Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends (13 page)
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Authors: Trisha Yearwood
Tags: #food.cookbooks
casserole
My sister, Beth, was always the squash eater in our family. Just the thought of the yellow stringy stuff could send me from the table. This is the recipe that changed it all for me. I have Garth to thank because he loves squash casserole, so I went in search of a recipe. Beth shared this one with me (of course). I tasted it just to be nice, and never looked back. I am now officially a squash eater!
SERVES 8
2 pounds yellow summer squash, trimmed and sliced ¼ inch thick
½ small sweet onion, such as Vidalia, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup grated Cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup butter crackers, such as Ritz, crushed (about 12 crackers)
Preheat the oven to 350
°F. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
Place the sliced squash and the onion in a medium saucepan with about a cup of water and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cover and cook over medium until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool.
Put the squash into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer; the mixture should remain kind of chunky. Add the egg, mayonnaise, cheese, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and the pepper and mix until combined. Pour the squash mixture into the prepared dish, top with the crumbs, and bake for 30 minutes.
The natural moisture content of a squash varies with the variety and with growing conditions. Choose a yellow straight or crookneck summer squash, and drain the cooked squash thoroughly before combining it with the other ingredients.
macaroni and cheese
There are a lot of recipes in this book that I cook every week. This is a dish that I would make every day, but I rarely do because I simply can’t be alone with it! I love macaroni and cheese, and this recipe is the bomb. After the time is up, and you open the crockpot lid for the first time to see the cheese and butter just bubbling on the top, you will fall in love. Be prepared to eat the entire dish—and don’t say I didn’t warn you!
SERVES 12
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1½ cups whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 10-ounce bricks sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)
Dash of paprika
In a large 4-quart crockpot sprayed with cooking spray, mix the macaroni, milks, eggs, butter, salt, pepper, and all but ½ cup of the grated cheese. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top of the mixture and then sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low heat for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Turn off the crockpot, stir the mixture, and serve hot.
If you don’t have a crockpot, grease a 9 × 12 × 2-inch pan with butter, add the mixture, and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.
pie
A friend of mine brought this pie to lunch one day, saying that she had just thrown in some vegetables that she had on hand. That’s the great thing about this dish—you can vary the ingredients based on what you like or what you have in your garden or refrigerator! I recently rediscovered the recipe when we had an overabundance of yellow squash and zucchini, and it quickly became a summer specialty in my family.
SERVES 12
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup peeled and chopped sweet onion, such as Vidalia
1 large zucchini squash, thinly sliced
1 large yellow squash, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1½ cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
1½ cups grated Cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
2 large tomatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices
2 9-inch deep-dish pie shells, prebaked as directed
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes; don’t let it brown. Add the onion, zucchini squash, yellow squash, and half of the salt and pepper. Cook until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Divide the mixture in half.
Mix the mayonnaise and cheeses and set aside. Layer the sliced tomatoes in the bottom of the baked pie crusts. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the remaining salt and pepper. Layer the squash mixture on top of the tomatoes, then layer the water chestnuts. Top each pie with half of the mayonnaise and cheese mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Allow the dish to stand for 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
bundles
I went through my entire childhood thinking I hated asparagus. I remember telling my mom I didn’t like it, and I remember her asking, “Have you ever even tried it?” I can feel heads nodding right now. Of course I never tried it! It was green. I was a kid. Need I say more? I was over thirty years old before I finally tried asparagus. I’m making up for lost time now. I love it any way that it’s prepared. These bundles make it look almost too pretty to eat.
SERVES 6
2 pounds fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
12 slices bacon
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Divide the asparagus spears into 12 bundles. Carefully wrap 1 piece of bacon around each bundle, starting about ½ inch from the bottom of the tips. Secure the bacon-wrapped spears with a toothpick. Lay the bundles in a low-sided casserole dish.
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, soy sauce, garlic salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the asparagus bundles. Transfer the dish to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, or until the spears have begun to wilt and the bacon looks fully cooked. Remove the toothpicks before serving.
potatoes
My mama used to make these for us when we were children. Potatoes fixed any way are my favorite vegetable, and this combines the idea of baked potatoes with mashed potatoes. You really can’t go wrong. When I think about how I grew up, I feel very lucky. Our parents always ensured, even as our lives got busier, that we had time together as a family. Getting together every evening for supper was a way to share great food and talk about our day.
SERVES 12
6 large baking potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups sour cream
10 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2½ cups)
1 tablespoon garlic salt
Salt and pepper
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ cup finely chopped green onion
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Wash the potatoes and pierce them with a fork. Rub the potatoes with the olive oil and place them on a jellyroll pan or a large cookie sheet with a rim. Bake the potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, or until done. Remove the potatoes from the oven and cut them in half lengthwise. Set aside. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 350°F.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the potato flesh into a large electric mixing bowl. Add the milk, butter, sour cream, cheese, garlic salt, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until creamy. Divide the mixture evenly and spoon it back into the potato shells. Return the potatoes to the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with the bacon and green onion.
I learned the hard way not to wrap the potatoes in foil before baking. It softens the shells and they will fall apart—not good! Baking them unwrapped makes the shells stronger for scooping out the potato flesh later.
casserole
I love cabbage! I love it raw or steamed, in slaw—you name it. I grew up going to lots of church family night suppers and school fund-raisers. There was almost always some kind of cabbage dish at these events, but I don’t remember ever having anything that tasted this good. There probably isn’t a more decadent way to serve cabbage! It would be good with other vegetables, such as broccoli or asparagus. Try your favorite.
