Amazing Baked Acorn Squash

This is THEE all time best acorn squash recipe in the world. Seriously. Even if you don't care for acorn squash as a rule, this recipe will change your mind. It is super easy, realitvely quick and super yummy. Even your pickiest eater will eat it willingly.

First off if you are like me and buy your squash at the grocery store you will want to wash it well before you cut it because you are going to want to eat the skin on the recipe. I put a tiny dab of dish washing liquid on my hand and rub it well over the skin, rincing well when you are done. I do this earlier in the day so that I can leave it to air dry. You don't want to try and cut it while it is damp. Cuting an acorn squash is hard enough so you don't want to chance accidently lopping off a digit. So be forewarned! Better safe than sorry.

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees then... using a strong-long knife and cut your squash lenthwise, from stem to bottom. Remove the seeds, reserving the seeds if you like to toast roast seeds, which I do, then cut the halves in half. Once you have done that cut the halves into 1/2 inch slices like this:

Toss the slices in a large bowl along with 4 TBS of an oil of your choice. I like the clean flavor of canola but this is entirely up to you. Once you have tossed them around to make sure they are all coated, set them aside for a second while you grab a small cereal sized bowl. 

In your small bowl add: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup dry parmesean cheese and 1 tsp garlic powder. If you only have garlic salt no worries. Just omit the salt and you will be fine. Optional add-ins are, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, or 1TBS cracked black pepper corn. I do one or the other but not both in the recipe.

Stir all the powdered ingredients together then poor it over your squash, tossing to coat. Shake the bowl a little to settle the crumbs tot he bottom of the bowl. Carfully lay out your squash in a single layer on to a cookie pan. With your fingers add the crumbs from the bowl to any pieces that might need a little extra. Use it all... you don't want to miss out on any yummy goodness. Place on the middle oven rack for approximately 40 minutes. I turn them over at 30 min and watch them closely so they don't burn, taking them out at about 40. 

They will be crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and chewy on the crust. This is so good you will wish you bought more than one squash!

Ingredient recap:

1 acorn squash

4 TBS oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup dry or shredded parmesean cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup sunflower seeds or 1 TBS cracked black peper corn (optional)

As always let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your variations.

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Vegetable stock

Did you save all your vegetable ends and pieces when you were prepareing for your holiday feast? Shame on you if you didn't. Okay, I'll take a bit of the blame for not getting this out BEFORE Thanksgiving but you can start now and be prepared for after Christmas or New Years which ever. (cheezy grin)

Vegetable Stock - Vegetable Broth, dosn't matter what you call it, it is the same. YUM!

As a general rule I keep a large empty butter tub, marked for compost on the counter. When it is full or I deem it stinky, I send it out with hubby to be added to the big bin we keep out back. However, not everything I cut or trim off my veggies is destined for the bin. I keep gallon sized baggies that I fill over a period of time and then turn into stock when I have 4-5 hours to kill. HA! That sounded funny even to me. Maybe I should rephrase that into, stove-top hours; because you can be cleaning house, doing laundry, or even watching tv while it is simmering and not bother with it... except maybe to stir it ocassionally when you pass through.

Here are they types of things I toss in: (washed and somewhat dried of course)

potatoe skins

onion peels

onion ends, yep the root part

green onion ends that are to fiberous to add to a dish

wilted, non edible carrots

carrot ends

wilted, non edible: lettuce, kale, chard, colards - ends too! Just cut or scrub off the dirt.

celery ends and tops

brussel leaves that you have paired the bussels themselves

brussel tree leaves if you don't intend to eat them (which I do!)

skins of just about any squash

cabbage

Use your imagination. You can put just about an veggie in your stock. Set it to simmer and walk away. I choose NOT to put tomatoe unless its a few tops because so many of the dishes I use the stock for whould not pair well with tomatoe. I make a totally seperate tomatoe base that I can pull from if I need or want tomatoe. For this though I just want veggies. DO NOT SALT your stock. You can do that when the time to use it up arrives. For now, be satisfied that your stock is all natural veggies that you family uses and loves on a regular basis.

Recipe:

*Place your frozen vegetable ends in a stock pot. 

*Cover with water to with in 2 inches of the top of pot.

*Set to simmer. 

*Stir ocassionally, ocassionally addiing water if needed.

*Simmer 1.5 - 2 hours. Cover and let cool so you can touch the pan with out getting burned.         Today I left mine about 3 hours before I started the next process.

*Using cheese cloth over a colander poor cooled broth through into a clean pan to remove all the veggies. 

*Cooled stock is placed in quart sized freezer baggies. 4-cups each.

*Label bag and place in freezer.

As a side note, I have my favorite lazy boy chair. I read, write, watch tv, needlepoint and craft in this chair. I also DARE anyone to sit in it on penelty of death. One of my cats, Gracie, could care less how I feel about the chair. Infact, I believe she feels the same on a different level about me sitting in HER chair. I no sooner get out of the chair than she is in it for a quick cat-nap. Today while catching up on laundry and dishes and then starting my current batch of yummy stock, Gracie took over the chair. When asked to vacate so I could work on this post; I got the "look."  Repeated tries only got me more of the same. I finally had to pick her up and move her to a new location which she quicky vacated because it was not as comfy. lol! Here she is the lazy butt! 

