Roasted Squash

Ever hear of a delicata squash? Me either. I got one in my Door to Door Organics delivery a few weeks ago. I love squash because it is fairly versatile and, even better, it lasts forever in the fridge. It is also known as the Sweet Potato squash, which I find moderately confusing because I feel like the butternut is more sweet potato than the delicata, but I’ll let it slide.

Either way, the delicata squash is very good, and you could do a lot with it. I need to get my hands on some more.

Roasted Squash

Ingredients (makes 2 side dishes)

1 cup squash cut into small pieces, and really any squash or even pumpkin will work well for this recipe
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the skin and seeds from the squash and discard (or roast the seeds if you’re feeling adventurous!) Cut the squash into bite sized pieces and put in a bowl. Add the olive oil and spices to the bowl and coat evenly.

Place on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 20 minutes, then turn over and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

Quick Caramelized Onion

I’m not going to lie, this burger was amazing. It wasn’t a new and innovative recipe, it wasn’t even all that creative. But it was good, and the picture turned out well, so you get to see it, along with a quick caramelized onion recipe which will add a sweet touch to any recipe.

Quick Caramelized Onion (served on top of a burger with goat cheese on a slimwich bun)

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced into thin, even rings or slices
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onions and sugar and coat. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the onions are soft and golden browned. The longer you leave them, the sweeter they will be.

Onions beginning to soften

Sausage Stuffed Peppers

This recipe was inspired by an appetizer on the menu at Roast here in Detroit. We had this dish on my birthday and I’ve been kind of dreaming about it since. This is my best attempt at a copy, but it isn’t perfect by any means! I hope you like this. Remember, you can change the peppers for something with less of a kick and still get great flavors.

Sausage Stuffed Peppers with feta cheese and yia yia sauce

Ingredients

Sauce –
4 fresh roma tomatoes finely chopped or 1 can crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, quartered
1 tsp fresh garlic
1 bay leaf
1.5 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions for the sauce – Throw this all in a sauce pan and simmer for at least an hour. Remove the onion and bay leaf before serving.

Chopped tomatoes with a bit of chopped onion, because I had extra and I like onions and I put a bit in the sauce, not necessary!

Peppers –
2 pork sausage links
6 banana peppers or similar pepper, medium to large sized (I had 5 smallish banana peppers and 1 large poblano pepper to use tonight)
Crushed red pepper

Feta cheese

Directions

Carefully remove the stems from the peppers and gently scrape out the seeds from the inside. Set aside.

Cut the sausage casing and remove the meat. Mix with a bit of spices, of your choice. My sausages were mild, so I added a bit of crushed red pepper, but you’re welcome to add anything… garlic would be great, but you knew I’d say that.

Gently stuff each pepper with sausage.

Heat the indoor grill on the stovetop on medium high heat. Place the peppers on the grill pan and cover with aluminum foil. Turn every 3-4 minutes and cook until 165 degrees, which is a safe cooking temperature for sausage.

Serve the peppers immediately with sauce and feta cheese.

A Very Foodie Birthday

I don’t consider myself a foodie, really. I like food, I like trying new things, but I’m picky, and I don’t want to put too much effort into it, really. My boss calls me the worst foodie ever because I won’t eat fish, cilantro, pickles, and other things that most foodies adore in one or many forms.

My wonderful and supportive husband contributed to a very foodie birthday by giving me a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, which is an excellent magazine which looks at cooking and food from a very scientific perspective. They compare cookware to see which is best, they discuss why we let bread rest between kneedings, they publish excellent recipes that explain all the steps and why we do them that way.

He also got me 2 cookbooks by Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. These are absolutely excellent cookbooks which take base recipes and teach you how to expand on them. They go into different foods and how to best use them. I am studying them intensely for new recipes!

Finally, my husband got me a mandolin slicer. I have been eying this device for years! They look so neat, and… well very sharp. The one he got me is serious business. First off, it is German and the instruction manual was in German with French second and English last. Cooks know that the Germans make the best knives. He also got me a cutting safety glove because, well… I am a klutz.

Expect to see me use this often, I have already used it 4 times in the last few weeks!

My father also contributed to my very foodie birthday by offering me a gift certificate to one of many food blogging/cookware websites. I’m considering Williams Sonoma or King Arthur Flour because they both have items I’m desperately desiring!

Finally, for my birthday my husband took me to Michael Symon’s Roast right here in Detroit. The food was to die for! I had the sausage stuffed peppers (which I duplicated for dinner once already, recipe forthcoming), the veal milanese, fried brussel sprouts, and the beer and pretzels dessert. Here are a few pictures:

The Menu

The bread and wine

Roast Beast of the Day (Roasted daily for the next day’s featured Beast)

Thanks to all of those who contributed to a very foodie birthday!

Pictureless Post: Tomato Vodka Sauce

I fail as a blogger today, and I am posting without a picture. But it was so good, I absolutely must share this amazing recipe. I had a handfull of gorgeous roma tomatoes from Door to Door Organics and I wanted to make a sauce of some kind, and I had some gnocchi (store bought, I have not yet mastered gnocchi) I wanted to eat. So I decided to go with a fresh tomato sauce to keep the meal light. I served some pan seared chicken breast along side.

So, close your eyes (well, keep reading, but then close your eyes once you’re done), and imagine some fluffy gnocchi with a light and refreshing tomato sauce on top. The tomatoes are diced into small pieces and have been cooked through, keeping the flavor but eliminating the texture of the fresh tomatoes.

I hope you trust me on this one. It was really, just that good.

Fresh Tomato Vodka Sauce

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4-5 roma tomatoes, diced
2 shallots, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tsp oregano, freshly crushed
2 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper to taste
1 cup vodka, divided
EVOO

Directions

In your pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 30 seconds, or until aromatic. Then add the tomatoes and spices, cooking on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup vodka to the sauce, cook for 5 minutes or until the vodka has completely cooked off (i.e. it does not smell like vodka anymore). Add the second 1/2 cup of vodka and repeat. Serve immediately.

Pepper Mystery, The Results

I think we have ID’d most of the peppers. Here is what I’ve come up with, thanks to the assistance of a few friends.

1 – Poblano or large jalapeno
2 – Banana peppers (they are more green than I’d expect)
3 – May be the same as 4, maybe fresno?
4 – Thai peppers
5 – Anaheim or cayenne peppers
6 – Green serrano
7 – Red serrano

Hot Pepper Mystery

Today I received about 1lb of hot peppers. 2/3 of it came in my Door to Door Organics delivery and the remainder came from my husband’s coworker’s garden.

The problem: I can’t ID peppers, and I’d like to go in knowing the approximate heat contained in each. I tried to group them based on which looked similar to one another.

So, dear readers, here is your challenge. Identify the peppers, and their approximate heat level. Bonus points for recipes which will best make use of the peppers.

Thanks in advance!