Nutty Gingerbread Cake with Toffee Sauce

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sulfured molasses
4 large eggs

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans
Garnish:  confectioners' sugar
Toffee Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12 or 15 cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy.  Add molasses, beating until combined.  Add eggs, beating until smooth.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and ginger.  Gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until combined.  Stir in pecans.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan, cool completely on a wire rack.  Garnish with confectioners' sugar if desired.  Serve cake with warm Toffee Sauce.

Toffee Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add brown sugar, stirring to combine.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Stir in cream and vanilla; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

This recipe came from the Paula Deen's Christmas magazine, December 2011 issue.  I wanted to try it because A.  I love anything that comes with a sauce and 2.  My Aunt Fern was a huge fan of gingerbread and anytime I see it, smell it or taste it I always think of her and then start to miss her very much.  So I made this cake in her honor even though the taste of gingerbread it not one of my favorites.  While I was mixing this cake I tasted the batter just after I had added the molasses and I almost gagged!  Apparently I don't care of the taste of molasses either!  I was worried that this cake would end up in the trash but once you get all the ingredients mixed together it really is pretty tasty.  The house smelled really good while the cake was baking which was a plus for me.  It makes a dense, pound cake type bundt cake.  The sauce is really good.  Larripon as my mother would say.  You could put this sauce on just about any kind of cake and it would be great on ice cream too.  I personally like it plain, on a spoon!  When you serve this cake you can cut a slice first, drizzle the sauce over the cake and then microwave it for about 25 seconds.  Dee-lish!!!

Pommes De Terre a la Boulangere: Potatoes a la Bakery

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

4 onion, sliced

2 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh thyme sprigs or leaves if using jar thyme

2 cups beef stock

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Melt half the butter and the olive oil in a sauce pan and gently fry the onions until soft and lightly golden, about 15 minutes.  Spread half the onions in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Lay a layer of sliced potatoes on top, season with salt and pepper and scatter with thyme leaves.  Build another layer of onions then a final one of potatoes and finally pour over the stock.  Cover pan with foil and bake until all the liquid has been absorbed, 2 to 3 hours, removing foil the last hour to crisp the top if you like.


I saw this dish prepared on the Food TV channel.  The french girl made it look very easy and it was.  It's very simple and you feel like you are making something extremely 
elegant putting this dish together.  Taste wise, it really wasn't anything extra special, just soft, tender, flavorful potatoes that were rich in flavor from the broth and onions.  

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Rosemary Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Peppers

1 5 - 5 1/2 pound pork tenderloin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
Balsamic Peppers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Trim fat from tenderloin.  Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a roasting pan over medium high heat; add tenderloin.  Cook 6 to 8 minutes, turning often to brown all sides.  Remove tenderloin to a cutting board.  Rub tenderloin with garlic and 2 tbsp rosemary, pressing to adhere.  Return to pan.  Bake, uncovered for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of tenderloin registers 140 degrees (rare) 160 degrees (medium).  Remove tenderloin to a serving platter, let stand 10 minutes before slicing.  Arrange Balsamic Peppers around tenderloin.

Balsamic Peppers
2 large red bell peppers
2 large yellow bell peppers
1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

Cut peppers in half lengthwise, discard seeds and membranes.  Place pepper halves, skin side up on a large aluminum foil lined baking sheet, flatten peppers  with palm of hand.  Add onion to baking sheet.  Broil 5 1/2 inches away from heat 20 to 25 minutes or until peppers are blackened.  Place peppers in a zip-top plastic bag; seal, and let stand 15 minutes.  Peel skin from peppers, cut peppers into strips.  Whisk together vinegar and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in rosemary.  Add pepper strips and onion to bowl; toss well.

The tenderloin and the peppers made for a nice, fancy meal that was easy to prepare
and inexpensive as well.  You can use beef tenderloin with this recipe too but I have always been a fan of a pork tenderloin.  After searing the meat I deglazed the pan with beef stock and made my brown gravy then while the skillet was hot so this saved me time rather than doing it just before I was ready to serve the meal.  My husband always likes to have gravy with meats like this so I just made a simple brown gravy to go along with this meal.  The method of broiling the peppers in the oven then putting them in a plastic bag for 15 minutes was a very handy tip.  The skin came right off the peppers after sitting in the steamy bag for that long.  The balsamic mixture could have used just a scosh more seasoning to me but all in all the peppers were good and the purple onion added a hint of sweet taste to the whole thing.  These recipes came from the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook.