                                                                           

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Sadly my garden is coming to a halt... another growing season is almost over. We still have a few stragglers to put up... a few miscelaneous tomatoes still on the vine, a greenbean here and there.. and those lovely green pablanos that finally turned red. Yum! I pulled nine yesterday and there are a few more to turn so I'm patiently waiting. lol... I love this time of year. I LOVE all the goodies. I eat some, save some and share some.

I dried my chieves... (I didn't get enough this year) did up another batch of tomato stock and began working on my pablanos. Man! I love me a good stuffed pablano! It kind-of depends on my mood weather I stuff them with cheese or meat. It's been so long since I had a bunch of them that I was dreaming of the meat version. My husband and I have personally never grown them so we were excited to experiment. I've watched this plant, and watched this plant, and finally decided yesterday was the day.  Look how beautiful they turned out!

I almost didn't want to eat them... (I said ALMOST) they were so beautiful. The ones you get at the farmers market or the supermarket are not so cute... just saying! So the recipe I use is in my head. lol.. It took me a little longer to put this together because I measured things for you and committed  everything to paper, including taking pictures. HA! but the entire process of this meal really is very short. Maybe and hour or and hour and a half tops if you don't stop to admire your pablanos every few minutes. :-)

Pre-heat your oven to 425

Rinse, chop the top off your pablano, de-seed, reserving the top portion minus the green stem. Set your peppers aside... save a just a few of the seeds to toss into your mixture later.

~ 2 cups medium sized diced potatoes

~ 1 cup of bell pepper ( I mixed mine, Red, Green and Yellow)

~ 1 large onion chopped (approximately 1 cup)

~ 2 large tomatoes (skin removed)

~ 1/2 lb ground beef

~ 1 small can of tomato paste

~ 1/2 can or about 5 ounces of Rotel

~ Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Cayenne Pepper to taste

~ 1 cup of greens (like kale or chard) optional

~ 1/4 cup of chicken stock or cooking wine to use for deglazing your skillet

~ 16 ounce bag of mozzzerella cheese

1) Start by frying your hamburger. You may season your hamburger a little now if you are like me and can't stand the smell of cooking hamburger. Nasty! I toss in salt, pepper and garlic to mask the smell and it makes it taste yummy! Do not drain! Yep, leave all those hamburger drippings in the skillet it adds flavor to the dish. Deglaze your skilet by adding a splash of whatever you have in the fridge and work your spoon over the bottom to get up all the "yumminess" (is that a word?) off the bottom. I used Chicken stock because it was open and handy, 

2) Right on top of your cooked hamburger add your potatoe, onion, bell pepper, chopped tomatoes, and tomatoe paste. Give it a good stir to incorporate everything. Let it simmer until the potatoes start to soften. I don't like to let my potatoes get completely soft because I want a little bite to them. Besides you will be finishing this in the oven so you definately don't want to over cook them... Before you walk away from your skillet to let it do it's thing. Taste. Here is where you want to add your Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper and a few seeds from your Pablano if you dare. Remember that your potatoes will absorb some of your salt so you may need to add a tad more before you stuff the peppers but also remember to go as sparingly as you can. I wouldn't want you to have blood pressure problems from something so GOOD!

3) When your potatoes are done how you like, turn off the heat, stir in your greens and begin stuffing your peppers. I start by spooning the mixture in but sometimes because of the shape of the pepper I need to help it reach the bottom by using my fingers or sometimes the back of a spoon.  Lay your peppers side by side in a 9X13 glass dish, leaving a little room around them to fill in with all the extra filling you will have. I usually can fit 9-10 peppers in a 9X13.

4) Fill in around your peppers with the left over filling and top with as much or as little cheese as you like. I like a lot of cheese so I use the entire bag.

5) Bake at 425 until golden brown... about 25 minutes. Check occasionally, burnt cheese is not yummy. 

Served with corn from the garden and warm tortillas... YUM! Couldn't ask for better. Talk about Heaven!!! My husband and I neither one were chatting it up. It was all quite contemplation while we were eating except for an ocassional hum from my husband...lol! You just KNOW when it is good. I hope you enjoy making this as much as I do. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Ms. D's Honey BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken.... Yum! How about making it yourself? Even yummier! I made this last weekend when I was on my cooking tri-athalon. I have other things to put in order this weekend. Tops on the list will be more tomatoes out of the garden, but first things first.... catching up on my blog. 

If you haven't yet dedicded on what to fix for your weekend get together with your family... or you need just one more thing for the "carry-in" this is it! It's one of those easy throw together and leave it to do it on thing, kind of thing. lol...! Here's what you need:

~ set your crock pot to HIGH

~ Catchup

~ about a 1/2 cup or so of honey

~ salt and pepper to taste

~ Cinnamon, dash

~ Ground Ginger, dash

~ Paprika, dash

~ 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar

~ 1/2 of a large Onion, rough chopped

~ 3 or 4 Cloves of minced Garlic

~ Cayenne Pepper, dash (optional)

~ 3 or 4 medium Chicken Breasts thawed and cut into strips or chunks

In a 2-quart sized crock pot add all of the above ingredients minus the chicken. Stir and taste. Add a dash more of your ingredients to bring it to a taste you are happy with. I have made this so many times that I KNOW the taste I am after. I just start adding a little of this and a little more of that until I arrive at that PERFECT taste. Go sparingly with the cinnamon. I say that and then in the video below, I accidentally added the cinnamon twice. Oh well, all is good... I added the Cayenne Pepper and of course that makes everything all right! Can I get an AMEN?! lol... I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the sweet/hot combo.

