Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Browned Butter

My sister in law was recently diagnosed with several food allergies. This has caused a challenge to her in that it is difficult finding food she can eat and recipes that she is able to cook. Many recipes she has to change and make adjustments. So when she finds a good recipe, it is a celebration! This was one she made recently and shared with me, because she knew I would like it too. She was right! This recipe is easy and so delicious. 

I brought left overs to work and my friend, Josh finished it for lunch, raving about it- especially the brown butter sage sauce. 

Ingredients

Roasting the squash

Mixing up the ricotta stuffing for the shells

The roasted squash after mashing

The ricotta butternut squash stuffing ready to go!

Ready for the oven

All done!

Browning the butter

Adding in the sage leaves

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Browned Butter

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounce package of jumbo pasta shells (I filled 25 shells)
2 cups of part-skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 cup packed fresh spinach (chop after measuring)
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
10 fresh sage leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel the butternut squash and chop the flesh into cubes (dispose of the seeds). Toss the cubed squash with the olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 mins, or until the squash is fork tender.

2. Put the squash in a bowl and mash with a fork (or place in immersion blender and blend) until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

3. Cook the jumbo pasta shells in boiling water until al dente and drain.

4. In a bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, garlic, spinach, egg, S+P and fresh lemon zest. Stir well. Then add the squash, folding in so it is evenly spread. Stuff the shells with this mixture and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake the shells until they are hot all the way through, about 20 minutes.

5. While the shells are baking, prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat until the butter is golden-brown, about 10 minutes. (Be careful, its easy to burn the butter). Add the sage leaves and cook until they are slightly crisp. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon.

6. Drizzle the sauce over the cooked shells adding 1-2 sage leaves on top. Enjoy!

Adapted from: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Wings & Alabama White Sauce

Was there ever a more perfect Superbowl meal than chicken wings?! For Christmas Eve, my Mom has always done heavy h'orderves. Will and I were put in charge of the wings this year. Our favorite wings are the wings from Hometeam BBQ. If you haven't had them, you should. I'm not a big wing person, but I cannot leave that wonderful establishment without having at least one wing. And the Alabama White Sauce- oh boy! Finger licking good. 

So anyway, Will made the wings and I found a recipe for the Alabama White Sauce. For a first try, we did pretty good, but it will take a lot more experimentation to even come close to the Hometeam wings. So for now, this is a delicious recipe, but will need more tweaking to reach the standards of our favorite. 

Hope you enjoy them!

The brine (post draining the liquid)

After the brine, before the rub

Grilled Wings

The Alabama White Sauce

Chicken Wings and Alabama White Sauce

Ingredients

For the brine:

1/2 cup of salt

2 tablespoons of peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 quartered orange

1 quartered lemon

2 cups of Apple Cider Vinegar

4 cups of WARM Water (or enough to cover the wings)

For the chicken wings:

2 dozen wings/drumsticks

1/2 cup of brown sugar

4 tablespoons of ground mustard

4 tablespoons of Cumin

4 tablespoons of Tarragon

4 tablespoons of Cayenne Pepper

1/2 cup of salt

For the Alabama White Sauce:

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of hot chili paste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon of celery seeds

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 cup of water

S + P

Directions

1.  Combine all of the ingredients of the brine (salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, orange, lemon, apple cider vinegar and warm water) in a large container. Stir until the salt dissolves, then add in the chicken. Brine the chicken overnight (or a minimum of 4 hours).

2. Drain the brine from the wings and lay them out on a flat surface. Pat each wing dry with paper towels.

3. Stir together the brown sugar, ground mustard, cumin, tarragon, cayenne pepper and salt. Half the spice mixture and set aside.

4. Put a dozen wings in a brown paper bag with HALF of the spices/rub and shake. Do the same for the other dozen. They are now ready for the grill.

5. Set up the grill for indirect heat. Smoke the wings at 225 degrees F for about 90 minutes, turning them once halfway through.

6. While the chicken wings are grilling, make the Alabama White Sauce simply by combining all ingredients. 

Enjoy!

Adapted from: Bon Appetit 

Noodle Bowl

Most of you know by now that I love Asian food. I also love noodles, so the combination of the two makes me really happy. When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it out. It is delicious! It was a great balance between the vegetables and the noodles with great Asian flavors of ginger, soy sauce, garlic and vinegar-  This meal is full of umami, which is the best descriptor for this meal.

Don't skim on the Soba noodles; they really cannot be replaced by pasta. I found them at Whole Foods (No, they weren't at Trader Joes). I hope y'all enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Ingredients

The wok

I love vegetables

Steaming veggies

Adding in the noodles

Stirred up so the kale is on top!

