Author Archives: cookingwithcandi

Mashed Potato Casserole with Sour Cream and Chives

Posted on November 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

I re-wrote this delightful mashed potato casserole this year. Take a look at it, it’s worthwhile for sure. I got it from the NY Times Thanksgiving Dining section 2 years ago. It can be made 3 days ahead and ready to heat up on Turkey Day. Enjoy! Happy Cooking.

Cooking with Candi

I saw this recipe in today’s New York Times Dining Section and I think I may make it instead of just plain old mashed potatoes. For those of you who don’t get the Times , I am giving you the recipe. Sounds super easy, and I like that you can do some of it 3 days ahead. Very appealing to me.

Ingredients:

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, and more for the pan– this gets divided into 10 for inside the casserole and 4 for the topping

6 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, and cut into chunks , as you can see in this photo I have been known to leave the skin on , it’s entirely up to you how you like it better. Skin is very thin on Yukon Gold potatoes, so if you enjoy the skins in your mashed potatoes leave it on or remove if you don’t…

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The Ultimate Comfort Food: Mac and Cheese

Posted on November 11, 2013 | 1 comment

Re-blog Monday and I am re-posting a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese (October 2011) that may make it to my Thanksgiving table this year. I like to have a pasta dish which is vegetarian on my menu. I usually make butternut squash lasagna but think this year I will replace it with this delightful dish. This is real Mac and Cheese and so worth it! Creamy and Soothing and everyone loves it. Whether for Thanksgiving or just dinner this one is a keeper. Enjoy!

Cooking with Candi

When I think of the ultimate in comfort foods, Mac and Cheese always comes to mind. Now that there is a slight chill in the air we’re ready for this recipe. I have made it for big crowds, and just the two of us. Not the neon orange kind from the box (although when I make it for my grandkids it’s really not all that bad) but the creamy homemade oh so soothing one. I love the creaminess and the richness. You can’t really eat too much of it because of the richness. I just love the crunchy burnt pieces on top, and the smooth texture underneath. I also love it cold from the fridge, which can be a very dangerous thing to have around. So invite a bunch of people over (this recipe is perfect for Sunday get-togethers) and it will disappear. You’ll have just enough left…

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Thanksgivukah — worlds collide

Posted on November 10, 2013 | 2 comments

This year Thanksgiving ’13 and Chanukah ’13 converge on the same day! Wow what a rare and special treat this is. We can break out the latkes and serve them up with Cranberry Apple Sauce and throw the gelt on the table because this won’t happen again for at least 79,000 more years. Bust out the jelly donuts for dessert and we can light the Menorah with all our guests! That part of it I really like now will I have to get one of those turkey Menorahs? don’t think so. It should be fun to celebrate these 2 totally different holidays on one night. . This is a once in a lifetime phenomenon for sure. I may have to break down and buy one of those turkey menorahs.

Look on my blog for my Potato Zucchini Latkes they could be a very nice addition to your Thanksgivukah table.

www.Manischewitz.com has some funny commentary on their website.

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Posted in Holiday, Holiday/ Thanksgiving Recipes

Tagged Thanksgivukah

Thanksgiving ’13 –here we come

Posted on November 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

am re-blogging because I wrote Thanksgiving ’14 by mistake so had to change it. Thanks Ellen.

Cooking with Candi

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Thanksgiving ’13 –here we come

Posted on November 9, 2013 | 1 comment

Fully Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

It’s the elephant in the room and I’ve put off discussing it but the time has definitely come to start talking turkey. Thanksgiving is upon us, yes we have plenty of time to get it together but menus need to be planned so we don’t get caught unprepared. My menu is almost always the same because everyone has their favorite dish that they look forward to eating every year. Last year I skipped mashed potatoes in favor of something else and the first thing one of my nephews said was “where are the mashed potatoes?” that was his favorite thing. So I try to please all but need to add a few new items every year. Haven’t really decided on all the items but will give you a list of some of my oldies but goodies so go and look them up on my blog. Just put in the title of recipe and it will and it should pop up. If you haven’t subscribed as of yet , what are you waiting for? Please do, it’s free and it’s fun. If anyone out there has any awesome Thanksgiving recipes that they’d like to share with me just email me at cmk55@sopris.net. Looking forward to hearing from you all. Have fun and I will be posting like crazy for the next few weeks. Happy Turkey Day and Happy Cooking.

