I know. Our kitchen has just never been complete.

But then a little package plopped on our doorstep yesterday. My dear sweet hubby had been researching dutch ovens for months and found the perfect one. In the midst of my gleeful squeals, I realized that my hubby is such a charmer. Yes, he does everything in his power to make me smile, but I also think he does everything in his power to have more of those braised short ribs...

Side note: This dtuch oven is a 6 quart one made by Lodge, but we have tons of friends that swear by Le Creuset. During Jeff's research though he found tons of folks that say this dutch oven will make incredible food for a quarter of the price. Now I'm all about quality, but is a Le Creuset really necessary?

**This also means that I need your help!! I need some really good dutch oven recipes to break in this bad boy, so send a link to your favorite recipe in the comments. Whoever submits my favorite recipe will win a $25 gift card to Sur La Table, PLUS  I will feature the dish on a future Recipe Sunday. Yay!**

Tomorrow we'll be announcing last week's winner of the Yankee Candle Giveaway so stay tuned and enter to win by commenting at this post here! See you then!

Hugs,

Erin

So when I found this fancy gourmet Dutch oven take on the age old pot pie concept, I couldn't resist borrowing my friends fancy cookware to fancy-up dinnertime. The gooey innards of this recipe are short ribs with cipollini onions and fresh rosemary braised in Guinness with thin crispy russet potato slices acting as the mouthwatering top. Since braising is a lengthy process to tenderize meat, this whole thing will take five or six hours, so keep that in mind if you're gonna give a try. But the time is soooo worth it. This knock-your-socks-off dish is everything warm and cozy that a hearty winter dish should be, and you'll lick up every last bite!

***Speaking of cozy, thanks for all of the comments on yesterday's Yankee Candle giveaway! My readers are DA BOMB. There's still time to win a Yankee Candle, so comment here to win!***

You'll need four pounds of boneless short ribs, a sprig of fresh rosemary, a pound of cipollini onions, and two bottles of dark stout beer, preferably Guinness. And yes, BOTH bottles of Guinness are going in the recipe. Jeff was hoping one was for the food, and the other was for the chef's assistant...

Dredge the short ribs through flour, covering all sides. Technically these short ribs should be cut into two-inch pieces, but technically I didn't read that part... Whatevs. It still tasted freakin' fantastic.

Heat up a few tablespoons of oil in your friends Le Creuset Dutch oven and brown the short ribs on all sides, working in batches and transferring the browned meat to a large plate with kitchen tongs. I realized when I found this recipe that - *gasp* - I don't actually own a Dutch oven, but a friend with a Le Creuset is a very important friend to have. Just saying'.

Then sauté your yellow onions and garlic.

Return the meat to the pot and add the Guinness and rosemary. This was my favorite part - it smelled SO GOOD.

Bring the whole thing to a simmer, then cover and transfer it to a preheated 300 degree oven to cook for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 1/5 hours of reorganizing the pantry and dancing to Ke$ha in the kitchen, pull out the heavenly Dutch oven and add the cipollini onions. Cook for about 30 more minutes. While it's doing this last bit of braising, take a break from clubbin' it up suburban style and thinly slice about 6 russet potatoes for the topping.

After this last stint in the oven, the meat should be ready to fall apart, so remove the pot from the oven and shred the meat with two forks. Transfer the filling to eight mini-pot pie casserole dishes, mini one cup pie plates, or a large 12-inch gratin dish. The juice will thicken when the meat comes apart.

Raise the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees and let it heat up while you place the topping.

Layer the potato slices in tight concentric circles around the dishes.

Brush the potatoes with oil and crack some fresh salt and pepper on top. Put the whole thing back in the oven for another 45 minutes to an hour to brown and cook the top.

OMG OMG OMG - I've never made anything so good in my LIFE.

The meat was soooooooo full of flavor from all of that sugary Guinness and once you crack the top of the potato thang, the rosemary will melt your soul into a pile of heavenly buttah. And we all know that everything is better with buttah. This is the perfect Sunday dinner on a snowy winter's night! Enjoy!

