I always put together a menu for holidays. I never make it sound fancy and print it out though. Since my mom was coming to town I wanted to do something extra special. So I turned my ordinary menu into something that sounded rather fancy. (that's what the restaurants do too!)
Savory Garlic Deviled Eggs
1 dozen large eggs
1/3 cup Miracle Whip
1 tbsp of garlic salt with parsley
Hard boil all of your eggs. Put them in a bath of ice water until they are completely cooled. Slice them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolk and place in a medium bowl. Add the Miracle Whip and garlic salt to the egg yolks and stir until creamy. (I normally leave a few small chunks) Using a tablespoon, add the yolk mixture back to the egg whites and serve chilled.
Nothing fancy about these! Adding the word savory and garlic to them helps jazz them up a bit!!
Caramelized Peach Glazed Ham
3lb Fully cooked hickory smoked ham
1 can of peaches in heavy syrup
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of sherry
Drain the peaches reserving the heavy syrup. Get rid of the peaches. Don't throw them away, just use them for something else. In a small bowl add the peach syrup, brown sugar, and sherry. Mix and let sit for an hour.
Follow the instructions on heating your ham on the label. I had never cooked a ham before. All I did was turn the oven on 350, wrapped the ham in tinfoil with the glaze on top for 12 minutes per pound. When it was done, I removed the ham and poured the glaze that ran off back on top of the ham.
Since I used brown sugar in the glaze I used the word caramelized to describe it, making it sound way fancier than it was!!!
Sweet Potato Souffle topped with a Pecan Struesel
Ingredients
Souffle:
- 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, from about 2 to 3 small baked potatoes
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, about 1 stick, melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping:
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, about 1/2 stick, cubed, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup self-rising cake flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Souffle: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Topping: Combine the brown sugar, butter, flour, and pecans in a separate bowl. Crumble the topping over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the topping is golden brown. Serve hot.
Creamy Mushrooms and Hericot Verts topped with Fried Onion Strings and Cheddar Cheese
1/3 stick of butter
1/2 cup diced onions
2 grated garlic cloves
1 cup of sliced baby bellas
2 cans of whole green beans
3 cups of chicken broth
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cans of French Fried onions
1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Preheat oven to 350
Melt butter in a large skillet. Saute the onions and garlic for about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms. Saute until for another 10 minutes. While the mixtures is sautéing, boil the green beans in the chicken stock for 12 minutes. In a med bowl add the green beans, onions and mushroom mixture, 1/2 of one can of French-fried onions, salt, pepper, 1 cup of cheddar cheese, and the can of cream of mushroom soup. Fold until it's all mixed together. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and add the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and the can of French-fried onions and bake for 10 minutes longer.
I HATE green bean casserole. I LOVE this stuff. It's the only way I will eat it. Notice how if you change the word green bean to Hericot Verts (the French translation), it will make even the simplest of casseroles sound fancy!
Roasted Garlic and Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes
1lb of red potatoes with skins on (I am really not sure about this, I don't measure)
1/2 stick of room temp butter
1 cup of fat free greek yogurt
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste (I use a lot of salt, I know it's bad)
Dice the potatoes in quarters. Boil until tender to a fork. Drain and add to a large mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic, and butter. Mash with a potato masher until you just have small chunks of potatoes left. Add cream and mix until creamy. I like my mashed potatoes lumpy so I do not use a hand mixer.
Balsamic Grilled Asparagus
1lb of fresh asparagus
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
pepper to taste
Cut off stems of asparagus and wash. Combine all ingredients in a gallon sized ziplock bag. Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Place grill on medium high heat. Place asparagus on grill and cook for 5 minutes each side.
Creamy Key Lime Pie with Toasted Almonds
So, I didn't make this. Sara, my sister, brought it from Publix and boy is it good! I figured that we I would at least give you a recipe for one though. This is my favorite Key Lime Pie recipe. It's my step mom's.
