Month: December 2013

Orange Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pecans
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Orange Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pecans

My wife found this and we made when Mark and Missy came up from DC, we had no cranberries so we tried it with tart dried cherries. This was great, I mean really good. I asked Marie if I could use her pictures and post she said no problem. You can find more of her recipes here citronlimette, it is a nice site with some great recipes and ideas. Thank you Marie for this great treat!

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Seasonal acorn squash stuffed with quinoa. pecans and cranberries is my idea of a healthy vegetarian meal. This recipe for orange quinoa stuffed acorn squash is easy to prepare and a real feast. I love the sweetness of the squash and the nuttiness of the quinoa.

Quinoa is addictively delicious.  Quinoa is usually treated like a grain or starch, cooking up like rice or pasta in a fraction of the time.

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Choose squash that are heavy for their size and have a hard, deep-colored rind free of blemishes or moldy spots.

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Once the seeds are removed, winter squash can be baked, steamed or simmered.

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Ingredients

  • 2 small acorn squashes, halved length-wise, seeds removed
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ cup dried cranberries – we were out of these so we substituted tart cherries
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

How:

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Rub squash flesh with 3 tablespoons oil and place face up on baking sheet. Roast 30-35 minutes or until flesh is easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and cool.
  • Meanwhile, in saucepan bring broth and orange juice to a boil; stir in quinoa, lower heat and simmer, covered until ready. When quinoa is done cooking, turn off heat.
  • In medium pan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and sauté an additional 1 minute.
  • Add onion mixture, cranberries and pecans to cooked quinoa and toss until combined; add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Fill each squash half with quinoa mixture. Drizzle with a bit of maple syrup before serving, if desired.
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Reign On Steve’s Vegetable Lasagna -Week 17
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Reign On Steve’s Vegetable Lasagna -Week 17

I remember trips to Maine and those great Sunday dinners of Rose’s.  Her smile would grow if you ask for seconds and with one hand holding the edge of your plate making retreat impossible she would pile on the pasta, lasagna, meatballs…..and when you could hardly hold the plate up then she was satisfied you had ample seconds. Well this Christmas I made lasagna in her honor but added some vegetables since Lyn batted her eyes and asked do you think…… I never came up with those picture perfect lasagna but it always taste good.

Ingredients

  • 1 box of lasagna noodles ( this time I cheated and used the oven ready ones)
  • 1 container (32 oz.) Dragone Part-Skim Ricotta cheese
  • 1 large zucchini slice very thin lengthwise – I used a mandolin
  • I carrot julienned and roughly chopped
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • About 1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp. pepper
  • 1 package (16 oz.) Mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ¾ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Pasta sauce -3-5 cups

Ingredients

How

Heat oven to 375

Combine the ricotta, egg, oregano, salt and pepper.

Add 3 cups of Mozzarella and ½ cup of Parmesan cheese mix thoroughly

Cheese mixture

Spread one cup of sauce on bottom of glass 13*9 pan

Layer 1

Place one layer of noodles – I laid them across since the fit nicely

Cover with a layer of cheese mixture

More sauce

Layer of zucchini and all the carrot

Layer 3

Cheese mixture

Sauce

Pasta

Cheese and sauce

I guess in whatever order you really want to.

top layer

Cover tightly with foil

cover with foil

Bake for about an hour minutes until sauce is bubbly

Cover with the remaining cheeses and bake until melted about 10 minutes uncovered

I also finished off with 2 minutes under the broiler I like that very slight crunchiness

Cover loosely and let sit for at least 15 minutes

Done

I served with sauce, meatballs, chicken sausage and salad with 18 year old balsamic vinegar mmmmmmm anything is better with 18 year old balsamic vinegar

Lyn's sauce my meatblaas and chicken sausage

eat1 eat

Serve best part leftovers

Rose’s meatballs

 

The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm
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The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm

At the end of the long winding dirt drive way you arrive at “The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm”. Great visit to the bakery at Goat Cottage farm yesterday. Delicious gluten free selection, great people and a very charming goat!
From Link In – In November 2013, Laura Raposa partnered up with Colleen Kearney, an enthusiastic gluten-free, dairy-free baker to open a bakery at Goat Cottage Farm, her family’s centuries-old farm in Westport, MA.  1154 Main Rd, Westport MA  (508) 636-2916

