Saturday, January 24, 2009

I'll write the recipe later.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Butternut Squash Soup


I have a new uncle now named Kirk and also a new cousin named Cody and they came over for dinner last week. I made a starter of butternut squash soup and it was really quite good. So, I thought I'd share.

1 whole butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and chunked (or, I cheated and bought the pre-diced package butternut squash)
1 package frozen winter squash puree (in the freezer section)
1 can chicken or vegetable broth
1 can water
1 small onion, diced
2 T brown sugar
Salt/pepper
Dash cinnamon and nutmeg
Oil for tossing and sauteeing (so about 2 T tops)
1/4 cup Heavy cream *optional

Begin by tossing the squash chunks in a bit of oil, coarse salt, and black pepper.
Sprinkle about 1 T brown sugar all over the squash.
Roast in an uncovered pan in a 400 oven for 30-35 mins.
Meanwhile, dice up a small onion and gently sautee/soften in a bit of oil. Salt the onion once it starts to soften. Do not brown the onion.
After it is soft, add in the squash puree, stock, water, and spices and 1 full T of brown sugar.
Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce to a low simmer.
After the squash is done, add it to the soup. Let cook for another 10-15 mins on low heat.

Now, either use a HAND BLENDER or you'll need another pot.

Ladle the soup and squash chunks to a blender (you will want to work in batches; about 3 batches will do for this amount of soup), and puree on high for 30-60 seconds per batch until smooth. Move each batch to a new pot.

Once all of the soup has been pureed, taste and re-season.

More salt? More pepper? (Maybe a dash more sugar??? Probably not, but maybe.)

Stir in heavy cream and let cook for 5-10 more mins on low heat.

Serve.

I love it with multigrain crackers or graham crackers!!!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Pork Tenderloin Chops de Giada




So, this isn't really my recipe. I got it from Giada DeLaurentis but I've modified it slightly. It is sooooooo good, so I'm putting it on my blog for you.

1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine (drinking wine)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 head of fennel (anise)
capers
lemon (juice and zest)
parsley
olive oil
salt/pepper
1/2 tsp. white sugar
3-4 large thick cut pork loin chops (boneless)

Season then brown the pork chops in a skillet and set aside (they should not be cooked through, only browned on the outside)
Chop up garlic and fennel
Add 2 T olive oil the the same pan the pork chops were browned in and then add the fennel and garlic.
Lower heat and gently sautee for 4-5 mins.
Deglaze pan with white wine and stir to get all of the goodness off of the pan.
Add in tomatoes, salt/pepper, and sugar. Stir stir stir.
Chop up a handful of flat leaf parsley and toss it in.
Reintroduce the pork to the pan and nestle them into the sauce.
Turn the heat to medium and cover the pan.
Cook for 10-15 min, depending on the thickness of your chops.

After cooking, add in 2 T capers and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice along with some lemon zest. Garnish with more chopped parsley.

Yum!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Healthy Veggie Fajitas



1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 white onion
1-2 large portabella mushroom caps
chopped garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil

6 flour tortillas
(Or 6-8 ice berg or romaine lettuce cups for substitution, if you are watching carbs)

Jar of Salsa
Low Fat Sour Cream
Romaine lettuce (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped)
Lime (optional)

Slice the peppers, onion, and mushroom and cook in a hot skillet with oil and garlic stirring often until veggies begin to soften. Reduce heat half-way through if veggies are starting to brown too much.
Add in 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa and stir.

Heat tortillas in microwave for about 20 seconds to steam.

Make fajitas by piling veggies, more salsa, sour cream, lettuce and cilantro (and a squeeze of lime) into the tortillas (or lettuce cups) and enjoy.

*Some people like shredded cheese, but I don't.

**Don't hesitate to add in other vegetables to the above recipe if you have them and like them. This is a great way to get your vegetables but make them taste like a decadent mexican meal.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Spicy Seafood Pasta

 

This is what I made before a 10 mile run!

1 lb. live mussels
1 lb. shrimp, cleaned and deviened
1/2 box fettucini or linguine pasta
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T crushed red pepper
1 cup dry white wine (drinking wine)
1 jar marinara sauce (good quality)
3 T butter
Salt/pepper
Chopped flat leaf parsley
Parmesan cheese
Toasted crusty bread

Begin by boiling the water for the pasta.

In a large pot add the wine, garlic, butter, crushed red pepper, and half the jar of marinara sauce.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 5 minutes, then add in cleaned live mussels.  Increase the heat and cover tightly.  Allow the mussels to cook for 4 minutes stirring once at 2 minutes.  Turn off the heat. Once the mussels are cooked and have opened, remove the meat and return it to the sauce. Discard the shells.  (I left a few mussels in their shell, but that was just for presentation.)

Cook the pasta for 10 minutes or according to the package.  In the last minute, toss in all of the cleaned and de-shelled shrimp.  Do not put the shrimp in until the pasta is pretty much done.  More than one or two minutes in the water will overcook the shrimp.  Drain pasta and shrimp and return it to the pot.  Toss the pasta, shrimp and sauce with the mussels together with the remaining marinara sauce and chopped parsley and some salt/pepper.  Heat until the sauce and pasta are hot.

Serve with toasted crusty bread.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Creamy Chicken Enchilladas


Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken breast (thighs ok too)
1/2 chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoon oil (canola or vegetable)
1 (12 ounce) jar alfredo sauce
1 small tub sour cream
1 small jar medium or hot salsa
1/4 cup sliced jalapeno (optional)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups chopped lettuce
1 ripe tomato, diced
8-12 ounces mozzarella cheese
6  medium flour tortillas

Directions
 Lightly brown chicken in skillet with oil.
After chicken has a light brown color (does not need to be cooked through), add chopped onion and 1/2 jar of salsa to pan and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat and let simmer on low-medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring and shredding the chicken as it cooks.
Preheat oven to 375.
Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or coat with a light coating of oil.
Add 1/2 jar of alfredo sauce to shredded chicken and stir to combine.
Add in sliced jalapenos if you are adding them.
Spoon equal amounts of the chicken mixture into the 6 tortillas, rolling the tortillas and placing them seam side down into the baking dish.
In a bowl, mix together the rest of the alfredo sauce, the sour cream and 1/2 cup water. I usually warm the water and that helps the sour cream and alfredo sauce come together smoothly.
Pour that alfredo/sour cream mixture over the top of all of the enchillada rolls.
Pour 1 line of salsa down the middle of the rolls.
Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and cover with tin foil.
Bake for 30 minutes.
In the last 5 minutes, remove the tin foil and allow to brown in oven.
Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and more sour cream.

French Onion Soup


2 large sweet onions, sliced thinly and quartered
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T sugar
salt/pepper
1 tsp. thyme
1 cup sweet marsala wine
1 qt. beef broth
2-3 T Olive oil

Croutons
Mozzarella or Provolone cheese
Parmesan *optional

Slice onions very thin and quarter them.  Sautee in oil over medium heat.  Do not char the onions; let them caramelize gently, stirring often. After about 2 minutes, add in the thyme and salt/pepper. Let them cook for another 5-7 minutes and then add the sugar and garlic.  Continue to let them cook until they become a light caramel color.  Add in the marsala wine and turn up the heat to high.  Let simmer for about 5 minutes and add in the beef broth.  Stir and let cook for another few minutes until the flavors blend and the soup is steaming hot.

Ladle into fire safe bowls and top with croutons and slices of cheese.  Broil for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted and begins to brown slightly.  Garnish with some parmesan.