Main Course

Caramelized Acorn Squash Salad with Crispy Shallots.
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Caramelized Acorn Squash Salad with Crispy Shallots.

The first time I had something similar to this they served with herb goat cheese on a bed of arugula. We had on hand crumbled feta, cut up oranges, pumpkin seeds, served on a bed of mixed greens. In fact it was at Stonewall Kitchen cooking class and they made a salad very similar this is my adaptation using what we had on hand. Here is a good site to read about varieties of winter squash. There were 2 of us and this made one fine meal, I even skipped dessert that night which for some reason this last year I have become a dessert person so strange to me.

acorn-squash

I apologize I was so into cooking that I forgot to take a picture in the pan while cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Acorn squash or any thin skinned winter squash – the thin skin allows you to eat it when cooked.
  • ¼- ½  cup hard apple cider – could use regular cider
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

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How:

Cut off the ends of the squash and scoop out the seed

Cut into ½ inch think rings.

Combine the sugar, salt, pepper and butter in a large bowl. Add the squash and coat.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and place the squash in a single layer. Add apple cider to pan. Allow squash to cook and apple cider to reduce until squash is tender and the glaze begins to caramelize. While pan roasting, turn the squash with a spatula to be sure it browns evenly.

Things I might try next time –

  • I think next time I might melt the combination making it easier to coat the squash.
  • My pan was a little too small so I ended up using half rings to fit.
  • Cooking in batches to retain the circles
  • I might try roasting and flipping a few times next time

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Hard Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup hard apple cider
  • ¼ cup fresh orange juice (about ½ orange)
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallots
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (used our 18 year old)
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

How

Bring cider, juice and honey to a boil in a small saucepan.

Cook 10 minutes or until reduced to about 2 tablespoons.

Pour into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Add shallots, vinegar, Dijon salt and pepper stir with a whisk. Gradually add the olive oil stirring constantly with a whisk. Set aside.

Crispy Shallots

Ingredients

  • 1-2 shallots shaved into rings, used our new mandolin
  • I cup rice flour – gluten free which browns more quickly
  • Canal oil as needed.

How

Heat canola oil in a small sauté pan. Toss shallots in rice flour, shaking off excess. Fry rings until crispy and lightly golden. Remove from oil and season with salt. Drain on paper towel. To be honest the first batch burnt, the second was not quite crispy enough, and the next batch was perfect. Sound like a familiar story to you? I used the 2nd and third batch tossed the first. Learned you got to watch them cause they turn real quick.

Caramelized Acorn Squash Salad with Crispy Shallots.

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I Was Bored The Other Day – Chicken
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I Was Bored The Other Day – Chicken

Not sure what time it was or how I found this picture but I was snurfing the net, yes snurfing, an art much like using a TV remote in a man’s hands. I am male and way back when the males supposedly did the hunting. Now I bet cha there are a lot of cave women out there that would beg to differ and I would not be one to disagree but I once heard that  the art of channel surfing is a replacement for hunting with a man. Something to point and shoot in a sense. They went on to explain why  yada yada…. now there was someone with too much time on their hands.

Anyway I once dubbed that art form “snurfing” and it has crossed over to my wandering aimless through the vast realms of the internet. The blank stare is about the same as are the raised eyebrows and sudden freezing action when something catches my attention. Wait a minute who is the hunted one here? I came across this picture and I LIKE I muttered in a grunt. Quickly Pinning it so I don’t lose.

the-chicken-cake

 

Nice job sorry I can’t give you credit whomever you are!

Snowy Day Roasted Organic Chicken
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Snowy Day Roasted Organic Chicken

We all sighed with relief when the ground hog did not see his shadow and it was declared an early spring it would be! He just neglected to tell us that it would be a stormy snowy wait starting with a 28” blizzard. Then at the beginning of last week it was another 10-14” by midweek 6-8” by the end of the week we were in the 4-6” and by the time Lyn and I pulled into the garage on Sunday afternoon they were saying not even an inch. You just have to laugh. We actually ended up with about 2” after it was all said and done and it did snow pretty much half of Saturday and all day and night Sunday just did not amount to much. Wait more snow on this Wednesday.

