THAT GOOD KITCHEN TALK! Jen Hatmaker shares her inspiring personal journey while showing good friend Sherri some of her most delicious – and easiest – recipes!
Honey Lemon Ricotta with Toasted Hazelnuts
Serves 4
Not everything needs to be hard, dammit. Sometimes simple little appetizers are weirdly good, and that is the end of that. Plus, one time Ina Garten poured store-bought potato chips into a fancy silver bowl and served it to her guests (this memory is my inspiration and comfort, and I think about it fondly once a week). Using vintage or antique or quirky serving dishes for simple food is an absolute hospitality hack. Your guests will be like, “Oh! Look at this wacky little bronze serving bowl in the shape of a monkey head!” and they will forget to notice that you’ve filled it with shelf-stable vanilla wafers.
Speaking of Ina, I regret to inform you that I am about to employ the phrase “use the good ricotta, if you can.” I’m sorry. I don’t always call us to our higher consciousness, but occasionally, for the health and well-being of your dish, it’s important to track down a superior ingredient. And let’s be fair: I’m about to ask you to layer three plug-and-play ingredients in a bowl and put it on the buffet table, so let’s not act like this recipe is labor-intensive. You have time to buy the good ricotta. (Check the cheese case at your grocery store or a little specialty shop.) (I’m also going to include instructions for making your own fresh ricotta and I don’t want to hear about it.)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 (15-ounce) container good-quality ricotta cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons honey, to taste
⅓ cup hazelnuts or pecans
Crackers or toasted baguette slices, for serving
// I mean, honestly. How is this a recipe. After zesting your lemon (set the zest aside), squeeze the fresh lemon juice into a bowl with your ricotta and mix. Spoon the lemon ricotta into your monkey head serving bowl. Drizzle the honey all over the ricotta. Toast your hazelnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, coarsely chop, and let them cool, then scatter them over the honeyed ricotta. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the top. Serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices. I would actually eat this spooned over Cheerios.
Note: This is also a delicious spread for a tartine with sliced berries and chopped basil.
From Feed These People by Jen Hatmaker. Copyright © 2022 by Jen Hatmaker. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Potato Chip, Bacon, and Raspberry Grilled Cheese
Makes up to 4 sandwiches
This is exactly what it sounds like, and listen up, folx, I am a grown adult lady and I put potato chips on my sandwich every day. I’m just out here trying to do better, and crunchy salty chips on a sandwich is how to level up your life. So is this entire sammie of wonderment.
I’ve been at this parenting gig for almost a quarter century, and I’ve discovered that sandwiches and tortillas and pasta are reliable coconspirators in getting your people to try new things. What? Those green stalky things? Who cares! They’re buried in a creamy pasta! Those peas? Are like little green candies! Eat up, kiddies!
Also, now that I’m watching my brother and sister-in-law feed their boys flavorful, grown-up food from the time they cut their first teeth, I want a redo. To be fair, my kids got stupid brown freezer food when they were little because I didn’t even know you could buy whole garlic and thought salmon came in shelf-stable tins. I thought children only ate dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and the outer limits of their flavor profile was ketchup. My babies were effed.
I eventually fixed them when I started cooking, but I had to sneak in a bunch of stuff for a while. I am pleased to report that every one of my kids would squeeze sriracha right into their mouth hole as a snack now, so take heart! Kids can become good eaters who don’t order “noodles with butter” for $9.99 at Olive Garden.
I’m a recent convert to the mayo-insteadof-butter-outer-slather on grilled cheese. Y’all: DELIGHTFUL. Because I am so extra, I tried a buttermayo combo, died, and went straight to heaven. This is my ghost writing. I am an angel now. So mix the two, and that’s what you’re going to slather on the outside of your sandwiches before you grill.
Sourdough: Levels up your grilled cheese.
Shredded Gruyère: Levels up your grilled cheese.
Bacon: Levels up your grilled cheese.
Raspberry jam: Levels up your grilled cheese.
Potato chips: I mean, get out of here.
This is the perfect flavor combination: salty, creamy, sweet, and crunchy. Every bite makes you wish you had two mouths.
½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temp
½ cup mayo
FOR EACH SAMMIE
2 slices sourdough bread
1 to 2 tablespoons raspberry jam (if your peeps are weird about seeds, use strawberry jam)
One layer of thick potato chips (like kettle chips)
2 bacon slices, cooked until crisp
⅓ cup shredded Gruyère cheese (1.5 ounces)
// In a small bowl, mix together your butter and mayo. You’ll have about a cup, which is enough for slathering about 4 sandwiches. If you don’t use it all, cover it and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days to use for another batch later.
// In between your slices of sourdough, get generous with a base layer of raspberry jam, then a layer of chips, then the bacon, and finally the shredded Gruyère on top. If you like to live right on the edge, finish with another layer of jam. Before you butter-mayo the outsides, give this a little press to crunch those chips down and keep your sammie together.
// Slather one side with the butter-mayo and put it facedown in a skillet or on a griddle over medium heat. Slather the top with the butter-mayo while it grills. Flip it when the first side is brown and toasty, after 3 minutes or so. When it is a crunchy miracle on both sides and the cheese is oozing, it’s time to party.
From Feed These People by Jen Hatmaker. Copyright © 2022 by Jen Hatmaker. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Green Chile Taco Cups
Serves 6
Kids are so predictable, man. All you have to do is run a few trick plays and you can get them to gobble up new food. They don’t even know that you are sneaking in ground cauliflower or whatever. Pour it into a fun shape, or sandwich it between tortillas, or serve it in individual ramekins, or blend it into oblivion. Look, provide a side sauce for dipping? They’ll eat raw habaneros.
But even if they’re already adventurous eaters, everyone—including you—will love these green chile taco cups. They are adorable. They are delicious. They are basically tacos, so let’s not overreact (everyone knows tacos are a “No Damns” dinner choice), but the presentation is super fun. Serve these with Green Chile Chorizo Queso (page 61), and you’ve created a bona fide Mexican spread. (And if your kids don’t like Mexican food, consider upgrading.)
These are on the table in 30 minutes, and the hardest step is browning ground beef.
1 pound lean ground beef (or swap ground turkey)
1 (1-ounce) packet taco seasoning (Do I buy the “hot” version? You know I do.)
1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained (or just dice up 2 tomatoes if you have them)
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
Nonstick cooking spray
1 (16-ounce) package square wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
Oil, for brushing
FOR SERVING
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Sour cream
Salsa
Diced scallions or chopped cilantro (or both!)
// Preheat your oven to 375°F.
// Fire up a skillet over medium heat. Brown the ground beef until it is no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes, then drain off any fat. Back on the burner, add the taco seasoning, tomatoes, and green chiles to the beef and stir until combined. Add a little bit of water and stir until it all comes together. Take the pan off the heat.
// Now, wonton wrappers + muffin tins are a revelation. You’re basically making tiny individual taco
bowls, and if that isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever heard of, I must be explaining cuteness wrong. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray and line each cup with one wonton wrapper. Just press it in there and let the edges fold up the sides. Throw these in the oven as is for 5 minutes to set them, then let cool for a couple of minutes.
// Fill each wonton cup with 1 tablespoon of the meat, followed by a sprinkling of cheese. Then layer each cup with one more wonton wrapper and press down, letting the edges fold over the sides. Add another tablespoon of meat and top with cheese. Brush the edges of the wonton wrapper with a little oil. A double taco cup! The cuteness hurts my eyes!
// Pop these babies into the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the edges of the wonton wrappers are browned and crunchy. Then the trick is this: Let them cool in the muffin tin for at least 5 minutes before removing them from the pan (if you can squeeze out 10 minutes, they will hold their shape best, but starving children are maniacs, so just do your best).
// Set up your taco cup bar: shredded iceberg, sour cream, salsa, and scallions or cilantro. Everyone gets their own little baby taco cup(s), and you are a hero. My 6-foot-tall grown children are like, “Mom! Yummy! So cute!” I rest my case.
From Feed These People by Jen Hatmaker. Copyright © 2022 by Jen Hatmaker. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