Mexican Lasagna

1/2 lb hot ground pork sausage
1/2 lb ground round
1 15 oz can ranch-style pinto beans, drained
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of celery soup
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce
9 6" corn tortillas, divided
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or pepper jack cheese, divided
1 medium tomato, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 medium avocado, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook sausage and ground round in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, stirring often until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.  Return meat to pan; stir in beans and next 5 ingredients.  Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir together soups and enchilada sauce in a medium sauce pan; cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until thoroughly  heated.  Spoon one-third of sauce into a lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish; top with 3 tortillas.  Spoon half of beef mixture and one-third of sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with half o Cheddar cheese.  Top with 3 tortillas; repeat layers with remaining beef, sauce, Cheddar cheese and tortillas ending with tortillas.  Sprinkle with 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese.  Cover loosely with foil.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Add remaining 1 cup Monterey Jack; bake uncovered 10 more minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Top with tomato, green onion and avocado.

This dish was very good!  It got a thumbs up from everyone as did the Fiesta Salad that I served with it.  The "lasagna" stays together and is very filling and delicious.  It would be a good dish to fix if you needed to feed several people.  It warms up well the next day too!  This recipe came from the Souther Living Christmas Cookbook.

Fiesta Salad

per serving:
1 1/2 cup shredded lettuce
cubed or diced longhorn or Colby jack cheese
diced avocado
diced tomato
hand full of slightly crushed Frito corn chips

Fiesta dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp Chili Garlic Sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place shredded lettuce in salad bowl and generously top with cubed cheese, diced avocado and diced tomato.  Garnish with a hand full of slightly crushed Frito corn chips, top with Fiesta dressing.

Stir together the mayo and chili garlic sauce to combine.  Whisk in 1/4 cup of olive oil adding more for desired dressing consistency, spoon over salad.  Measured ingredients for dressing above will make enough for 3 servings.  This recipe came from the top of my head.  :)  It was spicy but it was delicious!

Rustic Apple Tart

1 large Braeburn apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp apple pie spice
1/2 (14.1 ounce) package refrigerated pie crust
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine apple, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and apple pie spice; toss well to coat.  Roll out pie crust on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Top with apple mixture, leaving a wide border; fold over edges of crust to partially enclose filling.  Brush crust with egg wash; sprinkle with remaining   1 tablespoon sugar.  Bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

This was a quick and easy dessert that looked like you spent lots of time on.   I recommend serving this tart hot with a scoop of ice cream on the side.  The apples are well seasoned but they keep some of their crispness so don't expect this tart to taste the same as an apple pie.  It was good but then I'm not the biggest apple fan so for me it was just okay.  This recipe came from the DeenBros Family Holidays magazine.

Butternut Squash Casserole with Pecan Streusel

3 (12 oz) packages frozen cooked butternut squash, thawed (I used one large fresh squash peeled, cubed and cooked until tender)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsps cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well.  Place in lightly greased 11 x 7 baking dish.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Cut in 3 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender until crumbly.  Stir in nuts.  Sprinkle over squash.  Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Let casserole stand 5 minutes before serving,

This casserole was AMAZING!!!  Traditionally, my family
always has sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving and
Christmas dinner but now that I have tasted this recipe it may just
put the yams out of business!  This is only the second time I have
ever cooked or eaten butternut squash and I have to say that I am
pleasantly surprised by it's versatility, taste and texture.  With all the
spices and ingredients added to this dish it made it taste just as good as our sweet potato casserole but with an added bonus.  The
pecan streusel topping was like icing on the cake for this dish.  It was sweet, with a little bit of nutty crunch.  It was a perfect side dish for the turkey.  Try this one, it's full of Autumn goodness!
This recipe came from the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook.