Sweet Potato Crostini with Goat Cheese and Grape Salsa

Sweet potato crostini.

Once a month the Cameron Village Library sponsors a Cookbook Book Club* and this month those attending took a dish containing potatoes---any kind of potatoes.  I chose this easy and tasty appetizer using frozen waffle-cut sweet potato fries. In this case, instead of toasted bread crostini I am garnishing toasted sweet potato fries. The recipe is from Southern Living October 2012.

Waffle-cut sweet potato fries.

Ingredients: 
20 large frozen waffle-cut sweet potato fries 
2 tablespoons red pepper jelly 
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice  
1 cup quartered seedless red grapes 
1/4 cup finely diced yellow bell pepper  
2 tablespoons finely diced green onions 
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 
1 (4-oz.) package crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Bake potatoes in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet 12 minutes; turn potatoes, and bake 5 to 7 more minutes or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.

Bake sweet potato fries.

Cool on a rack.

 2. Meanwhile, whisk together pepper jelly and lime juice in a small bowl; stir in grapes and next 3 ingredients.

Lime juice and red pepper jelly.

Add grapes, yellow pepper, and onions.

3. Arrange potatoes on a serving platter; sprinkle with goat cheese. Garnish with grape salsa, using a slotted spoon. Serve immediately.

Ready to enjoy.

The combination of flavors is wonderful and these provide healthful appetizers.

* I had to miss the book club meeting, because I had forgotten that one my grandchildren was playing basketball at the same time, and I chose the basketball game.  But my family enjoyed these appetizers, and I think you would like them too.

Today is National Toffee Day

I am trying to repost a post from 2011 since today is National Toffee Day and I'm not going to have time to make a new post.  I hope this works.

Several years ago I tried Mildred's Toffee recipe from a Southern Living magazine, and I've been making candy by this recipe each Christmas since. 

English toffee.

Mildred's Toffee (Mildred Hayward, Kenosha, Wisconsin)
1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (I sometimes use bittersweet chocolate)

Spread 1 cup toasted pecans into a 9-inch circle on a lightly greased baking sheet.  I usually line the baking sheet with parchment paper that is lightly greased.

  

Spread chopped nuts in a circle on parchment paper.

 Bring sugar and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  It is important to use a HEAVY saucepan to prevent scorching and use only a wooden spoon for stirring.

Sugar, butter, water, and corn syrup brought to a boil.

Cook until mixture is a golden brown and a candy thermometer registers about 300 degrees (about 15 minutes).  (I add a tablespoon of vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda when I take the mixture off the heat.  This is something I added.  Vanilla for flavor and baking soda helps turn the mixture a golden brown.)  Pour the sugar mixture over the chopped pecans on the baking sheet.

Sugar mixture poured over chopped pecans.

Sprinkle with the chocolate morsels.

Sprinkle with chocolate morsels.

After about 30 seconds, spread chocolate morsels evenly over top.

Spread chocolate evenly over top.

Sprinkle with remaining chopped pecans.

After chilling for an hour, break into bite-size pieces.  Can be stored for a couple of weeks in an airtight container.

Serve in a pretty glass bowl.

I always have a big bowl of this toffee out for family and friends during the holidays.  You can put the toffee in a pretty cellophane gift bag, tie with a bow and you have a nice inexpensive gift that is always appreciated.

English toffee makes a nice gift.

Cappuccino-Walnut Toffee

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Buffy Hargett (Southern Living magazine).

I always make toffee at Christmas time using my recipe for traditional English toffee, but when I ran across this recipe in Southern Living, I thought I would give it a try.  I liked the idea of combining cappucino and walnuts.  I use pecans in my traditional recipe.  I also thought the swirled dark and white chocolate gave a nice effect.  Here's the recipe:

 YIELD: Makes about 2 lb.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 1/4 cups butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark unsulphured molasses
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate morsels
• 1 cup white chocolate morsels

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.
2. Bake walnuts at 350° in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Let cool 30 minutes.
3. Melt 1 1/4 cups butter in a 3 1/2-qt. heavy saucepan over medium heat; stir in granulated sugar, next 5 ingredients, and 1/3 cup water. Cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 290° (soft crack stage), about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and stir in walnuts. Quickly pour mixture into prepared pan, and spread into an even layer. Immediately sprinkle milk chocolate and white chocolate morsels over top; let stand 5 minutes. Swirl chocolate using an off-set spatula. Cover and chill until firm (about 1 hour). Break toffee into pieces. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 7 days. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Southern Living FEBRUARY 2011

Cappuccino-Walnut Toffee.

