Sweet Pecan Cream Cheese Stuffed Corn Muffins

Ingredients
2 packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (follow directions on box: requires 2 eggs and Milk)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
¾ cup brown sugar (1/2 cup into mix, save ¼ cup for sprinkling on top of muffins)
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup pecans (3/4 into mix, save ¼ for sprinkling on top of muffins)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
 
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease one Texas style jumbo muffin pan.
 In a bowl mix two boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix per directions.
Add corn kernels, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans and mix thoroughly.
Spoon batter into each muffin tin. Add dollop of cream cheese into each muffin.  Sprinkle pecans and a pinch of brown sugar on top.
Bake as directed.  Make sure pecans do not burn on top of muffins.

Rosemary Infused Sweet Potatoes

I am a HUGE fan of Rosemary.  We always have a large Rosemary bush growing at the farm and use it generously.  When I’m short on time I always like to pop a sweet potato into the oven but after a while this gets a little boring.  Sweet Potatoes are delicious and super food nutritious (a 1-cup serving offers 65% of our daily requirement for vitamin C and as much as 700% of the recommended daily requirement for vitamin A), they also have a fairly low glycemic index of 17. Problem solved!  Ok, slice your sweet spuds cross wise, wedge fresh herbs in between each slice (in this case Rosemary), drizzle some olive oil across the spud, allowing it to seep in between. Wrap in tin foil, place on a cookie sheet and roast in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.  BAM!

Sweet and Spicy Wings

Pork Rind, Nutella & Sriracha Chicken Wings

*This recipe was developed out of a 3 ingredient challenge where I had to create a dish using Pork Rinds, Chicken Wings and Nutella.  Here you go!

Ingredients:

12 large chicken wings

2 cup crushed pork rinds

½ cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup Nutella

4 Tbs Sriracha or 6 Tbs of hot sauce

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Crush pork rinds and set aside (tip: pulse in food processor).

2. In separate bowl, pat wings dry with paper towel.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3. Over low heat, melt Nutella and remove from heat.  Add remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix.

4.  Add sauce and thoroughly glaze wings.

5.  Dredge wings in pork rind crumbs and place on parchment covered cookie sheet.

6. Place in 400 degree oven for approximately 24-30 minutes.

7.  Sprinkly red pepper flakes evenly over wings and serve with your favorite dipping sauce or eat as is!

* I like a lot of kick on my wings so I pour more Sriracha or hot sauce over the finished wings.  It make for an even better presentation as well!

*** You can find Sriracha in almost any grocery store in the ethnic/asian section.  It’s inexpensive and really good on so many things!

Toasted Quinoa and Avocado Salad

Me and my friend and chef Dafna Mizrahi accidentally charred some quinoa today and decided it tasted better than heaven!  Well, low and behold I think we’ve created a memorable salad that will make you a hands down STAR.  If you don’t like quinoa you can substitute Cous Cous.

Ingredients:

2 cups toasted quinoa (see instruction )

1 ripe avocado diced

¼ cup diced red onion

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup olive oil

¼ apple cider vinegar

½ lemon juiced and seeded

½ tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook quinoa per instructions on packaging.  Heat oven to 500 degrees. Place cooked quinoa on parchment lined cookie sheet and spread evenly.  Place on center rack of oven and bake approximately 10 minutes or until dark and crispy. Remove and place in large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss together and serve with your favorite protein or veggies.  I like it with my roasted Brussels sprouts.

*If you don’t like quinoa you can substitute Cous Cous

Blue Ribbon Country Stuffing

Summary : “One Sunday at the farm I used what I had in the kitchen and WHAHOOZA! This dandy of a stuffing recipe was born. Hands down, this is one of my best creations.”

Ingredients

• 7 cups bread cubes
• 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsps olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 2 cups diced apples (I use peeled Granny Smiths)
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound spicy Italian ground sausage
• 2 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. To make toasted bread cubes, buy a pack of large white bread hamburger buns. (One bun= about 1 cup) Tear apart into approximately one-inch pieces. Place in a large mixing bowl and drizzle 1/3 cup olive oil over bread cubes and toss with hands. Place on a cookie sheet and toast in oven until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Lower oven temperature to 350F. Heat remaining olive oil in a large pan on medium heat and cook onions, apples, carrots, celery and garlic until just soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. In a separate pan, brown sausage until cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes, breaking it up into pieces with the back of a wooden spoon. Combine vegetable mixture and sausage in bowl with toasted bread cubes. Add chicken stock and mix thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in a lightly greased baking dish (9×12 works best) and bake for 20 minutes.

