Bacon Hasselback Potatoes

Well this recipe had me at Potatoes, bacon and garlic! These Bacon Hasselback Potatoes were so good, everyone loved them! My husband said that they would serve something like this in a fancy restaurant.

I was looking through my latest issue of the Food Network magazine, when I came across this recipe. I changed it up just slightly, I used Russet potatoes instead of Yukon Gold, and I only made 6 instead of 12. Which gave my potatoes more bacon and garlic butter topping per potato. I’m going to give you the recipe like it was written in the magazine but just know that it is versatile.

The ingredients are:

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, each cut crosswise into 9 pieces
• Kosher salt
• 12 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
• 1 stick unsalted butter (I used regular salted butter)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (I didn’t have, so I didn’t use)
• 1 clove garlic. finely chopped

1. Lay the bacon pieces on a baking sheet and freeze until hard, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Using a sharp knife, make crosswise cuts in each potato, about 1/8 inch apart, stopping about 1/4 inch from the bottom.
3. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and carefully transfer to a baking sheet (I used a round stoneware baking dish); let cool slightly. Pat the potatoes dry, then insert 3 pieces of the frozen bacon into the cuts of each potato, spacing the bacon evenly and letting it poke out of the top. Melt 5 tablespoons butter and brush generously over the potatoes and in the cuts. Reserve any excess butter for basting. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer the potatoes to the oven and bake until the outsides are browned and crisp, about 2 hours, basting halfway through with the reserved melted butter.
5. When the potatoes are almost done, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and mix with the scallions, parsley and garlic. Spoon over the potatoes and roast 5 more minutes. Transfer to a platter and season with salt and pepper (if needed).

Total time needed to make this is 3 hours so plan ahead!

 

Pumpkin Nut Cups

I got the cutest cookbook from my sister-in-law last year (thanks again Lisa), Gooseberry Patch Taste of Autumn. In this cookbook are so many delicious looking Autumn recipes! This is where I got this recipe for Pumpkin Nut Cups. I served these for a fundraiser I hosted at my house for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We all loved these! They would be perfect for the holidays as well. I made some with Pecans and then made smaller ones in my mini muffin pan without nuts. This is a very versatile recipe, that can be changed and adjusted to fit anyones taste! The ingredients are:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed and divided
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 T. half-and-half
• 1 T. plus 4 t. butter, melted
• 1/4 t. rum extract
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1/8 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. In a medium mixing bowl, blend 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until well blended; stir in flour. Divide dough into 24 balls, one inch in diameter, and press the dough evenly into the bottoms and up sides of twenty-four, 1-3/4 inch muffin cups. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
2. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, pumpkin, egg yolk, half-and-half, 4 teaspoons butter, extracts, cinnamon, and nutmeg; spoon evenly into warm dough cups. Stir together nuts with remaining brown sugar and butter; sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Bake for 25 additional minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; loosen and remove from pans. Serve warm or cool.

Makes 2 dozen