Reducing the Fat on a Southern Favorite: Squash Casserole

I don't know about you but I grew up on this stuff!  Summer squash begins arriving (in season) during spring and summer months at your local farmers market.  There are several yummy ways to prepare: grilling, sauteing, or casseroling it.  I decided to look up some recipes of casseroles and found most are full of fat, including mayonnaise, milk, cream of mushroom soup, Velveeta, and cheese.  I could not imagine making any of those recipes.  I decided {like most nights} to make my own recipe.

Ingredients:
1 box of reduced fat Velveeta cheese
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup of non-fat milk
1 can of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1 onion
6-8 yellow squash
1 package of mushrooms
salt
pepper
EVO

Preparation:
Heat pan with EVO.  Chop onions and add to pan of EVO. Slice squash and mushrooms thinly and add to onions and EVO.  'Sweat' the onions or saute for 8 minutes.  Next, add the cream of mushroom soup, milk, salt, and pepper.  Stir the mixture well and add a can of drained Rotel tomatoes.  Next, chop the Velveeta into cubes and add to the mixture.  Pour the mixture into a small casserole dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Add on ideas:
Ground beef and instant rice could be added to this recipe for a full meal.  In addition, one could add a layer of Panko bread crumbs to the top of this casserole.

Cake, Cakes and more Cakes!

"A cake is a very good test of an oven: if it browns too much on one side and not on the other, it's not your fault - you need to have your oven checked"- Delia Smith :)

Easy Breakfast Casserole

This is an easy casserole to make, if you have all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
4-6 eggs (depending on size of casserole
1 package of southwestern hash browns (or several potatoes, bell peppers, and onions- chopped finely)
1 package of shredded cheese
5 slices of turkey bacon or bacon
1/4 cup of milk or half and half
dash of salt and pepper
EVO

Preparation:

First, preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Next, heat a pan of EVO, in order to saute hash browns (or potato and vegetable mixture).  Spray a casserole dish with EVO and set aside.  Once hash browns are beginning to crisp, add them to the casserole dish.  Take a spatula and smooth out hash brown layer until it is covering the bottom of the dish.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.  Whisk the mixture until well mixed. Next, fold the cheese into the mixture and pour on top of hashbrowns. Finally, add strips of bacon across the top of egg mixture.  Place in an oven for 20-30 minutes or until egg mixture rises and looks like a quiche/souffle.

Chicken and Dumpling soup

Best Chicken and Dumpling Recipe: Tyler Florence.

Ingredients

Chicken and Stock:

• 1 (3 to 31/2 pound) whole organic chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 4 to 5 black peppercorns
• 1 head garlic, split through the equator
• 2 tablespoons salt

Directions

Buttermilk-Chive Dumplings:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen pearl onions
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
• Chopped chives, for garnish

For the stock:

Place the chicken and all stock ingredients in a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour until the chicken is tender. Skim the surface of fat and scum as it cooks.

When done remove the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock and shred the meat into big pieces - the stock will be used for the sauce and the chicken will be folded into it.

For the dumplings:

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, using a whisk, lightly beat the eggs, chives and buttermilk together; pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together; the batter should be thick and cake-like.

To prepare sauce: In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add frozen peas and pearl onions.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.

Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer. Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped chives before serving.

Presto, enjoy your hard work with a nice glass of wine!

Enchilada Soup

I frequently work in Neiman Marcus.  On this particular day, I choose to eat in the Mermaid Bar (MB) because I was going to lunch alone.  The Mermaid Bar has an old fashioned parlor counter, so it makes dining alone quick and easy.  I sat next a Neimans employee and began discussing food, cooking, and butter baking.  Never eating at the MB, I asked if she recommended anything off the menu.  She raved about the chicken enchilada soup.  I didn't really feel like soup on this day but ordered a salad and a cup of it.  Upon its arrival, I wished I had ordered a bowl.
Fast forward--This recipe is my attempt to recreate the flavor in this dish.

Attempt One: Nemains 'style' Enchilada Soup:
(Combine all of the ingredients in a crock pot)


1 1/2 pounds of diced tomatoes (18 ounces)
2 Tbls of chopped garlic
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
2 bay leafs
1 can of chicken broth
1 Goya brand Tomato y Cilantro tablet
1 can of garbanzo beans
dash of salt and pepper
**Optional add diced chicken**
NOTE: Vegetarian-Vegan option: Leave out chicken and substitute chicken broth for vegetable broth.

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot for at least two and half hours.  Next, make a roux and add it to the pot. Stir and let it cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Roux recipe:
A typical roux uses 2 Tbls of four and 2 Tbls of butter. Always remember, the flour and butter are equal in a roux.  There are two types of roux: basic and golden.  This will alter the color of your recipe.  Do not brown the roux for white gravy or soup.  Golden brown gravy requires browning the roux. For this recipe, I used 3 Tbls of butter and 3 Tbls of flour {basic roux}. 

After 3o minutes, turn the crock pot off. **Remove Bay leafs from pot and throw away** { A bay Leaf, if eaten whole or in large amounts is poisonous! It will not kill you but you will be sick}. {If you like chunky soup stop here and serve with garnish below}. Use a wand, such as the 'Braun Magic Wand' to puree the soup.  Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with fresh a fresh avocado and cheese garnish {additional fresh cilantro would make a good garnish too}.

Pie: the new cupcake?!

I am copying this article from NPR's website via www.npr.org: Credit for the article goes to NPR and Bonny Wolf.

Cupcakes Are Dead. Long Live The Pie!

by BONNY WOLF

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Pie is the next cupcake. PIE IS THE NEW CUPCAKE. Spread the word.

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January 2, 2011

Every year, I predict the death of the cupcake. I'm always wrong.

But this year, they'll have real competition from the humble pie. Trend-spotters are calling pie the food of the year. Texas and New York restaurants offer pie happy hours. Pies are showing up at weddings, and pie shops are opening in a neighborhood near you. Pies come in sweet and savory, maxi and mini, deep dish and deep-fried.

If pies are the new cupcakes, New York Magazine says, vegetables are the new meat.

No more the supporting actors. Vegetables are stars. Remember food guru Michael Pollan's mantra? "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." It's getting some serious traction.

And when Mario Batali — the prince of pork — embraces meatless Mondays, you know the times they are a-changing.

One of the most glam vegetables will be kale. Look for the frilly bouquet of slightly bitter, dark greens both cooked and raw in a salad.

Root vegetables, meanwhile, are the new heirlooms. These gnarled vegetables such as salsify, Jerusalem artichokes and celery root are about to step onto the food fashion runway.

Child nutrition is definitely on the national radar screen. Childhood obesity has been called the new tobacco. We'll see top chefs in school cafeterias and more healthful choices on kids' menus in restaurants.

At the same time, junk food is going upscale. I have reports of foie gras wrapped in cotton candy and restaurant-made Cheeto-like snacks.

After years of gourmet hamburgers, hot dogs may be the new popular kids. They're moving from street carts to brick-and-mortar buildings. Watch for them on your block.

Recipe: Maple-Apple Pie With Brown Sugar Crust

From the Kitchen Window column

We'll also see more pop-up restaurants. Chefs find underused restaurant space and take it over for a few days a week. Of course, they use the freshest, most local ingredients and reservations are hard to get, increasing their cachet. Sort of like speakeasies.

And food halls like the one at Harrods in London are opening in the U.S.

Mario Batali and the Bastianich restaurant family recently opened Eataly, a 50,000 square foot shrine to Italian food in New York City. And the Plaza Hotel now houses the Plaza Food Hall, a food hall-cum-food court. Watch for other European-style food markets in California and Washington, D.C.

Whatever you eat, save room for a slice of pie.

Bonny Wolf is author of Talking With My Mouth Full and editor of NPR's Kitchen Window.

***NOTE from me--I cannot say that I agree with the statement about pie replacing cupcakes and vegetables replacing meat.  However, this article is a good read about ever changing food trends! 

The Great American Debate

Who has better cheesecake, bagels, hot dogs, or pizza: New York or Chicago? I personally prefer different toppings on the different crust styles.  The recipe for the crust is the same n both instances but the amount and design of crust creates controversy. On a New York style crust, I prefer cheese or pizza margarita with anchovies. Chicago style pizza I like loaded with meat or veggies. The crust on a Chicago style pizza supports more toppings but again that is MY opinion.

Basic Crust Recipe:

Basic Pizza Dough:

1 package active dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F ** Very Important)

1/4 cup lard or vegetable shortening

3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

Olive oil

In an electric mixing bowl, whisk the yeast, sugar, water and lard together to make a paste. Add the flour, salt {and mix using a dough hook} until the dough comes away from the sides and crawls up the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl. Grease the bowl with olive oil and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide dough in half. Roll the dough into balls, cover, and let the dough rest for 15 to 20 minutes. The dough is ready to be shaped.

This recipe yields about 2 (12-inch) pizzas or 1 deep dish pizza. 

NOTE: Pizza is best made in an oven that can reach 500 degrees F.  However, most conventional ovens can safely reach 450 F.  This is OK! If you are still worried about the oven not truly reaching 450 F or keeping the heat evenly, then you may want to check out a pizza stone.  A pizza stone is a marble {traditionally} or ceramic stone slab that collects and holds oven heat. You can order them via Donna Cooper with Pampered Chef for $32.00. << Click the link to go directly to her page! biz/donnacooper 

New York Style:Traditional Pizza Margarita

Chicago Style: Spinach, mushroom, and Mozzarella.