Peeps Potato Pie

I don't often toss out the word "genius" when I describe my cooking, but I'm making an exception this time.  This was one of my drive-home-from-work-thinking-of-food inspirations.  If you love Peeps as much as I do (and you know you do) and are a fan of sweet potatoes, then you will love this Just in Time for Easter dessert.

The best part about it, sweet potatoes rank number one in healthiest vegetables and Peeps inspire happiness so this pie is both good for your body and your soul.  You're welcome.

I'd like to dedicate this post to my peep Mary BB whose love and appreciation of Peeps is only match by my own.

Peeps Potato Pie

2 large sweet potatoes (approx. 1 lb.)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 (9") deep dish pie crust

Boil sweet potatoes (with the skin on) for 45 minutes or until very fork tender.

When done, drain boiled water and replace with cold water.  Allow to sit for about 3-4 minutes.

Remove sweet potatoes from water and peel off the skin. Should come off very easily.

Mash sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl, add butter and cream until fully incorporated.

Add the sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and spices.  Mix until batter is smooth.  It will be very liquidy but that's what you want.

Pour batter into the pie crust and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

In the meantime, pull apart your Peeps and if so inclined, plan out your Peeps pie layout. I found this made the transition to pie top much easier.

After pie has been baking for 45 minutes, add Peeps layer to the top and continue baking for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool and set. Garnish with Peeps if desired.

NOTES

I chose orange bunnies because they complimented the color of the sweet potatoes. But as you know there are many options available so if you feel like blue chicks will work better for you, then go for it.

I call this one "Last of the Mohpeepkins"

If you want your Peeps less melty as not to traumatize the children with so many toasted bunny corpses then bake pie for 50 minutes, top with Peeps and put back in oven for 5-10 instead. When you put them on is entirely up to you.

Good Friday everyone and Have a Happy Easter!

Cooper's Super Soup -- Sausage and Winter Root Vegetable

FACT – my friend Cooper makes super soups. He and I and another work friend used to do soup exchanges in the winter. Always looked forward to seeing what he would come in with next because they were always D-licious. Then I left for another job and the soup exchange was no more (insert sad face here). So when Cooper approached me about doing a guest post and featuring one of his soup recipes I was totally on board. So now I present for you culinary enjoyment, a super soup.

Cooper’s Super Soup
Sausage and Winter Root Vegetable

1 lb. Italian turkey sausage (spicy!)

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

~ 1 tbsp. fennel seed

~ 1 tbsp. crushed red pepper

3/4 cup white wine

2 large carrots

2 small-medium turnips

1 large or 2 small parsnips

1 medium celery root

1 large sweet potato

Salt n pepa (push it to taste)

4 Roma tomatoes, 1/4" dice

~1 tbsp. dried basil

~2 tsp. dried oregano

8 cups vegetable stock

Wash and peel all root vegetables. Cut all into 1/4-1/2" cubes. Set aside for later (see note).

In 2 gallon stockpot/Dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Remove turkey sausage from casing and brown. Stir to break up chunks. Once browned, remove to paper towel-lined plate with slotted spoon to drain.

Add remaining butter to pot and melt. Add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until translucent.

Add fennel seed and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir until strongly aromatic, then deglaze with a splash of wine.

Add root vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until root vegetables until all take up the reddish tint from the sausage grease, and let cook for 5-10 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, remaining wine, basil and oregano. Add sausage and stock, mix and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until veggies are tender. Remove lid and simmer for up to an additional 15 minutes to reduce stock if necessary.

Cooper Notes

As far as stock goes, this is a free veggie stock soup.  All scraps can be frozen for a future vegetable stock, and the variety of root veggies should make for a broth no one can quite put their finger on.

From my raw taste test, the leaves from the celery root are delicious yet potent, but the stems are very bitter (including the base of the leaf). I think the leaves would make for a very nice addition to a stock (or a garnish) with discretion as they are strongly flavored, but the stems are compost.