Braised Short Rib, Stout, and Potato Pot Pie

(see the full recipe here)

For The Filling

• 4 pounds boneless short ribs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 bottles (12 ounces) stout, preferably Guinness (3 cups)
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 pound cipollini onions, peeled

For The Topping

• 6 medium russet potatoes (3 1/2 pounds)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Make the filling: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge short ribs in flour, coating all sides. Transfer to a large plate. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Working in batches, brown short ribs, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a large plate using kitchen tongs.

Reduce heat to medium. Add yellow onion to Dutch oven, and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Add garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Return meat to Dutch oven. Add stout and rosemary. Bring to a simmer. Cover, and transfer to oven. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove Dutch oven from oven, and add cipollini onions. Braise until meat is tender and onions are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Shred meat using 2 forks. Season with salt and pepper. Divide filling among eight mini (1-cup) pie plates, or transfer to a 12-inch (8-cup) gratin dish.

Make the topping: Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. Peel potatoes, and very thinly slice each (preferably on a mandoline). Arrange potatoes over meat to form tight concentric circles, working around the edge and overlapping each potato by three-quarters. Brush with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until topping is golden and filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes for mini potpies (1 hour for large potpie).

Hugs,
Erin

So I would sneak whatever I could find into my shopping cart, and then go upstairs to my mini-kitchen play set to mix flour and water to make a dough for biscuits, just like Mom would. I would add flour, and then water. Then more water. And then more flour. And then a ton more water. Then I would roll out my flour/water mixture with my teeny pink plastic rolling pin directly onto my pint-sized plastic kitchen table. It was like I was layering concrete plaster across my play set. Confused, I would try pick up the goopy, sticky mess that I called "dough" with my fingers, and alarmed that it didn't look exactly like Mom's concoctions, this flour plaster quickly ended up in my hair, on my clothes, in my eyes, on the floor, on the cat, and anything else that I would touch while running and screaming around the house with sticky flour hands that my yummy bread wasn't turning out right.

This is the memory that I think of when making biscuits - the hours of scraping layers of flour plaster off of my poor play set kitchen table. And when I'm squishing my fingers through dough, I feel like my kitchen is that same play set and I'm just a little girl fiddling around with flour and water. Only my biscuits actually turn out this time. Well, most of the time...

Isn't there just something about biscuits? They make any dinner a homey, comfort food meal and that's a pretty magical talent. You could set these next to sushi and it would become a down-home, farm meal in the midwest. And this particular combo adds a clever, yummy twist to the classic recipe by adding green onions, transforming it's traditional flavor into an eyebrow raising delight.

As always, the full recipe is at the bottom of this post, so feel free to skip the photos and jump straight to cooking. But of course, that means you'll miss all of the 50 f/1.2 goodness that is my food photography fetish...

Grab all of the traditional ingredients from your pantry for biscuits - flour, buttermilk, baking soda and powder, shortening and salt.

But the flavor boost comes from green onions and a topping of cherry tomato. Ho boy! These biscuits will turn any husband into a kid bouncing up and down by the oven waiting for them to come out!

Combine your dry ingredients first.

Then use a pastry blender to cut in the shortening and butter until they look like pea-sized chunks.

Finely chop the green onion and mix it in.

Make a small well in the middle of the mixture.

Add the buttermilk all at once and use a fork to quickly toss and wet all of the ingredients. You don't want to overwork the dough at this point.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and quickly knead 10 or 12 strokes until it's almost smooth.

You don't want to add too much flour or over work the dough, so be geeeeentle.

Can you see my inner "kitchen-set" girl coming out?

To shape the biscuits, you'll roll three little walnut sized balls and place them next to each other in a greased muffin cup. Which seriously - whenever they say "walnut-sized", "pea-sized", or "small shetland pony-sized", does it ever actually turn out that way? I'm the WORST at estimating so it's more of a "that looks good" size.

Press a grape or yellow pear tomato into the center of each and brush them with olive oil. I couldn't find yellow pear tomatoes so I went with the red grape tomatoes.

