Husband is deep in the thick of his smoker obsession. Takes a lot of his free time (which, at this stage of our family life, means about 2 hours a week after 8:30pm), and all of his free brain space. He can't hear me any more what with the loud buzzing of smoker possibilities taking over his consciousness.
The upside to being ignored? Super kick-ass pulled pork sandwiches. Where do I come in here? COLESLAW topping for the sandwiches.
Never had I even considered making coleslaw, I have little to no interest in the dish. Add to that, we can't eat anything made with mayo because of kidlet's egg allergy.
so here it is:
In food processor:
2 red onions
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup cashews
2 tbsp agave liquid
2 tbsp sour cream
juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp garlic
3 tbsp mustard
Mix into bag of shredded mixed cabbage (we were on a tight schedule)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Banana bread with mystery guest
These days I realize there is almost always a mystery guest. Don't tell Jessica Seinfeld, we don't have the money for defense lawyers right now. But seriously, I can't believe there are even TWO cook books out there about sneaking food in to your food. Give me an endorsement deal, I'm just sayin' -my Cuisinart makes food disappear. That is all you need to know, what ever you are making chances are a good blend-able veggie has a place in it. For reals.
So naturally, I'm talking about using some more of my pureed Skabetti Squash.
Mix dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp baking powder
salt
2 tbsp flax
2 tbsp wheat germ
mix:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick soft butter
3 bananas
1 cup squash
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of oil
splash of milk if it needs to be thinned out
with beater mix in the dry stuff.
bake at 350 for 25 -ish minutes.
mine was really moist and served as a great vessel for "vanilla pudding sauce" also known as instant vanilla pudding.
i can't claim the boys ate the bread with abandon, but i think had it been served warm and with a sauce that was a little saucier and with a touch of savory ) i'm thinking if i could have incorporated mascarpone it would have worked better. the bread itself is quite sweet.
So naturally, I'm talking about using some more of my pureed Skabetti Squash.
Mix dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp baking powder
salt
2 tbsp flax
2 tbsp wheat germ
mix:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick soft butter
3 bananas
1 cup squash
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of oil
splash of milk if it needs to be thinned out
with beater mix in the dry stuff.
bake at 350 for 25 -ish minutes.
mine was really moist and served as a great vessel for "vanilla pudding sauce" also known as instant vanilla pudding.
i can't claim the boys ate the bread with abandon, but i think had it been served warm and with a sauce that was a little saucier and with a touch of savory ) i'm thinking if i could have incorporated mascarpone it would have worked better. the bread itself is quite sweet.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Red Pepper Spread
Perhaps this blog should be called "Hit me with your best food processor" although that sounds really quite deadly as my food processor weighs at least 25 lbs.
anywho, hauled out the big ass cuisinart and made this:
1 jar drained roasted red peppers
1 heaping tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup raw peeled almonds
1 giant handful of fresh spinach
1/4 cup provolone cheese
salt to taste (2 tsp?)
spread on sandwich bread, serve with french bread for dipping, or as a bruschetta/tapenade deal.
anywho, hauled out the big ass cuisinart and made this:
1 jar drained roasted red peppers
1 heaping tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup raw peeled almonds
1 giant handful of fresh spinach
1/4 cup provolone cheese
salt to taste (2 tsp?)
spread on sandwich bread, serve with french bread for dipping, or as a bruschetta/tapenade deal.
Butterscotch Squash Muffins
These are awesome. I can't really say it any other way.
I love having *random crap around, it always ends up being the best part of the end product.
So I have an abundance of spaghetti squash as I mentioned before. I've now cooked two, have two sitting on the counter and I have at least four waiting in the garden.
I baked and then pureed one squash. (look at baking directions in an earlier post). In a bowl I combined:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pureed squash
1 tbsp vanilla
*1 jell-o butterscotch pudding cup
1/4 - 1/2 cup of milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
I also mixed in a generous portion of chocolate chips and topped with crumb topping that I happen to always have in a tupperware container in the fridge.