On the topic of stock, I used 4 cups of homemade spicy chicken stock (from a white bean chicken chili I had made) and 4 cups boxed veggie stock for my first batch. The homemade stock definitely added to the soup, but boxed chicken/beef broth (and extra hot peppers) might achieve the same flavor.

On preparing the root vegetables – this recipe calls for a lot of washing, peeling, and chopping tough roots. If you don't have a razor sharp peeler/knife or a good sous chef, it can take some time. With my limited cooking space and unfamiliarity with some ingredients, it took me about 40 minutes to prep all the roots.

To keep them from changing color/oxidizing, I had a large mixing bowl with vinegar-water mixture on the side for the roots to soak in (~1 tbsp vinegar with water to cover). From what I've read, any acidic water will do the trick. Just toss in a colander to strain before adding to stockpot.

K2 Note

Thank you, Cooper!  Very much appreciate the share and look forward to more good stuff from your kitchen.

Spicy Turkey Sausage Lasagna

When my friend Laurabee came into town a few weeks ago I threw together a couple small lasagnas, one for us to share and one for the Parental Units since Mom was still in recovery mode from her knee surgery.  Apparently it turned out pretty well because her first question was when was I going to post it? So finally got a chance to throw another together to share with you guys.

Spicy Turkey Sausage Lasagna

5 hot turkey sausage links
4 cups (32 oz.) crushed tomatoes
salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
2-1/2 cups ricotta
2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 zucchini, halved and sliced thin
4 cups fresh chopped spinach
oven ready or regular cooked lasagna noodles (14-16)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Remove the casings from the turkey sausage links and tear the sausage into small pieces.  Cook the pieces over medium-high heat in a deep skillet, chopping into smaller bits with a spatula.

Once the turkey sausage is browned, add in 3-1/2 cups of the crushed tomatoes (set aside other 1/2 cup for final layer).  Season with salt and pepper to your liking.  Reduce heat to low.

In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta with 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella (set aside other 1/2 cup for final layer) and dried parsley.  Set aside.

Chop the zucchini into flat pieces (easier for layering).

Julienne the fresh spinach into smaller pieces. I actually found a spinach-arugula blend that adds another flavor note to the mix.

In a 9 x 13 pan, spread 1/4 cup of the crushed tomatoes you had set aside.  Lay down a layer of noodles.

Cover with half of the spicy sausage tomato mix.  Next add half of the cheese mixture.  Next sprinkle half the zucchini pieces and half of the chopped spinach.

Lay down another layer of noodles and repeat process.

Cover the whole thing with one more layer of noodles.  Top with last 1/4 cup of crushed tomatoes and sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and the Parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Uncover and cook for another 10-15 minutes until baked through.

Buon appetito!

NOTES

If you've never tried them before, oven ready lasagna noodles are pretty good. They do cost a bit more than regular, but if you're into time saving, then they're pretty handy.

The first time I made this I used regular turkey sausage.  I accidentally picked up the hot sausage this time and now I think I would not go back to regular.  It's hot, but not burn-your-face-off-hot.

Pina Colada Upside Down Cake

Was feeling inspired by my last post and decided to tackle a full on upside down cake, but with a TCC twist.  May I just say, "Mwah, delicious!"

Pina Colada Upside Down Cake

topping
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
6 pineapple rings (fresh or canned)
5-6 maraschino cherries
1 tbsp. Myers dark rum or rum flavoring

cake
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. coconut liqueur or extract
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pecan bits (optional)

For the topping, melt butter over medium high heat in a small saucepan.  Add in the brown sugar and rum.  Continue heating until sugar melts.

Pour the sugared concoction in the bottom of a 9" cake pan (square or round, your choice).  Next place the pineapple slices in the bottom of the pan.  Add the maraschino cherries.  Set aside.

I chose a variation on the classic pineapple layout for my plan, but feel free to let your inner culinary artist run free and come up with your own pineapple design.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut flakes.  Set aside.

Cream the softened butter, takes about a minute.  Gradually beat in the sugar.  Then add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each well.  Add in the vanilla.

Starting with the flour, alternate adding flour and coconut milk, blending well and making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

Carefully spread the batter in the pan over the topping mixture.

