Roasted Acorn Squash

Making acorn squash used to seem like a daunting task because I had no idea how to do it or what it tasted like.  One of my coworkers gave me a magazine that had a very simple recipe and so I stepped out of my comfort zone once again.


Ingredients
1 large acorn squash
Salt and Pepper
olive oil


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in half and clean out the seeds and excess fibers.  Then cut squash into 8ths.  Lightly coat  with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 30 to 35 minutes rotating half.  They are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork.



*I served this with pork marinated in adobe sauce.  Similar recipe to the Adobe Chicken posted earlier  

Classic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Today we spent the afternoon carving pumpkins for Halloween.  Four pumpkins produce a lot of seeds.
This is one of many recipes we are going to try this week.  This one is considered to be the standard.



Ingredients

2 cups pumpkin seed
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste.


Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Toss pumpkin seeds with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place in oven and toss every 10 minutes until seeds are dry and slightly golden.  Towards the end keep a close eye... I hear they burn easily.

Cast Iron Mini Omelets

This is very similar to the cast iron baked eggs but I scrambled the eggs instead.  This one also takes a little longer to bake.  

Ingredients

3 eggs 

1 tbs butter

4 pieces of sliced Canadian bacon

1 tbs salsa 

salt and pepper to taste 

1/2 cup shredded cheese.  

1 tbs heavy cream 

Preheat oven 375 degrees

In a 6 inch cast iron plan melt the butter.   Remove from heat and layer Canadian bacon on the bottom of the pan.  Spread the salsa over Canadian bacon.  In a small bowl whisk eggs, salt, pepper and heavy cream together.  Incorporate 1/4 cup cheese into the mixture and pour over the Canadian bacon and salsa.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Rotate and bake for an additional 15 minutes until eggs are cooked.  5 minutes before removing from oven top with the remainder of cheese.

  

Twice Baked Potatoes

In the past we have bought these pre made, so I thought I would finally make them at home.  They really are not as hard as I thought they would be.  They also taste a heck of a lot better when they are fresh.

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion chopped
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper
Cilantro (Optional)

Preheat oven to 400.  Wash and dry potatoes and rub them with the olive oil.
Place directly on the rack and bake for 1 hour, turning them halfway through baking.  They are done when you can put a wooden skewer through them and they slide right off.    Cool on a wire rack.

While potatoes are cooling, melt 1 tbs butter in a sauté pan and add onions. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize and add minced garlic.  Let cook for an additional 30 seconds.  Remove contents into a small bowl and set aside.  

Now Preheat oven to 500.

Cut potatoes lengthwise and scoop out flesh into a bowl, leaving about 1/8 inch thickness of flesh in each shell.    Mash potatoes and add milk and sour cream.  Stir in the onion/garlic mix, mustard powder, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.  Spoon mixture in the shells and top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake potatoes until cheese is melted and begins to caramelize.  We topped with cilantro but for the bacon lovers out there, chopped bacon would taste great.

Italian Sausage, Tortellini and Spinach Soup

The weather is getting colder.  This is a hearty quick soup for a weeknight.  It reminds me of a soup I used to get at a chain restaurant.  The spiciness depends on the spiciness of the Italian sausage.  


Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1 lb hot Italian sausage (about 5 links)
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbs minced garlic
6 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 lb Tortellini (seven cheese)
3 cups baby spinach
Black pepper


In a dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil and brown sausage.  Once sausage is brown, remove from pan and set aside.  To the hot pot, add chopped onion and garlic.  Scrape up all the little bits off the bottom of the pot.  Cook until onions are translucent to slightly caramelized.Add the chicken broth and bay leaf to the pot.  Slice sausage on the bias and return to the pot.  

In another large pot boil the Tortellini to al-dente (about 6 minutes). Once Tortellini is cooked, add to the chicken broth and 2 ladles of pasta water.  Add spinach to the soup pot and bring to a boil.   Stir in black pepper and serve.

Cast Iron Baked Eggs

Last time we past the Lodge Outlet factory I picked up 6 inch mini cast iron pans with the thought of making individual servings of upside down cakes and other decadent desserts.  Yeah, that has not happened yet. However, I did manage to make a pretty yummy breakfast.

Ingredients

2 Large Eggs
Precooked sliced ham (can substitute with any other cooked meat)
1 tbs butter
1 tbs heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste







Preheat oven 350 degrees
On stove top melt butter. Turn off heat and layer precooked sliced ham on the bottom of the pan.  Top with 2 large eggs.  Sprinkle 1 tbs heavy cream over the eggs and bake for about 6 to 12 minutes.  You want to make sure that the egg whites are completely cooked so it may take more time. Also Tim likes his yolks not to be runny so he cooked his a little longer.    Top with salt and pepper.  Light on the salt because the Ham tends to be pretty salty to begin with.  I like to add a little red chili pepper for color.  

Spicy Turkey Chili

The growing season is coming to an end and I realized I have not used my fresh habanero peppers in any of my recipes.  The habanero pepper has a lot of heat and should be used sparingly or in a large dish like chili.  Feel free to substitute the turkey with beef, or for you vegetarians, soy crumbles, work really well in this recipe.   If you are using the soy crumbles put the onions, garlic and crumble all in at the same time.

1 lb ground turkey
1 large onion diced
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tsp olive oil
11 oz V8
1 14 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
1 habanero diced (optional)
1 14 oz can black beans(rinsed)
1 14 oz can dark kidney beans (rinsed)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch Cilantro chopped (optional)
1 cup Sharp Cheddar (optional)

In a large pot, heat oil and cumin seeds. When seeds begin to crackle add turkey and brown.  Once Turkey is browned add onions, garlic, and habanero.  Let cook for about 1 minute.  Add diced, tomatoes, V8, bell peppers, black and kidney beans, corns and oregano.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for about 30 minutes.  Top with Cilantro and cheese.