These are incredibly moist and delicious. True the nasty processed unholy-ness of the pudding cup may sorta cancel the wholesome hippy vibe we were getting from that squash puree, but what can ya do?
I love having *random crap around, it always ends up being the best part of the end product.
So I have an abundance of spaghetti squash as I mentioned before. I've now cooked two, have two sitting on the counter and I have at least four waiting in the garden.
I baked and then pureed one squash. (look at baking directions in an earlier post). In a bowl I combined:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pureed squash
1 tbsp vanilla
*1 jell-o butterscotch pudding cup
1/4 - 1/2 cup of milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
I also mixed in a generous portion of chocolate chips and topped with crumb topping that I happen to always have in a tupperware container in the fridge.
These are incredibly moist and delicious. True the nasty processed unholy-ness of the pudding cup may sorta cancel the wholesome hippy vibe we were getting from that squash puree, but what can ya do?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tomato Tarte Tatin - Bon Appetit
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/08/tomato_tarte_tatin
made this for dessert tonight on a whim. had no intention, in fact no real desire to do it, just sounded too weird for my still blossoming palate.
a lovely local gardener extraordinaire is under siege with tomatoes growing up to the sky, over her fence, across the street and into the local school baseball fields. i'm exaggerating, yah? so, because karen sent me on my way this afternoon with a bag full of beautiful tomatoes, i decided there was no time like tomato time to make a tatin.
mine was over-cooked because it's tricky cooking fancy tarts with a 15 month old sitting on your hip, writhing desperately to get in to the oven and seemingly defying the laws of gravity by managing to climb higher up my person the more i intend to place him firmly on the ground, away from the boiling hot oven, behind a gate, closer to his ever ready-to-pounce brother who is at the moment tenuously distracted by diego. go diego go!
but i digress, regress, and digest.
the tart was interesting, certainly needed more attention than i could give it, but as we all know by now, a healthy dose of whipped cream certainly made it edible.
made this for dessert tonight on a whim. had no intention, in fact no real desire to do it, just sounded too weird for my still blossoming palate.
a lovely local gardener extraordinaire is under siege with tomatoes growing up to the sky, over her fence, across the street and into the local school baseball fields. i'm exaggerating, yah? so, because karen sent me on my way this afternoon with a bag full of beautiful tomatoes, i decided there was no time like tomato time to make a tatin.
mine was over-cooked because it's tricky cooking fancy tarts with a 15 month old sitting on your hip, writhing desperately to get in to the oven and seemingly defying the laws of gravity by managing to climb higher up my person the more i intend to place him firmly on the ground, away from the boiling hot oven, behind a gate, closer to his ever ready-to-pounce brother who is at the moment tenuously distracted by diego. go diego go!
but i digress, regress, and digest.
the tart was interesting, certainly needed more attention than i could give it, but as we all know by now, a healthy dose of whipped cream certainly made it edible.
Spaghetti Squash Gratin
stole most of this from the chocolateandzucchini.com recipe
first of all - never have i had such a perplexing research phase for a new food. but i've familiarized myself and ... i think i've tackled the red-headed step-child of the squash family (i mean that with great love to all my strawberries).
i searched high and low for spaghetti squash information. mostly people were hatin' on it for not being pasta. kaaaay. but then my search led me to chocolateandzucchini.com where the author wrote a bit of an ode to spaghetti squash and she really sold it well.
here's the thing - it is NOT pasta, stop it right now. it is squashy squash squash and should be treated as such. so, what do i LOVE to do with squash? incorporate cheese and cream.
d'uh, i thought, of COURSE i should make this gratin the chocolateandzucchini.com lady is talking about.
so first of all, i took to the squash with a butcher knife a la slasher movie and did my best to make a few stabs (so the squash could breath of course) with out stabbing myself or the counter top. then put the whole. damn. thing. in a baking dish and left it in oven for an hour. took it out let it cool and then i attacked it with the knife again thinking i was still dealing with a log. not really, it sort of erupted and fell apart immediately. the insides pulled away from the shell (for that's what it is, not peel, not rind, not skin but hard shell).
at this point i realized - this was the easiest damn vegetable i've ever prepared. so then get the seeds out and scrape out, takes 2 seconds.
