Just Eat Food News

Never having had pumpkin for anything other than pie, this was a fun experiment.  I was pleasantly surprised at how delicate the pumpkin tasted.  Why have we just been carving them all this time?!  I will never look at them the same again.

The first recipe made from the pumpkin-riffic filling is Pumpkin Ravioli (or, Tortellini).  I should mention that if you choose to make tortellini and, are as slow as I am, you may want to start forming them several hours before your guests arrive!  Oh, and no wine until they are done.  They require concentration. 

The second recipe, Pumpkin Lasagna was an attempt to use up the left over pumpkin filling.  It turned into an awesome taste sensation.  I hope it sweeps the nation! 

Let me know how you enjoy pumpkin prepared.  I am curious to know what other treats I have been missing out on!

CHORIZO CHARGED BREAKFAST (SERVES 4)

This is a filling dish that keeps you that way until lunch...at least.  You could sub in less spicy sausage if you like, but you won't find that at my house!

• 4 ounces chorizo - I used a smoked chicken chorizo
• ¼ cup green onion - chopped
• 1 small tomato - seeded, and chopped
• 6 pastured eggs
• 1 teaspoon water
• ½ cup cheddar cheese - divided in two
• ¼ teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place chorizo, green onion, and tomato in the bottom of a 9" pie pan.  In a small mixing bowl whisk eggs, and water together.  Add ¼ C of the cheese, and cumin to the eggs, and pour over pie pan.  Add the remaining cheese to the top and place in 350° for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

NO JOE I KNOW! (SERVES 4)

I love these bad boys anyway I can get them.  This meal whips together in about 20-30 minutes.  Perfect for the instant gratification folks like myself.  Yes, I realize good things are worth waiting for.  But, not when I am starving!

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 Lb. Ground bison - or turkey, beef, whatever you want, doesn't have to be meat
• ¼ C Red onions - reserve a little for garnishing
• ¼ C Yellow pepper
• 1 Tsp. Garlic - minced
• ¼ Tsp. Hot sauce - optional
• ½ C Ketchup
• ½ C BBQ Sauce
• 2 C Arugula - divided among servings to garnish
• 4 Slices bread

DIRECTIONS

Add meat, red onion, yellow pepper, and garlic to a medium size fry pan, and cook on medium heat until meat is cooked through.  About 20-25 minutes.  Add ketchup, bbq sauce, hot sauce, stir to combine.  Not saucy enough?  Add some more ketchup and bbq! 

Then toast bread, top with joe, serve open faced, garnish with reserved red onion, and arugula.  If you are feeling crazy add pickles, slaw, etc.  Have fun with your joes.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I thought this would be an incredibly appropriate time to make gourd figures.  I mean, when else would pilgrim gourds be more timely?!  Food can be fun, delicious, and historically accurate.

In honor of the first Thanksgiving please visit history.com to discover what might have been on the menu, and what wasn't.  Personally, I was SHOCKED that there wasn't green been casserole.  Who knew?

So, next week I will begin a series counting down to Thanksgiving preparing what the settlers would have eaten.  Starting with...sautéed eel. 

I decided to make a submission for the Next Food Network Star.  It was so much fun, and it certainly helped to have such a supportive cameraman/editor/food prep/cat restrainer/technical guru.    

To see the official video click here. 

Not sick of me yet?  Click here to see the outtakes!! 

For this meal idea I wanted to create something that would bring some of the best offerings of the fall season.  This meal is as pretty to look at as it is delicious to taste.  I would recommend pairing this meal with a glass, or two, of pinot noir. 

• Pork Tenderloin
• Berry Sweet Potato Bake
• A is for Applesauce

You will notice that the Berry Sweet Potato Bake serves 4-6 where the other dishes serve about 2.  That is because the Berry Sweet Potato Bake is a welcome addition to tomorrow's lunch.  Believe me, you will wish there was more of it!  Let the countdown to Thanksgiving begin!

STUFFED SPUDS (SERVES 2)

This is a satisfying vegetarian (if you eat dairy) meal.  Hearty enough for a chilly fall day. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 C Carrot - diced (about 3 carrots)
• 1 C White onion - chopped
• 2 C Button mushrooms - sliced
• 1-1/2 C Frozen peas 
• 1 Tbsp. Salt-free seasoning blend
• 6 Potatoes - about 3" in length, clean, remove eyes, and poke several small holes
• 14.5 oz. Can cream of mushroom soup - I only used about ¾ of a can.  You will need to make that determination based on how soupy you want the consistency. 
• Sharp cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in fry pan on medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, about 4 minutes, add carrots and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.  Add onion, mushrooms, peas, and seasoning blend and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.  While the veggies are cooking begin to cook the potatoes.  Place on a plate and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Turn them and cook for about 7 more minutes.  Continue to cook if they are not fork tender.  Once the onions are translucent, and veggies are tender, add the soup and continue to cook until heated through.  Then, split each potato down the middle, and place the halves in the bottom of individual bowls.  Top with veggie mixture and garnish with sharp cheddar cheese. 

NOTES

We used 3 Yukon, and 3 Red Skin potatoes just to be crazy.  For a salt-free seasoning blend I am in love with Trader Joe's® 21 Season Salute.  There is just enough kick to it, if you're into a little spicy.  If the soup is too thick for your liking, thin it with a little milk.

Ok guys...we're girls.  We don't want burgers and brats on the first date (maybe the second, or third).  Let me give you a little advice on what we would really love.  You can use it as your own idea.  Actually, I took the idea from some friends so feel free!

This meal happens to be one of my husband's favorite meals, and takes about 15 minutes to get it from the kitchen to the table.  No stove.  No cooking.  You can do this.  I can help.  Let's review the reason we date.  We date to get to know each other, converse, share likes and dislikes.  This meal forces conversation, creativity and sharing.  I know you are thinking this sounds really touchy feely. You think this is bad?  Wait until I give you the recipe for unicorn cupcakes (joking).    

This is what you need to get at the store:

FOR SALAD - combine all ingredients in small mixing bowl

• 1 Tbls Organic olive oil
• ¼ Tsp Balsamic vinegar
• Greens (I recommend arugula-has a peppery taste)
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Lemon - only use a squeeze for the salad

SERVE THE FOLLOWING ON A CUTTING BOARD:

• Crusty rustic bread
• Nice cheeses, you can purchase an assortment, or just one nice wedge will do
• 1 Avocado (smashed slightly in a small dish)
• Hummus - feel free to pick up some cucumber, carrots, or celery for dipping

If you feel like you might die without some kind of meat at dinner, go ahead and buy prosciutto, or something similar.  I assure that you won't die, but do what you must.

Add a little Sinatra, a nice wine, and you have an impressive little evening planned! Just mix, match those scrumptious little bites, and have fun!  Think of all the benefits of not going out to dinner.  You won't feel rushed, have to wait for a table, know exactly what you are eating, and you can save some cash to splurge on a nicer bottle of wine!

I know it seems a little lofty to think this could happen.  But it did.  Let me explain...

We joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) program in June of 2007.  Each week for $26 we picked up our large box of veggies from Be Wise Ranch in San Diego.  The box was packed full of fresh, organic produce grown just a few miles away from our house.  We always had some staples, but the fun part was trying veggies we hadn't had before, or probably wouldn't pick out for ourselves just because we didn't know what to do with them. 

We loved forcing ourselves to find recipes for fennel, turnips, collard greens (I stuff them like cabbage rolls-YUM), kale, rainbow chard, etc.  When I compare what we received in the box, I am not sure what we were eating before, and I can't compare it to anything I have had since we moved in July 2008   Oranges, that would drip down your hands, bags full of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, green beans that would snap, fresh raisins, the list goes on and on.  The experience awakened me to question what I had been eating in the past.  All the bargain shopping had robbed me of such an incredible rich experience.  We no longer felt the need for large portions of meat to feel satisfied. 

To this day there isn't a veggie that will go bad in our house.  I will use every last scrap in some kind of soup, or pasta concoction.  There's no going back now.  My voracious appetite for fresh produce has taken over, and put my senses in overdrive.

The CSA program was not only supporting everything I believe in, but had awakened my senses to fresh produce.  Not flown, trucked, or commercially farmed.  That particular CSA is sold out now.  But, there are others to check out.  We originally found our CSA through Local Harvest^TM.  I encourage you to take a look to see what is available in your area. 

And this, my friends, is how a simple box of veggies changed everything...

Is it enough to buy organic?  The more I learn, the more I believe it is about being local, and sustainable.  When possible, I hope to stimulate the local economy, buy from small farms, and in turn know where my food is coming from.  As a consumer it is important to know, and see what your dollars are being spent on. 

It pains me to think that the money I spend on my beloved Kashi® cereal makes it back to Kellog's®.  Or, that my purchase of Muir Glen® tomatoes eventually gets back to General Mills.  It seems that all of the organic brands I have been buying over the years have now been bought up themselves.  Please visit The Cornucopia Institutes post on the subject to see which corporations have swallowed up the companies we thought we are supporting. 

In order to compete with national brands the smaller companies must adopt certain industrialized methods.  But, what price does the environment pay when organic farming is industrialized?  An interesting read can be found in this month's issue of Gourmet.  The article entitled, "Greens of Wrath" explores what happened to farmers post the E. coli in spinach outbreak of 2006.  Some small farmers that sell to Earthbound Farm (I'm sure others as well) have taken extreme measures to ensure that wildlife, and vegetation be stripped from the landscape surrounding their fields, in hopes of ensuring the outbreak doesn't happen again.  The idea of stripping the land of all living things to make a barrier sounds absurd and bizarre.

This is so contrary to what my mind conjures up when I imagine organic crops.  Not to mention that these bags salads, and a big part of organic veggies are all flown from CA.  That is a long way to my local Whole Foods® here in Chicagoland.  Can you imagine all the oil we use to ship "organic" produce across the country?  After cars, the food industry uses the most fossil fuels, and contributes the most to green house gas emissions, according to "Farmer in Chief", by Michael Pollan.  We can attempt to combat this by staying local.  This is an idealistic approach.  I get that.  But, we once operated this way and I think if we can support local commerce when possible we could have a big impact on where our food comes from in the future.