NYE appetizer: Crab Cocktail Spread

One of may go to appetizers is this recipe my sister Regina passed on to me. I lost the original, but was able to find it on Cooks.com, I believe it's the original (correct me if I'm wrong, Reg:)

Crab Cocktail Spread

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp. chopped onion

Garlic salt to taste

6 oz. bottled cocktail sauce

1 (7 1/2 oz.) can lump crab meat

2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

Assorted crackers

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Spread mixture in a deep 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour cocktail sauce over mixture. Layer the crab on the sauce. Sprinkle parsley over all.

Cover with plastic wrap sealing edges of pie plate and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled with assorted crackers. Yield 12 to 15 servings.

Tonight for a smaller gathering, I'm going to put them in the fillo dough shells I have!

Fannee Doolee loves to cook, but hates to shop. (Remember Fannee Doolee? The girl from Zoom on PBS when we were kids? She loved things with double letters, but hated things without.) Well, I'm with Fannee on this one, but I don't love to cook and hate to shop because of the double-letter-single-letter difference, I just love it and hate it. If only I could cook without going to the grocery store (I'm too frugal to use Peapod, but am liking that my eldest has his license & is still enamoured enough with the novelty of driving to be willing to run some errands for me. However he's not yet at the point where I can give him a full list).

So, now that the holiday is over, and I've cooked my big meal, but still want to entertain, preferably with a different meal, creativity kicked in. I had leftover creamed spinach, and a container of mushrooms that hadn't gotten used yet. Stuffed mushrooms! I just added some bread crumbs and cheese to the creamed spinach. Easy and yum!

Not looking for an appetizer idea? How about brunch? A spinach-and-cheese omelet or frittata would be perfect! Lunch? A baked potato topped with creamed spinach and cheese, with a salad on the side.

What ideas can you come up with from your leftovers?

Apple Venison Meatloaf

1 egg beaten
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
2 cups shredded peeled apples
2 cups unseasoned stuffing cubes
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp ground mustard
2 pounds ground veison

In a large bowl. combine the 1st seven ingredients. Crumble venison over the mixture and mix well. Pat into ungreaased 9" X 5" loaf pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 60-70 minutes or until no pink color remains and a meat thermometer reads 160. Serves 8.

Eileen, I was thinking of you when my old neighbor Marie showed me this from a magazine:)

Questions from a non-beef lover.

In your Individual Beef Wellington recipe from Sunday, November 2, 2008 it calls for Beef tenderloin. I was at the supermarket yesterday and the only Beef tenderloin they had in the case was $75 and that's way more meat than I could ever use. What do I look for? Additionally do you put the whole 4-6 oz piece in the puff pastry or do you cut it up? Searing is quickly in a hot skillet on each side? Thanks for the help, I'm going to make the beef, salmon with dill and the chicken with carmalized onion and blue cheese for Christmas Day! (Added bonus of carmalized onion, bacon, and smoke gouda pizza on Wed:)

Snow Day Recipes

The snow started falling early this Saturday, and I am thrilled to be stuck inside with the family, enjoying a lovely fire, playing games, doing crafts... and ready to start my baking.

We started our day with George's pancake breakfast. I will be making a nice big pot of Mom's clam chowder later. In between, we will be baking Christmas cookies and making Irish cream. What a great way to spend the weekend! I am really looking forward to these Chocolate Mint-filled cookies from recipegirl.com:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/07/31/chocolate-mint-filled-cookies/#ixzz0a92OhZDE

CHOCOLATE-MINT-FILLED COOKIES
www.RecipeGirl.com

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups flour
2/3 cup butter, softened
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 large egg
sugar for rolling
48 Andes Mints

1. In saucepan, heat chips on low heat until melted and smooth.

2. In a large bowl with mixer, beat melted chocolate, flour, butter, corn syrup, baking soda, salt, egg and ½ cup sugar until blended. Increase speed to medium and beat until well-mixed, scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until easy to handle (2 hours).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place some sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into balls. Roll balls in sugar and bake on cookie sheet 12-15 minutes.

4. Immediately remove ½ of cookies from cookie sheet onto work surface. Top each cookie with 2 mints and place the other half of the cookies on top. If your freezer is big enough, place in freezer until set, or leave at room temperature until set.

