Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Gift Idea for Learning to Cook

Anyone who has read my blog knows I am a FOOD NETWORK JUNKIE! One of my favorite shows is Trisha's Southern Kitchen starring Trisha Yearwood. I love her show because she cooks real food with real ingredients that I can find in my local grocery store. Trisha has two cookbooks out that would make an awesome gift for someone on your Christmas list that you are having a hard time shopping for them. You can purchase them from the Food Network website or at your favorite book store.

Trisha Yearwood's Kitchen

Becoming a three-time Grammy Award–winning country music star didn't just change Trisha Yearwood's life — it changed the way she cooks. When she hit it big and bought her home outside Nashville, she got the kitchen of her dreams — and she had to adjust to all the space. "I'm from a small town in Georgia," she says. "I never had a gas cook top before. I never had an island before. I never had counter space before!"
With the extra room, she could cook all the down-home Southern recipes she loves, which led to two cookbooks (she co-wrote them with her sister and mother) and to her own Food Network show, Trisha's Southern Kitchen. Trisha and her husband Garth Brooks live just outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Either one of these cookbooks would make a great Christmas Gift
for someone wanting to learn to cook or just to get new ideas.
 
Trisha cooks regular food like we all grew up eating. Not all those fancy dishes like some of the television cooks demonstrate. The following is one of the awesome side dishes I saw on her show.
 
Asparagus Bundles

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
  • 12 slices bacon
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Divide the asparagus spears into 12 bundles. Carefully wrap 1 piece of bacon around each bundle, starting about 1/2 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 until the spears have begun to wilt and the bacon looks fully cooked, about 25 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

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