Autumn’s busy schedule makes dinner easy to overlook, but these simple, flavorful recipes and quick dessert ideas bring warmth and ease back to your table.
Photo above: Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes. Courtesy of Ashley Cuoco.
Autumn is always such a busy time — back to school, sports activities and the holidays are approaching fast. With all the busyness, it is easy to put dinner on the back burner. Bring dinner back into focus with my easy, approachable autumn dinner recipes.
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
©Ashley Cuoco
Makes 16 meatballs
Meatballs should be made ahead of time and refrigerated for at least one hour. Use a braiser pan to get nicely browned meatballs.
For the meatballs:
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup Olivelle Sicilian Lemon Olive Oil
- ½ cup flour
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 teaspoons flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup dry rosé wine
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup drained capers
- Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Place 1 egg in a mixing bowl. Add breadcrumbs, ground chicken and parmesan cheese. Mix with a large spoon to combine. Add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Mix to combine all ingredients.
With clean hands, divide mixture into 16 evenly-sized meatballs and place on a plate. Cover plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
Heat on stovetop on medium heat. When ready to cook meatballs, place Sicilian lemon olive oil in a braiser pan. Oil should be lightly sizzling. Place flour in small bowl. Dip and roll meatballs gently in flour to cover meatballs in flour.
Place meatballs in braiser pan in a single layer, with space between them (do two batches, if needed). Cook over medium heat, flipping the meatballs every 1–2 minutes to brown on all sides, for 8 minutes. (If meatballs are getting too brown, reduce heat to medium-low). Remove the meatballs to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Add melted butter to the pan and add the garlic. Cook garlic for about 1 minute to soften and begin to brown. Add the flour and whisk the flour into the butter until combined. Cook for another minute over medium-low heat. Whisk in the broth until the flour is absorbed and then add the lemon juice, red chili flakes, rosé wine, sugar and capers. Stir.
Add the meatballs back into the sauce and coat them with the sauce. (If the sauce gets too thick, add more chicken stock.) Cover and continue to simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle meatballs with chopped fresh parsley right before service. Serve warm over Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes.
Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes
I named my mashed potatoes “Million Dollar” because they are so rich — crème fraiche and lots of butter. Use a potato ricer to make them super creamy.
Makes 4 servings
- 8 small russet potatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) butter, melted
- ½ cup crème fraiche
- 8 chives, snipped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Peel and rinse russet potatoes. Fill a pot ¾ full with water. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil. Add potatoes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook potatoes until they are fork tender. Remove from heat and drain water.
While potatoes are still warm, use potato ricer to rice potatoes into another pot. Add melted butter, stir. Add crème fraiche, chives, salt and pepper and stir. Serve warm.
My mashed potatoes can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. To reheat, add a little milk in a saucepan and heat over low heat. Add mashed potatoes and stir, continuing over low heat until potatoes are reheated.
Fun Yummy Desserts
Ready in minutes!
Looking for fun easy desserts? Jamison’s Orchard on Grandin Road Extension has lots of yummy options. One of my favorites is their Fruit Crisp Mix. Just combine 4 cups of fruit (chopped apples or peaches by themselves or combined with frozen dark cherries) and butter, top with Jamison’s fruit crisp mix (oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon) and chopped pecans and bake to make a delightful crisp, ready in minutes.
Jamison’s Orchard also carries frozen cookie dough balls – ready to pop in the oven. Peanut Butter Blossom, Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Chip and more. Cheesecake is another of Jamison’s Orchard frozen dessert specialties. Flavors include Andes Mint, Chocolate Silk and Raspberry Velvet.
Gold Rush Cocktail
No rush on savoring this lovely bourbon cocktail, just sip and enjoy slowing down at the end of the day.
Makes 2 cocktails
For honey simple syrup:
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup water
- 2 wide strips lemon peel
For cocktail:
- 4 ounces bourbon
- 2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 ounces honey simple syrup
- Garnish: lemon peel twist
To make the honey simple syrup: Place honey, water and lemon peel in a small saucepan. Heat to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool completely. Remove and discard lemon peels. Place honey simple syrup in a mason jar. Cover and refrigerate.
To make the cocktail: Place bourbon, lemon juice, and 2 ounces honey simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add enough ice to fill cocktail shaker half way. Cover shaker and shake vigorously.
Fill 2 old-fashioned glasses with ice. Strain the cocktail into the glasses. Garnish with lemon twist.
Notes:
Olivelle Sicilian Lemon Olive Oil is available at Wine Gourmet.
The story above is from our September/October 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
