Thyme Roasted Butternut Squash

Craving potatoes? Hash browns? Don't want to eat potatoes? Perfect - this will solve that problem for you.

During my research and experimentation with butternut squash, I thought, "Why does everything call for thyme?!" And once I started getting into kitchen tests I realized "Oh, because it's almost always amazing. Duh!" This pairing - butternut squash and thyme - is one of those cases where you shouldn't fix something that isn't broke.

And it's true - the thyme is the magic in this dish. The simple sweet and nutty flavor of the butternut announced by the fragrant thyme making this a wonderfully simple and elegant side dish to just about anything. It goes particularly well with any type of roast or whole meat - beef roast, pork loin, whole chicken, or a side dish at Thanksgiving. It's perfect because while the meat is cooking in the oven, you can sizzle this up on the stove.

A final note to those who are  feeling ambitiously lazy: you can buy pre-diced butternut squash at most grocery stores to avoid peeling, hulling, and dicing it yourself.

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme

2 Tablespoons cold butter
Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

Peel, hull, and dice the squash.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium high. Add diced squash, spreading into a single layer. Cook about five minutes, until brown. Toss occasionally to brown additional sides - about another five minutes. After squash is mostly browned turn heat to medium low, add thyme and salt, and cover. Cook an additional 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until squash is tender when poked with a fork.

Remove from heat, add butter and gently stir or toss until butter is melted. Serve hot.

Short hand: Brown squash on med high, add thyme, butter, and salt, cover for 10-15 additional mins, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add butter, stir til melted. Serve

Watermelon Cubes

For the last few weeks I've been obsessed with watermelon. The delicate crispiness of the coveted center bites, the sweet summery scent, and the deeply refreshing burst that comes with each bite are all things that make watermelon one of my favorite summer time fruits.

Within the last month, I'll confess that I've eaten almost a whole watermelon by myself each week. No, that's not a typo. And sure, I have a partner in crime who helps me polish it off, but I've been eating watermelon like nobodies business.

However, I don't like my fingers or face getting sticky, so I hate cutting it into wedges and holding it by the rind. The juice can drip down my hand, which results in a cold, sticky mess which generally detract from the over all watermelon experience. So, I cube mine as shown below and eat it with a fork (usually).

The beauty about cutting watermelon in cubes is that you can pick whatever size you want, and maintain that with fairly accurate uniformity. Thus, you can make it small cubes for a fruit salad, large chunks for a side dish, or long thin sticks for kids to grab.



Instructions:

Here is the picture tutorial. It is followed below with step by step instructions and a few hints!

De-rinded and sliced horizontally

De-rinded and sliced horizontally - take two 

Vertical cut 1

Fumble during Vertical cut 2

Final product. Enjoy!

• Wash the watermelon, and slice into quarters (you can halve it, but I find quarters is easier to work with). 

• On a large cutting board or surface, place 1 quarter of the watermelon with one side of the flesh down and the other facing you. 

• Using a long sharp knife, cut off the rinde, moving from right to left. Finish by cutting off the top.
• Tip: Turn you chopping surface - not your watermelon. 

• Make large horizontal slices by placing your knife horizontally 1/2-1'' above the watermelon and, gently pressing down on the top, move the knife away from you through the melon. 
• Hint: Work from bottom to top. 

• Starting from left to right, make vertical cuts from the top down. Turn your board and repeat to finish off the cubes.
• Tip: the last cut can be tricky as it may tend to topple. Keeping a loose hand on the top or side can help minimize epic downfalls of watermelon. 

• Repeat with remaining watermelon quarters. 

• Take to your next bar-b-que and have people wonder how you got such beautiful looking watermelon cubes with such clean cut corners! 

Tossed Salad with Blush Wine Vinaigrette, Cherry Tomatoes, and Avocado

I don't know if I talk much on here about how lazy I am - but in a moment of full self disclosure  I told my then boyfriend (now husband) that I can be remarkably lazy. We were sitting on the couch watching a movie, and he rolled his head over to look at me and with a totally straight face said "Oh honey, I can out lazy you any day." 