Snow_Texture_by_funnybunny_stock

I love the snow fall that has huge flakes drifting slowly to the ground it can be memorizing if not hypnotic as you stare out into the bliss lost in memories of running around catching flakes with your tongue as a child. So what does one do on a snowy Sunday afternoon I decided roasting one of the organic Chickens I got from Whole Foods on sale last week, it was one of those lunch time shopping expeditions were you are armed with a list and you race around beating the clock, my list chickens, strawberries and lunch.  Returning to work Nicole directed, very nicely, the placing of all our bags in the lunch room frig. I got the fun job of throwing out someone’s long deserted and now disgusting lunch from who knows when. I am sure you all have an office frig that collects things. Anyway I babble….

Ingredients

  • 1 whole organic chicken
  • 1 lemon – sliced in ¼” slices
  • ½ orange – sliced in ¼” slices
  • 2 cloves garlic – slightly smashed or not
  • Salt and pepper
  • A couple of table spoons of room temp butter
  • CoffeeSpiceRubCoffee spice rub
  • A few carrots sliced in 2” pieces
  • One or two sweet onions quartered

snowy day chicken

How:

Rinse and dry the chicken

Salt and pepper the cavity

Stuff the lemon, orange and garlic cloves inside

Truss the chicken

Rub and place butter over the top of the dry chicken

Sprinkle with Coffee spice rub

Place in a roasting pan on rack

Drizzle some Olive Oil on the carrots and onion and distribute around the edge of pan

450 degree oven cook for 40-60 minutes until thickest part of thigh is around 165 degree.

Basting optional, I did at halfway point since the pan I used was to long.
Depending on the depth of the oven if you can have legs facing the back if not rotate pan ½ through.
If you feel the skin is getting to dark then tent with aluminum foil.

You can make pan gravy if you want deglazing with some white wine, I opted out since I was making some Russet oven bake fries.

snowy day chicken 2 SNOWY DAY CHICKEN

snowy day chicken plate

How to truss a chicken

truss a chicken

There are hundreds of ways and every one is correct I just use this methods cause I find it easy.

Start at the back of the chicken, tuck the wings under and tuck the neck cavity flap under. Taking some twine run it across the neck cavity along the groove where the thigh and body meet bringing it under the end of the drum stick crossing left to right bringing it to the top pulling the legs together and tying a knot. The uniform shape insures more even cooking.

Cinnamon Chicken Salad Roll
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Cinnamon Chicken Salad Roll

The other day I was surfing the net found myself on Pinterest and came across a recipe for “Pistachio Cinnamon Chicken Salad” from Skinneytaste.com. It was the pistachios that caught my stomach’s eye I have had a never ending love for those nuts and I had a bag in the pantry. I don’t know why I never made this but part of it stuck in my head and I guess you could say my gut took over. I will make her version one of these days. I have to say I never thought about cinnamon and chicken salad but this was great.

Ingredients

  • Boneless chicken breast
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Mrs. Dash seasoning a few sprinkles
  • 1-2  Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 to 1 ½ Tablespoons Myer Lemon juice
  • 2 Organic whole wheat hotdog rolls

How:

Rinse and dry very well chicken breast

Pound the chicken breast to about  ¼”or less. Season with salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash, you could just use the Mrs. Dash alone I just happen to notice it sitting there on the shelf after I already did the salt and pepper. Pan fry with a little oil about 3-4 minutes per side until done. Cover loosely and set aside for about 10 minutes. Rough chop the chicken and combine with mayo, cinnamon, myer lemon juice. Place in hotdog rolls and serve.

pan fry chicken

Pan fry the chicken, dice and combine with other ingredients

Cinnamon Chicken Salad Roll

Cinnamon

cinnamon_health_benefits_sticks

Cinnamon is best known as a spice, sprinkled on toast and lattes. But extracts from the bark of the cinnamon tree have also been used traditionally as medicine throughout the world.

Why do people take cinnamon?

Some research has found that a particular type of cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, may lower blood sugar in people with diabetes. However, other studies have not found a benefit. Studies of cinnamon for lowering cholesterol and treating yeast infections in people with HIV have been inconclusive.

