Cornish Game Hens Stuffed Two Ways Part Two: Apple, Walnut and Cornbread Stuffing

Posted on February 21, 2013 by kelleychisholm

One juicy Cornish game hen!

Last week I shared my recipe for Cornish Game Hens Stuffed with Wild Rice and Mushrooms. As promised, here is the second part of the post, where I use an apple, walnut and cornbread stuffing for the hens – true comfort food! It’s like having a mini-Thanksgiving meal whenever you want.

This recipe is for four Cornish hens, so if you are only making two just cut the ingredients in half. Or, if you are like me and love stuffing as a side dish, make extra – this “stuff” is so good with the crisp apples, crunchy walnuts and sweet cornbread.

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Cornish Game Hens Stuffed Two Ways, Part One: Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

Posted on February 14, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Out of the oven

What’s not to love about Cornish game hens? You get your own little cute bird, stuffed the way you like. Cornish game hens, also known as rock hens, are a type of domestic chicken and can be either male or female. They are less than five weeks old and do not weight more than two pounds ready-to-cook weight. Cornish game hens are usually more expensive than normal hens, so when I saw some on sale, I grabbed a pack of two to make one night for Brad and me.

Brad and I both like our game hens stuffed with wild rice, but this time I was in the mood for a bread-based stuffing — aaaaah, comfort food. And that’s the beauty of Cornish game hens — since they are so small and each hen is an individual serving, you can show some love and stuff them to the eater’s preference. I wound up making Brad a Cornish hen stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms, while mine had an apple-walnut-cornbread stuffing. The winner? More on that in my next post, but I must say it was seriously close and both rocked (no pun intended!)

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Black Bean and Corn Stuffed Sweet Potatoes – Sweet!

Posted on February 11, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Looking inside

Tired of making baked sweet potatoes with the usual brown sugar and cinnamon? Try these hearty and festive stuffed sweet potatoes with seasoned black beans, fresh sweet corn, robust red peppers and sharp cheddar cheese. Perfect for a meatless Monday meal – just add a salad and you’re ready to go. Or make it vegan by eliminating the cheese. Whichever way you choose, you will never miss the meat!

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Yukon Gold Potato Nachos, Loaded

Posted on February 4, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Yukon Gold loaded potato nachos

With the Super Bowl came a ton of appetizer recipes — online, on television and in magazines. One that caught my eye was for nachos made with russet potatoes instead of traditional tortilla chips. I had some Yukon Gold potatoes and thought they would work fine. Fresh Market had fresh salsa on sale, and Harris Teeter had avocados for $1.00 apiece, taco seasoning mixes at buy one, get one free, plus shredded cheese, sour cream and ground beef at reduced prices. Great timing!

Yukon Gold nacho

Even though the list of ingredients is long, this is quite easy to put together, especially after you cook the potatoes and ground beef. It is a nice alternative to the more traditional nachos, especially if you love potatoes like I do.

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Sesame Ginger Salmon With Honey Ginger Glaze

Posted on January 31, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Karen's Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon

Brad and I love salmon, so when his sister Karen sent me this recipe, I knew I would have to give it a try. Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest and cooks a lot of salmon, and thought Brad and I would like the Asian flavors of this particular dish. She was right – we loved the mixture of the ginger, soy and sesame, both as components of the marinade and the accompanying Honey Sesame Ginger Glaze.

Karen’s recipe (which I’m sure she got off the Internet because I’ve seen several that match hers) calls for broiling this in the oven, but we cooked ours on the grill. I also tweaked some of the ingredients and used less brown sugar and more garlic. I added some fresh lemon juice because I think fish and citrus are meant for each other. I used dark soy sauce instead of regular since that’s all I had on hand. Also, her recipe did not specify the type of salmon, so I used my favorite, sockeye. I’m sure any type of salmon will work well.

Sockeye salmon

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Brandy Alexanders, Two Ways

Posted on January 28, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Skinny Brandy Alexanders

I had just started working part time at The Pub the first time I heard of Brandy Alexanders. This was back in the mid 1980s, when I was going to Library School at UNC-Ch. Being a student, my tastes and definitely my budget leaned toward beer, so I wasn’t really familiar with “fancy” drinks, especially anything containing brandy. That was too grown up for me!

