Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

November's a pretty crazy month to do a food challenge, I think!  I managed it though, even while prepping for Thanksgiving (yes I will have more posts about that)!  November's theme for HH6 is "Coming from your part of the world, create/share your favorite comfort food."

I thought for a while about what to do for this challenge.  I considered biscuits and gravy, as we're moving to the south.  Or maybe apple fritters or fastnachts from my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage.  Or maybe something Mexican since we're currently in the southwest!  When you move around so much, "your part of the world" could mean anything!  As a result, I decided to focus more on the comfort side of the challenge and a few memories were quick to pop to mind.  This summer, when I was at our family's cabin in Pennsylvania, a smell suddenly caught my attention.  It was just spaghetti sauce, but it smelled like the most amazing thing ever and I bugged my aunt and uncle to let me have some of their spaghetti.  Then, when we backpacked the Grand Canyon, day three was our hardest day - from the bottom to the North rim and back down all in one day, nearly 14 miles.  What did we choose to pack for dinner that night?  Spaghetti!  And boy did we eat tons of it!

Spaghetti it was, then.  But how to create the most comforting sauce?  I have several sauces I use, from the fancy roasted garlic to my uncle's decadent baby back rib sauce.  None of them were quite right though.  So I warned my husband that we'd be eating a lot of spaghetti over the next few weeks and set to work.

My first attempt used sausage and roasted garlic.  It was good, but didn't have the flavor profile I was looking for.  My second attempt used beef instead of sausage.  Much closer, but it needed to be simpler.  The best comfort foods are simple, and here the third time  was the charm - a nice, thick, beefy sauce!  Yum!

Ingredients

1 T oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
oregano
pepper
crushed red pepper

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is translucent.  Add the beef and cook until browned.  Pour in sauce and tomatoes.  Season liberally with oregano and cautiously with pepper and red pepper.  Simmer until thickened, 40 minutes or so.  Top with grated parmesan or aged gouda.

Trail Bread

Sorry for the slow posting lately!  Things are starting to get a bit hectic around here - I just spent a week backpacking in the Grand Canyon, and am rushing to finish this months HH6 challenge while also prepping for Thanksgiving and then the movers will be here in less than three weeks and we're off across the country once more!

I've been meaning to post this particular recipe for months now.  The picture isn't all that good, and I didn't think to get a shot of us actually eating this bread in the canyon!  Anyway, this is a variation on a recipe from Alaska Roadhouse Recipes.  It's definitely not an every-day bread - each piece packs about 400 calories (I haven't done the exact math)!  But when you're doing long hikes and backpacking, you really need the extra fuel.  In addition to being calorie dense, durable and lightweight, this trail bread is also delicious, sweetened with molasses and honey.  This is a bonus for me, because sometimes when I'm burning that many calories I start not wanting to eat, but I'd never turn down a piece of this bread!

Ingredients

4 c whole wheat flour
1 c water
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c honey
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c molasses
3 T powdered milk
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/3 c chopped nuts
1/3 c dried fruit
1/8 c chocolate chips

Mix everything together.  Pour into greased pan.  Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cut into 12-16 pieces.

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.