Sweet Potato Pie

Makes one 9 inch pie

Sweet potato pie rules.

Ingredients

• One 9 inch pie crust
• 1.5 pounds sweet potatoes
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 ounces evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ginger and all spice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 and pre-bake pie crust about 10 minutes, allow to cool
2. Turn oven to 425
3. Peel potatoes, cut into equal size pieces and boil until soft enough to poke a skewer through them - 15 to 20 minutes
4. Drain and then mash
5. Add remaining ingredients to potatoes and mix well
6. Pour into pie crust and bake at 425 for 5 minutes then turn down too 325 and finished baking for an additional 40 minutes
7. Allow to cool and then serve

Bourbon Baked Brie

Makes one brie wheel

From our dear friend, neighbor (and grandmother to our dog Haley) Peg.

Ingredients

• One 13 ounce wheel of brie
• About 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small-ish pieces
• 1 tablespoon bourbon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place unwrapped wheel of brie in an oven safe baking dish - something nice enough you can serve it in
3. Top brie with pecans, then brown sugar, then butter and finally drizzle with bourbon
4. Bake about 20 minutes
5. Remove and serve with crackers

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Potato Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

These were sent in by viewer Lori and came from her Grandma Thora. Sweet, salty and crunchy - these are really really good.

Ingredients

• 4 sticks of Butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 3-5 ounces plain, thick cut potato chips - crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy
3. Add vanilla and flour until mixed well and then add crushed chips - mix
4. Drop teaspoon size-ish spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet
5. Bake until a light golden brown on the edges, approximately 10 minutes

New Zealand Savory Muffins

Makes 8, I think

We had these in Christchurch, NZ when we shot a show way down there. They were off-the-hook-amazing.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cooked bacon,diced
• 3/4 cup grilled onion
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup cooked & mashed sweet potato
• 1/2 cup blue cheese

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except blue cheese and mix well
2. Put in greased muffin tins (don't use paper cups, they don't cook as well)
3. Push a big chunk (about 1 tablespoon) of blue cheese into the middle of each muffin
4. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes

Fish Stick Tacos

Makes 10

No laughing - I have not lost my mind and these are really good.

Ingredients

• 20 fish sticks, yes those little frozen-in-the-bag kind
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup green salsa
• 10 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup green cabbage, shredded
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Bake sticks according to package directions
2. Mix sour cream and salsa, set aside
3. Warm tortillas until they get a tiny bit brown
4. Take a tortilla, add sauce, cabbage, 2 fish sticks and finally a squeeze of lime

Leftover Steak & Potato Pie

Serves 8

I could eat anything that had a crust on it - and this is no exception.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• One - 2 ounce pack pre-cooked bacon, diced
• 1 pound cooked steak, diced small
• 2 baked potatoes already baked, the Idaho kind - diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 12 ounces beef gravy, jarred
• 1 ready pie crustSalt & Pepper to taste
• Splash of Guinness beer
• One egg, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cook onion & bacon in a pan until is soft and bacon is kinda crispy
3. In a large bowl put onion, bacon, steak, potato, peas, Worcestershire, gravy, Guinness and season with salt & pepper - mix well
4. Put everything in a 9x9 casserole dish and cover with pastry dough
5. Make a few small slits in the top with the point of a knife, and brush the top with the egg
6. Bake about 25 minutes, or until golden brown

Thai Curry Noodle Soup

Serves 4

This is easily one of Mrs Cooking Guy's most requested meals.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 14-ounce can coconut milk

• 1/2 -1 tablespoon curry powder

• 1/2 tablespoon Asian chili paste

• 2 packs Ramen noodles, uncooked & without the seasoning pack

• 3/4 pound shrimp, raw, shell-off and de-veined (31/40’s or 21/25’s are great)

• 1/2 red pepper, diced small

• Green onions (scallions), cilantro and limes for garnish

Directions

1. Put broth, coconut milk, curry and chili sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil

2. Turn down to a simmer and add the noodles and shrimp

3. In about 4 minutes, the noodles will be soft, the shrimp will be pink and cooked - and you'll be eating like Thai royalty

4. In the meantime, cook red pepper in a little oil in a non-stick pan until softened and beginning to get a little color - set aside

5. Serve in a bowl and garnish with green onion, cilantro, diced red pepper and a squeeze of lime

Mixed Mushroom and Blue Cheese Pizza

Makes one 12 inch pizza

Make it and slice it into thin pieces for an appetizer. It's so good...

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, sliced thin
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 16 ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced - white, shitake, cremini, oyster - mix it up
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• One 12" pizza crust
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a medium pan cook onions in a little buttter until really softened
3. At the same time cook mushrooms in a non-stick pan until softened
4. Stir brown sugar into onions, mix well
5. Put onion & mushrooms on crust, and top with blue cheese and then walnuts
6. Bake 12-15 minutes

Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Makes about 2 cups

Does this really need a description?

Ingredients

• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Combine potatoes with blue cheese (start with 1/4 cup) in a small pot
2. Heat slowly until mixed through and stir in olive oil and season with salt & pepper
3. Taste - if you want add more of the cheese
4. If they're perfect, go eat

Blue Cheese Gnocchi

Serves 4

If you hate blue cheese, don't make this. If you love it, then get busy..

Ingredients

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 pound gnocchi
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 ounce 'ready bacon', diced

Directions

1. In a small pot, combine whipping cream and blue cheese - simmer on low/medium until it starts to thicken, stir
2. Cook diced bacon with peas in a small non-stick pan until the bacon is crispy and the peas are defrosted...soft and bitchin
3. Cook gnocchi in a pot of boiling water - when they float, they're ready
4. Drain gnocchi and add to cream sauce - mix well
5. To serve, put on a plate and add bacon/pea mixture and fresh ground pepper

Rum Cherry Thing

Makes 1

Just good.

