Candied Yams

Candied Yams

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I grew up with candied yams for special occasions especially on Thanksgiving. My mom would peel the yams, cut them into  1 inch cubes, and then boil them. Once boiled she would stir in butter, evaporated milk, and brown sugar. After trying a few different things, this is the one I have been using for the last few years.

Ingredients

15 lbs of Yams
3/4 cup Butter
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Whipping Cream (or Evaporate Milk)
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Make a 1/2 slice in each yam skin and place on the pan. Bake for 1 hour and leave in the oven over night (or for 5-8 hours).

Yams

 

Remove the skin from each of the yams and cut into 1 inch cubes.

 

 

In a sauce pan melt the butter and let it come to a gentle boil. Stir in brown sugar until smoothly. Add in whipping cream and vanilla. Stir continually until completely incorporated.

 

 

 

Add yams into a Crock-pot. Pour syrup mixture over the yams and stir. Cook for 2-3 hours on low heat until completely heated.

 

Swedish Meatball Stroganoff

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We both group up with beef stroganoff, but we new could improve it. You can do ground beef rather then the Swedish meatballs.

Ingredients

1 Large Onion
4-8 T Olive Oil
16 oz Sliced Mushrooms
1lb 10oz Bag Frozen Swedish Meatballs
2-10 oz Cans of Cream of Mushrooms Soup
1 3/4 cup Sour Cream
3 cups Wide Egg Noodles

Directions

In a large stock pot boil a gallon of water. One water is at a rolling boil add noodles and cook for 8 minutes. Drain water and in 2 T olive oil.

While water is boiling and noodles are cooking prep remaining ingredients. Slice onion. In a heavy skillet use 2 T olive oil to caramelize onions. Remove from pan.

Using the same skillet brown mushrooms in 2-4 T olive oil. Remove from pan.

Using the olive oil remaining in the pan brown meatballs and cook to 165 degrees internal temperature. Remove from the pan.

Add soup and sour cream to pan and mix well. Add in onions, mushrooms, and meatballs.

Serve over noodles.

Tri Tip French Dip Sandwich

Tri Tip French Dip Sandwhich

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Anyone who knows us knows we love our Tri Tip. We love it on it’s own, on salads, and recently Joseph decided to try it on a sandwich. This turned out better then he planned.

Ingredients

Beef Tri Tip
1 cup Beef Broth
Baguette or Hoagie Buns
Au Jus

Directions

To start with you will need to have a Beef Tri Tip. Refrigerate the Tri Tip until completely cooled. APlace in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it easier to slice. Use a meat slicer or electric knife to slice thin.

Make Au Jus.

Place 1 cup of beef broth in the bottom of a pan with streamer basket. Place Tri Tip on the streamer basket and steam for 2-3 minutes

Serve Au Jus in a small bowl. Place meat on bread and serve.

Au Jus Ingredient

2 T Unsalted Butter
2 T Flour
2 cups Beef Broth

Au Jus Directions

In a sauce pan melt butter. Use a wire whisk to stir in flour. Whisk in beef broth until smooth and starts to thicken slightly.

 

Cod with Wild Rice and Broccoli

Lemon Dill Poached Cod

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We love variety at our house and we enjoy fish various ways. This is any easy recipe for those who have not cooked fish before.

Ingredients

2 lbs Cod Fillets
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Butter
1 T Dill

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small pot bring water, lemon juice, and butter to a boil. Place cod into a baking dish. Pour boiling liquid over the cod. Sprinkle cod with Dill. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cod is flaky.

Ham and Herb Cheese Ball

Ham and Herb Cheese Ball

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I love a good cheese ball for an appetizer. This is one of my favorites, but I think it’s because it is my own creation. 😉 Serve with your favorite cracker or as a spread on your favorite meat sandwich.

Ingredients

8 oz Mascarpone Cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 -2 tooth picks of doTerra Dill Essential Oil
1-2 tooth picks of doTerra Basil Essential Oil
pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 tsp Chopped Green Onion
4 Slices Deli Ham Chopped (I love using Black Forest)

Directions

In a glass or metal bowl mix mascarpone cheese and cream cheese until smooth. Add  essential oil* and salt. Fold in remaining ingredients. Form into a ball and return to the bowl. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before severing. DO NOT WRAP IN PLASTIC WRAP. Serve on right from the bowl or on a glass or ceramic plate.

*Toothpick method

1 toothpick dip =  dip a toothpick into the essential oil and dip it once into the recipe
1 toothpick swirl = dip a toothpick into the essential oil and swirl it around in the recipe
1/2 drop – Drop an essential oil onto a spoon, then use the tip of a sharp knife to obtain the desired flavor

Chocolate Orange Cheese Ball

Chocolate Orange Cheese Ball

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This is a fun party snack. We like to eat it with vanilla wafers, graham crackers, and ginger snaps.

