Roasted Carrots with Shallot Honey Glaze

This recipe is a quick and fool proof way to roast carrots. It doesn't take long to prepare and in the end you have sweet, soft carrots with lots of flavor! Cut the honey measurement in half for a slightly less sweet version.

2 lbs Baby Carrots with the tops

(or sub carrots cut on the bias in 2 inch chunks)

2 t olive oil

1 T butter

Salt & Pepper

Glaze: 

2 T butter

1 shallot, minced

2 T bourbon

2 T honey

1 T water

1 t fresh thyme, minced

1. Place roasting pan in oven and pre-heat temperature to 500 degrees.

2. If using baby carrots cut down greens on top to one inch.

3. Once oven is up to temp, remove roasting pan and add olive oil and butter to it, stirring to melt them together. Then add carrots, salt and pepper. Stir to coat well with olive oil butter mixture. Bake for 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven.

4. In a sauce pan over medium high heat, melt 2 T butter. Saute shallot for 1 minute in melted butter. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon, honey and water. Return to the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook approx 5 minutes or until the mixture turns into a syrup. Do not walk away! This can burn very easily.

5. Remove carrots from the oven, pour glaze over the carrots and stir gently to coat. Bake 5 more minutes or until carrots are crisp and tender.

6. Plate on a serving dish and sprinkle with fresh thyme. 

Enjoy!

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Balsamic Glaze

I only recently started to enjoy brussel sprouts. To be delicious, they have to be fresh, cooked crispy and served with bacon. This recipe is my favorite of all the ones I've tried. Don't skip the balsamic glaze - it makes the whole dish!

1 C balsamic vinegar

1 C port wine

Pancetta, diced (approx 1/3 lbs - sub bacon if desired)

1 C brussel sprouts trimmed and quartered

Vegetable oil

Salt & pepper

Shaved parmesan cheese

1. Combine 1 C balsamic vinegar and 1 C port wine in a sauce pan. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 minutes or until thickened like syrup. Set aside to cool.

2. Dice pancetta (or thick cut bacon) and sauté on high heat. Drain grease and set pancetta aside.

3. Fill pan with approx 2 inches of vegetable oil and heat to approx 375 degrees. (If you own a frying machine, this is a good recipe to use it!)

4. Fry brussel sprouts for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Place in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add pancetta. 

5. Place brussel sprout mixture on a serving plate and top with parmesan cheese and balsamic port glaze drizzle. 

Enjoy!

Irish Dinner Bread

The Irish cuisine isn't really known for impressing foodies. I am still waiting to be overcome by a mouthwatering corned beef and cabbage dish. But being Irish, and a self proclaimed foodie, I find it essential to have at least one irish recipe in my repertoire to pass down. And for me that's Irish Bread. Call it nostalgia as my mom used to make this all the time when I was growing up... But there's little that's more comforting than a warm, filling piece of Irish bread. My mom's recipe is a twist on the classic soda bread that we call Irish "Dinner" Bread. 

2 C white flour, sifted

1 C wheat flour, sifted

1/2 C sugar

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 T butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 C milk

1/4 water

1. Grease and flour a 9" round pan. I use one with a removable bottom so I can easily remove the pan to let the bread cool.

2. Sift 2 C white flour and 1 C wheat flour. Add all the dry ingredients to this - sugar, baking powder and salt. 

3. In a separate bowl, stir together milk, water, egg (beaten) and butter. Pour this mixture into dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until evenly incorporated. Mixture should be incredibly dense and sticky. 

4. Lightly press dough into 9" round pan. Use just enough pressure to spread dough to the sides of the pan without losing much of the air you stirred into it. 

5. Bake in 375 degree oven for 40 mins or until lightly browned on top. If the dough begins to split, remove from the oven. Let cool 5 minutes and serve warm.

For those of you who prefer the classics, here's how to make this recipe into traditional Irish Soda Bread based on my family's recipes:

- use 3 C white flour (no wheat flour)

- remove the 1/4 C water

- Add 1 C raisins

Enjoy!

Twice Baked Potato

4 large russet potatoes (approx 3/4 lbs)

Olive oil

3/4 stick of butter (unsalted), softened

8oz sour cream

1/4 C milk

2 C Sargento sharp white cheddar cheese

Chopped chives or green onion

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Wash and dry potatoes

Place on baking sheet and poke holes all over with a fork

Rub each potato with olive oil

Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes

Remove from oven. Holding potato in a dish towel (they are scorching hot!) cut in half. Scoop middle out of each potato half with a spoon and place in a mixing bowl.

Place hollowed potato skins back in the oven while you make the filling.

Add 3/4 stick of butter softened and chopped into small "pads" of butter to the potato mixture. Mash with a potato masher.