When you are satisfied with your BBQ, drop in your chicken, making sure your crock pot is on High and walk away. Since you are making a relativly small amount in a smaller crock pot the cook time is not quite as long. 2 /12 to 3 hours the chicken is usuall done. In this video by the time we got around to eating it, it was closer to 4 hours and it was WELL done.

* As a side note... the kids at school this year are calling me Ms. D. I thought naming one of my recipes for them would be a nice tribute. Hugs to all my Elwood Haynes buddies!

http://youtu.be/PS5zdkK_lXU

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Freezing Apples

 I have to admit I have an addiction. Yep, I have a problem when it comes to driving by perfectly good things people have thrown out. My husband and I affectionately call it "Alley-Shopping." We have found some pretty good stuff too. Especially, baby stuff. The things we cart home are generally in the slightly used category and I am usually THRILLED with the find. We have a farmers market stand that we frequent and by some chance we hit on the fact that they sometimes leave produce sitting out at the end of the day. Yep, they close up and go home - leaving miscellaneous fruits and veggies for whomever is willing to mess with produce that has been sitting out all day. Enter Jeff and Kerri! This summer we have carted home backseat and trunks full of this and that. Our latest find... last night was apples. Yes, the apples were a tad soft but my plan was to freeze them and turn them into pies and crisps sometime down the road. The ladies and gentlemen at Joy Fellowship won't know the difference; neither, will my family! So, this morning was filled with coring, peeling and chopping. All you need to freeze apples other than the apple itself is a little salt, and some basic equipment like: freezer bags, a knife, corer and a large bowl.

~ 1/4 cup salt diluted in 1 gallon of water. (place into a large bowl)

~ Core, peel and chop apple into desired chunks or wedges and toss in bowl of water (The brine keeps the apple from turning... and no, your thawed apples will not taste salty.)

~ Drain your apples for a few minutes to get as much water off as possible then...

~ Bag your apples into a freezer type bag, remembering to date and label your bag.

 

All done! Now wasn't that easy?! Today we did 7-gallon bags of apples and the bushel that is left we are taking to a friend that wants to freeze some too! So easy! And, this winter we will be blessing those venders for leaving their day old produce, over and over again. Actually, we already are... lol!

Enjoy!

Kerri

Home Grown Horseradish (planting, grinding and storing)

It's that time of year again. Horseradish! Yum! It makes me do the happy dance. Harvested in early Spring after the last frost or late fall after the first 'hard' frost, home grown can't get any better than this. I'm telling you... just the word 'horseradish' makes my mouth water.

Doesn't matter what you are putting it on: potatoes, veggies, sandwiches, meats of any kind, adding it to mayo or mustard, drying it or sneaking a smidgen out of the jar in the fridge to just taste, this is one of those things that is just BEST made at home. Now there are a few tricks and that's what we are here today to discuss.

Growing horseradish is the easy part. It practically grows itself.. and honestly it is a very pretty plant. If you are lucky enough to know someone who grows it themselves and you can get a few starts, do that. Two or three healthy starts will give you more than enough for yourself and a friend or two. If not, order a few starts off line. I recommend that you do not buy starts from an in-store package deal. The few I have seen have looked too old and dried up to do anything. I can't for the life of me understand why someone would want to waste their money on them.

My husband and I mentioned to my dad when he was still alive that we wanted to add horseradish to our "backyard garden" and he took us to a neighbor friend of his, who gladly donated three starts. Dad helped us dig them up and we planted them along the side of our garage. We waited a year and a half before we harvested the first time, hoping to give the plants plenty of time to grow... and boy did they!

Once they were cleaned we had around 12 pounds of root off of only two of the plants. We left the third plant to do in the spring. In the end, after grinding we had 17 (very full) quart bags. Let me tell you just how MUCH that is. It is now spring and time to harvest the one we left and I'm thinking.... ummmm... we just might wait until the fall. Given that we gave oodles away at Christmas time and we still have oodles in the freezer. Happy-Happy-Happy! (We also planted 3-more starts. Ohhh such a scary thought! lolol...)

So, here is the scoop.  Learned the hard way, since most of the articles we read on line were very vague and didn't give enough information.

Planting and Harvesting:

1. When planting your horseradish start. Dig a nice BIG hole. Six to eight inches deeper that the length of the root.
2. Plant your starts about 18 inches apart.
3. Once you placed your start, surround it with nice rich nutrient soil, from your compost bin if possible. Loosely fill in the dirt around and over your start and keep it damp, not soaked, until it breaks the soil. 
4. It will grow to be about 4 to 4/2 foot tall with some very lush, beautiful broad leaves.
5. Do not cut the first year.
6. After harvesting, place a part of the root. (6-8 inch piece) back into the ground, pointy end down.
7. If you have multiple plants, harvest in a every other or every two year pattern for multiple plants. That way you have fresh horseradish every year. 

