Sweet Potato Praline Crème Brulee

Creme Brulee is one of my absolute favorite desserts and if you are still undecided on what to serve for Thanksgiving this year I am begging you- let it be this!!  It needs to be made ahead anyway, so less time stressing about that on the big day AND it's gluten free, so any of your guests who can't have pie will be thrilled to dig into these!

 I love the crispy just torched sugar topping, the ultra rich cold custard underneath and  the extra crunchy praline pecans give it so much nutty texture and crunch. You'll still get the essence of pecan or sweet potato or pumpkin pie only way more decadent!

Sweet Potato Praline Crème Brulee 

Sweet Potato Crème Brulee

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup Florida Crystals Organic Brown Raw Cane Sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Florida Crystals Organic Raw Cane Sugar

8 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pureed cooked sweet potatoes

Pour 4 cups of hot water into a 9×13 baking dish, place it in the oven on the middle rack and set the oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup raw cane sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved then remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy and lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly to prevent scrambling, add the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks about ¼ cup at a time. Add the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and sweet potatoes, and whisk until smooth.

Set a fine mesh strainer over the pot you cooked the cream in and pour the egg mixture through it to strain out any lumps. Pour the custard evenly into 6 (4-oz) ramekins.

Carefully place the ramekins in the water bath and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the ramekins are just barely set in the center. Remove from the water and allow to cool. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve sprinkle each ramekin with the remaining sugar and using a small kitchen torch cook the sugar until bubbling and melted. Allow the sugar to cool and harden for a minute or two, top with pecan praline topping and serve. 

Serves 6

Pecan Pralines

1 ½ Tablespoons Florida Crystals Organic Raw Cane Sugar

1 ½ teaspoons water

1/8 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup chopped pecans

In a small bowl stir together the sugar, water, vanilla and salt. 

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the pecans to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the nuts are lightly toasted and you begin to smell them pour the sugar mixture into the pan, stirring constantly for 15-30 seconds or until the nuts are evenly coated. Remove the pan from the fire and spread the mixture into an even layer onto a piece of parchment paper. Allow to cool completely. Once the nuts have cooled, break into pieces and serve with the prepared crème brulees. 

Look at that crispy crackly sugar and crunchy coated pecans - that's double the texture to go along with the super creamy sweet potato custard underneath!

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Pumpkin Amaretto Bisque with Blue Cheese Honey Crostini

Here in Texas, we are officially in the stage of watching everyone else on Facebook and Instagram enjoy the beginning of Fall, pumpkin spice everything and breaking out the scarves and cute boots while we continue to roast daily. So, even though it's in the high 90's and the humidity is out of control, The Home Town Cook’n Recipe Contest is gearing up for the holidays and they're looking for the best dishes to serve on Thanksgiving. I thought highlighting pumpkin in a savory way and adding a healthy amount of booze would brighten up the holidays even if Mother Nature decides not to cooperate in my neck of the woods. 

Using canned pumpkin makes throwing this soup together quick and easy. I pureed mine in my Vitamix for an ultra velvety finish and the sweet and salty crostini are the perfect crunchy dippers!

Pumpkin Amaretto Bisque with Blue Cheese Honey Crostini

3 Tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 ½ teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup Amaretto liqueur

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups pure pumpkin puree

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

12 (1/4 inch thick) slices baguette

3 ounces blue cheese

2 Tablespoons honey

½ cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Add the minced garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic becomes fragrant. Pour in the Amaretto and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow to simmer until Amaretto is reduced by half.

Add the stock, pumpkin puree and nutmeg. Simmer, over low heat for 15 minutes.

While the soup simmers, place the baguette slices in an even layer on a cookie sheet. Place the bread in the oven and toast for 10-12 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. Spread the blue cheese evenly over the crostini and return to the oven for 3 minutes, or until the cheese is warm and melty. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey.

