Appetizers Archives | The Good Hearted Woman

Finger-lickin’ Down-home Southern Cooking {15 Recipes}

Satisfy your belly and your soul with these delicious Southern classics.

When I think of Southern cooking, I think smoky, sweet, and smokin’ hot Comfort-with-a-capital-C. As Mr B says, “That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.”

Speaking of Smokin’ Hot…

If you like your fried chicken with a side of scandalous backstory, all served up on a slice of white bread with a pickle, Nashville Hot Chicken is right up your alley. This Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic uses another well-known southern ingredient to kick the heat up: Tabasco.

Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic

If you want to check out another Hot Chicken recipe, Mr B and I had some amazing Hot Chicken when we were in Nashville at a little chicken joint called Hattie B’s, a place famous for their hot chicken. The best part is, they freely share their recipe with the public! YES! You read that correctly!! You can find it here.

You can also read more about Nashville Hot Chicken’s rough and tumble past, and get some great recipes in the deal, check out Hot Chicken Cookbook: The Fiery History & Red-Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird [affiliate link].

Shrimp & Grits

I am totally in love with shrimp and cheesy grits; in fact, it may even be my new favorite thing! I can’t wait to make these Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See!

Shrimp and Grits may be the epitome of southern cuisine. So much so that some people refer to the south as the “Grits Belt.” It is a staple throughout much of the southern US and especially many “low country” coastal towns (think Charleston, New Orleans, or Jekyll Island, GA).

~Holly, Taste & See

Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See

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Here’s another spin – Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery.

Shrimp & Polenta | The Good Hearted Woman

Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery

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Vegetables (sort of) and More Grits

This Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding from Basil & Bubbly is even purported to have magical powers!

It’s the best kind of “secret weapon” dish. Delicious and requiring practically zero effort if you use canned corn, but absolutely sublime when you have the time to go through the trouble of using fresh cobs, this corn pudding will make you friends, clean your house, and increase your worldwide influence.

~ Marianne, Basil & Bubbly

Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding | The Good Hearted Woman

Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding from Basil & Bubbly

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Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls with Sausage, Scrambled Eggs & Spinach from Family Food on the Table are loaded with crumbled sausage, soft scrambled eggs and sautéed spinach for a hearty, delicious start to the day!

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls with Sausage, Scrambled Eggs & Spinach from Family Food | The Good Hearted Woman

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls from Family Food on the Table

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Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island is based on the classic Southern dish where thickly sliced ripe tomatoes are set into a single pie crust, covered in a slurry of mayo and grated cheese, and then baked into a bubbling cauldron of pure comfort.

Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island

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Teri, from Buy This Cook That is one of my favorite food bloggers. Here’s what she has to say about her Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy recipe.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, Tomato Gravy is good Southern food… First and foremost, do NOT mistake this for tomato or pasta sauce. This is not an Italian-style tomato sauce. Although I would totally scarf this tomato gravy down on top of spaghetti. Just sayin’.

HINT: Try this over my Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits for a real stick-to-your-ribs meal.

Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy from Buy this Cook That

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Pulled Pork & BBQ

I have to admit, I got an education when I was putting this round-up together. I knew that BBQ styles were regional, but I had no idea how tightly drawn those regional lines were. I have a feeling that if I actually lived in the South, I would discover places where the style differed from one town to another.

This North Carolina Pulled Pork recipe and tutorial comes to us from Simon, who walks us through a recipe from American pitmaster Steven Raichlen, well known for his BBQ television show “BBQ University.”

Pulled Pork is one of those recipes that can make you a BBQ legend among your friends. What most people don’t know is that it’s not as hard as it looks! Once your meat is smoking you barely need to do a thing to end up with a delicious piece of meat.

Simon, The BBQ Bastard

NC Pulled Pork from The BBQ Bastard | The Good Hearted Woman

North Carolina Pulled Pork from The BBQ Bastard

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Goodie Godmother offers a different take with the Godfather’s Eastern North Carolina Style Pork Shoulder with spicy vinegar sauce.

Eastern North Carolina Pulled Pork from Goodie Godmother

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While this next recipe may horrify BBQ traditionalists all over the South, there is definitely something to be said for the ease of using a slow cooker to do the job. With just 15 minutes of prep, Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C can be waiting for you after a long day. The tender meat has a nice vinegar kick and sweet heat.

Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C

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Simon the BBQ Bastard 😉 shares another entry from pitmaster Steven Raichlen, with Red Eye Ribs.

Red Eye Ribs from The BBQ Bastard

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In the Carolinas, vinegar based barbecue sauce and pulled pork go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. This Carolina Barbecue Sauce comes to us from Katie at A Fork’s Tale, who puts it succinctly: “Us Southerners are crazy over Sauce.”

Carolina BBQ Sauce from A Fork’s Tale

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Dessert

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well is tart, fresh, and sweet – perfect for picnics or summer gatherings.

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well

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This patriotic Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table is the perfect way for Americans to celebrate Independence Day, or any patriotic holiday. I thought it was important to share the impetus behind it as well.

Miss American Flag Pie represents women’s perseverance to defend their rights. We shouldn’t have to fight for our rights again. It’s a reminder to get involved on any level and be proud to be a powerful woman in the land of the free.

~ Jenn, Jenn’s Farm Table

Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table

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Adult Beverages

These ice cold Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula are a fragrant and refreshing twist on a classic. Perfect for sipping on a warm day!

Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula

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I’ll end this post in the same way that Mr B likes to end a hot summer day: with an ice cold mule. (OK, more often than not, he has a beer, but I do need to wrap this up and he does love a good mule on a hot day, so just go with it…) This Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom holds flavors of summer in a cold copper cup.

Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom

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Pacific Northwest Dungeness Crab Cakes {with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce}

May 10 By Renée ♥ 6 Comments

Perfect Dungeness crab cakes are not much more than a big pile of crab and a few cracker crumbs, with a kicky little sauce on the side. With crab cakes, less is more.

You can have your lobster and your snow blue king crabs: I’ll take the delicate sweetness of Dungeness crab every time. In fact, it may be regional bias, but if I had to choose one kind of seafood – and only one – for the rest of my life, it would be Dungeness crab.

Found all along the West Coast from Alaska to California, Dungeness is known in scientific circles as Metacarcinus magister, or the “master crab,” and it is a title well-earned. (Culinary nobility agree: Dungeness crab was the favorite of both Julia Child and James Beard.) One of the best meals you will ever experience consists simply of a fresh Dungeness crab, a container of fresh cocktail sauce, and a box of Ritz crackers – preferably eaten while sitting on the sand watching the Pacific tide roll in and out.

The perfect crab cake is not much more than that – a big pile of crab, few cracker crumbs, and a kicky little sauce on the side. With crab cakes, less is more.

Ironically, my crab cake recipe (as well as the accompanying Roasted Red Pepper Sauce) goes back to a time when I visited Maryland many years ago. Up until then, I’d only eaten “West Coast” crab cakes, which at the time were more cake than crab, so heavy with fillers that the flavor of the crab was nearly lost. (A lot has changed in the Left Coast food scene since the 80’s, thankfully.) Anyway, when I took my first bite of my first Maryland crab cake, I was blown away by the clean, clear crab flavor. Those East Coasters definitely know how to make an amazing crab cake! The only thing that could have possibly made it more delicious was better crab, and I knew just where to find that. (Sorry, Blue crab.) When we returned home from our trip, one of the first things I did was make a batch of Dungeness crab cakes to test my theory. Then I made another batch. And another.

Eureka! That last batch was so, so good that it is the recipe I’ve used ever since. I hope you enjoy these delicious little crabby patties as much as I do!

Pacific Northwest Dungeness Crab Cakes

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 large egg beaten
1/2 teaspoon honey mustard
1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce I use Sriracha these days
3/4 teaspoon seafood seasoning [i.e. Old Bay®]
1 pound fresh cleaned Dungeness crab meat
10 butter crackers [i.e. Ritz or Keebler Club], finely crushed
About a cup of fresh bread crumbs
About ¼ cup butter for frying
Lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, seasoning and cracker crumbs.
Very gently the crab meat into the wet ingredient mixture, taking care to not break up the crab meat too much.
Cover and chill for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, shape the crab mixture into 8 lightly packed patties, each about 3/4" thick.
Coat each crab cake lightly with fresh bread crumbs. [See Note]
In a heavy skillet, melt just enough butter to thoroughly coat the bottom of the pan. (Do not overheat the skillet or you run the risk of burning the butter.)
Gently place the crab cakes in the pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown and heated through, 3 - 4 minutes per side. (Do not crowd the pan! It is best to fry the crab cakes in batches, adding more butter to the pan as needed.)
Briefly transfer the crab cakes to a cooling rack to drain while you fry the next batch and/or prepare the plates.
Sauce plates and arrange crab cakes on top, or serve cakes on a bed of greens with the sauce on the side.

