Squashed

Here's another meatless Monday recipe for you. I have been cooking away doing some holiday baking (my Mother's recipes to come), and was so exhausted I threw together this little "everything but the kitchen sink" recipe for a quick Monday night meal. This one also satisfies all the vegans out there if you omit the cheese.

Spaghetti Squash with Kale, Tomatoes, and Parmesan

Adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients

3-pound spaghetti squash

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

3-4 chopped shallots or a small sweet yellow onion

1 minced garlic clove

One bunch of de-ribbed and coarsely chopped Tuscan kale

2-3 ripe tomatoes (or ½-1 pint of sliced cherry tomatoes)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

3-4 TBS of white truffle oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

To prepare the squash

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. If you have or need a little time, bake at 350°, face down in a glass dish in about 1/4 cup of water. If you need to get dinner done quick, microwave in the glass dish in water and covered with plastic wrap (to steam). Your squash is ready when soft if pressed. Let it cool a bit before removing the spaghetti with a fork or spoon.

In a medium skillet heat the oil or butter on medium/high, add the scallions and cook until they are sweating. Next add the garlic (as to not burn it). Then add the kale and tomatoes and cook until the kale is wilted. Add oregano and salt and pepper. Turn heat down to low and allow to simmer while you scrape the squash with a fork to form strands. Finally add the salt and pepper as well as drizzle the truffle oil and give it a good mix through before placing the tomato mixture on top of the squash. Sprinkle with the parmesan and serve warm. 

Our Bird-less Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, I served as my mother's sous-chef so that I can learn all the traditional dishes of her home county during our brief visits to our state. This post is in honor of my mom Gisela.

German-style Rouladen

from Gisela Stowers

Ingredients:

4-6 Milanese cut beef steaks

salt and pepper to taste

German Style Mustard

½ lb of bacon

2-3 Large sweet German barrel pickles

1 Beef bouillon cube (I like Knor)

1 TBS Cornstarch

Cold Water

Cooking twine (May also use toothpicks)

Directions

Lay out each steak and salt and pepper one side. Then thinly spread a teaspoon of mustard. Take one strip of bacon and two quarters of a sweet pickle and roll up into a beef roll.

Secure with twine or toothpicks.

In a deep skillet with high heat vegetable oil, brown each side. Then add 1 ½ to 2 cups of water (depending on number of rolls) and one bouillon cube. Simmer on medium low for 1 to 1 ½ hours until the meat is tender, but turn the roll half way through. Then remove the meat from the skillet.

In a small bowl, whisk cold water into cornstarch little by little until its dissolved. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture into the remaining liquid in the skilled until desired thickness of gravy is achieved.

Serve warm with gravy. It is best along side mashed potatoes or German dumplings.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh Sweet Bird, will you be Brine(d)?

Thanksgiving is around the corner and many are prepping for the Turkey Thursday when we all bundle up, turn on some football, and give thanks to our bounties of family and food. There are many people even in this country who do not have that. I would recommend spending this day one year serving food to the less bountiful. Our family did that until the arrival of the little one, and once he is old enough to help rather than hinder, we will probably return to some service with this day.

Last year was the first year we had in our new home and so in honor I decided to conquer my first turkey. I had about 30 people coming from my husband's side of the family and did not want the main protein prepared to fail. So I looked and looked for that perfect recipe. In the end I trusted my farm-fresh bird to the all-knowing and venerable Mr. Alton Brown.

This recipe is featured in his Good Eats episode (Romancing the Bird).

Prep Time:

To brine, 2-3 days before the big day

Ingredients

•    1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

•    1 cup kosher salt

•    1/2 cup light brown sugar

•    1 gallon vegetable stock

•    1 tablespoon black peppercorns

•    1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

•    1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

•    1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

•    1 red apple, sliced

•    1/2 onion, sliced

•    1 cinnamon stick

•    1 cup water

•    4 sprigs rosemary

•    6 leaves sage

•    Vegetable oil

Directions

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed—see below for my adventures in finding said innards) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining. I used a brining bag (aka very large ziplock) in a cooler packed with ice packs overnight and my meat thermometer inside to make sure the temperature did not get into the danger zone.

The Big Day

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. (No stuffing here….that’s how you get sick.) Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with vegetable oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Now back to the issue of the innards. On the day of the big show, I snuck downstairs at 4:30 am and began to reach up inside the cavity after mangling the neck, I discovered no innards. I had a mini-mental crisis thinking, "Did this non-store bought turkey get gutted?" With much reaching, I found a heart and half a gizzard. Whew! As for the lost innards...turkey still tasted yummy,

And for my final bit of advice, I recommend the brining for all white meats-be that chicken whole or parts or pork. It really brings back the juices to your meat. Happy thanksgiving and good luck with those turkeys!

A Twist in Crisp

I am a HUGE fan of the Smitten Kitchen. When I saw this post, I had to try it. Let me tell you, this will be going down on my Thanksgiving table this year...

Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble
Adapted from Sweet Melissa Patisserie

Preheat oven to 350.

Crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed dark or light brown sugar
1 cup gingersnap crumbs (about 16 storebought cookies chopped in processor)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Pinch of white pepper, if you need an extra "snap"
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form.

Filling
2 pounds (about 4 to 5) large ripe pears: peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a baking dish, mix the pears, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture in the pan. Sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs. 

Enjoy under whipped or iced cream.

Pass Me the Pasta

Welcome readers to my little blog. It is intended to just share some things I have learned and discovered when trying to change how my family eats. In a country where most food is over-processed as our waistlines expand and preventable chronic diseases are on the rise, I have thought to myself, is it in our food? People are getting sick and dying from going to the grocery store. Can we not get back to our roots and eat fresh again? Even "Fat Free" and "Low Fat" has been replaced with items that you need a college degree in chemistry to understand.  So as a little background, I try to go organic and local when possible in regards to perishables. I use real cream, real butter, and real cane sugar (no high fructose corn syrup or additives here if possible.) We joined a CSA over the summer and use a local grocery delivery which has forced me to learn how to cook. I started all this when my son was allowed to start eating solids and I made his baby foods since that in my mind was as good as what I provided him naturally. Know where you food comes from and eat in moderation is my motto. 

So here we go....

Tired of store bought pasta sauce and want to add a little easy gourmet to your Meatless Mondays? Here's my go to recipe for a basic pasta sauce from the Queen of Italian Cooking Marcela Hazan found in her Essentials of Italian Cooking. Depending on the night, I might add and modify to what suits the mood or what's growing in the garden/arrives via the CSA.

Tomato and Onion Sauce

28-ounce can peeled plum tomatoes and/or 8-10 large tomatoes (I have used heirloom and romas from my garden all summer--we had quite the crop)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter (I use little more than 1/2 stick of organic)
1 small white onion, peeled and cut in half (I occasionally chop it in when I am feeling like a little more onion.)
Kosher salt to taste

I also add 1/4 cup of organic cane sugar since I like my sauce sweet :), and fresh chopped basil and oregano if on hand to taste.

To blanch fresh tomatoes-

Boil water in a large sauce pan, place an "X" on the bottom of your de-stemmed tomato then boil for about 3-5 minutes until the skins begin to separate. Remove from water, remove skins when slightly cooled and coarsely chop tomatoes

For the sauce-

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the tomatoes, butter, onion, (optional sugar and/or herbs) and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat. Mash the tomatoes lightly with the back of a spoon as they cook, and stir occasionally. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat appear on the surface of the tomatoes. Remove and discard the onion if halved.

Serve over hot pasta with Parmesan and black pepper, if desired.

Buon Appetito! Enjoy a little sweet sauce....