Add 8oz sour cream (light works too!), 1/4 C milk, 1 C cheddar, chopped chives or green onion plus salt and pepper to taste.

Remove potatoes from the oven and fill each with the potato mixture. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and place back in the oven and cook for 20 more minutes. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Enjoy!

White Corn Casserole

Here's a brand new recipe I created for corn casserole. This is a great side for a southern meal or holiday. And isn't everything better with bacon? I think so! Read on for directions to make this easy, delicious recipe.

8 slices of bacon, crumbled

2 t of bacon grease

1 T of butter

1/2 white onion, chopped

4 cans of white corn, drained

1 can of creamed corn

3/4 C cream (heavy best)

3/4 C milk

3 T grits

1/4 t cayenne 

1/8 t smoked paprika (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 C sharp white cheddar

1/2 C scallions, chopped

1. Cook bacon strips on medium heat in two batches until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. Start preheating oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 glass dish and set aside.

2. In a dutch oven, warm 2 teaspoons of bacon grease and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium high heat until lightly bubbling. Add chopped onion and cook approx 6 minutes until softened and just starting to turn golden. 

3. Add white corn to pot and saute for 3 minutes. Then add creamed corn and saute an additional 2 minutes.

4. Add cream and milk to the pot and turn heat to high. Boil for a few minutes until mixture thickens slightly. Then slowly add 3 tablespoons of grits stirring constantly. Also add cayenne, smoked paprika (if desired), salt and pepper. 

5. Remove pot from heat and stir in crumbled bacon, 1 C Sharp white cheddar and 1/2 C scallions. Pour mixture into buttered 13x9 glass pan. 

6. Place in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. 

Once the mixture is created, you could let cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Take out and let warm to room temperature before baking. You could also add breadcrumbs to the top before baking for an extra crunch. 

Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese

This dish is special and a real crowd pleaser. With a little extra time to go the homemade route rather than straight from a box, you can blow away your family and friends. This easy Mac & Cheese recipe is so far the most requested dish Brian and I have ever made. Originally based on one of Martha's recipes, we've taken the basics and made it our own - you may want to do the same as it's really pretty customizable. This dish was also a great excuse to invest in new kitchen tools... If you don't already have a microplane for grating cheese, consider getting one. Makes this recipe go so much quicker! Well without further ado, here's our delicious version of Mac & Cheese.

Topping:
3 T unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 C bread crumbs
1 C Vermont white cheddar (Sargento)


Ingredients:
5 1/2 C milk
6 T flour
6 T salted butter
4 C Vermont white cheddar (Sargento)
1 Block fontina (Approx. 0.5-0.7 oz)
8 pieces of Land o'Lakes american cheese
1/4 t pepper
2 t kosher salt
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/4 t smoked paprika (strongly suggested)

1. First put pasta water on to boil. Cook 1 lb elbow pasta 1 minute less than recommended on package. Once cooked, strain and rinse with cold water until pasta is cool. While you are waiting for the pot to boil or pasta to cook, grate your block of fontina cheese and set aside.

2. Melt 3 T butter in a fry pan. Add 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs to the melted butter and set aside. Measure out spices and set aside.

3. In a small sauce pan, warm 3 1/2 cups of milk. You just want to take the chill out of it, not boil it! Put the remaining 2 Cups of milk in a Tupperware container with the 6 T of flour and shake it together. Once no lumps are seen, add this to the rest of the warming milk.

4. In a separate (larger) pan, slowly melt butter. Add milk/flour mixture to this pan and turn heat up to high. Wisk vigorously until mixture comes to a full boil. Make sure this gets to a thick gravy consistency - if not there by the time it boils, cook a few more minutes.

5. Add salt, pepper and all the spices. (This part if customizable so if you prefer a different blend of ingredients, here's one of the areas you can customize.) Stir in spices and then slowly add all the cheese stirring constantly until completely blended. The cheese combination is also customizable. Jarlsberg is a great sub for Fontina giving a bit more of a bite. We haven't tried yet, but regular or smoked gouda is a sub for the Fontina as well. Experiment to find your favorite blend.

6. Combine pasta into the cheese mixture. Stir gently so as not to break the pasta apart. This should appear very soupy looking. Let mixture sit while you pre heat oven to broil. Mixture can also be set aside until ready to serve.

7. Pour Mac & Cheese into a 13x9 pan. Top with 1 cup of cheddar cheese and bread crumb mixture. Broil until bread crumbs brown approx. 5 minutes. (NOTE: if you don't like a saucier mac and cheese, bake for 25 minutes on 350 rather than broil topping. If you choose to do this, brown bread crumbs in the fry pan when you combine with the butter.)

As you can see, lots of ways to do this, but now you have the way we love it! I couldn't get a shot of the finished product before everyone dug in, so here's a half eaten one :)

ENJOY!