Servings: 24
Yield: 2 dozen

Cooking Tips
*These taste divine while still warm, and they are a great frozen treat as well.
**Andes brand mints can be found in the candy section of most stores.

Hope anyone else stuck inside this weekend takes the time to enjoy the forced break from the holiday chaos.

Christmas Bread

It must be a hold over to growing up but I love making bread for teachers for christmas. Usually I do pumpkin. I did make a chocolate muffin this fall and am thinking of turning that it to a loaf.

I happen today to have a lot of leftover chopped up apples so was thinking of make an apple bread. I found this and thought I'd try Apple-cranberry bread

I also have a lot of bananas and thought I'd do Bridget's chocolate chip banana bread. My question - The apple recipe talks about making the batter and freezing until ready to bake. That would be great! Would it also work for the banana bread? Can I freeze in the aluminum loaf pans I got?

Bridget, would you post your recipe for Veggie Chili?

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes!

I really want to try these soon:) http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipes/sweet-spot-dessert-recipes/Cheesecake-Filled-Pumpkin-Cupcakes
I may have to wait until after the holiday baking is done. We'll see!

Christmas Taffy

Last weekend my mother-in-law made christmas taffy with 6 grandchildren ages 5 to 10. The kids had a wonderful time. Mine were very excited about getting to rub butter on their hand, something they had never done before. Here is the recipe they used. They made lemon/line and cherry, the red and green colors were great. She divided the candy in half and then put a half of package of koolaide in in each one. Worked great so they could have Christmas colors. I no longer have a picture of the taffy, or the taffy. As Maeve just reminded me it doesn't have to be Christmas Taffy.

Christmas cookies

I'm putting together my list of cookies I'll be baking for Christmas so I can shop for the necessary ingredients and bake them slowly over the next few weeks. So far I'm hoping to make: gingersnaps, chai spice girls, pecan bars, bourbon balls, date and nut balls, peanut butter temptations, creme de menthe brownies and fudge. I was wondering do you have any creative ideas for packaging them to give as gifts.

What are your best leftover ideas for ham?

Christmas gift idea for a Teenage Foodie

Anyone have any Cool Christmas gift ideas for a 15 year old boy who's hobbies include: video games, movies, and eating:) I was thinking some unique food idea? Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Friday night cocktails and appetizers ...

... on Wednesday! The night before Thanksgiving calls for some celebration, relaxation, and reflection while your preparing what needs to be done in advance, so we moved Friday night cocktails to Wednesday this week.

Pumpkin martinis, first and foremost for the purpose of quality testing prior to serving them to a crowd on Thursday, and Pizza potato skins (made from the skins of the potatoes baked for the Make-ahead mashed potatoes, also to be served Thursday). What efficiency!

Pumpkin martinis

2 parts vanilla vodka
1 part amaretto
1 part canned pumpkin

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ½ c of crushed ice. Shake well. Strain into a martini glass, top with freshly grated nutmeg. The nutmeg was key!

Make-ahead mashed potatoes

5 lb russet potatoes
¼-½ lb butter, softened
3-4 c whole milk or light cream, warmed

One or two days before serving, bake potatoes in preheated 350° oven for about an hour, until flesh is tender. Let cool until comfortable to hold in your hand. Cut potatoes in half and scoop flesh into a bowl. Reserve skins for another use, that’s where all the vitamins are. Mash potatoes to remove all lumps. Add in butter and milk (½ cup at a time). When you’ve got the potatoes to your desired consistency, add another ½-1 cup of warmed milk and mix well.

The day of serving, warm the potatoes in a crockpot, on the stovetop, covered with foil in the oven, or in the microwave. Stir well to distribute the flavors. Top with additional butter.

Pizza potato skins

potato skins
pinch each salt, pepper, oregano, basil
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
parmesan cheese
sour cream

Place skins on baking sheet. Top skins with herbs, cheese, and pepperoni. Bake until cheese is melted, bubbly, and just starting to brown. Serve with sour cream.

Simple gifts

It’s nice to make personal gifts for your friends and family, but it’s not so nice being stressed out the week before Christmas and feeling like you have to make personal gifts. So, start now, early, and take your time. Make gifts that will mean something to the recipient, and make them now, while you have the time. They don’t have to be elaborate gifts, or time-instensive preparations, just simple, heartfelt, and just right. Do you and a friend always test and rate the cosmos at the restaurants you visit? Why not make her some cranberry liqueur so you can get together and make your own holiday cosmos on a stressful day?

