Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

1 head garlic

5 lbs yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the top off of a head of garlic, wrap loosely in foil and roast at 350° for 1 hour. Allow to cool.

Thoroughly wash potatoes, peeling optional. Dice into 1 inch chunks and put into a large pot. Fill pot with cold water to cover by 2-3 inches. Add 1-2 tablespoons of salt, put a lid on the pot. Cook over high heat until boiling. Drop heat slightly to prevent boil-over and continue to heat without lid until potatoes are cooked through. Drain potatoes and return to empty pot.

Sprinkle cheese over potatoes, lightly salt and pepper. Squeeze roasted garlic into pot. Using a potato masher or hand mixer, begin to mash potatoes. Slowly stream in milk and continue to mash/whip to desired consistency. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Yield: 9 24oz Jars

1 cup olive oil
4 large onions, diced
3 cups chili powder
8 tsp cumin
8 tsp garlic powder
4 adobo chiles
1/2 cup sugar
10 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
8 quarts tomato sauce, preferably homemade
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice

Using the recipe in the link above, make tomato sauce. Work through step 4, reducing by a third for a thinner sauce. If you want to break this process up, make the tomato sauce the day before and refrigerate overnight. Bring it back to a boil before you begin the enchilada sauce.

Set a very large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When hot, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft and it starts to brown on the edges. Add spices, chili powder through garlic powder and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the sugar, tomato sauce and chicken broth to the pot. Stir to combine then bring to a boil. For a smooth sauce, remove pot from heat and use an immersion blender to break up the chilies and onions. (This could also be done in batches with a blender or food processor before adding the tomato sauce to the pot. If you do it this way, you will need to add about 4 cups of the chicken stock to the onion mixture first. Seriously though, just buy the immersion blender, it's so much easier.) Prepare jars and lids for pressure caning.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to hold sauce at a simmer until jars and lids are ready.

Ladle hot sauce into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to each jar. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot sauce. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight. Fill pressure canner with 3 quarts of water and load jars.

Process using a pressure canner at 10 lbs psi for 15 minutes (at 860 feet above sea level).

Hot Tomato Jam

Yield: 11 4 ounce jars.

Source: Brokeassgourmet.com

4 lbs ripe tomatoes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp balsamic
6 tsp (or more to taste) Sriracha or other chili sauce
1 tsp salt
several grinds fresh black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow X into the bottom of each tomato and drop them, a few at a time, into the boiling water for 10-15 seconds each. Move the tomatoes into a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking. This process will loosen their skins. Peel the cooled tomatoes, core and chop.

Dump out the (formerly) boiling water, rinse the pot and return it to the stove. Add the chopped tomatoes, onion, honey, balsamic, Sriracha, salt and pepper and stir. Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer until reduced by half, about 2 hours.

In the meantime, fill your pressure canner with water and sterilize your jars. Pour jam into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings. Process using a pressure canner at 10 lbs psi for 15 minutes (at 860 feet above sea level).

This is fantastic on grilled cheese, biscuits, and savory scones. Right out of the jar works well too.

Cheesy Corn Bake

Yield: One 9x13 pan, serves 10-12

One item that I make no less than three times each year between Thanksgiving and New Years is Cheesy Corn. I got a few requests for the recipe this year so I figure this is as good a place as any to leave it, that's what this place is for anyway. I started with a recipe for Smoke Stack Cheesy Corn Bake and adjusted it to suit my preferences, laziness and general distaste for open packages lying about in my freezer.

2 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 tsp flour
1 tsp minced garlic*

1/2 large onion, diced
3/4 cup milk
2 cups sharp American cheese, shredded
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cut up
2 (16 ounce) packages frozen whole kernel corn
3 ounces diced ham*
1 small can diced green chilies

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt butter, add onions and garlic, cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and mix to make a roux. Cook this for a few more minutes, until the mixture smells nutty.

Add milk, cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in cheeses, start with cream cheese and once it's almost melted add the American. Cook and continue to stir over low heat until cheeses melt, stir in ham, green chilies and then one package of frozen corn. Stir until just combined. 

Put the remaining frozen corn into a 2 qt casserole, evenly covering the bottom. Top this with the hot cheese/ham/corn mixture and spread it out evenly. Cook for 45 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

*You can add a little more garlic and ham to this if you like. I usually buy the Farmland Diced Ham, I think it comes in a 10 ounce package, and just use half of it. And there's no such thing as too much garlic as far as I am concerned.