The first person who ordered a Brandy Alexander from me was, of all people, my Mom. I think I’ve seen her drink maybe five times (and that’s stretching it) in 50+ years, so needless to say I was genuinely surprised. I recently asked her if she remembered ordering it and she said, “Oh, yes – it was fantastic!” She said she had wanted to try one for several years and since everyone she was with was with was drinking some sort of alcoholic beverage, she finally decided to take the plunge. When I told JD, our bartender, that my mom normally did not drink, he decided to go next store to the Fast Fare and buy some vanilla ice cream to make the Brandy Alexander extra special. And obviously it was since Mom still remembers how good it was some 25 years later!

Ice cream Brandy Alexander

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Kel’s Reduced-Fat, Spicy Jalapeño Pimento Cheese

Posted on January 21, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Spread Kel's pimento cheese on bread

If you are from the South, chances are that pimento cheese has been a staple in your diet since you were old enough to eat it. You probably have a family recipe, handed down from your mom or grandmother, that is oh, so good and easy to make. It’s great to see that a number of area restaurants are including pimento cheese on their menus, either as a dip, sandwich filling or burger topping. All I have to say to Triangle chefs is “Yaaaay” for including a little bit of heaven to some of your dishes, like this grilled fried green tomato and pimento cheese sandwich from Relish Cafe and Bar in Raleigh!

Relish pimento cheese2

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Baked Egg, Spinach, Canadian Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Mini-Casseroles

Posted on January 17, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Baked egg mini-casserole with Canadian Bacon, Cheese and Spinach

I received a great set of ramekins for Christmas (thanks, Sally!) and it didn’t take me long to figure out what I would make in them first. Years ago, my brother Joe and his family were visiting my Mom and made these great individual baked egg and ham casseroles, with cream, grated cheese and some sort of green vegetable — asparagus, maybe? I’ve altered my brother’s recipe some, substituting Canadian bacon for the ham, spinach for the asparagus and fat free half-and-half for the cream. These little casseroles rock! They remind me of Eggs Florentine, without the English muffins and Hollandaise sauce.

Out of the oven

Before the holidays, I spent several months researching Raleigh’s best brunches (see my previous posts at: http://wp.me/p1m2u9-1je and http://wp.me/p1m2u9-1hr.) While I enjoy eating out, sometimes it’s nice to be lazy on the weekend and not leave the house – a sweat pants, no makeup kind of day. And it’s easy to be lazy knowing I can have these great casseroles for brunch. You just may want to make extra if you have a big appetite — they are so delicious!

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Chipotle Turkey Chili

Posted on January 14, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Chipotle Turkey Chili1

I love chili, whether it’s my award winning black bean and sausage chili, white bean and chicken chili, vegetarian sweet potato chili or what I call traditional chili (made with beef.) I was cleaning out my pantry (truly a stretch to call a two-shelf cabinet that) and ran across a can of chipotle peppers as well as some great northern beans. If you’re not familiar with chipotle peppers, they are simply smoked-dried jalapeños, and can vary in size and heat.

Anyway, chili immediately came to mind. When I went to the store, ground turkey breast was on sale, so I bought some of that and some red and green bell peppers. Voilà! A hearty, earthy and smoky chili that is also healthy!

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Heavenly Jalapeño Corn Bread

Posted on January 10, 2013 by kelleychisholm

Jalapeno corn bread

The great thing about the colder winter months is that they lend themselves to making heart-warming soups, stews and chilies. I recently made a delicious chipotle turkey chili (recipe to follow next week) and decided that cornbread would go great with it. Not just any cornbread, mind you, but this flavorful one that builds on the spiciness of the chili by adding jalapeños to the mix. In addition to the jalapeños, I like to add a can of Green Giant Mexicorn®* to give it a little bit of a crunch and color, plus some light sour cream to keep it moist.

I made this wonderful jalapeño cornbread in a baking pan, but it works just as well in muffin tins. And it is heavenly just by itself (OK, maybe add a tiny bit of butter.) And remember, you control the heat with the amount of jalapeños you add – the more, the spicier!

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