Smoked Turkey Dip with Cranberries

The word STUFFED describes two things: A). What I'm still feeling after our big Thanksgiving dinner and B). The turkey we ate on Thanksgiving!  This year, Chris and I tried our hand at making all the fixings for Thanksgiving and even though it was just the two of us, we had a meal to feed our entire family!  In addition to the usuals of turkey, cornbread stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, the infamous green bean casserole, rolls, cranberries, corn and pumpkin flavored desserts, we had a couple of appetizers that seemed to keep us even more full while preparing our hearty dinner!  We over-indulged in baked Brie with peach preserves and my "go-to" appetizer for any holiday get-together, Smoked Turkey Spread with Cranberries.  This dip has been a staple at parties and family gatherings around the holidays for many years now and is a recipe that is given out to many by the time the night is over!  It is a very rare occasion that I have any left to take home with me! 

The base is a simple cream cheese and mayonnaise mixture and while not all that "figure-friendly," it certainly provides a great base for any homemade dip at any occasion!  A combination of smoked turkey, cranberries and parsley bring back fond memories of gatherings in the past.  The medley of holiday-inspired ingredients make this a "must-have" for Fall and Winter celebrations alike!  This recipe, once again, is taken from my favorite, Grand Temptations, and was adapted to my taste pallet by leaving out the pecans in the original version!

Smoked Turkey Dip with Cranberries
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Ingredients
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup Smoked Turkey, chopped
1 Tsp. Green Onion, Minced
1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
Salt
Pepper

Directions
Combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a medium bowl and mix well. Mix in the turkey, green onion, parsley and cranberries. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the mixture into a small serving bowl. Chill, covered, until ready to serve. Garnish with parsley sprigs. Serve with crackers. - I usually serve on a serving platter, spread out with crackers around the edges of the platter for a nice display.

Source: Adapted from Grand Temptations

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Pumpkin Roll

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year and I love absolutely everything about it....Halloween, going to the apple orchard, crisp and cool nights, the smell of apple cinnamon candles in the house, the trees changing color, cozying up to a warm fireplace with a nice cup of hot cocoa, Thanksgiving and the best part yet: PUMPKIN!  I definitely know it's Autumn when I begin my first craving for Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte...yum!  Another favorite...Pumpkin Roll.  It's a staple in my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas and it seems to be a big request here in the South! 

If you've never had it, Pumpkin Roll is best described simply as: goodness!  The moist cake with flavor accents of nutmeg and cinnamon makes you feel so warm and fuzzy inside and the rich and creamy cheesecake filling is almost sinful!  This one is a sure pleaser for any get-together and is quite simple with a "showy" presentation; you'll definitely leave others impressed with your baking (or non-baking) skills! 

This recipe actually comes from my all-time favorite cookbook, Grand Temptations, by the Junior League of Grand Rapids, MI.  Being a former "Michigander" myself, I spent a couple of years as a member of Junior League and an active member of our chapter's cookbook committee.  This book is a collection of recipes from local chefs and individuals throughout West Michigan; all of the pictures were taken throughout the area to show all of the beauty West Michigan has to offer and all of the proceeds go to benefit improving the lives of women, children and families through local organizations.  If interested in purchasing Grand Temptations, you will find a list of local participating vendors who carry the book on the JLGR website or you can order one through Schuler Books.

Pumpkin Cream Roll
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Ingredients - Pumpkin Cake
3 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Canned Pumpkin
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
3/4 Cup Flour
Powdered Sugar


Ingredients - Cream Filling
2 cups Powdered Sugar
3 Tbsp. Butter, softened
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
Powdered Sugar


Directions
For the cake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 10x15 cake pan. Line with waxed paper and grease the waxed paper. Beat the eggs with a wooden spoon in a large bowl until pale yellow. Add the sugar, pumpkin, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flour and mix well. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. - I used parchment paper rather than wax as I prefer it and found that it works much better. If you do use parchement paper, note that you do not need to grease the paper before pouring the batter onto it (I still greased the pan so the paper had something to stick to and didn't slide out).

Dust a clean kitchen towel with sifted powdered sugar. Invert the warm cake onto the towel. Remove the waxed paper. Roll the warm cake in the towel like a jellyroll from the short side and place on a wire rack to cool.


For the filling, combine 2 cups powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy.


To assemble, unroll the cooled cake carefully. Spread the filling to the edge and roll the cake. Cut into 1-inch slices, sprinkle with additional confectioners' sugar and serve. The cake will keep covered in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.