Recipe Notes

The patties will be very fragile. I find that, instead of putting the crab cakes into a plate or bowl of bread crumbs to coat them, it works better to hold a crab cake in your hand and pat the bread crumbs on top, then flip it over and do the same on the other side.

FRESH BREAD CRUMBS: I make these using the Chopper Attachment on my immersion blender.[affiliate link] It takes 2-3 slices of bread to make enough for one batch of crab cakes.

Dungeness crab… is sheer, unadulterated crab heaven.
The Theory and Practice of Cooking, James Beard

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Course Sauce

Cuisine Pacific Northwest

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 large red bell pepper
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha

Instructions

Cut the red pepper in half and remove seeds and stem. Brush both sides with olive oil. Place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Place oven rack 4-5" away from heating element. Place baking sheet in the oven and broil the pepper for 8-10 minutes, turning over about half way through. The pepper skin will char.
Remove broiled pepper from oven and let set for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle.
Peel away as much of the pepper skin as possible. (Don't worry if some remains, It's all going to get pulverized anyway.)
Place pepper along with the remaining ingredients into a small blender cup and process until smooth.
Serve hot or cold. Keeps in fridge for about a week.

Crab Season

Crab season in Oregon runs December through August, during which time you can find fresh, whole crabs cooked and ready to go at just about any supermarket seafood counter or specialty seafood market throughout the Pacific Northwest. For additional information on Oregon crabbing, including more tasty recipes, visit the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission.

How to Make Sugar & Spice Cranberries

December 2 By Renée ♥ 9 Comments

Sugar & Spice Cranberries are a tart, sweet treat – made with a deliciously spiced simple syrup.

The older I get, the more I come to appreciate the simple things, and at no time of the year do I feel this more intensely than during the holiday season. Call me boring (and some of you will!) but one of my favorite things to do this time of year is curl up with my sweetheart in our big, comfy chair and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Not because I love the movie so much – honestly it isn’t my favorite. But it is his favorite.

To see the man I fell in love with three decades and more ago still tear up when George Bailey stands on those stairs, the whole town gathered around, and that little bell on the Christmas tree rings – that singular moment is the reason I love it.

It is in that moment when Jimmy Stewart, standing there on the stairs holding Juju and her petals, manages across seven decades to communicate to us on a level so deep that the first recognition comes not in cerebral cognizance, but through the base reactions of our own bodies. Our eyes well and our cheeks flush and our hearts grow – and we know to our marrow that life really is wonderful.

And then, inevitably, a single heavy tear falls down my sweetheart’s face, and he pulls me close and looks into me with wide-open eyes and wraps my soul in his smile.

That. That right there. I would watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” a thousand times from beginning to end for that.

Believe me; I didn’t intend to go this direction at all when I started typing, but here I am. And now, here you are reading it. I guess that’s the thing about being your own editor: sometimes you keep the sentences [even the ridiculously long fragments] you love – not because they are particularly good, but simply because you love what they mean to you.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program….

This post grew from the need to make a Spiced Simple Syrup for an amazing Spiced Cranberry Mule that Mr B will be sharing in an upcoming post. I started thinking about garnishes for his latest concoction and remembered seeing a recipe for Sugared Cranberries that I’d always wanted to try. Then, as usual, I decided to take it a step further, and Voilà! Sugar & Spice Cranberries!

Sugar & Spice Cranberries are a tart, sweet treat, made with a deliciously spiced simple syrup; perfect for holiday snacking, creating beautiful garnishes, or decking out everything from salads to desserts.

Sugar & Spice Cranberries

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1/4 cup Spiced Simple Syrup Recipe Below
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Line a baking pan with a silicone mat, aluminum foil or plastic wrap and set a wire cooling rack on top.
In a small bowl, toss one cup of cranberries in ¼ cup of the spiced simple syrup. Remove with slotted spoon and place on wire rack. Let cranberries set on the wire rack for at least an hour.
Place the granulated sugar in a medium bowl or Ziploc bag, and toss the sticky cranberries until well coated. Refrigerate prepared cranberries for at least an hour before using. Cranberries can be refrigerated for up to a week.

