Author: Denise

My name is Denise and I love good food, but enjoy preparing it more. I spend a good portion of my free time searching recipes, experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with tasty creations. Some of my other favorite things are my pets, family, friends, traveling (especially to tropical destinations and Paris), the beach, music, movies, and shopping, to name just a few ;)

Cornbread and Bacon Muffin’ Stuffin


I was watching The Chew last Friday (again) and saw Carla Hall & Daphne Oz make this incredible muffin stuffing recipe, and decided this was going to be on menu this year since I’m just cooking for one (me). I really love the idea of individual servings, and the fact that you can customize these babies when serving a group. The original recipe calls for using sausage, but I substituted bacon since I had some in the fridge. I also halved the recipe, which produced six “muffins”, but am giving you the ingredients to make a dozen. I made these tonight to test them out, and have to say, they’re seriously delicious! I plan on reheating them tomorrow in the oven to accompany the rest of my turkey day meal.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups prepared cornbread (cut into 1-inch cubes)
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 8 thick slices of bacon
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1 cup red onion (small diced)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced Scallions
  • 1 cup celery ribs (small diced)
  • 1/2 cup red pepper (small diced)
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 cup Swanson’s chicken broth
  • 2 tsp. poultry seasoning
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh Sage
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 large egg (beaten)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Have the cornbread in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add bacon. Once the bacon is cooked, remove it & break into pieces to the bowl of cornbread.
  4. Add the butter to the pan and then toss in the onions, scallions, celery and red pepper.
  5. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add the vegetables to the bowl. Then, add the chicken stock, the seasonings, milk, and egg. Toss lightly to combine.
  7. Butter the muffin tins and then spoon the cornbread in. Compress the muffins and then add more stuffing on top.
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just lightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from tins.

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Cheddar Bay Biscuits


I made these a while back, and remembered how tasty they were so decided to make them again. Apparently, they’re very similar to those served at Red Lobster, but I haven’t eaten there in years so can’t compare. However, I just informed by a friend, that there’s a Red Lobster very close to me… which I drive by everyday to and from work. Pretty funny that I didn’t remember that. But, now that I know, I will definitely be popping in to check out their infamous biscuits. Anywho, if you like garlic, cheddar & biscuits, then you’ll surely enjoy these.

Ingredients

Biscuits:

  • 1 1/4 cups Bisquick
  • 2 tbsp. cold butter
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Little less than 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

Butter Glaze:

  • 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.
  2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (or use 2 forks). Don’t worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas.
  3. Add cheddar cheese, milk, garlic powder, and Old Bay.
  4. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.
  5. Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto cookie sheet.
  6. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.
  7. While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave.
  8. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes.
  9. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits.

This recipe makes about 6 biscuits. Double the ingredients if you want more. 

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BBQ Sauce


I came across Carla Hall’s BBQ Chicken recipe on The Chew’s website while I was searching for chicken dishes as I had some chicken thighs that needed to be made right away, put in the freezer or thrown out. The comments on the page said there were a few missing ingredients that were on the show, so I watched the video from that day, and Carla mentioned a few of them that weren’t listed. I decided to give it a try with the addition of those ingredients, in the amounts I thought suitable, and it turned out amazing! I absolutely love this sauce!

Ingredients

Jerk Chicken Rub:

  • 2 tbsp. paprika
  • 1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
  • ½ tbsp. onion powder
  • ½ tbsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. coriander
  • ½ tsp. ground cloves
  • ½ tsp. ginger
  • ½ tsp. salt

Sauce:

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp. Worcestershire
  • 2 tbsp. lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp. Jerk Chicken Rub

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together for the chicken rub in a small bowl.
  2. Mix all barbecue sauce ingredients (which includes 1 teaspoon jerk chicken rub made above) in a small pot and simmer over a low heat for 15 – 20 minutes. Adjust salt, if necessary.

I cooked my three chicken thighs (seasoned with salt & pepper) in a little extra virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes on each side, then transferred to a 350F oven for approximately another 10 minutes. Once cooked through, I removed from the oven & brushed the pieces with the barbecue sauce. 

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Cocktail Sauce


I recently bought some shrimp to make another batch of my (yummy) shrimp stew, and had about a dozen leftover, which immediately led to thoughts of devouring having shrimp cocktail. Then I realized, I didn’t have any cocktail sauce in the house, and figured I could just whip some up. After making this recipe, I probably won’t ever buy ready-made again! Oh, and I love that it takes about two minutes to make! Easy peasy!

Ingredients

  • 5 tbsp. Ketchup
  • 2 tbsp. chili sauce (I used Huy Fong chili garlic sauce since I had it on hand – original recipe calls for Heinz)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. prepared horseradish (or more if you want to increase the heat)
  • 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp. brown sugar

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
  2. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten-Barefoot Contessa

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Braided Spaghetti Bread


I loooooove bread and pasta, however, I try to keep my carb intake to a reasonable level. But, when I saw a picture of this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. The original recipe calls for using frozen bread loaf dough, which I found to be a little difficult (aka sticky) to work with, so alternatively, you could use Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets to make it easier and much quicker (and cut down on the carbs a bit). With that being said, after I got the dough loaf thawed (which takes about 2 hours) and rolled out, everything else was a breeze. The end result was a delicious garlic bread filled with spaghetti and mozzarella cheese! So if you’re a carb-lover, you will truly enjoy this recipe.

There are a ton of other things you could do with this if you want to skip the spaghetti… pizza, reuben sandwiches, chili-cheese bread, etc.

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf bread dough, thawed to room temperature, about 2 hours (I used Bridgford, but the original recipe calls for Rhodes)
  • 6 oz spaghetti, cooked (I used thin spaghetti)
  • 1 1/2 cups thick spaghetti sauce, like Trader Giotto’s (Joe’s) Tomato Basil Marinara
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 egg white
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic powder
  • Parsley flakes for garnish

Directions

1.  Thaw bread loaf to room temperature.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3.  Place loaf on parchment paper (not wax), and spray rolling-pin with cooking spray.
4.  Roll  into an approximate 12×16-inch rectangle.

5.  Cover with plastic wrap, let sit 10-15 minutes, then roll again.
6.  Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, cool slightly and mix with marina sauce.
7.  Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4″ strip down the center of the dough and add the cheese cubes.

I added sweet Italian turkey sausage and sautéed onions to the sauce.

8.  Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling (as seen in picture above).
9.  Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.

10.  Brush with egg white, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and parsley, as liberally as you like.

11.  Transfer parchment paper to baking sheet and cook for 30-35 minutes.

12.  Cool slightly and slice to serve.

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Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Herbs (and Mustard Cream Sauce)


I came across this recipe a while ago, and bookmarked it to try another time. I was at the store over the weekend, and saw a bag of pistachios, which immediately brought my memory back to this dish. However, I highly recommend you buy pistachios already shelled as it took me a bit of time to crack open each pistachio to get a cup worth’s of nuts. And that way… you won’t get disappointed when you come across those shells that are not cracked at all and can’t be opened. Another recommendation I have is to butterfly/split/cut the chicken breasts in half, or you could use chicken tenders. I find the chicken is more tender when they’re a little thinner, and quite frankly, I just prefer them that way. In a nutshell (no pun intended), I found the combination of the herb mustard mixture combined with the pistachio-panko crust was simply divine! Oh, and when paired with the mustard cream sauce… WOW!!!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shelled raw pistachios (about 4 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp. light mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp. dried)
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried)
  • 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
  • 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, butterflied
  • Mustard cream sauce

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Finely grind nuts in processor. Add Panko and blend, using on/off turns.
  3. Transfer to shallow baking dish or bowl.
  4. Mix mustard, mayo, honey, basil, dill and rosemary in medium bowl.
  5. Spread mustard mixture over both sides of each chicken breast.
  6. Dip chicken breasts into nut mixture, coating completely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  7. Transfer chicken to baking sheet.
  8. Bake chicken until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
  9. Spoon Mustard-Cream Sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Bon Appétit

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Mustard Cream Sauce


Let me start by saying, I think everything is better with a little sauce. Okay, not “everything”, but anything you can pair up with a tasty one. When I saw this recipe, it was a no-brainer that I had to try it since I love mustard. The reviews on it were incredible, but I don’t always believe the hype. However, they were all true! I can tell you, that I could eat this straight from the spoon (and possibly have… oops). I made this to go with pistachio-crusted chicken, but it would be great with fish, pasta, and even as a sandwich spread. Maybe I’m just biased because of my affection for mustard, but I think this might be one of the best sauces I’ve made.

 

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup shallots, chopped
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream (can use Half & Half, or milk)
  • 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried)

Directions

  1. Boil white wine and shallots in heavy medium saucepan over high heat until liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add whipping cream and simmer until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add Dijon mustard, basil and dill. Simmer 2 minutes to blend flavors.
  4. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Source: Bon Appétit

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A Modified Version of Shrimp and Grits


As you may, or may not know, I looooooooove shrimp and grits! While my earlier recipe on here is one of my all-time favorites, this one is simply delicious. I was watching The Chew on Friday, and Carla Hall made a dish called “Swamp Thing”, which was her healthier version of shrimp and grits. Once I saw it was loaded with vegetables, I was sold, and knew I had to try it, which I did later that day with a few small modifications. This recipe does take a little effort, as the grits need to be made about an hour beforehand, and there’s a decent amount of veggie chopping, but trust me when I say, it’s worth it! Thanks Carla!!!

Ingredients

Grits:

  • 1 cup Quick Grits
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup Half & Half (or milk)
  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional)
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • Olive oil (for frying grits)

Shrimp Stew

  • 1/2 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
  • 1/2 onion (medium diced)
  • 1 large carrot (medium diced)
  • 1/4 cup corn
  • Half of a 14.5-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (crushed)
  • 2 cups collard greens (ribboned*)
  • 1 cup sweet potatoes (peeled and diced, or canned)
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 parsnip (peeled and diced)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tsp. fresh thyme
  • 2 tbsp. flour
  • 1 quart (4 cups) chicken stock/broth
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil plus more for pan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Grits

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring water, Half & Half, and corn to a boil.
  2. Slowly whisk in grits, avoiding lumps and cook according to package directions.
  3. Once cooked, whisk in butter and cheese (if using).
  4. Pour into greased baking dish, allow to cool, then place in refrigerator for an hour.
  5. At this point, you can start on the stew if you want & come back to step 6.
  6. Remove grits from fridge and cut into 3 inch squares (or desired size).
  7. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat with olive oil.  Fry grits in hot oil until golden on all sides. Remove from pan.

Shrimp Stew

  1. In a heavy bottomed pot, over high heat, add olive oil. Toss in the onions and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
  2. Toss in all the other vegetables except for the collard greens and crushed tomatoes, and add olive oil if it seems dry. Coat all the vegetables in oil and continue to cook over high heat, just slightly browning everything.
  3. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir. Deglaze with the chicken stock. Add the collard greens, thyme, bay leaf and cayenne, and stir.
  4. Add in the tomatoes and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are cooked through, about 25 minutes.
  6. Right before serving, toss in the shrimp and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the shrimp is just cooked through.
  7. Plate in a soup bowl on top of fried grits.  Season to taste.  Serve immediately.

* To ribbon the collard greens, take some leaves, place them on top of each other, roll them up long-way, and cut small pieces off of the ends. This will form long, thin pieces known as ribbons.

Note: If you don’t do shrimp/shellfish, you can definitely leave it out. Also, feel free to substitute vegetable broth in place of chicken broth. 

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Roasted Pomegranate Molasses Chicken


I made this scrumptious dish about two weeks ago, and in my personal opinion, it is the bomb-diggity. The flavors marry so incredibly well together, which results in enormous flavor, and roasting the chicken makes it super moist. Pomegranate molasses and tamarind paste may be difficult to find in a “regular” grocery store, so I’d recommend going to Whole Foods, where they can be found near the Thai products. The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it only has four ingredients (besides the chicken) and requires marinating for just a couple of hours. The original recipe calls for whole chickens, however, I decided to use legs quarters, but chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs could be substituted.

 

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Pomegranate molasses
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. apricot preserves
  • 1/4 cup orange juice, preferably fresh-squeezed (I used Tropicana Pure Premium)
  • 1 tbsp. tamarind paste, thinned with 1/2 tbsp. water
  • 2 chicken leg quarters

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Combine the molasses, preserves, orange juice, and tamarind in a medium bowl.  Whisk to combine.
  3. Place the leg quarters in a sealable plastic bag, add the marinade to bag, seal the bag, and massage chicken to distribute the marinade all over chicken.
  4. Let chicken sit for two hours refrigerated.
  5. Take chicken out of the refrigerator, remove from bag, and place in a roasting pan.  Toss bag with marinade in trash.
  6. Place roasting pan in the preheated oven and roast chicken for about 45 minutes or until dark golden brown, with juices running clear.
  7. Remove chicken from oven and serve while hot.

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Chopped Liver


Chopped liver is a traditional Jewish dish which goes back many centuries, and remains a staple during many holidays. It is served as a first dish/appetizer, on crackers or small slices of bread. I know many people wouldn’t even think about trying it, or find it unappetizing, so it’s really a love-hate type of dish. I remember as a child, going over to my grandparents’ house quite often for dinner, and always seeing chopped liver out. And in all honesty, I wouldn’t even get close to it, let alone, think about trying the odd-looking dish. Flash forward to many years later, and now, I won’t pass it up if I see it being served somewhere. So for Rosh Hashanah this year (which just ended), I decided to try making it for the first time. The old-school recipes call for using schmaltz, which is rendered chicken fat, but I chose to go a different route and use vegetable oil instead, which makes it a tad healthier.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. chicken livers
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 hardboiled eggs, diced & chopped
  • Salt & pepper, to season the livers and extra for after it’s been chopped, if desired
  • 1 tbsp. fresh parsley for garnish, if desired

Directions

  1. Pour oil in a large skillet and turn heat to medium.
  2. Add onions, and cook for about 10 minutes, until they’re soft and a little golden.
  3. Push onions to the side and add washed & trimmed livers to the pan.
  4. Season the livers generously with salt and pepper.
  5. Fry the livers until they’re firm & brown and just slightly pink on the inside, about 3 minutes on each side.
  6. When the livers are done, transfer them along with the onions, remaining oil and 2 eggs to a food processor, and pulse for about 30 seconds, mixing once halfway through, until a roughly textured paste is formed.
  7. Taste and season with salt & pepper, if desired.
  8. Transfer to a bowl and stir a few times (if salt & pepper was added).
  9. Chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, then garnish with the remained chopped hardboiled egg and parsley, if using.
  10. Serve with crackers, crostini, or small bread pieces, like rye.
  11. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

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