The vibrant red color of this liqueur is perfect for the holidays. Present it in a decorative glass bottle with your favorite cosmopolitan recipe attached.

Cranberry liqueur

2 c sugar
1 c water
1 12-oz package fresh cranberries
3 c vodka

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and cool completely.

Place cranberries in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until finely chopped. Combine sugar mixture and cranberries in a large bowl; stir in vodka.

Pour the vodka mixture into a large, clean jar; secure with lid. Let stand 3 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking every other day.

Strain the cranberry mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl, and discard solids. Carefully pour liqueur into clean, decorative bottles.

Note: Liqueur can be stored refrigerated or at room temperature for up to a year.

If you don’t have a favorite cosmo recipe, try this one out.

Cosmopolitans

2 parts Cranberry liqueur
1 part Cointreau
½ part lime juice

Mix with 1 cup crushed ice; strain into martini glass. Garnish with a lemon or lime twist.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

T-Day is here ... and gone. I think we sat at the table for 6 hours.

You know I love food that works for you while you’re doing anything else. Before I turn in for the night, I put the turkey carcass in my crockpot, fill it with water and let the stock become rich overnight. My friend Annie told me this years ago, and it never fails to make me happy.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 1: Here’s my menu, here’s my timetable. We’re going to the Thanksgiving Day Football game at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, so I want to have everything done ahead and get the turkey in the oven by 8 am (remember, my 24-lb bird will take 4½ to 5½ hours to cook, always anticipate the longer time, you can tent it with foil to keep it warm for longer if you need to, and add ½ an hour for it to set before carving, this is Residual Cooking Time, the meat continues to cook once it’s removed from the oven).

Thanksgiving menu
Cocktail: Pumpkin martinis

Appetizers:
Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
Spinach-and-artichoke dip with pita chips
Del’s deviled eggs
Cheddar-stuffed mushrooms
Hommus and tabouli with fresh Syrian bread from Methuen because we can’t get it here in Newburyport

First course: Antipasto with Nonni’s pickled peppers

Second course: Del’s cheese-and-meat-stuffed shells

Main course:
Turkey with stuffing and gravy
Make-ahead mashed potatoes
Butternut squash casserole
Creamed onions
Turnips mashed with brown sugar
Green bean casserole
Auntie Cee’s cranberry jello mold
Nonni’s green salad
Cranberry relish and jellied cranberry sauce

Dessert:
Del’s apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Auntie Cee’s pumpkin pie with whipped cream
Death by chocolate
Michael’s fudge
Alden Merrel Meltdown brownies
Roasted mixed nuts
Fennel

Timeline
Wednesday

• Bake potatoes for make-ahead mashed potatoes
• Brine turkey
• Prepare green bean casserole, stuffing, fudge (the fudge could have been done ahead, but I just decided to add it to the menu today), and death by chocolate (the chocolate cake has been soaking in the Kahlua since Monday evening). (Fortunately, I doubled up on my other apps and sides when I was doing Thanksgiving prep for clients earlier this week so they’re done already.)
• Scoop flesh out of cooled potatoes and mash with butter and cream. Add an extra ½ to 1 cup of cream when you think they’re perfect, then they’ll be light and fluffy when you reheat them Thursday.
• Set table and label serving dishes so everyone can help tomorrow when it’s time to get the food on the table while it’s still warm.
• Test pumpkin martinis. (It’s all about quality control.)
  
• Remove turkey from brine and place on rack over baking sheet in fridge, uncovered, overnight, to dry out flesh.

Thursday

7:00 Bring turkey to room temperature and preheat oven to 425°.
7:30 Rub turkey with butter, sprinkle liberally inside and out with salt and pepper.
8:00 Stuff turkey and place in oven.
8:30 Lower oven to 325°.

Remember you’ll want an easy—and light—breakfast that won’t make a big mess in the kitchen and cause extra clean-up. Then we’re off to the football game. When we return, we’ll set out the cold appetizers, heat up the others, then start heating up the other dishes. We’ll sit down to the antipasto at about 1 pm, and move through the day, loosing our belts as we go.

