Author Archives: Stef

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About Stef

Family: Husband (Tom) and little man Lincoln James. Dwelling: A 1967 Ranch home that changes every day. Homemaker tip: Don’t be afraid to fail. A bad meal can always be fixed with a frozen pizza, a dead plant can be replaced and paint can cure a room. I consider my style: Contemporary with a vintage flair. I love a sleek piece of furniture with the contrast of an old vase or a stack of old used books. I cannot live without eating: Italian Beef sandwiches. I am Chicago-bred and love a good beef with sweet peppers. Pizza is a close second. Three foods you will always find in my pantry: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Crushed Tomatoes and Chicken Broth. My cooking mantra: Even foods that were destined to be bad for you can be recreated in a healthy way.
by | November 16, 2010 · 7:40 am

Pumpkin Smashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and Parmigiano

It’s day two of our Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck and we have Chef Kendra Peterson from Drizzle Kitchen and writer of the blog Urban Tarte, joining us to shed some culinary insight and innovation to our Thanksgiving meal.

Hello all! My name is Kendra Peterson and I am a chef living in downtown Chicago.  I own a business called Drizzle Kitchen, which offers personal chef services, boutique catering, private cooking lessons and culinary consultation to individuals and businesses. The focus of Drizzle is “whole food” cuisine, that is, food that is not processed or manufactured.  Clean food that is good for the mind, body and soul. There is a Spanish Proverb that reads, “The belly rules the mind,” so fill your belly with the best food you can and make your body happy

For most people Thanksgiving is a holiday full of family tradition, the knowledge that your favorite dish will be on the table ready for you to take a big bite of and that familiar smell of the turkey in all its glory roasting in the oven.  Well, that’s a nice story and all but in my little world of culinary craziness tradition=boring.  Much to the dismay of my family!  For me, the tradition has to do with the china that is placed out, the crystal that is wiped, the silver that is polished.  The dining room set with its formal place settings, the candles that are lit and the comfortable glow of family smiling, chatting and enjoying each other’s company.

When I began my serious passion for cooking I saw the holidays as a fabulous time when I had a large audience at my ready, willing to try what I brought out of the kitchen.  And because at an age of 15 I wanted everything to be organic, look beautiful, taste fabulous and be healthy (over-achiever) I spent much time honing my holiday creation repertoire. Through the years my family has been very kind and has put up with some of the crazy concoctions that I presented to them (lentil-chestnut loaf. Yep.) But they have also been the happy recipients of many recipes that are now part of my collection. Pancetta roasted Brussels sprouts (in lieu of green beans amandine), sweet potato biscuits with ginger butter (in lieu of canned crescent rolls) and flourless chocolate tart with orange and crystallized ginger (in lieu of-gasp!-pumpkin pie). Yes, it’s true. There is only ONE person in my entire family who likes pumpkin pie (Good ‘ole daddio) and for the rest of us dessert is typically pumpkin mousse with gingersnap crumbs, pumpkin cheesecake or anything chocolate based!

So, now that you have an idea of what will be on my Thanksgiving table this year here is a recipe that maybe you can use to sass up your “traditional” menu!

Pumpkin Smashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and Parmigiano

Serves 4

1 whole head garlic
1” Yukon gold potatoes (“butter” potatoes)
3 generous pats of unsalted, organic butter
¾ cup canned organic pumpkin puree
¼ cup milk, any kind-whole, skim, plain soy, plain coconut
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano plus another ¼ cup, divided
1 tsp. fresh lemon zest
2 T. minced fresh parsley
sea salt, cracked pepper, olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.  Cut the top off the garlic (think about cutting off a “hat”).  Place the garlic-discard the top-in the center of a piece of foil, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Close up the foil into a packet and roast 30 minutes until nice and soft.

Meanwhile, fill a medium saucepan with cold water.  Add the potatoes, a nice big pinch of salt and cover.  Place on medium heat and cook until potatoes a knife slips into the potatoes like a hot knife through butter.

