Recipes By Vallery Lomas
47 recipes found
King Cake With Strawberry and Cream Cheese Filling
King cake, a sweetened, yeast-raised bread eaten throughout the many weeks of Carnival season, is rolled and twisted like a cinnamon roll. Traditional king cakes are flavored with cinnamon and sugar, but today the flavor combinations are seemingly endless; this version pairs strawberry jam and cream cheese. The cream cheese filling is flavored with lemon zest and a little sugar; a spoonful of flour adds structure. Dollops of strawberry jam contribute a concentrated fruity bite; if you want more fruit presence, opt for canned strawberry pie filling. The whole pastry is bathed in a lemony glaze before being topped with green, gold and purple sugar, a visual cue that identifies this wreath of baked dough as a king cake.
Oysters Mosca
In this one-pan gratin, inspired by a favorite appetizer at Mosca’s, an Italian restaurant just outside of New Orleans, fresh oysters are covered in a garlicky butter sauce, topped with a mélange of breadcrumbs and freshly grated Parmesan and baked until tender yet juicy. It’s a hit with those who love oysters — and even those who aren’t fans of raw ones. The shellfish are full of flavor from the Creole seasoning that accents the sauce, with a hint of Italian influence from the herbs and Parmesan. At Mosca’s, they use plump Gulf oysters from nearby waters, a variety that’s especially good cooked and worth seeking out if you live near the Gulf Coast. Otherwise, any oysters work: Using preshucked oysters packed in their liquor at your local grocer or fishmonger makes preparing this dish a breeze. Best enjoyed warm from the oven, this appetizer is meant to be shared with a group.
Turkey Sliders
These juicy turkey sliders are incredibly versatile: They’re simple enough for weeknights, but they’re also the perfect size for parties. The key is to use turkey with enough fat (ground turkey breast isn’t ideal here) so that your sliders will be perfectly moist; slathering them with a combination of barbeque sauce and mayonnaise provides additional insurance. Optional caramelized onions are the perfect savory, jammy topping to balance out the sharpness from the Cheddar and the sweet Hawaiian rolls, but the sliders are also great unadorned.
Sour Cream Pound Cake
This pound cake — with its fine, tender texture and inviting, rich vanilla flavor — gets its height from the mixing method, the number of eggs and the reaction between the sour cream and baking soda. The sour cream, less dense than cream cheese, also adds some tanginess. Be sure to take your time when creaming the butter and sugar so the air pockets that are created will expand and cause the cake to rise in the oven.The cake can be baked in a bundt pan or a tube pan. It’s perfect just as it is, but feel free to add the simple glaze or serve with a scoop of ice cream.
Croissant Bread Pudding
This bread pudding is a cozy dessert that makes smart use of store-bought croissants. Opting for croissants instead of French bread lends an extra buttery and rich base for this dessert. Though bread pudding is traditionally made with leftover, stale bread, which absorbs more liquid than fresh, feel free to use fresh croissants – the soak time should compensate for the fact that they have a little more moisture. The optional rum sauce adds a caramel-like finish to the dessert but a scoop of ice cream would also pair well.
Chicken Casserole With Mushrooms and Spinach
This casserole is chock full of delicious veggies with a homemade creamy base. Parmesan is mixed throughout the casserole and also melted on top, giving this dish some flair that’s more akin to a creamy risotto. Instead of relying on a condensed soup, this recipe makes a simple cream sauce: Flour is sprinkled on the cooked mushrooms and onions then heavy cream and chicken stock are whisked in just before the Parmesan is folded in. Be sure to season each layer of the casserole — from the spinach to chicken. For a shortcut, the meat from a rotisserie chicken works great here.
Easy Apple Buckle
This buckle is a one-bowl dessert that’s as scrumptious as it is easy to prepare. Apple slices are nestled together and become jammy during the long bake. With just a little batter peeking between each slice there’s no mistaking this bowl-scraping buckle for a snacking cake. Melting the butter inside the baking pan in the hot oven does double duty: It melts the fat, making it easier to combine with the batter, while also greasing the plan. Plus, that melted butter gives a crispy exterior for extra caramelization of the buckle along the pan’s edges. Serve this with a scoop of ice cream for a simple, yet indulgent treat.
Lemon Icebox Pie
This tangy, creamy lemon icebox pie hits all the high notes, and it couldn’t be easier to prep. Using lemon curd provides a ton of lemony tartness and flavor, and means that you don’t need to fuss around with juicing and zesting fresh lemons. The cream cheese balances out the tart citrus notes, while also making this recipe super creamy. And you don’t even need to turn on your oven. Be sure that your cream cheese is super soft so that there won’t be lumps in your pie. This pie can be served straight from the freezer for a semifreddo-like texture. Plus, it cuts precisely when it’s very cold. You may also opt to let it rest at room temperature to soften a bit before serving.
