Potatoes Au Gratin

I hope you didn't think I forgot about the giveaway.  I know I'm a little late but I am here to deliver a winner.  And another delicious recipe. Potatoes Au Gratin

But first things first.  Let's get down to business and talk winners.  First off, thanks to those of you who left a comment for a chance to win the cookbook.  It was fun to read your responses although they made me quite hungry.  Anyway, using a random number generator at this website, I entered the number of participants and # 3 is the winner.

Anonymous said...

The pie looks yummy Dyan! My favorite southern dish has to be fried catfish and mac n cheese! -Melanie       

Congrats Melanie.  I hope you enjoy the cookbook!!!

Now on to other pressing matters.  More food.

The fiance' had been begging me to make potatoes au gratin for some time.  I had never been a big fan of this dish so I conveniently put off making it giving what I thought was a reasonable excuse. Not having a mandoline to thinly slice the potatoes.  But now I know that this is such a poor excuse since a mandoline is so not needed.  

While Mr. Foodie was recuperating, I decided to grant his wish to help make the recovery process a tad bit better.  When I told him what I was making, he became very excited.  But I couldn't blame him.  After the dish was finished, it became evident why he wanted these potatoes so badly.  There was such a nice brown, cheesy crust on top, it made me not even want to spoon them on to the plate.

I really can't describe to you how happy we both were when I did dig in.  These suckers were great.  Creamy potatoes, very well seasoned plus cheese.  These potatoes were like heaven on earth.  Mr. Foodie couldn't get enough. And on day two...uh, even better.  The flavors had a chance to set in and the cream thickened just a little. Perfection.

Then I made these on Sunday for Easter dinner and got great reviews from our dinner guests so I knew I had to share this with you.  The cooking time is a little long, 1 1/2 hours. But there are only a few simple ingredients, minimal prep and then you put them in the oven to let the magic start. You can't go too far though because every twenty minutes, you need to break the thin crust that starts to form on the top of the potatoes with the back of the spoon. This will help remoisten the top layer of potatoes, preventing them from drying out and burning.  Then last 10 minutes, you want to sprinkle to cheese on top and viola'! The most simple but outrageously delicious Potatoes Au Gratin.

Potatoes Au Gratin
Printable Recipe
* I must warn you that I didn't really follow any exact measurements.  I eyeballed everything. I've included approximations in the recipe but just feel your way through this and you will feel comfortable making this dish anytime

Butter to grease the baking dish
5 garlic cloves, 1 cracked and 4 minced 
4 white potatoes
2 russet potatoes
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease bottom of baking dish with butter.  Take 1 cracked garlic clove and rub the inside of the baking dish. Set aside

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes.  Approximately 1/8" thick but you want them to be uniform.  Put the potatoes in a bowl and season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Using your hands, toss the potatoes to evenly coat and season all the potatoes. Set aside

In a separate bowl, mix together the heavy cream, milk and four minced garlic cloves.

Assemble by layering 1/3 of potatoes in the prepped baking dish. Pour 1/3 of milk mixture onto the potatoes.  Repeat process 2 more times, ending with the cream mixture.  Make sure to press down on the top layer to ensure everything is even and the potatoes are covered by the milk mixture.

Place dish on baking sheet (for easy clean up if the dish starts to bubble over) and place in oven for 1 1/2 hours.  Every 20 minutes, open the oven and using the back of a wooden spoon, break the crust forming from the cream atop the potatoes. The sauce should appear to get thicker each time as it is absorbing into the potatoes.  During the last 10 minutes, sprinkle the top evenly with the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.  Continue cooking until cheese has melted and is bubbly.

Remove from oven and let cool before serving. Dig in and Enjoy!!


adapted from whiteonricecouple.com where the also have a great picture tutorial on the cooking process.

Buttermilk Pie

Boy has this post been a long time coming.  I have missed my little blog over the past couple of months.

I guess you can say I've been living in bliss from the little event known as my engagement, by putting a few things on the back burner.  Yet, my 9-5 job has been very hectic since the beginning of the year that it hardly resembles a 9-5 anymore.  Plus the Fiance' (that's Mr. Foodie's new name around our house these days so stay with me as they will be used interchangeably) tore his Achilles tendon at the first of the year.  This left him unable to walk and unable to do anything around the house. Therefore, I have had to take care of Everything.  My duties as his fiance' kicked in immediately. Although he wasn't the most demanding patient, it has been a long 2 1/2 months and I am happy he has recovered.