Ingredients

• White sugar
• Lime wedge
• 2 parts dark rum
• 1 part Grand Marnier
• 1/2 part maraschino cherry juice

Directions

1. Put sugar on a small plate
2. Rub lime around the edge of a short glass and then dip in sugar to rim
3. Add ice to glass and add rum, GM and cherry juice
4. Squeeze and drop in lime

Cheater Seafood Paella

Serves 8

Paella can be one big pain in the, well - you know. This...is not.

Ingredients

• Two 7-ounce packages Rice-a-Roni Spanish Rice
• One 28 ounce can tomatoes to make the Rice-a-Roni
• 3/4 pound raw shrimp, peeled & de-veined
• 1 pound fresh mussels
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package directions
2. When the rice has about 7 minutes left to cook, add shrimp and mussels and re-cover
3. Remove the lid, stand back and marvel at your excellence
4. Serve with a big fat wedge of lemon on the side - but don't serve any mussels that didn't opened - because they were d.o.a. and that's no bueno

Pimm's Cup

Makes 1

Pimms's is a gin based alcohol created in London in 1840 by the owner of a London oyster bar. It can be mixed with 7up, lemonade or in this case - ginger ale.

Ingredients

• 2 parts Pimm's
• 2 parts ginger ale
• 1 slice orange
• 1 long cucumber spear

Directions

1. Fill a glass with ice and add Pimm's and ginger ale
2. Squeeze and drop in orange wedge
3. Add cucumber to stir, then leave in and drink

Horseradish Cream

Makes about 1/2 cup

Served on the side of a steak - this is quite killer.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients
2. Serve on the side

Pastrami Breakfast Burrito

Makes 4

This is almost a near perfect breakfast.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2 handfuls frozen French fries, cooked according to package directions and crispy
• About 1/2 pound deli pastrami, rough chopped
• 4 burrito sized tortillas or wraps
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup any kind of cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Hot sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in nonstick pan and add onions, cook until softened
2. Add pastrami and cook until everything is well mixed and heated through
3. Beat eggs (with salt and pepper to taste) and add to pan mixture, stir well to combine
4. While all this cooks, heat the tortillas
5. Take a tortilla and spread it with about 1 tablespoon of the sour cream and add some filling
6. Sprinkle with cheese, add fries to each, a few dashes of the hot sauce and roll up burrito style
7. Eat, of course

Grilled Lamb Kebabs

Makes 6

Grilled ground lamb with a totally simple but fantastic and simple mint yogurt sauce - so so good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt, greek style if possible
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 6 wooden skewers
• Kosher salt & pepper
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• olive oil
• 6 pitas

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, mint and lime zest - set aside
2. Heat grill to medium high
3. Season lamb with salt pepper, and mix in cumin - then mold into hot dog shape around the top half of the skewers (or you could do meatballs)
4. Brush lightly with oil, and grill until cooked through
5. As they cook, combine tomatoes and onion - set aside
6. When lamb is done, remove from grill but put on pitas to warm
7. To serve, spread some yogurt sauce on a pita, add a lamb kebab and some of the tomato-onion mixture

Boneless Pork Loin Chops

Makes 6 chops

A simple little marinade. If the 'little black dress' had a food cousin - this could be it.

Ingredients

• 6 boneless pork chops, about 3/4-inch thick

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger root, chopped very fine

• 8 ounces of a good dark-ish and slightly sweet beer

Directions

1. Put soy, brown sugar, ginger, and beer in a container large enough to hold the marinade and the chops

2. Mix well then add the chops and make sure they all get covered by the marinade

3. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight

4. Heat grill to medium-high and put on the chops

5. Grill until done to about 145 degrees somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes

Bourbon & Brown Sugar Flank

Serves 4 to 6

Five ingredients that just go together really well. If you don't like bourbon...wait, you don't like bourbon?

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 flank steak, about 1.5 pounds

Directions

1. Mix soy, bourbon, brown sugar and dry mustard really well until combined
2. Put the flank and the marinade in a zip lock back and zip shut
3. Refrigerate 2 hours up to over night
4. Pre-heat grill well and cook flank 6 to 7 minutes on each side for medium rare
5. Be sure to slice it against the grain

Chili Cornbread & Honey Butter

Serves 8

'Just add water' cornbread mix and plain ol' chili powder make a great and simple combo. And the honey butter...well that just speaks for itself.

Ingredients

• 1 package cornbread mix
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Mix cornbread according to package instructions
2. Stir in chili powder, pour into pan and bake
3. While it cooks, stir honey into butter and set aside
4. I shouldn't have to describe what to do next, should I?

Asian Grilled Shrimp

Makes 10

That's kind of a lousy name for this recipe. What I mean are shrimp that are grilled and have an Asian flavor. Not shrimp that are grilled by an Asian...oh well.

Ingredients

• 10 wooden skewers
• 1 pound large shrimp, shell on and de-veined, like under 10's would be great
• 1 cup Asian salad dressing - something with sesame, ginger etc would be ideal
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Put sticks in casserole dish and cover with water - let soak about 30 minutes
2. Put dressing and pepper flakes in a bowl - mix well
3. Add shrimp, stir to coat well and let sit about 20 minutes
4. Heat grill
5. Skewer shrimp with sticks up through the tail so the shrimp stays straight
6. Grill 2-3 minutes a side until done