Meet our gal for fresh, seasonal recipes, Brittany Meadth. A chef and mother of four, her family is large, and her extended family larger—she knows a thing or three about holiday cooking. Brittany’s found that delicate balance of preparing traditional dishes while avoiding laboring in the kitchen all day so she too can enjoy time with family and friends. She’s even successfully rallied kids to be her sous chefs. Brittany offers private cooking classes to the food curious out of her Montecito kitchen, and she helped create our simplified Thanksgiving meal. Dig in.
Honey Roasted Carrots with Labneh and Fresh Dill
- 10 carrots
- ½ cup fresh dill
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 cup labneh
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
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Preheat oven to 400° F
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Wash, peel, and prep your carrots. If carrots are skinny, you can peel them and place them onto a cookie sheet. If the carrots are thicker in diameter you can cut them lengthwise into halves.
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Drizzle honey and olive oil over carrots on baking sheet. Use your hands to make sure the carrots are properly coated on all sides.
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Add salt and pepper
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Bake in the oven at 400° F for about 25-30 minutes
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Take them out of the oven and set aside
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On a large serving plate add about a cup (or more) of labneh. My favorite is called Luretik (you can but it locally at Macher in Goleta).
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Add your carrots then freshly chopped dill and thyme to the top
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Drizzle a good olive oil over the whole thing
Hosting Tip: “Ask for help from the right people. Some people aren't going to be comfortable making bread rolls or a dessert, but maybe they're great at making salad. Others can be asked to bring drinks or clean afterward. Nobody is a mind-reader—don’t be afraid to set up a spreadsheet where they can sign up!”
Crispy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 10 small yellow gold potatoes
- 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
- olive oil
- salt
- rosemary, garlic, chives (optional)
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Preheat oven to 400° F
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In a large Dutch oven, bring water, baking soda, and salt to a boil. Place unpeeled potatoes into the water and reduce the heat to medium-low. Once the potatoes are soft to touch (20-25 min), drain and let sit for 10 min.
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On a cutting board, grab a potato and use any large object (wine bottle, glass jar) and smash down the potato. Do this gently and have a spatula close by to transfer to a baking dish. Once you have smashed all the potatoes, add salt and olive oil.
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Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes or until crispy
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Top with the garlic, rosemary, and fresh chives
Cooking tip: “I don’t peel my potatoes because who really has time for that? The secret to this recipe: baking soda. The baking soda makes the water alkaline which helps break down the surface of the potatoes, making them very crispy and very delicious.”
Honey Nut Squash
Ingredients
- 3 honeynut squash
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika
- pomegranates
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Preheat oven to 400° F
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Slice the squashes in half, remove all the seeds
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Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 30 minutes
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Add smoked paprika and pomegranates to serve
Hosting tip: “It’s all in the way you present it to kids…when you ask your kids to join, try not to make it sound like a punishment. Emphasize that they have a responsibility prepping really yummy food. Include a special drink for the kids while they're helping, like spiced apple cider. Adjust your expectations to allow for extra mess, extra time, and know it won’t turn out exactly as if you'd had done it yourself. But the tradeoff of creating happy memories is 100% worth it.”
Caramel Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 350° F
Crust
- 12 graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
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In a food processor, add the graham crackers, butter, and brown sugar. Blend until sand-like texture.
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In a springform pan, add parchment paper and butter the sides
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Place crust into the pan and pat down to form a smooth base
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Set in the fridge and chill for 15 minutes
Filling
- 4 sticks of cream cheese (room temp)
- 1-1⁄2 cup sugar
- 5 large eggs (room temp)
- 2-1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of whole lemon
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Add the cream cheese to a standing mixer. Make sure it's room temperature—this is an important step!
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With your whisk attachment on medium speed, mix the cream cheese. Once it becomes fluffy, add the sugar and one egg at a time. Scrape down sides as needed.
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Remove the pan with the crust from the fridge, add the batter to the pan, and place into your preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and let sit. Once cool, cover and place in the fridge.
Caramel
- 1-1⁄4 cup sugar
- 1-1⁄3 cup water
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup unsalted or salted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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In a saucepan, add the sugar and water. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Keep heat on medium. Watch the sugar water—it will slowly go from a light brown to a rich amber color.
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Once it turns amber in color, add the heavy whipping cream and butter and whisk
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Turn the heat off and let sit for 5 minutes
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Remove cheesecake from the fridge and add the caramel to the top