Mammaw Bee’s Cheese Potatoes
Serves 4-6
3 large russet potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
Chicken broth or stock (homemade is better)
½ pound Velveeta cheese cubed or about 4 ounces shredded Colby-Jack cheese
Salt and garlic pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1. Place cubed potatoes and diced onion in a 3-quart pot. Add chicken broth to cover, plus 1 inch to make sure they stay covered while cooking. Cook over medium-low heat until potatoes are tender.
2. Add salt, garlic pepper and cayenne to taste. You may not need to add salt if using store-bought broth or stock. You may wait until the end of cooking to add the cayenne. Drain potatoes and onion, reserving broth. Place potato-and-onion mixture into large bowl.
3. Add about ½ cup reserved broth back into hot pan. Add cheeses and stir until melted. (I sometimes put in a pinch of cayenne here.)
4. Pour cheese mixture over potatoes and onion and stir well, adding more broth if necessary. Place mixture into serving dish and serve warm.
Notes:
1. Making broth from rotisserie chicken bones and skin takes this dish to another level. 2. Be careful with the cayenne pepper. I like it hot, but some people don’t. 3. Watch the salt. If you’re using salted broth or rotisserie broth, you won’t need to add salt. 4. Use any combination of cheese and any amount of cheese that you like. My kids preferred “a lot” of all Velveeta when they were young. 5. Using a serving dish makes this dish great for a special dinner, but when I make it just for “us,” I add the potato mixture directly into the pot of melted cheese, stir, and serve from the pot. A heavy pot will keep the mixture warm for about an hour—easily enough time to finish cooking the rest of the meal. 6. Most importantly, I use the leftovers (if I have any) to make potato soup. Pour the rest of the drained broth into a pan, adding diced celery and more onions and potatoes, if you like. Cook until celery is done, mash the leftovers, and add to the broth. Stir and heat. Serve with a sprinkling of the leftover Colby-Jack cheese and bacon bits and a scant sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
About This Recipe:
This is adapted from my mother-in-law’s cheese potato recipe. She made it nearly every time we ate there and was very cagey about what she put in it. I watched, sneaking into the kitchen and tasting when she wasn’t looking. Often, she made it ahead of time and finished it up in the oven after we arrived. I used the basic recipe for years on our houseboat, making it on a propane cooktop. It goes great with a grilled steak and salad.
Submitted by Alice H. Sipple, Beattyville
Squash Dressing
Serves 6-8
3 medium yellow squash
½ sweet onion, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter (not margarine)
1 can cream of chicken soup or cream of celery soup
½ cup milk
1 box dressing mix, like Stove Top
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and cube squash and place in a saucepan. Cover squash with water and bring to a boil. Add chopped onion to pan. Boil until squash and onion are soft, approximately 8-10 minutes.
3. While squash is cooking, place butter in mixing bowl. Once squash is done, drain and pour hot squash and onion over butter. Allow to sit a couple of minutes to melt butter.
4. As butter is melting, stir in cream of chicken or celery soup. Add milk. Stir until smooth, and then add dressing mix. Stir thoroughly and pour into greased 9- by 13-inch pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Notes: I prefer to use cream of celery soup in this recipe. If you can find the dressing mix made with Hawaiian sweet rolls, it makes the dish extra yummy!
About This Recipe:
I came up with this recipe after having an overabundance of squash in my garden a few years back. My husband loves dressing, so I was trying to put a veggie spin on it. We try to add this side throughout the year, rather than just save it for Thanksgiving. The Carrs believe you should be thankful for dressing throughout the year!
Submitted by Leslie Carr, Bowling Green
Slow Cooker Italian Sub
Serves 8
1 pound round steak, sliced into thin strips
Oil to brown steak
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, sliced into strips
1 can mushrooms, optional
1 large jar spaghetti sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 loaf Italian bread
1. Lightly brown round steak in large skillet with oil, drain.
2. Brown Italian sausage until crumbly.
3. Place browned round steak and sausage in slow cooker. Add onion, green pepper, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
4. Pour spaghetti sauce over mixture and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over sliced Italian bread.
Note: This meal is designed for a slow cooker, but it can be prepared and simmered on the stovetop.
About This Recipe:
This is best served over Italian bread with a side salad.
Submitted by Valorie Rowland, Hardin
Kentucky Bars
Serves 24
Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup softened butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon or real vanilla
Filling:
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon*
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1½ cups chopped toasted walnuts** that have been soaked for about 20 minutes in about 2-3 tablespoons bourbon***
Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the four crust ingredients and mix until crumbly. (I use the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but this certainly could be done by hand.)