They'll bake 10-12 minutes at 45o degrees, and they'll make your entire house smell like onion bread goodness. Seriously, you will be DROOLING by the time these come out! They won't last long - with that kind of smell wafting through the rafters the troops will come running and gobble these up! And by troops, I mean Jeff...

Biscuit Blossoms

(get nutrition info here)

To keep in the party mood, let's ring in the new year with a party favorite. These Mexican appetizers are sooooo yummy - if I had a Mexican grandma, it would totally remind me of her. The only thing that I find strange though (and perhaps this is my white Idaho girl talking), but the recipe is called 'hand pies' when clearly these are empanadas - right? But then again, 'hand pie' sounds more fancy than empanada so maybe these should be called Chorizo-Pepper Fancy Hand Pies. In any case, make one batch of these for yourself and one batch to stick in the freezer. You'll thank yourself later when you get to pull these out for that last minute dinner party and wow your guests with a flaky, creamy, spicy appetizer.

The chorizo is the clear winner of this recipe with it's signature spice and oily flavor.

Mix the chorizo with some queso fresco and we've got ourselves a creamy, spicy filling that you'll flip over!

This is the first time I've ever used puff pastry - you should have seen me circling the grocery store trying to find this little package! It was in the back of a freezer in the Jewish section. Ha!

Alright, on to the cooking. First make your filling by sautéing your onion, garlic, and sweet bell pepper until they're tender.

Then add the chorizo, break it up, and cook until it's no longer pink.

The chorizo will be pretty oily, so drain the fat and move on to the tomato and seasonings.

Let the liquids cook off and then stir in the queso fresco.

Try just a bit of this filling - ITS SO GOOD. We had some left over after we filled the empanada so we used it as a taco filling and we licked up every bite.

Once the filling is ready, roll out the puff pastry sheets and using a biscuit or cookie cutter (or a small drinking glass like I did) and cut out a bunch of rounds. Put a small dollop of the filling in the middle. And no matter how much you may like the filling, be conservative and don't put too much in or else you'll have filling pouring out the sides once you try to close and seal the empanada. It makes a huge mess - trust me.

Brush one edge of the circle with a milk and beaten egg yolk mixture.

Then stretch and fold the empanada and pinch the edge together to seal.

Brush the tops of the empanadas with the egg wash and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

It only takes about 12 minutes at 400 degrees to cook these bad boys. They get super flaky on the outside and gooey on the inside - the perfect combo for a crowd-pleasing appetizer!

Chorizo-Pepper Hand Pies

(see the full recipe and nutrition info here)

• tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 a yellow sweet pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 5 ounces uncooked chorizo sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato, fresh or canned
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 ounces grated queso fresco (3/4 cup)
• 1 17.3 ounce package frozen puff pastry sheets (2 sheets), thawed
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 recipe Sweet Pepper Topper (optional)
• Taco sauce or salsa (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and sweet pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 7 minutes. Add the chorizo, stirring occasionally, and breaking up the sausage, until the sausage is no longer pink, 5 minutes. Drain fat. Return to heat and add the tomato, oregano, and cumin to the meat mixture and simmer, uncovered, until the mixture is almost dry, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Let cool. Add the queso fresco and stir to combine.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll the puff pastry to 1/8-inch thickness. With a 3-1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut 24 circles. Place 1 tablespoon filling in center of each circle. Combine beaten egg yolk with milk. Brush edges of half the circle with egg wash. Fold circle over to enclose filling; pinch edges together to seal. Brush tops with egg wash. Place on an ungreased baking sheet; bake 12 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Serve warm topped with Sweet Pepper Topper and taco sauce for dipping. Makes 24 hand pies.

Hugs,

Erin

But I'm totally adding to the madness - we've already sent bushels of homemade peppermint brittle out the door in brown paper packages tied up with strings (no literally - they were wrapped in brown kraft paper and twine), and I've been posting nothing but baked confections for the past month on Recipe Sunday. I promise I'll get back to actual food in January, but why not immerse ourselves in the splendor of the holidays?

It is, after all, the only time of year that we have the perfect excuse to totally gorge ourselves on sugar...

