Butternut Squash Soup

2 potatoes
1/2 butternut squash
1 white onion
1/2c half and half
1c chicken stock
s/p, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2tsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg, oregano
garlic

Boil potatoes and butternut squash for 20min til soft.  Mash.  Sautee diced onion and garlic til soft, mash up.  Mix together, slowly add cream and stock.  Add seasoning.  Keep over low heat, stir, do not let boil.  I typically don't like butternut squash soup because I find it too sweet.  The onion flavor masked the butternut squash soup ( reminded me a bit of a potato/leek) and I thought it was pretty darned tasty!

Roasted Peppers

take off skin of roasted peppers

slice.  Make a vinaigrette.  And there ya go'

Curried Veggies

Blended roasted peppers
garlic
onion
mixed vegetables
curry, cumin, pepper, oregano
tomatoes, touch of tomato sauce
chicken broth

Stuffed Zucchini

2 zucchini
1lb ground beef
onion
crushed tomatoes
oregano, thyme
breadcrumbs
garlic, s/p

Half and hollow out zucchini.  Place empty halves in deep baking dish.  Sautee garlic, onion, beef, seasoning in a pan.  Add crushed tomatoes and breadcrumbs.  Once cooked down, fill zucchini halves.  Top with some parmesan and bake at 400F for 20min~

Gougeres (cheesy pooof)

2 eggs
80g flour
40g butter
1/8 l water
50g swiss

Mix water and butter over a low heat in a pot.  Add flour and continue to whip.  Then the eggs and then the cheese.  I used a hand mixer at this point.  Dough should hold together well and be quite thick.  I used two tablespoons to shape small portions on a baking sheet.  Leave some room between each.  Bake around 375-400F for 15-20min.

Vol-au-vent aux fruits de mer

frozen seafood mix (scallops, rock shrimp, shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams)
clams
clam sauce
white wine
butter
olive oil
onion
garlic
parsley, s/p
frozen pack of puff pastry
flour
milk
lemon

Start with onion, garlic, olive oil, s/p, butter.  Then add seafood, seasoning.  Then add clam sauce, lemon, and white wine.  Once seafood is cooked, use food processor to chop down. (I didn't have one so I chopped it down by hand with a nice knife) and then added it back to the simmering sauce.  Cook puff pastry.  Finish it off by adding some flour and milk to thicken the filling.  Serve immediately.

Roasted Peppers (part 1)

A quick roast on the BBQ with some small sweet peppers and a few bell peppers(not in picture).  Drizzled olive oil and s/p while on the grill.  After they are nice and charred, let them cool and place in fridge.

Come back to them later and take off the skin and all of the burnt char.  Can be done by hand.

I then sliced them with the intention of making some classic italian roasted peppers.

I took half of them a few days later and pureed the peppers into a curry dish.  I will put that recipe up next..

Caramelized Acorn and Delicata Squash

 1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup honey (lavender honey from french alps)
pinch of salt

Slice squash into 1in~ slices.  Lay them on a baking sheet.  Melt spice mixture in microwave real quick.  Brush the squash.  Bake in oven at 350 for 30min~

Served along with Thanksgiving dinner.

baby red serrano pepper

picked from the plants I moved indoors

Apple Cranberry Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

 Stuffing

2 apples
craisins
6 halved, pitted dried prunes
croutons
stuffing mix
italian seasoning
s/p, rosemary, sage, thyme, ground ginger
1/2 onion
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup~ chicken broth

Sautee onion and apple with brown sugar, ginger.  Add craisins, prunes, seasoning, herbs, stuffing mix and croutons.  Add chicken broth, let bread soften some.  Let cool a touch, pour into a mixing bowl.  Mix in a beaten egg.  Cover stuffing and let it chill in the fridge.

Ok, to start with, the pork loin was 7.62lbs.  So I about halved it.  Then I cut 3 chops off of the larger one.  Next, slice the meat horizontally to get a thinner flat surface.  At this point season the meat, mostly with sage, rosemary, s/p. A little bit of thyme.

 Put a layer of stuffing primarily to the edge you will roll in.  Roll the meat together and tie her up.  Cook in the oven for 1hr 15min-30min at 325F or until inner temp of meat is good.

 

Stew?Soup?

Chopped beef sirloin
garlic, s/p, fresh oregano,fr thyme,fr rosemary, cumin, 1/2 sazon packet
carrot
onion
bell pepper
water
tomato sauce
tomato from the garden

Brown the beef first with a touch of olive oil and a few garlic cloves.  Then add water, tomato sauce, spices, herbs, vegetables.  Bring to a simmer.  Add water as necessary.

Mushroom Quiche and Mushroom/Ham Quiche

 Mushroom/Ham Quiche

quiche crust
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
cubed swiss
3/4 cup sauteed sliced mushroom w olive oil and thyme
s/p, oregano
cubed ham

Beat eggs, mix in milk, swiss, ham, s/p, oregano.  Let sauteed mushrooms cool a bit if you can, and remove from liquid left from cooking them down.  I put them into the quiche crust and evened them out before addings the egg and stuff.  Bake for 35min at 400F or til brown

Mushroom Quiche

quiche crust
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
cubed swiss
1-1 1/2 cup of sauteed sliced mushrooms w olive oil and them
s/p, oregano

Follow same as above.

Gratin Dauphinois

6-8 potatoes peeled and sliced
milk
butter
s,p
swiss cheese


Run potatoes through the food processor. In a large deep pan start potatoes, butter, s/p, add milk to the top of the potatoes on a low heat.  Stir.  When milk starts to thicken, pour the contents into a baking dish- MAX 3/4 of the way up -it will boil up a bit and may leak out if you over-fill (from experience). Top with some cheese.  Cook in the oven til top has browned to liking.