While I can be remarkably lazy in many ways, cooking is something I think people should enjoy. And sometimes, that means enjoying it because it was easy. Let me tell you, salads are easy. Well, they can be. I've encountered some pretty complex, finicky salads and thought "Wow, it just exhausts me looking at this!" However, this particular salad is packed with yummy goodness and full flavor with little fuss. It's pretty light but not so much so that you feel like you're eating air. I had this and Browned Butter Gnocchi for lunch today so I could clear out leftovers from some other food experiments. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 Head lettuce, chopped (I use Boston or Butter lettuce) 

Blush Wine Vinaigrette Dressing (make your own if you'd like, but I used Briannas and loved it) 

1 avocado, diced

~ 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Blue Cheese crumbles or Shredded parmesan, for garnish 

Directions: (Watch out - this is the tough part!!!)

Toss Lettuce and dressing in large bowl, top with everything else. Serve. 

Salsa y Guacamole

Por los personas que no saben, yo servir una mision en sur de California, donde que yo aprende Espanol. (For the people who do not know, I served a mission in Southern California, where I learned Spanish.) Also, I lived in Tucson, Arizona until I was 13 years old. As a result of both, I have a cultivated taste for authentic mexican food cooked by loving mothers, caring sisters, and daring fathers who braved many a hot grills. Really, most mexican food is about love. And if you haven't guessed it yet, I love food.

This version of salsa and guacamole came into existence in my kitchen because I had left over avocado slices from Sushi night (pictures coming soon), thanks to Ms. Megan who brought them. As I thought back to how my mom made guacamole  I remembered that she made salsa, left a little in the food processor, and then added rich green avocado's and her magical 'mom love'.



Also, I've been wondering how well avocado's and guacamole will freeze - thus this is part "I can't just throw these avocado's away!" and part "Hmmm... let's see if this works." If it does, Megan will get getting some homemade guacamole (fresh) from me in the future as a thanks for providing me the supplies to experiment.

Experiment: how well does guacamole freeze?
Hypothesis: Mediocre
Variables: Guac in freezer verses my memory of the guac I'm eating now.
Results: TBD

 Salsa Ingredients: 
2 Large Beefsteak tomatoes OR 4 medium Roma tomatoes, quartered
1/2 medium onion, cut into chunks
~1/3 cup fresh Cilantro
2 cloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic salt)
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Sriracha Sauce*
Juice from one lemon/lime (I used lime)
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

S/P to taste

*start slow and ramp up your spice. Start with 1/4 teaspoon for the timid mouth - go crazy if you love pain. Also - you can use 1/2 to 1 whole Jalapeño. I don't like fussing with them needlessly, so I use Sriracha from the bottle.

Directions:
Pulse onion and garlic in food processor (or blender) for 10-15 pulses, or until onion is well diced. Add remaining ingredients and blend/pulse until salsa reaches desired consistency. Taste - add salt, pepper, or more spice to taste.

Now it's time for your guacamole....



 Ingredients/Directions: 
1/2 cup salsa (as above)
2 large avocado's, seeded, peeled

Add avocado's and salsa to the blender. Turn on low or pulse until desired consistency is reached. Pull out the chips, grab some chairs, your favorite drink, and head out to the porch to swapp stories of last summer while eating this super easy, ultra tasty, incredible salsa and guacamole. 

The wonderful thing about these recipes (and really most everything on this site) is that it's not an exact science. These, like many other recipes can be used a platform for your own ideas, modifications, or alterations. So add some flare and toss in something crazy and try it out. The good thing about trying out different foods is that you never need to repeat it if you hate it - and you'll never know if you hate something until you try it!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Featured here is a variety mix of potatoes. The purple things you see are indeed potatoes. Delicious ones I would add. 

Here is a confession - I had never made these before I served them to my Easter Dinner guests. And I didn't taste them before I served them. There! I said it!

Generally speaking, I try all sorts of crazy concoctions in the kitchen. I do not however feed first time passes to guests. This was an exception as I had made things very similar to this before and was confident (perhaps overly so) that it wasn't a big deal. I was nevertheless thrilled that it worked.

Also, I must confess that I'm even more tickled it worked because after I tossed the taters in the seasoned coating, I tasted it and freaked out about how salty it was. My rational for continuing was "They need to start cooking now if they're going to be ready. A bunch of this will fall off or cook out (fingers crossed). And - potatoes can be a black hole for salt - right?!" True enough, all three things happened, and these turned out to be perfectly seasoned, have a lightly crunchy outside, and tenderly delicious inside.

And thus I give you - Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Parmesan Garlic Seasoning


Ingredients:

1 lb fingerling potatoes, washed

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 Tablespoon garlic salt   (see why I freaked out when I tasted it!?)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated parmesan (use the bottled green kind, it works best)
2 tablespoons dry parsley OR 3 Tablespoons fresh

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400º

In a medium pot, fill with enough water to cover potatoes. Bring to boil on medium high and boil for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave butter until melted (or heat in small sauce pan). Once melted, add remaining ingredients (garlic salt/powder, parm, and parsley) and stir.
Once potatoes have finished the par-boil, drain, and toss with the butter mixture until all potatoes are evenly coated.
Place on baking sheet or pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Allow to cool 4-6 minutes before serving.



Short Hand:
Par-boil potatoes 10 mins. Add seasoning to melted butted and toss with potatoes. Bake 30-40 mins @400º.

Easter Dinner

Thanks for my wonderful friend Mandi, I have these beautiful pictures of our Easter Dinner. It was our first chance as a married couple to break out some inherited items - the china is from his maternal grandmother, and the napkins are from his paternal grandmother. The silver rimmed goblets you see are Venetian glass - yes, actual Venetian glass from Venice, Italy. After visiting Venice as part of a study abroad program, I hauled them all over Europe and back to the States. This was the first time I got to use them and I was thrilled!!  For those of you who don't know, I collect glass as a side hobby. Stamps may have been a less breakable, more boring option.

Back to dinner. Following is our menu - as the recipes become available I will post them, and link them.


Drinks:
Mint Limeade - Featured by Mandi V.
Martinelli's - Forrest insisted

Salad:
Strawberry, Walnut, and Spinach Salad

Main:

Spiral Cut Ham
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Rosemary and Garlic Rolls - Featuring Josh P.

Dessert:
Red Susan, featured here with Gluten-free brownies via Mandi.

Inside each Easter Egg is a little Marshmallow Peep!  

No tricks about the ham - it's store bought! 

Ham and Potatoes......mmmmmm. 

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Walnuts, tossed in a poppyseed dressing. 

These stole the show - roasted fingerling potatoes, tossed in a garlic parmesan  butter sauce. 

One of my favorite desserts - Red Susan is what I have dubbed it. 

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is. Now I'm craving dessert again. It's totally worth the calories. Trust me.

Blue Cheese Bread Pudding

This. Is. Epic.

Especially if you like blue cheese.

I LOVE these things. It might be because I love blue cheese, with it's sharp, distinct flavor and creamy texture, ribboned with salty ribbons of color.....Hmm, oh you're still here? Sorry about drifting off into cheese heaven. Honestly, this is just a fantastic recipe and super simple.

I made this for the first time in Texas when a girlfriend was coming over for dinner. I followed it perfectly the first time, but when I made it last week, I tweaked it a little.

Here is the video and recipe for the original dish by Chef John. He has a ton of other great recipes too!

Here is what I did to it :) I hope you enjoy!



Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Butter

4-5 cups cubed bread, dried over night or in the oven (You want these suckers DRY! I'm talking rock solid. They'll need to absorb all the wonderful flavor you're going to add. Use 4 cups if you like a dense pudding, 5 if you want something a little dryer. I opt for the dryer batch.)

1 Tbsp Butter
1/2 cup scallions, diced
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 tsp pepper

1/3-1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

Sliced scallions and blue cheese for garnish.


Directions:

Preheat Oven - 400º

Grease cupcake pan, or ramekins with butter.

Place bread cubes in a large bowl, set aside.


Saute onions, salt and butter.

Add everything else EXCEPT THE BLUE CHEESE!!! and heat til steaming (don't boil).

Pour broth mixture over bread cubes, and stir until all the liquid is absorbed.

Sprinkle blue cheese over bread cube mix, stir gentle.

Divide mixture into cupcake tins. Garnish with a few crumbs blue cheese.

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes. Top with slices of scallions.

Serve HOT!!

Serves 4.