Source:  Adapted from Grand Temptations

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Caprese Chicken & Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

In the list of summertime food is usually salad; whether it be potato, pasta, fruit or a nice summery salad with fresh spinach or romaine, it's typically a "must-have" at family BBQ'a, picnics and get-togethers.  One of my favorites: Caprese.  I love the mixture of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella sprinkled with a little salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil or balsamic vinegar!  It's refreshing, light and not to mention pretty darn healthy too!  While it may be a salad you typically indulge on during the warm months of the year, it happens to be one of those things that every once in a while I get a major craving for!  About a week ago, was when it happened! 

Even though we're quickly approaching the major holiday season, it doesn't mean that you can't incorporate light and summery foods into your warm and hearty meals; after all, now is the time to be eating lighter so you have room to gorge on the yummy trimmings that come at Thanksgiving!  I decided to put a spin on my beloved Caprese Salad and turn it into more of a heartier (but healthy) meal that would not only tame my craving but provide us with substance during the cooler months of the year.  With that, I decided to make Caprese Chicken!  It was on a whim and something I literally pulled out of the air!  While it was my first go-round with it, it was definitely a pleaser in our household last night; however I think there are a few changes I'll make to it next time or perhaps try it with steak!

Roasting veggies in our house seems to be a favorite right now as well since it brings out a whole new level of flavor than steaming or grilling (plus, it's a great substitute for cooking veggies in the Fall and Winter seasons).  Typically when roasting, I just coat an assortment of vegetables in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and throw them in the oven to do their thing.  But with broccoli, I wanted to add another layer of flavor and sprinkled Parmesan Cheese in the mixture as well so it added a bit of tang and crunch that was so yummy!  In addition to the chicken and broccoli, I whipped up a box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice.  Yes, I said it...a box!  Come on people, not everything I make is homemade and Uncle Ben's is really good! 

The picture below does not do this dish justice so please forgive me as I work out my food photography kinks.  I'm learning...slowly, but surely!

Caprese Chicken
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Ingredients
1 lb. Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast
1 cup Italian Dressing
4 slices Mozarella Cheese
1 Lg. Tomato, chopped
1/2 cup Fresh Basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
            -OR-
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Directions
With a fork, poke holes in the chicken so the dressing can moisten and provide more flavor to the mean while marinading.  Place chicken and dressing in a large resealable bag and toss to coat.  Marinate in the regridgerator at least 2 hours.

Preheat an indoor or outdoor grille at medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.  Take chicken out of the marinade (discard remaining marinade) and place on the grille, cooking it 10-15 minutes per side (depending on size) or until juices run clear and they are no longer pink inside.  Turn grille off and place a slice of Mozzarella on each piece of chicken; cover with a lid until cheese has lightly melted over the meat.

Set chicken on a plate or serving dish and let sit for 5 minutes to allow juices to redistribute into the meat.  Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, basil, olive oil (or balsamic vinegar) and salt and pepper (to taste) in a small bowl.  Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

Source: With a Cherry on Top

Roasted Parmesan Broccoli
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Ingredients
2 Lg. bundles Fresh Broccoli
1/2 cup Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/4 Tsp. Pepper
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Rinse broccoli and remove the stems, cutting into bite-size pieces.  Place the broccoli into a large mixing bowl and toss with remaining ingredients to coat generously.

Spread broccoli onto a large baking dish and place in the oven, roasting 10-12 minutes (or until tender).  Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Source:  With a Cherry on Top

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Helpful Tip - Cookbooks

Have Too Many Cookbooks?

If you're like I once was, you probably have dozens of cookbooks or cooking magazines that you have kept over the years because you've seen a recipe that you like in them and hoped to give it a try one day.  Unfortunately, if you're really like me, you forget about the recipes you had encountered previously and when you get stuck and need an idea for dinner, you have to go through all of those books just to find something to make!  It is, no doubt, a pain in the booty!!!

One way to get organized in your kitchen is elimate a majority of those books and consolidate them.  To do this, you'll need: a 3-ring binder (or more depending on how many recipes you have), plastic sheet protectors, and index dividers.  Label your dividers with categories of your choice to keep your recipes organized.  Here are the categories I have used: Appetizers, Salads, Soups & Sandwiches, Breads & Brunch, Side Dishes, Entrees, Desserts, and Drinks.  Spend some time going through those cookbooks and tearing out the pages with the recipes that you like, putting them into piles under the category they belong to.  Now one issue I had was that certain pages may have an entree recipe that I liked on it, but also a dessert recipe that I wanted.  In that case, I would make a separate pile for those pages and go to the local copy center and make a duplicate copy so I could put one in the Entree section and the other in the Dessert section.

When you're ready to fill your binder, simply go through each category pile you've made and place 2 recipe pages back-to-back in a platic protector and file it behind the appropriate divider in your binder!  Once you've completed this, you can just toss (or recycle) the books you no longer want; this prevents over-crowding of your cookbook cupboard and eliminates the hassle of having to go through dozens of books to find 1 recipe.  All you have to do now, is determine what it is you want to make, go to the appropriate section in your binder and flip through those recipes to find what you need!

One thing I would like to note is that I only do this with cooking magazines and not my big, hard cover cookbooks.  I like to keep those the way they are!

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Steak with Roasted Tomato & Musroom Ragu

Rachael Ray is probably my cooking hero!  I have learned SO much from her such as various techniques, great recipes and about certain ingredients I was not familiar with; some of my best recipes have come from her.  So it goes without question as to whether I read her monthly magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray.  Tonight's dinner includes a recipe from that particular magazine; however my memory fails me as to which issue it was presented in!  She also served it with a Creamy Polenta but since we're going (somewhat) of a healthy route, I decide to make a Roasted Vegetable combination with potatoes and onions.  And with a dinner like this, I couldn't resist sitting down with a glass of Cabernet!

Steaks with Roasted Tomato & Mushroom Ragu
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Ingredients
4 Sirloin Steaks
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 cups Mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1-28oz can Diced Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
1/2 cup Water
1 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Grated Parmesan Cheese, for serving

Directions
Season the steaks with salt and pepper (to taste). In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side; transfer to a plate.

In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, the mushrooms and garlic; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup water and the crushed red pepper; bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, then return the steaks to the skillet and cook until heated through. Serve the steaks topped with the tomato ragu and grated cheese. - Please note that 1 Tbsp. of Crushed Red Pepper added quite a bit of heat to this dish; if you don't prefer spicy or hot foods, you will want to reduce this amount or eliminate this ingredient altogether.

Source: Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray


Roasted Root Veggies
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Ingredients
12 Red Skin Potatoes, quartered
1 Lg. Yellow Onion, cut in large pieces
Olive Oil
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scatter the veggies on a baking sheet and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil. Scatter garlic over the veggies and season with salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands, mix everything together to get the veggies coated. Bake for 40 minutes.  - Any type of root vegetable can be used in this dish and you can adjust the seasonings to taste.

Source: With a Cherry on Top

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Fruit & Nut Granola

Not only has my obsession with food increased over the years, but so has my addiction to Food Network.  It is my drug or my caffeine, if you will, and I watch (almost) anything and everything I can on the network every chance I get.  I remember starting out as a virgin to the network back in college when Rachael Ray first came out with 30 Minute Meals.  Since then, my love for her has grown tremendously as well as the addition for my love with her counterparts.  Whether it be watching the "greats" themselves such as Paula Deen and Bobby Flay or a fun episode of Food Network Challenge, Chopped, Chefs vs. City....I enjoy them all!

This recipe actually comes from one of the greats, Giada De Laurentiis, and is something I adapted and made for the first time last weekend.  I saw it on one of her episodes of Giada at Home over the summer and remembered it as what appeared to be an easy, tasty and healthy treat to try.  Because we are trying to be a tad bit more healthy in our household, I figured I'd give it a whirl and make it as a snack to munch on throughout the day!  To our delight, this easy-to-make homemade granola was so yummy!  The combination of nuts and dried fruit paired with cinnamon in the background made it a snack that was irresistable.  That being said, we have munched on it all week and it's time to make more!  The recipe below is the original by Giada, however, I made a few of my own changes to it the first go-round (mostly because I didn't have certain ingredients on-hand) and am making additional changes this time as well (I have noted those where appropriate).

Fruit & Nut Granola
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Ingredients
Non-stick cooking spray
1/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 1/2 Tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, cranberry juice, and cinnamon over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved. - I have used other versions of cranberry juice (i.e., Cran-Raspberry, Cran-Grape, Cran-Apple, etc.) and it works just the same.

In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, fruit and salt. - I have used a mixture of dried cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, and cherries and it ended up turning out really good - I would presume any sort of dried fruit would work.

Pour the maple mixture over the oat mixture and stir until combined. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Cool completely. Store in an airtight plastic container or resealable bag for up to 1 week.

Source: Adapted from Giada at Home

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Hello & Welcome!!!

Hi all and welcome to my blog!  Creating a blog is somewhat new and nerve-wracking to me, so please bare with me as I tackle it and make it more user-friendly!  In creating With a Cherry on Top, I hope to inspire those who may be cooking newbies, closet-cookers or food junkies to not only eat what you love but love what you eat!  Not only will I be sharing my favorite recipes (tried and true) as well as helpful tips, I will be taking you along for the ride as I experiment and try out new recipes to add to my repetoir (and hopefully yours too)!  I will include a variety of topics including great ideas for entertaining as well as cooking for a family or just one person.  All recipes (whether they are my own or borrowed from elsewhere) will include the original format along with any changes I have made to alter it accordingly.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions or comments...I am always open and willing to receive any feedback offered (after all, that's how we learn to get better in the kitchen and find great alternatives to recipes we love)!  Enjoy!!!

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