Drain the potatoes and place in a large bowl. Gently smash with the back of a fork and add the butter.  Let it melt into the potatoes.

Remove the garlic from the foil.  Using a paper towel, grab the base of the garlic and squeeze the cloves out into a small bowl.  Discard the papery skin. Smash the cloves with a fork (oh yeah, it smells ammmmazing!).

Into the bowl with the buttery potatoes add the pumpkin puree, the smashed roasted garlic, the milk, the 1/3 cup parmigiano and a hefty pinch of salt.  Smash all together with the back of a fork until pretty blended.

Add the fresh lemon zest, parsley, cracked pepper and more salt if needed.  Stir to blend.  Spoon into an oven safe baking dish (8×8 or smaller. Perhaps a pretty oval stoneware dish?!).

Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup parmigiano over the top and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Place under the broiler just until the cheese begins to melt the tips of the potatoes start to brown.

This year I am grateful for the incredible gift of my girlfriends.  Without them I would not have made it through this past year.  They held me up as I dealt with a very difficult situation and have pushed me forward in both my personal life and with my business.  They have made connections and opened up doors for me within the creative realm of Drizzle Kitchen that I never thought possible. So make sure to mentally send all your friends a little “thank you” during your Thanksgiving Day festivities and I guarantee that gratitude will come back to you tenfold.

With a big smile and a non-traditional Thanksgiving hug  ~ Kendra

Join the Party!

Got a great Thanksgiving dish or decorating idea? Share a link to your Turkey Day blog post or recipe in the comments or on our Facebook page!


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by | November 12, 2010 · 8:48 am

Turkey for Me, Turkey for You

As stores deck the halls for Christmas this time of year, I can’t help but feel sorry for one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving! This noble holiday does not get the attention it deserves. That is why Haute Apple Pie will be celebrating next week with a Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck. We’ve invited five of our favorite foodies to bring a dish to the table in preparation for the main event.

Rachel, Kendra, Alison, Michael and Lauren will be dishing up sides, desserts and tasty beverages as well as sharing a few of their Thanksgiving thoughts with us.

But a Thanksgiving meal wouldn’t be complete without the bird, would it? While cooking up a turkey may seem simple, there are many ways to make it happen. You can roast, grill, deep fry, stuff, marinate, brine, slow-cook and heck, some even cook a turkey breast in the microwave (HAP does not condone this method). While I love you all, I’m not sure I have enough friends on hand to come eat a big bird right now and have not accumulated enough Turkey Perks at Pick N Save to save some cash, so I am dishing up some recipes from around the web that have been certified as solid ways to get the bird ready for the big day.

Photo courtesy of Butterball

Deep Fry: Deep frying a turkey requires some skill, an open outdoor space and lots of care, because it is quite dangerous. However, it taste delicious. Check out this video with some help from Paula Deen on how to deep fry a turkey.

Brined and Roasted: My friend Erin from Hot Dinner Happy Home recently posted her recipe for homemade brine and roasted turkey. Far less dangerous than deep frying, juicy and delicious and you can roast your veggies at the same time!

Grilled: Grilling a turkey may not have the inside of your house wafting with turkey delight, but your neighbors will thank you. This simple grilling method gets five stars on allrecipes.com and better yet, it frees up your oven so you can have more space for those sides!

Stuffed: Now some say you shouldn’t stuff a turkey for contaminating reasons. I throw that advice out the window as I’ve been eating my Grandma’s stuffed turkey my whole life and never once felt sick (well…maybe from over eating). Alton Brown from The Food Network provides this classic recipe for a stuffed turkey. If you are wary, you can always use a bag for the stuffing.