So now for a lovely twist on my favorite kind of pie. I'm THAT pie person. The one that is totally nuts about pumpkin pie. At most parties, I'm the stand alone  - the only person with pumpkin on my plate while everyone ooh's and ahh's over there pecan and apples slices. Whatevs. Their pecan is probably drier than Arizona and the apple I'm sure are totally spongy and flavorless. At least, that's what I tell myself as I walk to the corner and savor my creamy dessert. Alone. And this recipe only makes this pie shine even brighter than it already does in my dessert book.

You'll need a can of pumpkin, cinnamon, and REAL maple syrup which is the wonderful twist to this wonderful dish. I pulled a can of pumpkin out of my pantry and it was a little worse for the wear...

Combine the filling ingredients - pumpkin, sugar, syrup, cinnamon and salt.

Lightly beat three eggs and use a fork to add them in.

Gradually add in a cup of milk and stir until it's combined.

Pour the filling into a pastry shell and bake for about an hour at 375 degrees. Covering the edges with foil for the first half of the baking time helps to keep them from burning.

Yum. Mee. Serve and sprinkle the slices with cinnamon and whipped cream if you'd like. Lactose and my stomach don't mix, so mine are always sans whipped toppings.

 Maple-Cinnmon Pumpkin Pie

(view more of this recipe here)

• 1 recipe Pastry for Single-Crust Pie
• 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 recipe Maple Whipped Cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare and roll out Pastry for Single-Crust pie.

2. For filling, in a bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs; beat with a fork until combined. Gradually add milk; stir until combined.

3. Carefully pour filling in pastry shell. Cover edge of pie crust with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.

4. To serve, if desired, top with Maple Whipped Cream. Makes 8 servings.

Hugs,

Erin

But if there's one sweet treat that I still love, it's these Candy Cane Rolls. For some reason, these little gems are the only things that I've never managed to totally mess up. They've always pulled through for me, so I've kept this recipe on hand in my holiday arsenal when I need a yummy and unique baked good for the Christmas season.

You'll need all of the usual suspects from the baking shelf in your pantry - flour, sugar, yeast, and salt, along with an egg, butter, and sour cream from the fridge. Walnuts, sugar, and butter make the tasty filling.

First, combine your dry ingredients and the yeast in a large bowl, and melt the sour cream and butter in water in a saucepan until they're hot to touch. I recommend using a thermometer to make sure you hit the right temperature for the yeast (125 to 130 degrees F), and keep in mind that the butter doesn't need to melt all the way. If the liquid is too hot, it will kill the yeast and you won't find out until way late in the game when you've done a ton of work and the dough won't rise. This my friends, will slowly kill your love for baking. And we don't want that.

Gradually add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, and beat about 2 minutes at medium speed. Add the egg and half a cup of flour and beat two more minutes at high speed.

Then slowly add in just enough flour, stirring with a spoon, to make a stiff dough.

Then it's time to knead the dough. It will only take 3 to 4 minutes to make the dough smooth and elastic, and you don't want to over work it. Add in little bits of flour as you go along to get rid of any stickiness, but use it sparingly.

Once the dough is smooth, grease that same bowl you were using with cooking spray, plop the dough in, and turn it once to coat it. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm spot (I sometimes use the oven, turned off) to let it rise until it's doubled in size, usually about an hour.

While I'm waiting, I clean up my baking area, wash dishes, prep for the next steps, grease two baking sheets and prepare the nut filling.

Once the dough is doubled in size, put a full kettle of water on to boil for raising the dough when this step is finished, and preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then punch down the dough with your fist to release the gas that's built up.

Divide the dough in half and use a rolling pin to roll each half into a 12- by 18-inch rectangle.

Spread out the nut filling leaving a bit of room at the margins.

And fold the entire thing in half, pinching the dough at the seam to seal.

Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 1/2 inch strips, or the best estimate of 1/2-inch strips. Mine can be a little off... Ok, a lot off, but I tell myself that it adds character.

Then take each strip at the ends and twist it in opposite directions 4 or 5 times, curving one end to look like a cane.