Spiced Simple Syrup

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
3-4 slices fresh ginger
4-5 cinnamon sticks
3 whole star anise
15 whole allspice

Instructions

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, sliced ginger, star anise, and heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely.
Using a slotted spoon, remove spices from liquid and pour into bottle or jar. Mixture can be refrigerated for at least two weeks.

You should probably make a batch this weekend – you may be needing a little Spiced Simple Syrup and some Sugar & Spice Cranberries sooner than you think!

Thank you so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of The Good Hearted Woman. ❤ Be sure to Pin and Print this recipe!

^{Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!}

My Favorite Cookbook: Viktor from Fashion Corner {Guest Blogger Series}

August 26 By Renée ♥ 2 Comments

Isn’t is amazing how food brings people together? Today we welcome our farthest reaching guest blogger thus far – Viktor Milevski of Skopje, Macedonia! Viktor, who is part of the blogging team at Fashion Corner, is sharing his favorite cookbook with us (along with two great appetizer recipes!), as well as a good reminder of how important (albeit sometimes tricky) it is to keep our food traditions alive.

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This post may contain affiliate links.

For as long as I can remember, it has been our family tradition to host Sunday dinners to a different group of guests. The guests order of these dinners was simple; every first Sunday of the month our relatives would come by, and every third Sunday of the month our friends. These dinners required much preparation since there always were ten to fourteen people gathered, sitting on couple merged tables in the living room. We were serving way more than enough food and overeating was usual, especially since we come from the Balkans. It’s a common thing here, so having less food on the table can sometimes be offending.

The best part (which I enjoyed the most) was the food preparation, which lasted for hours. Every one of us had a part in it, with my dad playing the main Chef role. Without him, we simply couldn’t make those dishes that great. It was a great time because we were always picking one new recipe to prepare, among the traditional ones. This served as a new challenge, boosting the family spirit in getting work organized and done.

But (in every great story there is one but) unfortunately, when my dad went to work abroad, this tradition ceased. We had to cancel all the dinners we were hosting since we were seeing him only one weekend a month. That’s is not enough time to spend with the family, and still cook the same recipes and host two dinners. The tasty dinners, the family and friends gatherings, and the great moments of cooking together as a family were almost gone.

Until, few months ago I decided to get things back on track once again.

Knowing that we wouldn’t have as much time as before for organizing the dinners, I had to find a solution where we could prepare food faster and serve twice as many people. The solution was very simple, once I found “The Essential Fingerfood Cookbook.” The book provided us with recipes that are delicious, easy to digest and prepare. Our favorites are the bruschetta, which can be made with many different ingredients, and when chosen wisely, provide all the necessary nutrients for healthy meal.

This also solved the problem for inviting more people: since every recipe in the cookbook is about finger food, the treats are bite-sized and can be consumed while standing. This meant no chairs and extra tables were needed, leaving much more free space.

Thanks to this cookbook, now we have a new tradition. The dinners turned into parties – no more merged tables, chairs, dishes, or leftovers. Just one table full with different bruschetta and wine. I must admit that, in the beginning, it was hard to break with the Balkan tradition of always sitting at the table to eat, but after couple parties, everyone got used to it. Now I can surely say that they love it. So that’s how this one cookbook got all the good moments back to our family. All thanks to the “The Essential Fingerfood Cookbook.”

My Favorite Cookbook: Viktor from Fashion Corner {Guest Blogger Series}

Mushroom & Parsley Bruschetta

Servings 6 servings

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

French bread stick or Italian loaf
7 oz Mushrooms
3.5 oz Goat cheese
Parsley
Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Cut a large French bread stick or Italian loaf into 1/2 inch slices. Brush the slices with olive oil on both sides and put them in the oven. Bake until golden on both sides
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small frying pan, and fry the mushrooms until just tender.
Spread the goat cheese on top of every bread slice.
Chop the parsley and spread it on top of the goat cheese.
Add the mushrooms and finish it with some pepper.

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

Servings 6 servings

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

French bread stick or Italian loaf
2 medium tomatoes
10 fresh basil leaves
Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Cut a large French bread stick or Italian loaf into 1/2 inch slices. Brush the slices with olive oil on both sides and put them in the oven. Bake until golden on both sides.
Chop the tomatoes into small cubes and spread them on the bread slices.
Chop the basil and spread it on top of the tomato cubes.
Add some olive oil on top.

