Lentil Casserole with Crumbled Goat Cheese and Drizzled Honey

Lentils, lentils, lentils. These amazing little legumes are not only delicious, but they are deliciously good for you! Here at the McMullen house we have been trying to find healthy alternatives to eating meat all the time. I had a bag of lentils on hand and clearly the first thought is a nice big bowl of comfort lentil soup. I have to agree with the Greek playwright Aristophanes who once called lentil soup the “sweetest of delicacies." (I may have googled 20 fun facts about lentils and found that gem of a quote) Anytime I feel under the weather, or just down right blue from the never ending snow that has been falling upon us, ahhh there is lentil soup on the stove making me feel oh so much better. Well I decided to change things up and try something new, lentil casserole with crumbled goat cheese. Every time I make a new recipe we grade it on a scale of A to F, and my husband Micah rated this at the very top, the prized A. I strongly encourage you to make and post some feedback with your rating and adaptations!

 What you will need:
1 cup lentils
2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion
1 to 2 large carrots, grated
1 good handful of fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of flour (you can use a gluten-free option as well)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup goat cheese (I used a whole small container, but I personally love cheese)
Salt and pepper to taste
Honey to drizzle on top

How to make:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2)Bring the lentils and water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the lentils to cook all the way until the water is absorbed.
3) While lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and then add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Then add in the carrot and garlic and sautee until they are tender.
4) Add the cooked veggies to the cooked lentils and mix in the chopped parsley, flour, soy sauce, and salt and pepper.
5) Grease a small 8x8 casserole dish and spread the lentil mixture evenly. Top with goat cheese.
6) Bake for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese has softened.
7) Top with extra parsley and lightly drizzle with honey, then enjoy!

Hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did!

Truffle Eggs on Caramelized Onion Nests

Don't eat boring breakfast if you can at all help it. This will help: 


Yet another decadent meal produced by my favorite (and only) mom-in-law, Debbie. She can do no wrong, so you know this is going to be delicious.
2 large onions - thinly sliced
Butter or duck fat
Truffle salt.
Pepper
2-4 Eggs ( how hungry are you? )
Sherry vinegar or your favorite white balsamic
Optional- grated smoked Gouda Cheese
For the onions:
Melt about 3 tablespoons fat in a cast iron skillet. Add the sliced onions some of the salt and pepper. Let the onions slowly caramelize, moving them around in the pan occasionally ( you can speed this up a little if you cover them for a bit ).





When the onions are fully done transfer to a bowl and keep them warm. Add a little more fat to the skillet and cook eggs till top is almost set. ( You will want them loose; they will be like a sauce for the onions). On a plate form a nest shape out of the onions, please eggs in center. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and pour this over the eggs. Sprinkle more truffle salt and some pepper on the eggs. If using Gouda cheese, add about a tablespoon grated on top. Serve with Renee's Pao de Queijo (see recipe earlier in the month of January 2015) and fruit.

Aztec Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

I always say I'm not much of a "cake person" but somehow, this winter, I get the urge to bake and eat cakes and cupcakes alike. Who knew? The challenge is finding a concept of a cake that will be satisfying to me. I don't go for the pretty, colorful, fluffy confetti cakes out there. I like real deep flavor so you will see I'm often drawn to a spice cake or carrot cake- something with character. These cupcakes are rustic looking to say the least. They aren't exactly pretty, but they taste great. I call these Aztec cupcakes because aside from the no-brainer pairing of chocolate and peanut butter I did a flip flop from the usual and made peanut butter cake with dark chocolate frosting. The peanut butter part has cinnamon and the dark chocolate frosting has cayenne so it really gives depth of flavor.
As usual, these are gluten free but throw in some gluten if you like ;)

To make the cake:

• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup peanut butter (creamy) 
• 12 tablespoons of butter or other fat, softened 
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar) 
• 3 eggs 
• 1 generous teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/3 cup buttermilk 

To make the frosting:

• 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar or powdered stevia baking mix 
• 1 cup cocoa powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional- if you don't like heat- skip) 
• 9 tablespoons butter, softened 
• 9 tablespoons heavy cream 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 

This is a fairly straight forward recipe. You can make the cupcakes up to a few days ahead before frosting. You can make this into a two layer cake by using 8" round cake pans or like I did, I have a double wide mini-muffin/ cupcake try that I used to make mini cupcakes. 

