Garlic and Red Pepper Broccoli

Garlic and Red Pepper Broccoli
From Cooking Light 

Alright, here it is, probably the last healthy recipe I'll have a chance to post before next year.  Oy.  Hopefully our actual diet won't be as bad as this blog will make it out to be, but it only seems right to post fun seasonal things during the greatest holiday eating season of the year.

But I was determined to squeeze this recipe in sooner than later.  We took this picture when we made it over a month ago as a side for our fettuccine Alfredo.  And we've made it at least 3 times since then.  It's in our top 3 go-to sides since we keep every ingredient except the broccoli on hand.  I know it sounds super simple and hardly revolutionary, but there really is something special about the result.  I'd recommend following the directions exactly because every time we try to get fancy (aka more red pepper to satiate our weird addiction to heat) we regret it.


Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 cups broccoli florets (about 1 large head)
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup water

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add broccoli, salt, crushed red pepper and sliced garlic.  Saute 2 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 cup water.
4. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp tender.

Serves 4.

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Fried Turkey and [Stuffing] Waffles

Fried Chicken Turkey and [Stuffing] Waffles
From Longman and Eagle via Daily Candy 

I swear I am being 100% honest when I tell you I was going to post something healthy today.  I had a lovely broccoli saute all cued up to post since I figured people are probably really full from Thanksgiving and could use something refreshingly light.  That was the plan.

Then this recipe found its way to my inbox.  Stupid inbox, gets me every time.

We came back from our holiday adventures in the suburbs on Saturday morning and immediately whipped up two batches of these - one with leftovers of the stuffing we made last week, and one with the leftovers we brought back from John's family.  Then, after we stuffed ourselves silly, we mixed what remained of both batters and made a combo batch the next morning.  See, that's the great thing about this recipe - it totally doesn't matter what variety of stuffing you have on hand.  And all the other ingredients are pretty standard pantry and fridge staples, so chances are you can whip these up without a trip to the store.  Of course you do have to have a waffle maker, but even our crappy $15 Walmart variety one worked just fine.  And if you're really in a bind, you can probably get away with a pancake of sorts instead.

As for the turkey, well, it's buttermilk fried turkey.  Do you doubt it's good?  Maybe it's because neither of our families does the deep fried turkey thing, but we were seriously enthralled with this concept.  We agreed unequivocally that this was the best use of leftovers we have ever tried.  I know it's already been 4 days, but seriously, if you have ANY leftovers still hanging around, MAKE THIS!!!


Ingredients

Fried Turkey

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp seasoned salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (if you only have regular milk, mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar with 1 scant cup of milk, let stand 5 minutes)
• leftover turkey pieces - we think we used about 2-3 cups of chunks of dark meat
• vegetable oil

Stuffing Waffles

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup leftover stuffing
• 2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• butter (for serving, optional)
• syrup (for serving, optional)
• leftover cranberry sauce (for serving, optional)

Preparation

Fried Turkey

1. Mix flour and seasoned salt in a shallow bowl.
2. Set up a dredging station with the seasoned flour and another shallow bowl with the buttermilk.
3. Dip each piece of turkey in the milk, then the flour.
4. Heat enough vegetable oil to thickly coat the bottom of a high sided skillet.
5. Fry each piece of turkey until golden brown, turning as needed to brown each side.  Do this in batches so that you only have single layers of turkey each time.

Stuffing Waffles

1. Mix eggs and next eight ingredients, through vanilla extract, with a hand mixer.
2. Pour batter into waffle maker, according to manufacturer's instructions.
3. Top with fried turkey and serve with butter, syrup, and cranberry sauce, if desired.

Makes about 10 small waffles.

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Fennel, Sausage and Caramelized Apple Stuffing

Fennel, Sausage, and Caramelized Apple Stuffing
From Cooking Light 

As you are probably aware, Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  And as you probably don't know, John and I attended a fabulous "Friendsgiving" feast on Sunday.  Both of these events involve stuffing.  Lots of delicious stuffing, some of which may even be offered to us as left overs, which is great since we love stuffing.  In fact, love might not be a strong enough word.  Case in point: on Tuesday we made a MASSIVE (i.e. 12 serving) batch of stuffing...for the two of us.  Of course we didn't eat all of it in one sitting, but I'd be willing to bet we polish it off before the week is out.