Quick notes

Use the leftovers and make what I call Thanksgiving Day Sammy’s: sliced turkey and this stuffing with a little mayo and mustard scrunched between 2 amazing slices of bread!

Number of servings (yield): 8

Cozy Black Bean Soup

Cozy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 cups canned black beans (rinsed)
• 6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• ¾ cup red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ripe avocado, chopped for garnish
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Sautee onions and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil until translucent.  Add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Garnish with chopped avocado and raw onion.

Corn Succotash!

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen corn

1 cup frozen lima beans

1 medium red onion diced

½ cup white wine

3 cloves of garlic diced

3 scallions diced

10 Shitake mushrooms chopped (no stems!)

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a few tablespoons of olive oil, sautee onions until carmelized. Drizzle a little more olive oil over medium heat adding wine, garlic and cooking for 5 more minutes. Then add shitake mushrooms, corn, scallions and lima beans and cook until done. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cooper’s Cheesy Balls (Only 3 ingredients and GLUTEN FREE!)

Ingredients:

1 cup of sour cream (DO NOT USE LOW FAT or FAT FREE…THEY WILL FLOP)
1 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp of Yucca and/or Tapioca flour (Bob’s Red Mill)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make small balls by rolling about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough in the palm of your hand. Use the extra yucca flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes (Remember no peeking!) Remove from oven and serve immediately piping hot.

Click here to print Cooper’s Cheesy Balls

CHECK OUT COOPER MAKING HIS CHEESY BALLS ON GOOD DAY ATLANTA!

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/23783902/country-living-fair-stone-mountain-park

Apple Infused Simple Syrup

Summary : “I wanted to use the leftover peels and cores from my Butter Apple Crumble recipe. Here it is! An autumnal syrup that’s great for pancakes, French toast, ice cream and cocktails!”

Ingredients

• 3 cups light brown sugar
• 3 cups water
• Cores and peels of 6 Granny Smith apples (leftover from some other recipe)
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, water, apple cores and peels and cinnamon sticks in a large pot. Split vanilla bean, scrape out seeds and add seeds and pod to pot.
2. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook so apple cores soften, about 30 minutes. As they soften, mash up cores occasionally with a whisk or wooden spoon. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
3. Strain cooled syrup into a clean storage jar, squeezing syrup from cooked apple cores to extract more flavor (if you want you can add cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean back into syrup…this will only intensify the flavor). Store in refrigerator up to 3 or 4 weeks.

Number of servings (yield): 3

Kale Yes!

As a kid I hated anything green.  I remember pretending to eat my Brussels sprouts and cleverly spitting them into my napkin in the midst of a well-faked sneeze.  My parents eventually caught on to my anti-vegetable protest and watched me like a psych ward patient on a 24 hour watch.  My plan was foiled. I had to swallow.

As the years progressed, so did my food palette.  Green eventuated from enemy to frenemy to friend.  Last year, my college buddy and besty  Jonel came to the farm for the weekend and brought along a Tupperware container filled to the brim with home made kale chips.  OMG!  Crunchy AND good for you?  Really?  Since then, I’ve become a perpetual fan of kale, using it in various ways in the kitchen.  Most recently, I created a recipe for a kale and bacon salad that simply put, brings kale to a whole new level.  Make it, share it and smile. Kale yes!

Kale & Bacon Salad

Ingredients

1 bunch kale

1/4 cup homemade bread crumbs

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

½ cup cooked and crumbled bacon (5 strips)

1 medium garlic clove, pasted

1/4 cup finely grated pecorino cheese, more for garnish

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for garnish

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Instructions:

1. Trim bottom 2 inches off kale stems and discard. Slice kale, excluding ribs, into 1/2-inch-wide ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups and set aside.

2. Toast bread until golden on both sides. Place in food processor until mixture forms coarse crumbs.

3.  Toast pine nuts in skillet with drizzle of olive oil until golden brown and set aside.

4.  In skillet, cook 5 strips of bacon, drain fat and cool on paper towels. Once cooled, crumble/cut and set aside.

5. With the back of a knife, crush garlic into paste. Combine garlic, cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper flakes and black pepper.  Drizzle dressing over kale and toss very well with pine nuts and bacon.