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and line muffin tins. To make the batter for cupcakes combine dry ingredients including cinnamon into a medium sized bowl. 

Using your electric mixer cream together your butter and sugar for two minutes then add your peanut butter. Combine for another minute- then add your eggs one at a time. Scrap down the sides and add vanilla before adding in the dry ingredients. Finally, on medium, slowly add your buttermilk. Spoon batter (it will be fairly thick from the pb) into tins and bake for 12-15 minutes for mini cupcakes. If you have regular sized they will bake up to 22-25 minutes. Cool and store until you are ready to frost. 

Using your electric mixer to make the frosting combine cocoa and sugar in a medium bowl by measuring them out and sifting into the bowl to avoid lumps. Cream the sugar/cocoa mixture along with butter and cayenne. Add vanilla and on medium high slowly add the cream until well combined. Mine came out thick and in hind sight I would have added more cream to achieve more of a gloss but you be the judge- don't add more until you have seen the results with these measurements. The butter I use is very rich so this may have contributed to the issue. You can simply use a good old butter knife to frost or place frosting in a hefty inside-out ziplock bag with a corner cut out to pipe the frosting out of (by squeezing the top). 

xoxo Renee 

Easiest Way to Peel Butternut Squash

I don't know about you but when I go to make a butternut squash dish, a sigh of pain comes out of me thinking of taking a peeler or knife to the squash. Okay, it's not exactly painful but the satisfaction level is low. My "easy" way to peel your squash really would depend on what you are making but let me say this: if you are just going to boil down a bunch of cubed squash - you loose a lot of flavor in the boiling process as well as valuable things within the vegetable. My method allows you to use nearly the whole vegetable and boosts the flavor.
How? Roasting.

Preheat your oven to 400.
Cut the top off the washed squash, then cut in half lengthwise. Take out the seeds but don't just discard. Clean them of the strings surrounding them and then toss with a little olive oil and salt. Using a 9x13 glass baking dish place the seeds on one side. Then using a little more olive oil and salt (which you can place directly inside the cavity of the squash) place the squash "face down" (cavity side down) into the glass pan.

Bake for one hour. Your squash will be plenty soft and you will have some nice crunchy seeds for snacking! If the seeds start to look too brown after 45 min, pull them out early.
After taking the squash out of the oven, allow it to cool for up to ten minutes. After this you can just peel back the skin.

If you are doing to puree this squash or mash it go right ahead. The color and texture is gorgeous.

Chocolate "Secret Sweet Potato Pudding"

I'm calling this "Secret Sweet Potato" pudding because nobody knows this chocolate pudding is made with sweet potato as a base. There is very little sugar, I used coconut sugar, so regardless this is low-glycemic and friendly for those who choose to or have to avoid sugar.
Unlike traditional pudding, this doesn't have that velvety consistency rather a deep dark chocolate flavor and something more similar to a figgy pudding but smooth.

*Tip: I don't boil the sweet potato to make it soft. I prefer to bake them in the oven until soft. I think this adds a real depth of flavor. Bake on 400 until soft depending on the size of the potato this could take up to an hour. Let the potatoes rest and then peel before mashing.

To make this pudding you will need:

• 6 tablespoons of chestnut flour (you can use any nut flour (or reg) but the finer the better- if you can't find chestnut hazelnut will do
• 8 tablespoons cocoa 
• 1/3 cup coconut or other sugar 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• a pinch nutmeg 
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1/2 cup sweet potato, mashed well
• balsamic cherries*

Preheat oven to 350. 

Grease 4 ramekins and set aside. Blend together all ingredients in your food processor or blender. Place your mixture into ramekins and top with balsamic cherries and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool and serve hot or cold. Bon Appetit!

xoxo Renee 

To make balsamic cherries: 

• 1/2 cup dried cherries 
• 1/2 cup hot water 
• 1/4 balsamic 
• 1 teaspoon sugar 

To start soak the cherries in hot water in small bowl while you are blending together your "pudding". Drain excess water (after about 10 minutes or so) and stir in sugar and vinegar. Let the cherries soak another five minutes. Top each ramekin with three-five cherries and left over juice before baking.