This recipe for Creamed Carrots is an adaptation of the creamed carrots that my grandparents used to make for our family dinners every Sunday when I was a kid.
We no longer have extended family dinners once a week, but the creamed carrots still show up at all holiday meals and are my dad’s absolute favorite veggie side!
The carrots are cooked until they are very very soft after absorbing a delicious creamy base. The end result is melt-in-your-mouth, flavorful creamed carrots!
Note: I was sent a review copy of A Return to Ireland by Judith McLoughlin in order to make this Vegetarian Shepherds Pie. Opinions are mine alone.
You may have noticed I have quite a few Irish (and Irish-American) recipes on this blog. I truly love traditional Irish cooking; it is pure comfort food to me.
But Irish food has come a long way from just traditional meat and potatoes, and Judith McLoughlin’s A Return to Ireland (paid link) showcases some beautiful modern interpretations of classic Irish cooking.
As a Shepherd’s Pie fanatic, I was intrigued by a recipe within the cookbook for a meatless version that substitutes a mixture of lentils and mushroom for the traditional ground beef or lamb, and then enhances the traditional mashed potato topping with a mixture of other mashed root vegetables.
The result is a wonderfully hearty and delicious Vegetarian Shepherds Pie!
Ingredients (serves 6):
Vegetable Base
6 tablespoons butter (substitute olive oil to make vegan / dairy free)
1 (8 oz) container sliced mushrooms
2 medium onions, chopped
1 leek, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 ribs celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
2 1/2 cups green lentils
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
6 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Mashed Topping
2/3 lbs celery root, peeled and chopped
2/3 lbs parsnips, peeled and chopped
2/3 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
4 tablespoons butter (or olive oil to make vegan / dairy free)
Pureed Rutabaga is a staple of basically every extended family gathering I have ever been to. But my family always refers to this dish as Turnips, which used to confuse me quite a bit because, well, there is also a vegetable called a turnip.
Apparently, rutabagas are also known as yellow turnips which is where this confusion comes from. Rutabagas are actually a hybrid of a turnip and a wild cabbage!
Anywho, I love pureed rutabaga / turnips. They are fluffy, creamy, with a little bit of spice.
This recipe is particularly perfect for large gatherings because you don’t have to use your stovetop or oven at all, saving space for other dishes.
The weather has yet to turn cold (in fact, we just had a week-long heatwave!) but I’m already thinking about colder weather foods. One of my favorite comfort foods is traditional Irish Vegetable Soup.
Unlike a chunky vegetable soup commonly found in the US, Irish Vegetable Soup is a blended soup made of potatoes, leeks, carrots, and onions that feels creamy and comforting without any cream!
The absolute best way to enjoy an Irish Vegetable Soup is with some Irish Brown Bread, but because that’s somewhat difficult to come across in the US, I substituted in a loaf of Italian bread to sop up all that vegetable goodness.
When I first realized how surprisingly easy it is to make homemade ice cream, Homemade Ube Ice Cream was at the top of my list. I’ve been doing my best to space out my ice cream recipes so you don’t think this has completely changed into just an ice cream blog, but this one is too good to keep to myself much longer!
If you haven’t had ube before, ube is a sweet purple yam with a slightly nutty and vanilla flavor which lends itself perfectly for desserts. To add ube flavor, this recipe uses both Ube Halaya and Ube Flavor. Ube Halaya is mashed purple yam combined with condensed milk. Ube Flavor, or extract, obviously adds more ube flavor, but it also contains purple dye in it to amp up that beautiful purple color. Both ube halaya and ube flavor can be found at most Asian grocery stores.
When I first started this blog, I was living in Old City and working in Center City Philadelphia, which meant I got to stop at Reading Terminal on my way home and get inspiration for my meals based on what looked the best that day. I stopped by the Historic Lewes Farmers Market recently looking for some inspiration while at the Delaware Beaches. While I was there, I was able to catch a demonstration by SoDel Concepts’ Pastry Chef Dru Tevis and Bennett Orchards’ Henry Bennett. I picked up some White Peaches from Bennett Orchards while I was there, which inspired me to make this perfectly summery White Peach Strawberry Salad!
This salad is very simple to make, and has less than 10 ingredients, but delivers a balanced mix of sweet, toasty, earthy, and acidic flavors, making for a truly memorable bite!
Ingredients:
Salad:
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 (5 oz) bag spring mix
2 sliced white peaches or nectarines
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (if you don’t like blue cheese, you can substitute in feta)
Note: I was sent bottles of Fresh Vine Wine Rosé in order to make this post. Opinions are mine alone.
It is absolutely rosé season! And what is better than a refreshing, cold glass of rosé? An ice-cold glass of Strawberry Frose, of course!
This recipe is a simple way to upgrade your normal glass of rosé, making it perfect for warm summer nights spent with friends.
For this recipe, I am using Fresh Vine Wine Rosé. Produced and bottled in Napa, California, Fresh Vine Wine’s are premium, great tasting wines with careful attention to lower calorie, carb, and sugar content.