Ingredients

8 oz Mascarpone Cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 T Honey
20-25 drops doTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil
6 oz Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions

Mix mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, and honey until smooth. Add in wild orange essential oil. Fold in chocolate chips. Form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 – 24 hours before serving.

Wrapping into a ball.

Garlic Bread

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We love garlic bread as a side dish to many of our meals especially Italian meals.

Ingredients

1 Loaf Italian or French Bread
3/4 cup Butter softened
1 T Johnyn’s Garlc Spread
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Mix together butter, Johnny’s Garlic Spreed and Parmesan cheeses. Slice the bread into 1/2 to 1 inch slices. Spread butter mixture onto each slice of bread. Broil for 4-5 minutes.

 

Lasagna

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We love a good hardy lasagna for dinner at our house. It is definitely a comfort food. We generally serve it with salad and garlic bread.

Ingredients

1 Box of Wide Lasagna Noodles
2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Cottage Cheese
5-6 cups of Chunky Freezer Spaghetti Sauce
3 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare noodles as directed on the box. Mix ricotta and cottage cheese together and set aside. Place a think layer of spaghetti sauce approximately 1 cup on the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover the sauce with a layer of noodles. Cover noodles with the ricotta cheese and cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese. Add the next layer of noodles. top with 2 cups of sauce. Top with noodles and top with remaining 2 cups of sauce. Bake for 30-40 minutes until bubbling. Top with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

 

Variation

Place a think layer of spaghetti sauce approximately 1 cup on the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Lasagna Roll ups. Spread 2 T ricotta cheese and cottage cheese mixture onto a 3/4 of each lasagna noodle and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Starting on the side with the cheese and roll up. Top with 2 cups of sauce. Bake for 20-30 minutes until bubbling. Top with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

Cannoli French Toast

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One year we had left over cannoli cream and so our daughter ask if for her birthday breakfast we could have it on french toast. This is where this amazing breakfast came to be.

Ingredients

1 loaf Bread (We love Brioche or Texas Toast.)
6 Large Eggs
3/4 cups Milk
1 tsp vanilla
Cannoli Cream
3 cups of Berries
Prepared Whipping Cream
Chocolate Gnocchi

Directions

Beat together eggs, milk,  and vanilla. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place onn pan, and cook on both sides until golden. Top with cannoli cream, then berries, whipping cream and then drizzle with chocolate gnocchi.

Choffy Lace Cannoli Tarts

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I have shared my love of Cannoli’s and my explorations making homemad cannoli’s on my Cannoli Cream Recipe. Well this recipe is a one of my experiments to create the perfect homemade cannoli. Well these shells turned out to be very labor intensive and way to delicate. But the flavor is incredible. Because they where difficult to roll in to tube I also formed them into tart cups. These are truly a labor of love and take 3 – 5 hours to complete. The flavor and textures together are AMAZING if you have to time and patients it needs to make them.

Shell = Choffy Lace Cookies

Ingredients

1 ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup oat flour (wheat or white flour works as well)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup Choffy Grinds (post brew)
½ cup butter
¼ cup brewed Choffy
¼ Corn Syrup
1 tsp baking soda
More Choffy if needed
1 cup White Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (these biscuits can be quite sticky, so I really recommend the parchment paper if you have it).

Add the coconut, flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, and Choffy grinds to the large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, brewed Choffy, and corn syrup together, boiling. Remove from heat. Add the soda into the melted butter mixture. (the soda will cause the mixture to bubble and expand).

Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir till well combined. If the mixture seems to dry, add a little more brewed Choffy (I added about a tablespoon).

Form 1 inch size ball, place four onto the lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of room for spreading (they will spread quite a bit).

Bake the biscuits in preheated oven for 10 minutes (flat and until golden). Allow the biscuits to cool on the tray for 1-2 minutes, then shape as shown in videos below. You only have 1-3 minutes for the cookies to be pliable enough to shape. I broke about 1/3 of the cookies as I was trying to shape them. Remove from the form 3-5 minutes after shaping.

 

Filling = Cannoli Cream

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp dehydrated orange peels
2 cups mascarpone cheese
4 cups part skim ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a heavy sauce pan combined cornstarch and sugar and whisk together. Stir in whipping cream and orange peels. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until it starts to boil approximately 5 minutes. Add in mascarpone cheese and stir until completely smooth. Add in ricotta cheese and stir continually until thick and the whisk leaves tracks as you stir.

Remove from heat onto a cooling rack. Stir every 2-5 minutes to maintain the smooth texture. After 60 minutes transfer to a bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While setting up prepare the chocolate.

Chocolate

Melt 12 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips in the microwave on half power for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.

Drizzle over the cannoli shells or spoon into the bottom of cannoli tarts.

Just before serving, place cannoli cream into a piping bag and fill the shells or tarts. Only fill the number you need as the shells will start to soften once they are filled Refrigerate any leftovers.