Coconut-Caramel Rice Pudding with Vanilla Tea-infused Jasmine Rice

Serves 6-12 Takes about 1 1/2 hours

Yum

This recipe was born out of the desire to make a dessert for my rice pudding loving, gluten-intolerant friend Jayde. I found a very basic recipe from Kraft and made that and it was a rousing success. Over time though, I've been wanting to find a way to make this dish mine, and I believe this speaks more to my sensibilities than that Kraft recipe ever did. Rice pudding itself is a very easy dessert, in concept and execution. But this recipe is not for those who don't have patience, because this will take a good hour to come together. My personal twist that I've added here is infusing Jasmine Rice with a Vanilla Tea. Without doing much more than brewing two tea bags in the prescribed water amount before making the rice, you impart an extra layer of warm and earthy vanilla flavors into the final dish.

One final note: This is a very rich dessert, and one cup uncooked rice makes about 3 cups cooked, and you aren't losing any of it. So don't go in thinking you can eat this by yourself. Probably best served as a small-portioned dessert to a lot of people rather than a big bowl for a few people. A little goes a long way.


----------------------------------------


Ingredients

6 Cups (1 1/2 qts.) Half and Half
1 1/3 Cup Water
2 Vanilla tea bags (I used a Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos)
1 Cup Uncooked Jasmine Rice
1 lb. (16 oz) of a caramel milk topping (I used this one)
1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut, toasted
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt


----------------------------------------


Prep  Directions

1. Step one and two here are gonna be our preparation steps for a couple of our base ingredients. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread at least half a cup of shredded (or flaked) coconut onto a lined baking sheet. Once oven is ready, set them in on a middle rack to toast. Will probably take more than 5 minutes and less than 10 minutes. Open oven halfway through and use a spatula to move coconut around for maximum toasting. Once it starts to get a golden-brown hue and some dark brown edges, pull out of oven and leave to cool. Meanwhile, put water in a medium sauce pan (one that has a lid) and heat to a boil. Once boiling, add tea bags, turn off the heat, and let steep 5-7 minutes. Then remove tea bags.
2. Bring Tea up to boiling and add the Jasmine Rice and a teaspoon of salt, stir to combine, put a lid on it and turn the heat down to low. Cook without lifting lid for 15 minutes. Once done, remove lid and fluff rice with fork. Set aside to cool or do what I did and make the day before and keep rice in a sealed container in the fridge until cook time.


----------------------------------------

Pudding Directions

3. Okay, with that out of the way, let's make the pudding. In a medium-to-large saucepan, bring half and half to a slow boil. Keep the heat between Medium-Low and Medium, you want to do this gently enough that the dairy doesn't get scorched. It's a lot of dairy and we're doing this slowly. Stir with spatula occasionally to keep it from sticking too much to the top and the sides.
4. Once milk starts to boil, add in our cooked rice, caramel sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining salt. Turn to Medium-Low if not already there and stir.
5. Stir.
6. Stir some more. This is a slow process. By adding all this rice and caramel and lowering the heat, we have greatly disrupted the heat of the dairy and it will need to get back up to boiling (on it's own terms) before it really starts to take off. This is gonna take like...an hour probably. The saucepan will start mostly white with no visible rice, and by about halfway through it should take on the golden brown color of the caramel with a lot of rice visible. Stir once every 5 minutes or so to start, but as the temperature gets up to boiling, stir every 2-3 minutes. You'll know it's about finished when the dairy forms a skin on top every two-three minutes with bubbles boiling underneath, and stirring becomes a challenge.
7. Once pudding gets to the desired consistency (kinda like thick oatmeal) turn off the heat and drop in our toasted coconut, stir to combine. Transfer to a large dish to house the pudding, like a round casserole dish or a deep bowl.
8. Can be enjoyed hot or cold, so for hot rice pudding, let cool for about ten minutes and serve, possibly with a splash more coconut and cinnamon for garnish. For cold, set into the fridge and let cool about 3 hours before serving.


