Pimiento Cheese Crostini

This was an appetizer idea I had for Thanksgiving. Andy's dad is a big fan of pimiento cheese and I try to make it for him regularly. Spreading homemade "shimmy" (my family's word for pimiento cheese) on baguette slices and toasting it—how can you go wrong? Everyone really liked this, especially our nephew Aubrey! It's very easy and would be great for holiday parties. Enjoy!





Pimiento Cheese Crostini
Use a food processor to shred the cheese; replace the shredding disc with the knife blade and chop the cheese to achieve the best texture.
2 (8-oz.) blocks Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (12-oz.) block American cheese, cut into cubes
4 oz. diced roasted red pepper or diced pimientos
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 baguette, sliced

1. Chop shredded and cubed cheeses in food processor. Place cheese mixture in a mixing bowl, and stir in diced red bell peppers and next 3 ingredients.
2. Spread pimiento cheese on one side of baguette slices.
3. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

This terrific recipe says "Thanksgiving" to me. I prefer it to pumpkin pie—the subtle cream cheese flavor is nice with pumpkin. Also, the pecan-and-gingersnap crust has won over some gingerbread-haters in our family. The original recipe is from Frank Stitt's Southern Table. The one change I've made to his recipe is that I cook all the cream cheese mixture in the springform pan as opposed to reserving a small amount to spread over the top of the baked cheesecake. The idea of raw eggs is unappealing to me. Instead I serve this with Amaretto whipped cream. Cheesecake is very easy to make and it never fails to impress. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake
30 gingersnaps
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
1/4 heavy cream
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
Amaretto Whipped Cream

1. Pulse gingersnaps and pecans in a food processor until ground. Combine crumb mixture with brown sugar and melted butter. Press mixture in bottom and up sides of a lightly greased springform pan.
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and next 3 ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared crust.
3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; then run knife around edge of pan and release sides. Cool completely on rack. Chill cheesecake 8 hours or overnight. Top with Amaretto Whipped Cream, if desired.

Amaretto Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup Amaretto

1. Beat cream with an electric mixer, gradually adding in sugar and Amaretto. Beat until soft peaks form.

Rosemary Biscuits

I served these with Beef Tenderloin on Thanksgiving. They made great sandwiches for the leftover beef the next day. Enjoy!

Rosemary Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp. butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients. Cut in butter into flour mixture until it resembles sand. Pour in buttermilk, and stir until combined. Stir in black pepper and rosemary.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface; cut with a round cutter. Place rounds in a lightly greased baking pan with sides of dough touching. Brush tops with melted butter.
3. Bake at 350° for 15 minute or until done. Serve warm.

Beef Tenderloin

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with Andy's family. His parents, sister, brother-in-law, our two nieces, and nephew came for dinner. We had Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Butter, my mother-in-law's famous sweet potatoes, Slow-Cooker Green Beans, Rosemary Biscuits, and Pumpkin Cheesecake. We love Beef Tenderloin. It's very easy to make and super impressive! (The only thing you need to know is that it is a pricey cut of meat; Costco usually has the best price.) Enjoy!

Beef Tenderloin
1 (4-lb.) beef tenderloin
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Drizzle beef tenderloin with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides. Place in a roasting pan.
2. Bake at 425° for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer inserted in center registers 140° (medium). Remove from oven, and let stand for 20 minutes before slicing.

Apple Fritters

Tonight Mel, Russ, and the girls came for dinner. I made meatloaf, which Russ likes and Mel never cooks (she doesn't care for ground beef). For dessert I made Apple Fritters. (It had been a while since we had fried dough!) This recipe is based on one from The Joy of Cooking. The batter is very thick and it's hard to stir in the apple pieces, but that makes dropping it into the hot oil easy. Lizzie helped me sprinkle the hot fritters with powdered sugar. We ate them with vanilla ice cream (next time, I'll make some caramel sauce too). Enjoy!

Apple Fritters
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. melted butter
Juice of 1 lemon
4 apples, cored and thinly sliced
Vegetable oil
Powdered sugar

1. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Combine milk and next 3 ingredients. Gradually add milk mixture to flour mixture. Stir apples into batter.
2. Heat vegetable oil in Dutch oven. Carefully drop batter into hot oil using a small scoop. Cook until golden brown and done. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle hot apple fritters with powdered sugar.

Roasted Cauliflower

Call me lazy! We don't have a lot of side dishes around here—I'm more of a one-dish kind of cook who occasionally throws a salad or green beans into the mix. But my laziness doesn't stop me from looking for yummy-sounding sides. I read a lot of food magazines and lately have noticed several recipes for cauliflower. I've never been a fan of raw cauliflower; it's too strong. It's one of those vegetables that you don't see very often, except leftover on a crudité tray. Andy grew up eating cauliflower and likes it, so tonight I decided to roast it. (I feel strongly that I need to try foods I don't think again. This philosophy has expanded my palate in numerous ways.) I served it with Beef Burgundy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I really liked the flavor of the cauliflower; it will probably reappear on my Thanksgiving menu. Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 slices sourdough French bread
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cut cauliflower florets into slices. Place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Bake at 425° for 20 to 30 minutes or until cauliflower begins to brown and softened.
3. Process bread slices in food processor to make crumbs. Melt butter, and stir into breadcrumbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste; stir in marjoram.
4. Combine roasted cauliflower and breadcrumb mixture in a gratin dish. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Soup

Tonight I decided to make soup from a real pumpkin, not from pumpkin puree (I'm not actually sure you could make soup with the canned stuff). I approached this recipe as I do many—sautéing chopped bacon in my blue Dutch oven. Such an auspicious start! You can't cook with any old pumpkin—I used a small pumpkin labeled "pie pumpkin" from the grocery store. After cutting the pumpkin into thirds and cleaning out the seeds, I drizzled it with vegetable oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Then I roasted it in the oven for 45 minutes. By far, this was the longest part of the process. The flavor is similar to butternut squash soup; adding some fennel was the perfect flavor complement. I topped the savory soup with crumbled bacon and Homemade Croutons (or toast, as Andy prefers to call them—he's not a fan of croutons, go figure). Enjoy!

Pumpkin Soup
1 pie pumpkin, cut in thirds and seeded
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bacon slices, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

1. Place pumpkin pieces on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with vegetable oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes or until softened. Scoop out pumpkin with a spoon, and discard skin.
2. Sauté bacon in a Dutch oven until browned; remove from Dutch oven. Sauté onion and next 2 ingredients in drippings for 10 minutes or until softened. Stir in chicken stock and next 3 ingredients. Stir in pumpkin, Use immersion blender to puree soup mixture. Stir in fennel seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until thoroughly heated.