(Family Features) This holiday season, Vons is making it easier to find the value and assortment you need — whether you’re a bake-it-from-scratch baker or love decorating ready-to-bake treats. Because we all know the holidays are always full of gatherings, entertaining, and lots and lots of baking.
Executive chef Jeff Anderson of Safeway shares tips to help keep you prepared for all the holiday festivities, even with a full calendar of events.
“We’ve all been there — you’re halfway through a recipe when you suddenly realize you’ve run out of a key ingredient,” said Chef Anderson. “The best advice I can give is to always keep a well-stocked pantry. That and a few simple yet impressive recipes will have you ready to wow family and guests all season long.”
Chef Anderson recommends his Amazingly Good Eggnog and Easy Apple Brown Sugar Tart because they are easy to make and use simple ingredients. With treats like these there’s no need to spend time preparing complicated dishes this holiday season.
Your local Vons offers great value and everything you need to make entertaining easy for the holidays. And that means more time to enjoy with family and friends. For more holiday baking ideas, visit www.vons.com.
Top 10 Holiday Must-Haves
The secret to a stress-free holiday is a well-stocked pantry. Having these ten simple ingredients on hand will help add variety to your favorite holiday dishes and keep you ready to bake just about anything.
1. Lucerne Cream Cheese for easy-to-make frosting for cakes and cupcakes.
2. Agave syrup to use in recipes as a sweetener alternative.
3. Heavy cream for baking or making homemade whipped cream to complement desserts.
4. Open Nature Greek Yogurt to use to create healthy dessert parfaits.
5. Sweet (unsalted) butter for just about every holiday recipe.
6. Brown sugar for topping cookies and baked goods.
7. Primo Taglio Parmigiano Reggiano for easy-to-make puff pastry cheese straws, a delicious party snack.
8. Sour cream makes a great frosting or addition to cakes for extra richness.
9. Fruit jams for making thumbprint cookies like apricot, orange marmalade, raspberry or blackberry.
10. Cinnamon sticks to use as garnish or add a dash of seasonal flavor to holiday beverages.
Easy Apple Brown Sugar Tart
Created by executive chef Jeff Anderson of Safeway
Ready in: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8
3 large apples, Gala or Pink Lady
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon instant tapioca
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
For tart shell
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet cream butter
1 large egg
To serve
Vanilla ice cream (optional)
In cake or pie pan, toast slivered almonds in 350°F oven until golden, shaking often (about 10 minutes).
In food processor or bowl, combine almonds, all-purpose flour, and 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar.
Add butter, cut into pieces. Whirl or rub with your fingers until fine crumbs form.
Add 1 egg yolk, whirl or mix with fork until dough sticks together. Pat into ball.
In a 9- or 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable rim, press dough over bottom and up sides, flush with rim.
To assemble tart:
Rinse apples and peel (or leave skin on as desired). Core apples and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
In bowl, gently mix apple slices with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, orange juice, and tapioca. Let rest 10 minutes to soften tapioca, then overlap slices neatly in unbaked tart shell.
In glass-measuring cup, combine remaining brown sugar and marmalade. Heat in microwave at full power in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until marmalade is melted. Evenly spread over apple slices.
Bake in 350°F oven until crust is well browned and apples are tender when pierced, about 45 minutes.
Amazingly Good Eggnog
Created by executive chef Jeff Anderson of Safeway
Ready in: 28 Minutes
Servings: 12
4 cups milk
5 cloves, whole
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
12 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups light rum
4 cups cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine milk, cloves, vanilla extract and cinnamon in saucepan. Heat over low flame for 5 minutes, slowly bringing mixture to a boil.
In large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into egg yolks and pour into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Strain to remove cloves. Let cool for about an hour.
Stir in rum, cream, vanilla extract and nutmeg. Refrigerate overnight before serving.