The Fresh Vine Wine Rosé is a blend of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir pressed then fermented and aged in stainless steel, with notes of nectarine, stone fruit, and melon with a bit of acidity, which will work perfectly with the balanced sweetness of strawberries!
Well, I’m sure this comes as no surprise but now that I know how easy it is to make homemade ice cream, I’m trying out more and more flavors. This recipe for Homemade Nutella Ice Cream was one of my husband’s first requests.
(He’s a HUGE Nutella fan, which is why I have quite a few Nutella-filled recipes on my blog.)
This recipe is actually even easier than the pistachio one, so I was happy to make this for him. It does not have any egg yolks in the recipe, and you don’t even have to heat the cream mixture! With just five ingredients, it comes together in no time as well!
You will still need some equipment to help make this recipe (paid links):
It’s no secret how much I love ice cream, but I haven’t really tried to make much at home. With the beautiful weather we have been having, I figured it was time to try! I happened to have some shelled pistachios on hand, so why not make some Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream?
Pistachio ice cream is one of my absolute favorite flavors, and I had no clue how easy it was to make my own homemade version!
A friend reached out to me with a food challenge: how to make baked ziti that will be hot and ready when they come back from a christening. A Slow Cooker Baked Ziti recipe seemed like the perfect solution!
Naturally, I had to do some experimenting so that I could give her a recipe to use that I know will work for her needs.
This recipe for Slow Cooker Baked Ziti involves layering ingredients in your slow cooker (paid link). letting it cook for 2 1/2 hours, and then adding some mozzarella cheese on top for ultimate cheesiness!
This recipe for Rosemary White Beans with Onions and Tomatoes has quickly become a staple in my house this winter.
It is quick to prepare, I tend to have most of these ingredients already on hand, and it is so darn comforting! It is also a one pot meal so there are less dishes to clean up when you’re done cooking and enjoying your meal!
Note: I was sent a copy of America’s Test Kitchen The Complete Modern Pantry Cookbook in order to write this review. Opinions are mine alone.
Recently, my husband and I moved to the suburbs. One of the biggest adjustments has been having to make basically every single meal at home, where when we lived in Philadelphia, we were able to get amazing takeout whenever I was too wiped to cook or hadn’t gone food shopping.
So when I was contacted to review America’s Test Kitchen The Complete Modern Pantry Cookbook (paid link), I jumped at the chance. This book gives you more of a blueprint than tried and true recipes so that you can easily use whatever you might have on hand. The Complete Modern Pantry has a ton of information and tips to help home cooks reduce waste, save money, and get the most out of their grocery purchases.
The CompleteModernPantry is anchored in the realization that every pantry is unique. Rather than expect all readers to have similarly stocked pantries, the recipes and suggestions in this book focus on what the ingredients do for the finished dish, instead of what they are. This book also looks to remove many of the common hurdles to creativity by empowering home cooks to:
Utilize a wide range of tangible variations and suggested improvisation to core Test Kitchen recipes so new ingredients don’t need to be purchased.
Understand key principles to everyday recipes (and some not-so-everyday) so they feel confident iterating on them based upon what is on hand in their kitchen.
Recognize how simple changes to a few ingredients in a recipe can make a big impact on the appearance and flavors of a dish- getting rid of the monotony of common meals.
The book has plenty of information on how to store fruits and vegetables in a way that will extend shelf life, recipes that rely on frozen items such as frozen tilapia which is cost effective are included as are tips on making the most of ingredients.
I was really impressed with a lot of the main dishes in this cookbook but I couldn’t stop thinking about this recipe for Spicy Carrot Dip that would be perfect to serve last minute guests, so I wanted to highlight it here.
This recipe uses fresh carrots, plus a bunch of spices and hot sauce to deliver a flavorful dip! I actually had all of these ingredients already on hand, making it super easy to make.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
It’s that time of year where there are plenty of barbecues and outdoor gatherings again. Whenever our friends host, I never want to come empty handed so I like to have a bunch of dessert recipes on hand, especially no bake dessert recipes!
This No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake is perfect for summer meet ups – you don’t have to turn on your oven and overheat your own home, and it can be made ahead and served chilled or at room temperature.
The cake is super simple to make. It is layers of graham crackers, whipped cream pudding, and chocolate frosting, mimicking the flavors of a chocolate eclair. If you don’t want to make your own frosting, you can also buy store bought and just use that.
Ingredients:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (16 oz box) plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, divided
2 (3.4 oz) boxes instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups whole milk, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
I know it is quite late in the season for a soup recipe, but I made this Leek and Potato Soup recently and just had to share it. This is a fairly traditional Irish Leek and Potato Soup, but the simplicity means you can really make it your own with some tweaks if you wanted.
Leeks are in season late winter to early summer, so this soup is great for those slightly cooler days, or when you’re looking for something simple to make that is ultimate comfort food.
This recipe uses under 10 ingredients and can be made in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 leeks (depending on their size), sliced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes