Family Friendly Holiday Sweet Potato Pie

I love sweet potato pie and have always loved it. It's not a recipe that my mom or anyone in my family ever made.  It's just something that I found out about when visiting my ex-husband's family in North Carolina.   Well, actually, it was my brother in-law's grandmother who made awesome sweet potato  pie.  She was a true southern cook.  It was an amazing adventure to visit that part of the family.  They were the epitome of the black family from the South who had little in the way of financial riches and worked hard to support the family in the best way they could.

Interestingly, it didn't have to be Thanksgiving or Christmas. It could just be an occasion of family or friends visiting for a weekend.  Every stop was pulled out.  It was amazing.  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, potato salad, collard greens, kale, homemade rolls, sweet potato pie; and this was not a holiday! This was just a regular Sunday dinner! Welcoming anyone who came by.  I was a young bride and new to North Carolina cooking.  But it was there in Raleigh that I fell in love with North Carolina Barbecue and real sweet potato pie.

Here is my take on Sweet Potato Pie.  I'm pretty sure I've added some ingredients like rum extract and coriander that they did not use in the North Carolina . This year, I used white and yellow sweet potatoes for the first time. I got them from a local farmer where I buy my eggs.

This recipe made enough for two hearty pies. Since I don't do pie crusts very well, I got two ready made frozen pie crusts to pour the filling into.  That didn't take away from the taste. I also could not find my hand mixer so I had to mix the filling by hand.  This meant I couldn't mix everything at one time. Had to add the ingredients a few at a time.  It took a little extra time to blend.  Still, the pies turned out well.  And, they were actually better on the second day when the flavors had a chance to meld.

Ingredients

4-4 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (I used about 4 lbs of sweet potatoes)
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup almond milk 
2 Tbs molasses
6 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1  1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp lemon extract
2 tsp rum extract
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F

Mix all ingredients together until well-blended with a hand mixer or food processor.  Bake for one hour or until a sharp knife inserted into center of pies comes out clean. Serve plain or with whipped cream.

Fast and Easy Pork Sandwich for a Quick Fall Lunch

When you go to a deli or  a lunch wagon here in my area for a hot sliced or pulled pork sandwich, you can expect to spend no less than $8 for a naked sandwich.  More often than not, however, they will cost $9.00 or more plus tax. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious and worth it.  Well, maybe.  Anyway, I guess it's whatever the market will bear.  And, in this market, it can bear a lot, apparently.

I was thinking: "Why go to a deli when you can make a perfectly delicious sandwich at home worthy of the best meals on wheels food truck fare?"  So, for lunch today I made my sandwich with some thinly sliced Korean BBQ marinated pork I bought from one of my favorite Korean food markets.  I cooked it slowly in a a tablespoon of oil with some sliced yellow and red onions, toasted a large sub roll and added a little non-fat ranch dressing for the extra juicy sloppy factor.  When I had almost finished half of the sandwich, I though to have some avocado with it.  Way yum!

Rotisserie Chicken Salad for Dinner and A Movie At Home

When I had my own personal chef business, I would cook for many couples who either had no time to cook because they both had demanding jobs or they just hated to cook.  As a personal chef, the idea is to cook meals for a week or two, package and label them with instructions and freeze them.  The first meal, however, was not one to be frozen, but to be ready for dinner and a movie when the clients came home that very evening.

Apart from the regular menu we had agreed on, one of my requests was whether I could do something with leftover rotisserie chicken.    As you might imagine, many of these power couples would buy a roasted deli chicken for a quick meal and wonder what they could do with it after the first day.  So I would make a simple rotisserie chicken salad.  The chicken was already cooked and well seasoned so it was just a matter of cutting up the chicken, adding some onion and celery, and perhaps apples, raisins, avocados or nuts, depending on whether one of them had a food allergy

It turned out to be a favorite.  It also happens to be a favorite of mine for dinner and a movie at home.  You can have this with crackers for lunch or as a sandwich on a hard roll or croissant.  You can serve this rotisserie chicken salad as a main course on Romaine lettuce or baby spinach leaves with baked sweet potato fries and a glass of beer.  I'm into pumpkin beer for the season.  I also like this with fresh asparagus.

Here's my recipe for a simple creamy rotisserie chicken salad.  In fact, I just made this one this evening.  This is great for dinner and a movie. In fact, I'm watching an old classic 1936 Perry Mason movie.

Ingredients

2-3 cups rotisserie chicken, cut up, skin and all

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped fine

1/2 cup light mayo

2-3 Tbs light ranch salad or sour cream

1 tsp dried dill (flakes or seed)

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in bowl.  Add more ranch dressing if you want a wetter salad.  Personally, I make mine with lots of Ranch dressing  You could add walnuts or crunchy apple chunks. I also love this with chopped avocado and crispy  turkey bacon.