Their goal is to become the South Coast’s source for wheat-free and gluten-free sweets and savories.
I believe they are well on their way

1

Christmas menu

stikcybuns   COOKIES AND FOCCACIA

foccacia   foccacia (2)  cookie

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The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm

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Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb with Carrots and Parsnips
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Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb with Carrots and Parsnips

Last week Lyn went shopping for a few things on her own and there were a few impulse buys. We all do that I did it yesterday and ended up with American Chop Suey nice comfort food for a snowy day. Anyway she got a 4 lb. boneless leg of lamb. I used 1 lb to make ground lamb last weekend for Gyros. Today we made this roast and it was well worth the impulse buy well worth it.

Ingredients

Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cup Pomegranate juice
  • 3 tablespoon Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Black pepper, freshly ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
  • 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground

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Veggies

  • 4 whole carrots, peeled
  • 1 1/2 cups large parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced – STEVE NOTE I did not have parsnip so I used potatoes
  • 1/3 cup Water

Lamb

  • 3 lb Boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
  • 2 teaspoon Minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoon Cumin seeds – STEVE NOTE I did not have used ground Cumin
  • 1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoon Chopped fresh mint

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How:

Look for a mini boneless leg of lamb roast that weighs approximately 3 lb. These small roasts sometimes come prepacked in netting. For a leaner, cleaner tasting lamb we like to trim the fat off the surface. This requires removing the netting, trimming the fat, and retying your roast. The extra work is definitely worth it.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine pomegranate juice, sugar, 1/2 tsp. of the black pepper, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

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Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until mixture is thick and syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 20 to 25 minutes.

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3. Cut carrots and parsnips in half lengthwise and then cut into 3-inch pieces. Place in a microwave-safe bowl with water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and toss vegetables with 2 Tbsp. of the pomegranate glaze.

4. Place lamb in the center of a large baking dish or roasting pan. Rub garlic into roast. Season with 1/2 tsp. of the salt, remaining 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and cumin seeds. Brush the top and sides of lamb liberally with pomegranate glaze. Distribute vegetables and their liquid around the roast. – STEVE NOTE – I rubbed the roast with garlic and the spices wrapped in plastic wrap and set in refrigerator for a few hours. Took out and let get to room temperature.

5. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring vegetables once or twice, until meat is cooked to about 115 degrees. Brush roast with any remaining glaze (if it has thickened, microwave for 15 seconds). Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Cook until meat begins to brown in spots and the temperature reaches about 125 degrees for medium-rare, 140 degrees for medium, and 160 degrees for well done, according to your preference (about 10 to 20 minutes).

6. If you prefer your lamb more well done and it begins to overbrown, lower heat to 475 degrees and cover meat loosely with foil.

7. Transfer lamb to cutting board, tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, spread vegetables evenly over baking dish and return to oven to bake until all the juices have evaporated and vegetables have begun to caramelize, about 4 to 5 minutes; watch that they don’t burn. Remove baking dish from oven and stir butter and mint into the vegetables.

8. Remove strings and use a sharp knife to cut lamb into thin slices. Transfer vegetables and lamb to platter and serve warm.

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Source: Hannaford fresh Magazine, September – October 2008
Food Processor Ground Beef
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Food Processor Ground Beef

Did this last week with lamb so you can use lamb, beef, chicken, turkey whatever your heart or honey desires.
I had seen this on the food shows always said I would try but then we had a food grinder attachment for the blender, I just never got around to it.
Sorry I did not do sooner.

Benefits you get to control the fat content.

Ingredients

What ever poundage of meat needed -depending how much fat you trimming you may need slightly more that required for final ingredient.