Slow Cooked: It is not advised to slow cook an entire turkey, and it would be difficult to find a slow cooker large enough. However, slow cooking a turkey breast is a great option for a smaller thanksgiving meal. If you are only hosting a small amount of people or if you are all by yourself for Thanksgiving, this is a simple way to get that great Thanksgiving turkey taste without all of the fuss. And again, your oven is open for other dishes. I made a similar recipe a few years ago and it was delicious!

Join the Party!
Join us next week for our Virtual Thanskgiving Potluck!  Feel free to bring a dish to the party by posting a recipe in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

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by | November 5, 2010 · 8:03 am

What a Difference Some Paint Makes: Master Bedroom Before & After

Darn you Martha. I want to dislike what you do, what you sell, what you write. But every time, I am delightfully surprised by the quality of your products and the creativity of your work.

My husband and I recently realized we were sleeping in a room with hospital white walls. Our bedroom was one of the first rooms we completed with furniture and art, however, it never looked complete. Enter Martha Stewart Living paint in Driftwood Gray.

Okay, so it isn’t a bright burst of purple, but this subtle gray just gives added warmth to the room and allows for the black furniture to pop out from the walls.

This paint went on with such ease. No dripping and only two coats! Next time I look to paint, I’ll be heading back to Home Depot for Martha’s. We typically use Behr and have used a few others and this is by far the best quality.

Photo courtesy of The Home Depot

I am looking to add a few pops of color to our room with maybe a vase or some colored bed sheets. I am thinking deep teal or plum. Thoughts?

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by | October 31, 2010 · 7:41 am

HAPpy Halloween!

Wishing you a very HAPpy Halloween from the Cheeseburger, the Penguin and the ladies of Haute Apple Pie!

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by | October 29, 2010 · 8:22 am

{Chili Week} Southwestern Steak Chili

Rounding out chili week is my latest chili creation: Southwestern Steak Chili! I embarked on this new steak chili journey in anticipation for the chili-off, trying to stray from my tradition ground beef chili. To my surprise, everyone else brought chicken chili – so I could have just stuck with my staple. However, adding steak to chili gives it a hearty umpf that you just can’t get from ground beef.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs round steak or flank steak, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 TBSP olive oil
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
2 lbs diced tomatoes
1 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 TBSP chili powder
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
dash of Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C cornmeal
1/4 C water

In large skillet, heat olive oil. Add steak and garlic, cook until meat is seared on all sides, 8-10 minutes. Add meat to slow cooker. Add all other ingredients (except cornmeal and water) to slow cooker. Stir and set to low for 8-10 hours. About halfway through the cooking process. Whisk together cornmeal and water and stir into chili. The longer this chili cooks, the better it tastes!

I tweaked this recipe a little bit from the chili-off. Added a little more spice and fixed the cornmeal so that it would thicken the way I wanted it to.

This is a great dish to warm the tummy after a long night of trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween everyone!

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by | October 22, 2010 · 8:18 am

Pumpkins & Polka Dots and Festive Fall Fare: Part II

Yesterday I shared the recipes for the main course from my pumpkins and polka dots party, but let’s get onto the good stuff. Today..it’s dessert!

The pumpkin centerpiece is a harvest vase from Crate and Barrel filled with silver dollars. I swooned over these at Sendik’s and had to ask what exactly they were called. They are very delicate and the best part is, they don’t die.

What says fall more than a caramel apple? With a twist on the original, I created these cupcakes, complete with a caramel apple stick, to resemble a taffy apple in both look and taste. The cupcake is apple spice with a sea salt caramel frosting, topped with crushed peanuts.

Apple Spice Cupcakes (based off Martha Stewart’s Applesauce-Spice Cupcakes)

2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 C natural applesauce (I use Mott’s)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar using an electric mixer on medium-high. Add eggs one at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add applesauce and flour mixture, beating until combined.

Fill cups with batter – almost to the top. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool before frosting. Yields 12-18 cupcakes.