Remember Gratitude not Attitude

Here are some recipes you may want to start looking at:

Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts, Roasted Almonds Simply and Spicy , Baked Salami

Salad Dressing- Mustard Vinaigrette is always simple and delicious or Maple Syrup Vinaigrette will work perfectly on a green salad.

Butternut Squash Soup (no cream), Pumpkin Lentil Soup, with Butternut Squash Soup with Chipotle Cream (all soups can be made vegetarian)

Pumpkin Walnut Bread, Hurricane Sandy Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Cremini Mushroom Pumpkin Lasagna (vegetarian) , Ultimate Comfort Food Macaroni and Cheese (vegetarian)

Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives (vegetarian)

Thanksgiving Corn Bread Pudding (vegetarian)

Stuffing that will be on our Table

Candied Yam Souffle (Easy Peasy), Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes, Aunt Pammy’s Chipotle Sweet Potatoes (nothing short of amazing) (vegetarian)

Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Karyn’s Famous Thanksgiving Cranberry Crisp (also nothing short of amazing), Joy’s Cranberry Sauce (vegetarian)

Fresh Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds , Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Michele’s White Chocolate Jumbo Macadamia Cookies, Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

This is just a start for you so you can start your shopping and firm up your menu. I will be posting for the next few weeks and if there is anything you can’t find please feel free to contact me. Happy Cooking.

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Posted in Cooking, Holiday, Holiday Recipes, Holiday/ Thanksgiving Recipes

Tagged Thanksgiving Menu 2014

Another Butternut Squash Soup–with Chipotle

Posted on November 8, 2013 | 2 comments

I love my Butternut Squash Soup with no Cream recipe, it is probably one of my most followed postings on my blog and it is by far the easiest most delicious recipe with so few ingredients. I stumbled upon this rendition and thought I’d play around with it and see if it was worth it to mess with a good thing. The soup itself has a few more veggies and garlic and chipotle chiles* in adobo. I love spicy so I wanted to see how this would be. My original recipe is under Creamy Butternut Squash Soup no Cream and it was originally posted on October 18 2011.

This was delicious, if you’ve always made the butternut squash soup the basic way this is a nice variation. This was pretty pretty good and really nice and creamy! The chipotle and the veggies and garlic give this variation a nice flavor. Give it a try. The sour cream topping is optional but pretty and tasty . We clearly love spicy but I didn’t think this was too spicy with the 2 teaspoons of chipotle. If you don’t like spicy this one’s probably not for you. I am a sucker for anything with chipotle in it.

*chipotle chile is a smoked, dried jalapeno. They can be found dried, pickled or canned in “adobo” which is a sauce made with ground chiles, herbs, vinegar and spices. The sauce tends to be a bit milder than the chipotles themselves .

Shopping List:

butternut squash , ( I bought 2 packages from Whole Foods of cut up butternut squash it was about 1 lb. each package) canned chipotle in adobo sauce, onion, celery and carrots. Sour Cream if you’d like to add to make topping.

Pantry List:

garlic, olive oil, chicken broth and kosher salt

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 packages of cut up butternut squash ( about 2 lbs.)

Kosher Salt

1 medium onion , chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4-6 cups of chicken broth

2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adob0

*optional topping

Chipotle Cream topping:

1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo

1/2 cup sour cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat add 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, heat olive oil and add the basic mirepoix ( carrots, onions and celery) and throw a good pinch of kosher salt in there, you’ll taste for salt later so don’t worry about amount. Saute veggies until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add butternut squash cubes into the pot and stir. Add 4 cups of the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer the veggies are very tender, between 30 and 50 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let soup cool for a bit. Then get out your immersion blender and carefully puree the soup until very smooth. If necessary, add more of the remaining stock till you achieve desired creamy consistency. Mix in the 2 teaspoons of the minced chipotle into the soup and continue to puree, season to taste with salt .

If you’d like to make the sour cream topping , mix together 1 teaspoon of chipotle and the sour cream. Season the chipotle cream with a little kosher salt to taste. Transfer the soup to bowls and top off with a dollop of chipotle cream and serve!

