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olivesandcherries

Private Chef & Caterer from Houston, TX. I’ve had the privilege of catering many weddings and events. https://favchef.com/2024/carmen-reddy

Catering to people's diverse dietary lifestyles allows me to dig deep creatively to satisfy everyone's palate.

11/02/2025

Marinated Goat & Cream Cheese Bites

Fresh chopped Chives, flat leaf parsley & dill - about 1 c total, divided in to 2 parts

16 ounces goat cheese

4 ounces cream cheese (half a brick)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, for topping

Pink Himalayan Salt to taste

1 cup of really good extra virgin olive oil

Mix all EXCEPT 1/2 the herbs, the crushed red pepper and the olive oil together until well combined. Start forming balls to about the size of a quarter.

Place in casserole dish and the top with extra virgin olive oil and herbs.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours and then flip to coat the other side of each ball.

Serve with crostini or crackers.. Enjoy!

02/02/2025

A Galentine’s Day Appetizer ♥️🩷♥️🩷♥️

Sweet Potato Crostini topped with a Fresh Rosemary & Honey infused mascarpone with pistachio and pomegranate.

This recipe will make approximately 15-18, depending on the size of the sweet potato. With that being said, you’ll want to get one that’s long having about a 2” - 2 1/2” diameter. No bigger than that.

I left the skin on as it added another element of texture and flavor.

Slice a little thicker than 1/4”. If you have a mandolin, this will help for even cooking.

There are a few ways you can make your crostini. For this recipe, I pan fried them and they had a perfect crisp around the edges. I used vegetable oil on high and allowed them to fry until they floated to the top and had a rich deep, orange color.

You can also roast them. If you choose to do this, place on a bakers rack over a sheet pan. But first, toss in about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to coat & season with a few twists of Pink Himalayan Salt. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast for 10 minutes before flipping and roasting for another 8-10 minutes.

Once done, allow them to cool completely. You can even refrigerate to serve cold.

For the topping:

1 8 ounce tub of mascarpone - cold
1 1/2 tablespoons of really good honey
1 sprig of Rosemary - leaves removed and finely chopped. Make sure to use fresh rosemary with very soft leaves.
A couple dashes of cayenne - for a gentle kick
A few twists of Pink Himalayan Salt to taste

Finish with finely chopped pistachios & whole pomegranate seeds ♥️

This is a delightful appetizer that will surely awaken your party’s senses ♥️♥️♥️

🍠

01/02/2025

Fresh strawberry & Vanilla Cake ♥️

For the strawberry filling, I simply diced strawberries and added a couple tablespoons of granulated sugar.

The frosting was a cream cheese buttercream with almond and Mexican vanilla extract. Add a few twists of pink Himalayan salt for a boost!!!

01/02/2025

Deviled Eggs topped with Fried Chicken & Jalapeño Bacon Jam ♥️🙌🏽♥️

01/02/2025

Seared beef tenderloin over garlicky mashed potatoes topped with an Au jus ♥️

31/01/2025

Peppers, Onions y jalapeños on the Blackstone 🧡🙌🏽🧡

31/01/2025

Pico de Gallo for a CROWD ♥️🙌🏽♥️

1 large red onion - finely diced
4 lbs Roma Tomatoes - diced, seeds removed
7 large fresh jalapeño - seeds and membrane removed, finely diced
1 bunch cilantro - stems removed, chopped
1/3 c freshly squeezed lime juice
A few twists of Pink Himalayan Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.

Mix all of the about and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight until ready to enjoy!

*Best of made the day of ♥️

26/01/2025

My son’s DJ Marshmello Birthday Cake ♥️

This was a fun one to do!

18/01/2025

Raspberry filled vanilla piñata cake 🩷

18/01/2025

Minion Cupcakes 🩷🍌🩷

10/01/2025

Potato Soup ♥️

Ingredients:
7 slices Hickory Smoked Bacon
1/2 medium yellow onion - diced small
3 celery ribs - diced small
4-5 garlic cloves - minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes - peeled and diced to about 1”
3 carrots - peeled and sliced thin
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 c heavy cream
Cheddar cheese or your favorite kind of shredded cheese
Scallions - thinly sliced
Sea salt & cracked pepper

Directions:

7 slices of Hickory Smoked Bacon - cooked over medium heat until done. Remove leaving about 1/2 of the bacon fat in the Dutch oven. Rough chop and reserve about 1/3 of the chopped bacon for topping.

