Squash-Squash Pasta Sauce (Acorn and Zucchini dressed pasta)

This dish uses squash two ways- an acorn squash made into a sauce and zucchini tossed into the pasta to make a flavorful fall dish.  To make this dish you will need:

• one small acorn squash 
• one medium zucchini
• 1/2 a vidalia onion, minced 
• 12 oz pasta, uncooked (let's say three quarters of a box of uncooked spaghetti, I like Ronzoni GF- it's a nice blend) 
• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil (half for one squash, half for the other)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4- 1/3 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup shaved romano cheese 
• 1/4 teaspoon crackled black peppercorn
• fresh basil (optional)  
  
• salt to taste 

Preheat your oven to 400. 

Quarter your washed acorn squash and clean out the center of the seeds and strings. Clean the seeds out of the strings and discard the stringy center only, keep the seeds. Use a glass roasting pan or like I choose, a cast iron pan to add the acorn quarters (flesh side up) and seeds in the center. Drizzle both with olive oil, the seeds with salt and the squash with cinnamon and cayenne. Place in the oven for 40 min. 

Meanwhile, when the acorn has been in the oven for about a thirty minutes, take this time to mince the onion and slice your zucchini in rounds extra thin. Put a pot of water, nicely salted to boil. 

When your acorn has cooked through, take your squash out to cool slightly. Add your pasta to boiling water and place a wide shallow pan (big enough to eventually fit pasta and sauce) on med high with olive oil. Add in zucchini and onion and saute with light salt. When these just start to caramelize, turn to low. 

Timing is key to this, your pasta should still be cooking. Set seeds aside and scoop squash from acorn shell into your food processor. Add cream and romano with pepper- more cinnamon if you would like- blend to a thick sauce. Pour right on top of your zucchini and add in about two ladles full of pasta water just before draining your pasta. This will thin out the sauce and give it body all at the same time. 

Drain your pasta and add right away to the "squash-squash"  sauce. Toss and top with acorn squash roasted seeds and fresh basil (optional).

Bon Appetit
xoxo Renee

Peach Tart with Buttery Crust

The following recipe is provided to us from Renee's mom-in-law Debbie Kolaris. She is probably responsible for more recipes here than you know- but this is the first accredited recipe. Everything she makes turns to gold so you will love this recipe!!

Crust

• 1 cup each almond and coconut flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot flour pinch salt. 
• 2 sticks of butter, cold
• 1 egg 
• 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1/8-1/4 cup very cold water
• parchment paper

____________________________________________

Filling:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
• 4-5 peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 tbsp arrowroot

Preheat oven 375.

Pulse all flours in food processor add sticks cold butter  process to crumbly appearance. Add egg, cider vinegar and pulse. Add cold water pulse till it forms a dough. Divide in half  you will only use 1/2 of it.  Roll to 12" circle between 2 sheets of parchment.


  Melt 1/4 cup butter in pan. Add 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar. Add 4 or 5 peaches- peeled and sliced. Cook until sugar is bubbly and peaches have given up some of their juice.  Add arrowroot and stir. Cool, arrange peach slices over crust along with thickened syrup. Fold edges of crust up so syrup won't run bake 375 for 20 minutes or until edges brown. 

Serve with ice cream (or) lavender infused whipped cream. 
If served with ice cream use the following recipe to make a caramel sauce: 

• 1/4 cup butter 
• 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar. 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 

Cook butter and palm sugar until bubbly. Add heavy cream. Return to bubbling.  Remove from heat. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Most of us like veggies on top of our pizza but are you brave enough to make your pizza crust out of veggies? This cauliflower crust if done right is not only delicious but healthful. It's work, I'm not going to lie but it's worth it. Just try it!
To make this crust

You will need:

• one large head of cauliflower 
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar, parm or romano- a drier, saltier cheese (whatever you choose- mix it up) 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 cup flour (I used almond flour- you can even use bread crumbs if desired) 
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano 
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/2  yard or so of cheese cloth- or a thin- woven kitchen towel 

This is a several step process. Yay! So take it one step at a time and it'll come out great! I'm leaving the sauce, cheese and topping ideas up to you- everyone has their favorites or likes to change it up so feel free.

Preheat oven to 455.

First, pull apart the washed florets off the cauliflower itself. In as many steps as it takes with your food processor, put in about 3-4 florets at a time to pulse into rice-sized pieces of cauliflower. (Hint: this is also a great substitute for rice if you steam it! Transfer all this pulverized cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl.

