Monday, September 10, 2012
Baked Acorn Squash with Apple Filling
Did you know if you microwave any winter squash for about 60 seconds, it will be easier to slice?
The apples and raisins add texture and flavor to the already hearty squash. We'll be having this again the next time there's a squash in our CSA basket!
Baked Acorn Squash with Pear and Apple Filling from Joy of Cooking
Recipe Courtesy of Close to Home
2 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 large apples, peeled cored and diced
1 ripe pear, pealed cored and diced (I just used apples)
1/4 cup dried currants or raisins
2 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
Zest of 1 small orange
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup apple cider or orange juice
1 tbsp bourbon or dark rum (optional) (I used brandy)
4 tsps of softned butter mixed with cinnamon and sugar to taste
Preheat oven to 325. Butter a baking pan. Place the squash cut side down in the pan. Add 1/4 inch hot water.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl, mix apples, pear, currants or raisins, brown sugar, orange zest cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a large skillet heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the apple mixture and cook until the fruit is golden brown. (about 5 minutes).
Stir in the cider and bourbon. Simmer, stirring often until the fruit is tender. (about 8 minutes). Sprinkle with a tsp of salt.
Remove the squash from the oven; pour off the water from the pan and turn the squash cut side up. Fill the squash with the apple mixture.
Bake until the squash is tender, About 15 minutes. Dollop a teaspoon of Cinnamon butter and let melt.
I am linking this to On The Menu Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken
This month I was assigned Fallon's Cucina. She's a fitness guru who enjoys sharing her recipes with friends and family. Fallon has lots of delicious recipes on her blog, it was hard to choose just one. Since I belong to a couple of baking groups, I try to choose a savory recipe for SRC. I'm always looking for new chicken recipes, especially those that are a little "dressed up".
My husband doesn't really care for mustard so I left it off of his piece of chicken. I didn't think the mustard flavor was very strong but I know he would have picked it out! I loved this recipe. I could just eat the topping. The tang of the goat cheese mixed with the sweetness of the honey and the crunch of the pecans is delicious.
If you're looking for a new chicken recipe for a weeknight dinner or weekend dinner party, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed.
Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken
Adapted from The Foodie and The Family courtesy of Fallon's Cucina
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1-2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons clover honey
1 cup raw pecans, crushed
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the honey, crushed pecans, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Put the chicken breast onto a baking sheet that has been oiled with olive oil or use a nonstick foil/parchment paper. Season with salt and pepper on both sides and brush the chicken breast with mustard. Press the pecan/goat cheese mixture onto the top of the chicken breasts. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday!Monday, March 12, 2012
Crock Pot Pork Chops - Secret Recipe Club
In an effort to choose something besides desserts for my SRC assignments, I noticed the Crumbs and Chaos ladies feature Crock Pot recipes. I am always searching for new crock pot recipes to add to my collection. We don’t have pork chops often at my house. Occasionally we will have them grilled in the summer but never during the winter months. Pork chops cooked inside always remind me of the ones my mother made as a kid, fried and dry. They reminded me of shoe leather, not that I’ve ever eaten shoe leather.
When I saw Emily of Crumbs and Chaos' recipe for Crock Pot Pork Chops, with mushroom sauce, how could they be anything but moist and delicious. I substituted flour for the tapioca. The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked so I added a little cornstarch and thickened it stove top. Served along side noodles or rice, this makes the perfect weeknight dinner.
Crockpot Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce
- 4-6 boneless pork chops
- 1 can mushroom soup
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1- 4oz. can sliced mushrooms
- 2 Tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 beef bouillon granules or 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, optional
Monday, February 13, 2012
Pastisio - Secret Recipe Club
In case you're not familiar with SRC, here's how it works. Each month you're assigned a blogger, you choose one of his or her recipes, prepare it and keep it a secret until reveal day. This month, I was assigned Let's Try These. I am surprised we haven't "met" before. We've both baked in Cookie Carnival and Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club. Also, we've both been through the Wilton cake decorating courses. Vivian has baked a wedding cake. I'd love to do that one day but it makes me crazy nervous to think about it! I chose one of Vivian's savory recipes since I bake enough sweet recipes in the baking groups I belong to.
The cinnamon adds a great depth of flavor to this tomato based pasta dish. Tim and I enjoyed this dish a lot.
Courtesy of Let's Try These.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Pumpkin Alfredo - Secret Recipe Club
My first month, I was assigned the Hagis and the Herring and made their Crunchy Roasted Potatoes and Carrots. Month two was Creative Culinary and her beautiful Lavender Martini. August was month three and The Wednesday Baker's Wild Blueberry Muffins. September was fellow Omaha blogger Biking and Baking's, Rosemary Squash Soup. Just in time for football season, October brought me Sticky Chicken Wings from Lavender and Lime. November was a delicious holiday breakfast idea, Eggs en Cocette from Searching for Spice.
For December, our hostess Tina of Mom's Crazy Cooking suggested we find a holiday recipe to share. Having not tired of eating pumpkin, I was drawn to Pumpkin Alfredo from Veggie Converter. Kristi has amazing vegetarian and vegan recipes, most of which I found would be easy to change or convert if you aren't vegetarian. Although we aren't vegetarian, we try to eat at least one meatless meal a week. To lighten the recipe up a little, I decreased the butter and increased the milk. The pasta was still rich and creamy.
When Tim saw what I was making, he questioned the peas. I used the small canned peas. They added nice flavor and color to the dish. As I was putting the finishing touches on the dish, I was wishing I had some fresh sage to add. I think sage would add a nice finishing touch. We enjoyed this hearty pasta dish.
Pumpkin Alfredo
1 pound spaghetti noodles
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (I used 1/2 stick)
4 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk (I used 1 cup of skim milk)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
Boil spaghetti noodles according to package directions, add peas into the boiling water with 5-7 minutes remaining.
Meanwhile, brown garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add butter and cream cheese, allow to melt partially. Add pumpkin and stir. Mix cornstarch with a bit of the milk to create a slurry. Add slurry and remaining milk to pan. Cook a few more minutes, stirring regularly, until thickened. Add Italian seasoning and House seasoning, to taste.
If serving immediately, mix sauce with noodles and peas. If serving later, package noodles and peas separately from sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Eggs en Cocotte - Secret Recipe Club
This month, I had the pleasure of choosing a recipe from Searching for Spice. Each month when I receive my assignment, I can't wait to check out my assigned blogger. It's hard to decide which recipe to make. I was torn between this soup and the eggs. We're still trying to get everything done around the new house. Sunday morning when I realized I hadn't made the recipe yet and needed something for breakfast, Eggs en Cocotte or Baked Eggs it is. I've never made Baked Eggs before. I decided to add mushrooms, Parmesan Cheese and Bacon to the eggs. I didn't have any cream, so I substituted skim milk. I wouldn't recommend skim milk, although the eggs were still good, they were a little runny. This recipe is a keeper and would make a great breakfast for company.
Eggs en Cocotte
Ingredients – makes 2
2 slices of bread (I omitted this and served toast on the side)
2 eggs
8 tsp cream
Salt
Black Pepper
Option 1
2 tsp grated parmesan
A few leaves of rocket (argula)
Option 2
2 tsp grated cheddar
1 mushroom
I used Bacon and Sauteed MushroomsHow to Make Eggs en Cocotte
1. Flatten the bread with a rolling pin.
2. Grease the insides of 2 ramekins
3. Make 4 cuts through the bread starting from the middle of each side, stopping half-way to the centre.
4. Put the slices of bread into the ramekins so the sides that have been cut overlap each other.
5. Put the cheese in the bottom of each ramekin. Put some rocket on top of the parmesan one and some sliced mushroom on top of the cheddar one. Add 2 tsp of cream to each ramekin then add the egg. Top with another 2 tsp of cream, some salt and pepper.
6. Bake in the oven at about 350 for about 25 minutes. If you like a soft egg it will be ready sooner, but I prefer a harder egg.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sticky Chicken Wings - Secret Recipe Club
It's football season and a few Sunday's ago there was a game between my KC Chiefs and Tim's Minnesota Vikings. Neither one of these teams had won a game yet this year, so this was a big event in more than one way. What foods do you think of when you hear football? Chicken Wings, Nachos and Dip are the first that come to my mind. I found a recipe for Sticky Chicken Wings on Tandy's blog. Perfect! Normally I make these wings, much more spicy than sticky.
I cooked these in the oven for about 30 minutes and then finished them on the grill. Tim enjoyed the wings a lot more than the outcome of the game. KC Chiefs 22 - Minnesota Vikings 17.
STICKY CHICKEN WINGS
ingredients:
8 chicken wings
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon wasabi sauce
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
method:
preheat the oven to 180°Celsius
make a marinade out of the lime, soy, ginger, oil, honey, wasabi and garlic
massage the marinade into the chicken and leave to marinade for 20 minutes
place the chicken and the marinade into an oven proof dish
season and cook for 25 minutes
grill for a further 2 minutes
Note: I grilled these for about 20 minutes. I didn't find these to be done after 20 minutes in the oven.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Rosemary Butternut Squash Soup - Secret Recipe Club
When I received my Secret Recipe Club assigned blogger for the month, I clicked over on her site and read she'd just attended a Minnesota Twins game. Was she from Minnesota like my husband? I clicked around and found out she's not from Minnesota, she lives right here in Omaha.
Sarah of Biking and Baking is a med student and follows a plant based diet. Browsing through Sarah's recipes was a real learning experience for me. I ran across ingredients I wasn't familiar with like hemp seeds and lucuma powder. Lucuma powder is a raw, organic low glycemic sweetner.
I wanted to try and make one of Sarah's recipes without making too many substitutions. Sarah's Rosemary Butternut Squash soup was the perfect recipe. I had a Butternut Squash in the pantry from my CSA bag and Agave Nectar on the shelf. I used vegetable broth and no milk in my version. I'd intended to top mine with roasted pecans but forgot them in the oven and I didn't think burnt pecans were a good topping.
We love butternut squash soup at our house. Sarah's recipe is more savory than the recipes I normally follow. I love the addition of the smoky paprika, it adds a nice smoky touch to the soup. Thanks Sarah for a wonderful recipe for a fall soup!
Rosemary Butternut Soup
1 butternut squash
3 sprigs rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
onion
1.5 cup coconut milk (Sarah used the So Delicious drinkable kind, if you didn't have this she suggests soy or almond milk). I omitted the milk.
1.5 cup veggie broth
1 bay leaf
cinnamon
smoked paprika
cumin
oregano
basil
drizzle agave
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. Slice squash in half, scoop out seeds. Peel garlic, rough chop onion. Place squash, onion, and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bake until squash is soft, about 1 hour. You will need to remove the onion and garlic about half way through cooking time.
Place veggie broth, milk, an bay leaf in a stock pot. Bring to a simmer. Place onion and garlic in pot. Scoop squash flesh out of shell and place in pot. Whiz up with an immersion blender. Add a drizzle of agave and about a teaspoon of paprika, cinnamon, and cumin. Add about 2 teaspoons of dried basil and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano. Simmer together for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning/sweetness.
Toast pecans. Serve soup with a sprinkle of pecans:).
I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wild Blueberry Oat Muffins - Secret Recipe Club
My blog for this month is The Wednesday Baker. Andi has a lovely blog with lots of delicious recipes. After browsing on her blog several times, I settled on the Wild Blueberry Oat Muffins. I happened to have a pint of blueberries in the fridge and needed to make something for food day at hubby's work. Perfect!
I had some leftover crumb topping in the fridge. Instead of topping with sugar after baking, I decided to top with the crumb topping before baking.
The batter for these muffins is the most liquid batter I've ever seen. Usually, at least for me, muffin batter is thick. After putting these in the muffin tins, I read the recipe again, thinking maybe I'd read it wrong. That does happen to me quite a bit. No I read the recipe correctly. My muffins baked just shy of 20 minutes and were perfect. This is by far the best blueberry muffin I've ever eaten. They're moist with a nice soft crumb. The crumb topping added a beautiful finishing touch. I can't wait to experiment with this recipe with other fruits. Thanks Andi for a fabulous recipe!
