For 10 years Clinton Kelly told people what not to wear and gave his refreshingly honest fashion advice. For the last six years, he has moderated interviews and conducted craft corners on the daily talk show “The Chew” alongside restaurateurs and Iron Chef America stars Mario Batali and Michael Symon, Top Chef alum Carla Hall and wellness expert Daphne Oz. Now, we turn to him once again for getting through the holiday season. Clinton Kelly knows that making your guests happy starts with making their taste buds happy, and the tangy blueberry pucker bars do the job. Co-host Daphne Oz adds the yummy stuffed acorn squash that’s perfect alongside a Thanksgiving turkey.
Recipes courtesy The Chew: A Year of Celebrations: Festive and Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion (Kingswell, 2014).
What goes together just as well as peanut butter and chocolate, if not better? Blueberries and lemon! You can’t help but pucker up with all the different ways that lemon shows up in these bars. So gobble them up with a kiss.
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 30-60 minutes
Servings: 9
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 large egg yolk whisked with 1 tablespoon water
- 10 tablespoons cold butter, cubed, plus more for greasing
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Lemon zest to garnish
For the lemon cream and limoncello syrup:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon curd
- 1 cup limoncello
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish with butter.
2. Whisk together the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, salt and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir in the egg yolk mixture. Working with your hands, blend in the cubed butter.
3. Press all but 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
4. Toss together the blueberries, lemon juice, remaining sugar and cornstarch. Pour mixture over the crust. Crumble the remaining flour mixture over the blueberries.
5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden and blueberries are cooked down.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature before serving with a dollop of lemon cream.
To make the lemon cream:
7. With an electric mixer, whip heavy cream and sugar on high speed to medium-stiff peaks. Fold in the curd and serve.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- 4 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
- 6 acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
- 5 tablespoons butter, divided
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 large red onion, diced
- Salt, to taste
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 celery root, peeled and diced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- 1 cup whole wheat bread croutons, same size as diced vegetables
- 2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the mushrooms and vegetable stock in a saucepot over medium high heat and bring to a simmer. Steep the mushrooms until the liquid has been reduced by half. Remove from heat. Strain out the mushrooms and chop roughly. Reserve the stock.
2. Cut off a small part of the back of each acorn squash half so it sits flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet, with the hollow interior facing up. Heat 3 tablespoons butter and maple syrup together in a small pot just until butter melts. Stir and brush over the flesh of the squash.
3. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté the onions for 2 minutes, seasoning with salt. Add the carrots and celery root and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the thyme leaves.
4. Pour the vegetable mixture into a large bowl and toss with croutons, apples, walnuts and cranberries. Add the mushrooms and stock, stirring to ensure liquid is absorbed by the croutons.
5. Divide the mixture among the hollows of the acorn squash halves, mounding but not overflowing. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, remove foil, and continue to cook for 15 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender. Serve warm.