Second, cover with a paper towel and microwave for three-four min. I wish there was a better way with this- I am not "pro microwave" at all, but steaming the vegetable first would put way too much moisture in something that is going to be stripped of it's rich water content anyway. After you "zap" the cauliflower, let it stand for a minute. Take this time to take out your other ingredients and clean the counters of your cauliflower bits left over.

Third, fold over your cheese cloth twice and put in a handful of the warm cauliflower mixture inside your palm (holding the cloth) & over the sink ring out excess moisture- ALL OF IT- you aren't doing yourself favors by leaving some. Transfer into another med/large bowl and continue the process until all of your cauliflower is rung out thoroughly.

Fourth, add in all remaining ingredients- spices first. Mix the dough with your hands. If it appears dry you can add a little extra olive oil. Using a well oiled stone or pizza pan with parchment paper spread the dough out into a round or square pie. Bake in the oven for 15 min or until it starts to brown. Reduce the oven to 425. Take your pie crust out, add toppings and continue to melt your toppings for another 10 min or so.
Bon Appetit
xoxo Renee

Cold Pea & Mint Salad with Goat Cheese

This is a refreshing salad that can be enjoyed all year long. Yes, fresh peas are in season in Spring, but you can use fresh or frozen blanched all year long. The mint makes an impact on how refreshing this salad really is. It goes nice with a protein like a steak or duck breast.

To make this salad you will need:

• 2 1/2 cup peas, blanched
  
• 20 mint leaves, julienned 
• 1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese (just classic plain goat cheese) 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic (you could also use rice or white wine vinegar) 
• 1 teaspoon hickory smoked salt 
• cracked pepper to taste 

This comes together is ten minutes I promise. 

Blanch those peas by boiling water and placing the peas into the boiling water for two minutes tops. Drain under cool water. Set aside. 

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to a near emulsion. Add peas and mint. Toss and add goat cheese. Ta-dah! Done and delicious! 

Bon Appetit 

xoxo Renee

ABC Asian Style Noodle Soup (Part C of How to use a Whole Chicken)

Welcome to the third installation of ABC How to use a Whole Chicken . This is Part C, Asian Noodle soup. This Asian soup doesn't favor any area of Asia, but it does have Siracha. Yum!! It's perfect comfort on a cold night when you are just too lazy to even call for take out. This recipe is enough for two, but you could cut in half or double easily.


You will need:

• 4 cloves of garlic 
• 8 crimini or baby bella mushrooms, brushed clean with a wet paper towel
• small bunch of green onions-scallions (maybe 5) 
• just under 1/2 a package of Thai or Vietnamese rice noodles medium width (this sounds fancy but you can get these at any Asian food store or now, even your local grocery- they are clear looking and the Vietnamese ones often have the word "pho" on them, 16 oz per package.
• 2 teaspoons Siracha hot sauce (the classic with the roaster on the front)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce (I like San-J, it's GF) 
• 6 cups chicken stock (hopefully homemade from "Recipe B" 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

Wow, those ingredients look so convoluted huh? Trust me, to make is so easy and takes ten minutes!

First, mince your garlic and slice your mushrooms. Cut your scallions right down to the green, they will cook in with the soup. 

Put a medium sized pot on the stove and heat oil on med- low so as not to burn the garlic. Add garlic and let cook down. Add the mushroom and scallion and put on med temp. Add in soy sauce and siracha and stir. Cook these down for about two minutes. 

Add in the broth and put on high. When it comes to a boil, stir in noodles and cook for about five minutes to soften the noodles. Return to med-low temp to let your soup settle. Check the noodles to make sure they are cooked thru. Feel free to add more hot sauce or soy to salt or spice your soup. Grab a bowl and some chop sticks and enjoy the garlicky goodness. 

Bon Appetit. 

xoxo Renee

ABC Make Your Own Chicken Stock (Part B of How to use a Whole Chicken)

This is recipe B in an ABC How to use a Whole Chicken

All too often we end up using a recipe calling for chicken stock.
All too often we end up throwing out the valuable remains of a chicken dinner.
Can't there be a meeting of the minds on this matter? Some people feel like this seems like a lot work- I mean you just polished off a chicken... but it's actually very simple and other than the chicken carcass itself and water requires no "recipe". If you worry you will not use the stock within a week of making just throw it in the freezer for easy access next time you do have a recipe that calls for stock.

This is going to be a loose recipe so there's no failing but you will need the following:

• one chicken  (maybe one that was sold as 4-5 lb with meat on it) minus the meat (if you don't want to get down and dirty with cleaning the bird of every last inch of meat- don't worry- you are leaving on flavor especially if there is skin left) 
• 8-10 cups water (you can eye-ball this, enough to cover what is in your pot)
• one onion, any kind, peeled and halved
• a deep pot
• a sieve or something to strain the bones and veggies out
• generous salt & pepper 

Now, this is the bare minimum of what you will need to get a basic stock. I recommend scouring your kitchen your what else will add depth of flavor. Remember, everything gets strained out but you want your soups and other recipes to taste amazing- and they will. 

Also try adding: 

• 1 or 2 scrubbed and halved carrots
• whole sprigs of thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley 
• cumin or cayenne pepper 
• juice of one lemon 
• celery or fennel 
• garlic cloves 
• other spices 

After picking through the remains of your chicken, go ahead and add it to your pot. Add in the onion and any herbs, veggies or spices you wish. Fill the pot with water just to cover. Add in salt and pepper and put on high. I do this is break down the bones and fat still on the chicken. After this has reached a boil you can reduce to a simmer and let cook for 45 minutes or so. You could leave it for longer but that's up to you. Taste the broth to see if it's to your liking. Add spice or salt if necessary. Turn off heat and let stand 20 minutes or so. Using a large glass container or another pot that will store the broth- put strainer right atop this empty storage container. Using caution because it will still be warm, pour slowly through the sieve until all broth is in and all solids are in strainer. Let stand another 20 minutes or so until putting in fridge overnight and then using or storing in freezer. *

*Tip: I know I said this way easy and you may think it seems time consuming, but my tip is that I do this at night. Either the day I've even the chicken or the day after. While I'm getting things done around the house, reading or watching TV- I get this started and pause what I am doing to handle each little step. It really is easy and the reward is great!

ABC Curried Chicken Salad (Part A of How to use a Whole Chicken)

This recipe is part A in a ABC series on how to use a whole chicken. If you want to get technical I suppose I could have started with how to roast a chicken but that is in here somewhere so let's pretend you've roasted one yourself (or picked up a prepared one from your local grocery) and you want to make the most use of it...
We are going examine three recipes in this ABC series

1. Curried Chicken Salad (from a prepared chicken) 
   
2. Chicken Stock (using the remains of a chicken) 
3. Asian Style Noodle Soup (putting your stock to good use) 

To make this recipe you will need: 

• a whole chicken (around 4-5 lb), cooked & chilled 
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I like the Wallaby organic) 
• 1/4 mayonnaise 
• 1 heaping tablespoon of yellow curry 
• salt to taste 
• 15 fresh chives, minced 
• 2 cups baby spinach, washed and dried (this is optional- you may like your chicken salad on bread) 

Peel back the skin off the top and bottom. Don't throw this away if you are planning to go on to "Recipe B". Take off the drumsticks and keep for a nice snack. Tear off the wings and save. Using the breast meat by pulling off both breasts and what is left to pick off the bird below, chop the later pieces into cubes. Nothing will be uniform size. 

Put into a medium sized bowl and add mayo, yogurt and curry as well as a dash of salt. Mix thoroughly. If you like a heavier curry flavor feel free to add more. Scoop onto bed of baby spinach and top with fresh minced chives. The color of the yellow against the spinach and chives makes this dish really lovely. If you are ready, move on to "Recipe B"! Bon Appetit

xoxo Renee 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is a really nice semi-sweet cake. It's great when you have some extra zucchini in the garden (maybe those extra large ones no one likes to cook) or just want something not sugary but a treat. Kids will eat it and it's moist as anything. To make this chocolate zucchini cake you will need:

• 2 1/4 flour (I used 1 cup coconut flour, 1 cup sorghum and 1/4 cashew with a pinch of xantham gum to bind it all together. 
• 3/4 cup cocoa (unsweetened, of course)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• dash of salt 
• 2 cups hand-shredded zucchini 
• 1 stick good quality butter, softened 
• 1 cup sugar (I used 1/4 stevia and 3/4 coconut sugar- this is low-glycemic) *
• 1 teaspoon vanilla  
• 2 eggs (organic, if possible) 
• 1/2 plain greek yogurt (you could substitute this with mayo or oil but I figure the butter has enough calories- this is purely for moisture) 
• 1/2 buttermilk (I like Kate's) 
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli  60%) 

*Also, if you like sweet, use more sugar. I don't judge- it'll probably be delicious sweeter. 

First- Preheat your oven to 325 and grease a bundt or 9x13 pan. A little trick I like to use: once my butter has softened, use the wrapper to grease your pan. Saves the extra that sticks to the wrapper and butters the pan nicely. 

Second- Set aside your grated zucchini and chocolate chips after measured out, they will be last. 

Third- Sift the flour together with other dry ingredients including salt and put to the side. 

Fourth- Cream your butter and sugar in a stand mixture on medium then add eggs and vanilla. Add in yogurt.

Fifth- Add in half your flour mixture and continue to blend. Add buttermilk and remainder of flour- blend thoroughly. 

Sixth- Take a spatula and mix in the zucchini by hand and then chocolate chips. 

Finally, you can put the mixture into the greased baking bundt or pan and bake for 55 min or until cooked thru. Top with powdered sugar, frosting or nothing/anything if you please.

Bon Appetit. 

xoxo Renee 

Grilled Salad with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

This is an excellent side dish to some protein or even a grain or pasta. It has the crunch of salad and the satisfying warmth one wants with dinner or a sit-in lunch.  This serves 2 but you can go ahead and double or triple the recipe.

You will need:

• one washed and dried small head of romaine (cut in halve, lengthwise) 
• ten cherry (or  grape ) tomatoes 
• one third of a small red onion, minced 
• one small handful fresh parsley 
• 2 oz goat cheese 
• olive oil (no limit, just eyeball the amount to your own taste) 
• one fourth cup good balsamic vinegar 
• salt & pepper to taste 

After letting your washed lettuce dry and cut lengthwise, discard the very bottom of the head. Get out your grill pan on the stove-top and heat to med-high. You can you a frying pan too- whatever you have. Drizzle the inside of the head of romaine itself with olive oil and place on the heat for just about three minutes. You want it to wilt, you can even char it if that is the way you like it. To char leave it on longer. Take the lettuce off the heat and place upward (cooked side up) on a plate. It will cool just a touch. Add in your minced red onion to the hot pan. You can add more olive dry if your pan is dry to saute the onion. Meanwhile halve your tomatoes. Add to your pan the balsamic to finish off the onion and then add tomatoes to heat them just enough to blister on high. 

Turn off the heat. At this point your tomatoes should have blistered, onions cooked and balsamic reduced down. Chop your pasley and place it directly on top of the romaine with salt and pepper. Add the onion and tomato mixture- drizzling any extra balsamic over it you like. Add the goat cheese in clumps. These will melt in just a touch. Done and done, bon appetit. 

xoxo Renee

French Scrambled Eggs

If you are an egg lover like me you may enjoy eggs cooked in a variety of ways- or maybe you think you have the absolute perfect technique that never let's you down. An egg for every occasion for me, but on lazy Sunday mornings, I take the time to slow cook french-style eggs. So easy, but needs a little patience.
You have a choice when it comes to making this eggs. If you want to do it the classic french style pull out your double boiler and get ready! If you want to skip the fuss, take out your favorite pan for scrambling eggs and set on low. If you have a range that dictates the temp from 1-10 -I'm talking 4 at the highest, I prefer lower.

You will also need:

• 1-2 tablespoons butter (this is a personal choice on how much you want to add)
• 4 large eggs (farm fresh and organic are best)
• salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon of heavy cream (optional) 

You could add tarragon, chives or what-have-you but honestly what is really called for is the egg and butter with a dash of salt. So simple, so pure. The slow cooking of these eggs ensures that they taste like buttery, soft pillows of egg- so good. 

Heat your pan on low. Add cold butter and let melt. Meanwhile, beat the eggs (which have been out to room temp) vigorously. Add salt and optional cream. Put into pan or double boiler while whisking. 

With a spatula slowly move eggs around until cooked through. This could take several minutes. These eggs should be bright yellow and just the right amount of fluff- yet have a density of buttery, slow cooked egg. They should look wet- not dry or crumbly- if they do - something has gone wrong!!

Serve simply. These guys don't need extras to make them taste perfect. They are good all by themselves. 

Bon Appetit 

xoxo Renee  

Classic Mojito

The dredges of Summer are here and the last bits of sunshine and later days are dwindling. The gardens are harvesting the last of Summer tomatoes and overgrown mint is holding fast. Thank goodness for that. While we still have some heat left, use that bedraggled overgrown mint to make something good- a mojito!
You can choose to double or triple this recipe if you are having friend's over but this is enough for one.

You will need:

• 10 mint leaves
• 2 oz rum blanco (white)
• 1 lime (juice of)
• 1 heaping teaspoon turbinado (rough) sugar
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• club soda (this tops the drink so the quanity depends on how much room  is in your glass) 
• 5 ice cubes 

If you have a shaker as well as a mortar and pestle making this is easy. If not use a pint glass and a wide spoon to create the same effect. 

Take your shaker and put in mint leaves, sugar and lime juice. Use the pestle to grind the mint leaves against the sugar to create a syrupy paste. Add the rum and simple syrup as well as ice and shake to combine. Put mixture (including) ice into desired serving glass and top with club soda to taste. Enjoy!