Mojito

fresh spearmint from the garden
lime
seltzer
simple syrup
ice
bacardi white rum

Roast Beef

Beef Round

potato
celery
carrot
garlic, s/p, oregano
olive oil

Chop veggies, lay them out in a deep dish.  Squish garlic with knife, make little inserts into the beef with knife and stick in chunks of garlic.  rub down w s/p, oregano. Place the meat on top of some potatoes.  Slow Cook for around 3 hours at 250-275F.

Jerk Chicken Wings

whole wings
bubba browne's jamaican jerk rub

bake in the oven for about a half hour at 400F...darn good

Herb Harvest

Curry Chicken Stew

6 chicken breasts
frozen mixed vegetables
garlic
onion
tomato
crushed tomatoes
curry powder, cayenne, cumin, black pepper
chicken stock
milk
oregano, chives, cilantro, sage
greek yogurt

Cook the chicken half way in the oven, since they were frozen.  Start some olive oil, garlic, chicken, onion.  Add curry powder, let 'bloom' a little as the chicken is browned.  Add chicken stock, veggies, more seasoning.  Start to break down chicken with a large spoon.  Add milk...I wish I had coconut milk. and a little greek yogurt.  Let simmer for 3 hours.  Add more stock and milk as needed.  Serve over rice.

For an even softer curry, omit the cayenne.

Boeuf Bourguignon & Southwestern Beef Stew

Boeuf Bourguignon

Beef Chuck Cubed
mushrooms
bell pepper
tomato
crushed tomatoes
garlic
onion
oregano, thyme, rosemary, chives, s/p
1 cup of red wine
water

simmer for 7 hours

Southwestern Beef Stew

beef chuck cubed
mushrooms
peppers
onion
garlic
tomato
tomato paste
bell pepper
cayenne, sazon packet, taco seasoning, cumin, black pepper, red hot
water

simmer for 7 hours.  Beef could be shredded to be used in tacos or something.

The southwestern one was my favorite, with some homemade refried beans, rice, salsa, and avocado in a bowl. yum!

Mini Harvest 10/22

Pumpkin Pie with fresh pumpkin

frozen pie crust (thawed)

1/4 of a fresh pumpkin (mash)

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, salt

2 oz of cognac

2 eggs

1/4 cup of milk

Boil cubed pumpkin for 20min~ til a fork goes through easily.  Beat into a mash, I let cool a bit and strained some of the water out.  Beat eggs and milk together, add pumpkin and seasoning.  I put a touch of cognac in.  Butter pie dish, shape crust in, make holes with a fork.  Pour in filling, don't worry if it seems very watery.  Bake in oven at 400F for 40min~

Steak Quesadillas

I used leftover london broil, sliced as thinly as possible.
shredded mexican cheese mix
flour tortillas

Real Quick DELICIOUS Meal

I quickly marinated the sliced meat with lime, cilantro, and fresh salsa.
On a hot flat frying pan with a small amount of oil.  Put down a tortilla, cheese on one side, and a few slices of meat...Once the bottom starts to brown and crisp some, fold it over.  Takes about 5min.  Avocado, sour cream, and salsa on the side make it even better-

Use the smaller size tortillas and serve them as an appetizer!

Backyard Garden Update 10/13

Lil Shrimp Scampi

2lbs of shrimp
1 head of garlic
garlic/olive oil mixture from freezer, shavings
butter
s/p, parsley
2 garden tomatoes
white wine
parmesan

Sautee all in a pan.  Serve over linguine.

Curry Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Chicken
Rice
Bell Peppers
curry powder, cumin, pepper, garlic, chives, sambal
onions, mushrooms, eggplant, tomato
chicken broth

I cooked the chicken halfway in the oven then dumped it in with the carmelizing onions and garlic (in a deep frying pan).  Add spices.  Pull the chicken, add vegetables and stock.  Boil Rice on another burner.  Once rice is near ready, add to chicken and veggies.  Adjust spices if needed and add stock if needed.  Core out some bell peppers, stuff with curry mixture.  Top with a touch of swiss cheese and bake at 400F for 20-30, til browned.

The dish was surprisingly spicy when warm because of the bell pepper.

Backyard Garden 9/15

canteloupe

Better Boys

what a mess..

more eggplant!

Today's Harvest: 12 tomatoes and 1 bell pepper

Southwestern Stew with ground beef

2.5lbs of ground beef
water
frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion, chopped or sliced
2 tomatoes rough chopped
1/3 cup of tomato sauce
cumin, cayenne, goya sazon packet, s/p, chili powder, oregano, cilantro
olive oil
1 serrano from the garden, diced

Brown the beef, add onions- carmelize.  Add water, seasoning, etc.. let simmer for as long as possible.  I probably let it go on the stovetop for 2hrs, stirring occasionally so the bottom didnt stick and burn. 30-45min before serving time I added frozen mixed veggies. Sorry no pic!

Fresh Salsa

4 vine tomatoes from the garden
bunch of fresh cilantro
1/2 lime
s/p, cayenne, chili powder, sirracha, red hot, sambal
1/2 spanish onion
1 jalapeno from the garden

Cube tomato and onion.  Dice jalapeno.  Chop down the cilantro (I went real heavy on the cilantro).  Add it all together.

Today's Harvest

todays pickings

Here's some of the herbs I picked today for drying, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary

freezer bound

oops I wrote down the wrong date!