----------------------------------------


What I Could Do Differently

There are a million different variations of rice pudding, mostly things to give you a textural change. In place of, or included with the toasted coconut, you could also add raisins, dried cranberries (craisins) and/or chopped up toasted pecans as a topping.
To remove a little richness from this dish (and/or use what you have on hand) you can substitute the half and half for whole milk or 2% and it will still come together nicely.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Caramelized Onion, Sausage, Apple and Parmesan Cheese

 Serves 6 - About 1 1/2 hours

Yum
This was a recipe inspired by my friend Emily. Full of fall flavors, but not limited to fall, these Acorn Squash are stuffed with lots of hot pork sausage (not actually very hot) celery, caramelized onions, garlic, apples and flavored with thyme, rosemary and sage. There's some time involved in making this, but really it's all in assembly and prep and all that can be done in advance with about 15 minutes actual cook-to-finish time.

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

3 Acorn Squash
1 Large Yellow Onion, diced
1 Pound Ground Hot Pork Sausage
2 Apples, finely diced
2 Stalks of Celery, finely diced
1 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Ground Sage
1 tsp Ground Rosemary
2 tsp Ground Thyme

----------------------------------------

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, use a sturdy knife to slice the top of the Squash with the stem off. Try to get as close to the stem as you can. Then split squash in half and scoop out seeds and innards. Before the next step, have your onion diced and ready to go.
2. Rub your preferred cooking oil (vegetable, canola, olive) over the exposed inside area of each squash half, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once that is done, set them face down (skin side up) on a lined (or greased) baking sheet. At the same time, put a medium sized skillet on medium heat.
3. Put Squash in oven and leave to cook for about 40-55 minutes, or until skin is tender when touched with a fork. Then, add diced onions to pre-heated pan along with a neutral cooking oil. Season with seasoning salt/salt pepper and turn heat down to medium-low.
4. While your squash is roasting, you're caramelizing your onions, which will also take about 45-55 minutes. Stir every five minutes or so and keep heat medium-low. You're looking for an amber-ish color and to your whole onion to reduce down to about a quarter of what you put in. Use this time to prep your celery.
5. Once your Squash is fork tender, take out of oven and set aside for the time being. Once onions are to desired caramelization, also set aside.
6. In a large skillet over medium heat, coat the bottom of the pan in oil and put in your hot sausage. As it cooks, break apart with spatula until it's fairly small bits. Leave to cook until all or almost all brown, about 5 minutes. During this time, dice up your apples, skin on.
7. Add celery to sausage, leave to saute for another 2 minutes.
8. Add in your diced apples, garlic and the onions from your other pan, leave to cook for about 3-5 minutes.
9. Stir in 3/4 Cup parmesan, sage, rosemary and thyme. Let cook until parmsean starts to melt. About 1-2 minutes.
10. Take mixture off heat. Turn your squash halves over and spoon mixture into Squash halves. Try to fill them as much as possible, though you might have leftovers depending on size of Squash centers.
11. Return stuffed squash face side up to oven and bake for another 15 minutes or so.
12. Remove from oven and top with remaining, 1/4th cup parmesan. Enjoy!



----------------------------------------

What I Could Do Differently

You could very easily switch out the hot sausage for breakfast sausage and have a just as tasty and even more fall-flavored meal.

Hearty Breakfast Scramble with Roasted Red Peppers, Pepper Bacon and Yukon Potatoes

Yum

Serves 2-4, About 35-40 minutes

This recipe is a really no-frills, easy to make breakfast/brunch. I've been making some version of this for years now, sometimes at the rate of every other weekend. It's easy, filling and satisfying to both make and eat. Your kitchen will smell amazing the entire time. The directions here are gonna be short on steps but lengthy on instruction, largely because there is a lot of waiting to do in between steps, so to shorten prep time, you can easily prep each ingredient before the step in which it is needed.

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

2 Yellow Potatoes, cut into wedges
1 Yellow Onion, large, sliced
4 oz. Roasted Red Bell Peppers, sliced
4 Slices of thick-cut Pepper Bacon, diced
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 Cups of Cheddar/Monterrey Jack Blend, Shredded
Some Seasoning Salt/ Salt and Pepper, to taste

----------------------------------------

Directions

1. Heat a 10" or larger pan on the stove on medium heat. Once sufficiently hot, cover bottom of pan with neutral oil. Once oil is glistening, drop wedged Potatoes.
2. Potatoes take awhile to get soft, so let potatoes sit for about 10 minutes, stirring around only every couple minutes. During this time, you can easily cut your onion, peppers and bacon.
3. After the 10 minutes have passed, add Onions and your favorite seasoning salt over whole pan, stir every couple minutes for 5 minutes.
4. After about another 5 minutes have passed and the onions have sweat a little, add Sliced Peppers, Bacon and Garlic. Again, leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes, stirring only every couple minutes.
5. While you're waiting, crack 2 Eggs into separate bowl or cup and lightly beat with fork until combined. Once time has elapsed, move ingredients to one side of pan and pour eggs into your now empty side. Let sit for a minute or so to start forming before stirring it into whole mixture. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Finally, throw your Shredded Cheese blend on top of your scramble, doing your best to evenly cover the top. Turn heat off and cover with a lid or foil. Let sit for about 10 minutes and enjoy.