Cleaning:

1. Initially use a hose in the yard to remove the largest part of the dirt. We used a scrub brush, the stiff kind you wash your car tires with, to help with the removal process. It worked great!
2. In the kitchen sink use a combination of running water, vegetable peeler and a stainless steel scrubber to remove the bark type dirty skin off the outside of the horseradish. There are spots you will not be able to reach that hold dirt. I use a very sharp pairing knife to slice these areas away.
3. Using a Cook Knife or a Santoku Knife and a wooden cutting board, cut/break through the root and cut into smaller pieces.  (The picture on the right is the first cutting, we didn't know that it really needed to be smaller than that.)

Grinding and Storing:

1. We used a meat grinder to grind the horseradish. (I'm not sure we will do that again. But, I'm not at all sure how else to approach it. I am SURE that there is other ways to grind it other than what we did. The root itself is very fibrous and hard to work with. HOWEVER, never fear, we accidentally hit on a solution!) 
2. Cover your cut up horseradish in white vinegar and allow to set over night before grinding. (Every thing we read said that the vinegar stopped the heat process. I'm sure to a certain extent it does. However, everything we are still opening is HOT! Yummy-hot... and we froze it in the vinegar.) 
3. After grinding place 2 cups in each Ziploc freezer bag, removing all the air as you seal it, lay it flat and freeze. 
   
4. Don't forget to date and label all your bags of horseradish. They should last about a year in the deep freeze.
5. A plastic Ziploc container or a recycled glass jar with a screw on lid works great in the fridge. This also makes awesome gifts! Everyone loves horseradish and homegrown is the BEST!

My husband Jeff would like for me to remind you to have a box of Kleenex handy. Your eyes and sinus we will be in overload. We cried like we have never cried before. It was actually kind of funny seeing as how it burned your eyes but in a different way than onions. We smelled horseradish for days after... I actually think it was IN our sinuses. 

We also tried drying the root. Jeff read on line somewhere where it could be done. And while we are AVID dehydrators I was a little skeptical. Jeff was somewhat pleased with his lil-experiment. He started with it in the house and we quickly decided that was NOT the way to go. He took it to the front porch, while it's enclosed it will is far enough away and closed off to not bother us... (to much)

I made some Quark cheese (also known as Farmers cheese) not to long after and we tried it in a small portion of the cheese. I wasn't sold on it but Jeff thought it was great.  I love having quantities of horseradish at my disposal, I swear before we got into the home grown horseradish business we probably needed to buy stock in someones company because we used a TON!

Let me know how your experience goes. I would love to know. Also.... if you know a better way of grinding PLEASE let me know ASAP! We are soon to do another batch and if there is another way I NEED to know. lolol....

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

 

Pan Fried Chicken Tacos

If you are looking for an easy pan-fried chicken taco - Look No More! Taco's can't get any easier. This is one of those things we make LOTS of extras of so that we can eat left overs for a couple of meals. And in respect to the many left overs, it is a relatively cheap meal.

Mise en place:
3 - 4 medium sized chicken breasts (cut into very small pieces)
1 medium to large onion
1 TBS cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 8 ounce can Rotel Tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped hot pepper (Any kind, with or without the seeds - depending on how hot you like.)
1/2 - 2 cups of chicken broth (as needed)



In this video I used 3 medium sized breasts and 1 uber-large breast. I swear the chicken that this one came from must have been nick named Hercules! A weight lifter among chickens! Jeesh!

We ended up with 38 tacos! Yum! Also as a side note. After much trial and tribulation we have only decided to use the MISSION brand of yellow corn tortillas. They hold up through the frying process and they have a good flavor, even on day three. AND, we are able to purchase them at all of the grocery stores we frequent.

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Drying Chives

I have to apologize for being AWOL. One of the kids gave me a bug at school and as with me... I don't do anything half way. I have to do it up BIG! So when I caught the bug I had to not just have "bronchitis," I had to do pneumonia. Spring break was spent in bed, and I only just got back to work this past Thursday. I have tried setting out on our enclosed back porch a couple of times to soak up the heat from the sun, as well as you can with the windows shut to keep the wind out. I was doing just that yesterday when I noticed out of the corner of my eye some tall green something or other in my garden. Well you don't have to tell me twice! I hurried outside to check it out and yep! I have things growing! My chives, rosemary, lavender and rhubarb are all up. I was so excited I was doing the happy dance right there in the yard. (I hope the new neighbors weren't looking.)

"One" of my favorite herbs are chives. They come up early and stay until late in the fall. I harvest them every time they get to be a foot or so tall. Cutting them back to a couple of inches.. then they grow again and I cut them again and this goes on all summer. MAKES ME SO HAPPY! 

I LOVE chives. They are so versatile. I use them in all kinds of recipes... not just as a topper on potatoes. However, I like that too.

