Thanksgiving Dinner

So I pulled off my first Thanksgiving dinner without a hitch. My 16lb free-range turkey came out moist and full of delicious stuffing (Mom's recipe). My Challah bread was a hit - especially with the toddler's. We had Cajun dirty rice, mashed potatoes, gravey, green-beans & carrots and three kinds of pies. But, at the end of the day I was most proud of my Pecan pie.

I found a recipe online from Food.com and edited a bit to suit my tastes and my deep dish pie pan..

Ingredients 

1/2-1 cup margarine  (I used 1 cup Butter)

2 cups light brown sugar, packed (I used 3 cups)

3 eggs (I used 4 eggs)

1 (9 inch) pie shells (I used Mom's pie crust recipe except I substituted frozen butter for the shortening.)

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I always add extra vanilla.)

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped (I used 3 cups of Pecans.)

Directions 

1. In a saucepan, melt margarine with brown sugar. 

2. Add eggs, salt, and vanilla and mix well. 

3. Add pecans. 

4. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. 

5. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (obviously I needed a longer bake time.)

Mustard BBQ Sauce & Fried Fish

Last weekend Ryan, Ella and I went to Urbana, Illinois for Ryan's conference. Although, neither the drive nor the conference itself were delightful, we did have lunch/dinner at this little BBQ place that turned out to be wonderful. The best surprise was the fried Catfish which Ryan only ordered because we knew Ella eat it. The waiter recommended that he choose the mustard BBQ sauce to go with it and the combination was amazing.

So, tonight for dinner I tried to recreate it. I fried up some Tilapia  (dipping it in a little milk and then lightly flouring it in a flour/salt/pepper/cyan mixture). And, to go with it I made the following mustard sauce:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together and simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes.

The sauce was so good we ended up putting it on our wilted spinach and baked potatoes too.

Beans and Rice

Today was one of those days where I just didn't want to head out to the grocery story, so I figured I would make dinner with something I already had. Rice and Beans.

I soaked my black beans for a few hours and then I drained them and cooked them with Onion, garlic, cumin and cyan. I put the onion and garlic in the blender with some water so they were pureed rather than chopped. It smelled wonderful as it cooked slowly over the course of the afternoon. Then my friend Kat came over and I realized I would never remember to stir it while I was talking so I turned it off... Or I thought I turned it off... because an hour and a half later all my water was gone and the bottom layer of beans were burnt and stuck to the pan. The top layer tasted great tho. :)

This is a recipe inspired by Shirelle.  It really is super delicious and very nutritious.

Relly’s Pesto, Zucchini lasagna

This is gluten free lasagna that uses zucchini as the noodles and a cashew Basil pesto as the filling.  It is very delicious and very nutritious.

4 zucchini

Lots of basil

1 cup of cashews

Mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Olive oil

2 cups sliced tomatoes

Make a pesto using the basil, cashews, olive oil, 1 clove garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese.

Cut the zucchini thinly lengthwise

Sauté in hot oil the zucchini for a minute, don’t over crowd the pan just one layer at a time.

Put a layer of zucchini in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Spread a nice layer of the pesto over top it.

Add another layer of the zucchini on top of the pesto

Spread the remaining pesto on this. 

Add a layer of mozzarella cheese

Add the tomatoes on top, salt and pepper them

Sprinkle parmesan cheese

Put in broiler for ~10 minutes, cheese is melted and tomatoes start to turn a bit golden.

Fried Rice with Chicken

Aaron and I made an overload of extra rice the other night and were trying to figure out what to make with it when we thought of fried rice. I found this recipe and with some small modifications it was delicious!

Original Recipe from: http://sunflowersupperclub.blogspot.com

Chicken Fried Rice
2  tablespoons Sesame Oil, divided
8  ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4  teaspoon kosher salt
1/4  teaspoon black pepper
2  eggs, beaten
1/2  cup onion, diced
1  cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed ( All we had was green onion but it turned out great) 
2  cloves garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
4  cups cooked white or brown rice, cooled and chilled, overnight is best
1/3  cup low-sodium soy sauce ( we added a little more soy sauce, some Sirachi , and butter to top it off)


Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non-stick skillet (the largest you have) over medium high heat.  Season the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper and add to the skillet.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through, be sure and turn over so both sides will brown. When finished cooking, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add the eggs, stir constantly and cook until scrambled.  Remove the egg and set aside with the chicken.

Add the other tablespoon of oil to the skillet, add the onion, peas and carrots.  Stir fry about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and stir fry for another minute.  Add the cold rice and the soy sauce and stir fry for about 5 more minutes. Return the cooked chicken, along with any accumulated juices, and the egg to the skillet.  Continue cooking until heated through.  

