Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends (14 page)
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Authors: Trisha Yearwood
Tags: #food.cookbooks
SERVES 10
1 medium head green cabbage
½ cup water
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
40 butter crackers, such as Ritz, crushed
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 × 12 × 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Cut the cabbage in half, then lay each half flat side down and cut each section into eighths. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the chopped cabbage and the water, and steam the cabbage just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Set the pan off the heat. Drain the cabbage. Add the crumbled bacon, mayonnaise, cheese, soup, eggs, salt, and pepper and stir together until completely mixed. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs with the melted butter, then sprinkle over the top of the cabbage mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
casserole
Whenever I ask my children for menu suggestions, they always say mashed potatoes. I think they would eat mashed potatoes with anything! The only problem in our house is that nobody likes them cold, and on the rare occasion when we have leftovers, they usually sit in the refrigerator until I throw them out. In this recipe, the potatoes stay creamy and it’s an easy dish to warm up in the microwave. You can even make it ahead of time and pop it into the oven at the last minute.
SERVES 8
6 large russet potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
8 slices bacon
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 cup milk
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Place the potatoes and salt in a large saucepan with water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes until very tender, about 30 minutes.
While the potatoes boil, cook the bacon in a medium skillet or in the microwave. Drain the bacon on paper towels and, when cool enough to handle, crumble it into small pieces. Set aside.
Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, and half of the cheese to the potatoes. Add the garlic salt and pepper. Use an electric mixer to whip the potato mixture until thoroughly combined and spoon into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon and the remaining cheese over the top and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through.
You can cook the potatoes faster if you use a pressure cooker. Cook the potatoes for about 5 minutes.
casserole
I’m always saying, “Simple is better!” I have made simple baked beans as a side ever since I began cooking twenty years ago. This recipe came from Beth’s friend
Gail Shoup. The dish quickly became the new baked bean side at our house. It is hearty enough for a meal. Garth loves a smoked barbecue sauce that our friend
Charlie Nichols makes and brings to him on a regular basis. Garth calls it Charlie-que Sauce! It’s a secret recipe that Charlie got from his grandmother. I use Charlie-que Sauce in these beans because it’s Garth’s favorite, but any thick barbecue sauce will do. Maybe someday I’ll get Charlie’s secret recipe!
SERVES 12
1½ pounds lean ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
2 16-ounce cans pork and beans
½ cup barbecue sauce
½ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
6 to 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 × 13 × 2-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
In a large saucepan, brown the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper. Add the pork and beans, barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar to the mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole dish. Crumble the bacon over the top of the casserole. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.
These beans go great with
Fred’s Barbecued Pork Ribs
.
relish
We’ve always served the traditional canned cranberry sauce (one of my nephew Kyle’s favorite food groups) at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but a couple of years ago, Beth’s friend
Vicki Walker brought us this delicious mixture of fresh oranges, cranberries, and nuts. We still open a can for Kyle (and, let’s be honest, for Aunt Trisha), but everybody else loves this stuff. Kyle and I are just old school.
MAKES 2 CUPS
1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
2 oranges, peeled
1 cup sugar
½ cup pecans, finely chopped
Using a food processor, pulse the cranberries and oranges. Transfer the chopped fruit to a 1-quart bowl and add ½ cup of sugar, stirring to mix. Add more sugar to taste, as the sweetness of the oranges will vary. Add the chopped pecans and serve.
FROM GWEN:
This relish will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator (if it doesn’t disappear before then!).
pudding
I meet a lot of people who say they didn’t think they liked sweet potatoes—until they tried them prepared in a different way from just baked and topped with butter and brown sugar. I happen to love sweet potatoes any way they’re prepared, but this pudding is a good alternative for those who don’t care for the potato plain. This has lots of flavor and is a great side dish for Thanksgiving.
SERVES 8
2½ pounds (about 3) medium sweet potatoes
½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon self-rising cornmeal
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecan halves
½ cup packed brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
On a foil-covered baking sheet, bake the sweet potatoes for 1 hour, or until they are soft. Remove and let cool. Reduce the heat of the oven to 325°F. When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes, place the flesh in a large mixing bowl, add the butter, and mash until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cornmeal, sugar, milk, salt, and ½ teaspoon of the vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Arrange the pecan halves on top of the pudding and top with the brown sugar. Sprinkle the remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla by small droplets over the brown sugar. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned.
FROM GWEN:
The top of this pudding should be browned, but watch to make sure you don’t burn the pecans.
MAKES 3 OR 4 CUPS
2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, chilled in the refrigerator
4 tablespoons sugar
Chill a large metal mixing bowl and the wire beater attachment in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
Pour the chilled cream into the cold mixing bowl and beat until it forms soft mounds, about 10 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed, stirring as you add the sugar by tablespoonfuls. Continue beating until the cream forms more defined peaks, about 5 minutes. The mixture should hold its shape when dropped from a spoon. Don’t overbeat or you’ll have sweetened butter!
FROM GWEN:
Beating times and the amount produced may differ depending on the temperature of the bowl and the cream.
FROM GWEN:
Leftover whipped cream will separate slightly when stored in the refrigerator, but may be whipped again.
This was brought to the Paulk family reunion by my great-aunt Ora’s daughter, Pat Sizemore Foster.
This dish can be topped with whipped cream and eaten for dessert!
A meal isn’t complete without bread!
I try to serve some sort of bread at every home-cooked meal. These rolls and breads are good on their own, or served crumbled up underneath a rich soup or chili. The sweet breads in this chapter are a welcome addition to a morning cup of coffee or served as a light dessert after supper.
muffins
For those of you who, like me, are a little intimidated by the idea of making biscuits from scratch, try these muffins. Somehow when you call them muffins, they sound easier! They’re sometimes called 2-2-1 muffins or drop biscuits, but whatever you call them, they’re quick and easy. These are great right out of the oven as is or served with soup on a cold winter day. This recipe came from family friend
Mary Lou Jordan.