6. Let salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with bread crumbs, additional cheese and drizzle of olive oil.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings.

Garlic Scapes Have Arrived!

Scapes?  What?  I know, I too was in the dark about what the hell these were until Mark introduced them to me 6 years ago.  In a nut shell, Garlic Scapes are the shoots that grow out of garlic bulbs and have a really gentle garlic flavor and texture.  THEY ROCK! People used to throw them away until they realized how amazing they actually are. They have a very short season so you want buy them on the smaller/thinner side because the bigger they get, the tougher they get. (Insert human metaphor here!).  They remind me a bit of green beans but have a bit more of a bite raw!  But, if that’s your thang then go for it! Meow! Where do you get them?  You’ll find these mostly at local farmer’s markets because farmer’s know how crazy good these are.  I’ve included a pic below as to what they actually look like before cooked so you can eye ball them at the market.  Cooking is super easy so here it goes.

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of garlic scapes

2 cups chicken stock

2 cloves garlic diced

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Clean Garlic Scapes, cut brown/dried ends and chop into green bean sized lengths.

2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat and “sweat” your garlic until very light brown.

3.  Add chopped scapes stirring for 8 minutes.

4.  Add chicken stock and cover.  Cook until tender

5.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.

*Tip.  Another way to use scapes is to make a pesto out of them. Simply substitute the arugula and basil in my pesto recipe with the scapes.  Remember go easy on the garlic for the pesto as these have a mild garlic value already.

Tomato, Avocado and Grilled Bread Salad

Ingredients:

3 vine ripe tomatoes sliced

1 avocado cubed

½ cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup grilled day old Bread (baguette, Italian bread, etc..)

2 cloves garlic minced

¼ cup pine nuts

drizzle of white balsamic vinegar

drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Toss day old bread , cubed, in olive oil and grill until toasted and set aside.
2. In skillet, toast pines nuts until golden in drizzle of olive oil, remove from pan and set aside.
3. Combine all ingredients in bowl, salt and pepper to taste.

Strawberry Feta Salad

I really try to use foods that are in season.  Well, my favorite berry farm, Trapani Farm, finally showed up at the local farmer’s market that me and Mark started years back.  Anyway, I made SURE  I was there early before they sold out.  Here is my creation using strawberries in a whole new light.  I served it over a bed of locally grown kale to make the perfect summer salad.

Strawberry Feta Salad

Ingredients

4 cups (1 quart) fresh strawberries hulled and sliced

½ cup feta cheese crumbled

½ cup chopped red onion

¼ white balsamic vinegar (dark balsamic will spoil the color)

½ cup toasted and chopped pistachios

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Toast pistachios in a drizzle of olive oil until brown then set aside to cool.

2.  Mix remaining ingredients in bowl.

3.  Combine cooled pistachios with olive oil into salad.  Allow to sit for one hour before serving over bed of greens.

Coop’s Quick Pickled Onions

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 red onion, very thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Mix vinegar, water, sugar and salt until dry ingredients are fully dissolved.
2. Slice onion on mandolin for very best “thin” results
3. Place onions in a jar, pour liquid in and full cover and seal with lid.
4. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.  Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill. Drain onions before using.

Roasted Corn and Mango Salad

Summary: “The longer it sits, the better it gets”

Ingredients

• 8 ears of locally grown sweet corn (you can use frozen corn as well!)
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 1 bunch green onions, diced
• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of 2 limes
• Coarse salt, to taste
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Peel back husks to remove silk from corn, LEAVING HUSKS ON. Smooth husks back over cobs of corn.
2. Light an outdoor grill to medium heat or, if using a charcoal grill, light coals and wait until coals are covered in a light ash.
3. Place corn on grill and cook until tender and somewhat charred on the outside and a little on the inside. this gives the salad a subtle smoky flavor) about 10-12 minutes.
4. Remove corn from grill. Let cool. While corn is cooling, combine all remaining ingredients in large bowl and set aside.
5. Slice corn off the cob into a serving bowl, making sure kernels are separate and not clumping together.
6. Combine corn with remaining ingredients, toss and allow to sit in refrigerator for 8 hours or more before serving.
7. The longer it sits, the better it gets!

Quick notes

Toss in with salad greens Serve as a side with chicken, ribs or fish Serve in a cheese quesadilla Serve as a salsa with chips Mix into scrambled eggs with salsa

Number of servings (yield): 8