My absence even caused me to miss my one year blogiversary last week. This is where I was supposed to make something special to share with you and thank you all for following, reading and commenting on the blog.  All these sentiments stand true, albeit a week late, I really have enjoyed sharing recipes and stories with you.  So to start making up for lost time, I am giving away a copy of this new cookbook, the Southern Farmer's Market Cookbook, that I just purchased for myself and am anxious to use. I am eager to see how it combines two great loves of mine, southern cuisine and farmer's markets. Just leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m Friday evening, telling me your favorite Southern dish.  I will pick a winner using a random number generator and send you your very own copy.

I have so many favorite southern dishes, it's hard to choose just one.  But this buttermilk pie is a new found favorite that I have made 3 times in the past 4 months.  If you like a custard type pie or dessert, this pie needs to enter your life immediately.  It is extremely simple to make, especially since I use store bought pie crust. I'm not ashamed, tastes just as good.  The pie does require a lot of sugar but most of the sweetness is cut by the addition of lemon zest.

The opportunity to use this very cute pie plate I got from here was another reason to make this pie so many times

So below is the recipe to try this southern indulgence. But don't forget to comment to be entered into the giveaway.  And again, thank you for reading along.

Buttermilk Pie 
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled down
1 10-inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
If using the rolled pie dough found in the refrigerator section of your grocery store, roll out the dough into the pie dish. If using a frozen pie shell, bring to room temperature.
In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour and lemon zest.  One at a time, whisk in the eggs until combined.  The mixture will become bright yellow.  Add the buttermilk and melted butter and mix together.  Pour the  mixture into the pie shell and bake until the top is slightly browned and the center sets, about 40 minutes. The pie should not be too jiggly although it will not be completely set in the middle.  Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.  Slice the pie, top with whipped cream, or not and enjoy.

adapted from foodnetwork.com

Caramel Corn

Wowsers!!! I think that is the best way to describe 2010 so far.  I guess if I really think about it, I could come up with a more sophisticated word. A real word that doesn't indicate the need for spell check as I type it.  But since I'm really just unable to contain my excitement, I think I picked the most appropriate word.  Even though tasting this surprisingly simple, homemade Carmel corn could elicit such excitement, it is not the cause of my current high.

2010 started with the best surprise a girl (well at least this girl) could ask for.  Mr. Foodie and I were on vacation, at a New Year's Eve party, when three seconds before midnight, he popped the question!!! YAY!!!

I'm officially going to be Mrs. Foodie.  I have been grinning from ear to ear for the past five days. Not to mention glancing at my left hand every chance I get.

I'm trying not to be too obvious.
I wonder if it's working.
Oh who cares!
I'm just going to enjoy being engaged...and having a fiance'. 

So moving on, one more Carmel corn teaser pic. I say teaser because I have something else to share before we get to the recipe.

Remember the Pioneer Woman? I wrote about going to her book signing a few weeks ago and shared a recipe from her new cookbook.  Well guess what lovely couple made a surprising appearance on her blog.

Yep, that ca-ute picture from her website would be that of the future Mr. and Mrs. Foodie!! How crazy is that. I made the Pioneer Woman's website.  I kinda feel like a rock star. Well at least in the food blog world.

If you recall, the Pioneer Woman's sister, Betsy, was there and snapped this photo of us as we were leaving.  I remember thinking how I wish she, or someone, had taken one with our camera, since Mr. Foodie was so supportive to wait with me all that time and double as my personal photographer. But it was late and I didn't want to push my luck.

Lucky for me, she decided to pick us as one of the couples she featured in her "Memories of Atlanta" post. Now I've saved the picture to my computer to print. This literally made my day when I found this. I tell you 2010 is off to a great start. 

Okay, now finally, the Carmel corn.  I absolutely love Carmel popcorn.  As a kid, my mom and I would devour Laura Scudder's tub of Carmel corn.  Does anyone remember that? Anyone? I wish they still made it because it was the best.  Better than Cracker Jack's, although I could never turn down a box of Cracker Jack's.

When I saw this recipe here I knew I was going to make this immediately.  I actually made it before Christmas and took some to my mommy's house.  Can I tell you that my family members devoured this! Literally munched on it and raved about it until it was all gone.  What's even better is how simple this is to make

Since I followed the recipe exactly (except I left out the peanuts) I am just going to include a link to it if you decide to make it, which I strongly encouarge.  Trust me when I say it is easy as pie and simply delicious.  Maybe not the best recipe to go with all those likely New Year's resolutions but you gotta treat yourself every now and then.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

I know I'm inundating you with sweets and desserts of all kind.  But it's just that time of year for cookies, pies and cakes. I guess you could find a reason to satisfy your sweet tooth at anytime.  Yet the Holidays seem to be the most suitable time.

