Julee Cunningham is the kind of cook who likes shortcuts.
The Everett woman, set to compete for $1 million in the Pillsbury Bake-Off this spring, can relate better to celebrity cook Sandra Lee, famous for her semi-homemade approach to cooking, than Julia Child.
Cunningham, you see, doesn’t shy away from using pre-chopped pecans and ready-made crescent rolls.
Both are included in her Pillsbury Bake-Off finalist recipe for pecan-sweet potato appetizers, released to the public this month along with her 99 competitors’ concoctions.
“Pillsbury is really good for shortcuts,” Cunningham said. “I’m not the gourmet. I do try.”
Contestants must use at least two products from Pillsbury or other sponsors, such as Crisco and Jif.
Cunningham formulated her recipe by playing around with the list of approved ingredients and putting new spins on her old tricks, including candied nuts.
“I knew I wanted to try some combos with sweet potatoes,” Cunningham said. “That kind of led into the sweet needing to be contrasted with savory, which kind of drove the whole recipe.”
Cunningham, a cheery corporate communications officer for the Snohomish County Public Utility District, eventually settled on three flavor pairings all combined in one appetizer — sweet potatoes with dense blue cheese, savory onions with apricot preserves and nutty pecans with sugar.
Though the contest seemed ages away in October when Cunningham found out she was a contestant, she now wishes she could stop time.
“I am having so much fun with this competition that I hate to see it getting closer,” she said. “The anticipation of it is so much a part of the fun.”
Cunningham is encouraging other people to enter the 2012 contest.
“A lot of people have told me they have thought about entering in the past, but never taken the time.
“I say to that, ‘Do it! You could get lucky like me and be having the time of your life.’ ”
Pecan-sweet potato appetizers
1small sweet potato, 5 to 6 ounces
2tablespoons sugar
1tablespoon water
1/4teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
1/2cup Fisher Chef’s Naturals chopped pecans
1tablespoon Crisco 100 percent extra virgin olive oil
3/4cup thinly sliced red onion, about 3 ounces
2tablespoons Smucker’s apricot preserves
18-ounce can Pillsbury refrigerated garlic butter crescent dinner rolls
1/2cup crumbled blue cheese, 2 ounces
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. Pierce potato with fork; place on microwavable paper towel in center of microwave. Microwave 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until tender. Cover; let stand 10 minutes. Peel potato and cut crosswise into eight 1/2-inch slices.
Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat sugar, water and red pepper to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat; gently stir in pecans until coated. Spread pecans on cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet; cool completely.
In 10-inch skillet, heat oil, onion and preserves over medium heat 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. Remove from heat.
Unroll crescent dough; separate into four rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. Cut each rectangle in half crosswise; press each piece into 4-inch square.
On each dough square, place 1 potato slice, 1 rounded teaspoon onion mixture, 2 teaspoons cheese and 1 tablespoon pecans. Bring up 4 corners of dough over filling to center and twist at top. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Learn more: Go to www.bakeoff.com for the list of 100 finalists and recipes.
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