I have a couple of chive plants and a couple of wild onion plants that I have transplanted so they are in the same general area. I cut them all at about 2 inches. I rinse them well in the kitchen pulling out errant weeds and dried stems from before. Once I've finished cleaning them out I use my kitchen shears to cut them into small pieces. Once this is done I lay them in my dehydrator, using the solid plastic tray so they don't fall through the holes. Set the heat to 58C or 135F and dry for 4 - 6 hours. I begin checking mine around 4 hours. Depending on the humidity it can take longer. I just make sure to check  every so often.  When they are done. I let them cool for about a half hour then I put them in a container that I keep in my freezer labeled: CHIVES.  I use them as needed from this container.

It's a good thing they have begun coming up. We were getting mighty low on our chive supply. :-)

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Switch it up Salad

If you love salads you will LOVE this variation. A couple of summers ago my husband and I went through our JUICING phase. Only healthy juices and healthful salads passed our lips. HA! It did not last.

We did find some yummy juices and in doing so tried some veggies that we previously had not tried. I started experimenting with come salad combinations and this salad was born. It is very summery tasting. In fact, I was craving something that had some texture and grit the other day, and while browsing through my 'hand written' recipes I came across this one.

I have taken it to several dinners and get togethers and always get rave reviews. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we have.


Salad
1/2 cup red quinoa + 1 cup water (follow directions on box, cook and set aside to cool)
1 large red apple cut into bit sized pieces
1 Asian pear
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 medium sized head of Romaine lettuce, chopped
2 large handfuls of Collard Greens, chopped
1 medium sized carrot shredded
12 - 14  cherry tomatoes quartered (cut the quarters in half width-wise if they are really big)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


Dressing
In a mixer or bullet combine: (pulse 4-6 times until creamy)
1/4 cup olive oil (I use whatever oil is on hand)
juice of 2 small lemons (equals approximately 1/2 cup)
2 full tablespoons of Honey
3 cloves of garlic
Sea Salt and Pepper

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Freezing Rotel Tomatoes!

With the week I have had, I am super glad I had the fore-site to save my unused Rotel Tomatoes. I generally freeze my herbed butter this way. I guess I had never considered doing anything else. (Besides flavored ice-cubes which I do in the summer.)

I had left over Rotel and a clean ice-cube tray and I thought... "Why not?"

Now, I'm sure some of you are saying... why I've been doing that for years! But, I have not and that's why I was so pleasantly surprised when I started supper the other night. I wanted something easy and throw together. So one thing led to another and I ended up making Pan Fried Chicken Tacos. Yum!


Like a good lil-girl I was doing my mise en place. (French for: get your stuff together before you start so you are not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.) In my desperate root through the pantry I discovered I had everything except Rotel. I had tomato sauce but I needed that for the Spanish Rice that goes with the meal so I couldn't use it for the chicken. I considered sending hubby to the store. (I do that quite often.) But hmmmmm.... wait! I ran to the freezer and pulled out the 'test' bag of Rotel Tomatoes. 


When I put them in the ice-cube tray, I measured the first one just to be sure. So far, with out fail everything I have frozen has equaled one FULL (or slightly rounded) tablespoon.  I didn't even spray the tray, I just spooned the left over Rotel into it. Covered it with saran wrap and put it into the freezer. A couple days later when I remembered it, I popped them out and put them in a labeled freezer bag. (Excuse my misspelling... heehee!)

I don't really measure-measure. I try to for this blog but for the life of me... I put a little of this and a little of that and it always turns out great! So here I was with my lil-cubes of Rotel and I wasn't sure how much to use. I started out with three and ended up using them all.

I just tossed them in and they melted, without any excess water, right into my chicken and was exactly what I wanted. Yay! I'm so glad I thought to do this. And I do hope you give it a try. I'm sure I can freeze way more stuff this way than I ever thought. What do you freeze in ice-cube trays? Leave me a note. I would love to give it a try! Until then....

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Meat-filled Noodle Rolls

If you like noodles and playing with noodle dough, then you will enjoy this filled treat. I generally pull out this recipe when I have left overs of a roast of some sort. You can make it with Filo-dough if you like crispy rolls similar to the Chinese egg-rolls BUT if you are like me and are looking for a MEAL with the left overs then this recipe if for you!

I made the mistake of asking my husband what Pork Shoulder-Butt was. Ha! That is some tricky doing as far as I'm concerned. Having a shoulder on your butt! Wow! Smart-allic that he is, the next day I came home from work he says, "I got that pork shoulder-butt you wanted." Umm... I didn't want any. I was reading recipes on line! So, Here I was stuck with a piece of meat I wasn't sure what to do with. I convinced him that it was his turn to cook so I could beg off and he tossed it in the crock pot the following day. Of course we couldn't eat it all... he bought a huge piece! After we worked on it a day or two I decided I had to spice it up some. (It just didn't have a lot of taste in my book.)

I decided it was noodle-roll time. You can stuff them with absolutely anything and I mean ANYTHING! I usually start with a trinity. What is a trinity?! lol... it is a mirepoix. What is a mirepoix you ask... it is 2 parts onion, 1 part celery and 1 part carrot or bell pepper depending on the part of the South you are from. I make both interchangeably... Since I was using pork and because I had some handy I used carrot (already cooked) with this.