----------------------------------------

What I Could Differently

• This recipe is really just a base of potatoes, onions, egg and cheese. Without anything else, that is a solid, basic scramble. Everything else is customizable. That makes this the perfect "kitchen sink" recipe, where you can throw in anything else you have laying around that you think might work. Some deli turkey or ham diced, sliced mushrooms, asparagus and even eggplant would make fun additions or substitutions.

• Pepper Bacon is my most used meat, since I buy it in packs of 3-4 pounds and freeze them into separate 1-pound bags. I've made it previously with Breakfast Sausage, diced Deli Meat as mentioned above and Chorizo. If you want to go a more Mexican route, swap the Yellow Potatoes for Red and Bacon for Chorizo and add a teaspoon of Taco Seasoning for a Southwest-inspired scramble.

• For some heat, this dish also lends itself very well to a hot sauce. I use my favorite Barrel-Aged Sriracha.

Sharing Mini - Roasted Red Pepper Cream Cheese Dip with Sriracha and Garlic

Yum
Serves 6-12, takes about 5 minutes

Another mini post here, a quick, easy and delicious cream cheese based dip that's perfect for chips and crackers. I make this just about every time I host a party at my place, and it's always a hit. Roasted red bell peppers make the dip slightly sweet and smoky, while the sriracha adds some heat that is well-balanced out by the cream cheese. You'll know it's there, but it's not gonna hurt you.


----------------------------------------

For this recipe, you will need a food processor or mixer; hand or stand with whip attachment. Doing this by hand would be tedious and exhausting. I used a food processor.

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

8oz. Cream Cheese (1 block)
4 oz. Roasted Red Bell Peppers
1 Tbsp of your favorite Sriracha
1 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)

----------------------------------------

Directions

1. If Cream Cheese is from a block, cut into cubes so it will blend easier. Add cream cheese to processor bowl.
2. Add Roasted Peppers, Sriracha and garlic.
3. Pulse to combine. Once it looks like it's come together, use a rubber spatula to clean down the sides and push everything to the center of the bowl, then pulse until thoroughly combined.
4. Use rubber spatula to remove all the dip from the bowl into a resealable container and enjoy!

----------------------------------------

Tips/Tricks

This will last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but it will harden up sitting in there. So if making in advance or saving leftovers, take out about 15 minutes before you expect to use it.
You can use any sriracha sauce. I used a barrel-aged sriracha that is less hot but more sweet than your average bottle of Huy-Fong.

Bourbon Maple Syrup Brined Pork Tenderloin with a Bourbon Maple Syrup and Honey Mustard Glaze

Yum

Serves 2-4I make Pork Tenderloin a lot for work, but I was actually nervous about making it at home because at work I'm making about 16 at a time and have never made just one. Truth be told, this recipe came about because I have roughly 7 different kinds of maple syrup at home and I wanted to use one for something that wasn't pancakes. While my usual go-to for pork tenderloin is an apple-based sauce (I'll be doing one for fall, don't worry!) I wanted to experiment with a slightly different style than I usually go for while still being an absolute flavor winner for pork. Brining the pork with maple syrup and a hickory smoked sea salt really make sure that hickory-bourbon-maple flavor was present throughout the meat and not just relying on the glaze to deliver that punch.