About Viktor: Viktor Milevski is a perfectionist by nature, big enthusiast, great chef, blogger and a beer lover. Find out more about him on his blog Fashion Corner!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running – and (relatively) ad-free!! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

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My Favorite Cookbook is an ongoing Guest Blogger series. If you are interested in writing a post for this series, you can find submission guidelines here. (Please note that you do not need to be a food writer or blogger to submit a post.)

Heirloom Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacks

August 5 By Renée ♥ 12 Comments

These Heirloom Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacks are fresh, local, seasonal, and delicious to the last bite.

Aaah, Summertime! Gardens are bursting, Farmers’ Markets are in full swing, and – Glory Be! – tomatoes taste like… tomatoes again. Don’t you just love it!?! This time of year, I aim to create dishes that highlight the bright, fleeting flavors of summer, and these Heirloom Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacks are just the ticket. Uncomplicated in every way, they are deeply satisfying, and delicious to the last bite.

Heirloom Tomato & Eggplant Stacks

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 stacks

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes
1 large eggplant
1/4 cup olive oil divided
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Fresh basil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Prepare Eggplant:

Peel eggplant (unless yours has a very thin skin).
Slice into 1/2-inch rounds. You will need two large or four small rounds per stack.
Brush eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the eggplant rounds over medium-high on barbecue or in grill pan on stove until tender (about 10 minutes) turning once. Allow to cool completely.

Prepare stacks:

Slice each tomato into four rounds.
Alternate tomato and eggplant slices, beginning and ending with a tomato slice. If the eggplant slices are too small, just use two for one layer.
Sprinkle each completed stack with a teaspoon of olive oil and two teaspoons of balsamic vinegar.
Season each stack with a pinch of kosher salt and a turn of freshly ground pepper.
Garnish with feta and fresh basil.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe Notes

Stacks can be prepared as much as a day ahead of time. Do the final prep (olive oil, feta and basil) right before serving.

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Smoked Salmon Pastry Cups

February 22 By Renée ♥ 6 Comments

These Smoked Salmon Pastry Cups {with marscarpone & fresh dill!} are deceptively easy to throw together, and perfect for any gathering.

Wild-caught Alaskan salmon is, by far, my favorite animal-based protein. Salmon is sustainable, delicious, and perfect for any occasion – from elegant wedding reception to late night pajama party.

Besides being a delicious and environmentally conscious choice, few foods contribute so much to your health as [wild caught] Pacific salmon. Salmon has a long list of proven health benefits:

Provides a good source of vitamins, proteins, and minerals
Helps maintain insulin levels in the body
Reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease
Improves memory and efficacy of brain functions
Helps prevent macular degeneration
Reduces risk of colon, prostate and kidney cancers
Aids in maintaining healthy skin and hair

Salmon can even help you sleep!

In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be featuring a number of delicious salmon recipes, and I thought I’d kick off the party with these luscious little easy-to-make salmon canapés.

Smoked Salmon Pastry Cups

Course Appetizer

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

Salmon Filling

8 ounces marscarpone cheese*
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce or Sriracha
6 ounces smoked salmon chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

Pastry Cups

2 sheets puff pastry barely thawed
1 egg beaten

Instructions

Salmon Filling:

In a medium bowl, whip together marscarpone, whipping cream, Worchestershire sauce, and hot pepper sauce until smooth and light.
Fold in chopped salmon, dill, and lemon zest.
Put filling into a pastry bag and set aside. (A Ziploc bag will work too.)
Pastry Cups
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lay puff pastry out on a floured surface. DO NOT ROLL OUT!
Cut one puff pastry sheet into small circles, about 1 1/2 - 2 inches across. Put these circles on the prepared baking sheet.
Cut the second puff pastry sheet into small circles (the same size). Cut a small circle out of the middle of each one of these circles. Save the small circles!
Brush each of the circles on the baking sheet with beaten egg.
Place one "donut" pastry circle on top of each of the egg-washed circles.
Brush the top of the donut circles with egg-wash.
cut small decorative shapes from remaining puff pastry, to be used as garnish.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
Pipe each pastry cup full of filling. Garnish with fresh dill and small pastry shapes.

Recipe Notes

Yes, you can substitute cream cheese. 🙂

I use every bit of puff pastry dough that I can. You can use the extra dough to create lovely little garnishes and accents!