Toss all three into your iron skillet with 2 TBS of real butter and saute. When the onion are translucent add 2-cups of any shredded meat and 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Season the combination with 1 TBS of Italian seasoning (or what ever you think might go with the meat you are using) a shake or two of red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper to taste, turn the mixture off and set it aside. I'm a great proponent of tasting as you go. Add a little seasoning, taste and see if you need more. Better to not have enough than to have to much! Set your pan aside its time to work on your noodles.

For this recipe I made a 1/4 recipe (basic noodle recipe here) that would be 1 cup flour and 2 eggs a 1/2 teaspoon salt. I follow the same procedure by mixing and letting it rest covered for 15 - 30 minutes and then rolling it out as needed. I try to roll as thin as I can get it since I am going to roll my noodle up in the end.  Each quarter of your noodle ball should make 2 or 3 rolls. 

Your meat-filler should be plenty cool by now. Using CLEAN hands take a handful of the mixture and shape into a football, placing it in the middle to lower-third of your piece of dough. and roll it up. The last 1 1/2 to two inches wet with water (I keep a cup of water handy) on the incoming and reviving parts of the roll so that they stick to each other. Using your fingers reach inside the end of the roll and tamp down the mixture so that you can fold it over. Using water to glue it together, I push in a side, dab with water, push in another side, dab with water and work my way around. Usually I fold 3 or 4 times before I finished with that end... then I turn it over and repeat the process on the other end. Line them up on the counter and turn them occasionally. I like mine to be a little dry to start with. However, it doesn't really matter in the end they taste the same. 

In a pot of salted boiling water drop ALL of your rolls. Boil them until they pop up to the top. Add another couple of minutes - they will come to the top and puff up slightly. Take them out and let them drain. While they are draining, in your largest iron skillet add an inch to and inch and a half of oil and heat it until a small piece of dough bubbles when you drop it in.

Working in small batches fry your boiled rolls until crispy on each side. Remove and place on a cooling rack to drain as oil as possible before you serve them.

These freeze well. I place them on a cookie sheet and put them uncovered into the deep freeze for about 1 hours. I then place them in a freezer baggie, label and date them. They should keep for about a month in the freezer. After thawing them, reheat in the toaster oven. Microwaving makes them a little to soft for my taste.

Recap: (for the list-ers in the group

• 1/4 recipe of Basic Noodle Recipe
• 1 soup sized pan of boiling salted water
• 1 large fry skillet with an inch to an inch and a half of canola oil
• Trinity (2 cups onion, 1 cup celery, 1 cup carrot or bell pepper)
• 2 TBS real butter
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
• Red Pepper flakes, to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• a cup of warm water, to glue noodle roll together 

The picture here is of Oven Roasted Squash and Meat-Filled Noodle Rolls. Yum! 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Basic Noodle Recipe

Basic Noodle Recipe:  (see video here)

4 cups flour
8 eggs
Lots of muscle

Combine flour and eggs. Divide into 4 balls and set aside with a hand towel to cover for 15 - 30 minutes. Roll and cut noodles to desired thickness and width.

Dry on the counter like grandma used to do; put in the oven between low and off (leave the oven door ajar to allow for the air to move; or put in a dehydrator on 35C/65F... until dry. 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Seeds

I love a good squash. Any squash will do. So when I sent my husband to the store for Spaghetti squash and he came back with Butternut squash, I couldn't complain... I just changed gears. My favorite quick veggie fix is to roast in the oven. Weather it is to put in a stew, a soup or just as a side, the taste is like no other. I hesitate to say "burnt," but it has a outdoorsy charbroiled taste that is just too yummy for words.

Begin by cutting off the top-woody stem and pealing the squash. If you have a compost bin this kind of stuff is great for that! It adds lots of nutrients to the compost.

Remove the seeds but DON'T throw them out. Put them in a colander and gently wash them, removing as much of the membrane as you can. Don't over think it. If it won't come loose, it won't come loose. When you put them in the oven to bake, the seed will either come apart from it or it will become crunchy and deteriorate on it's own when you start flipping them over in the pan. In a smaller iron skillet (I use a 6 - 8 inch skillet) add 1 TBS canola oil. Roll the pan to coat the bottom and add your seeds, turning them over once or twice to make sure they also are coated. Sprinkle a dash or two of salt on your seeds and set them aside for the moment.

Cut your squash into 1 1/2 - 2 inch square pieces and place in a large cast iron skillet. (I use a 18 inch skillet) Add 2 TBS canola oil, a dash or two of salt, a dash or two of cayenne pepper, 2 or 3 finely shopped garlic cloves and stir to coat. Making sure that all the salt and cayenne are mixed around. The cayenne pepper is to give it a little and I mean a little heat. If you get to generous with it, your squash will become HOT and you don't want this hot. In fact, your guests (or hubby) won't even know it is in there unless you rat on yourself. BUT they will know something is missing if you decide not to add it. (We took this to JOY FELLOWSHIP at church and they had no idea that cayenne pepper was in it.) There is something about the combination that is absolutely PERFECT!

