Stuffed Acorn Squash

"Orange, brown and rust are the colors of Fall. Create a dish using these colors. You can only use one of the colors as a non food, ie a rust colored plate to hold the dish. You can incorporate other colors but these 3 colors have to be the dominant colors that you feature. "




Time for this month's HH6 challenge post!  Pretty much as soon as I read the challenge I was sure I wanted to do a stuffed squash, and here it is!  Orange peppers, toasted almonds, and wheat stuffing make up the three colors, with the yellow from more peppers and the acorn squash just make everything prettier.  And delicious.  The toasted nuts and the squash complement each other VERY well!


Ingredients


1 acorn squash
2 c wheat stuffing
1/4 c sliced almonds
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper


Preheat oven to 400.  Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the strings and seeds (you can toast the seeds if you'd like!).  If you have trouble cutting the squash, microwave it for a minute to soften the skin.

Place the two halves in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the peppers into bite-size pieces.  Lightly toast the almonds in a skillet, then stir both nuts and peppers into the prepared stuffing.

Carefully mound the stuffing mix into the cup of each squash half.  Bake for another 15 minutes or until tender.

Pumpkin Apple Cake

Dear blog, I have been neglecting you!  I am very sorry and will try to remedy this.  I have, in fact, been cooking, but just haven't gotten around to posting everything I've cooked!

It's fall (I think - it's hard to tell by looking out the window here!), and that means some of my favorite foods.  Pumpkins and apples just scream autumn to me and they work so well together that I just HAD to mix them up in a cake!

Ingredients

• 2 c flour
• 1 t ginger
• 1 t baking soda
• 3/4 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground allspice
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1/4 t ground cloves
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1/3 c oil
• 1/3 c molasses
• 1/2 c apple cider
• 1/2 large apple, diced
• 1/2 large apple, sliced thinly
• 2 T brown sugar
• dash cinnamon

 Preheat oven to 350.  Mix everything but the last four ingredients in a bowl until the batter is smooth.  Stir in diced apples.  In a small bowl, toss sliced apples with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Grease a 9x9 pan and pour in half of the batter.  Spread the sliced apples over top, then cover with the remaining batter.  Bake 40-50 minutes.

Lentil Chili

Healthy, hot, filling, and delicious!  This is an amazing vegetarian recipe from Wegmans.  And to prove how delicious it is, I made it for my husband.  He told me it looked funny.  I told him to take a bite.  Next thing I know I was having to keep him away with one hand while I snapped this picture with the other.  He devoured every bit set in front of him!  It's that good.  So, what are you waiting for??

To make this even better, make the veggie stock yourself - just simmer some onions, carrots and celery for a few hours!

Ingredients

1 c red lentils
2 c water
2 T olive oil
1/2 c diced onion
1/4 c diced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tomato, diced
2 c veggie stock
2 c water
1 1/2 T tabasco
1/8 t tumeric
1/8 t cumin
1/8 c cayenne
1/8 c chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 green pepper, finely diced

Combine lentils and 2 c water in a pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Remove from heat.  Puree half the lentils and liquid.

In another pot, heat olive oil.  At medium low heat, add onions, celery and garlic.  Stir, cooking for five minutes.  Add tomatoes and cook another five minutes.  Add stock, water, tabasco, and all other spices.  Bring to a simmer.  Add all of the lentils (whole and pureed) and stir well.  Cook 10 minutes.  Add green pepper and cook another five minutes or until lentils are tender.

Berrymisu

Who doesn't love tiramisu?  Well, my mom for one.  And many people who do not like the taste of espresso.  Now, I'm actually one of those espresso-haters, so I was a tiramisu-hater for the longest time.  Until my friend made tiramisu using the Best Recipe Ever.  Seriously, if you make tiramisu any other way... well, you shouldn't.

However, sometimes I'm in the mood for some mascarpone-cream goodness, but not for the traditional espresso and chocolate.  So I took tiramisu and gave it a fruity twist.  This is a great change for a hot summer and the sweet cream and tart raspberries complement each other perfectly.

Ingredients

1 c peach nectar or other sweet fruit juice

6 T brandy

6 large egg yolks

3/4 c granulated sugar

Pinch of table salt

1/2 c heavy cream

16 oz mascarpone cheese

6 oz raspberries

2 sleeves ladyfingers (more if you get the smaller kind)

Combine 2 T brandy with the fruit nectar in a shallow bowl.  Set aside.  Put egg yolks, sugar and salt in the mixer.  Beat at medium-high for four minutes.  Egg mixture should be pale yellow and frothy.  Add the cream, stirring well.  Hold bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for five minutes or until the mixture reaches 160.  Pour into another bowl and cool to room temperature.  Back in the mixer, add the mascarpone and 1/4 c brandy to the egg and cream mixture.  Beat at medium or medium high for about 3-4 minutes, until smooth and thick.  Puree 4 oz of the raspberries and stir them into the mascarpone mixture gently.

Dip the ladyfingers one at a time into the fruit juice, rolling quickly (2 second total!).  Line the bottom of the pan with dipped cookies.  Spread 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over top.  Sprinkle on the rest of the raspberries, pushing them gently down into the cream.  Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and another layer of cream.

Cover and refrigerate.

Herbed Hen Pasta

The upcoming challenge involves using only what is currently in our pantries, so here's my proof of what I have at the moment.

More later!

Update:

September's Challenge: We all need to be prepared in the event of a disaster.  You have stuff in your pantry and fridge/freezer.  If a disaster should strike today and you have no access to going to a grocery store but your stove/grill is still working, what would you make with what you have on hand?


For this one, I went with a one-pot meal, easy to do even if we can only use our little camp stove.  I feel a bit uncreative using pasta, but hey, it works and it's easy.  This is a nice simple dish that's pretty as well as flavorful, and different every time depending on what spices you use.


Ingredients

1 game hen (or chicken)
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 onion, diced
Your favorite herbs and spices
water
1 T olive oil
1 box pasta
1 can diced tomatoes
4 T pesto
grated parmesean

Take the olive oil and gently brown the onions and garlic in a saucepan.  Add in the herbs and spices, the hen, and about 1/2 c water.  Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until bird is cooked through, adding more water as needed.  Remove hen and set aside to cool.  Once it has cooled sufficiently, shred the meat.

Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta.  Stir in the shredded hen, tomatoes, and pesto.  Top with grated cheese.

Coconut Curry Rice and Beans

It's time for another HH6 post again!  This month's challenge:

With the mercury continuing to rise this month, let's once again give ourselves a break from the stove. Create an original 5 ingredient slow cooker recipe. Salt and/or pepper do not count as one of the 5 ingredients.

I made it just in time.  I was planning on doing this challenge while I was on the east coast vacationing with my family, but thanks to Hurricane Irene that didn't happen.  Now this particular challenge was a bit difficult, simply because I never ever limit my ingredients.  I'm very much a throw this and that into a pot sort of cook, especially when it comes to spices.  So I decided that instead of making a meal for me, I'd aim this one at my brother, who is just moving into his first apartment.  Like all young adults, money and time are a bit tight, so having easy, cheap meals is a plus.  I was going to make this with chicken, but he's vegetarian, so I switched that out for beans.

Ingredients

1 c brown rice

1 can pinto beans

1 can coconut milk

1 c water

2 t curry powder

1/2 c peas

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients except for peas into the crockpot.  Cook on low for 4 hours, adding the peas in the last 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Tomato, Garlic, and Ancho Chili Bread

Today, I was bored.  And when I'm bored, I bake things.  Now, I really need to get a sourdough starter going so that I can finish off the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, and I intend to start that tomorrow, but today I needed instant gratification.  At first I considered a variation on BBA's Potato Rosemary bread, being as it is fantastic, but I didn't have the time to do the pre-ferment, nor did I have potatoes or rosemary.  What to do??

Then I came up with this idea, after looking through my refrigerator.  It would be amazing, using some ingredients that needed to be used or they would go bad.  The spiciness of the chili would compensate for the lack of a pre-ferement.  All I needed to do was come up with the formula.

I was not certain this would work.  I've never dared to come up with a formula all on my own.  But I was hungry.  So I went for it, and the results were all I could wish for!

From the beginning, I intended for this to be a wet dough, cooked in a pot like the famous No-Knead Bread.  As it happens, I seem to be lacking in oven-safe pots.  So I ended up treating this more like a ciabatta, and it worked out!

Ingredients

1/2 head garlic
olive oil
12 grape tomatoes
1 ancho chili, diced
3 c flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t yeast
1/4 c hot water
1 c water

Preheat oven to 350.  Wrap garlic in tinfoil with a spash of olive oil and roast for 40 minutes.  Add the tomatoes when there is 20 minutes left.

Let garlic and tomatoes cool.  Peel garlic and dice.  Skin tomatoes and dice.

Combine flour, salt, garlic, tomatoes, and chili in a stand mixer.  Separately, mix yeast and 1/4 c water.  Wait 10 minutes or until yeast is frothy.  Add to flour mix along with 1 c water.

With paddle, blend for 1 minute.  Switch to dough hook and mix for 5-8 minutes or until dough is well blended.  Dough should be quite sticky, clinging to bottom and sides.

Transfer into greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour.

Stir down.  Place bed of flour on counter and transfer dough.  Fold loosely and spray with oil and cover.  Rise again, 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 515.  When oven is hot, carefully transfer dough to baking sheet.

Bake 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 425.  Bake 10 minutes, then turn 180 degrees, continue baking 10-15 minutes or until loaf registers 205.