about 2 minutes then add the cubed chicken.
4. Season with salt and pepper, italian seasoning and bay leaf.
5. Lower heat and simmer to cook chicken (if chicken is already cooked, simmer for about 2 minutes).
6. Cook pasta as directed in the box. Once done, drain but leave some pasta water. Set aside.
7. Once chicken is cooked, add shrimp. Cook until slightly pink then add the pasta sauce and water.
8. Simmer until sauce is slightly bubbly.
9. Season to taste.
10. Add the sausage and olives.
11. After a minute, lower heat and add pasta with the pasta water.
12. Toss to coat pasta.
13. You may add some parmesan cheese or you can serve the cheese as topping to the pasta when served.

Enjoy!

Modified Neely's Baked Ziti

Description:
I've always wanted to find a good baked ziti recipe, not the sbarro type but more of the italiannis' type. When I saw the Neely episode with this recipe, I thought it looked good. While tasting the cooking red sauce, to my surprise, it sort of tasted like italiannis. Almost but not quite, especially when the pesto was added. So while I am still on the lookout for THAT recipe, here's my modified Neely's baked ziti recipe. If you look up the original recipe, they mixed in a bag of spinach with the cheeses and used ricotta to bind this mix. I really didn't care for that after trying this the first time. Another thing, they used hot turkey sausage instead of italian sausage.

Ingredients:
1 lb ziti
2 lbs hot italian sausage, skin off (about 4-5 pcs), if you want it chunky, you can also use 2 lbs ground hot italian sausage if you want a smoother sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 oz pesto (about 3 tbs)
6 oz ricotta cheese
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, save 1 cup for topping
1 cup grated parmesan, save 1/2 cup for topping
salt and pepper for seasoning
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped italian parsley
butter to brush on the baking dish



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add some salt, and cook ziti until al dente (do not overcook as this will still cook when you bake the dish). Drain and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, saute the sausage under medium heat (no oil!) then add the garlic and onions. Saute together, break up the sausage with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is cooked through and browned.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes and pesto. Season with salt and pepper, add bay leaf, and dry oregano. Mix and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Butter a baking dish and place the cooked ziti on the bottom.
6. Add the parsley to the cooked sauce, fish out the bay leaf, and pour on top of the ziti.
7. Mix the ricotta, cream cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and 1/2 cup parmesan. Add some black pepper. Spread this mixture on top of the sauce.
8. Sprinkle the parmesan on top then the mozzarella.
9. Bake until heated through and top is brown and crispy, about 20-30 min. (place the baking dish on the 3rd rack down in the oven to avoid browning the cheese too soon).