Awwww! So cute! It's got the twisty lines and everything!

Place them on the greased cookie sheets, leaving a little space between them to give them room to rise.

Cover each cookie sheet with a thin dish towel, then half-fill two large shallow pans (I use large casserole glass baking dishes) with the boiling water. Place the covered cookie sheets on top of the pans and let the dough rise from the steam for 15 minutes or until the canes are doubled in size. Then pop them in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Be careful not to over bake these suckers or they'll turn rock hard, so keep an eye on them and pull them out just as the tops start turning brown. Every oven is different, so it may be shorter or longer than 15 minutes. Once they're done, let them cool. I tend to let them cool on the cookie sheets because they're too warm to pull off without wrecking them and the icing part is easier on the pan, but if you can get them off and don't mind an icing mess, let them cool on wire racks.

While the canes are cooling, make your Confectioner's Sugar Glaze with a cup of confectioner's sugar and 3-4 tablespoons water. Drizzle the canes once they're completely cooled. If they're still hot, the glaze will melt right off.

These canes are just so stinkin' sweet and crunchy - just slightly chewy and with a bit of fluff all at the same time. Store them in an airtight container so they don't dry out and harden, and we love heating them up in the microwave for a fifteen seconds before eating them.

And they'll go FAST. These were barely finished and Jeff couldn't resist...

Candy Cane Rolls

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry or quick-rising yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 egg, at room temperature

Nut Filling 

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Confectioner's Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1. In large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt. In small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat water, sour cream and butter until hot to touch (125 - 130 degrees F); butter does not need to melt. Gradually add liquid ingredients to flour mixture. With electric mixer at medium speed, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Add egg and 1/2 cup flour; increase speed to high and beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour to  make a stiff dough. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface; knead about 4 to 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 50 minutes if using active dry yeast. (For quick-rising yeast, cover kneaded dough and let rest on work surface 10 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, prepared Nut Filling. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Punch dough down; divide in half. With rolling pin, roll each half into a 12- by 18- inch rectangle. Top each with half the Nut Filling, leaving a 1/2-inch margin at long edges. Fold dough lengthwise in half; pinch long edge to seal. Cut each roll into twelve 1/2-inch wide strips. Holding both ends, twist each strip in opposite directions 5 to 6 times. Place on prepared cookie sheets, curving top end of each strip to form a cane; cover canes with towel. Place 2 large shallow pans on counter; half fill with boiling water. Place baking sheets on pans; let dough rise 15 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake canes 15 minutes or until golden-brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Meanwhile, prepare Confectioner's Sugar Glaze; drizzle on top of cooled canes.

Hugs,
Erin

Yams.

Ick. Icky, ick, ick. They were always way too sweet or way too bland or just too ick. But then again, that was when I was still growing up and my poor undeveloped 8-year-old palette didn't even like tomatoes. Soooooo, yeah. It wasn't so much the yams fault that I thought they were the devil, it was more that I thought anything besides soggy bread and gravy was the devil.

But then I got older. And when I got up the courage to actually try a yam again, I felt like a moron. Why had I been snubbing this delicious fall treat for the better part of my life?? So now I'm on the hunt for yummy yam recipes and this one in particular was easy (check) and delightful (check). Although it comes in full dessert fashion, it's not too sweet and it's definitely not bland.

The ingredients and flavors are simple, simple, simple. The only newbies would be the lemon peel, so everybody please welcome Mr. Lemon to the old boys' holiday club of sweet potato, nutmeg, and pecans. BTW - I still don't know the difference between a yam and sweet potato...

Melt about a 1/4 cup of butter in a large saucepan with tall sides, slice up the sweet potato/yams, toss them in and coat them in the butter. Once they've cooked for about a minute, sprinkle them with half a cup of sugar.

Stir and fold the potatoes to dissolve the sugar and then cook for five-ish minutes until it's caramelized and syrupy.

Let the potatoes brown and then stir in the pecans, lemon peel, and nutmeg.

