Bon Appetit's Macaroni and Cheese_

The recipe is from Bon Appetit, and I’m pretty sure it won Dish of the Year for 1999. If anyone knows the exact year let me know – I lost my original torn-out recipe from the magazine years ago.

What hasn’t been lost is my absolute love for this mac and cheese version that’s not too rich and is packing a whole lot of flavor with the Fontina, Gruyere and Parmesan cheese. Finishing it all off is a layer of bread crumbs and shredded parmesan cheese tossed in bacon dripping for a crisp carbonara flavored topping.

Now that I’ve mentioned my undying love for this macaroni and cheese recipe, if you give me your to-die-for recipe I will mostly likely test it to see how it compares. That’s right I’m a cheater, a prowler— always on the hunt for that perfect macaroni and cheese recipe.

But at least that’s what keeps me in the kitchen experimenting.

Also, hop on over and see what my friends brought to our Virtual Brunch Potluck!

The Drink
Godiva Mudslide Minitini – Kristen from Dine & Dish

Main Dishes
Gingerbread French Toast – Diane from Created by Diane
Asian Fusion Omelette/Frittata – Jeanette from Jeanette’s Healthy Living

Side Dishes
Potato Casserole – Julie Deily

Hazelnut Roasted Brussel Sprouts – Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food

Dessert
Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle with Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce – Sommer from A Spicy Perspective
Almond Brickle Coffee Cake – Kathy from Cooking On the Side
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream – Cheryl from TidyMom

Party Favor/Hostess Gift
Dark Chocolate Bark with Ginger, Pumpkin Seeds and Apricots – Sylvie from Gourmande in the Kitchen

A few notes:

• Base of the cheese sauce is cabonara in flavor.  You can step that up even further by crushing the cooked bacon and adding it into the mac and cheese. I chose not to do that since I didn’t want a carbonara strong mac and cheese.
• To shortcut the time to achieving a crisp top, I remove the macaroni and cheese from the oven after 20 minutes and then place it under the broiler.
• Believe it or not, this dish tastes even better the next day. All the flavors settle in deeply for an even richer tasting dish.

Bon Appetit’s Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 10-12 | Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups large elbow macaroni (about 11 ounces)

• 12 bacon slices
• 4 cups fresh coarse breadcrumbs made from French bread (about 5.5 ounces)
• 1 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 6 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 14 ounces grated Fontina cheese (about 14 ounces)
• 4ounces grated Gruyere

Instructions:

1. Cook macaroni in heavy large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Rinse and drain again.
2. Cook bacon in large heavy bottom sauté pan over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon and set aside. Place 1/4 cup of pan drippings in a large bowl. Add breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and toss to coat; set aside.
3. Add minced garlic to remaining pan drippings in pot and sauté over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and whisk 3 minutes. Add in whole milk in 2 cups at a time and whisk to combine. Add in egg yolks, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Whisking constantly, cook until mixture thickens, about 12 minutes. Add in 10 ounces  of Fontina cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese and whisk until cheese melts. Remove cheese mixture from heat. Pour mixture over macaroni and mix to combine. Stir in remaining Fontina and mix to combine. Transfer macaroni mixture to prepared dish.

*Dish can be prepared 6 hours ahead. To do so, cover macaroni and breadcrumb mixture separately and refrigerate. To bake, cover macaroni mixture with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of macaroni mixture and bake just until topping is golden, about 15 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

It’s 6:00 p.m. on a weeknight and I’m in heels, my work clothes and trying to wrestle a few pans out of our overstuffed cabinets. It’s a noisy match. Heavy bottom pans falling on one another isn’t the most pleasant sound and for my highly sensitive boys I might as well be banging steel drums next their ears.

I have to admit weeknight cooking is not my best excerise in culinary executions-embarrassing, but true.  Frenetic. Rushed. Hurried. This is how dinner gets dressed in our home on a weeknight.

That said, I welcomed the opportunity to participate in Hellmann’s^® (also known as Best Foods® West of the Rockies) mission to help moms re-think main dish meals and leftovers by offering easy, delicious recipes that are great for the busy holiday season or anytime.

The first recipe I tried is this Skillet Turkey Tetrazzini- kinda a perfect one since leftover Thanksgiving turkey will be entering our home soon.  I started by sauteing the onions in large chunks and then scooped them out once all the flavor was sweated out, since Matt has a huge aversion to onions in his food. To shortcut the hands-on time, I used pre-washed and pre-cut mushrooms, leftover turkey, and Best Foods^® Mayonnaise to shorten the sauce time to a creamy goodness. In the time it took me to make the pasta, I also finished the sauce. The best part was I only used two pans, so clean up was a breeze.

I may not always embrace the idea of cooking after a long work day, but I love the satisfaction of making a home cooked meal my family can enjoy. You’ll love this simple and easy-to-assemble recipe that you can even make in your work clothes and heels.

For more information on the recipe contest or Hellmann’s^® products and recipes, visit Hellmanns.com

Let me know what your go-to leftover turkey dish is in the comment section, and you can be eligible for a chance to win a $100 cooking.com gift card, provided by Hellmann’s^® and BlogHer .

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

1. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

• Leave a comment telling me what your go-to leftover Turkey dish is in the comment section.
• Tweet about this promotion, adding either @hellmanns or @bestfoods at the end, and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
• Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
• For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

2. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

3. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

4. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

5. The Official Rules are available here.

In addition to the giveaway on this blog, you can cast your vote at Hellmanns.com for your favorite recipe and enter their sweepstakes for a chance to win one of four $250 grocery gift cards each week. If there are more than 10,000 entries, the prize value doubles to a $500 grocery gift card!*

*No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. The Hellmann’s Turkey Challenge is sponsored by Conopco, Inc., d/b/a Unilever. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 & older. Begins 12:00 a.m. ET on 9/12/11 & ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 12/5/11. For official rules, visit Hellmanns.com.

For more opportunities to win, visit the Hellmann’s Round-up page on BlogHer.com to read other bloggers’ reviews!

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Kraft.

Wilted Salad with Cream Bacon Dressing ~ This fast and easy salad can pull double-duty as a side dish or a main meal by simply adding some grilled chicken. Simple to assemble, full of flavor and popping with colors it’s sure to please no matter how you serve it.

Wilted Salad with Creamy Bacon Dressing

If you’ve been a reader, then you know last July I created these Neapolitan Mini Cheesecakes for RWOP contest. This year I didn’t enter, but I am creating recipes in honor of the RWOP contest for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of RWOP community and Paula Deen’s annual RWOP contest.  

This time around I am happy to be cheering from sidelines for all those who entered. But since this is a contest, a few winning dishes had to be selected into the finalist round for each category. To see all the finalists click here. And don’t forget to check out what finalist dishes these other awesome bloggers recreated here. The recipe you see featured is from one of four finalists for the side dish category.

Now, I’m sure it would seem more natural for me to choose a dessert to feature, but I hate to be pigeonholed so I chose the Wilted Salad you see below.

And O-M-G is this good. Don’t be fooled by its simple appearance. This is no ordinary salad—the dressing really makes this dish!

Let me explain . . .

You know how some women go crazy for shoes, and how even the thought of a owning a pair of Jimmy Choos can induce a super high. Bacon has that same affect on me. Combine it with the word “drippings” as in bacon drippings and I’m at the mercy of how quickly I can go fork to mouth.

Take a look at how Bekah Frost combined the bacon drippings, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and a few other supporting ingredients to create a salad that is one of my family’s new favorites. It’s supremely delicious and highly addictive.

I made this the other night for dinner and as many of you know Matt is not only a picky eater, but he also has trouble digesting raw vegetables. So while I served this to Cole and I in all its glory, I made Matt’s with just the iceberg, bacon bits and some cheese. Guess what?  It went over like a  dance song at a Rave!

It’s super easy to make. Cook your bacon like I did below, add in the remaining salad dressing ingredients and stir over medium heat to combine. To make things easy, I heated the cream cheese in the microwave first before adding it to the pan. I left out the red onions for my picky eater, but if I had made this for myself they would not have been omitted.