Cube the meat trimming away and discarding the fat

Place on a flat cookie tray and into the freezer for 25-40 minutes until very firm

In batches put in food processor and pulse until desire texture is reached

 

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Related

American chop suey

American chop seuy and Mom’s old recipe

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Reign On American Chop Suey – Week 15
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Reign On American Chop Suey – Week 15

Everyone has their own comfort foods, I have many but one of my favorites is American Chop Suey. This recipe is what I have come up with that is closest to what my mind remembers as my mother’s plus the red hot pepper flakes. The Pat’s are getting ready to grab the division and top place but they are playing in the nice warm weather, so as we  prepare for 8-12 inches of snow depending where you why not try this nice warm me up game time treat.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. lean Ground beef I MADE FOOD PROCESSOR GROUND BEEF
  • 1 onion chopped roughly
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 green pepper cored, seeded and chopped
  • 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
  • 15 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 lb. box Elbow macaroni
  • Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, red-hot pepper flakes to taste about 1 tablespoon each
  • Ketchup (optional, not for me)

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How:

In a fry pan cook hamburger, onion, and celery until meat is browned and the veggies are limp but still have some crunch left. While browning chop up the beef into small chunks. Drain off the grease.

Step 1

Crush tomatoes by hand over the pan, pour in the juice from the can and the tomato sauce.

Add whatever spices you are comfortable with. I use salt, pepper, oregano, basil, (I suppose a short cut could be Italian seasoning mix) a good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes depends on your hotness taste. Add the chopped green pepper at this point I feel it kept them a little crunchier but I suppose you could add in the first step.

Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes.

step 2

Meanwhile, bring five quarts of water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook for about five minutes. The pasta should be aldente, not thoroughly cooked. Drain, return to pot and add the contents of the other pan. Gently simmer for five minutes to finish cooking the macaroni and to let it absorb the liquid.

Remove from heat, and put it to the side. I find that letting it sit for at least a half hour lets the flavors really come together I also stir occasionally to help cool and not over cook the pasta.

step 3

Ok now I was raised to top with ketchup when served but this is strictly optional, it just does not taste right to me without, what can I say?

step 4

Leftover Eggnog Quick Bread
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Leftover Eggnog Quick Bread

I’m not a baker but we had leftovers and Lyn found this on Pinterest and we had leftover eggnog, tomorrow coffee cake.

Too sweet for me she like it too much, so she’s making me bring it into work. Sorry Nicole not vegan.

 

Total 00:55, Prep 00:10, Cook 00:45

 

Ingredients

  •  2 medium eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup dairy eggnog
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 2 tsp rum extract – had no extract used rum
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

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EGGNOG GLAZE

3/4 c      confectioners’ sugar (sift your sugar to assure no lumps)

add enough eggnog to make a glaze…pour a little at a time into sugar (I used about 3 tablespoons)

 

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How:

Beat eggs, in a large bowl, then add next 5 ingredients, blending well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until just moist. Pour into a greased 9″x 5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Makes one loaf.

Eggnog glaze

3/4 cup confectionery sugar

Enough eggnog to make it a glaze – about 3 tablespoons

Stir together and drizzle on bread.

 

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Pictures taken with cell phone
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Pan Seared Oven Roasted Buffalo Steak
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Pan Seared Oven Roasted Buffalo Steak

Ingredients

NY strip buffalo about 1 “ thick

How

Preheat oven to 350 degree
Heat oven proof fry pan over medium hig heat
Sprinkle a little Olive oil pan
Sear the steak about 3 minutes
Turn and place pan in oven for about 4 minutes
Remove tent loosely with tin foil let sit for 5-10 minutes – rule of thumb I use is about the same time it took to cook.

Slice against the grain and serve

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The Benefits of Eating Buffalo

I like knowing that by buying and eating buffalo I’m supporting one of the last remnants of wild food on the American continent. I like the wild, untamed nature of the animals, their rugged character, and toughness. They stand in stark contrast to the rest of our cultivated diet.

Buffalo, what’s in it for you?
Ounce for ounce buffalo meat contains 69% more iron than beef and slightly more protein than beef. Everyone can benefit from eating bison on regular basis to prevent or rectify iron deficiency anemia. Men, women, children, and former vegetarians and vegans can benefit from is tonifying food. Like beef, bison is a great source of B-vitamins, zinc, and other brain and body-building nutrients that are poorly supplies and poorly absorbed from plant foods.