Sea Salt Caramel Frosting

1/4 C sugar
2 TBSP water
1/4 C heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp sea salt
1 C powdered sugar

Briefly stir together granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture turns dark amber in color, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Set aside until cool to the touch, about 15 minutes.

Combine butter and salt and beat with electric mixer until fluffy. Reduce speed to low, add powdered sugar, and mix. Turn off mixer and add caramel. Beat frosting on medium-high speed until airy and thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until stiff before using, about 30 minutes.

I doubled this recipe for these cupcakes because I like a lot of frosting. One and a half would probably work too or just one if you like more cupcake than frosting. I frosted the cupcakes using a frosting gun, topped with crushed peanuts and stuck a candy stick in the middle to resemble a caramel apple.

And last but certainly not least, an old fall favorite, pumpkin dip. This can be treated as an appetizer or dessert, or both! I served it with gingersnaps, crackers and apples.

Pumpkin Dip

One package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 can pumpkin puree
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat cream cheese, sugar and pumpkin in a bowl on medium-high until well blended. Add following ingredients and mix throughly. Chill until ready to serve.

Wishing everyone a festive fall!

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by | October 21, 2010 · 4:56 pm

HAP Appears in Marquette Magazine

Nestled somewhere between Al Maguire and Dwyane Wade (page 13 to be exact), we found ourselves in this season’s issue of Marquette Magazine! We are thrilled to be highlighted by our alma mater. Marquette holds a special place in all of our hearts! For the full article, click here.

And thanks again to the ever fabulous Michael Coates for taking such lovely pictures!

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by | October 21, 2010 · 8:00 am

Pumpkins & Polka Dots and Festive Fall Fare: Part I

On a crisp and cool autumn night last week, the girls gathered for monthly Ladies Night at my house. With pumpkins and polka dots strewn throughout my home, guests feasted on a festive fall menu. This simple and affordable get-together makes for a great Halloween party, but has the legs to last through Thanksgiving.

As guests entered the house, they walked along a pathway of pumpkin lumineria, purchased from the dollar bin at Target. Mums, pumpkins dotted with acrylic glitter paint and my new fall favorite – a gray pumpkin – framed the doorway.

The ladies were treated to a buffet of festive fall fare including apple cider punch, party mix, pumpkin dip, fall spinach salad, butternut squash soup with pumpernickel croutons and caramel apple cupcakes, complete with sticks. Each of these items were pretty simple to make and created a fun fall menu.

Butternut squash soup is quickly becoming our family fall favorite recipe, especially with the new addition of an immersion blender to my kitchen tool repertoire. The simple to make pumpernickel croutons add that extra bit of crunch to the soup to leave you wanting more.

Butternut Squash Soup:

3 TBSP unsalted butter
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
4 C low sodium chicken stock
one butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp curry powder
1 C heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

To begin this soup, you need to make a blonde roux. In a large pot, melt butter until it begins to bubble. Slowly whisk in flour until a thick mixture forms. Slowly whisk in room temperature chicken stock. Bring to boil. Add butternut squash and curry. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until squash is tender.

If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer contents of pot to a blender or food processor (this will likely be done in two steps). Puree until mostly smooth (I like to leave a few small chunks in for texture). Transfer back to pot and slowly whisk in cream over medium heat. Add salt and pepper. (If you use an immersion blender, just place into pot and puree until you reach the desired texture.) Top with pumpernickel croutons and serve.

Pumpernickel Croutons:

2 C pumpernickel bread, cubed
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Spread on cookie sheet and toast for 15 minutes, flipping croutons halfway through.

The fall spinach salad included spinach, roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas), dried cranberries, four-pepper goat cheese and sliced Cortland apples, dressed in a creamy balsamic dressing. Pumpkin seeds are a great alternative to croutons or almonds for creating a fall salad.

Every good ladies night needs a good drink. While a good glass of wine will usually do, I decided to put together an apple cider punch for the occasion.