Add the following and sauté over medium heat until tender:
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 celery ribs
5 garlic cloves

Add Yukon Gold Potato, carrots and bacon to onion mixture and then add a quart of chicken or vegetable stock. In this recipe, I used chicken stock but I actually prefer vegetable stock.

Lower heat if it becomes a hard boil. Allow to cook until tender for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prep your toppings:

Shred your favorite cheese - about 1/2 c or more.. I used sharp cheddar ♥️

Thinly slice about 1/4 c scallions.

Now depending on how chunky or smooth you want your soup, remove about 3/4 more or less of the potatoes and some stock and blend until puréed then return to the soup. You can also use an emulsion blender in your Dutch oven to get the consistency you like.

Lower temp to medium low and add 1/2 c heavy cream. Give a good stir them all simmer for another 20 minutes or so.. season with sea salt and a few twist of freshly cracked pepper.

Serve and enjoy with bacon, cheese and scallions.. Added BONUS if you serve with a nice crusty warmed and sliced baguette ♥️

08/01/2025

Hello Lover.. ♥️😍♥️

06/01/2025

Corn Puddin ♥️🙌🏽♥️

Corn Pudding

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream - full fat
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
½ cup unsalted butter melted, plus about 4-5 tablespoons for coating the casserole dish.
1 bag of frozen corn
15 oz can cream style corn

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and set aside.

Beat eggs then add the wet ingredients.

Combine and mix well. Fold in corn.

Butter casserole dish then pour batter in.

Bake from 50 minutes to 1 hour. Top should be slightly puffy, golden and with a clean toothpick.

Let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!!!

01/01/2025

Korean Vegetable Pancakes ♥️

1 bunch sliced scallions,
1/2 zucchini cut in to matchsticks
1 jalapeño - finely diced
About 4-5 portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c water
A few good twists of pink Himalayan sea salt
Vegetable oil for pan frying over high heat

Mix everything except the mushrooms.

Pour batter in hot skillet and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.. while on first side, top with mushrooms then flip.

Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes then flip again. You’ll know when it’s done when it’s crispy.

For the dipping Sauce:

4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp or more to taste of granulated sugar
1/2 tsp or more of Korean Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Enjoy!!

09/12/2024

This was a first - an ombré birthday, piñata cake. It turned out really good! The kids went wild & I received two orders from their parents 💜🩵💜🩵💜

03/12/2024

Candy Kabobs!!! ♥️🍭♥️

29/11/2024

Roasted brussel sprouts & butternut squash topped with pomegranate and a jalapeño balsamic glaze ♥️

2 lbs fresh brussel sprouts - bottoms trimmed and sliced in half. Tossed in extra virgin olive oil and season with a few twists of pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Then roast flat side down, on a metal sheet pan for about 13-15 minutes at 450 degrees.

Remove and set aside.

While the brussel sprouts were roasting, I prepped the butternut squash by pealing and dicing, discarding the seeds. Toss in melted butter and extra virgin olive oil with salt and pepper. Then roast for about 15 minutes. Remove and add to brussel sprouts.

For the glaze, place two cups balsamic vinegar with 1/3 c of dark brown sugar and 1 jalapeño sliced with seeds, in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Stir well to combine then reduce heat to medium.. keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally until liquid has reduced and thickened by half.

Before serving, drizzle glaze over, serve and enjoy! ♥️

08/10/2024

Sometimes a dinner for 2 on a platter is the most romantic ♥️

A very dear friend gifted us with some of his fresh catches - a beautifully filleted red on a half shell and trout.

I created a paste from butter and lemon juice with about 1/4 tsp each - cayenne, old bay, paprika, dill and dried parsley..

Baked for approximately 25 minutes at 350 degrees. For the red, skin down on olive oiled surface (do not attempt to eat this skin). Until temp reaches 140 then allow to rest until it reaches 145.

Served with herbed rice (made with chicken stock, minced celery and onion, parsley and chives) & sautéed mushrooms in better, parsley and s&p. Then a refreshing side of English Cucumber, fresh lemon juice, pink Himalayan salt & pepper with fresh flat leaf parsley. So good!

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