3. Firmly press crust into a greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven but keep oven turned on.
Filling:
1. While crust is baking, whisk together (by hand or in a stand mixer) eggs, sugar and light corn syrup until blended.
2. Add melted, cooled butter, vanilla and bourbon* and mix until smooth.
3. Stir in chocolate chips. Drain bourbon from walnuts and stir them in.
4. Pour the filling over the browned crust and return pan to the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned and filling is mostly set. Cool on a rack completely before cutting.
Notes: *If you don’t want to use bourbon in the filling, just increase vanilla to 1 tablespoon. **You can substitute pecans for walnuts but toast them for the best flavor. ***Bars are still delicious if you want to omit the step of soaking the walnuts in bourbon. I chop the walnuts fairly small, so the texture of the filling blends easily with the chocolate chips. Many folks love to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream to the plate. The bars hold up well if cut into smaller pieces.
About This Recipe:
I created this recipe some 25 years ago and have made it for parties, Locust Grove’s concessions during events, Locust Grove’s First Wednesday Lectures, and many other gatherings. Over the years, I have been delighted to share the recipe with those who asked for it. It’s a chewy, nutty, chocolatey delight with a perfect touch of celebratory bourbon.
Submitted by Jeannie Litterst Vezeau, Louisville
Pistachio Rose Macarons
Yields 26 macarons
For macarons:
½ cup shelled dry roasted pistachios, crushed into a flour in a food processor
¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup almond flour
½ cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
Green gel food coloring
For frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon rose extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
Pink food coloring
For decoration:
White chocolate, melted and cooled
Gently crushed pistachios
Candied rose petals
For macarons:
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
2. Sift together pistachio flour, powdered sugar and almond flour. Set aside.
3. Add granulated sugar and egg whites to a bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Whisk sugar and egg whites until frothy and sugar is completely melted. If you can feel sugar granules when you touch the mixture, the sugar is not melted. Do not overheat the sugar syrup.
4. Transfer syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, whisk on low for 30 seconds, then gradually increase the speed to medium. Whisk on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Increase speed to high or medium-high and whisk for a few minutes until stiff peaks form.
5. Pour the sifted pistachio flour, powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue. Add the food coloring—just 1 or 2 drops.
6. Begin folding gently, forming a letter J with a spatula. Stop folding when batter is glossy and thick and flowing. Test if the batter is ready by using your spatula to make a figure 8 with the batter. If you can make several figure 8s without the batter breaking, it’s ready.
7. Transfer batter to a piping bag. Pipe the macarons on the baking tray. Squeeze the piping bag for 3 seconds to make sure you get macarons equal in size.
8. Once you’ve piped as many circles as you can, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells. Let trays sit 20-40 minutes, so the shells will dry out a little bit. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron, and it seems dry.
9. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake one tray at a time for 15-20 minutes. Rotate tray every 5 minutes. When baked, the macarons will have a deep color, will have formed feet, and won’t feel jiggly. Let macarons cool before proceeding with the filling.
For frosting:
1. Beat together butter and rose extract in a stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
2. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Add a few drops of food coloring until desired light-pink color is reached. Spoon frosting into a piping bag.
For assembly:
1. Take 2 macarons of the same size. Squeeze about a tablespoon of frosting on one. Place the other macaron on top. Gently press down.
2. Drizzle melted white chocolate on one side. Sprinkle a few bits of crushed pistachio on the chocolate. Place a candied rose petal on the chocolate as well. Repeat with the remaining macarons!
Submitted by Olivia Senter, St. Paul, Minnesota
Pig Pickin’ Cake
Serves 8-10
1 yellow cake mix
1 16-ounce can mandarin oranges, slightly drained
¾ cup canola oil
4 medium eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 9-ounce container frozen whipped topping
1 medium-sized can crushed pineapple, drained
1 3-ounce package instant vanilla pudding, dry
1. Grease and flour three round cake pans.
2. Drain oranges into a bowl, reserving the liquid.
3. Combine cake mix, oranges, oil, eggs and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at temperature per cake mix directions. This will make 3 layers. Cool layers completely.
4. Combine whipped topping, pineapple and dry pudding mix. Frost cake with this mixture. Chill before serving.
Note: Reserve the excess mandarin orange juice to use if cake batter is too thick. Add until batter is of acceptable consistency.
About This Recipe:
This is a cake I adapted from my coastal North Carolina aunt, which she made for the annual “Pig Pickin’.” During the Pig Pickin’, an entire pig is roasted, and guests can eat any cut of pork they want! The cake is light and refreshing on warm days.
Submitted by Barbara C. Springer, Louisville