Photo right by Rachel Albert-Matesz, © Copyright 2009

Cholesterol, a non-issue
Although buffalo is promoted as a lower cholesterol meat, that’s a bit of misnomer. A 100 gram serving (3 1/2 ounces) of buffalo contains approximately 82 milligrams of cholesterol whereas the same size portion of beef (or pork) contains 86 milligrams. The difference of 4 milligrams is hardly signfificant. (That’s 0.0002% of what most bodies produces in a day!)

Now you may be wondering why eat cholesterol if you body can make it? Although your body can manufacture cholesterol, it is actually better to obtain it from dietary sources. Traditional human diets have always contained significant amounts of cholesterol.

According to Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS,CNT, author of Primal Body––Primal Mind, “Restricting or eliminating its [cholesterol] intake indicates a crisis or famine to the body. The result is the production of a liver enzyme called HMG-COA reductase, that in effect, then overproduces cholesterol from carbohydrates in the diet. Consuming excess carbohydrates while decreasing cholesterol intake guarantees a steady overproduction of cholesterol in the body.”

“The only way to switch this over production off is to consume an adequate amount of dietary cholesterol and back off on the carbs. In other words, the dietary intake of cholesterol stops the internal production of cholesterol. (Schwarzbein, 1999).”

Back to the Buffalo
Buffalo is usually lower in fat than beef. The specific fat content of a particular cut of buffalo will depend on upon the particular animal, its diet age at the time of slaughter, and how much fat is trimmed from the carcass or cut you buy.

The lean of the land?
USDA handbook data includes comparisons showing a 100 gram (3 1/2 ounce) portion of beef at 9.28  to 14 grams of fat and the same size portion of buffalo at 2.42 grams of fat. However, I’ve seen 6 ounce (128 gram) buffalo burgers in gourmet markets boasting 30 grams of fat (ground meat may contain more fat if it’s processed with trim from the rest of the carcass, particularly if it was not 100% grassfed). However, fat isn’t bad.

Eating more fat and protein and less carbohydrate can provide many health benefits.  Still most buffalo on the market, particularly if grassfed, will contain significantly less fat than factory farmed beef.

For the pictures on the right, I used a small buffalo steak from Arizona Buffalo Company, located in Buckeye, Arizona. It turned out really great. Although it was a lean steak, I found it easy to cut and easy to chew.

Buy local whenever you can
When I buy meat, or anything else, I support small local farmer means and help them stay in business. I reduce fuel use because my food doesn’t log thousands of miles to reach me. I cut out the middle man. I usually save money, and have contact with the people who are raising my food. I much prefer this to buying anonymous meat whenever I can, although I’m flexible in this respect. I don’t think it has to be all or nothing.

How to cook a buffalo
Cook it one piece at a time. As with grassfed been and other lean, wild, or game meats, you’ll get the best results cooking steaks, roasts, and burgers, rare or medium rare. Well done will be overdone, tough, dry, and leathery. Reduce the cooking time, the temperature, or both to produce the best results. And don’t rush a roast, long slow cooking is required for certain cuts to make t hem moist and tender. Marinades help with some cuts.

How does it taste?
I like the flavor. You might expect buffalo to taste gamey and have a tough texture, but I find it tender and juicy (as long it’s not overcooked), with a slightly sweet undertone. I like to sear the steaks on both sides and leave them blood red on the inside. You’ll notice buffalo meet has a deeper, darker, redder color than beef. Stay close and remove it from the heat when it’s under done, so you don’t lose all that color in cooking.

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Leftover Turkey Day Chili
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Leftover Turkey Day Chili

I looked at the container with the leftover turkey that was left for us. I had already had two or three left over sandwiches and could not bear the thought of another after all it has only been 2 days and Lyn and I had cooked a turkey for leftovers on Wednesday so it was really been 4 days. Wendy’s Dave did that for our family once when we decided to go out to a restaurant for Tday and we figured with original count at 13 we should do the same.  Anyway back to the Chili this was make shift and quick so the measurements are a guess.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups finely chopped turkey
  • small onion chopped
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 1 small green pepper
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • ¼ to ½ cup Lyn’s pasta sauce

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How

Sauté the onion for about 4 minutes add the green pepper for another 2 minutes add garlic until you can smell about 30 seconds.

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Add the rest of the ingredients bring to a boil and simmer until you’re hungry.

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With the pasta sauce I just added enough until it look like a good amount.

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