Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

We recently hit a place in Hampton called Six, while I thought that it had great food, I was not impressed with their Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. I thought that theirs had no flavor and was really plain. I was determined to make my own and make it taste like something other than just pasta with a bland cheese sauce. Here is what I came up with....

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

1 pound of butternut squash
3 tablespoons of fresh thyme
2 shallots, diced
1/8 cup of olive oil
1 cup of chicken broth
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
2 1/2 cups of good cheddar cheese (I used Black Diamond)
3 sage leaves, diced
1 box of elbow macaroni

Roast squash at 400 degrees for 30 minutes with olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and shallots. Remove squash from oven and let cool, but keep the oven on. When squash has cooled put squash into a food processor, add chicken broth and cheese and puree. Cook pasta according to directions on package and drain. In a casserole dish mix cheesy squash and pasta. In a small skillet take a little bit of olive oil or butter and add sage cook until the sage is crispy and fried. Top mac and cheese with bread crumbs and sage oil or butter. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake the mac and cheese for 30 minutes. Serve with ham or chicken and enjoy.

Holiday Traditions

It has been way to long and I must say that I am at fault for not maintaining this blog. Sometimes life gets in the way of sharing however; I am planning to begin anew with the new year. Yet I needed to take the time to share perhaps one of the best recipes that I have ever come across. This meal while for some is a Sunday tradition has become my family's traditional Christmas meal. Please leave a comment and let me know what yours is....

I will admit that I can be easily intimated by meals that are this big, but I must give a big thanks to Gordon Ramsay for making me feel comfortable enough to give this a try....

Roast beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Red Wine Gravy

Gordon Ramsay

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

2 3/4 to 3 1/3-lbs rib beef, on the bone (I used an 11 lb. boneless Rib Eye Roast)

1/2 tsp sea salt plus more for seasoning beef

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs, beaten

11/4 cups milk

About 4 tbsp vegetable oil (or beef dripping) for cooking

3 to 4 sprigs thyme

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 red onions, peeled and sliced

4 plum tomatoes, halved (I use two tablespoons of Tomato Paste)

1/2 bottle red wine (about 11/2 cups)

5 cups beef stock



DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season the beef with salt and pepper and sear in a hot roasting pan with the olive oil to brown on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to the oven and roast, allowing 15 minutes per 1 lb for rare or 20 minutes per 1 lb for medium.

For the Yorkshire pudding batter, sift the flour and ½ tsp of salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs and half the milk and beat until smooth. Mix in the remaining milk and let the batter rest.

When the beef is cooked, transfer it to a warmed plate and let it rest, lightly covered with foil, in a warm place while you cook the puddings and make the gravy. Increase the oven setting to 450 degrees F. Put 1 tsp of vegetable oil or, better still, hot fat from the beef roasting pan, into each section of a 12-hole Yorkshire pudding tray (or muffin tray) and put it in the oven on the top shelf until very hot, almost smoking.

Whisk the batter again in the meantime. As soon as you take the tray from the oven, ladle in the batter so each tin section is three-quarters full (it should sizzle) and immediately put the tray back in the oven. Bake for 12 to 20 minutes until the Yorkshire puddings are well risen, golden brown and crisp. Don’t open the oven door until the end or they might collapse.

To make the gravy, pour off the excess fat from the roasting pan, place it on medium heat, and add the thyme, garlic, onions and tomatoes. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, then pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Squash the tomatoes using a potato masher to help thicken the sauce. Pour in the stock and bubble until reduced by half, for about 10 minutes until reduced by half. Pass the gravy through a sieve, pressing the vegetables to extract their flavor. Bring it back to a boil and reduce to a gravy consistency. Check the seasoning.

Carve the beef thinly. Serve with the gravy and Yorkshire puddings, along with sautéed cabbage, glazed carrots and roast potatoes.

This recipe was taken from “Gordon Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch” ©Gordon Ramsay. Published by Quadrille Publishing, 2006.

Oven Roasted Potatoes - Cook time - 1 hour

Ingredients

Fingerling or other small potatoes about 1/3 pound per person
1/4 cup of chopped flat leaf Parsley
1/4 cup of thyme leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
4 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Using a cookie sheet or other shallow dished pan place cleaned potatoes in pan, sprinkle with parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper, add garlic cloves and pout olive oil over potatoes. One hour before the roast is done put the potatoes in the bottom rack of the oven and let roast.

Honey Glazed Carrots- cook time - 15 min

Ingredients

• 1 pound baby carrots

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons Thyme honey

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup chopped Thyme

Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until crisp tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the carrots and add back to pan with butter, honey and lemon juice. Cook until a glaze coats the carrots, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.

Sautéed Cabbage - cook time 15 min

Ingredients

• 1 small head white cabbage, including outer green leaves (2 1/2 pounds) 

• The drippings from the browning of the roast
Directions

Cut the cabbage in half and, with the cut-side down, slice it as thinly as possible around the core, as though you were making coleslaw. Discard the core.

After browning roast, set pan aside, about 15 minutes to serving time reheat pan and add cabbage, saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and begins to brown. Season, to taste, and serve warm.

Dinner Dilemmas

So here is the deal, I think that I have become a little lazy in my cooking (and my blogging too), lately it has been really hard to come up with something to pull together that will please my husband, the almost 2 year old, the 6 year old, and myself. Perhaps it is the lack of wonderful farm fresh vegetables that I get from the Farmer's Markets near me, or could it just be that while spring has sprung, I am not finding a way in which to add some spring to my cooking?
Tonight's dilemma is split chicken breasts....
I have the package defrosting, but I am not sure if they will be ready to cook any time soon as at last check they were pretty frozen still....
The other issue is that I have no idea what to do with these breasts.....
So off I head to google to see what others have done with this cut of meat. Well I like that the lady over at $5 dinners makes them into boneless skinless breasts, that at least gives me some more options, but I really don't know if I want to the work.... While I am cruising different ideas I have a moment of clarity, MY BASE!!!!
My base you are thinking, what in the heck is this lady talking about, please let me tell you....

Base for Almost any Meal Recipe
1 24 ounce can of diced tomatoes, partially drained
1 onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
5 sprigs of fresh thyme, (more if you like)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup of dry white wine or vermouth
1 to 2 cups of chicken broth
Optional: 1 finely grated carrot

In a large skillet heat olive oil and add onion and garlic sautéing for 5 to 10 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add in carrot if using, wine, broth, thyme, and tomatoes, simmer for 20 minutes to let flavors combine. From this point, you can add the base to pasta, through in some shrimp, beef, or chicken and simmer until meat is cooked through. I have used this base for beef shanks, shrimp, and now split chicken breasts. If the tomato base starts drying out just add some more wine or broth. Yummm....

Chicken Stew/Cassoulet

I love the flavors that go into the traditional french cassoulet, but I never have all the pork products needed to make it, so instead I play around and today is no exception. Chicken and prosciutto are the meats today, and while I have no served it up yet, the smell in the house is wonderful to all expect the almost six year old.



Chicken Cassoulet



1 3 lb package of boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1/2 lb of prosciutto, browned

2 small onions, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 tablespoons of diced celery leaves

8 sprigs of thyme

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 box of chicken broth

1 can of great northern beans, rinsed and drained



Take all ingredients and place in a crock pot, cook on low for about 6 hours or until chicken is falling apart. Serve in a bowl with crusty bread and a nice white wine, enjoy.

Beef Broth

I got some beef bones that I was going to give to the dogs, but after a talk with the vet I decided I would keep them for some broth instead. I made this in the crock pot because I figured I could just forget about it until the next day. It came out great even though it looks like a witches brew and I thought I would share the recipe for the broth.

2 lbs of beef bones

1 cup of chopped celery

1 cup of chopped carrots

2 cups of chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

a handful of black peppercorns

some fresh thyme sprigs

10 cups of water

Place all ingredients in a crock pot, place on low heat and cook for at least 8 hours. Remove fat and use.

Cassoulet Inspired Meal

I have some veal shanks that I was trying to decide what to do with. I know that cassoulet does not normally have veal shanks, but I figured I could play around some and make a great meal with them that would go with the goat cheese tart and salad that we are having tonight. So here is the recipe I hope that you like my version.



4 Veal Shanks, at least 1 inch think

1 tablespoon of butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

A few pinches of flour

1/2 large onion diced

2 carrots, peel and sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1 can of Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of organic tomatoes, slightly drained

5 sprigs of thyme

3 gloved of garlic, peeled and smashed



In a large skillet heat butter and olive oil until just smoking, season shanks with salt and pepper and coat lightly with flour. Brown shanks in skillet on all sides. In a slow cooker add all other ingredients. Add browned shanks and cook on high for at least 4 hours. Serve and enjoy.