Chocolate Pecan Pie

Photo's courtesy Google Imaging
Recipe Courtesy Emeril Lagase
I took out all his frills

1 unbaked pie shell
1 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup Pure Cane Syrup
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
2 ounces melted semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pecan pieces and the chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of the pie shell. In a mixing bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake for about 1 hour or until the filling sets. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Mashed Yams

Recipe courtesy a Sundance Chef and me because he never wrote it down for me and he just told me the ingredients and I figured it out.

4-6 Yams
1-2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 -1 cup 100% maple syrup
Salt & Pepper to taste

Bake yams at 375 for about 45-60 min depending on your oven.
Once cooled enough to handle remove skins. They should easily peel off.

While you are making this be sure to continually taste it, it is important not to get to much syrup or butter.

Using a hand or standing mixer add yams, butter and mix it for about 30 sec or so on very low just to combine butter and yams. Turning it back on low and mixing for as little time as possible add the maple syrup slowly to incorporate. Fold in salt and pepper and serve.

Carol's Stuffing

Photo of stuffing and sage courtesy Google imaging
Recipe courtesy my grandma Carol Lambert

This first recipe is hers:
Eyeball amounts and they will depend on the size of your bird
stale bread torn or cut into pieces
chopped celery and use scissors to cut up celery leaves
chopped onion
sage chopped or minced
2 sticks butter cubed

Combine bread, celery, onion and sage in a baking dish, bowl or whatever. Gently fold in cubed butter and stuff your bird. If you want extra dressing put it in a baking dish and sprinkle with butter and bake at 375 until golden brown.

Recipe courtesy Meikel Reece
My version of her recipe:
1 loaf white or sourdough bread left out a day or so
5 or so sticks of celery and leaves
2 or 3 onions chopped
1/2 cup sage chopped, make sure you don't use to much it is a very powerful herb.
1 stick of butter cubed
1 stick of butter for brown butter

Brown butter recipe:
Cut butter into pieces.
Heat butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir the butter or swirl the pan so that the butter doesn't burn.
Remove from heat when butter turns light brown and gives off a nutty aroma.
You can also add the sage at the last minute to infuse butter with sage.
Let this cool just a bit, may a couple of minutes

Combine bread, celery, onion and sage in a baking dish, bowl or whatever. Gently fold in cubed butter and pour brown butter over the top and stuff your bird. If you want extra dressing put it in a baking dish and sprinkle with butter and either add the brown butter sauce or wait till it's done and pour on after. and bake at 375 until golden brown.

Mashed Potatoes

Recipe courtesy my mom, aunts, grandma and Michael Chiarello

2 pounds potatoes (anything but red)
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (or soy butter)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, or more to taste
Sea, Kosher or Grey Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I tend to use 1 stick and just the olive oil to make it just a bit more healthy)

Additions feel free to have both just one or none:
Remember there is such a thing as to much garlic.
1 tablespoon garlic paste or minced garlic or no garlic, completely up to you.
1-2 packages or Boursin Cheese

For the Garlic Paste:
1 pound whole garlic heads
1/2 cup pure olive oil
Gray sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To roast the garlic if you so desire:
Courtesy Michael Chiarello
Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic. Cut off the top 1/3 of the heads to open the cloves. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic, cut sides up, and saute for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Pop garlic cloves from their skins and place cloves in a blender, along with any olive oil left in the pan. Puree until smooth; you should have a paste-like consistency.

For the potatoes: Cube the potatoes. Then put the potatoes in a large saucepan with salted cold water and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, add some more salt and then bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well, place potato cubes in a food mill, and grind to remove skins. I actually love to have skins in my potatoes so just use a hand or standing mixer or fork if you would like to keep the skins. Alternatively, smash the potatoes with a large fork or potato masher.You can also use use a hand mixer or standing mixer but you have to be really careful not to over mix, because you can end up with nasty, gloupy, gummy potatoes.

If you are going to add no or just minced garlic then just carefully fold into potatoes. If you are going to add the Borsin cheese just fold into potatoes and it will melt.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter stops foaming and turns a light brown. Add the garlic paste and cook quickly. Add the cream, season, to taste, with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and fold in potatoes with a wooded spoon or large whisk. Add the remaining butter by tablespoons, stirring after each addition. Stir in the extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

Cranberry Citrus Sauce

Photo's courtesy Google imaging
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
1 orange, zested and juiced
3 (12-ounce) bags fresh or frozen cranberries
Dash salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Start by making a simple syrup: dissolve the sugar in the water in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla beans and bring to a simmer. Add the orange juice and cranberries, a dash of salt and some freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Simmer until cranberries begin to pop and become tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Dijon mustard. Chill cranberry sauce until ready to serve. The sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Just before serving, garnish sauce with freshly grated orange zest.