Wild Blueberry-Oat Muffins
Paula Deen magazine July-August 2011
Courtesy of The Wednesday Baker
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp orange zest
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries*
*keeping out 1/2 cup of the blueberries to sprinkle on top of the batter before baking
confectioners' sugar to sprinkle on top after baking
Place the milk and the old-fashioned oatmeal in a bowl, stir to combine and allow to set for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with papers or spray muffins pan well with pam spray.
Add to the oatmeal the sugar, oil, orange zest, and egg and mix well. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon and the nuts then add to the wet mixture. Stir just long enough to combine. Carefully stir in the one cup of blueberries and mix gently. Spoon into the baking cups, sprinkle the tops with the remaining blueberries. Bake at 425 degree for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. After they are cool sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar and serve.
I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday , Tuesday's at the Table,.
Foodie Friday and Full Plate Thursday.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Secret Recipe Club - Lavender Lemonade Martini
On a Saturday morning I sat at my computer scrolling through the hundreds of recipes on Creative Culinary. As I was scanning the recipes, I ran across many things familiar to me. There were posts of recipes from Nordstrom's Cafe, drinks from Yia Yia's and several versions of St. Louis Butter Cake. I started out with a list of six recipes: Nutella Fudge Brownies, Potato Chip Cookies, Lavender Lemonade Martini, Best Coffee Cake Ever, Hamburger Baked Bean Casserole and Olive Oil & Rosemary Cake.
I've been wanting to bake with Nutella! Potato chip cookies sound so fun. Who can pass up a martini? The casserole would be perfect for camping! My rosemary is growing like crazy. Which recipe to choose?
Inspired by Tim's and my recent trip to the Missouri Valley Lavender Farm, I chose the Lavender Lemonade Martini.A couple of summers ago I made some lavender simple syrup to use for cocktails. I think it ended up in the back of the fridge and not in the cocktails. Infused simple syrup is perfect for cocktails. It adds sweetness, along with a nice hint of lavender. This is a perfect summer cocktail or if you prefer, this makes a refreshing lavender lemonade.
Lavender Lemonade Martini
Recipe Courtesy of Creative CulinaryIngredients
- 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 6-8 sprigs of lavender
- sugar for rimming
- Vodka, preferably chilled
- lemon slices and lavender sprigs for garnish (optional)
Preparation Instructions
- Add sugar to water in pot on stove and bring to boil; cook only until sugar is dissolved. Add lavender sprigs and allow to cool completely.
- Put lemon juice in pitcher and strain lavender/sugar water into same pitcher.
- Add cup of ice to pitcher and stir well.
- Use a lemon slice to wet the edge of a martini glass. Rim the edge with sugar. I typically put a layer of sugar on a saucer and dip the top edge in it.
- Add ice to the glass and fill 2/3 with lemonade.
- Add 1/2 to a full shot of vodka, stir. Enjoy!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Secret Recipe Club
This month I was assigned the blog, Haggis and the Herring! Haggis and the Herring is a husband and wife blog team who feature "tasty recipes tested in our kitchen – drawing from flavours around the world including our English, European, Mediterranean and South-Asian food experiences." There were so many recipes to choose from, it was hard to narrow it down to just one.
We love roasted potatoes, so after much deliberation, I chose Crunchy Roasted Potatoes and Carrots. In this recipe you boil the potatoes and carrots before roasting. I've seen lots of recipes where you boil potatoes before deep frying them. I cut my potatoes into large chunks instead of a dice. I used 1/2 regular paprika and 1/2 smoky paprika. Mine didn't get very crunchy but maybe that's because I made them on a silpat instead of parchment? We really enjoyed these, they were just a little spicy with a lot of flavor.
Crunchy Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
by Daniel Saraga November 3, 2010
Courtesy of The Haggis and The Herring
Serve it as a side or eat it alone for the pure comfort-food value.
Ingredients
5 or 6 potatoes, diced, (peeled, optional)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 3/4" rounds
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
to taste salt
Instructions
1. Boil potatoes and carrots in salted water until soft (15-20 minutes).2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.3. Drain and run potatoes and carrots under cold water for 2-4 minutes, drain again and let dry for 2-3 minutes.4. In a small bowl, mix oil, paprika, cayenne and a pinch of salt.5. Toss potatoes and carrots in oil mixture and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.6. Roast for 30-45 minutes, until outside is golden and crispy.
Details
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: 6 servings