Sunday, December 21, 2014

Stuffed Squash



From Moosewood Cookbook, p.152

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sized winter squash, halved lengthwise and prebaked
  • 1 cup raw brown rice (long or short grain) and 1 3/4 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 1/2 cups minced onion
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 medium sized tart apples, diced
  • 3 large navel oranges, sectioned
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice or cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
  • 1 cup chopped almonds and/or pecans
  • optional toppings: orange-ginger sauce, yogurt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Take a winter squash and split it lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Bake it face down on an oiled tray for about 30 minutes or until very soft (a fork should slide in easily).
  3. Place rice and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer undisturbed for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender.  Transfer to a medium sized bowl.
  4. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium skillet.  Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.
  5. Add garlic, apples, oranges, and spices, and sauté over medium heat about 5 minutes more.  The orange sections may fall apart, but that's ok.
  6. Add the sauté to the rice and mix well.  Season to taste with salt and honey or brown sugar.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill the prebaked squash halves and top with chopped nuts.  Bake uncovered until heated through -- about 20 to 30 minutes (depending on how warm the ingredients were to begin with).
Comments

This makes a lot of stuffing per squash.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Beef Ragout


Recipe from here.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
  • 2 lbs boneless round steak, trimmed of fat and cubed
  • reserved tomato juice, plus water to make 1 cup
  • 2 bay leaves
  • pepper
  • 2 cups whole baby carrots
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms
  • 1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, drained and juice reserved
  • 1 medium green pepper, slivered
  • paprika
  • seasoning salt
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons flour
Instructions
  1. Sauté onion and garlic in margarine in large frying pan until onion is soft and golden. Turn into ungreased 3 quart casserole.
  2. Add beef. Add tomato juice mixture, bay leaves and pepper. Stir. Cover. Bake in 325F oven for 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Add next 6 ingredients. Stir. Cover. Bake for about 1 hour until beef is very tender. Remove and discard bay leaves.
  4. Stir water into flour in small cup until smooth. Gradually stir into beef mixture. Cover. Bake for 15 minutes until bubbling and thickened.
Comments

Beef comes out super tender; kind of an annoying recipe in that you need to take out the casserole dish and stir it twice during cooking; diced tomatoes would probably be better than annoying large stewed tomatoes

Friday, May 09, 2014

Rum Balls


Recipe from here.

Ingredients
  • 1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 1 (16 ounce) package vanilla wafers, crushed very fine
  • 2 cups finely chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling
Instructions
  1. In the microwave or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt evaporated milk and chocolate chips, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the crushed vanilla wafers and brandy until well blended. Roll the dough into small balls and roll the balls in chopped walnuts, then in confectioners' sugar. Store covered in the refrigerator.
Comments

Confectioners’ sugar is probably unnecessary.  Captain Morgan (or another spiced rum) is good for the liquor.

Puppy Chow

Recipe from here.

Ingredients

  • 9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Instructions

  1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
  2. Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
  3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

Comments

Taste was meh; pretty bland and sugary.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Frozen Vegetable Thai Stir-Fry


Recipe from here.


Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
  • (optional) 2 chicken breasts
Instructions
  1. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, and peanut butter in a small bowl.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir frozen vegetables until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in soy sauce mixture.
Comments

This recipe has the advantage of not having to slice anything at all and being fast to cook.

I made this with a few chicken strips I had lying around.  Probably would have gone well over some rice.

The original recipe calls for (presumably?) tossing the sauce in like a salad, but I think I would prefer a think peanut sauce layered on top.  To do this, increase the peanut butter and soy sauce in the sauce and wayyyy decrease the garlic powder.

Crunchy peanut butter could be a nice twist.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Chicken with Quinoa and Veggies

Recipe from here

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rinsed quinoa
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic scapes, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
  • 8 fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

Instructions

  1. Bring the quinoa and chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan; reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer until the broth is absorbed, the quinoa is fluffy, and the white line is visible in the grain, about 12 minutes.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet; cook and stir the garlic scapes and onion until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken breast strips and cook until the chicken is still slightly pink in the middle, about 5 more minutes. Remove the chicken meat and set aside. Pour 2 more tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet and cook and stir the zucchini and tomato until the zucchini is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and sprinkle with feta cheese, basil leaves, and lime juice. Cook until the chicken is fully cooked and hot, about 10 more minutes. Serve over hot quinoa.

