Kelsey's Essentials - Season 2

Kelsey indulges her sweet tooth by whipping up some fresh and exciting desserts for entertaining friends or just nibbling on her own. Fresh ingredients are key when making homemade desserts and she'll start things off with a Fresh Fruit Pizza, a sugar cookie crust dessert filled with the season's freshest fruit. Then, she'll show you how to cool things down with a refreshing Watermelon, Ginger and Lime Granita. This dessert menu isn't complete without a little chocolate and a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Icebox Cake filled With Bananas fits the bill. It's all about fresh and fabulous desserts when Kelsey gets in the kitchen.

Making delicious, flavorful sandwiches is an essential skill that every home cook needs to know. Nothing wins over guests and friends like super, homemade deli treats, packed with bold flavors and ingredients. Using her slow cooker, Kelsey will turn turkey breast into a tender Roast Dip With Melted Gruyere. Then she'll take some inspiration from one of her favorite places to eat, New Orleans, and fry up some golden shrimp for a Cajun Po' Boy. Fried Green Tomatoes are an essential ingredient for her fresh and tasty BLT with sweet basil mayo and crispy pancetta. Finally, a pressed Picnic Sandwich with roasted red peppers and pepperoncini spread is the perfect sandwich if you're on the go.

Kelsey uses one of her favorite essential tools, the slow cooker, to make some surprising, delicious and versatile dishes. Her spicy and savory pork recipe comes out of the slow cooker fork tender and perfect for any number of dishes. To start, she'll wrap the Pork in a Warm Tortilla and add pickled red onions, pineapple and cilantro and serve it with a side of Black Bean Salad With Mango and Lime. Then, for a twist, she'll make a Thai inspired Pork Summer Roll, filled with mint, cilantro and basil and serve it with rich and creamy Peanut Dipping Sauce. And for dessert, she'll show you how to make a creamy and wonderful Tres Leches Bread Pudding.

Knowing how to cook different cuts of beef is an essential technique for any home cook. Today, Kelsey is taking three cuts of steak and cooking them three different ways. First, Kelsey pan sears a Filet and tops it with a Porcini Mushroom Marsala Sauce made from the filet's pan drippings. Then she marinates a Flank Steak in a tangy blend of garlic mustard and brown sugar and broils it for a fresh Salad mixed With champagne grapes, bitter greens and blue cheese. Finally, she grills Skirt Steak and slathers it in a Pomegranate Glaze for fun and feisty Fajitas!

Kelsey is all about bringing heavenly herbs into your kitchen. She will show you how to transform those fresh herbs sitting on your sill or tucked away in your fridge un-used into a slew of delicious dishes. Her Every Herb Lemon Pesto blends six of her favorite aromatics into a delicious dressing. Next, those same herbs are used for a fresh Salad With creamy and milky Burrata. Then, Kelsey will show you her essential tips for the perfect, crispy, herby and cheesy Chicken Roulade and a robust Potato Salad coated in homemade Bacon Vinaigrette. And to wash it all down, Kelsey will stir up Raspberry Limeade infused with lavender and mint that's sure to refresh any palate.

For anyone who wants to add fresh and delicious ingredients to their dishes, finding the freshest vegetables is essential. To start, Kelsey makes a classic French dish, Ratatouille, filled with caramelized onions, elegant eggplant and homemade tomato jam. Next, an Italian bread salad, Panzanella, is a tangy mixture of smokey mozzarella and bread, with a mixture of peppers, cherry heirloom tomatoes and sugar snap peas -- all fresh from the market. And last, but certainly not least, a pan-seared Pacific Cod will be paired with a silky, smooth Creamed Corn and topped with a homemade Cilantro Vinaigrette. The variety of what you can do with the right produce is endless when it comes to flavor and freshness.