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

1 Pork Tenderloin (1.5-2 lbs.)
1 Quart Cold Water
1/4th Cup Hickory Smoked Sea Salt
1/3 Cup and 2 Tbsp. Bourbon Barrel Aged Pure Maple Syrup
6 Cloves Garlic, minced or crushed
3 Tbsp. Fresh Ginger, Chopped
1 Tbsp. Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Honey Mustard
2 tsp. Dried Rosemary
2 tsp. Dried Thyme
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

----------------------------------------

Directions

1.  Make the Brine. In a large bowl, combine Water with 1/3 Cup of the syrup, Garlic, Ginger, Black Pepper, Rosemary Thyme and Red Pepper Flakes and stir until thoroughly incorporated.
2. Add the Pork to brine bowl and make sure it is fully submerged in brine. Cover with plastic wrap or lid and leave in fridge 5-10 hours. More than 10 hours and it could end up being too salty.
3. Preheat Oven to 325 degrees and remove Pork from Brine and thoroughly rinse off in cold running water. Pat dry.
4. Quickly mix together in a small bowl the remaining 2 Tbsp. of Syrup and the Honey Mustard, set aside.
5. Heat up an oven-safe skillet on medium heat on the stove top and pour in just enough neutral cooking oil (Canola, Vegetable) to cover the bottom.
7. Season your pork on all sides with salt and pepper and place in your hot pan.
8. Sear your pork on the stove top on all sides, about 10 minutes, a nice golden brown color.
9. Once seared all the way around, take the whole skillet and place it in the oven. Cooking time will vary by size of the tenderloin, but we're looking for the perfect internal temperature of 145 degrees. For me, I had a 1.5 lb. tenderloin, and this took about 10 minutes.
10. Take your pan out of the oven and brush the Syrup and Honey Mustard mixture over the pork, return to Oven to let set, about 5-10 minutes. For me it was about 5.
11. Remove Pan from Oven, take pork out and place on cutting board, letting rest for about 10 minutes.
12. Slice pork into medallions and if you have any of the Syrup and Honey Mustard mixture remaining, drizzle over top of the sliced medallions.

----------------------------------------

What I Could Do Differently

As previously mentioned it in my Apple Cider Brined BBQ Pulled Pork recipe, I picked up this Hickory Smoked Sea Salt from a specialty store. I believe if you have a cooking specialty store it might be available there, and I am sure you can get some online. However, I feel like this recipe will work just as good without it and you can just substitute in Kosher Salt in the brine instead if need be.

The bourbon barrel aged maple syrup is another craft specialty item, which I got from Costco. This recipe can be made without it as long as you have a good pure maple syrup, but if you're on the fence about buying a specialty-flavored pure maple syrup, you can just add regular pure maple syrup and put a shot of Bourbon in your brine instead.

As with most of my recipes, this is really just an excuse for me to play with different flavors I have laying around in my kitchen. If you know you like a flavor that goes well with pork, feel free to try out different variations. For example, I also happen to have a locally produced Apple Cider syrup from a nearby farm and while it's not going to give you the same flavor combo, I could see subbing in that Apple Cider Syrup and a shot of bourbon in the brine in place of this bourbon maple syrup for a similar profile and just as tasty tenderloin.

This recipe easily scales, as most of the ingredients are just in the brine. I know in my bowl I had room (and enough liquid) for at least a second tenderloin of similar size. More than that and you'll probably need to double the brining amounts however. As for glaze, just double the amounts of Syrup and Mustard for each additional tenderloin and for cook time probably add another 10-ish minutes per loin, but you should be using a meat thermometer to be the ultimate judge of time for pork. As long as you're pulling them out when they hit 145 degrees, you're good.

Sharing Mini - Cinnamon Honey Butter

Yum

Originally I intended this to be part of a larger series of compound butters, but it didn't come together in time. Instead, I decided I'd break these compound butters down into their own mini posts as I make them, so that I don't have like...6 different butters in my fridge at one time.

So today's recipe is very easy and delicious. A butter infused with cinnamon, vanilla and honey. Compound butters, sweet and savory, are an easy way to impart flavor on something without doing much work. Make the butter ahead of time and wham! you have it ready to use whenever you feeling like adding some to a meal. This butter, a cinnamon and honey butter, is my most made and used, as my breakfast most weeks includes English Muffins. Perfect as a topping for my Mexican Chocolate Banana Bread as well as cornbread and even melted and tossed with carrots. Without further ado, let's get down to it.

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

1 8oz Stick Butter, room temp
1/4th Cup Honey
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

----------------------------------------

Directions

1. Take your room temp Butter and place it in a small mixing bowl and whisk
2. Once butter is broken down a bit and whipped up, add your Honey, Cinnamon and Vanilla
3. Whisk together to combine, making sure no butter has gone un-mixed
4. Transfer your butter to a sealable container. Can be stored room temp for about two weeks or in the fridge for about a month.

