Zucchini Gratin

Okay, so it's been a year since I added a new recipe.  I've been a bit busy elsewhere including publishing a book during that time. I ran across this recipe, however, and had to try it as we eat a lot of zucchini.

We are already thinking of great ways to use it and pair it....with risotto, shredding the zucchini into long strands like spaghetti and add some pasta with it, too. 

You might have some ideas. 

Tonight's pairing was with grilled chicken breast.  

I doubt the leftovers will be around for long.  It is THAT good!

4 T. butter
4 large zucchini, sliced
4 medium shallots, minced
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 t. oregano
salt
pepper
green onions for garnish

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter.  Add shallots and garlic.  Cook till translucent, a minute or two.

Add zucchini, cream, salt, pepper, oregano and parmesan cheese.

Let mixture cook 8-10 minutes.  Do not leave it alone.  Stir it the entire time till mixture thickens and bubbly.

Keep mixing while cooking. Add cheddar cheese, and mix till blended.

Transfer mixture to greased 9x13 dish.   Lightly sprinkle with more cheddar cheese.

Bake 10-14 minutes till cheese is bubbly.

Top with green onions.  

Serves 4

Grilled Shrimp and Bacon with Lemon and Crisp Red Potatoes wth Garlic-Herb Oil

Never underestimate the abilities of a man once you send him off to the kitchen with a Martha Stewart magazine. Over the weekend the Mister was hungry. It didn't look like I was going to let go of my work anytime soon, so as he usually does on the weekends the Mister cooked...and it was great.

Grilled Shrimp and Bacon with Lemons

16 large shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds), shells split, but not removed, deveined
2 lemons
1 T. Old Bay seasoning
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon (about 6 oz.)

Toss shrimp in a large nonreactive baking dish with zest and juice of one lemon, the Old Bay seasoning and oil. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Heat grill to medium-high. Slice remaining lemon into 1/4-inch slices. Grill lemon slices, shrimp and bacon directly on grates until lemon slices are caramelized (2 to 3 minutes per side), shrimp are cooked through (about 3 minutes per side), and bacon is lightly charred and crisp (4 to 5 minutes per side). Transfer lemons and shrimp to a bowl, and the bacon to a plate. Let cool slightly.

Tear bacon into 2-inch pieces, and add to bowl with lemons and shrimp.

Toss until well combined.

Serves 4

Crisp Red Potatoes with Garlic-Herb Oil

1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
Large flake sea salt
3 T.  extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely grated

Heat grill to medium-high. Place potatoes in a large pot, and fill with cold water. Season with salt, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, 12 to 13 minutes. Drain, and let cool slightly. Halve potatoes, and toss with 1 T. oil.

Meanwhile, whisk together parsley, garlic, and remaining 2 T. oil in a large bowl.

Grill potatoes directly on grates, flipping until slightly charred and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Toss with garlic-herb oil.

Season with salt.

Serves 4

Marinated Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad

This is a great way to use those garden items that tend to overtake your kitchen during the summer.

Grill up some chicken breasts....and you've got a great meal.

3 medium cucumbers, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

3 medium tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

I slice up the cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes and throw into a large mixing bowl. 

Then I mix up the remaining ingredients and pour over the veggies.  Toss well and pop it into the fridge for a couple of hours....at least.

I visit the fridge three or four times during the afternoon and toss the contents around to make sure everything is soaking well. 

Great the next day, too!!!

Squash Casserole

I got rid of the written version of this recipe years ago. It's one I just "know" how to cook......

Take a few squash.....six to seven medium to small squash.  Wash them and trim the ends. 

Slice the squash and add to boiling salted water.  Cook about five to ten minutes.

While the squash cooks. Chop one medium onion and two carrots.

Use a colander to drain squash. While it's draining....it should not be watery....open one can Cream of Mushroom soup and add to it one small container of sour cream. Mix together and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add drained squash to the soup/sour cream mixture.

I used a whisk to mix in the squash. You don't want to puree it.....just break it up into manageable pieces. Stir well.

Melt one stick margarine or butter in a microwave safe container.  Add one-two cups Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing Mix to the butter. Stir well. Add more stuffing mix if you need to in order to get the butter mixed in. Spread some of the stuffing mix....just a little.... into your casserole dish. Reserve most of it.

Pour the squash mixture on top of the stuffing mix and spread evening in dish. Top with remaining stuffing mix.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

The recipe was my mother-in-law's....I made a few changes to it, and have made it for years and years. It's one way I managed to get a few vegetables down my the throats of my children when they were little.

This dish is always one we rely on for big family dinners......or like tonight....when I want a little "comfort" food.

Balsamic Glazed Carrots

Yellow carrots.

Yep, that was one of the veggies I served up with dinner tonight.   I found them at Trader Joe's in the freezer section.....a bag of sliced yellow and the more familiar orange kind.

They have yellow carrots?   Who knew?

Colored carrots aren't anything new.  

The Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have raised carrots that reflect every color of the rainbow.

Purple and yellow carrots were eaten more than 1,000 years ago in Afghanistan and 700 years ago in western Europe.

However, in earlier times carrots were grown for their leaves and seeds.   The roots weren't as popular as they are today.  

Tonight I tried this carrot recipe...and it's a keeper!

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute carrots in oil for 10 minutes, or till tender.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.  Mix to coat and serve.  

Serves 4

We served these carrots along with grilled boneless pork chops and aged Indian basmati and wild rice with garden herbs and vegetables from Trader Joe's and a glass or two of their Charles Shaw Pino Grigio.  The Charles Shaw label is often referred to as Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck...very nice table wine at an affordable price!!!

Hopping Into the New Year

After being out late and spending the day dismantling Christmas and packing each ornament, piece of garland and several strings of lights away I certainly don’t feel like hopping, but Hoppin’ John is one of those dishes you simply must have for New Year’s Day.

Luckily I have a man in the house who doesn’t mind cooking while I do other things and this recipe for Hoppin’ John is one of the dishes he prepared for us tonight along with a grilled pork roast, Sautéed Collards and Buttermilk-Cornmeal Biscuits with Honey Butter (see this link for the biscuit recipe)

Hoppin’ John is actually a dish that can be traced back to West Africa where it is still eaten today.   It’s very simple why Southerners eat Hoppin’ John on New Year’s…..tradition holds it will increase our luck through the year.  The peas are symbolic to coins.   Collard greens, of course, are symbolic of actual dollars since they are the color of money, and cornbread represents wealth since it’s the color of gold.

 

By eating some form of peas or beans to celebrate the new year we  actually are taking part in a custom folks followed back in the Middle Ages since the French and Spanish both traditionally had beans or peas on their tables for New Year’s.

It looks like we will have some Hoppin’ John leftover to enjoy tomorrow.  Traditionally the left over Hoppin’ John takes on the name Skippin’ Jenny.    I’m taking a few Advil in hopes I will feel like skipping tomorrow!

Hoppin’ John

This dish is prepared in two stages…..

Stage One:

1 pound dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked over

¾ pound Tasso ham, diced

1 onion, halved

3 cloves garlic

3 bay leaves

In a large Dutch oven or kettle, combine ingredients with 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until peas are tender but not mushy, 2 to 2 ½ hours.

Drain the Black-eyed peas and ham, saving cooking liquid separately.  Remove and discard the onion pieces, garlic, and bay leaves.

This is how the Hoppin' John looked at the end of Stage One.

Stage Two:

½ pound bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

½ tsp. fresh Thyme

1 cup Cajun Grain rice (or good quality long grain rice)

6 green onions, sliced

½ bunch parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

All the chopped ingredients are ready to add to the kettle.

Wipe out the pot and return to stove over moderately high heat.  Add bacon and render until golden (8-10 minutes), then add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and jalapeno.  Using a wooden spoon, stir occasionally, cooking until onions are translucent (8-12 minutes).   Add the thyme and 2 ½ cups water, and bring to a boil.   Lower the heat, stir in the rice, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 17-22 minutes

Stir in the green onions, parsley, black-eyed peas and ham, season with salt and pepper, and adjust the consistency with the reserved cooking liquid.   The Hoppin’ John should be lushly moist but not soupy.

Serves:  6

Fried Veggies

1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 ½ cups cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ t. pepper
Fresh vegetables such as okra, green tomatoes, onion, zucchini, or yellow squash
Vegetable Oil
Salt

Whisk buttermilk and egg. Combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.

Dip vegetables in buttermilk then coat in cornmeal mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches in dutch oven; heat to 375 degrees.

Fry vegetables in batches for 4 minutes on each side – turning too soon will cause breading to fall off.

Drain on paper towels

Add salt.

Endive Stuffed With Goat Cheese and Walnuts

1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 T. Honey, divided
Cooking spray
¼ cup Baslsamic Vinegar
3 T. orange juice
16 Belgian endive leaves (2 heads)
1/3 cup (1 ½ oz) crumbled goat cheese or blue cheese
16 small orange sections (2 naval oranges)
1 T. minced chives
¼ t. black pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine walnuts and 1 T. Honey. Spread on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir halfway through.

Combine 1 T. Honey, vinegar, and orange juice in small saucepan. Bring mixture to boil over high heat and cook until reduced to 3 T. (about 5 minutes).

Fill each endive leaf with 1 orange section. Top each section with 1 t. cheese and 1 t. walnuts.
Arrange on a serving plate.

Drizzle vinegar mixture over leaves and sprinkle with chives and pepper.

A Little Grilled Endive

A few days before Christmas we were having our weekly steak dinner. The husband was nice enough to fix my plate and pour my wine….he even sliced my steak.

All I had to do was enjoy!

Along with our steak we had a baked sweet potato topped with cinnamon and brown sugar and a little grilled endive.

Endive?

Yes, Belgian Endive. The Belgian form was accidentally discovered by a Belgian botanist named Brezier. He developed his form of “Brussels Endive or French Endive” from a chicory root in 1846. The process to raise Belgian Endive is very labor intensive…..round-the-clock attention is required.

It is not grown from a seed or seedling….instead it is cultivated by forcing a second growth from the cut roots of chicory plants. The white part of the plant is obtained by growing the plants in the dark.

You can find out more about Endive at this link. You can click on the picture above for a closer view.

In order to grill endive slice the head lengthwise. Brush each half with olive oil and season with pepper and coarse salt. Grill 20-30 minutes turning halfway through. It’s great with more olive oil and lemon juice drizzled over it.

Endive is a great source for fiber, Vitamins K and A.

Broccoli Casserole

I have lost the exact copy of this recipe so this written totally from memory.

Fill a 2-quart pan nearly full with water and a sprinkle or two of salt. Bring the water to a boil. Using a full crown of broccoli chop it up along with one medium sized onion. Add the broccoli and onion to the boiling water and cook till tender. Drain.

In a medium sized pan melt 3-4 Tablespoons butter and add 2-3 Tablespoons all purpose flour. Stir and allow the flour and butter to form a roux.

Add in 1 cup milk and stir constantly with wire whisk. Add a small brick of cream cheese. Stir mixture until cream cheese melts. Mix well. Combine cream cheese mixture with broccoli and onion and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Mix till the shredded cheese melts.

Sprinkle the bottom of a casserole dish with ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Pour broccoli mixture over the cheese.

Place the casserole in a 350 degree oven until the mixture begins to bubble around the edges.

Loaded Garlic Smashed Potatoes

2 medium garlic bulbs

1 Tablespoon olive oil

6 slices bacon or real bacon bits

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1 bag frozen mashed potatos or 4 pounds red potatos

1 (16 oz.) container sour cream

1 ½ cups (6 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1/3 cup butter/margarine, softened

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Garnish with chopped fresh chives

Cut off pointed ends of garlic bulbs and place cut side up on aluminum foil. Drizzle with oil.

Fold and seal foil. Bake garlic at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool.

Squeeze pulp from garlic. Set aside.

Prepare potatos for mashing.

Combine green onions, and bacon bits with a bit of olive oil until onions are tender.

Combine bacon, onions, garlic pulp, sour cream and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese with potatoes till well blended.

Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 baking pan and top with the remaining ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or till cheese melts.

Brown Butter Green Beans

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed

½ small sweet onion, sliced

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cracked pepper

Microwave butter in a 2-cup glass measuring cup at HIGH 1 ½ to 2 minutes or until butter is brown. Remove from microwave, and immediately add minced garlic.

Place green beans, onion, and 3 Tablespoons water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, folding back a small edge to allow steam to escape.

Microwave at HIGH 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender; Drain. Toss together hot beans and sliced onion, brown butter mixture, and salt; sprinkle with cracked pepper.

This recipe is taken from the August, 2007 Southern Living magazine and states browning butter is a French technique that gives butter a rich and nutty flavor.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This particular recipe is one passed on to my mother by her dear friend Sara Fauscette. Most of the time I double this recipe for family gatherings. This is one dish I’m usually assigned to bring to a family dinner.

3 cups cooked sweet potatos, mashed (if using canned potatos you need a large size can)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten with ½ cup evaporated milk

1 stick butter, melted

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all above ingredients and pour into a 2 quart (larger….if doubled) casserole.

Mix together topping:

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup plain flour

1 cup chopped pecans

½ stick butter, melted

Combine above ingredients and pour or spoon over potato mixture.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Greek Stuffed Peppers

My husband found this recipe on delish.com. We’ve been trying to eliminate so much meat from our diet and this dish looked like a perfect fit. I had intestinal surgery back in August, so the spinach wasn’t my friend, however, my family really loved the dish.

Here is the list of ingredients:

4 multi-colored bell peppers

½ cup whole –wheat orzo

1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

6 oz. baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 T. chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspooon dried

¾ cup crumbled feta, divided

¼ cup sun-dried tomatos (not oil packed), chopped

1 T. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

Halve peppers lengthwise through stems, leaving steam attached. Remove seeds and white membranes. Place peppers cut side down in a large microwave-safe dish. Add ½-inch water, cover and microwave the peppers on high until the peppers are just softened, 7-9 minutes. Let cool slightly, drain, and set aside.

Meanwhile bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until till just tender, 8-10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water.

Mash chickpeas into a chunky paste with a fork leaving a few of the peas whole.


Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook stirring until soft, about four minutes. Add spinach and oregano and cook until the spinach is wilted, about one minute. Stir the orzo, chickpeas, ½ cup feta cheese, tomatos, vinegar, and salt. Cook until heated through about one minute.

Divide the filling among the pepper halves and sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup feta cheese over the peppers. Place peppers in a 350-degree oven until cheese melts a bit and peppers and filling are heated through.