When I tried to swirl the white and chocolate morsels, the white just became incorporated into the dark chocolate or remained under the dark chocolate, and I didn't get the swirled effect.  I think perhaps I didn't wait the full 5 minutes to swirl the two.  While I do like the cappucino flavor for a change,  I think I'm going to stick with my traditional recipe which is virtually fail-proof. 

Double-Crust Chicken Pot Pie*

Double-Crust Chicken Pot Pie.

This is a lot like my Mama's chicken pot pie, except she never used leeks nor would she have used puff pastry or any ready-made pastry, she made her own.  We found this recipe from Southern Living to be quite tasty, and it was easy to make.  We are fond of leeks, so we thought they added a nice flavor to the pie.

Leeks add nice flavor to the pie.

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings 

HANDS-ON: 30 Minutes 

OTHER: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 medium leeks, sliced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I will cut back on flour to 1/4 cup next time).
• 1 (14.5-oz.) can chicken broth
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen cubed hash browns with onions and peppers
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 (17.3-oz.) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed (I will use regular pastry next time).
• 1 large egg

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add leeks, and sauté 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour; cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients.
2. Roll each pastry sheet into a 12- x 10-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Fit 1 sheet into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate; spoon chicken mixture into pastry. Place remaining pastry sheet over filling in opposite direction of bottom sheet; fold edges under, and press with tines of a fork, sealing to bottom crust. Whisk together egg and 1 Tbsp. water, and brush over top of pie.
3. Bake at 375° on lower oven rack 55 to 60 minutes or until browned. Let stand 15 minutes.

* Southern Living February 2011

Lemon Ice-Cream Pie

Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie (Photo from Southern Living magazine).

This is a recipe I adapted from one in the August 2011 Southern Living Magazine.
magazine, although I did not top my pie with meringue.

I used a ready-prepared graham cracker crust to which I added an edge of vanilla wafers.

For the bottom layer I used a pint of vanilla ice cream that had been softened to spread easily.

Bottom layer of vanilla ice cream.

While the bottom layer was refreezing, I made the lemon curd* and let it cool. Before spreading the second layer, one and a half cups of lemon curd, I placed a row of vanilla wafers around the edge of the crust.

Second layer of lemon curd.

The pie went back into the freezer for an hour and then I added the top layer, a pint of softened vanilla ice cream.  I did not swirl the lemon curd and the ice cream together as suggested in the Southern Living recipe.  I wanted to have three distinct layers in the pie. Nor did I top with meringue, but sprinkled vanilla wafer crumbs on top.  I let the pie freeze overnight before cutting.

Finished Lemon Ice-Cream Pie.

Ready to eat!

This is very easy to make and is quite delicious.  It can be made a day or so in advance.  This recipe is a keeper for me. Hint: It is helpful to let the pie warm up just a bit before slicing.  Leave the pie at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, and it will slice more easily.  Slice the entire pie, use what you need, and freeze the remaining pieces.  It will keep for at least two weeks, and it will be easy to remove individual slices as you need them.

Remaining pie sliced and ready to eat when needed.  Will keep frozen for at least two weeks.

* Recipe for lemon curd:
 
Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons) (I used Meyer lemons).
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves and butter melts.
2. Whisk about one-fourth of hot sugar mixture gradually into eggs; add egg mixture to remaining hot sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 15 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats back of a spoon. Remove from heat; cool completely (about 1 hour), stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Southern Living AUGUST 2011 

Meyer lemons.