Pair it with some Malbec and you are good to go :) 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

We had some friends over for dinner last night and decided to try and make a healthier version of burgers and fries.  We opted for turkey burgers with home made guac and decided to pair it with one of my favorite sides... baked sweet potato fries. 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries ( Modified recipe original from daddy)

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato 

handful of fingerling potatoes 

Dash of Balsamic vinegar 

Olive Oil 

Sea salt and pepper 

Tony's Chachere Spice 

1. Dice up Sweet potatoes and fingerling into long strips 

2. In a bowl with potatoes add a dash of balsamic and enough oil to get the potatoes damp 

3. Add plenty of salt and pepper and LOTS of chachere ( it gives it a really good spicy tang) 

4. Put potatoes on baking sheet ( make sure they are not crowded since you want to make sure they can get a little crispy)

5. Put in oven for 45 min at 375 turning potatoes every 15 min or so to avoid burning. 

It's super yummy and way better than the fried version :) 

Bread and Pasta

Ella and I decided to make homemade bread and pasta for dinner tonight. Ella really likes to help me make bread dough. She's quite the stirring expert. We let the dough rise while we went to the store to buy fruit and coffee. 

When we came back, I put the dough in a 3x5x9 inch pan and let it rise again. While it was rising I got started on my pasta. I have to use lots of mushrooms in the pasta since Ella has become obsessed with them. She likes a few noodles with her mushrooms.

I also picked some basil, oregano, and hungarian wax peppers from our garden. I love having a garden to pick cooking ingredients from.

I started with a little butter, the mushrooms, some sea salt, some wine. a couple zucchini, a shallot, two cloves of garlic, a handful of black olives I had left over in the fridge, a handful of cherry tomatoes, the peppers and herbs all chopped up and stirred into my pan. I added some black pepper, parmesan cheese and a little half and half to finish it off. This is the sort of pasta that is different every time. and usually delicious.

Getting a picture of freshly baked bread is a little difficult...

Easy Bread

1 cup of water

1 tsp. yeast

4 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. oil

Mixture of Whole Wheat White Flour and Bread Flour

1 tsp salt

1. Mix lukewarm water with sugar and yeast in a bowl and let sit.

2. Add oil and 1 cup Whole Wheat White Flour (mix well)

3. Add salt and 1 cup Bread flour (mix well)

4. Keep stirring in flour until a spongy dough forms. (No need to kneed.)

5. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

6. Place in 3x5x9 greased pan. Let rise again for about an hour.

7 Bake at 400 for ~20 minutes

This is a great summertime side dish or main course when you can get tomatoes that are home grown or locally grown.  I made it last night for Mom and I.  It's quick, simple, nutritious, and delicious.  I can be easily modified and it is great to serve grilled fish over it.

Sauted greens with tomatoes, onions, garlic and quinoa.

4 to 6 cups greens (kale, swiss chard, collard, spinach)
1 onion rough chopped
2 to 4 cloves garlic diced small
4 to 6 medium tomatoes or ~30 cherry tomatoes
1 cup quinoa or you could use another grain
2 tbsp olive oil or 4 strips of bacon

prepare 1 cup of quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of water simmer on low covered for about 20 minutes

In a large skillet heat olive (for bacon lovers fry up some bacon instead)
Add an onion rough chopped.
When soft and 2 to 4 cloves garlic diced.
Saute for a few more minutes then add 4 to 6 medium sized tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch cubes.  I used a variety of tomatoes from the garden including cherry tomatoes.
Saute for about 5 minutes then add ~ 4- 6 cups of greens.  I used kale, but you could use swiss chard, collard greens, or spinach.
Saute on low until beginning to wilt, then add your prepared quinoa and continue cooking until greens are tender.
Salt and pepper to taste
You could add a hot pepper with the onion for a bit more bite

You can serve a grilled fish right on top of this, makes a nice presentation and is delicious.  Mom and I just had it as our main course.

I'm just testing to see if my blog shows up.  I love you girls and will post some recipes.

Baked Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Aaron and I have been cooking a lot because of support raising so I've been trying out new recipes. I just tried this one last night and Aaron really loved it ( but he's easy to please so let me know what you guys think) :).

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake
Recipe from: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized zucchini, cut in slices or half-moon slices
2 medium-sized yellow squash, cut in slices or half-moon slices
2-4 T chopped fresh basil (or even less, depending on how much you like the flavor of basil)
2 T thinly sliced green onion ( used a white onion instead)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup + 1/2 cup low-fat white cheese (I used Pizza Cheese, which is a low-fat blend of Mozzarella, Provolone, Romano, and Parmesan)
1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan (I would use a little less if you only have the very finely grated Parmesan from a can)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.  Spray an 8" x 8" baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray.  Wash the squash and cut in slices or half-moon slices.  Wash basil, spin dry or dry with paper towels and finely chop.  Slice green onions.

Combine the sliced squash, chopped basil, sliced green onions, dried thyme, garlic powder, and both kinds of cheese and stir together until the veggies are coated with cheese and the herbs are well-distributed.  Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Put the mixture in the baking dish and bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes.

When the zucchini is nearly cooked through, take the casserole dish out of the oven and sprinkle over the remaining 1/2 cup of grated cheese.  Put the dish back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted and nicely browned and zucchini is fully cooked.  Serve hot.

So I think we should each try to post a recipe with a picture whenever we make something delicious or disastrous. :)