Carter Family Recipes (2024)

The secret to this chili is the combination of delicious spices and herbs. I always add oregano and fennel to give it that Italian spin, and they add an amazing earthy warm flavor.

After everything simmers together for awhile, the result is a rich, nutritious chili that is just perfect for colder weather. I absolutely love it withcornbreadon the side!

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves, (minced)
• 2 pounds ground chicken
• 1 teaspoon salt, (plus more for seasoning)
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• 2 15-ounce cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard, (stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, (thawed)
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Procedure

1. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add the ground chicken, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
4. Stir the flour into the chicken mixture.
5. Add the beans, Swiss chard, corn, and chicken stock.
6. Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
7. Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened.
8. Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
10. Ladle the chili into serving bowls.
11. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

These super-flavorful mushrooms get a hint of sweetness thanks to a splash of balsamic vinegar. Parmesan cheese added at the end lends a savory note. Enjoy them as an accompaniment to steak or on their own as a side dish.

Ingredients.

• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Stir oil, marjoram, pepper and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Add mushrooms and toss to coat. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 12 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and drizzle with vinegar.
5. Sprinkle with Parmesan and continue roasting until the cheese is melted, about 5 more minutes.

These addicting confections are reminiscent ofcandy bars – only alottastier.

Ingredients

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 12 whole (6 ounces cinnamon graham crackers, crumbled, or 2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces unsalted butter, melted)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 stick (4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 2 cups 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 3/4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt (optional)

Procedure

For the crust:

1. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round springform pan with parchment or waxed paper. Spray the paper and the sides of the pan with cooking spray.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the graham crackers and sugar. Process until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
5. Add the melted butter and blend until the mixture forms into clumps.
6. Spread the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing gently to form an even layer.
7. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is golden.
8. Cool for 15 minutes.

For the caramel:

1. Whilethe crust is cooling, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of cream, butter, sugar, and water.
2. Stir over medium heat until the mixture is smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees F, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Carefully pour the caramel over the warm crust.
4. Cool for 20 minutes.
5. Freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

For the chocolate layer:

1. Combine the chocolate chips and cream in a small bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.
2. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Whisk in the espresso powder.
4. Remove the springform pan from the freezer.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture over the caramel layer and smooth with a spatula.
6. Sprinkle the top with smoked sea salt, if using. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until firm.

Serving

1. Allow the layers to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
2. Using a warm, slightly wet knife, carefully cut around the edges of the chocolate layer.
3. Release the side of the pan and remove the paper from the bottom.
4. Cut into 1 1/2-by-1/2-inch bars and store airtight in a covered plastic container.

Compound butter is just regular butter pumped up with flavor. Extra ingredients can range from herbs and lemon to wine or cheese, mixed into softened butter that is then rolled into a log and sliced to create an instant sauce on top of steak, fish, or chicken. Ours is chock-full of spicy chiles, lime juice, black pepper, and tequila, and adds a punch to our recipe forgrilled rib-eye steaks, but it would be equally good over fish orgrilled veggies, such as corn on the cob.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons minced jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeds and membranes removed
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (from 1/2 medium lime)
• 2 teaspoons tequila (optional)
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• lemon zest
• lime zest
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1. Place butter in a medium bowl and, using a rubber spatula, soften until it’s very spreadable. Add remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Place compound butter on a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll into a log and twist the ends to seal. Place butter in the refrigerator to harden.

Ingredients

For macaroni pie filling:

• 1 quart milk, cold
• 100 grams all purpose flour
• 30 grams grated nutmeg
• 30 grams white pepper
• 54 grams dry mustard powder
• 54 grams roasted garlic paste
• 1 pound Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
• 200 grams Gruyere cheese, grated
• 1 quart water
• 1 gram xanthum gum (optional stabilizer)
• 45 grams mozzarella, diced
• 10 ounces elbow macaroni

For graham cracker black pepper streusel:

• 2 cups graham crackers, crumbled
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional grains of paradise)
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 2 dashes salt

Procedure

1. Prepare the bouillie by placing the flour in a saucepan and gradually whisking in the cold milk to create a smooth paste.
2. Add nutmeg, white pepper, dry mustard
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat.
4. Add cheese and stir until incorporated.
5. Add water and optional xanthum gum.
6. Blend with hand blender or VitaPrep until smooth.
7. Add to portioned pasta. Place into gratin dish.
8. For streusel topping, toss all ingredients together with a fork until evenly dispersed. (I like when there’s an even mix of big, boulder-like hunks and smaller, finer crumbs.)
9. Bake in the oven at 325 F until streusel top browns and cheese inside gratin bubbles.

Picture this – a creamy block of cream cheese seasoned with your favorite sweet or savory topping and smoked to perfection right in your back yard. Sounds like a dream but all it takes is a smoker, 2 hours and a couple ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1blockCream Cheese, Full Fat
• 3 – 4tbspEverything Bagel Seasoning
• 1tspOlive Oil

Procedure

1. Set your Pit to the smoke setting or set your smoker to 180 degrees.
2. Lightly oil a rectangle piece of aluminum foil that’s able to fit your cream cheese. Oil cream cheese block and place on foil.
3. Using everything bagel seasoning, season all sides of cream cheese (including the bottom.)
4. Carefully score cream cheese to allow smoke to reach more surface area.
5. Place foil in grill/smoker and smoke for 2 hours.
6. Remove cream cheese from grill/smoker and serve with chips, crackers or pretzels.

How long does it take to make smoked cream cheese?

Smoked cream cheese takes 2 hours to smoke at 180 degrees. We have pulled our bricks off early when we were running short on time but for the best results, let it smoke the full time.

Is smoked cream cheese good cold?

ABSOLUTELY! I’ve actually used it on bagels or English Muffins the next morning. How you use it cold really just depends on how you season it while cooking.

How do you know when smoked cream cheese is done?

Since this is not something you have to make sure cooks all the way to enjoy, it’s really up to you. The longer you smoke the cream cheese, the more smoke flavor that it’ll obtain. As stated above, try to let it smoke the full 2 hours but know it’s okay to pull off early if needed.

Best seasonings

You know, we have a list of ones we love and some that we’d still like to try. Everything bagel seasoning is definitely at the top of the list. Some other seasonings we love to use are cinnamon and sugar, Old Bay, taco seasoning, buffalo dip seasoning.

Our pasta cacio e uova, or pasta with cheese and eggs, comes together quickly. I gently heated crushed garlic cloves in lard while the water for the pasta came to a boil. And while the fat became infused with the garlic’s flavor, I stirred together Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley. I drained the pasta and tossed it with the oil, which provided a subtly sweet, nutty toasted garlic flavor, as well as 1 Tablespoon of the pasta cooking water and the egg-and-cheese mixture. The hot pasta cooked the eggs and melted the cheese, turning the mixture into a silky sauce.

Ingredients

• 3Tablespoons lard orextra-virgin olive oil
• 2garlic cloves, lightly crushed and peeled
• 2large eggs
• 1ounceParmesan cheese,grated (1/2 cup)
• 1ouncePecorino Romano cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
• 2Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking pasta
• 1/4teaspoon pepper
• 8ounces (1 1/2 cups) tubetti

Before You Begin

Tubetti is traditionally used for this dish, but you can substitute 8 ounces (2 cups) of elbow macaroni. Lard contributes an incomparably rich, savory flavor to the sauce. Look for it in the meat section, in the oil or baking supply aisle near the shortening, or in the refrigerated section near the butter. Our favorites are U.S. Dreams Lard and John Morrell Snow Cap Lard. Because this dish is very rich, I recommend serving it in small portions with a light salad.