Then simply toss it into the salad portion and you are done!

Of course you don’t have to place your salad in a cabbage bowl like I did but I couldn’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite ways to dress up a salad and everyone loves the presentation.Thank you, Bekah, for the wonderful recipe! Good luck to you and your fellow Finalists. I will be tuning in June 30^th to cheer you and the others on for the live event in Savannah where Paula Deen will announce this year’s winner.

Wilted Salad

By Bekah Frost

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

Salad Portion:

• 2 heads of lettuce
• 3 radishes sliced
• 4 green onions sliced
• 1 1/2 cup(s) of mushrooms chopped
• 1 broccoli head

Salad Dressing Portion:

• 5 slices of bacon
• 1 tsp. of garlic salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. of white sugar
• 2 pinch of salt
• 2 pinch of pepper
• 1/4 cup(s) of apple cidar vinegar
• 4 ounce(s) of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 2 tbsp. of white wine
• 1 cup(s) of Cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl add choped up lettuce, sliced radishes, sliced mushrooms, sliced green onions and chopped broccoli; set aside
2. Fry bacon in skillet. Take bacon out of skillet and drain on paper towel. Add, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, cream cheese and wine to skillet and stir or whisk the dressing together.
3. Chopped bacon into pieces and add to salad mixture. Add dressing over salad mixture and toss to combine. Finish with cheese on top.

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Kraft.

Chipotle Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Pizza ~ This is one lean mean 30 minute pizza. Low-fat and punching with flavors, this meal will pretty much become a repeat offender in your home.

Chipotle Roasted Chicken and Vegetable

Made with oven-roasted vegetables, oven-roasted chicken, and a rich tasting low-fat Chipotle Pizza Sauce, this recipe is love at first bite. This Chipotle Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Pizza is also a recipe I created in honor of the Real Women of Philadelphia contest for the entrée portion.

I’m kind of bummed that I don’t get to enter this baby, but I’m happy to say that you can whip up your own recipe featuring Philadelphia Cream Cheese for a chance to win $25,000. How’s that for some generous lov’n from Kraft? Click here to enter.

If you are like me and deathly fearful of being on camera join the community and submit your own recipes or find recipes. Once you do, I would love to hear what recipe inspired you!  And don’t forget to click here to see what some of my other fellow bloggers created for Kraft’s RWOP community.

Pizza is a favorite in our house, but I don’t always have time to mess with making pizza dough from scratch. And to be honest, after working all day I don’t always have the desire to compose a dinner that requires 45 minutes of prep and cooking.

I’m all about quick weeknight dinners during the work week. To shave some prep time I used store-bought, oven-roasted chicken, and a “no mess” pizza crust, and by that, I mean just that. The crust is actually Naan bread that I placed underneath the broiler to crisp up. Thin and light is how my family loves pizza crust.  Naan is a perfect alternative to making homemade crust for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. In terms of keeping this a lighter meal, I used Philadelphia’s 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese for the chipotle sauce and skipped all shredded cheese.

The longest part of the recipe prep was playing a game of “Don’t ask. Don’t tell” with Matt.  If you are regular reader, you know Matt is a picky/highly sensitive eater. Texture, flavors, color all play into it, so this was something my girlfriend and I coined and then we worked out some strategic measures to get us through the suspicious glances and interrogating questions.

If you’ve been gifted with a picky eater, here are a few work-around tricks tips:

• Avoid all interrogating questions about the ingredients and definitely avoid eye contact when being asked about them.
• Mumble a lot when answering questions you can’t avoid.
• Act busy.  Too busy to be bothered.
• Distract and obfuscate.
• Give a forward looking statement of “It’s all stuff you like.”

It doesn’t work all the time, and I wished it worked more but on this occasion it did go in my favor. Although, I should mention he pulled off all the cilantro.