I blame magazines (obviously I'd never blame our lack of self control...) for this act of gluttony.  The magazine shelves are currently brimming with outrageous cover stories about caramelized veggies, potatoes galore, and of course every variety of stuffing known to man.  The average person only gets to contribute one or two dishes to their family's feast, so for cooking addicts like us there's just not enough Thanksgivings in a lifetime to make everything that looks amazing.  Thus, we had no choice but to cave in and make this awesome stuffing recipe on a random Tuesday night sandwiched between two legitimate holiday feasts.
Don't worry, we turned it into a real meal by sauteing some extra sausage with red pepper and red onion strips and having some garlicky broccoli on the side, but in the end this stuffing stole the show.  The apples add a hint of sweetness without over powering it, and the sausage is the perfect savory note.  It's certainly not traditional Stove Top style, but it's not so far off that traditionalists would be insulted.  So if you're one of the lucky ones that gets to contribute stuffing this year and for some reason haven't found a recipe yet, consider giving this one a try!


Ingredients

• 12 oz sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• cooking spray
• 9 oz Italian sausage (we used hot Italian sausage, but mild works too)
• 5 tsp olive oil, divided
• 4 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups fennel bulb, sliced
• 1 1/4 cups carrot, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (the recipe called for 2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage, but we didn't have any)
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
• 3 cups apple, chopped (we used Honey Crisp, the recipe called for Golden Delicious)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 2 large eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 16 minutes, stirring after 8 minutes.  Place toasted bread in a large bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat with cooking spray.
4. Remove casings froms sausage and add to pan.  Cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Add cooked sausage to bread bowl, reserving sausage grease.
5. Add 3 tablespoons oil to sausage grease, swirling to coat.
6. Add onion, sliced fennel bulb, carrot, thyme, crushed fennel seeds, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pan.  Saute 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.  Add veggies to bread mixture.
7. Add 2 tsp oil to pan, swirling to coat.
8. Add apple and sugar, and saute 5 minutes or until apple caramelizes, stirring occasionally.  Add apple mixture to bread mixture.
9. Whisk broth and eggs in a small bowl.
10. Add broth mixture and 1/4 tsp pepper to mixture, tossing well to combing.
11. Spoon mixture into a 13x9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
12. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
13. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until browned and crisp on top.

Serves 12.

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Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
From allrecipes.com 

Happy four days till Thanksgiving!  Is there any other week all year with an anticipation level quite like this?  Just four days till a gloriously long weekend, unabashed Christmas decorating, and of course, the meal to end all meals.

Interestingly, though I think not uncommonly, neither John nor I are big turkey eaters.  For us it's the side dishes that really steal the show.  Just the thought of stuffing gets my heart racing.  We recently had a sample of some mediocre store brand stuff at the grocery store and we were practically drooling in our little paper cups.

At this year's family Thanksgiving feast the stuffing is being covered by my mom, but we're excited to contribute an appetizer and a Brussels sprouts side dish.  For the sprouts we naturally thought of our Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe, but that dish pretty much demands to be eaten right after roasting and we were worried there might not be enough space in my aunt's oven.  To be safe we decided to test out a few recipes that could be made in advance and reheated in the microwave before serving.  This recipe turned out to be a big winner, and although best eaten fresh, it can definitely be reheated - just add the bacon and almonds after it's been microwaved.  As it turns out my aunt is a kitchen logistics master and we're able to make the roasted sprouts after all, but we're hardly complaining about adding this awesome dish to our repertoire.


Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup slivered almonds
• 2 lb Brussels sprouts, shredded (use a food processor for speedy prep)
• 3 green onions, minced
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Place bacon in a cold, large, deep skillet.  Cook over medium-high heat till crisp.  Set aside to drain on paper towels.
2. Discard bacon grease, reserving 2 tablespoons in the skillet.
3. Reduce heat to medium.  Melt butter with reserved bacon grease.
4. Add almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned.  (If you are planning to reheat the dish to serve later, skip this step and toast the almonds in a dry pan or the oven so that you can add them after microwaving the sprouts).
5. Add Brussels sprouts, green onions, seasoned salt and pepper.
6. Cook over medium heat until sprouts are wilted and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Crumble bacon on top just before serving.