Lab studies have found that cinnamon may reduce inflammation, have antioxidant effects, and fight bacteria. But it’s unclear what the implications are for people.

For now, studies have been mixed, and it’s unclear what role cinnamon may play in improving health.

How much cinnamon should you take?

Because cinnamon is an unproven treatment, there is no established dose. Some recommend 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (2-4 grams) of powder a day. Some studies have used between 1 gram and 6 grams of cinnamon. Very high doses may be toxic.

 

Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze
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Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze

I was shocked that Lyn choose bone in pan fried pork chops for her free meal this week. I always loved the taste of pan fried pork chops and the added treat of a bone to munch on it was like a dessert for me. Maybe she had too many of these growing up but being a nice Jewish kid pork did not make it to our table that often, we were reformed reformed Jews. There is something about pork and winter that go together.

Ingredients

forgot to leave out the horsradish for picture it is shy

forgot to leave out the horseradish for picture it is shy

Serves 2-4

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup hard or pressed apple cider
  • 2 Tbsp. freshly grated or prepared horseradish
  • 1/2 tsp. table salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper

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Chops:

  • 4 bone-in loin pork chops, 1/2-inch thick, about 1 1/2 pounds total, at room temperature
  • Table salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Pork chops with Cider, horse radish glaze

Garnish

  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

1. Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Trim any excess fat from around chops until you only have about 1/8 inch of fat. Pat chops dry with a paper towel and generously season them with salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in a heavy, 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until oil starts to smoke. Add pork chops to the skillet and cook them until they are well-browned, about 3 minutes. Turn chops and cook 1 minute longer, then transfer them to a plate and pour off any fat in skillet.

4. Pour glaze into the skillet and bring it to a simmer. Cook until mixture thickens enough that your spatula leaves a trail when scraped across the pan, 2 to 4 minutes.

5. Return chops and any juices to the skillet; turn to coat both sides with glaze. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the center of the chops registers 140 on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

6. Serve chops with glaze drizzled over them and sprinkled with dill.

Recipe adapted from “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook” by Deb Perelman.

Crawfish Boil- suck-dat-head pinch-dat-tail
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Crawfish Boil- suck-dat-head pinch-dat-tail

 

While with 20th Century Fox I was transfer to New Orleans and remember the first time everyone said Steve we are going suck-dat-head pinch-dat-tail for lunch this afternoon you in? Sure why not, well they came in with a huge bag and a pile of newspapers. Spread out the news papers and dumped the bag. I watched in amazement not quite sure what to do, being a Yankee and all. They laughed and gave me a quick lesson and I was soon diving in wolfing them down. I got to tell you the suckin dat head part not my favorite but I tried.

I just grab some crab boil pack and boil them up following the instructions but here is a great recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2009.

CrawfishSeasoning

Prep Time:1 hr 30 min — Cook Time:23 min — Serves:10 to 12 servings.

 

 Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
  • 2 tablespoons whole cloves
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons whole allspice
  • 5 gallons water
  • 1 pound kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
  • 6 bay leaves, crumbled
  • 10 pounds live crawfish
  • 3 pounds small red potatoes, cut in 1/2, if larger than 2-inches in diameter
  • 8 ears corn, halved
  • 2 heads garlic, unpeeled, but separated
  • 1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces

 suck dat head

How:

Place the peppercorns, coriander, clove, and allspice into a spice grinder and grind for 10 to 15 seconds.

Fill a 40-quart pot with 5 gallons of water and add the freshly ground spices, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, thyme, oregano, dry mustard, dill weed, and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, approximately 40 minutes.

suck-dat-head pinch-dat-tail 2

Rinse the crawfish thoroughly in the bag in which they arrived to remove excess dirt and mud. Put the crawfish in a large container and fill with cool water. Stir to remove dirt from the crawfish. Transfer small batches of crawfish to a colander and rinse under cool running water. Pick out any debris or dead crawfish. Once all crawfish have been rinsed, discard dirty water, and return the crawfish to the container. Repeat this process 6 to 8 times, or until the water is clear.

