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Roasted Root Vegetables with Pine Nut Pesto

20131211-054945.jpg Roasted Root Vegetables with Pine Nut Pesto

Gather these ingredients-
½ pound carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
½ pound turnip roots, peeled and quartered
½ pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound parsnips cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut in 1 ½ inch pieces
2 large shallots cut in half
4 thyme sprigs
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
¼ cup pine nuts
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup of parmesan cheese

Let’s make it-

Turn your oven to 475 degrees and let it preheat. Get you a large bowl and toss vegetables, shallots, thyme and ¼ cup of olive oil. Season it up good with plenty of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 35 – 40 minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender. While the veggies are roasting lets make the pesto. Get you a small skillet and heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the pine nuts and cook over low heat. Don’t burn them, you must stir constantly for about 2 – 3 minutes. Add you some butter and garlic and cook, stirring, until the pine nuts are browned and the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. The smell will be unbelievably good. You need to let the pine nuts cool, then transfer to a small processor. Add the parmesan cheese and the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and pulse. Taste and season the pine nut pesto, with salt and pepper, to your likings. Toss the roasted vegetables with the pesto and serve on a large platter. Garnish with Parmesan slivers.

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Christmas Cookies

fzZ20131206-053253.jpg One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to take a night during December to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. Having a good dough recipe is important, but to be honest, having a variety of icings and “sprinkles” is what makes it festive and fun. There is something heart-warming about sitting around the table together with a pile of cookies to be iced and decorated and everyone creating their own masterpiece.

Christmas Cookies
Get you–
2 cups butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
5 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cream of tartar

What to do with the stuff we told you to get-
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer and add vanilla and almond extract. Add eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients into the mixer. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough out and cut cookies out using Christmas cookie cutters or scoop dough onto cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 9 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Frosting
Gather-
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter
Vanilla (if you like it in frosting)
Approximately 2 Tablespoons milk; add slowly so that you can keep the right consistency
Sprinkles for decorating

Make-
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer and add vanilla.

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Louisiana Hot Sauce Chicken Fries

20130802-061338.jpg We love these chicken fries! These are certainly a crowd pleaser. These fries are positively “Sweet and Savory”! These are great for an appetizer, main dish or made into a sandwich. You know the sisters love us a sandwich!

Get these things for the sauce-
1/3 cup Wing Sauce (Louisiana Hot Sauce)
½ stick butter, melted
1 Tbsp. Honey

You will need this for the chicken fries-
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast( halves, sliced length wise into ½ inch wide strips)
Louisiana Hot Sauce chicken wing seasoning, to taste
1/3 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup vegetable oil, divided

Make it-
Whisk together hot sauce, butter and honey in a large bowl and set to side. Season chicken strips with the Louisiana hot sauce wing seasoning. Toss chicken with flour in a large Ziploc bag until coated; shake off excess flour. Heat you about 2 tbsp. of oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat; add half the chicken strips and sauté until browned. This will take you about 2 minutes per side. Continue until all strips have been cooked. Next, transfer to hot sauce mixture and toss to coat.

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Cajun Crawfish Bread

crawfish breadThe Sisters were delighted and honored to film our second show with Paula Deen. Paula is an old family friend that we have shared many savory meals with. We would like to share this recipe with you that we prepared on Paula’s Best Dishes. We have been making Beach Bread for years. This recipe is so versatile and can be used for an appetizer, a full meal or to accompany your lunch or dinner.

Cajun Crawfish Bread

Get you-
½ stick butter
1 clove garlic minced
¾ cup ripe tomatoes, chopped and drained
1 pound cooked crawfish tail meat peeled, cleaned and deveined (fat on)
Cajun seasoning
½ cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
¼ cup Parmesan
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 loaf French bread

Do this-
Get that oven heated to 350 degrees. Rinse the crawfish lightly. In a large skillet melt your butter over medium heat, add your garlic and cook for a few minutes. It should be smelling real good in your kitchen. That is one of my favorite smells- garlic and butter. Next, add your drained may-may’s (tomatoes) and your mud bugs (crawfish). You are going to want to saute for just a minute or two. Remove from heat and season those babies up with some Cajun seasoning. Get you a bowl out and mix mayo, cheese and parsley together. Slowly stir in the tomato and crawfish mixture into the mayonnaise mixture. Cut loaf of bread lengthwise and then in half. Spoon mixture on bread and bake for 5-7 minutes and then turn your broiler on and broil for an additional 3-5 minutes or until bread is crisp and cheese has melted, watch closely. Cut bread into individual portions and serve.

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Tomato Bisque with Caraway and Cheese Cookies

food pics 132Amy- People will never know that this soup was made from canned soup. Don’t worry we will not tell and there is no need for you to either. This soup is so simple, creamy, comforting and yummy. The Caraway and Cheese Cookies dunked in the soup are the bomb diggity. This meal is a family favorite at our house and I just know it will be a favorite at your house too.