Serves 8 as a side dish.

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Cranberry Dip

Cranberry Dip
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Brace yourselves folks, eating season has officially arrived.  From about November 15th through January 2nd the honeymoon kitchen turns into a lean, mean, holiday food making machine.  Well, maybe not so lean...

Right now we're in the throes of Thanksgiving prep, which means testing out potential recipes to contribute to the big family dinner next week.  We're somewhat neurotic when it comes to finding the perfect recipe, and we always test things out before serving them to the masses.  This usually results in a lot of weird dip-for-dinner, veggies-for-breakfast type meals, but we can't complain.

This particular dip was inspired by a Whole Foods cranberry dip and it's certainly pretty enough for any holiday spread.  The only problem with it is that I couldn't figure out when to serve it.  It's delicious but a little too sweet for an appetizer to a big dinner.  I think it could be perfect for a holiday cocktail gathering, but alas, we don't have any such event on the calendar this year.  Oh well, it made for a decadant dinner and a number of fantastic afternoon snacks!


Ingredients

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 tsp + 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (you may notice a variety of nuts in the pic because we were experimenting - trust me, go with almonds, they were the winner by far)

Preparation

1. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add diced onions.  Saute, stirring often, until onions are softened.
3. Add 1 tsp sugar and mix well. Cook until onions are caramelized, stirring often, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove onions from skillet and set aside.
5. Add cranberries, water, and 1/4 cup sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Cook until cranberries are softened, periodically smushing them with a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes or until mixture thickens.
6. Add balsamic vinegar and caramelized onions.  Stir to combine.
7. Chill cranberry topping at least 1 hour.
8. Meanwhile, mix cream cheese, goat cheese, orange zest, and orange juice together with a hand mixer.
9. Spread cheese mixture in the bottom of a serving dish.  Top with chilled cranberry mixture and slivered almonds.
10. Serve immediately or chill up to 3 days.  (I thought it got better after a night in the fridge.)

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Magic Sauce

Magic Sauce
From 101 Cookbooks 

Oh magic sauce, how do I use thee?  Let me count the ways.  Roasted chicken.  Baked potato.  Scrambled eggs.  Dipping oil.  Roasted squash.  Frittata.  And the list goes on.

We initially whipped up a batch of this oil to rub down chicken thighs that we roasted, shredded and used in our fettuccine Alfredo.  We had a lot left over so we popped it in the fridge for "later use."  We put a lot stuff in the fridge for "later use," which is typically just a synonym for "throwing out in 7 days."  But not magic sauce.  I pulled it out every day that week until I was scraping the bottom of the jar with bread scraps.  The recipe says it will last 3 weeks in the fridge, but I guess if I want to test that out I'll have to make a triple batch next time.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
• 1 well-crumbled bay leaf (hotly debated on a number of websites, but yes, you can eat dried bay leaf - we didn't die anyway)
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation

1. Gently warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet or pan, until it is just hot, but not so hot that stuff sizzles when you drop it in. Remove from heat. 
2. While the oil is warming, lightly pound the rosemary, thyme, and oregano in a mortar and pestle.  We don't have one, so we busted out the meat pounder mallet then and just smushed them around a bit on the cutting board with that.
3. Stir the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt into the oil.
4. Add the bruised herbs and lemon juice. 
5. Use now, or store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  If it thickens when cold, just set it in the sun or on top of a warm oven for a few minutes when you want to use it.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

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Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo
From Cooking Light 

"Light" fettuccine Alfredo shouldn't be good.  It's supposed to be a heavy, fat laden dish that you can't justify eating more than once or twice a year.  So why is this Cooking Light version SO good?  Answer: we don't know.  It's been discussed at length in our house, and we simply can't figure it out.  We are generally anti low-fat dairy in cooking, as it rarely performs well and doesn't save nearly enough calories to make it worth it.  For example, we'd never dream of swapping out the plethora of cow-based fat in our beloved mac and cheese.  But here, it just works.

The only possible answer we could come up with is that maybe our guilt doesn't allow us to order fettuccine Alfredo in restaurants enough to have a very clear comparison of this version versus something more typical.  Regardless, we have never once finished this dish feeling anything less than decadently satisfied.  I'm always tempted to up the sauce:pasta ratio, but you really don't need to.  This time we even mixed in some shredded, roasted chicken, and it was still plenty of sauce.  On that note, it's the perfect dish to add stuff to - broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, it's all good.


Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/3 cups 1% milk
• 1 1/4 cups (5-oz) Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 Tbsp 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8-oz uncooked fettuccine
• fresh ground black pepper, optional

Preparation

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic.  Cook one minute, stirring often.
3. Stir in flour.
4. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. 
5. Cook 6 minutes, or until mixture thickens, still stirring constantly.
6. Add most of the Parmesan cheese (save a little for garnish), cream cheese, and salt.  Stir with a whisk until cheese melts.
7. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.
8. Toss sauce with hot pasta.
9. Top with reserved Parmesan cheese and pepper.

Serves 4.

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Seared Tuna Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Seared Tuna Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette
From Bobby Flay 

Four and a half years ago I threw my very first dinner party.  I had just graduated college and was living by myself at my parent's new condo in downtown Chicago.  I must have been pretty dead set on throwing that party, because if I recall correctly the condo was so brand-spanking-new that it wasn't even fully furnished yet.  Among the missing furniture was a kitchen table, which makes current-me wonder what past-me was thinking throwing a dinner party (but I could waste a lot of time dwelling on such questions, so let's move on).  I ultimately served this a beautiful seared tuna salad on a black bed sheet spread over the coffee table with everyone sitting on the floor around it to eat.  (Talk about easy-to-please guests - I should throw dinner parties for 22 year olds more often!)

Four and a half years later, I don't remember many more details about that night, and frankly I had nearly forgotten about it altogether.  But I was hanging out with one of my lucky guests the other day and she mentioned that my little dinner party had turned her on to seared tuna for life.  It made me realize how long it had been since I made seared tuna, so I dug through my recipe archives and John and I whipped up that very same dish the next night.  We ate it at the dining room table this time, but it still had all the charm of my dinner party back in 2007.


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons wasabi paste (usually comes in a shelf-stable toothpaste tube type thing - check the Asian aisle or if your grocery store sells fresh sushi near the fish counter, check there)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tuna steaks (6-oz each) (make sure you get high quality tuna, since you're pretty much eating it raw - we usually go to a fish market for this dish, but Whole Foods would work too)
• peanut oil
• 4 cups salad greens (we used baby arugula, which was really nice - I would recommend something with character, maybe a little peppery spice - definitely NOT iceberg or even Romain - avoid watery greens)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced
• 2 plum tomatoes, finely chopped

Preparation

1. Whisk together vinegar, wasabi paste, and oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Heat grill or grill pan to medium high.
3. Brush steaks with oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Grill for 30 seconds on each side, just to obtain grill marks (use your discretion, I like tuna really raw and freaked out and made John flip them at like 15 seconds).
5. Thinly slice tuna, against the grain.
6. Place one cup of salad greens on each plate.  Top with avocado, tomatoes, tuna and dressing.

Serves 4.

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Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Probably one of the biggest things John and I have going for us as a couple is a mutual non-pickiness when it comes to food.  I mean, we both prefer good food, but as ingredients go, we're not opposed to much.  We use this to our advantage regularly in our quest to sample as much good food as possible.  For example, we almost always split food at restaurants, allowing us each to eat two entrees.  This strategy makes me happy ALMOST all the time.  Brunch at Feast, a restaurant we've been frequenting for years, is the exception.

Feast has, hands down, the best chilaquiles I have ever had.  We've tried them at countless other venues and nothing compares.  The only problem is that we can't find a single other half decent item on the brunch menu.  As a result, the same scene plays itself out time and time again.  We sit down, order chilaquiles and XYZ mediocre second dish, relax until the food comes, and then engage in an all out battle for more face time with the chilaquiles, alternating choking down the crappier dish and scarfing the as much chiliaquiles as possible before the other person demands a switch-back.  In theory we could just get two orders of chilaquiles, but it just feels too defeatist.

In an attempt to reduce our trips to Feast, and thus our morning stress, we've resorted to making our own version of chilaquiles at home.  While it's certainly no Feast, the version is pretty delicious and definitely satisfies our craving...at least for a little while!