A sizzling and scrumptious breakfast is the perfect start to any day. Ripe fruit, savory sausage and farm fresh eggs are just a few of the essential ingredients Kelsey will be using in her favorite morning morsels. She'll be using her cast iron skillet to make Pork Maple Sausage from scratch and then use it in her tasty Egg, Cheese and Sausage Sandwich. The sausage will also get stuffed inside crispy Potato Skins, mixed with a robust Skillet Hash and topped With Fried Eggs. Finally, she'll indulge her sweet side with a Blueberry and Cream Stuffed French Toast With Fresh Strawberry Jam. Nothing says the perfect start to a day like a menu full of flavor and fun!

Kelsey dives into the essential techniques, ingredients and variations for pizza, calzones and flatbreads. Kelsey starts with the perfect base to any of these dishes with the Really Simple Pizza Dough. She'll combine two of her favorite dishes into one with a Chopped Chicken Caesar Salad. Next, she tosses the simple dough on a cast iron skillet to make a decadent Beet, Bacon and Herbed Goat Cheese Flatbread. With the same dough she'll show you a cool technique for making a Calzone stuffed with three gooey cheeses: Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella. Finally, a pizzeria favorite -- Garlic Knots. She'll show you how to tie your own knots and coat them in butter, garlic and parmesan.

Kelsey serves up some of the most memorable flavors, tips and techniques from her recent culinary road trip through Spain. There's nothing more Spanish than Gazpacho and her cold and creamy recipe uses a secret Spanish ingredient that you'll want to use every time you make it. Grilled Garlic Shrimp topped with a classic Romesco Sauce and brothy and steamy Clams mixed with Spicy Chorizo Sausage pull from Spanish seafood essentials. For dessert, it's a twist on the Empanada, when she adds the classic American ingredient -- apples -- then combines it with a sweet almond pastry cream. It's a trans-Atlantic trip to her favorite culinary hotspot, Spain!

There's nothing more fun than a backyard feast with friends, except when you're the one stuck in the kitchen. Kelsey's essential dishes use quick techniques that will keep the cook out of kitchen, so they can enjoy the fun and sun with their friends. Quick pickling is an easy way to turn cucumbers into fiery and herby Pickles, that get deep fried into a delicious snack. Her Turkey Sloppy Jane Sliders are a light version of everyone's favorite sandwich, while her S'more Pies reinvents the campfire classic.

There's nothing Kelsey loves more than the sweet and smoky smell of barbecue. Outdoor grilling is great, but she will show the viewer some indoor techniques and tricks to create a delicious BBQ family style meal. Tangy and sweet Cumin-Scented Ribs are slathered in homemade BBQ Sauce and then baked in the oven until the meat is falling off the bone. For sides, Kelsey uses two of her essential flavor boosters, bacon and maple syrup, to elevate her Baked Beans. Her Corn Salad is filled with charred kernels and topped with savory Basil Vinaigrette. Finally, she'll be putting her own twist on a classic pie with fresh Berry Pie Pops, a dessert everyone will want seconds of!

Small plates are a great way to show off big flavor and a fun way to entertain a large group of people. Kelsey will show the viewer some of her favorite twists on classic hors d'oeuvres. Pickled Shrimp is paired with a refreshing Lemon and Chive Aioli and the classic Deviled Eggs is topped with homemade Candied Bacon. And for a quick no nonsense small plate, she'll take favorite Antipasto and wrap them up in crisp Cups of Lettuce. Then, fresh Stone Fruit gets chopped up and combined into delicious Salsa, paired with Cinnamon Chips. She'll top everything off with sweet and refreshing Vanilla Bean Lemonade. It's a small plate party that will prove that good things do come in small packages.

Entertaining friends and family during the holidays doesn't always mean baking a whole turkey, ham, or cake: bite size savory and sweet treats are quick ways to get the taste of the holidays to your guests in no time. Kelsey gets all of her favorite flavors of a turkey meal into one bite with Potato Latkes topped with Smoked Turkey Leg and Sweet Kumquat Chutney. Her favorite stuffing recipe packs big flavor into little Crispy Prosciutto cups. For dessert, a twist on a classic: Gingerbread Cake Truffles mixed with lemon ginger icing and topped with melted white chocolate and toasted pistachios. Kelsey is making entertaining for the holidays that much easier with some amazing bite size morsels.