Soba Noodle Bowl with Kale and Mushrooms

Ingredients

6 ounces of Soba (buckwheat) noodles
1 tbsp of olive oil
1tbsp of sesame oil (or 2 tbsp of olive oil)
1 package of brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 cups of white button mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
2 cups of kale, stemmed and chopped
2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tsp agave syrup
2 tsp sesame seeds

Feel free to add other vegetables, too- I added broccoli and cabbage

Directions

1. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add the sprouts and cabbage and 1 tbsp of water, stir fry 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, kale, zucchini (and any other vegetables you add in) and another tbsp of water, stir fry 5-7 minutes.

2. Cook the noodles in boiling water, according to the instructions on the package, being careful not to overcook.

3. Stir in the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vinegar and agave to the vegetable mix. Add the noodles to the pan as well. Cook, tossing for 2 minutes. Top with sesame seeds and serve.

Enjoy!
                           


                     




Adapted from: Self Magazine

The Mason Jar : Lowcountry Cooking

Recently, my friend went home to Maryland and was sending me pictures of crab cakes. Crab is my most favorite seafood. I looooove a good crab cake, so when I read in the City Paper that The Mason Jar serves up some hefty crab cakes, my mind was made up to head there asap. I had never heard of The Mason Jar before I read about it. 

I am not the type to crave a meat & 3 but I definitely appreciate good, southern cooking, especially when it involves seafood.  The saying "don't judge a book by its cover" definitely applies to this situation. When Will and I pulled up in the car, we were second guessing our decision to check out The Mason Jar. Its in a strip mall type area and is nothing to look at from the outside. 

   

The inside is nothing to get excited about either, but its fitting for a "diner" type setting. But let's be honest, we didn't come here expecting anything but good, southern cooking. We were greeted by a very friendly staff who's mission was to make sure you were on the receiving end of a delicious meal. 

There were so many things I wanted to try. I ended up going with the seafood platter, with fried fish and a crab cake. I knew it was going to be a lot of food so I skipped the shrimp, which could be added on. The fish was flaky and perfectly cooked- it wasn't greasy at all. The crab cake was perfect. It was exactly what I was wanting and was served with a remoulade sauce, that had quite the kick to it. It was delicious and really hit the spot. It was a really good portion, too. 

The platter will come with either corn bread or hushpuppies. As you can see, I chose the hushpuppies which were nicely done with corn kernels on the inside- very savory and delicious with their homemade tartar sauce. Lastly, you get TWO sides on the platter as well. The cole slaw I ordered was the cole slaw you expect and it was crunchy, fresh and had the perfect balance with the mayonnaise dressing. The potato salad was bland- don't order that. 

Will ordered the Hog Dog - a hot dog with bacon, pulled pork and topped with slaw. The bacon was crispy, the bread was toasted and it hit the spot for him. I had a bite and thought it was as delicious as it sounds. The slaw is a must as it breaks up the texture of the three meats, adding a cold, crunchy freshness. He got the fries as a side which were ok- standard french fries, nothing special.

                  

Will we go back? If we are in the area, yes. It was delicious, traditional Lowcountry cooking that was executed really well. It was nice to eat this type of cuisine without all of the grease associated with it. If you are in the area, its definitely worth stopping by! They have an all you can eat buffet Thursday nights and a seafood buffet on Fridays. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Bourbon Pecan Pie

My in-laws came in from Asia for Christmas, so Will and I were in charge of Christmas dinner! This has been a year of firsts as far as hosting goes for major holidays. Whew- its a lot of work, but always worth it! We made a delicious meal and of course a dessert was completely necessary! In my CSA bag I got pecans, so of course! A pecan pie! 

I decided to go with a bourbon pecan pie and who else to turn to, but Paula Deen?! I ended up adding more bourbon than she did (which I was happy about) but it turned out perfectly and was very easy to make. Perfect for the season on any night. Enjoy!

Local Pecans

Ingredients

The unbaked pie

Finished product

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) deep dish pie shell, unbaked

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of butter, melted

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

3 large eggs, beaten

2 cups of pecan halves

3 tablespoons of good quality bourbon (I used Bulleit Bourbon)

Trader Joes French Vanilla ice cream :)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans and bourbon and stir until all ingredients are combined. 

3. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell and place on a tinfoil covered cookie sheet 

4. Bake for ten minutes. Then lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 30-35 minutes (until the pie has set)

5. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire wrack. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

A la mode of course! 

Side note: It will still be a little "soupy" in the center when you take it out of the oven....don't worry, it will harden as it cools!




















Recipe adapted from Paula Deen's version