My Favorite Cookbook: Marlynn Schotland {Guest Blogger Series}

December 2 By Renée ♥ 14 Comments

Note: Marlynn Schotland of Urban Bliss Life was one of the first bloggers I met when I started writing The Good Hearted Woman. I am so grateful for her friendship, and for her willingness to so generously sharing her time, her talent, and her heart here with us today.

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I don’t remember being scared. I was on a plane headed for college 3,000 miles away, to a city I’ve never visited. Heck, I had never visited anywhere on the East Coast before. I knew not a soul in Boston. I was beyond excited.

Something in my gut said Boston, Mass. was the right place for me. I never questioned it, never regretted it; I just applied, got accepted, said “yes, this looks like the school for me,” and never looked back.

That gut decision turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

My first day in my new college dorm, I met two women who would still, twenty years later, mean the world to me. One I bonded with over a similar lack of height and I fell in love with her thick Jersey accent – and attitude. Pretty sure she thought I was an ignorant hick from O-RE-GONE, but despite that, we became fast friends and eventually college roommates.

One Thanksgiving, I couldn’t afford to fly back home, so my roommate’s family graciously invited me and my friend’s then-boyfriend to spend the holiday at their home in New Jersey. I don’t remember many details, but I remember the feeling of being so nervous about staying at their home and then being so warmly welcomed by her whole family. I remember bits and pieces of silly college conversations, fragments of Thanksgiving dinner, and I remember smiling. I think I smiled a lot that weekend. It was really nice to be in someone else’s home 3,000 miles away from my own family, and to be welcomed in, fed, and cared for as family.

Throughout our college years, my friend’s mom – we’ll call her College Mom – was a peripheral presence in my life. I’d chat with her if I picked up the phone, see her here and there, I’d hear how she was doing through my friend. It was comforting to know that even though my mom wasn’t nearby, there were other parents in my life to serve as role models even from a slight distance.

I was completely surprised when, at graduation, College Mom handed me a gift. In my hands was the cookbook pictured below, Absolutely Delicious, written by Linda Allard, who was best known as a top fashion designer for the then-popular clothing line Ellen Tracy. College Mom said something to the effect of “You should always have at least one good cookbook in life.” It was a completely unexpected and generous gift.

To this day, I cherish this cookbook. It sits among dozens of others. However, its pages aren’t splashed with sauce or smudged from water-stained fingers. It remains relatively clean and untouched, and I honestly think I’ve only cooked two dishes from Absolutely Delicious. Not because the recipes aren’t fantastic – they are – but because to me, this cookbook is somewhat sacred. It represents so much of who I am, and why I love to cook and bake.

In this cookbook, Linda Allard features uncomplicated recipes and only includes exact measurements sometimes. Otherwise, she offers a general outline of a recipe in order to “allow for the cook’s personal taste and judgment.” It’s very much how I cook today: by instinct. More than a source for recipes, this cookbook is a reminder to always trust my gut, because look at all of the amazing people I can meet and incredible experiences I can have if I just trust myself.

It also symbolizes how, for me, cooking and baking are all about the people on the other end of the serving spoon. It’s about extending warmth, welcome, and unconditional, no-strings-attached kindness to others. It’s about creating community and family, no matter where you go… making everyone feel like family in your home.

I’m forever grateful to College Mom for her kindness over the years, and even though we haven’t spoken in over a decade, I think of her each time I see the cookbook spine sticking out on the shelf. This recipe from Absolutely Delicious is simple, uncomplicated, and fast, but it’s not about the recipe, is it? It’s about the love that goes into it and the warmth it extends to those on the receiving end of the spoon.

5 from 3 votes

Uncomplicated, Absolutely Delicious Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

Author by Marlynn Schotland of UrbanBlissLife.com

Ingredients

1-2 medium tomatoes
1 garlic clove finely minced
5-10 basil leaves finely chopped or shredded
a few parsley leaves finely chopped
1-3 tablespoons good olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

Chop tomatoes into small cubes and put in a large bowl. Add garlic, basil, parsley, and oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Let marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.
Toast a baguette in the oven at 375 degrees for 5-8 minutes, just until lightly toasted. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, then slice into bruschetta slices. Drizzle good olive oil over each slice. Top each slice with a spoonful of tomato topping. Serve immediately, with a smile, to friends, family, neighbors, kids, and anyone who could use some kindness in their lives.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Absolutely Delicious

About Marlynn: Marlynn Schotland keeps up with local food, drink, travel and culture on her blog, Urban Bliss Life, a division of her boutique creative communications studio, Urban Bliss Media. Her blog, as she puts it, is her “celebration of all of the blissful things in life,” where she shares wine tips, wine reviews, wine tour experiences, food, recipes, restaurant reviews, design, style, fashion, printables, and family travel adventures and tips.

