Butternut Squash Soup with Crustini!

I have been searching for the perfect butternut squash recipe- I combined a few and found the most scrumptious crustini from Giada deLaurentis  on Foodnetwork to accompany it.  Do not leave out the sage or the cayenne pepper.  it will leave it flat and boring,  I am a mild salsa kind of girl, so trust me when I tell you to add it.  It isn't spicy, but adds the perfect flavor!  Happy Fall!

• INGREDIENTS
  • 4 pounds whole butternut squash (about 2 medium), halved lengthwise and seeds removed
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
  • 2 medium apples, diced 
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • 8 fresh sage leaves
  • 2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
  • 1/4- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 425°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the squash pieces cut-side up on the baking sheet. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and brush all of it over the tops and insides of the squash halves (alternatively, you can rub it on evenly with your fingers). Season generously with salt and pepper. Roast until knife tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, dice the apples and onions. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and add olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the apple, onion, garlic and sage.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
4. When the squash is done, set aside until the squash is cool enough to handle. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh into the saucepan with the sautéed apples and onions; discard the skins.
5. Add the broth, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper,  stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces of squash, until the flavors meld, about 15 minutes. Add nutmeg.  Blend with an immersion blender in the pot until smooth and creamy.  turn heat to low until ready to serve.

Crostini:

1/2 baguette, sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices- i used sourdough

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1 cup (2 ounces) grated fontina cheese

Kosher salt

Place sliced bread on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, top with sage and salt and cheese.  Bake at 400 for about 6-10 minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melted.  

It was hard to get a good picture with the steam....

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Terriyaki Salmon

Christmas Goodies

And more fun things that I haven't decided on yet!

Tuscan Chicken Sausage Pasta

While walking through Costco the other day, I sampled some Chicken Sausage. Yum. I couldn't resist buying the 3 lb package. When I got home I thought to myself: What on earth am I going to do with all this sausage! So far I have come up with the Spinach and Sausage Soup. Tonight we had this pasta dish, which thankfully all of the kids really loved.

TUSCAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE PASTA

Took about 30 minutes to prepare and cook

1 12- 16 oz. package pasta (penne, rigatoni, farfalle, etc..)
2 tsp olive oil for pan
1 lb. chicken sausage (The kind I found at costco was pre-cooked if you purchase raw, remove from casing) Cut into bite sized pieces.
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 14oz. can chickenbroth

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 14oz can diced tomatoes (or 1 to 1 1/2 cup fresh)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1 tsp dried basil or 3 tsp. fresh basil
3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta, cook according to directions
2. in a large skillet, heat oil, sausage and onion. Cook through until no longer pink for raw, Or until heated through for pre-cooked and onions are translucent.
3. Add broth,garlic, basil and both types of tomatoes (leave juice with canned tomatoes)
4. Cover and cook for approximately 10 minutes.

5. Uncover, add cheese (you can save some for garnish) turn up heat to reduce liquids. Cook for 5-10 minutes
6. Add spinach. Cook for 3- 5 minutes.
7. Salt and pepper to taste- need salt for sure without the sundried tomatoes
Combine pasta and sausage mixture, top with cheese.

Serve immediately.

For a side, we had the salad here

Orange Parfait Jello

This is a jello recipe you can whip together in a jiffy.

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

1 11 oz (or larger) can of mandarin oranges, drained

1 small box orange jello

1 cup greek yogurt (or cottage cheese)

2 cups whipped topping

Pour the pineapple and mandarin oranges in a medium sized bowl. Add jello, stir until blended. Add Yogurt. Stir until smooth. Add whipped topping and serve or refrigerate until needed.

I used to use cottage cheese for this recipe. The other day I didn't have any, so I tried the Greek Yogurt. My family thought I made a whole new recipe! The yogurt makes it really smooth and creamy. The great part is, it doesn't add any fat, and you are getting a decent serving of protein. (Just pretend the whipped topping and Jello are good for you) ;)

Penne Bake

TERRI'S PENNE PASTA BAKE- Easy, fast comfort food!

I'll make this for dinner and take a picture that I'll post later :)

This is one of our family favorites. It looks and tastes like you lovingly spent hours making it. I keep everything on hand to make it quickly for those days I have a lot going on!

ingredients:
1 -16 oz. bag of penne pasta
1 small jar of alfredo sauce - or make your own with the recipe here:
milk
thinly sliced deli ham or Prosciutto ( found in the deli section)
1/2 lb. of asparagus or 1/2 bag frozen peas
1-2 cups parmesan cheese

First heat up your water for your pasta. While you wait for it to boil, cut up the deli meat or prociutto into ribbons, and cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces.

Cook the pasta according the the directions on the package. 3 minutes before its done cooking add the asparagus or peas. Cook al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a small saucepan warm up the alfredo sauce. I fill up the jar 1/2 way with milk and swish it around to get the sauce out and add to the saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan to the mixture. This will make the sauce not only go farther, but make it taste more homemade! You can add some minced garlic as well.

Put your oven on broil.

Once the pasta is finished, drain (never rinse pasta!) and put into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the ham or Prosciutto over the pasta. Pour the alfredo mixture over the pasta. Stir gently to spread the ingredients around. Next sprinkle the remaining cup of Parmesan on top of everything. Do not stir! Put it under the broiler until the cheese is a light golden brown (5-10 minutes) Watch carefully! If you don't want to broil it put it in at 425 for about 15 minutes.

You can change this up by adding chicken and broccoli, ( I love to use the rotissere chicken from Costco for this) Or anything else that sounds good to you and your family!

Just a tip: You'll notice I use a lot of Parmesan cheese. I buy the large bag of it at Costco and freeze it. It lasts for a long time in the freezer.

Tip Of The Day

Vinegar is a staple in my kitchen by the gallon. You probably already saw the post here on foggy glasses. My tip today is to spray anything with hard water stains on it with vinegar and let it sit. Scrub the area with a toothbrush or rag, or whatever is appropriate for the surface. Vinegar is safe for most surfaces.

Nut Encrusted Mahi Mahi

Even if you're not a fish lover, you've got to give this a try! I've converted a few souls over to the delightful, flaky, subtle flavor of Mahi-Mahi. How can you go wrong when you add a little mango and basil sauce (sounds over the top maybe, but it's not!)?

NUT ENCRUSTED MAHI MAHI

You could use any white fleshed mild fish. Use whatever is the economically convenient! Best prices I've found are at Costco or Winco.

4- 6 mahi mahi fillets (tilapia a good choice also)

1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes

1 1/2 cups finely chopped macadamia, almond, walnuts, or pecans

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 egg with a splash of milk

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for pan

1. In a shallow dish mix the corn flakes, nuts, cayenne, salt and pepper.

2. In a different shallow dish beat the egg and milk.

3. Pat each fillet dry with a paper towel. Dip in egg mixture, then roll in nut mixture until well coated.

4. Heat skillet on Medium heat, add 2-3 tsp. oil, and place fillets in pan. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes (depends on how thick your fillets are and temp of pan) on each side. Do not overcook.

2 different sauces you can enjoy: Which one sounds good to you?

Honey Soy Glaze:

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. dry mustard or garlic powder (pick one)

Heat in small saucepan. Boil for about 5 minutes or so to reduce.

Mango Basil Sauce

1 medium ripe mango (or 1/2 cup frozen mango, thawed- easy!) Cutting a mango can be a bugger.

2-4 tbsp. fresh basil

1 tbsp lemon juice

put all ingredients into food processor and blend thoroughly. I don't have a food processor, I use my magic bullet or my submersible hand blender in a quart sized jar.

Pour your favorite sauce over your fish and enjoy.

Tip: I made this for company and since the rest of my meal wasn't ready, I kept these in the oven on 170 until we were good to go. It didn't seem to take away from the moisture in the fish.