Creole Seasoning
Most Louisiana residents keep a container of Creole or Cajun seasoning within easy reach of their stovetop. To many Louisianans, a savory dish is not complete if it hasn’t been seasoned with a blend of sweet peppers, hot peppers, onions and garlic. This version is a blend of dried, ground spices that are likely already in your spice cabinet. Once combined, you get something uniquely and quintessentially Southern. There’s just enough cayenne to add a little heat, but feel free to adjust it to your liking by increasing it or eliminating it altogether. Many commercially-prepared blends use a hefty amount of salt, so be mindful of adjusting the salt to taste. Don’t limit yourself to using this blend in traditional Creole or Cajun fare like shrimp Creole, gumbo or dirty rice; it is versatile enough to go on pretty much any savory dish, from scrambled eggs to sautéed spinach.
Pimento-Stuffed Eggs
You may know these as “deviled” eggs, but since they are often served at church functions, they’re sometimes referred to instead as “stuffed.” Here, they’re filled with a combination of their cooked yolks and some favorite ingredients in Louisiana cookery — from pimento peppers to paprika to cayenne — which add a pinch of heat to these savory bites. The relish adds just enough sweetness to balance out the pungent flavor from the Dijon mustard. Be sure to remove the shells from the eggs as soon as they are cool enough to handle so the peeling will be easier. The stuffed eggs can be prepared up to three days in advance, but they are best the day they’re made.
Strawberry Soda
This festive beverage uses real fruit for a bright flavor and gorgeous dark pink hue that store-bought soda could never match. Strawberries impart a refreshing taste that’s accented by a hint of lime. The lime juice also serves to balance out the sweetness of the syrup without overpowering the delicate strawberry. Much like bottled soda, this one is craveably sweet; feel free to adjust to your liking — add more syrup if you want it sweeter, or more lime juice or club soda for a lighter beverage (the melting ice will also dilute the soda). When cooking the strawberry purée, decrease the heat if it starts to foam up, to prevent it from boiling over. Club soda or seltzer will yield a fizzier homemade soda, but sparkling water works great too. For maximum carbonation, prepare the batch à la minute.
Creole Broiled Shrimp and Baby Corn
Here’s a weeknight take on the classic shrimp boil: a shrimp broil. Broiling is a quick, simple way to cook the crustaceans with excellent results. The shrimp bathe in a pool of olive oil and butter, which helps them to cook all the way through in a few minutes without having to turn them and keeps them tender, not tough. Corn and potatoes are typically boiled with the seafood in traditional seafood boils. Here, quick-cooking baby corn is a crunchy, flavorful alternative. Potatoes or bread would be great side dishes, and are perfect for sopping up the seasoned oil the shrimp are cooked in.
Crab Bisque
The creamy base of this elegant and flavorful soup is accented with chunks of crab meat, so each bite has velvety bisque and sweet, satisfying crab. This recipe uses a Creole-centric method — a blonde roux imparts a subtle nutty flavor while also doing the work of thickening the soup. Make sure the roux does not darken too much, since you want the seafood flavor to shine and to not be overpowered by a dark, rich roux that’s more typical of gumbo. Using roux to thicken the bisque allows for a more streamlined preparation than the traditional version, since the blended soup does not need to be strained or filtered. A homemade seafood or fish stock is well worth the effort for this otherwise relatively simple soup, but you can replace homemade seafood stock with store bought in a pinch.
Turnip Greens
Braised until soft and yielding, with a mild sweetness stemming from long cooking and a hit of balsamic vinegar, these turnip greens — more tender than collards with a slight pepperiness, similar to mustard greens — become flavorful and savory. Many recipes for turnip greens use smoked meats or ham, but here they get a wonderful smokiness from smoked paprika. Though you can certainly find them attached to their root, turnips, these tasty greens are so popular that they are also sold on their own.
French Onion Sliders
Fill store-bought brioche buns with jammy, caramelized onions and melted Gruyère, for satisfying little sandwiches that make a perfect soup companion or a cozy, comforting meal. Caramelizing the onions takes some time but very little effort, and coaxing out the ingredient’s sweet side is well worth it. The butter used to caramelize the onions adds flavor, and the extra-virgin olive oil allows the onions to tolerate higher heat without burning. (However, if you find the onions are browning unevenly, turn the heat down to low.) Prepare a big batch of these balsamic caramelized onions ahead of time and lunch can be on your plate in 10 minutes.
Roasted Chicken Thighs With Hot Honey and Lime
These sweet and spicy chicken thighs pack enormous flavor using only a handful of pantry ingredients. Generously seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powders, they’re roasted at a high temperature to maximize the crispiness of the skin. Halfway through cooking, the chicken is brushed with a butter-and-hot-sauce blend. Finally, honey and lime zest are whisked into the remaining hot sauce butter to coat the fully baked chicken thighs. A squirt of tangy lime juice provides balance and the perfect finishing touch. Serve with a simple and refreshing cucumber salad or coleslaw.
Bourbon-Braised Beef
Bourbon adds a wonderful complexity to budget-friendly boneless beef chuck in this warmly comforting dish. Caramelized tomato paste, maple syrup, thyme and bay leaves provide balance while still highlighting the savory notes. Soy sauce does double duty, adding both salt and flavor. By marinating the meat in acidic lemon juice and cooking it low and slow, this inexpensive cut becomes very tender, proving you don’t need a fancy cut of beef to make an elegant, full-flavored main dish. Leftover braising liquid would make a wonderful base for a French onion soup.
Easy Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are a delectable option for the simplest weeknight meal or the grandest holiday table. Though they’re from the same plant family as collard greens, mustard greens are more peppery and the cooked leaves are more tender. (They also cook down a lot more, so it takes a lot of mustard greens to make a decent serving amount!) This recipe is generous with the liquid, because as it cooks it becomes something just as delicious as the greens themselves: pot likker. Smoked meats are often used for their flavor, but a small amount of liquid smoke keeps this recipe meat-free. Be sure to serve your greens in a bowl, so you can slurp up the resulting pot likker afterward.
Beets With Horseradish and Pumpkin Seeds
Sweet beets meet zingy horseradish and crunchy pumpkin seeds in this dish that will enchant beet lovers and skeptics alike. Roasting the beets concentrates their flavor and makes them easier to peel, while pairing red beets with their yellow counterparts makes for a striking visual contrast. Feel free to use all red beets, or all golden beets, if that’s what’s available to you, and to substitute plain yogurt for the sour cream. If you can’t find fresh, refrigerated prepared horseradish, horseradish cream also works beautifully. Make the most of the beet greens: Sauté them in olive oil and finish with a splash of balsamic vinegar for an excellent accompaniment to this dish.
Savory Corn Fritters
These corn fritters use fresh, whole kernels, mixed with spices, scallions and a simple batter. Corn fritters come in many types, from the cornmeal-based, deep-fried hush puppies, to the more patty-shaped, pan-fried fritters. Pan-seared in hot oil until crisp, these patty-like fritters contain Cheddar, which adds creaminess while still allowing the crunchy corn kernels to provide a pop of sweet flavor and texture with each bite. Fritters make an excellent side for a cookout, as they stand up to smoky barbecue flavors and can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature. Leftovers make an excellent breakfast, with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt on top.
Peach Tea
Sweetened with peaches, freshly puréed or from store-bought juice, this beverage tastes extra refreshing in warm weather. The fruit complements strongly brewed tea, and a little lemon juice further accentuates the peach flavor and helps balance the natural sweetness, which you can bolster with sugar if you’d like.
Cranberry Cornbread
Cranberries meet cornbread in this one-bowl fall mashup. A crunchy golden edge forms around the cornbread thanks to the hot skillet the batter is poured into. The mixture crisps in the oven-melted butter that coats the pan, resulting in browning and caramelization that delivers maximum flavor. While baking, the fresh cranberries soften, ensuring a burst of juicy tartness with each bite. Use either fine- or medium-grind cornmeal, as coarse varieties make for an overly gritty bite.
Pimento Cheese Frittata
The South likes to claim pimento cheese as its own, but its origins can actually be traced back to New York, the home of cream cheese, which makes up the spread’s foundation. Cheddar and mayonnaise were later additions. This frittata is a hodgepodge of creamy and spicy, celebrating the flavors and textures of pimento cheese. The fresh herbs add vibrance, and the sharp Cheddar can stand up to the spiciness of the various peppers. The chunks of cream cheese add velvety bits to each bite.
Hummingbird Cake
This super-simple tropical cake contains a hefty amount of mashed bananas and crushed pineapple. Often associated with the American South, where it is believed to have adopted a cream cheese frosting, it most likely originated in Jamaica, where it was called a Doctor Bird Cake. (“Doctor bird” is the nickname of Jamaica’s national bird, the red-billed streamertail hummingbird.) Some say this cake is sweet enough to attract even hummingbirds, while others say the name derives from how bananas, a key ingredient in the cake, resemble the bird’s beak. The end result tastes similar to banana bread, but with the moistness and flavor of a spice-filled carrot cake.