Ingredients

• 4 oz Mexican chorizo (the tube of raw, crumbly stuff)
• ¼ of a white onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 2 dried chilis
• 1 cup of your favorite jarred salsa (something saucy like most jarred varieties, a pico de gallo won’t really work here)
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• 30 Tostitos rounds tortilla chips (I guess they don't HAVE to be Tostitos, but I find that they perform best when baked)
• ¼ of a white onion, sliced
• ½ cup shredded chihuahua cheese, or a Mexican shredded cheese blend
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 green onion, sliced, for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chorizo in a cold skillet and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until cooked and fat is released.
3. Remove chorizo and drain over paper towels.  Leave drippings in pan.
4. Add onion, garlic, and whole dried chilis to drippings and turn heat up to medium-high.  Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Add salsa, cream and salt to pan.  Turn heat down to low and simmer 10 minutes.
6. Remove both chilis and set aside.  Taste the sauce and decide if you want it hotter.  Chop up the reserved chilis and add back in the amount needed to reach desired level of heat.  We added one back in and tossed the other.
7. Spread 15 tortilla chips across the bottom of an ungreased baking dish.  Sprinkle the chips with ½ of the onion slices, ½ of the cooked chorizo, ½ of the sauce, and ½ of the cheese.
8. Add another layer of 15 tortilla chips, the remaining onion slices, chorizo, sauce and cheese.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. When the chiliquilas are almost done baking heat butter in a small skillet over low heat.
11. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then pour them into the skillet.
12. Cook over low heat, stirring gently but constantly for about 5 minutes, until eggs are soft scrambled.
13. Remove chiliquilas from oven and top with eggs and green onions.

Serves 2-3.

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Jalapeno Cheddar Scones

Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Baking is a crazy thing.  You see, it's normal for me to spend 90% of my day looking at recipes from various sources, but I don't just go making them all.  Why?  Because there's barriers to savory cooking.  Namely having the ingredients.  But baking, oh baking, somehow you are a whole culinary category based almost entirely on different combinations of the same 7 or 8 shelf stable ingredients.  Flour?  Check.  Sugar?  Check.  Salt?  Check.  Butter?  Is that even a question???  You get the gist.  So the other day when I stumbled upon a few scone recipes online, I couldn't think of one single reason why I shouldn't go downstairs and bake some at that very moment.  One might suggest self control, or the fact that it was 3pm and I wasn't hungry, or that John wasn't even home to share them with me as potential reasons, but somehow those didn't occur to me.

Despite their superfluousness at the time, I'm super glad I didn't let this recipe fall through the cracks.  They turned out amazing, not only right out of the oven, but a few hours later at room temperature, and then frozen raw and baked a few days later.  John did ultimately get to sample that frozen batch, and he immediately agreed that we need to find a more legitimate reason to make them again soon.  We're thinking they might make an awesome dinner roll alternative at one of the holiday dinners in our near future.
One note on the origin of this recipe.  My overall inspiration came from Smitten Kitchen.  First I stumbled on a recipe for cranberry scones that was praised for its creamy texture.  I wasn't feeling sweet, though, so I kept searching until I came upon her cheddar jalapeno version.  I ultimately decided to create a sort of hybrid, which is how these came to exist.


Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 2 jalapenos, minced
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 lb sharp cheddar, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt 1/4 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium high.
3. Saute jalapenos until soft, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Measure out the 2 cups of flour.  Remove 1 tablespoon and toss with jalapenos and cheese cubes.  Set aside.
5. Whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.
6. Add cold butter cubes to dry ingredients and cut them together using a pastry blender or two forks, until it looks like course meal with a few clumps.
7. Stir in cream and jalapeno-cheese mixture, mixing with a fork just until dough forms, about 20 seconds.
8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed just until it comes together in a rough ball, about 10 seconds.
9. Lightly flour an 8-inch cake pan.  Press dough into pan in an even layer.
10. Turn dough back out onto floured surface so that now you have a flat 8x8 square of dough.
11. Cut dough into 8 triangles.
12. Bake scones on un-greased parchment paper for 12-15, until tops are light brown.
13. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  I'm told they're not great the next day, but I wouldn't know first hand...
14. If you want to freeze them for later use, work through step 11 and then place the triangles on a sheet pan or flat surface in the freezer.  Freeze them like that over night, and then you can toss them all in a gallon bag or something air tight for longer-term storage.  When you're ready to cook them just go straight from frozen and cook them a little longer, about 20 minutes.