Turn off the heat and let the sweet potatoes cool before placing them in a prepped pie shell. You can make your own pecan pie crust (recipe here), but I decided to make life a little easier and just bought an uncooked shell. Either way, you'll need to bake the pie shell (first covered, then uncovered) before filling it since the sweet potatoes have been cooked along and the pie crust needs a jump start to catch up.

Layer the potatoes in the pie crust and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Then brush the top with melted butter and you're done!

The yams are just sweet and soft enough to make this a fabulously yummy pie - something different than your typical pumpkin/apple/pecan mix of holiday pies don't ya think?

Candied Sweet Potato Pie

(see full recipe and nutrition info here)

• 1 recipe Pecan Piecrust or 1 rolled refrigerated unbaked piecrust
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Whipped Cream (optional)

Even though the Pressed Herbs and Spices Turkey Breast and the Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin' are off the yumminess charts, this red hot spicy gravy takes one look at the rest of the table, pops it's collar, and dares every other wanna be dish to even look in it's direction because it's about to take this whole Thanksgiving thang to a whole 'notha level. This gravy is SPICY and when it mixes with the smooth flavors of the stuffin' and the crispy texture of the turkey, you'll be poppin' your own collar and doing a happy dance until Christmas.

Like any gravy, the recipe is simple, simple, simple - but also like any gravy, it's all in the execution.

The main player is two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. You'll find these bad boys in the Hispanic aisle of the grocery store.

You'll also need flour, chicken stock, butter and an onion. You can use regular all-purpose flour, but have something like Wondra on hand just in case to prevent clumps.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then saute your chopped up onion in the butter. If you put a lid on the saucepan while they cook, the onions will 'sweat' which makes them super sweet. While those cook, chop up two chipotle peppers which will be pretty stinkin' spicy. Depending on how spicy you want the gravy, you may only want to use one.

Once your onions are soft, add a couple tablespoons of flour.

Then add your chipotle and whisk in 4 to 5 cups of chicken stock. I would add in less chipotle at first and then add more if you want more spice. I've put in too much spice before and had guests chugging water at the table, so be careful!

Let the mixture come to a boil then lower the heat to medium, keeping it at a rolling simmer while whisking the entire time to help it thicken. Whisk in small amounts of flour to thicken the gravy. Don't add too much flour at once or you'll get massive clumps - be patient and the liquid will thicken, just keep whisking. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and/or poultry seasoning to taste.

Once the gravy is thickened to your liking, pour it into a serving bowl and let it cool slightly while everybody sits down and you set out the rest of the dishes.

This meal is finally complete! When you put the turkey, stuffing, and gravy all on the same plate, the flavors mix together into an explosion of Thanksgiving heaven. You'll never want to eat bland stuffing and gravy again! Go ahead, wow your family with this twist on the traditional flavors - you'll be a holiday goddess in no time!

Spicy Chipotle Gravy

(view Rachael Ray's entire Thanksgiving in 60 here)

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium onion
• 6 cups chicken stock, divided
• 2 slightly rounded tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls adobo sauce

Growing up, stuffing was that special, exotic treat for me, and it's the dish that single-handedly made me love Thanksgiving. But my understanding of stuffing was that it was this labor intensive dish that took HOURS to make because we always made it inside the turkey. I thought that in order to have stuffing we had to roast a turkey along with it, so it was a rare holiday treat.

The day I found out that you can make stuffing from a box I just about died.

'WHAAAAA!' I thought. 'I could be having stuffing ALL YEAR LONG.'

It was an intense moment. But like I said, if I actually ate stuffing all year long it would ruin the holiday (and pretty much ruin the waistline). So I'm a BIG fan of stuffing at Thanksgiving, and I really didn't think it could get any better than the original poultry flavors, but Rachael Ray has proven me wrong once again. This Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin' recipe from her Thanksgiving in 60 Minutes that we're featuring here on the blog is sweet, crunchy, and moist - without having to stuff a bird. This stuffing is on the sweet, cinnamon side, so it compliments the spicy chipotle flavors of the rest of Rachael's Thanksgiving menu. In fact, when you pour the crazy spicy Chipotle Gravy over this fall flavored stuffing, it's pure heaven.