Once the seasoned water comes to a boil, add the potatoes, corn, garlic, and sausage. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the crawfish, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the pot to sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Drain well and serve immediately.

suck-dat-head pinch-dat-tail

Are Crawfish considered seafood?

Answer:

Related articles
Sliders and Crispy Brussel Sprouts and oven Baked Fries
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Sliders and Crispy Brussel Sprouts and oven Baked Fries

I had these dinner rolls in the freezer left over from a recent holiday. We don’t eat much bread these days and did not want it to get freezer burned so I decided they were perfect for sliders.

Ingredients

  • Ground beef
  • Lettuce
  • cherry tomatoes halved
  • Cheddar Cheese
  • Small Dinner rolls
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Baking potato

How:

Potatoes and Brussel sprouts – Prepare separately but you can cook together

Slice potatoes to about ¼ in width. Microwave for about 1-2 minutes

Slice Brussel sprouts in half

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle desired spices and herbs toss to coat well

Roast at 400-450 for 20-35 minutes or until done.

Sliders

Form patties and cook to desired doneness (grill, broiler, pan fried you pick)

Add cheese if you want to melt

Place on roll top with lettuce, tomatoes and condiment

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 Who invented Sliders? From Google answer

In the 1940s, Walter Anderson formed White Castle and made sure it’s image was as pure and clean as possible.

He also wanted his burgers to be as low cost as possible so he made them small and came up with his own streamlined and efficient cooking process that is still unique in the business today.

The small 5 cent burger that he came up with is what is now affectionately known as a Slider and has become its very own sub-category of burger. White Castle sells its own original burgers under the trademark Slyders, these will always be known as the first and the best.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops with roasted veggies
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Pan Seared Sea Scallops with roasted veggies

I think that I mentioned before that Lyn gets to pick a meal a week that is off her strict diet. She picked Pan Seared Seas Scallops. I had never made sea scallops had used bay in stir fry, I could tell you about someone making Szechuan scallops for their as it turned out to be in-laws and forgetting if they had put in the pepper and added again, boy was that spicy, but I won’t. Anyway….

Ingredients

  • ½ pound sea scallops (about 4)
  • 1 tablespoons Oil
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • Balsamic vinegar – we have 18 year old, so sweet so good

How:

Turn on exhaust fan

Heat pan on high until hot

Tipping away from you add oil

Add scallops cook for about 2 minutes

Add butter and flip the scallops cook for about 2 minutes

Remove from pan and serve on bed of roasted veggies we had eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and tomatoes drizzle with some balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients

Ingredients

Sear for 2 minutes

Flip and add butter for another 2 minutes

Flip and add butter for another 2 minutes

Roasted eggplant, zucchini, carrots and baby roma tomatoes

Plate up

Plate up

Scallops

sea-scallop

sea-scallop

Bay scallops and sea scallops are closely related members of the same family of shellfish. Both make extremely good eating. Gourmets particularly prize bay scallops, which are much smaller than sea scallops, for their tenderness and the sweetness of their flavor. Because they are smaller, bay scallops require considerably shorter cooking times and benefit from gentler methods, while sea scallops stand up to fiercer heat. In both cases, overcooking renders them tough. Bay scallops are in short supply because of the degradation of their habitat by pollution. Vendors offer both types packed either “wet” or “dry.” Choose dry ones if possible—they are in their natural state. Wet scallops have been soaked in phosphates, which affects their flavor and causes them to absorb water which they give up in cooking.

bay-scallops

 
bay-scallops

Scallops are two-shelled marine mollusks that actively swim through the water, propelling themselves by opening and shutting their shells. The large round white muscle that they use to do this—sweet-flavored and naturally very low in fat—is the part that we eat (in Europe the delicately flavored orange roe is also highly prized). Unlike clams or mussels, scallops are unable to shut their shells completely, and cannot survive out of water. Harvesters therefore normally shuck them as soon as they are caught and place the meat on ice.