----------------------------------------

What Could I Do Differently

Really in this case, you can play around with what kind of honey you're using to great effect, as each one has it's own flavor. I'm using a hyper-local wildflower honey, made about 7 miles from my house. Want more floral notes, use a lavender infused honey. Want more citrus notes, use an orange blossom variety
.

Three Layer Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Yum

Serves 6-12

I've been playing around with this recipe for a few years and I think this version hits all the notes I'm looking for in this Mexican-flavor inspired casserole dish. Like a lasagna, you're building the layers up and then baking until it's all one nice set rectangle. Brining the chicken before cooking gives the chicken just a little bit more of it's own character instead of being a filler in this dish. If you like enchiladas and/or ugly cheesy messes, this casserole is for you. 

----------------------------------------

Ingredients

15-ish Corn Tortillas
1 Can Refried Beans, 16 Oz
1 Can Mild Diced Green Chiles, 4 Oz
1 Can Medium Red Enchilada Sauce, 12 Oz
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Shredded
4 Cups Mexican Cheese Blend, Shredded
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Container Mexican Style Sour Cream, 16 Oz
Taco Seasoning, to taste

----------------------------------------

Directions

1. Start by brining the chicken breasts. In a medium sized bowl, bring 1 1/2 quarts of very cold water together with 3 Tablespoons of table salt and once mixed together, add in Chicken Breasts and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Any longer and the chicken will absorb too much salt water.

2. Once Chicken has been brined, wash off breasts and pat dry. Cover chicken breasts in Taco Seasoning and some ground black pepper, heat skillet, and begin to cook chicken breasts in a lightly oiled pan.

3. While doing step two, also pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, pull out a 9x13 (or similar sized) pan, lightly grease it and prep your other casserole ingredients (Tortillas, Refried Beans, Chiles, Enchilada Sauce, Cheese) so that layering the casserole can be quick.

4. Once chicken hits 165 degrees F, take out of pan and shred with your preferred method. I use my stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You can also use a hand-mixer and also the ol' two-fork separation method. If you use the fork method, best to let it sit for like five minutes so you don't burn yourself. Once chicken is shredded to your liking, put (or keep) in bowl and bring it over to your other prepped ingredients.

5. Now the assembly. Essentially you just want to cover as much space in the bottom of your casserole dish with tortilla as possible, without a ton of overlap. This will be different for everyone based on what your pan looks like, but with mine, I was able to fit 5 standard six inch corn tortillas in the bottom layer of the pan; one full tortilla in each corner and then one ripped in half and laid in the center. If you want to cover more space you can rip them up smaller, but the smaller you make them, the harder the next step will be.

6. Next, use a spoon to drop about half of your can of refried beans into the center of the tortillas. Use a rubber spatula to gently push them around until you have them covering as much of the tortilla layer as possible. The beans are our glue in this casserole.

7. Once beans have been spread, layer your other ingredients evenly across the beanfield like so; half your can of Diced Green Chile, half of your shredded chicken, one cup of shredded cheese and about a third of your enchilada sauce.

8. Once your first layer is complete, start anew with tortillas, trying to cover as much space as possible with as few tortillas as you can. For me, that was once again 5 tortillas. Then layer your ingredients the same as in step 7.

9. Time for the top "crust" layer. Cover your second layer of toppings with your favorite tortilla covering pattern. Then distribute remaining two cups of shredded cheese across the top as evenly as possible. Next, try to evenly drop the last third of your enchilada sauce. Then pour the Heavy Whipping Cream across the top, trying to get it as evenly distributed between the top and the sides.

10. Time to bake. Set the casserole on your middle rack and let bake. Exact time will vary based on what dish you used, but I think a good rule of thumb is to check it at 20  minutes and check again every 10 minutes after that until the cheese starts to brown. For me, it was about 40 minutes.

11. Once cheese is sufficiently golden, pull out of oven and let sit for about ten minutes before serving. Cut yourself a slice and top with a dollop of Mexican Style Sour Cream and voilà.
----------------------------------------

What Could I Do Differently

This is another recipe that will hold up to experimentation if you keep your flavor base in the same wheelhouse. You can swap your red enchilada sauce for green or for a hotter red sauce. You can choose your own blend of shredded cheeses, hotter diced chiles, adding a layer of a mexican hot sauce in as well.

You could swap the chicken out for a Mexican style pulled pork to I think great effect. I'd be really interested to try a Cuban Mojo Pulled Pork in place of the chicken.

----------------------------------------