Place your squash skillet on the top shelf of your pre-heated oven and your seed skillet on the lower. Baking for approximately 40 min at 400F, Stir your seeds often. Only flip your squash when it starts to brown. If you flip it a couple of times you should be okay. Don't stir your squash! Your seeds should finish just before your squash but watch them just the same. Ovens differ in heat and you don't want burn seeds. Booooo that is not good!

Seeds from one squash make enough to top your squash dish, a side salad and slip your hubby a small handful to keep him out of your hair. 

Just to recap: (for those of you that want a list and not a story)

• Pre-heat oven to 400F
• 1 Butternut squash, cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes
• seeds from the squash
• 3 TBS canola oil, divided
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 heavy skillets (one small, one large)

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Yummy Cauliflower Pizza Crust

If you are like me you never do a recipe the same more than once or twice. I like recipes that have a "basic" style and then I can tweak it how the mood hits me. This is one of those recipes.

What is even more fun about it, especially if you are watching your pennies... this one head of cauliflower can stretch to two, three or even four meals.

When we fix this pizza, my husband and I both fix our on lil-pizza differently. He is a carnivore, I am not, so for obvious reasons we put different things on our pizzas. We always end up with some left overs for lunch the next day. AND in the freezer I have the other half of my head of cauliflower! I can make more pizzas some other day or use it to make mashed cauliflower, or add it to some other creation. It really goes a lot further than you realize when you grate your cauliflower. It's also fun to do especially if you have lots of aggression to get rid of...ha!

AND! Best of all this is gluten free! 

I made this one at the end of the summer when we still had all the awesome veggies left from the garden. It makes me sad to think I have to wait for the FRESH version but until then, I can glean from my local grocer.... lol! I will have to be happy with my dried basil and doctor it up a little differently. Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Believe me you will really enjoy this recipe.

Basic Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe:
preheat oven to 425F
2 1/2 cups grated cauliflower
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

• Grate head of cauliflower and divide in half. A medium sized head should give you about 5 cups. 
• In a medium sized mixing bowl place 1/2 of a head of cauliflower (or 2 1/2 cups of cauliflower) and microwave for 8 minutes or until soft. Let it stand until it cools enough to add the egg.
• While you are waiting for it to cool in a separate bowl mix the egg, one cup of the mozzarella, the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. 
• When the cauliflower is cool enough combine the cauliflower and egg mixture.
• Divide mixture into two parts.
• On a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper, loosely shape each of your pizzas and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (until it begins to turn brown around the edges.
• Remove the cauliflower crust and top with whatever you like. Since this is supposed to be a healthy version I always opt for lighter type toppings. Easy on the sauce, easy on the cheese, lots of veggies, etc... you get my drift.
• Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Watch closely, you don't want to burn your creation!
• Right before you serve, top with fresh basil if you have some! Yum!

This is such a versatile recipe! If you like you can sprinkle with parmesan only and return to the oven without adding anything else. Serve it with garlic bread and you have simple-awesome. Doctor it up and you have super-awesome. It's a win-win! Can't get any better than that!

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Garnishing 101

Today, as I was looking back at all my pictures and thinking about a possible post I ran across these pictures I took when my student Amy was in the Culinary 1 class. I'm game for anything so I jumped right in with the kids. Okay, I have to admit my forays into garnishing left a lot of wiggle room. (A LOT since I had never done any.) My idea of a garnish is a spritz of something cute on top or a splash of color on the side. The instructor had other ideas. After watching a video that I think was made in prehistoric times everyone received an apple, a pear and a radish and a very sharp knife. We started with the pears.

MOUSE

1 pear preferably with a stem
2 Cloves
3 toothpicks broke in half
1 whole toothpick

• Find the flattest side of your pear or the side that is not the cutest and cut about an 1/8 of an inch off so that your "mouse" sets flat. 
• Cut that piece in half so that you that you have 2-ears.
• Give your pear a good look at the narrower end of the pear. Can you SEE the face? Make two slits at the top of the face for the ear pieces you cut from the bottom and slide them into the slits. You may have to widen the slice by just a smidgen to allow for the ear pieces. 
• Using your cloves place your eyes.
• Using 3 halved toothpicks place 3-whiskers on each side of the "nose."
• Using the stem or another tooth pick, insert the tale just above the indentation for the stem.

Wa-La! You now have a cute lil-mouse!

The Apple Swan seemed harder. We had a lot of smooshed apples. Someone, (rolling my eyes) was humming the funeral dirge. I can't imagine who would have done such a thing since we were all trying so hard. (hee-hee) 

APPLE SWAN

1 med - large apple is all you need

Keep everything in the order that you remove it so that replacing it is easy. Otherwise all you have is a big mess.

• Find the flattest side of your apple or the side that is not the cutest and cut about an 1/8 of an inch off so that your apple sets flat. You don't want your bird taking flight. Set that aside. 
• Look at your apple. Where will you put the head? Right behind where you envision the head, make a small V shaped cut about an inch long. This will be the tiniest cut. Leave it in place other than to check that it is free and movable. 
• Working in threes, make two more V cuts. Making sure not to break your V. Keeping it in contact... OR at least in order, remove your 3 pieces and set them aside. 
• Look at your apple from the front view. See the head placement. Immediately to the left and right will be your wings. Repeat the process of slicing 3 V's on the left and right sides. Keeping your pieces in tact or at the very least in order.