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Posted in soup

Tagged Butternut Squash, Butternut Squash Soup with Chipotle Cream, Butternut with Chipotle Soup, Chipotle Chiles in Adobo, Chipotle Cream in Soup

Roasted Almonds–2 ways Simply and Spicy

Posted on November 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

I love almonds, raw and roasted. Recently I started purchasing raw almonds and roasting them myself at home. Whole process takes all of 15 minutes and they are so yummy, I keep a little baggie of them in my bag and eat on the go. Almonds are a superfood loaded with vitamins and they help curb hunger because they are high in fiber and fill up your stomach. While I’m not a nutritionist , I have read a lot of information which states that they will also help in lowering your total cholesterol. Can’t guarantee they will help curb your appetite but it will feel good trying. Now you might say that just plain old raw almonds are delish as is and this is definitely true but it can never hurt to turn up the flavor can it?

The second recipe is for a definitely more fattening recipe for sugared almonds with a little kick of cayenne. I would make these to bring to someone’s house or for appetizers with drinks. These are certainly not as healthy but super good. You decide what you’re in the mood for.

For Simple Roasted Almonds:

1 lb. of raw almonds ( easily divide in 1/2)

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or plain sea salt (divided) if you like them saltier, use a little more salt, I just like a hint of salt. I have been using the flakes for this recipe because I had it in the house and I like the way it looks and tastes. Regular sea salt or kosher salt will give it the flavor just as well.

1 tablespoon olive oil (divided)

Directions:

For 1 lb. you’ll need 2 9×13 baking sheets. Divide nuts into 2 pans. For each tray I use 1/2 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes (you may want to add a little more salt if you like them saltier) Mix with clean hands and roast at 350 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes. ( I roasted for 12 minutes) Cool and serve or store till you’re hungry for them. Could this be any easier????

Sweet and Spicy Honey Roasted Almonds:

2 – 2 1/2 cups raw almonds

1/8 cup turbinado sugar

1/4 cup honey

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. If you’d like you can line a baking sheet with parchment paper, because they may stick to the pan without. I use my Silpat liners. If using parchment paper lightly oil the paper.

Combine the sugar and salt in a bowl which will be large enough to accommodate the almonds and set aside.

Melt the honey in a large skillet over low heat. Add the cayenne and the almonds and stir until all the nuts are covered with the spice and the honey.

Spread the nuts in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Let the almonds cool slightly and then toss them in the bowl with the sugar/salt mixture. Remove the parchment paper and let the almonds cool completely on the baking sheet, spread them out.

Transfer to a serving bowl and you’re good to go. They may be stored in an airtight container for at least 4 days.

*original recipe for this was on foodandwine.com

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Posted in appetizers, Nut Recipes

Tagged Almond recipes, Almonds Raw and Roasted, Roasted Almonds, Spicy Sugared Almonds, Superfood Almonds

Roasted Potatoes with Mustard and Onions

Posted on November 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

Re-blog Monday and the original post for this was September ’12. In getting ready for my Thanksgiving menu I came upon this and think it would be a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table. It’s savory and pretty perfect. Ingredients are few and the prep couldn’t be easier. It’s just a wonderful side dish anytime anywhere. Enjoy!

Cooking with Candi

I saw this on the Barefoot Contessa TV show and thought this would be so tasty. It was! I made it with chicken and steak, but honestly this would be great alongside any dish. Very easy and pretty perfect. This was how I prepared it. It served 6 very well, and it could probably serve 8 – 10 as a side dish. A perfect dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas or any dinner party.

Ingredients:

2 – 2 1/2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes

2 medium size yellow onions

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

Kosher Salt – about 2 teaspoons

Freshly Ground Black Pepper – a few good grinds of the pepper mill

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the potatoes in quarters, and then I cut them again, I found they crisped up better smaller. Place on a very large sheet pan, do not crowd. I actually used two baking sheets…

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Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup–Spicy and Sweet (no dairy)

Posted on November 2, 2013 | 1 comment

Here it is November already! and we all know what is looming around the corner. I have begun to consider my Thanksgiving menu and hope to tweak it in another week or so. I am playing around with some new soup recipes and I found this one in Gwyneth Paltrow’s new cookbook “It’s All Good” . I followed most of the directions but did it my way. We also like it spicy, and the spice can be regulated to your particular taste . I also try to find vegetarian soups because our daughter Kerri is a vegetarian and I try as much as I can to find things that I know she can eat, since she won’t eat any of the meat on the table . So this is completely vegan. If you don’t like cilantro you can omit it. I love it but I know a lot of people have issues with it. This soup has no cream but comes out very creamy tasting and there is only 2 tbsp. of olive oil in here , super healthy food here. Very Southwestern flavor here with the smoky taste of chipotle.

This will serve 4 people as is , so adjust as you need to.