Turn off the heat, remove the thyme stems and stir the cream into the soup. Using an immersion blender or Vitamix, puree until smooth. Serve immediately with warm crostini.

Serves 6

Turkey ‘n Stuffing Chile Rellenos with Cranberry Balsamic Drizzle

Do you have trouble thinking of new ways to use up those Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers? Well, if you do, I've got a great idea for you to use up the last of that turkey, gravy, stuffing AND cranberry sauce stuck in the back of your fridge! I love morphing leftovers into something totally new and creative and I was so excited to dig into this beauty! The cranberry drizzle and chopped bacon totally made this dish for me and my family gobbled this one up!

Living in Austin TX, you're never far away from a Tex-Mex restaurant and almost every one of them offers some form of chiles rellenos. As delicious as they are, I love this non-traditional twist on the classic Mexican dish!

Turkey ‘n Stuffing Chile Rellenos with Cranberry Balsamic Drizzle

4 poblano peppers

1 cup leftover roasted turkey breast, diced

2 cups leftover stuffing

1 ¾ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

½ cup leftover turkey gravy

3 ounces leftover cranberry sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

4 slices crumbled cooked bacon

 

Preheat the broiler to high heat. Liberally spray poblanos with cooking spray and lay them on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Place the pan under the broiler for 4-5 minutes or until skin is bubbling and charred. Flip the peppers over and broil for another 4-5 minutes. Once the skins of the peppers are completely blackened, remove them from the oven and wrap the foil around them, sealing tightly. Set aside to cool, turn the broiler off and set the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, add the diced roasted turkey breast, stuffing, 1 cup of the cheese and the gravy and stir to combine.

 

Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the charred outer peeling and, using a paring knife, cut a slit into the side of the peppers. Remove as many seeds as you can from the middle and stuff each pepper with an equal amount of the turkey and stuffing mixture. Set the stuffed peppers back onto the cookie sheet and top each with an equal amount of the remaining cheese. Place the peppers into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

While the peppers are baking, whisk together the leftover cranberry sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and salt in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

Once the peppers are warmed through and the cheese has melted, remove them from the oven, sprinkle with the bacon and drizzle with cranberry sauce before serving.

 Do you have the same dishes on Thanksgiving and Christmas? Or are your menus completely different?

NOLA Thanksgiving Restaurant Tour

For Thanksgiving week, we were in New Orleans, and keeping with tradition we stuffed ourselves like we do each time we go home. Louis and I have a running joke (but we're not really joking) that every time we go home we gain 5 pounds. At least a week before we arrive usually, every meal has already been planned for us, and this time was no exception. Here are just a few highlights of the meals we tried while we there:

Drago's

You can't go to Drago's without getting their charbroiled oysters, and our order of a dozen lasted about 3 minutes. The kids fought over who would get more of them and pretty much inhaled them the minute the waiter set the platter on the table. If you've never had them before, Charbroiled Oysters are fresh shucked oysters on the half-shell that are brushed with an herb butter and then loaded with parm and romano cheese and broiled over a hot grill. I really can't decide what I love more; the oysters themselves or soaking up the herb and cheese butter that's leftover with French bread.

My mom got the lunch special: Stuffed Crab topped with Crabmeat Au Gratin, served with Rosemary Potatoes and Greens. Even though she could only finish half of it, she loved it! I got the Fried Shrimp Remoulade Po-boy which was REALLY heavy on the horseradish- if you don't like spice, this is not the dish for you. Louis got a fried oyster po-boy and both po-boys were roughly the size of an infant. I couldn't even eat a fourth of it, but we all left stuffed and happy.

 Legacy Kitchen

That night we met friends for dinner and tried Legacy Kitchen. To start we ordered the Blue Cheese Chips. House made thick cut chips covered in a creamy béchamel, truffle herb aioli and crumbled blue cheese. Holy deliciousness- these are so rich, decadent and completely divine. I tried their Prosecco with Limoncello and it was SO good with the chips! Louis got the prime rib for dinner. He said it was great but I couldn't even look while he ate it. Beef has never been a favorite of mine, and the pink meat with huge hunks of fat on the side is not appealing to me. After eating the super rich blue cheese chips I settled on the Tuna Tango Salad; seared ahi tuna with avocado, mango, macadamia nuts, won-ton strips and a delicious ginger-lime dressing. By the time I got my salad I was too busy chatting to get a picture, but here's the pic from their website so you can see just how pretty the salad was:

(photo above is from Legacy Kitchen) 

 The next day I was so excited to finally try Coquette for brunch. The last two times we were in town we made attempts to get over there and for one reason or another it fell through. I was so happy to make my way to Magazine Street and finally see what all the fuss was about

Coquette has a new menu every day, which in turn, will always leave you with something new, exciting and hyper seasonal to try. We started off with the charcuterie board which included house pickled vegetables, hogs head cheese, boudin balls and a really delicious pate. The plate below it is a crudo topped with one of the best shaved Brussels sprouts, parsley and mint combos I've ever had. Totally bright, crunchy, fresh and so nice along side the heavy meat board.

For our meals, we tried the Shrimp and Grits with a Louisiana hot sauce gravy, tasso, Brussels sprouts and fried kale.  The sauce was absolutely delicious and I kept reaching into Louis' plate with my spoon to get the rest of it before the waitress snatched up the plate. I had the perfectly crispy seared scallops with chorizo, arugula, charred red onion and a surprise sauce that wasn't listed on the menu. It looked like small bubbles on the plate, but it was actually spicy and sweet and very thick. If I had to guess I would say it was pepper jelly reduction, but whatever it was, I ate it all happily. 

That evening we went to Katie's in mid-city. It's been featured on Diners Drive Ins and Dives before and I love how right outside the door they have a small plaque showing you the line of water left by Hurricane Katrina. I had to try their Pimm's Cup and it did not disappoint!

We started the meal with Charbroiled Oysters and their Seafood Stuffed Beignet. This Beignet is HUGE and overstuffed with crawfish, crabmeat, shrimp, jalapeno peppers, onions, and three kinds of cheese; fried then topped with a jalapeno aioli

For our entrees we got "The Legend"; a piece of French bread about as long as my forearm stuffed with their amazing cochon de lait and BBQ shrimp. This was one of those sandwiches that is so messy it ends up being all over you and so delicious you don't even care that you're wearing it. We also tried the nightly special which was Drum on top of a Seafood Stuffed Mirliton with a Seafood Cream Sauce. I forgot how much I love mirlitons and after having this delicious version, I will definitely be making some at home soon!

I made sure to go to Rouse's and stock up on some essentials before heading home  in the worst holiday traffic EVER. Thank the good Lord for DVD players that come with headphones because that is all that saved us that day.

What is your favorite restaurant in NOLA to visit?

This Turkey Takes the Cake

My kid's school threw their Fall Fair this past weekend, and I signed up to donate cakes and cupcakes for the cakewalk booth. I think they came out super cute and my kids were very excited to turn them in! 

 We made 2 dozen cupcakes and 2 turkey cakes 

For the turkey cakes I used this mix I was given on my trip to NYC. It's two separate mixes that were the perfect amount for my Wilton bowl pan! The cakes came out moist yet sturdy enough to work with so I had no problem with it falling apart as I tried to ice it. If you love red velvet cake, you'll love this fall inspired version!

I used mini marshmallows for the eyes and drew on them with a food safe marker. For the beak and waddle I raided the kid's Halloween candy and molded starbursts  after heating them in the microwave for a couple seconds.

For the feathered body, all you need to do is make rows of large dots of icing out of a piping bag and then press your spatula or spoon in the middle of the drop of icing and drag it down so it flattens it slightly. I'm sorry I didn't get a pic of that step, but I promise it's super easy! 