Tomato Bisque with Caraway and Cheese Cookies
This is what you need-
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons sherry
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can heavy cream
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

This is what you need to do-
In a large skillet add your butter and let it melt. Slowly sprinkle flour in and stir until smooth. Add sherry to the roux and give it a good stir, continue to cook and stir for a few minutes. Slowly add tomato soup and stir until incorporated. Now for the good part, add that heavy cream slowly and continue to stir. Fold in fresh basil and season with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Serve with caraway and cheese cookies.

Amy-These are similar to a cheese straw but have a very different taste from the caraway seeds. You either love caraway seeds or you don’t. Guess what, I love the flavor and the aroma that the caraway seeds give to these little crackers. Caraway seeds work very well with the sharp cheddar cheese. They each bring out the best in each other. Kind of like my Big Sis and me. Use these for all your dipping pleasures, served with soups or just to nibble on with a frosty mug of cold beer, glass of red wine or a can of diet coke. This recipe makes a heap.

Caraway and Cheddar Cheese Cookies

What you will need-

3 sticks salted butter, room temperature
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, or to taste
4 teaspoons caraway seed
1 cup nuts, chopped very fine (optional)
1 stick butter, melted and ½ teaspoon garlic salt


What to do with what you needed-
Turn your oven to 325 degrees. Grate your cheese once it has come to room temp. Get your handy dandy mixer out and cream the butter until smooth. Slowly add your cheese and let the butter and cheese mix until it has the consistency of whipped cream. This will take about 20-30 minutes. Sift your flour and Cajun seasoning twice. Slowly add your flour to the butter and cheese. Next add the caraway seeds and pecans and mix until all ingredients are combined. Roll dough out and cut out using a small round cookie cutter or use a cookie press. Work with the dough in batches. Place on a greased cookie sheet and lightly brush with garlic butter. Pop in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until crisp. Brush again with garlic butter, if you want to. Cool on wire rack.

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Fish Taco’s with Mango Salsa and Chipotle Slaw

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This is one of my favorite dishes. The girls and I went to the beach one weekend and we came up with these different recipes and they complement each other very well. The crispy flaky fish, the sweet mango salsa and the smoky and spicy flavors from the chipotle peppers work so well together. My husband Andy loves this meal and so do all of the girls. ENJOY!!!

For the fish-
Oil for frying
2 lbs. tilapia fillets
1 cup flour
3 eggs
2 cups panko bread crumbs

How to make fish-
Put flour, eggs and bread crumbs in three different dishes.

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Season the fish to taste. Dredge fish in flour, then eggs, then panko crumbs. Fry fish until flaky. />

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Serve with warm flour tortillas, slaw and mango salsa.

Chipotle Slaw
For the Slaw get-
1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle peppers, with seeds or without
1 tablespoon adobe sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lime juice
½ cup angel hair cabbage
¼ cup finely chopped red onions
¼ cup chopped green onions
Salt and pepper to taste

Make slaw-
Combine the chipotle pepper, adobe sauce, mayonnaise, sour cream, honey and lime juice in a large mixing bowl. Stir well, then add the shredded cabbage, red onions, green onions and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve with tacos or a side.

For the Mango Salsa-
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
½ red onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of Jalapeño, minced (remove ribs and seeds for a milder taste)
¾ cup cucumber, peeled and diced
2 ½ tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Make salsa-
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

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The Sister’s Date Balls

Copy of catering1Amy: Christmas just isn’t Christmas without date balls. It is a family tradition to make these every holiday season. We all get in the kitchen and turn some Christmas music on, sing obnoxiously loud and make these as a family. We have been making these delicious treats and sharing these with family and friends for years. They are so rich, chewy and delicious. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
Date Balls
This is what you need-
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
16 ounces chopped dates
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups Rice cereal
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Powdered sugar

Roll baby roll-
Turn you on some Christmas tunes on and get your family in the kitchen to help. In a saucepan, melt your butter and sugar over low heat. Add the dates and stir continuously for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add your nuts, rice cereal and vanilla. The mixture will be thick and hard to stir but keep working at it until it’s all mixed up. When cool enough to handle, get your family to help you roll the mixture into small balls. Lastly, roll those baby’s in powdered sugar and enjoy.

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Turkey Gumbo

20131129-063934.jpgGrowing up our family tried not to waste any food. Money was always tight and we always had lots of mouths to feed. We always had multiple friends spending the night with us and coming over to hang out with us. Our house was where all the young people wanted to be. Not because we were cool or anything but because our mom and dad always had good food and were so generous. After Thanksgiving and Christmas Mom would always boil the turkey carcass down and make a stock. She would make a soup or stew. Our Dad would make a gumbo. This is his recipe for Turkey Gumbo.