Comments

Used garlic instead of garlic scrapes and skipped the remove-chicken-and-put-it-back-in step.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Recipe from here.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound regular white mushrooms, cleaned, quartered or sliced
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp minced shallots
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp water
  • Minced parsley for garnish


Instructions

  1. In a food processor, coarsely chop mushrooms and lemon juice.
  2. Melt butter in (4-5 quart) sauce pan and lightly sauté shallots on medium heat. Add mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf, sauté over moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid that is released from the mushrooms disappears.
  3. Add salt, pepper, cream and chicken stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  4. Add cornstarch and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Correct seasoning and add more lemon juice to taste.

Greek Salad


Got this recipe from here.

Ingredients

  • 1 head romaine lettuce- rinsed, dried and chopped
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 (6 ounce) can pitted black olives
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large salad bowl, combine the Romaine, onion, olives, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and cheese.
  2. Whisk together the olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and black pepper. Pour dressing over salad, toss and serve.
 

Deviled Eggs


Got this recipe from here.

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Smoked Spanish paprika, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with enough water that there's 1 1/2 inches of water above the eggs. Heat on high until water begins to boil, then cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and leave covered for 14 minutes, then rinse under cold water continuously for 1 minute.
  2. Crack egg shells and carefully peel under cool running water. Gently dry with paper towels. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, removing yolks to a medium bowl, and placing the whites on a serving platter. Mash the yolks into a fine crumble using a fork. Add mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
  3. Evenly disperse heaping teaspoons of the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Lasagne


This is an old family recipe passed down for generations... not.  It's on the back of the Barilla Lasagne box.

Ingredients
  • 1 Box Lasagne (that you don't have to boil)
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 15oz container of ricotta cheese
  • 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 26oz jars tomato sauce
Directions
  1. Brown the meat, obvi
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  3. In a bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozzarella and the paremesan.
  4. Get a 13x9x3 baking pan. Layer the ingredients as follows:
    1. 1 cup of sauce
    2. 4 lasagne sheets, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the meat, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup sauce
    3. 4 lasagne sheets, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, and 1.5 cups of sauce
    4. 4 lasagne sheets, the remaining 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, the remaining 1/2 of meat, and 1 cup of sauce
    5. 4 lasagne sheets, the remaining sauce, and the remaining one cup mozzarella
  5. Cover the pan with foil and stuff it in the oven! Wait 50-60 minutes, then take the foil off and continue cooking it for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Wait 15 minutes before cutting it, unless you like your lasagne messy.
Comments

I think Barilla changed their recipe slightly recently.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Kale Chips


Obtained recipe from here

Ingredients
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
  3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
Comments

Skip the parchment paper; dry kale thoroughly (with paper towels if necessary); use olive oil and salt lightly; can also substitute soy sauce for salt (as I did in the picture)

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Lentil, Spinach and Potato Ragout


From AMA Family Health Cookbook, p.303

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra virgin
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 4 cups defatted lower-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
  • 1.5 cups dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
  • 1.5 pounds red-skinned potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1 pound torn fresh spinach leaves, or 1 package (10 oz) thawed frozen spinach
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid or in a Dutch oven.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Stir in the broth and lentils.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.  Add the potatoes and cook until lentils and potatoes are both tender, about 15 minutes longer.
  2. Stir in the spinach and simmer, covered, until the spinach wilts and becomes tender, about 4 minutes.  Add more liquid if needed to maintain a stewlike consistency.
  3. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon peel, cayenne, salt to taste, and mint.  Sprinkle with the crumbled feta before serving.

Comments

Don't eat this dish without loads of feta cheese!  The mint, on the other hand, doesn't really add much.

Cut the potatoes pretty finely.