Makes 8 scones.

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Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup

Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup
From Derek Clayton 

If you've been keeping up with the HMK since the beginning, you may be thinking "geez, they make a LOT of soup!"  Ironically, our pre-blog soup consumption was pretty exclusively Campbell's based.  I've always loved soup and there's been a few ill-fated attempts a making it over the years, but I was never able to produce anything as creamy and comforting as the old Campbell's can (sad, I know).  Usually my attempts involved an immersion blender that I had a brief love affair with.  If you have one, you know that they're super fun to use and hold the promise of being quick, easy, and low mess.  But what they don't offer is creamy.  All my soups were oddly chunky and mealy, and after a particularly off-putting batch of lentil soup, John put a moratorium on the soup making.

Then the KitchenAid 5-Speed KSB560 blender came into our lives. 


That's right, a basic blender that we got as a wedding gift changed everything.  We finally gave into the potential mess and started using our shiny new toy to blend soups.  We hit puree and walk away.  In just 2 minutes, beautiful velvety smooth soup is born.  Now we make every creamy soup that crosses our paths, and we haven't looked back.


Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (about 3 pounds)
• olive oil
• coarse salt
• 1 tsp butter, melted
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs, chopped
• ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (we left the seeds in...and it was HOT.  your call)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 4 cups chicken stock (store bought is totally fine, but if you're feeling overzealous, make your own!)
• ½ cup heavy cream
• cider vinegar, to taste
• salt, to taste
• 1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced into matchsticks, optional
• ½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and fibrous pulp, reserving the seeds.
3. Use a sharp knife to score the neck portion of the squash flesh several times.  Rub the flesh with olive oil and season with coarse salt.
4. Place the squash on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side down.  Roast for 1 hour.
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, and scrape flesh from skin.  Set aside.
6. Rinse the seeds in a colander and dry with paper towels.
7. Place the seeds on a baking sheet and toast at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, or until golden and fragrant.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and a large pinch of salt.  Toss with seeds and set aside.
9. Heat vegetable oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat.
10. Add the onions, carrots, celery and jalapeno.  Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes.
11. Add the maple syrup and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
12. Add squash, chicken stock, and cream.  Simmer for 10 minutes.
13. Transfer soup to blender and puree until velvety smooth.
14. Return to pot over low heat and season to taste with cider vinegar and salt.
15. Serve hot, garnished with seeds, apple, and cilantro.

Serves 6.

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Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade Chicken Stock
From Ina Garten 

Making your own chicken stock is clearly not necessary.  According to me, and according to most sane people.  BUT, something strange happens when you watch enough episodes of Martha Stewart and The Barefoot Contessa.  Sure, at first you mock the TV screen and joke about fetching eggs from your chickens out back.  But then one day you wake up and say something absurd to your husband: "honey, I think we should make our own chicken stock today."  And then, because he's been second hand smoking this crazy food babble for the past 3 years, he agrees to the process of sitting around all Saturday afternoon to make this happen (to be fair, college football season makes the sitting around part less objectionable for him).

So what was the result?  Actually, a pretty awesome product for what was really very little work.  Everything goes into the pot whole or nearly whole, so there's not much hands on effort.  And it makes a TON of stock, so thanks to some Gladware and our new freezer in the garage, we'll be enjoying this super rich stock for a while to come.


Ingredients

• 2 (5-pound) roasting chickens
• 2 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
• 4 carrots, unpeeled and halved
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, cut into thirds
• 3 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half
• 15 sprigs fresh parsley
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 15 sprigs fresh dill
• 1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 crosswise
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

Preparation

1. Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a 12-quart stockpot.
2. Add 5 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours.
4. Remove the chickens and place in a big bowl.  Pull the breast meat off both chickens. 
5. Return the carcases and all scraps to the pot.  Simmer, uncovered, for an additional 2 hours.
6. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids.
7. Chill the stock overnight.
8. The next day the fat will have congealed on the top.  Skim it off with a ladle.
9. Use immediately, or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Makes about 4 quarts.

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