Apple Cider Punch:

6 C apple cider
2 C orange juice
juice of one lemon
1 bottle chilled champagne

Mix and serve over ice.

Join me tomorrow for the pumpkin dip and caramel apple cupcake recipes!

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by | October 15, 2010 · 9:04 am

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket over Garlic Parmesan Mash

We may be in the midst of an indian summer, but my hankering for hearty fall meals has not subsided. And when fall meals enter my brain, I think of two special words: slow cooker. The slow cooker is one of my favorite inventions. It is career-friendly, mom-friendly, leftover-friendly and most important, tummy-friendly. So with the best rated slow cooker, I created a beef brisket cooked in one of my other favorite inventions, beer!

Beef Brisket Ingredients:

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 3-4 lb. beef brisket
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 12 oz bottle red lager (I used Leinie’s Red)
4 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
2/3 C. brown sugar
1 can tomato paste
1/2 C. apple cider vinegar
1/4 C. brown mustard
1/3 C. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. paprika
dash of coarse ground black pepper

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Brown brisket on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic half way through. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour beer in skillet, scraping up brown bits. Simmer for one minute. Add to slow cooker. Nestle celery around beef.

In a medium bowl, add remaining ingredients and whisk. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove from cooker and allow to sit about 10 minutes before cutting.

Garlic Parmesan Mash ingredients:

5-6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 C. milk
2 TBSP butter or margarine
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 C. shredded parmesan cheese

In a large pot, cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Boil approximately 20 minutes. Drain water. Add remaining ingredients and whip with hand mixer.

I plated the brisket over the potatoes, drizzled a little extra sauce from the slow cooker and topped with French’s crispy onions. Little fuss for a fabulous meal! And with the leftovers, we reheated the brisket and put it on a sandwich with a little Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. Delish!

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by | October 8, 2010 · 7:54 am

Nostalgic High School Reunion

As many of you may know, “no” is not in my vocabulary when it comes to planning events. When our class president was nowhere to be found, I recently found myself amongst a group of old classmates from high school, working to plan our 10-year reunion. Planning a reunion can be somewhat of a daunting task, but with an organized group of go-getters, it can be done successfully.

We started by working to update every student’s address so a print invitation could be sent to each home. I designed the “day-planner” invitation using our school colors. We also created a Facebook group, a Twitter account and a website with all the appropriate information.

We were amazingly able to round-up approximately 200 people (almost half our class) to get together for this shindig. When entering the room, guests were greeted by a registration desk where they received a name tag including every student’s senior picture, designed to look similar to our old ID badges. The name tags were organized in wooden boxes painted with chalkboard paint.

The table was decorated with a table runner constructed out of old covers of our high school newspaper, The Westerner, along with scrapbook paper and yarn.

As if seeing 200 faces from ten years back wasn’t enough nostalgia for one night, we put together a display using wrapped boxes and wooden crates holding old items from high school events. Guests laughed and reminisced amongst pom poms, sports programs, phone books, playbills and other memorabilia.

Other fun additions to the evening included our senior video playing on flat screens throughout the venue and a playlist compiled of songs only from the years 1996-2000. So while rocking out to some Blink182, Puff Daddy, Eve6 and Savage Garden, we were able to put together a successful event!

Tips for planning a high school reunion:

Start early! It takes a long time to try to update addresses. We started only four months ahead of time and a few more months would have made it a little bit easier.

Pick a team with a wide range of talents. It is great to have minds of organization, technology, decorating, and people wrangling (this is not for everybody!)

Stay in communication with the invitees. Using various forms of media is a great way to assure you will relay your information to the greatest amount of people.

Have fun! You shouldn’t be on a reunion committee if you don’t have a little bit of fun doing it.

Get creative. Little touches often make the biggest difference.

Thanks to the fabulous reunion team of the Maine West Class of 2000 for such a fabulous event! See everyone in 2020! (or maybe 2015 if we get that ambitious).

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