BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s from Simply Sweet. We are so excited to spend the season with family, friends and of course good food! We have a lineup of sweet and savory dishes that will be the perfect edition to your holiday menu.
We first make tamales with Beth Rangel. She makes nearly 100 dozen tamales a day during the holiday season. Beth shares her secret on how to make the perfect savory and sweet tamales. We make a chile relleno kind with homemade masa, charred and peeled chile relleno peppers and a huge hunk of cheese. These get steams for an hour and a half and are ready for enjoying. Her sweet take is made with her homemade masa, pineapple, raisins and cinnamon. They have the perfect consistency and are the perfect dessert this season.
Next, Allison shares her grandmother’s recipe for nut clusters. It is the perfect balance of sweet and salty with a chocolate and butterscotch goodness. They are very easy to make, and you might want to double or even triple the batch because these won't last long! You can find her recipe here.
Then, Simply Sweet Allison goes to The Padre Hotel to make a Peppermint Fizz cocktail. It is made with Jack Daniels fire whiskey that will keep you warm this holiday season. This drink has a bit of a twist, we use cream to give it that creamy texture but we also add egg whites. The egg whites will be cooked with the acid in the drink by shaking. We add crushed peppermints to the rim and a candy cane to top it off. This is a great way to ring in the holidays and the new year. You can find this drink at The Padre Hotel in downtown Bakersfield.
Finally, we head to Uricchio’s to make a holiday twist on the classic meat and potatoes dish. We try the chicken and sausage alla Nick, which was named after the gentleman Nick Uricchio who starred the restaurant. It is a huge portion with meat, veggies and, of course, potatoes, topped with a homemade marsala sauce that is rich and flavorful. We also try their desserts, a cheesecake, pecan pie and chocolate moose cake. They were fluffy, sweet and you will definitely going to want to go back for more.