East Fall Apple Dessert

I saw a recipe online recently for an apple crisp cooked in a microwave.  Being a cook who doesn't always want to take a long time for cooking and preparation, I decided to try it.  The flavor was delicious, however, it turned out that the topping wasn't really crispy.  It was a simple recipe to which I added a couple of ingredients I thought would add to the dish.  I was right.  It turned out well, like an apple pie without the crust. 

The topping is chewy and the inside was soft and juicy. I used 3 huge Stayman apples that I got from a local farmer's market over the weekend. They are sweet and tart all at the same time.  Actually, they were so large, they measured almost five cups.  You can use Granny Smith as the original recipe called for or other cooking apples. Enjoy.

Ingredients

4 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Juice of one lemon

¼ tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground coriander

For the topping

½ cup melted butter

¾ cup quick cooking oats

¾ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground allspice

In large bowl place sliced or cut-up apples. Add lemon juice, cardamom, nutmeg and coriander. Mix well together with wooden spoon.   

Place apples in an 8 inch square baking dish or a deep dish glass pie plate.  In another bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, oats and flour.  Spread this topping evenly over the apples.

Cook in microwave on high power for 10-12 minutes until apples are soft.  Let cool so topping will set.  Serve with ice cream or use a dollop of sour cream.

Best Muffins for a Fall Family Chili Dinner

Before they were an entire breakfast and dessert combined, muffins used to be a great accompaniment  to dinner and a nice change from toast  with breakfast.  In fact, now there are so many varieties of  those huge "cake" muffins, you hardly ever see just a plain regular muffin. That's what I call them, "cake muffins"because it's like eating cake for breakfast.  

Fall is a wonderful time for muffins.  My mom, Sophronia, used to make great muffins when it started getting cool outside.  She made two kinds; plain and corn, and, they were always comforting. They were simple and delicious warm, dripping  with butter and strawberry preserves, which was my favorite way of eating them in the mornings for breakfast.   When we ate chili for dinner, we had corn muffins.  Any of these muffins are equally great with chili as well as with bacon, eggs and tea.

Here are my mother's recipes below.  Although the recipes call for greased muffin tins, you can use muffin cups.  Please note below. Be careful!  Do not beat the batter. Overmixing the plain batter will cause development of too much gluten in the flour and yield a tough muffin.   The corn muffins do require a thorough mix, however.


So, in my humble opinion, here are the best muffins for a family chili dinner.

Sophronia Baden's Family Muffins

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBs sugar

1 cup milk

2 TBs melted butter or shortening

1 egg, beaten

Sift and mix dry ingredients.  Combine liquid ingredients and add to dry ingredients.  Mix just enough to moisten the flour.** Do not beat.  Fill greased or buttered muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake at 400° F 20-25 minutes.

**IMPORTANT  Muffin batter should be stirred or mixed gently only until the dry mixture is moistened.  It should never be beaten. 

Mom's Corn Muffins

1 cup flour

2/3 cup yellow corn meal (We always used Indian Head Yellow Corn Meal. I still do.)

2  TBs sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 TBs melted butter

2/3 cup milk

Sift and mix all dry ingredients.  Combine eggs and milk.  Add melted butter.  Pour all into corn meal mixture and mix thoroughly.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 400° F for 20-25 minutes. 

Enjoy.

Fun Family Meal Idea-Super Moist Stuffing Muffins

Moist Stuffing Muffins

I think one of the most fun things I have done is to take stuffing and make it into muffins.  Technically, these should be called dressing muffins, because they are made outside of the bird, not stuffed into one.  Taking the traditional turkey stuffing fragrant with onions, celery and sage and making them into super moist stuffing muffins turns out to be a fun family meal idea.  Of course,  it's easy to just take a box of stuffing, mix it with water and make muffins.  That's fine if you're in a big hurry.  However, the delight you will feel when you hear the ooohs and ahhhs from your adoring family and friends is beyond compare.

Besides, the aroma of fresh cooked celery onions and sage wafting through your home is is like a tonic to your senses.  There is nothing like it.  It evokes memories of the Thanksgiving turkey preparations of childhood even if it is not Thanksgiving when you are making this recipe. My mother used the stock made from simmered turkey giblets to moisten the dressing.  She also used this stock as a base for her turkey gravy.  She never made these super moist stuffing muffins.  I am sure, however, that she would approve this fun family meal idea.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2-3 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 loaf bread, stale or toasted, torn into small pieces
2 cups turkey juices mixed with water, or chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook onion and celery slowly in melted butter until soft but not browned.   Turn off heat.  Add bread and dry seasonings and stir gently.  Pour liquid over the mixture, and pack tightly into greased muffin tins.


Bake 25-30 minutes