Sweet Potato Praline Brulee

Ingredients:
2 pounds sweet potatoes, mashed or pureed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 large egg yolks
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3 tablespoons gold rum
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Praline Topping:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/2 tablespoons gold rum
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Put the mashed sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the
pineapple, rum, nutmeg, and ginger, and stir well to combine. Season to
taste with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins.
Using a spatula, spread the sweet potatoes so they are even on top. Bake
15 minutes.

In a medium fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the
remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook just until warmed through,
about 2 minutes. Spoon the praline onto the tops of the sweet potatoes in
the ramekins, dividing the evenly among them.

Using a kitchen torch, fire the praline until it bubbles vigorously. Serve
immediately. Serves 6 - 8.

Peanut/Cashew/Almond Brittle

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup peanuts
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
2. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil, sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.

Also fabulous with cashews and almonds. Made this for gifts last year around the holidays. Appeared to be a hit. (found at allrecipes).

Ye Olde Recipes

I've always found historic cooking, recipes, etc sorta neat and interesting.

Found some cool links on the subject here.

Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:
18-20 large mushrooms (smaller ones will do ok, but they take forever to stuff)
1/2 lb. Italian sausage (reg/sweet italian/fennel/etc, bulk type)
1/2 c. chopped onion
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or more!)
3 tablespoons oil
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Clean mushrooms from any dirt, but do not wash in water. Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop stems. Set aside.
2. Brown sausage, onion, garlic and chopped stems in oil and drain well. Set aside to let cool. (You can speed this up by putting them into a bowl, covering the mixture and leaving in the refrigerator.)
3. Once cool, mix with breadcrumbs, egg and cheese.
4. Stuff mushrooms full of the mixture.
5. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

The ones I made on Saturday didn't have the egg in them (I think that's why the stuffing started to fall apart a little, although it wasn't too bad). I also put the goat's cheese in the base of the mushroom and then added the stuffing on top of that. I suppose another option would be to mix the goat cheese in with the stuffing mixture.

Coriander Teriyaki Marinade

Heavenly Marinade for Coriander Teriyaki (original marinade via epicurious.com)
Ingredients:
* 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, coarsely ground in a spice grinder
* 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
* 1 pound flank steak, steak tips, chicken, or your favorite meat

1. Press coriander onto both sides of meat and put on a large plate.
2. Stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and oil and pour over meat, turning meat to coat. Marinate, turning occasionally, 10 minutes.
3. Cook it up! (Grill it, pan fry it, etc.) Great over wild rice or brown rice.

This works well with steak (pretty much any type- I did it with steak tips and oh it is good) or chicken (also delicious!). Super delish! I didn't have any coriander seeds when I first made this dish, so I left that out but increased the amount of fresh cilantro by doubling it, and it was still amazing (although slightly different in flavor). I also love garlic and tend to put in at least 2-3 good sized cloves. I'm not a fish eater but, I bet this would be great on fish as well.

Another thing that is lovely to do with this is to make a pizza with chicken cooked in the marinade. Cook up the chicken in the marinade, or do it the next day with leftovers (which is what I usually do.) Get either pizza dough or some sort of pizza bread. Spread some of the sauce of the marinade and the bits of fond/carmelized bits from the pan (which I try to save when cleaning the pan of leftovers) on the bread or dough. Add some pizza sauce, only enough to lightly coat the dough or bread (too much and the dough will be too soggy when cooked). Top with shreaded mozzarella and bite sized pieces of chicken cooked in the marinade. Add olives, mushrooms or veggie of your choice (or none at all). Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes or until the crust is brown and the cheese is melted.

I've tried this with whole wheat pizza dough and it's rather good too.