Procedure

1. Melt lard in 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook, swirling skillet and flipping garlic occasionally, until garlic is pale golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. (Tiny bubbles will surround garlic, but garlic should not actively fry. Reduce heat if necessary.) Turn off heat, but leave skillet on burner. Discard garlic.
2. While garlic cooks, bring 2 quarts water to boil in large saucepan. Beat eggs in medium bowl until very few streaks of white remain. Stir in Parmesan, Pecorino, parsley, salt, and pepper and set aside.
3. Stir pasta and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into boiling water and cook, stirring often, until pasta is tender (slightly past al dente). Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to saucepan. Immediately add lard, egg mixture, and 1 Tablespoon reserved cooking water to pasta and stir until cheese is fully melted. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, as needed. Serve immediately.

You’ll Go Bananas Over This Fun Tropical Jam

Monkey butter is a creamy jam made ofbananas,pineappleandcoconut(leave the coconut out if you’re not a fan).This tropical jam recipe can be spread on toast orbiscuitsor dolloped onpancakesandwaffles.

Be sure to use ripe, but not overripe, bananas for the best results. Store the jam in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• 5 medium bananas (not overripe,no brown spots)
• 1 can (20 ounces)crushed pineapple(do not drain)
• 1/4 cupunsweetened coconut flakes, pulsed in ablenderuntil fine (optional)
• 2 cupssugar(see note)
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Procedure

1. Put all the ingredients into a large pot. Start mashing the ingredients together as they come to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stir and mash, until thickened and smooth.
3. Put the mixture intomason jars. Cool and then store in the refrigerator.

Cook’s Notes

• Many monkey butter recipes call for 3 cups of granulated sugar. We think that creates an over-sweet jam, so we’ve reduced it to 2 cups. You can adjust the amount of sugar based on your own taste.

If you are looking for an amazing low carb snack recipe, then you are going to love thesePickle Chips! Crispy on the outside and tender pickles on the inside these keto fried pickles are the perfect snack or appetizer!

Ingredients

• 1cupShredded Cheese
• 24Dill Pickles
• 1teaspoonSeasoned Salt
• 1teaspoonOnion Powder

Procedure

1. Start by spraying your pan and filling each muffin tin half way with shredded cheese.
2. Next top each muffin tin with a dill pickle.
3. Sprinkle each one with seasoned salt and onion powder.
4. Top with additional shredded cheese and press down firmly.
5. Place in the oven at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.
6. Let cool SLIGHTLY. Remove and serve warm with dipping sauce.,

Tips & Variations of this Recipe

• Change up the cheese.I used Monterey Jack cheese, but you can also use cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese, or Pepperjack cheese.
• Shred your own cheese.Shredded cheese is great for convenience but it is coated to make it not stick together when in the package. Shredding your own cheese is easy and is the best way to go for shredded cheese.

The idea of adding a puddle of ricotta on your cacio e pepe comes from Sora Margherita, a Roman-Jewish restaurant in Rome that’s been around in the 1920s, and likely hasn’t changed much since then. I’ve substituted whipped ricotta in place of plain ricotta.

Ingredients.

• 1poundpasta of choice
• 2cupsfinely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan or a combination
• 2teaspoonsfreshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• Whipped Ricotta Cheese, for serving

Procedure

1. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the Pecorino Romano, the pepper, and a small ladle of pasta cooking water. Using the back of a large wooden spoon, mix vigorously and quickly to form a paste.
3. When the pasta is cooked, quickly add it to the cheese sauce, keeping the cooking water boiling on the stove. Toss vigorously, adjusting with a tablespoon or two of hot water as necessary to melt the cheese and create a sauce that coats the pasta.
4. Divide among 4 plates and sprinkle each portion with some of the remaining Pecorino Romano.
5. Dollop a heaping spoonful (close to 1/2 cup) of Whipped Ricotta Cheese in the middle of the pasta piles, and garnish with pepper. Serve pronto.