Sprinkle the pecans on the top of the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  I would recommend placing the cake pan on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or foil to catch any spillovers (because there will more than likely be spillovers).  Bake until cake is golden or springs back to the touch when gently poked.

Remove cake from oven.  Run a knife along the inside edges of the pan.  Take your serving plate and put it upside down over the pan.

Using a thick towel or oven mitts, grab the edges and flip the pan and plate over and carefully lift the pan off the cake.  If any of the topping sticks to the pan, scoop it out and plop it on top.

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes (so that you don't burn your face on the hot sugar topping).

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins

Hello!  The prodigal blogger returns.  Have been busy in the kitchen but mostly whipping up old favorites to help Mom during her post-surgery convalescence.  BUT today I had some friend over for brunch and was determined to try something new.

Found this gem of a recipe in my 1965 "McCall's Practically Cookless Cookbook." I love going through the old books because you never know what you'll find.  I realized that I have never made pineapple upside-down cake before so figured this would be my baby step to the big league.

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins
paraphrased from original recipe, makes 16

pineapple topping
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2-2/3 cup pecan halves
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained

muffin batter
2 cups Bisquick
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Grease bottoms of 16 muffin tin cups.

To make the pineapple topping, first combine the melted butter and brown sugar.  Divide evenly between muffin cups.

Arrange 2-3 pecan halves per muffin cup.  Then top with crushed pineapple, dividing evenly between cups.

To make the muffin batter, combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  Quickly stir with a wooden spoon, do not beat.  The batter will be lumpy.

Divide the batter evenly between the cups (filling to about 2/3 full).

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees until golden. Mine took 18 minutes.

Loosen the edges of the muffin cups with a spatula or knife.  Invert immediately onto a cookie sheet. Let the pan rest on the muffins for about a minute then remove pan.

If any pineapple mixture sticks to the cups remove it and spread it over the bottom of the muffins.

Serve warm.

NOTES

So there was some reading misunderstanding on my part and I used foil cupcake holders instead of just doing them in the muffin tin itself.  The original method will be easier because I found my batter tended to stick to the sides of the foil cups.  Still delicious and edible.

I used Bisquick but you can use any packaged biscuit mix.

The other thing I meant to do was put a piece of maraschino cherry in the topping as well to make it more traditionally pineapple upside down...next time!

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Pecan Fudge

I am discovering that my favorite treats to experiment with are ice cream and fudge.  When you can establish a good base recipe, it makes an excellent platform for experimentation.  I like to explore new taste options or try variations on things I've tasted elsewhere. As salted chocolates are still pretty trendy, I thought I'd give it a whirl myself.

If you are looking for an easy-to-make hostess gift for New Year's, I think you should try this.

DARK CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL PECAN FUDGE

2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup caramel bits
1 to 1-1/2 tbsp. grinder salt

In a deep saucepan over low heat, melt together the chips and condensed milk until smooth and well blended.

Fold in the pecans and caramel bits and pour into an 8" x 8" (or 9" x 9") baking pan lined with wax paper, and spread out evenly and smoothly.

Sprinkle the salt on top.

Put in the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes before removing and cutting into bite-sized pieces.

Ready to package or to nibble at your leisure.

NOTES

I found some caramel bits at Southern Season in Charleston which I used for this recipe, but Kraft makes caramel bits too.  If you can't find those, you can small dice the wrapped caramels to add to the mix.

I also used Celtic Sea Salt (a Christmas gift from my good friend CJ) as my salty sprinkle, but you can use whatever kind you'd like.  You want a nice rough grain salt to stand out on top of your treat. 

Treat boxes are pretty easy to find these days, I get mine from Not Just Paper in Durham, NC (red ones), but you can also find them in Michael's or AC Moore's (usually white ones).  I use 1/2 pound boxes lined with wax paper.

Then I either pre-cut the fudge into bite-sized pieces (will fit 8-10 depending on what you call bite-sized) or cut out a piece that just fits in the box and include a little plastic knife in the box so your recipient can cut their own pieces.  Tie up with a decorative ribbon and you're all set.