Turkey Gumbo
What you will need-
Stock-
1 turkey carcass
3 ribs celery, cut in half
2 large onions, quartered
4 quarts water
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 bouillon cubes
5 bay leaves

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ½ tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 pound andouille sausage, chopped
2 quarts Turkey Broth (Recipe follows)
2 bay leaves
Reserved turkey meat
2 ½ cups frozen okra (optional)
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
Steamed white rice

Put some mumbo in your gumbo-
Take the majority of your meat off of the bones and put meat to the side.Put the turkey carcass in a large stockpot. Add the celery, onions, water, salt, peppercorns, bouillon cubes and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam that forms on the surface. Remove from the heat and let cool. Strain and set aside any meat that has come off the bone and pick meat that remains on the bone. Skim fat.
Next, Combine the oil and flour in a large cast-iron pot. Cook the mixture over medium heat. Stir roux constantly with a wooden spoon for about 25 minutes. The roux needs to resemble the color of chocolate. In a bowl, season the onions, celery and garlic with Cajun seasoning. Add the vegetables to the roux and cook for 5 -7 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, for an additional 5 minutes. Slowly add the strained turkey broth and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Add the reserved turkey meat and okra and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Add the parsley and green onions. Serve gumbo over a bed of rice with plenty of French bread for sopping.
Let’s just say it doesn’t get much better than this. This is so easy and just makes your soul feel oh so good! This gumbo is like medicine for the soul.

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Big Bo’s Ham Bone Soup and Pimento Cheese

food pics 218 Amy: Growing up we always had baked ham for holiday meals. Around our house we tried not to waste anything. Mom would take the leftover ham and ham bone and make the best soup. The ham bone makes a wonderful broth. She would use the leftover vegetables and put them in the soup. Mom always made grilled pimento cheese sandwiches to go with the soup. It was so yummy. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have in the freezer, fridge or pantry. This recipe is very versatile.

Big Bo’s Ham Bone Soup and Pimento Cheese

What you will need-
1 large ham bone (leftover ham, diced)
1 large onion, chopped
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
3 dashes Worcestershire
1 14 ounce can beef broth
1 16 ounce bag frozen vegetable soup mix
1 14 ounce can corn, drained
1 14 ounce can cut green beans, drained
¼ cup rice or 1 cup pasta sea shells
Salt and pepper to taste

How to do it-
Take the leftover ham bone and remove the majority of the meat off of it. Get your soup pot out and put the ham bone in it and the ham. Add your onions, diced tomatoes, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and enough water to completely cover the ham bone. Bring to a rapid boil and reduce heat and let simmer for 2 hours. Add the rest of the stuff and cook until pasta is cooked and vegetables are warm.

Amy: First, I need to tell you what minner cheese is. It’s nothing more than pimento cheese. Our Mom and Mrs. Paula have always called it minner cheese. Go figure! You know how sometimes a smell, taste or something you see will take you back to a part of your life? Sometimes it is a happy place and sometimes it is not. Well, this recipe always takes Suzy and me back to a very happy place, my childhood. Amy: Growing up Mama always had pimento cheese in the fridge. Being who we are, 2 girls that love them some groceries, we found all different ways to eat pimento cheese. Of course, we used it as a dip. That is just a given. We would use chips, crackers, celery or anything around the house that resembled a chip. We would eat a spoonful at the time out of the fridge. We also liked to slap it on some lite bread, add some tomatoes and bacon and grill that baby up. We would spread it on French bread and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes and melt the cheese, now that is some fine eating. Our favorite way would have to be to make a bend back and eat it dipped in our Mama’s homemade vegetable soup. We hope you get as much pleasure out of this recipe as we have. This recipe makes a heap of minner cheese but it will last a good while in the fridge.

Mom’s Minner Cheese (Pimento Cheese)

What you will need-
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese at room temperature, finely grated
3 cups Monterey jack cheese at room temperature, finely grated
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup onion, grated
2 4 ounce jars pimento, with juice
1 cup mayonnaise (add more if you like it real mayonnaisy)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon white pepper
For something a little different, add one of these-
½ cup jalapeno slices, chopped
1 4.25 oz can chopped olives
3 teaspoons capers
¾ cup toasted pecans

Let’s make some of Mama’s Minner Cheese-
We need to tell you the 411 on store-bought shredded cheese. Pre shredded cheese has a preservative added to keep it from clumping. Therefore, when you add the mayo to the cheese, it just doesn’t combine and form the right texture. Now, we do use it from time to time and it works great on a lot of different things. However, it does not work well when making pimento cheese. Also, let your cheese come to room temp before you grate it. We know we put it up there in the list of things you will need but we want to re-emphasize the importance of this step. Now that we have given you the 411 on the 911 let’s get to making the minner cheese. This is an easy one, folks. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and serve it anyway you would like. Store your minner cheese in the fridge.
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