Let me just apologize in advance.  And to start making it up to you, we're just going to back into this one and take it slow.   

Well, I don't really know how much that helped you because it would have done nothing for me but peek my interest even more. I tried though. Really I did. But congrats to you if you can contain yourself and look no further. For the rest of you who are more like me, I'm just going to stop teasing you and give you the full monty. 

There it is! It's done. That is a ridiculously delicious Sweet Potato Cheesecake.  A cheesecake that could easily rival any cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. It's creamy and smooth center is perfectly sandwiched between a gingersnap pecan crust and sour cream pecan topping.  Seriously.  I don't know what else a girl could ask for.  Except maybe a fork and some alone time to properly indulge in such a satisfying dessert.

Don't worry, the loved ones in your life will permit you to do so.  They're not going to be up to sharing this one. Trust me. I made this right before Thanksgiving and had intentions of taking half of this cheesecake to work to share (two people do not need to eat an entire cheesecake). Low and behold, Mr. Foodie would not allow it. So guess how many people ended up eating an entire cheesecake. Two.  Absolutely sinful. But hey, it's the holidays remember.  That's my mantra and I'm sticking to it.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Printable Recipe

For the crust:

35 gingersnaps, crushed

1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

1 stick butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

3 8oz. packages of cream cheese, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons maple syrup

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed/pureed

1 teaspoon each of the following - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

For the topping:

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon each of the following - cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Making the crust - Using a food processor or blender, pulse together the gingersnaps, pecans and melted butter. Press the crust into a 9-inch spring-form pan.  Cover the bottom of the pan evenly, going up the sides approximately 1/4 of an inch. Place in the refrigerator until ready to fill

Making the filling - Using a mixer or a strong blender, mix together the softened cream cheese and eggs until smooth and well combined.

Add the sugar, maple syrup, sweet potato, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, lemon juice and flour. Blend until smooth but not too long or too many cracks will appear on top when it bakes.

Pour the mixture into the spring-form pan and bake for 45 minutes. You will know the cheesecake will be doe when the sides are set and the center is still a little jiggly.

Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes

Making the topping - In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar and maple syrup together. Add the pecans

Take the cheesecake out of the oven, spread on the topping and let the cheesecake sit for another 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours and then serve.

adapted from homesicktexan

Molasses Cookies

I think Santa, his reindeer and his elves will all be equally as happy if you left these Molasses Cookies by the tree.  You might want to add the the sugar cookies for safe measure.  I mean it is Santa Clause after all.  He does leave the gifts.

With a little ginger, cloves, cinnamon and molasses, you can't find a better cookie offering warm, sweet and spicy undertones.  To top it all off, the cookies are rolled in sugar before you bake them. Crunchy edges and a moist middle, these cookies are perfect. Especially when it's cold outside.  I found this recipe on this cute blog.  This is one of her grandmother's recipes and I am delighted that she shared this recipe with readers.  It was such a cinch to make, you really can't go wrong.

Oh and please tell me you noticed how gorgeous they are.  I was initially only going to bake half the cookie dough and freeze the rest for later (I think I got 4 dozen cookies from the portions in the recipe).  But after the first batch was done, they were so visually appealing, I decided to go ahead and make all of them.  I am so glad I did too.  Cause when my mouth caught up to my eyes, my taste buds were very thankful. I even got a text declaring "these cookies are good as (insert expletive word here)" after Mr. Foodie found a couple in his lunch.  Another incredibly simple keeper.

Molasses Cookies
Printable Recipe

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves, ground ginger and salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
extra sugar for coating

Combine butter, sugar, molasses and egg in a large mixing bowl
Combine flour, baking soda, cloves, ginger, salt and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until combined.  I used an electric mixer
Dough will be sticky. Place in the refrigerator until the dough has hardened
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Remove from refrigerator and scoop out dough. I used my hands but you can use an ice cream scooper
Roll into 1-inch sized balls
Roll the balls of dough into the sugar and place on a cookie sheet, well spaced apart
Press down on the cookie dough, slightly, using the bottom of a glass

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove and cool on a rack.  Serve once cooled or store in an airtight container.

 

 adapted from framed