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Glaze Guidance

Found this on Cookscounty.com

Reducing the glaze to the right consistency takes a little practice. Too long in the pan hardens the glaze into a tacky mess, but not enough time means a runny glaze and diluted flavors. Here’s how you’ll know when it’s just right. (Avoid dark skillets, as you’ll need to gauge the changing color of the sauce.)

1. NOT YET The bubbles just break the surface of the glaze, and a spatula makes little to no trail.

2. NOW! The bubbles are smaller and more plentiful. The color deepens, and a spatula makes a trail.

3. OOPS! TOO FAR! Big bubbles cover the dark, thick glaze. A spatula leaves a wide trail.

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Quick Chicken Thigh Dinner

I’ve had a hell of week at work it is the full moon syndrome as I call it. I do the IT at work supporting 3 branches 4 remote people and the travelers who are in Asia. Anyway I had planes for a couple of chicken thighs but was pretty burnt when I arrived home so I quickly pan seared skin side down for about 4 minutes and turned over and placed pan and all in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Lyn had made some couscous so that was my side.

Quick and easy and good. I love that crispy chicken skin, ya I know no veggies tonight.

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Lyn’s Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
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Lyn’s Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

Comfort foods are a good thing they make you feel warm inside especially on a snowy. I have to nick name this one as “hide it from me” or maybe “step away from the bread” it was so good that “Gone in 60 seconds” would work for a name also. I think you get the idea I kind of like this one. As we munched we started naming things that might go good with this, almond flour, pistachios, maybe orange rind….

Ingredients

  • full cup of grated zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)
  • 1 1/4 cup – cup for cup gluten-free flour blend
    • If does not included xanthan gum in flour then add ¾ teaspoon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  •  2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil (or other light oil)
  • 2 extra-large eggs
  • 1/4 cup lactose free yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup chopped or pecans

Ingredients

How

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard 9-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Place the shredded zucchini into some paper towels and gently squeeze out any moisture. Fluff the zucchini with a fork and set aside.

Put the all-purpose gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and whisk to blend

In another large bowl add the brown sugar, canola oil, eggs, yogurt, lemon juice and pecans. Whisk thoroughly until smooth.

mix wet

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until combined. Fold in the grated zucchini and the nuts.

add the dry

  • Reserve just a little zucchini to sprinkle over the tops of the loaves

Pour into the pan, sprinkle over the reserved zucchini

pour into pan and sprinkle zuchinni

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.

bake 35-40 minutes

Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully turn out to
cool completely on a rack.

let cool and serve - we could not wait

We could not wait for the completely cool part. Tip if you want skinny slices wait until completely cool.

Thanksgiving tradition memory that my cousin Rand reminded me of with this picture from his table.

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Triple Play Meatloaf (gluten free)
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Triple Play Meatloaf (gluten free)

Meat loaf is one of those comfort foods and everyone thinks they have the best recipe. For a long time I thought I did – it was right off the oatmeal box and it was a staple for me during my bachelor days. Lyn was nice about it but she finally won and I was forbidden to make it any longer. It was not until I tried a few more recipes that I understood why, and agree. I think everyone I make is slightly different because I am a cook from the gut or pantry kind of guy. There are tons of things that will never make it to this site I open the frig look around and throw something together and then say Blank I should have taken pictures or paid more attention to what I put in there. Anyway…..

For a long time I wanted to try making a meatloaf that utilized 3 types of ground meat, Hamburger, Veal and Pork. Lyn found this recipe on Pinterest and I made it today. The name is mine and I tweaked some of the ingredients to meet my taste. The sauce was good but not a keeper to me, smelt much better cooking. You could use the standard ketchup topping, BBQ sauce, maybe even Salsa etc. etc…..

Ingredients

Meatloaf

  • 1 pound ground veal
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh chives, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh thyme leaves, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh Italian parsley, plus 1 teaspoon for the sauce
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups finely ground gluten free panko (place panko in food processor to finely grind)
  • 2/3 cup whole organic milk
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
  • 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 2 cups chicken stock, homemade or good quality purchased
  • 8 to 10 cloves roasted-garlic
  • 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh chives
  • 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh Italian parsley

Sauce1

How

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the veal, pork, beef, chives, thyme, parsley, eggs, panko, milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat and add a drizzle or 2 of extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the celery and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Remove the celery and onion from the pan and let cool.

Suate Onions and celery

When the mixture is cool, add it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Mix the ingredients until well combined and everything is evenly distributed.Mix throughly

Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan (it should have sides at least 1-1 1/2 inches high to prevent grease runoff from the pan). I used 90% lean and did not have a lot of fat.

Place the meat on the sheet pan and pat it and punch it down to remove any air pockets. Shape the meat into a loaf (about 14 1/2 inches long by 5 inches wide by 2 inches high). Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer indicates an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Mold to loaf 2 inches high

bake 350 40-45 minutes

Sauce – Meanwhile, for the sauce, combine the broth, roasted garlic and butter over medium-high heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly thickened. Add 1 teaspoon of each of the chopped thyme, chives and parsley.

Heat and simmer sauce Add herbs

Slice the meatloaf into serving portions and spoon the hot sauce over the meatloaf and serve.

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Related

Reign On Game Day Recipe Week 5: Spicy Southwest Meatloaf Minis – Stevesacooking.com

Meatloaf 101 with Mrs. Kostyra – Stevesacooking.com

Meatloaf with a hint of Mexican – well Texmex – Stevesacooking.com

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!

Orange-Quinoa-Acorn-Squash1

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.

Orange-Quinoa-Acorn-Squash3

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

Orange-Quinoa-Acorn-Squash1

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

Orange-Quinoa-Acorn-Squash2

 

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

 

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Cooking With Honey – Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

Cooking With Honey – Portobello Mushroom Lasagna.

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

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Christmas menu

stikcybuns   COOKIES AND FOCCACIA

foccacia   foccacia (2)  cookie

13876398506921387639846087  13876398285881387639828588A1387639862745    1387639814561 1387639807693Laura Raposa & Colleen KearneyThe Goat  1387641297335  1387641289632 1495891_10151933169503143_1990310573_o 1459677_10152156810026532_1596789998_n

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The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm

1498756_10151933169508143_1891604230_o The Bakery at Goat Cottage Farm

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