Gratin dish, my version:
put half the squash in greased baking dish (a big one).
sprinkle salt and pepper (a bit more than you might be thinking because the squash does need some flavor support)
top with thin slices of (cheese i had on hand) queso fresco (salty yet mild yum)
sprinkle bacon pieces on cheese)
pat down second half of the squash
salt and pep
generously heap grated parmesan cheese
top with remaining bacon and candied walnut halves (sounds sketchy but it seriously made the dish)
ok at this point i covered with foil and refrigerated overnight 'cause it was 10:15pm and i might be a late-night secret alone-in-the-kitchen binge eater to an extent but i DO NOT eat family-sized portions of freshly baked squash entrees at 10:45pm. try chocolate chips and spoonfuls of peanut butter.
so the next evening i took out the dish, poured some half n half in and threw it in the oven for 30 minutes and took the foil of around 15 minutes to crispi-fy the cheese. delicious.
*one note - if i were to do this again, and judging by the veritable squash jungle going on in the back yard i WILL, i would use heavy cream rather than half and half and i would not use quite as much because there was a bit of excess liquid which pissed me off.
first of all - never have i had such a perplexing research phase for a new food. but i've familiarized myself and ... i think i've tackled the red-headed step-child of the squash family (i mean that with great love to all my strawberries).
i searched high and low for spaghetti squash information. mostly people were hatin' on it for not being pasta. kaaaay. but then my search led me to chocolateandzucchini.com where the author wrote a bit of an ode to spaghetti squash and she really sold it well.
here's the thing - it is NOT pasta, stop it right now. it is squashy squash squash and should be treated as such. so, what do i LOVE to do with squash? incorporate cheese and cream.
d'uh, i thought, of COURSE i should make this gratin the chocolateandzucchini.com lady is talking about.
so first of all, i took to the squash with a butcher knife a la slasher movie and did my best to make a few stabs (so the squash could breath of course) with out stabbing myself or the counter top. then put the whole. damn. thing. in a baking dish and left it in oven for an hour. took it out let it cool and then i attacked it with the knife again thinking i was still dealing with a log. not really, it sort of erupted and fell apart immediately. the insides pulled away from the shell (for that's what it is, not peel, not rind, not skin but hard shell).
at this point i realized - this was the easiest damn vegetable i've ever prepared. so then get the seeds out and scrape out, takes 2 seconds.
Gratin dish, my version:
put half the squash in greased baking dish (a big one).
sprinkle salt and pepper (a bit more than you might be thinking because the squash does need some flavor support)
top with thin slices of (cheese i had on hand) queso fresco (salty yet mild yum)
sprinkle bacon pieces on cheese)
pat down second half of the squash
salt and pep
generously heap grated parmesan cheese
top with remaining bacon and candied walnut halves (sounds sketchy but it seriously made the dish)
ok at this point i covered with foil and refrigerated overnight 'cause it was 10:15pm and i might be a late-night secret alone-in-the-kitchen binge eater to an extent but i DO NOT eat family-sized portions of freshly baked squash entrees at 10:45pm. try chocolate chips and spoonfuls of peanut butter.
so the next evening i took out the dish, poured some half n half in and threw it in the oven for 30 minutes and took the foil of around 15 minutes to crispi-fy the cheese. delicious.
*one note - if i were to do this again, and judging by the veritable squash jungle going on in the back yard i WILL, i would use heavy cream rather than half and half and i would not use quite as much because there was a bit of excess liquid which pissed me off.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
spaghetti or not here i come!
it's time to pick the first few spaghetti squash from the garden. i'm not really excited, and as i was fairly warned, it has taken over the garden, grown OUT of the fenced in garden and is climbing our play structure several feet away. i need to pick at least two, perhaps three today - i WILL make them yumy. but in the mean time, anyone have any suggestions on how?
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