Yes                                                          NO!

Lastly, we made flowers out of radishes... well, the ones that didn't disappear into our mouths.

Radish Flowers

Radishes different sizes

Ice Bath (Cold water in a bowl, filled with ice)

• Starting on the outside make a half moon type, thin-sliced cut, 4 or 5 times around the outside. DO NOT pull on it. Leave it be for now.
• Working at the corners, or the V of the outside slice... work in making small slices until you get to the center. The goal is to look like a rose. Obviously, some look better than others. AND practice makes perfect. 
• When your radish is finished, plop it into an ice bath. The ice will cause the "flower" to open up.

All done! What do you think? Easy? Wait until you try them. You will feel like you are all thumbs. Ha! Good luck!

(Thanks Todd!)

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Lovely Toasted Flour - Roux

Toasted Flour is the thicker for many of my soups, stews and sauces. I do not add any oil other than what is already in my cast iron skillet. I keep the flour moving constantly with a metal spoon and don't let it set to long in one place. This is a blonde dry roux - what I use the most. But you can continue to brown your flour until you have a dark rich wood color. Roux's date back several hundreds of years in the use of French cuisine. I first saw my mom's mom use the technique and was intrigued when I later saw my mother do it. I assumed that it was a "Southern" thing since my mother was born and raised in the deep south. We didn't eat a lot of Creole which use both dry and wet Roux but boy-buddy we ate a lot of good ole southern cooking. Yum! I'm sure that my incorporating it into my "Northern" cooking style was a given. Is there a term for those of us that are influenced by so many different regions of the U.S and beyond? Eclectic is the only term I know to use.

Tortellini in White Sauce

Tortellini, better known at my house as: "the little round pasta's" were the side this week. I was just hungry for something different. I wasn't up for making spaghetti. I'm saving the last of the tomato sauce for my son and his family when they come up for a homemade spaghetti night. (You are coming soon right David?)

I've warned my husband with a stern look, that this summer's garden needs to be half again as large and all in tomatoes! Last years batch just did not make it far enough AND it totally cripples my ability to create! I have to have tomatoes!!! PLEEEZZZEEE!

So, this week I fell back to an old stand by: White Sauce and what better to make with it but Tortellini!

When my son David was tiny we had to forgo anything with red dye #7 and #40. You can't imagine how many things that red dye is in! Thank God, he outgrew it. He would seriously bounce like Tiger out of the Winney the Pooh stories. Nothing could hold him down and the only solution was to let him outside to run it off when he accidentally got a hold of something. Then he would end up with a headache or a tummy ache and I would feel like a failure. Soooo! I got creative. In the beginning I made a lot of white sauces and later began experimenting with red sauces. I think I got pretty good at it if I do say so myself. (patting self on back)

If you haven't experimented with noodle dough you are missing out. Seriously! There are so many things you can make with the basic noodle dough recipe. (For this recipe I used 1 cup flour and 2 eggs plus one teaspoon of salt.)

White Sauce:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup chicken/vegetable broth
2 - 3 tablespoons flour (toasted if you have some)
1 stick real butter (unsalted)
dash (or two) of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, combine milk, broth and butter. When butter is completely melted add in toasted flour, continuing to whisk until completely incorporated. Taste. Salt, Pepper and taste again. Add a dash or two of cayenne pepper. This is just to give it a little heat not make it hot. Hot is NOT the goal. Lovely, creamy, warm sauce is the goal. Watch this closely, the milk can and will scorch. Take it off the heat when it is thick enough to hold up over a noodle.

Tortellini: I've eaten them round and square. Both are filled with whatever you want to put in them. Both are folded basically the same way. So what is the difference? Time - kind of.

Cutting, Folding and stuffing the round tortellini - Roll your basic noodle dough as thin as you can with out tearing the dough as you flip it. Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut your noodle dough into little rounds. Set them aside as you roll and cut your remaining dough. Wet your fingers in a cup of water and dampen one side of your round cut dough and place a pinch about the size of a garbanzo bean of whatever filling you have in the center. Fold over one side to meet the other and pinch lightly to close around the cut side. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

Cut square tortellini - with a cutter or knife in to 3" length strips. Cutting again width wise at 3" so you end up with a 3 x 3 square. After wetting and filling as above, fold corner tip to corner tip to create a triangle. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

You may stuff them with just about anything your heart desires. It just so happened that I had left overs from the lasagna I made a week or so ago. I combined the meat and cheese and used that as the filling. I only used a portion of it. Reserving the rest for another something that is TBA. (actually I don't know what that might be yet... lol)

When you have finished rolling all your tortellini place them in a soup pan of boiling salted water. They need a minute or two more after they pop up, and stay up, at the top of your water. I say taste one to see if its done enough for you. If not let it boil another 30 seconds to a minute and check again. Too done is not fun to eat and neither is underdone. So watch them closely. Drain well before serving. Top with sauce and enjoy!

Do you have a variation of white sauce you would like to share with me. I would LOVE to try it. 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey