garlic – Page 4 – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Sweet Potato Love

Posted on August 31, 2013 by LFFL

Made with fresh sweet potatoes, brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter, salt & pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, brandy, and orange zest.

OH, I’ve fallen in love!! These are the BEST SWEET POTATOES EVER!! I can’t begin to tell you how delicious these are. You’ll have to try them for yourselves.

Recipe for—Candied Sweet Potatoes
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup brandy
zest of 1 orange
3 1/2 lbs medium-sized sweet potatoes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray.

In a saucepan, mix the first 8 ingredients with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5-7 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilla, brandy, and orange zest. Cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off heat, cool slightly; set aside.

Peel and slice sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch circles and arrange in prepared baking dish. Pour candy sauce over the sweet potatoes, cover with foil, and bake for 40-50 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20-30 minutes uncovered until sweet potatoes are fork-tender, basting periodically with sauce.

Makes 8 servings.

Made with canned candied yams, butter, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and miniature marshmallows.

I love the crunchy marshmallow topping on this. I love to peel the browned marshmallows off with my fingers and just eat them.

Recipe for—Whipped Sweet Potato Bake

Made with fresh sweet potatoes, olive oil, red onion, red bell pepper, green onions, chopped garlic cloves, smoked paprika, salt & pepper, and fresh parsley.

Recipe for—Sweet Potato Hash

So, if you have nothing else to do today, definitely make those LOVELY candied sweet potatoes! They are to DIE for!! And make the sweet potato bake if for no other reason than to peel those crispy brown marshmallows off with your hands and pop them in your mouth. So fun!

Take-Away Life Lesson: The sweet potato is your friend.

Buttermilk Baked Chicken

Posted on August 28, 2013 by LFFL

Made with boneless skinless chicken slivers, buttermilk, corn flakes, juice of a lemon, onion, fresh thyme, fresh chopped garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper.

Mines doesn’t look exactly like the recipe—maybe because I used chicken slivers. It was still chicken, nonetheless—and edible.

Recipe for—Buttermilk Baked Chicken

So, if you have nothing else to do today, make some buttermilk chicken for dinner with corn flakes.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Baked chicken can taste just as good as fried chicken if you know what you’re doing—it’s just healthier.

Zucchini Gratin

Posted on August 26, 2013 by LFFL

Made with zucchini, onion, chopped garlic cloves, chopped plum tomatoes, fresh chopped thyme leaves, all-purpose flour, butter, brown sugar, eggs, salt & pepper, half-and-half, sharp white cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

I just fell in LOVE with this dish! It was SO good. Needless to say, it has a permanent home in my recipe book.

I have to say, I don’t eat like the humans. Instead of this being my side dish and part of a bigger meal like it probably should have been—this was my ONLY meal! When something is that good to me, I’ll slice it into big hunks and go to town on it. Then I’m full.

Slice this straight down the middle length-wise, then into thirds the other way. SIX HUGE CHUNKS, PEOPLE!!

Recipe for—Zucchini Gratin

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making this zucchini goodness. It was SO easy to make.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Side dishes can always be a meal in and of themselves. It’s like eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese to yourself. You eat until you’re full.

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Fried Zucchini With Spicy Dipping Sauce

Garlic & Basil Happiness

Posted on July 21, 2013 by LFFL

So my day starts off with me consuming 74 grams of sugar all at once within two small bags of Boston Baked Beans. Who knew? I read the ingredients on the bag AFTER I ate the first bag and ONLY out of sheer boredom.

But I clearly didn’t care, as I consumed the second bag right after I read this. But that’s neither here nor there. Only informational for you readers as I’m not sure how this post will end up sounding with that much sugar in me.

Well, I love cooking with basil, garlic, and olive oil—and I’ve been on a fresh basil kick lately. I bought a bag at the grocery store and 3 different bunches at the city farmer’s market. It smells divine and there’s always something you can throw a basil leaf into.

I also love when the garlic farmer comes to market with his super large humongous garlic bulbs. I love fresh garlic from the market more so than the grocery store. I buy lots of it and put it into everything. As great as garlic tastes in cooking, I hate the after effects it leaves on yourself for the next 3 days. It can be offensive to say the least.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, discover different olive oils, fresh garlic, and basil (preferably at your farmers’ market) and find ways to incorporate these into your cooking.

Take-Away Life Lesson: It’s probably not a great idea to consume 74 grams of sugar within 5 minutes time. It gives you sugarhead.