If you don’t already know about Half Baked Harvest, it’s time for some enlightenment. Tieghan Gerard started her website in 2012, and is featured on The Cooking Channel, Food Network, and Self Magazine (to name a few). In 2017, she released her first book, Half Baked Harvest Cookbook – Recipes from My Barn in the Mountains. As a long time blog and Instagram follower of Gergard, I am once again impressed with her homegrown, exquisite creations in her cookbook.
Ice Cream Banana Bread
Gerard cooks exactly the way I was taught – full flavor, old-fashioned meals with a twist that you can’t wait to eat. I will eat hard boiled eggs for every meal if it means I can indulge on Gergard’s Ice Cream Banana Bread at the end of the week. (Yes, there are 2 cups of melted ice cream in her banana bread).
Half Baked Harvest – Photo by Tieghan Gerard
One of the more recent meals to enter my kitchen is her Garlic Lemon Butter Shrimp with Coconut Rice. Heaven.on.earth. The shrimp marinate in a spicy lemon and garlic sauce and are then pan-seared in a plentiful amount of butter. The coconut rice is amazing, and differs from others I have made by using less water and more coconut milk; a welcomed modification in my book. The beauty of this recipe is that you can in fact make it healthy if you’re so inclined. Cut the coconut milk, use brown rice, sear in coconut oil, etc.; but the foundation of this recipe is as flawless as it is welcoming.
Another easy, yet instant-favorite from her cookbook, are her Mom’s Special K Bars. I brought these to work and the phrase “crack bars” were soon their new found title. Combine a peanut butter and maple syrup mixture with cornflakes, then top with chocolate and Boom! The perfect combination of sweet, salty, and crunchy. Good luck not keeping these all to yourself.
Browned Sage Butter Chicken Piccata with Mushroom Pasta
Lastly, a recipe from Gerard’s cookbook that NEEDS recognition is her Browned Sage Butter Chicken Piccata with Mushroom Pasta. I made this recently to entertain some guests, and boy, did it deliver. Browned sage butter is a triumph, and honestly is too simple to not enter kitchens more often. The creamy mushroom pasta was a perfect side to the acidic and heavily spiced chicken. This meal is now a regular addition in my “meals to impress” archive.
Colorado Homes and Lifestyles Magazine – Photo by Kimberly Gavin
Tieghan Gerard is only 21 years old, and is winning over her many followers with her creative take on classic dishes. Coming soon to my kitchen are her Fig and Cider Pork Chops and her Creamy Curried Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Soup. In the current climate of health crazes and gimmicky chefs, Gerard shines as an old soul with new ideas.
Order her cookbook here!