Savory Mushroom Chicken Tart

October 16 By Renée ♥ 5 Comments

Pretty enough for company, this savory Mushroom Chicken Tart goes together just minutes, and can be easily adapted for vegetarians.

As the holiday season starts into full swing, I am all about easy meals that I can adapt on the fly depending on who’s at the table. This Mushroom Chicken Tart (there’s my wonderful tart pan again!) is so easy to throw together, is easily adapted for vegetarians, and bakes up beautifully to serve for lunch, dinner or as a savory appetizer before a big holiday meal.

5 from 1 vote

Mushroom Chicken Tart

Course Main Dish or Appetizer

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 1 -10" tart

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
8 ounces mushrooms sliced
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary basil & oregano also work nicely
8 ounces Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
2 eggs
8 ounces rotisserie chicken meat chopped or shredded [See Note]
1 sheet sheet puff pastry dough
Salt, pepper, and seasoning salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Line the bottom of a 10-inch tart pan with parchment paper.
Roll the puff pastry sheet out until it is big enough to cover the tart pan. Lay the rolled out puff pastry dough in the prepared tart pan (a shallow pie dish works well too) and trim the edges using the edge of a rolling pin rolled across the top.
Put the pastry in the tart pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent.
Add sliced mushrooms, rosemary and minced garlic, and continue to cook until mushrooms release their juices. (I usually add a pinch of salt to the mixture to encourage the process.) When the pan is very juicy-looking, add the chopped walnuts. Continue to cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
[Note: At this point, I sometimes add about 1/4 cup white wine to the mixture and reduce it again, but this is totally optional.]
Season to taste and set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and eggs together until smooth.
Remove the pastry from freezer and fill the bottom of the tart with the cooled mushroom mixture.
Top with shredded chicken.
Using a spatula, "frost" the top of the tart with the cream cheese and egg mixture.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top begins to brown and the egg mixture is firm.
Remove from oven and cool slightly before cutting.

Vegetarian options:

Omit chicken and do one of the following: (a) double the amount of mushrooms, or (b) use 1 1/2 cups chopped Morning Star Chik'n strips in place of the chicken.

This Mushroom Chicken Tart also makes one of my favorite leftover meals: I like to eat a slice cold for lunch.

Easy Butternut Samosas {Recipe}

January 13 By Renée ♥ 11 Comments

Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook was my first vegetarian cookbook. (If you are a vegetarian-leaning sort of person of a “certain age,” there’s a good chance it was your first, too.) Opening the cover on Moosewood is like taking a step back in time: hand-lettered pages are filled with wonderful, rich, easy-to-prepare vegetarian recipes, wrapping you in a comforting, laid-back-to-your-roots granola sort of vibe.

Moosewood Cookbook | The Good Hearted Woman

My current copy of The Moosewood Cookbook (15th Anniversary Edition) is now already twenty-five years old.

These Sweet Potato Butternut Samosas are inspired by one of my favorite Moosewood recipes. The most obvious change I made was to magically change the peas (which I hate) to butternut squash (which I love), and the white potatoes to sweet potatoes because I think they go with the butternut better. I also added some curry powder and a shake of nutmeg to boost the butternut squash.

These little pillows of delicious make a great appetizers, or you can make them bigger and serve them as savory hand-pies. Either way, be sure to serve them with some dipping sauces.

(For Food Bloggers Only: Well, of course I did not take these pictures in my powder room because the sun set way too early the day I made them and I haven’t made the investment in good lighting yet. Who does that?!?)

5 from 1 vote

Butternut Samosas

Ingredients

Dough (Mooswood Traditional)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain soy yogurt
or...

Dough (Easy Way. Not Vegan.)