This stuffing doesn't use dried bread - it uses pumpkin muffins and apples as the main flavors which are DYNAMITE. Sometimes I can't find pumpkin muffins, so I opt for apple cinnamon muffins instead, which are a more typical daily option at most bakeries.

Chop up your veggies - celery, zucchini, onion, and McIntosh apples.

Then saute them with a dried bay leaf in 5 tablespoons of butter in a large, deep skillet until they're soft. Season everything liberally with salt and pepper. And I mean liberally. The muffins tend to dampen down the flavor, so don't be shy with the seasoning.

Crumble and add the muffins and sunflower seeds, then add poultry seasoning to taste.

Dampen everything with 1 to 2 cups of chicken stock, or until it's the moistness that you like. Pile everything into a big serving dish and place it in the oven next to your roasting Pressed Herbs and Spices Turkey Breast. It should only take a few minutes to crisp up along the top and heat through.

Yum, yum, and more yum! This stuffing is AMAZING. It takes Thanksgiving to a whole new level, and we never have a drop of leftovers because guest lick. the bowl. clean.

This stuffing with the Chipotle Gravy from Rachael Ray's menu poured all over it will BLOW YOUR MIND. I've featuring the gravy in two weeks, so stay tuned!

Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin'

(view Rachael Ray's entire Thanksgiving in 60 here)

• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 fresh or dried bay leaf
• 6 ribs celery from the heart, shopped with greens
• 2 to 3 McIntosh apples, seeded and chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped, divided
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 6 pumpkin muffins, crumbled
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• 2 cups chicken stock

1. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat with 5 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces. To melted butter, add bay, celery, apple, 1/2 of the onion and zucchini. Season the vegetables liberally with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes or until softened.

2. Add crumbled muffins and sunflower seeds to the pan and combine with the vegetables. Season the stuffing with poultry seasoning then adjust salt and pepper.

3. Dampen the stuffing with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of stock. Pile the stuffing into a serving dish. Place in oven to just crisp up the top along with turkey or, if the pan does not fit, when the turkey comes out, switch on the broiler and crisp the top of stuffing - it should only take a couple of minutes, tops.

Hugs,

Erin

I was freaked out. Like, hide under covers and fake a horrible viral disease freaked out. Even though my mom, sister, and I had always taken the lead on our family Thanksgivings, bustling around the kitchen prepping mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, pies, and sweet potatoes, I had never actually roasted the turkey before. Or made the gravy. Or made real stuffing that wasn't from a box. My mother - being the queen bee of the house - always took the lead on those main dishes while I messed around with the rolls and opened jars of sweet pickles.

And I had decided to take a stab at one of the most cherished of holiday food traditions with all of my in-laws. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box sometimes.

So Jeff and I took to the internet to figure out how to roast a turkey, and came upon a Goddess - Rachael Ray. A few years ago, Ms. Ray did a show on a unique and spicy Thanksgiving meal that can be made in 60 minutes. "Wbaaaaat? 60 minutes for Thanksgiving dinner? Complete with appetizers, turkey, gravy, stuffing, and potatoes?"

Yep. Sixty whole minutos.

So we did it. We followed her recipe exactly. And while it took us a bit longer than 60 minutes (I think we clocked in at 2.5 hours with all of the chopping, food prep, recipe checking, and figuring out how to do everything), it was the easiest and YUMMIEST Thanksgiving dinner ever! We've made this menu for three years now, and it gets easier and yummier every year. The shocked happy faces of our guests and the "I can't believe this is turkey!! And this stuffing is amazing and the gravy - OMG!" through full mouths of food and shoveling forks never gets old.

So every other week until T-Day, Recipe Sunday will be featuring the Pressed Herbs and Spices Turkey Breast, Pumpkin-Zucchini Muffin Stuffin' and Chipotle Gravy from Rachael Ray's Thanksgiving in 60 Minutes - 2. Once you've tasted this spicy, sweet, smokey, chipotle goodness of a meal, you'll never look at Thanksgiving cuisine the same again.