Chipotle Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Pizza

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1½ cups corn (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 8 oz Philadelphia 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese, room temperature
• ¼ Chipotle sauce plus two tablespoons for divided use
• 4 Pieces of Naan Bread
• 2 cups cubed chicken breast
• ¼ cup cilantro

Instructions:

1. Dice yellow, red, green bell peppers and place on foil-lined baking sheet. Then add the corn. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Place bake sheet in oven and bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes. Remove bake sheet from oven and place it underneath the broiler for 3-4 minutes to finish. Set aside to cool down.
2. Place Philadelphia Cream Cheese in a bowl and add chipotle sauce and whisk to combine. Spread Philadelphia Cream Cheese Chipotle Sauce onto Naan bread and then spread a layer of roasted vegetables on top,.  Scatter cilantro on top.  Next layer, cubed chicken and cilantro on top.
3. Lastly, drizzle remaining two tablespoons of chipotle sauce over top.

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Kraft.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart ~ Given the appearance of this tart you might expect the tomato flavor to run so deep it sidelines all the other flavors. But one layer down you’ll find an unassuming elevating component, the Philadelphia pesto mousse lending a peppery bite and creamy texture to the sweet tart flavors of the tomatoes. There to assist those two layers is a pastry crust cut with parmesan and pine nuts.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart

Tomato season is just starting here. With that, my inclination is always to open the season with a twist on a Caprese salad, however, this year my first tomato batch went to what you see here.

But before we move on, let me assure you I have not gone rogue.  This savory recipe is one I developed for Philadelphia Cream Cheese with their new Cooking Creme.  And since it was a huge hit with my friends at our monthly foodie gathering, I thought it was certainly worthy enough to be submitted to Kraft and to be posted alongside my sweet confections.

The Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart can be fully composed the night before and assembled the day of. Adding to that, depending on your time constraints, you can short cut several portions of this recipe by using store bought pesto instead of making your own and using store bought pie crust instead of rolling one out from scratch.

So now that you know what went into my recipe development in honor of the Real Women of Philadelphia contest, here’s your opportunity to send in your own recipe for a chance to win $25,000! To enter click here for the rules and guidelines.

For those wondering, no this recipe was not entered. As an Ambassador for the recipe development portion of this contest, I’m not eligible-Boo! But, if you enter, let me know here or on my Facebook, so we can cheer you on! If you don’t plan on entering, don’t forget to go over to the RWOP community and check out some wonderful recipes. Once you do come back here and let me know what you plan on making. Lastly, don’t forget to check out what these other fantastic bloggers created as well!

Good luck and happy cooking!

A few notes:

• If you compose each component the night before, make sure to bring it all to room temperature for easy assembly.
• The tart can served warm or cold.
• I used a 14×4 tart pan, but if you don’t have one a 9 inch round tart pan will work just as well.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart

Makes one round 9 inch tart or one rectangular 14×4 inch tart

Ingredients:

Tart crust:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons) plus 1 tablespoon, cut into cubes and frozen
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely crushed pine nut
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg

Roasting the Tomato Filling:

• 3 cups cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Pesto Mousse:

• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 8 oz. Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme
• 2 tablespoons pesto

Instructions:

Tart Crust:

1. Add flour, butter, salt, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and black pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in three second burst until mixture resembles wet sand with small pieces of pea size pellets. (Alternately, use a pastry blender and combine all ingredients until the mixture achieves previously mentioned appearance).  Using a fork or whisk stir the egg just enough to break the yolk. Add the yolk in a little at time and pulse for an 8 seconds burst. The mixture will look like wet sand and still crumbly. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and very lightly knead dough until dry ingredients start come together into one large piece. *The crust will not come completely come together at this point.* Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
2. Roll chilled dough and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or until dough is pliable. Place dough  between two sheets of parchment and roll into a 12 inch round. At this point the dough will now come completely come together. Peel away paper and  place dough over 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough into pan. Roll rolling pin over the top of the pan to trim excess crust. Seal any cracks with spare dough. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Freeze the crust for 1 hour. Remove crust from freezer and line crust with parchment or lightly buttered foil and fill with pie weights or rice. Bake the crust for 25 minutes.

Roasting the Tomato Filling:

1. Place tomatoes on bake sheet and drizzle olive oil and toss. Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper and toss. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. Set aside to cool slightly.

Pesto Mousse:

1. Add whipping cream to a bowl and beat until soft peaks form; set aside. Add Philadelphia’s Cooking Creme and pesto in a bowl and mix to combine. Using a wooden spoon or spatula gently fold in the Cooking Crème and pesto mixture and combine.

Assembly:

1. Gently spread mix Philadelphia Pesto Mousse over crust. Lay roasted cherry tomatoes on top.

Sausage and Butternut Squash Stuffing

As I previously mentioned, I don’t ever prepare the main course for the holidays. The stuffing is about as main course as I get. Call me lazy, but I don’t want to be saddled to an oven on a holiday. The trade-off is I usually do the majority of the sides and desserts and my mother-in-law does the turkey, which works out great because her turkey is terrific.

That said, I like to make my stuffing the evening before and then let the flavors absorb and develop over night. This year my Le Creuset 5 ¾ qt Oval Casserole with Lid made things even easier. I love how it can withstand extreme temperature changes that allows it to go from oven to fridge the day of baking and for overnight storing; from fridge to oven for reheating; and finally from oven to table where its elegance can easily be placed alongside all the other dressy serving platters.

. . . . Uh, yeah, if you haven’t guessed by now, I’m launching into to review and holiday giveaway from Le Creuset. The recipe will be at the end of the post.

If you keep up with my blog you know I love Le Creuset and have previously worked with them to bring their products to you. Well, lucky for us Le Creuset offered to do it again with this elegant oven to table 5 ¾ qt Oval Casserole with Lid. They have generously provided me with the one to review and another one to giveaway to one lucky reader.

Included with the casserole will also be Le Creuset’s signature silicon spatulas. I have been using their spatulas for years now and have some of the previous designs prior to this latest redesign. I am excited to say the new spatula design rocks. The handles have been designed for a more comfortable grip and the spatula portion is even stronger making it so stirring or folding heavy doughs can be done with less elbow grease.

HERE’S HOW TO ENTER THE LE CREUSET HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY:
Each item you do will net you ONE chance to win (for a total of SIX chances); if you ALREADY do any of these things, they DO count! So make sure to comment for each item! You MUST leave each entry as a separate comment or only one comment will count.

• Tweet this giveaway: Tweet
• Leave me a comment here letting me know your favorite holiday side dish.
• Follow Le Creuset on Twitter
• Become a fan of Le Crueset on Facebook
• Follow Bakers Royale on Twitter
• Become a fan of Bakers Royale on Facebook

Important Details:

• This giveaway is open to USA residents only and will end on Thursday 12/11/10 at 11:59 pm PST.
• Winner will randomly be drawn and will be contacted via the email provided on the comment contact form. Winner will have until Sunday 12/14/10 by 11:59 pm PST to claim their Le Creuset 5 ¾ qt. Oval Casserole with Lid, or another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: This giveaway is provided to you by Le Creuset. The views and opinions expressed on Bakers Royale are purely my own and based upon my personal experiences with Le Creuset.

Sausage and Butternut Squash Stuffing

Preparation:

Heat oven to 375° F. Lightly butter casserole pan.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups butternut squashed, cubed
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 large loaf Italian bread (about 1 pound), cut into 3⁄4-inch pieces (about 16 cups)
• 4 tablespoon butter
• 8 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• ½ cup fennel, diced
• 1 cup onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup marsala
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons sage, chiffonade

Directions:

1. Place ½ -1 inch cubed butternut squash on a bakesheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast at 400 degrees for about 30minutes or until tender. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet add sausage making sure to break it up with a spoon and cook until browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Divide the bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry and crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Wipe out pan and add butter over medium-high heat. Add sage, thyme, fennel, onions, salt and pepper cook until the butter becomes brown and fragrant. Add marsala and cook until evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes, transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.
5. Combine cream and broth, add the bread, fresh sage and sausage, toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until browned, 20 to 30 minutes more.

A few notes:

• Use Italian bread or any crusty bread for best results.
• You can buy pre-cut and cubed butternut squash to cut down on the prep time.
• Use scissors to quickly chiffonade sage or any herb by folding it several times and cutting it into strips.
• The stuffing can be prepared two days in advance and reheated at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes the day of.

Mini Pommes Anna

This is a four ingredient dish consisting of potatoes, butter, salt and pepper. It’s simple to make and easy to assemble.  And it also will be the first of a few side dishes and mini appetizers I will be sharing for Thanksgiving.

I know, what’s a baker doing going savory? Don’t worry desserts are still on the table, I just thought it would be nice to break it up a bit and share with you some simple but delicious holiday appetizers and side dishes.

With that out of the way . . . Pommes Anna is a classic dish that is usually made in a skillet or a cast iron pan. But I decided a few years back to minify them – what a surprise, right?

And I have to say this is the only way I make a Pommes Anna now. Partly because it’s easier but also partly because everyone that I serve this to, loves the look of the delicate layers of potatoes stacked high.

A few notes:

• Make sure to buy petite Yukons or small potatoes that will easily fit in a muffin pan or popover pan.
• Most classic Pommes Anna recipe call for clarified butter and to start on the stove top and then finish in the oven. I bypassed the clarified butter and the stovetop and threw it straight in the oven, turned down the heat and baked it low and slow.
• You can use a knife to thinly cut your potatoes or use a mandoline. I however did not have a mandoline handy, so I improvised and used a vegetable peeler instead. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with the results and how easy and successful a vegetable peeler can be to get paper thin slices.

Mini Pommes Anna

Makes approximately 12 Mini/Individual Pommes Anna.
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter walls of muffin wells.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. bag of petite Yukon gold potato
• 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 ½ tablespoon of kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon of black pepper

Instructions:

1. Wash and peel potatoes. Slice potatoes as thin as you can with a knife or use vegetable peeler to get paper thin slices. Placed sliced potatoes in a bowl and toss with melted butter. Start in the center and form the first layer by overlapping each slice in a circular pattern. Lightly sprinkle layer with salt and pepper. Arrange second layer working in the opposite direction of the first. Lightly sprinkle layer with salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes in opposite directions, sprinkling with salt and pepper along the way until pan wells are filled to the top.
2. Cover top of pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for about another 15 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown.  To remove, cover the top of pan with foil and turn it upside down onto the foil. Tilt the pan with one corner and carefully lift a small opening of foil in the opposite corner to drain any excess butter.  Transfer released Mini Pommes Anna to platter and serve.

Crisp Poached Pear Stuffed with Chevre & Haroseth

This is my first submission for the Paper Chef challenge. The challenge provides the participants a set of ingredients and that’s it. No recipe, just your baking hands and some creativity.

This month’s ingredients included:  dried dates, cranberries, flour, candied orange peel.

My first thoughts of course went in the way of date bars and muffins. Wanting to stretch myself as a baker I pitched all that aside and went with what you see here.

Let me say, I’m quite happy with the end result. The pairing of sweet and savory is perfectly tuned between the chevre and haroseth while the pear provides a nice fruity and textural break between the two. But what I love most in this recipe is the pomegranate molasses sauce. The subtle tartness of the sauce ties it all together for a perfect bite that hits almost all your tasting thrills in harmony.

Having said that, I decided there are a few things I would do differently next time. I realized I should have poached the pears in wine for some coloring, since the haroseth provided much of the same flavors I poached the pears with. As for the phyllo wrap, next time I will brush each sheet with a honey-almond butter combination for added flavor and sweetness.

This is an easy recipe, but I will admit it takes some time as a few of the components need resting in between. My suggestion is poach your pears and make the sauce the night before and assemble the day of serving.

A few notes:

• Haroseth is a mixture of fruits, nuts and spices that is generally served at Passover. Haroseth recipes also differ according to the country of origin.
• I used store bought phyllo to cut down on the time and truth be told I made it once and hated every moment of it.

Ingredients:

Poach Pears:

• 4 Bosc pears; peeled,
• 5 cups water
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ cloves
• ½ lemon

Pomegrante Molasses:

• 2 cups of Pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cranberry
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Cranberry, Date and Pistachio Haroseth:

• 1/3 cup whole salted almonds with skin, toasted and cooled
• 2/3 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup pitted dried dates, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup Sherry
• 2 tablespoon orange zest, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of orange juice

Instructions:

Poach Pears:

1. In a large saucepan, add water, sugar, lemon and spices heat to a soft boil and until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Gently place pears in the water and cover with a round of parchment paper, with a small hole cut in the center.
3. Keep the liquid at a low simmer. Cook pears for 15 to 25 minutes or until pears can easily be poked through with a fork.
4. Remove from heat and transfer pears and liquid to a heat proof bowl. Cool overnight.

Pomegrante Molasses:

1. In a medium sauce pan, add pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice heat to boil then lower heat to low. Let sauce simmer until it reduces by half. Cool overnight.

Cranberry, Date and Pistachio Haroseth:

1. Pulse nuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add dried fruit and pulse until chopped. Add sherry, zest, spices, and juices and pulse until incorporated.

Chevre – 5oz  Chevre

Assembly:

1. Cut Haroseth into the chevre and form ¾ inch balls.

2. Using a paring knife, start 1/2 an inch down from top of pear, carefullysplit the pears.Remove seeds and dig a deeper well with a melon baller. Fill well with chevre and Haroseth ball.

3. Gently close pear with filling inside and wrap each pear with fours sheets of phyllo. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until phyllo becomes golden in color.

4. Cool baked pears for 15 minutes. Fill a small bowl an1/8 inch of Pomegranate molasses and place baked pears on top of sauce.

Light and Healthy Summer Pasta Salad

This is a healthy recipe that will win over even those who refuse to eat raw vegetables unless they are dunked in ranch dressing. . . Ahem, not mentioning any picky eater names here.

In order to disguise the fact that the vegetables are raw, I dice them into tiny bits to mitigate the crunchy raw texture.

I use to make this pasta salad with a mayonnaise and vinegar dressing that is often used on broccoli salad, but since discovering Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing I use this instead. It’s healthier, easier and a time saver.

A few notes:

• Prep and dice vegetables while your pasta is boiling.
• Change out the zucchini for a cucumber for an even cooler summer flavor.
• You can assemble the summer pasta salad three days in advance and keep it in a tightly sealed container without compromising the crispness of the vegetables, just be sure to use the freshest vegetables. Add and toss the dressing prior to serving. After the dressing has been added the summer pasta salad can keep up to two days in a tightly sealed container.

Light and Healthy Pasta Salad
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Serves 8-10 people
Ingredients:

16 oz pasta, corkscrew
1 large red bell pepper
2 zucchini (or 1 cucumber)
1 yellow squash
1 small broccoli head
¼ cup Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing

Instructions:
1. Boil pasta according to package instructions.
2. Wash and dice vegetables.
3. Toss pasta with diced vegetables and Briannas Poppy Seed Dressing.

Roasted Summer Vegetables

I know I’m not alone in this, but hot summer days make me lazy, traffic makes me cranky and complicated dinners on weekdays make me crazy. Given all that, I try to keep things simple Monday through Friday.

My favorite weekday meal: Grilled Chicken with Roasted Vegetables.

I love it even more because Matt does all the grilling and he is a master at it, while I have the one simple task of doing the vegetables.

Sorry no pics of the chicken, his philosophy, respect the food first. That means food is eaten while hot and not after I have spent 30 minutes toiling around with the composition and lighting.  Yeah, I know-I’m slow, but I’m also a novice with this photography thing.

Staying mindful of the theme for simplicity in this post I am keeping this one short.

A few notes:
1. I like my vegetables crisp, but you prefer a softer texture cook them for  5-7 minutes longer than the instructions call for.
2. You can skip the casserole dish assembly all together and just place the slice vegetables onto a bake sheet lined with foil.

Roasted Summer Vegetables
Serves 6

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Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:

• 3 zucchini
• 3 yellow squash
• 1 ½ tablespoon kosher salt½ black pepper
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:
1.  Peel vegetables and slice into ¼ inch thick slices.
2.  Assemble vegetables to your preferred dish and drizzle olive oil on top. Finish preparation with kosher salt and black pepper
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.