Spicy Oven-Baked Fish and Sweet Potato Chips
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Spicy Oven-Baked Fish and Sweet Potato Chips

Lyn got to choose 2 of her meals that are not from her strict diet this week, she reached her half way goal and that is what they do for you at that point. Let you taste real food as she calls it. Heck, it is working, every week she losses a pound or more and that is the good way it stays off. Now I like her just the way she is but get a Yes Dear look if I say something. Anyway she chose Pan Seared Sea Scallops but whole foods also had Haddock on sale and while surfing the net she found this recipe. As I am not that adventurous when it comes to fish, Haddock should be fish and chips, swordfish and tuna steaks should be grilled, salmon well there are a lot of ways that my palate  has been introduced to  so when she showed me this recipe I said why not give it a try on Sunday. It was our pregame meal which turned out to be disappointing, the game not the meal this was light, flaky and just right.

Spicy Oven-Baked Fish and Sweet Potato Chips

From BHG.com

Makes: 4 servings

Prep 20 minutes Bake 425° 20 minutes to 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh or frozen white fish fillets, about 1/2-inch thick
  • nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 pound sweet potatoes, cut into ¼ to ½ inch sticks
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning or seafood seasoning
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • Lemon wedges and fresh parsley (optional)
  • We added homemade Tatar sauce

How:

  1. Cut fish into 3 x 2-inch pieces. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Cover and chill until needed.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil; lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
  3. For chips, pat potatoes dry with paper towels; place sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add olive oil, Old Bay seasoning, 1/2 tsp. chili powder and 1/2 tsp. salt. Toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on one half of the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, for fish, place milk in a shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish. In a third shallow dish combine bread crumbs, 2 tsp. chili powder, paprika, 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper. Add melted butter; stir until combined.
  5. Dip fish pieces in milk; coat with flour. Dip again in the milk, then in the bread crumb mixture. Remove baking sheet from oven. Using a spatula, carefully turn potatoes over. Place fish on the other half of the hot baking sheet; return to oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more or until potatoes are golden brown and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve fish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley, if desired.
Cut fish, prepare milk flour and bread crumbs

Cut fish, prepare milk flour and bread crumbs. Place the sweet potato fries in oven on 1/2 cookie sheet.

ready to cook 2

Dip in Milk, Flour back to Flour and then coat with bread crumbs

add the fish

Add the fish to the other half of cookie sheet and return to oven.

done

20-25 minutes until fries are golden brown and fish flakes with fork

Spicy Oven-Baked Fish and Sweet Potato Chips

Serve it up

Other recipes from stevesacooking.com you might find interesting

Almond-Crusted Salmon

Dijon Myer Lemon Glazed Wild Salmon

Almond-Crusted Salmon

Grilled Salmon with Herb Crust

Big Fat Cod potato pancakes

Oven Roasted Ribeye Fajita with Roasted Veggies.
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Oven Roasted Ribeye Fajita with Roasted Veggies.

Oven Roasted Ribeye Fajita with roasted veggies.

I took a small Ribeye out of the freezer not knowing what I would do with it other than knowing that I would pan sear and oven roast. I am still on my own for meals since Lyn is still on her special strict diet and living up to my promise to eat well. Ok Ok sort of living up to it I have days that I have reverted to a meat and potato guy but for the most part…… Anyway she made herself a Fajita and went to the bar to dig in it was then I noticed she did not use the tortillas and asked are you going to use while batting my eyes. No, it must have been two seconds until I figure out my finished meal. By this time the steak had been removed from the oven and had sat for at least 7 minutes so I slice up thin dished out some of the roasted veggie and topped with steak and a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

Ribeye Steak

Roasted Zucchini, Summer Squash and Baby Roma Tomatoes

Two small tortillas

How:

Season the steaks with salt and pepper and bring to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 425 rack in center.

Heat the oil over medium heat in an oven proof pan.

Sear the steaks for about 3-5 minutes.

Turn and place the pan in oven for about 7 minutes.

Remove cover very loosely with tin foil and let set for 5 minutes before serving.

Slice thin against the grain

Roast vegetable at 450 until desired doneness

Heat taco add veggie and meat

Serve

Oven Roasted Ribeye Fajita with Roasted Veggies.