2 sheets of Puff Pastry

Filling

2 sweet potatoes about 5-6 inches each
1 cup cubed butternut squash 1/4 inch cubes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. curry powder
dash freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
Cayenne to taste

Moosewood Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup cider or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
3-4 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp. kosher salt

Mint Chutney

1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 cup water
Salt
Pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tsp. mustard seed

Instructions

Dough

I use frozen puff pastry. Really easy, and much faster. And yes, it’s probably not as healthy for you as some options…but it tastes fantastic! However, if you want to be all authentic (or keep it vegan) use the recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook:
Mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yogurt. (If you aren’t worried about it being vegan-worthy, you can use an equal amount of buttermilk instead.) Mix first with a spoon, and then with your hand to form a smooth dough. Add extra flour if you need to keep the dough from being sticky. Knead for about five minutes, then cover while you make the filling.

FIlling

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Put them in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil until potatoes are tender. Drain. Mash very lightly – just break them into pieces. You want them to be very chunky: not a smooth mash.
In a large skillet, saute cubed butternut squash in olive oil until it just begins to soften. Add onion, and stir until squash is tender and onion is very soft.
Add garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, coriander, curry, nutmeg and salt. Stir over medium heat for a minute or two to release the flavors of the spices.
Combine squash mixture with potatoes. Stir in lemon juice. Cool at least 15 minutes before filling pastries.

Assembling Pastries

This is where I completely go off the map. If you want to create authentic looking samosas, Fine Cooking has fantastic instructions for assembling traditional samosas.
I use puff pastry and cut 9 circles from each sheet using the rim of a large glass. Take each little circle and roll it out until it is about 3 1/2 inches across. Put a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the middle, wet one half of the edge, and fold it over to form a little half-moon.
Press down all around the open edge to seal. Do this 17 more times. Bake at 425° for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Moosewood Dipping Sauce

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mint Chutney

Put mint, cilantro, ginger, lime, water, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until it becomes a sauce. (It’s OK if there’s still little leaf bits.) Heat olive oil in skillet. Add mustard seed and fry until you hear popping. Add mustard seed to sauce. This can be served separately, but I like it mixed in with the Dipping Sauce.

Note: I couldn’t find the Moosewood Dipping Sauce recipe in the current (40th Anniversary) edition, and it is delicious, so you’re welcome.

Hint: Spread the leftovers bits of pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar and bake while you assemble the samosas. It will take about 15-20 minutes at 425°.

Disclosure: Post contains an affiliate link.

Do you have a cookbook that you continue to go back to year after year for inspiration?

Raspberry-Almond Baked Brie {in Puff Pastry}

December 8 By Renée ♥ 8 Comments

This classic, four-ingredient Raspberry-Almond Baked Brie in Puff Pastry is always a crowd-pleaser at any holiday gathering!

My niece and I share a love of Celtic history, warm hugs, musty bookstores, and baked brie; of the latter, this Raspberry-Almond Baked Brie is one of our favorites.

This no-stress, easy-to-make appetizer is a total crowd-pleaser at any celebration. It holds up well if it needs to be transported, and brings just the right amount of “fancy” to practically any occasion.

This recipe lends itself to countless variations. You can swap out the raspberry jam for something seasonal. Or how about orange marmalade, or apricot, or Marion Berry? Or leave out the almond paste and use cranberry sauce to create a new holiday tradition.

We like to serve this with apple slices and hearty, whole grain crackers.

Raspberry-Almond Baked Brie

Ingredients

1 wheel of brie
1 sheet of puff pastry I use Pepperidge Farm
3 - 4 ounces of almond paste See Note
1/4 - 1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 egg white gently whisked

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Defrost puff pastry according to direction. Lay one sheet evenly in the bottom of a glass pie plate.
Slice the brie wheel horizontally as shown. Separate the layers.
Roll the almond paste into a circle slightly larger than the brie wheel and about 1/8-inch thick.
Use the brie container to cut a round of almond paste. (Or just use the brie as a guide and cut around it with a knife.)
Layer the almond paste circle in between the two brie circles.
Spread the raspberry jam evenly on top.
Using a pastry brush, apply a thin layer of egg white wash to the inside edges of the puff pastry. This will help to seal it together when you gather the edges.
Gather the puff pastry together at the top of the brie wheel and twist gently to seal.
Carefully slice off the big knot of pastry on the top. Use the extra pastry to create decorative shapes for the top if you wish.
Apply an egg white wash to the entire pastry.
Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.
Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve with crackers or sliced apples.

NOTE: You can find almond paste in the baking section of your grocery store, usually near the canned pie fillings. You can also make it from scratch, but I’ll save that for another time. 🙂