This week we're featuring the mother bird - the turkey. Since that fateful Thanksgiving with the in-laws (they LOVED the meal BTW), I've actually roasted a real turkey and quickly realized that cooking a whole bird is soooooo not worth it. I've even deep fried a turkey and it didn't taste as good! This turkey breast recipe won't dry out and it's chock full of flavor with the pressed herbs and spices filling every space of the bird.

The main players of this dish are the spices for the rub that will cover the skin, the Montreal Seasoning from McCormick and the smoked paprika being the biggest flavors. You can get the Montreal Seasoning from Costco and it's a great thing to have in your pantry for grilling all year long. (Not pictured here: a giant brick you'll need to cover in tin foil and the pistachios)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and make your spice mixture. I learned this trick from Rachael Ray - a tablespoon of spices equals about a small palm full, so instead of dragging out your measuring spoons, just quickly use your (clean) hands.

Mix together your spices for the skin rub.

And shell a cup of pistachios for the herbs to go underneath the skin.

Process 8 sprigs of thyme, a couple handful of cilantro leaves, and a cup of flat-leaf parsley with the pistachios in a food processor.

Now you're ready for the turkey. You'll need a large roasting pan for the turkey breasts, but place the pan on the stove on med-high heat and begin heating it up so you can crisp the skin before it goes in the preheated oven. Place the breasts on another pan.

Rub the skin with olive oil, then separate the skin from the meat with a sharp knife. Rub the herb and nut paste between the skin and meat on each breast, making sure to evenly spread it around.

Then rub the skin with the spice mixture.

Place the breasts skin-side down in the hot roasting pan and hear it sizzle! I put some more of the olive oil and spice mixture on the bottom of the bird too. Why not add more flavor? Crisp the skin for 8-10 minutes.

Once the skins are crisp, wrap a brick in tin foil and place it in another oven-ok skillet or a large baking dish. Place that on top of the breasts to weigh everything down. This keeps the bird pressed down into it's juices so it comes out of the oven super moist! Place everything in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165 - 170 degrees F.

While the turkey roasts, you'll be making the Pumpkin-Zucchini Muffin' Stuffin' and Chipotle Gravy, so breath in the yummy aromas and keep cooking. The turkey will come out so golden and beautiful! And it took hardly any work!

I've had friends that dread eating turkey totally fall in love with this recipe. It's so much more flavorful than your average T-Day dish, so skip the whole bird this year and do this for your next Thanksgiving bash. You'll thank me later when you actually have time to enjoy the holiday instead of slaving in the kitchen!

Pressed Herbs and Spices Turkey Breast

(view Rachael Ray's entire Thanksgiving in 60 here)

• 3 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick) 3 palm fulls
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin, a palm full
• 1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika, a palm full
• 1 tablespoon coriander, a palm full
• 4 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, 8 sprigs, stripped off stems
• Cilantro leaves, 2 handfuls or 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, 4 handfuls
• 1 cup shelled natural pistachios
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for generous drizzling
• 2 boneless halved turkey breasts, about 3 pounds each

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Preheat a 14-inch skillet or medium roasting pan over medium heat on your largest burner.

2. Mix grill seasoning, cumin, paprika and coriander together. Place the thyme, cilantro or basil, parsley and pistachios in the food processor and process into a paste. Remove bowl from processor and remove blade from bowl. Have a rubber spatula on hand.

3. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil generously over the breasts to coat the skin. Loosen skin of the breasts with a small sharp knife. Divide the herb and nut paste between the flesh and skin on each breast. Use your hands to move the paste around under the skin to evenly distribute the mixture. Coat the extra-virgin olive oil coated skin with the spice mixture.

4. Set the coated breasts into the large skillet or roasting pan. Wash hands. Set a second slightly smaller skillet or pan on top of the breasts and weight down with a couple of bricks covered in foil. Crisp the skin 8 to 10 minutes then transfer meat to oven and roast 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 to 170 degrees F.

In two weeks: Pumpkin-Zucchini Muffin' Stuffin'

Hugs,
Erin