The weather was awful, but the kids had fun through the freezing cold drizzle! 

And, we were lucky enough to win two of the class raffle baskets!!

 One basket full of board games and the Yeti cooler, which Louis is over the moon excited about

All packed up and ready to go!

 



Talkin' Turkey

I flew into Austin from Nashville on Tuesday morning and hit the ground running. I went straight from the airport to running errands, lunch with my in-laws and the grocery store.
Let's talk about lunch first, shall we? We stopped at Pieous, which is a small family run restaurant that specializes in Neapolitan style pizza and it is absolutely divine! The crust gets perfectly charred in their wood burning oven and most of the toppings are made in house. This time we tried the Margherita with Pepperoni,  the Smoky Italian Pizza and the Choppy Salad. This is honestly some of the best pizza I have ever had. I realize that is a pretty big claim and I totally mean it. It will make you moan as you eat it with no shame. If you're ever in the middle of Austin and Dripping Springs, you have to check them out! And call me, cause I'll probably come meet you there.

After lunch we headed to the grocery. Having been gone for a few days and confirming with my mother in-law that not much food was ready to go at the house I tried to wing it as best I could at the store. I usually plan my meals around what's on sale at the time and this week, the "meal deal" was buy a ham get a turkey for free so that's what I did. I baked the ham with a dijon, brown sugar and peach jam glaze on it for everyone that night, made a huge pot of red beans and rice with the bone from the ham and put the turkey in the fridge to thaw .

For me, the best thing about a big Turkey dinner is the leftovers! Gumbo, soups, casseroles, sandwiches, the possibilities are endless on what you can turn the rest of your bird into. Most of the time during the holidays we are in New Orleans visiting family or we have visitors staying with us, so we really don't have a "typical" year. It's always just up in the air depending on Louis' work schedule and the kid's school schedule so I was excited to go ahead and make a turkey for us the way I wanted to and not have to share the leftovers!

I had pinned this recipe for Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey last year and was really excited to finally be able to try it out! I know it may sound strange to some people but I couldn't wait to see the finished product!

My bird was about 11 1/2 pounds and I pulled it out of the fridge 1 hour before I started to work with it. I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees and started to make the rub. In a small food processor I combined :

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

 the leaves from 3 sprigs of rosemary

the leaves from 3 sprigs of oregano

the leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme

3 cloves of garlic

the zest of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon Kosher salt

1 Tablespoon black pepper

Blend these until smooth and spread on the outside, inside the cavity and in between the skin and the breast meat of the bird. Slice the lemon you zested in half and stuff it in the cavity along with a quartered onion and a stalk of celery

Place the bird in the oven, uncovered for 30 minutes, then tent the bird with foil, lower the heat to 350 degrees and allow to cook until an internal temp of 160 is reached (for me that happened in 1 hour and 45 minutes) Let the bird rest at least 30 minutes before slicing

 Holy Moly was this delicious! The house smelled amazing while it roasted and the meat was tender, juicy and perfectly seasoned. I didn't have to brine it for three days, I didn't have to stand in the cold by the smoker while it cooked and I had no fear of burning my house down from a huge turkey fryer! I call that success. How do you usually prepare your bird? I'd love to hear your tricks and tips!
 

 



So Thankful

I hope you all had a delicious Thanksgiving! 

I love Thanksgiving for reminding us of all the good things around us, for getting together with family and of course for the food!

A smoked turkey with roasted garlic gravy, dressing, rice, bacon wrapped glazed green beans, baked macaroni and cheese, bourbon pumpkin pecan tart and apple cream cheese danish tart was on our table and I'm really sad to say that it's mostly gone already!

 One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the leftover turkey that I turn into Gumbo. And there is no better meal to warm up with while decorating the tree and getting the house decorated for Christmas than Gumbo in my opinion!

 I am so excited to be getting ready for Christmas and Christmas with kids is so much more fun!