Thanksgiving desserts

We are having a small crowd (5 adults, 3 kids) for thanksgiving. I made a pumpkin cheesecake 

it is in the freezer. I will make a chocolate desert because I love chocolate deserts, thinking molten chocolate cakes with Irish cream.

Molly asked about pie. Now I like pie but could live w/o it but is does seem like for thanksgiving you need pie, Molly requested apple, Brad's favorite is blueberry so I'm thinking of making mini apple pies -- and maybe doing 1/2 apple, 1/2 blueberry. I figure I can freeze the leftovers. Anyone ever try mini pies? I worry a little about them coming out of the muffin tins.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 5: Does salad have a place at your table? Several years ago, my sisters, my sister-in-law, and I had a long e-mail exchange about salad at Thanksgiving. I think it started when one sister was asked to bring a salad to her husband’s aunt’s for dinner. We were stymied, salad had never had a place on The Traditional Dunican Family Thanksgiving Table. Our meal would begin with lots of appetizers, because we always ate later in the day (about four o’clock). And our table was all about the sides: mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, carrots, creamed onions. There was just no room for salad.

So, there we were, what salad to serve with Thanksgiving dinner? It went something like this:

Eileen: I'm bringing salad to my in laws for Thanksgiving. Still haven't gotten to the idea that salad is for Thanksgiving but they want one. I found this one. It sounds good to me but I was wondering if the cranberry would be over kill or good to keep similar tastes. Also would you add any other veggies to it? Any ideas are helpful.

Jamie's Cranberry Spinach Salad
Servings: 8

1 T butter
3/4 c almonds, blanched and slivered
1 lb spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1 c dried cranberries
2 T toasted sesame seeds
1 T poppy seeds
1/2 c white sugar
2 t minced onion
1/4 t paprika
1/4 c white wine vinegar
1/4 c cider vinegar
1/2 c vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.

Katie: If you have to have salad, this one sounds great. I think the cranberries will be great, not too much. You may want to add one yellow and one orange bell pepper to add to the "fall-ish-ness" of the salad; they're pricey, but the color and crunch they add to the salad are worth it. Also, I'd use hazelnuts rather than almonds, but whichever nut you use, I'd dry-saute them in a saute pan, not cook them in butter in a saucepan. You can put them in your toaster oven for one ding too (but sometimes they burn that way), you want them to be just lightly browned. Fred's family always has his Mom's salad at Thanksgiving too, although, more than once, we've found it in the fridge as we're putting away the leftovers.

That was most of The Salad Exchange. The rest was about the merit of appetizers beforehand, or leaving room for the dinner itself. Weigh in, what does your family do?

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 6: What else goes on your table? When we were growing up, our holiday dinners always started with fruit cocktail, and there was always a relish tray with celery, black and green olives, and pickles on the table. My husband’s family always starts with antipasto (his grandmother’s delicious pickled pepper recipe and Italian cold cuts), then moves on to pasta (this year it’s Del’s stuffed shells), then the turkey dinner. It’s funny how people fall into patterns: My husband and one of my sons pass on the pasta, or do a very small serving to save room for the turkey; my brother-in-law and another of my sons do more pasta and only a token amount of turkey dinner. I love that there is enough variety to make everyone thankful for Thanksgiving dinner.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 7: Ready, set, ... Bake! You can tell all the veteran bakers this time of year, because their grocery carts are overflowing with flour and sugar and other staples for baking. The couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, most baking goods go on sale, and the veterans stock up.

Your desserts can be started ahead of time, when you’re not doing a hundred other things, and stored in the fridge or freezer for Turkey Day.

Scalloped Potato Recipe?

Regina, Where is your Scalloped Potato recipe posted? Was it 3 cheese? I want them this weekend:)
Thanks

Vegetarian Favorites!

Tonight we had a friend of my daughter's and her mother here for Pizza between school and PTA. I promised next month I would cook for them! What's your favorite Company Vegetarian Meal? I'll have to check if they like spicy, for my Veggie Chili:)
Thanks for sharing!

Southwest snack mix

Regina asked for a spicy snack that could be stored in a jar. Here is one we like.

4 cups popped popcorn

3 cups mini pretzel twists

2 cups mini garlic bagel chips

1 cup corn chips

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Dash Cayenne

In a large bowl, combine popcorn, pretzels, bagels and corn chips.

In a small bowl combine all remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour evenly over popcorn mix, toss gently to coat. Store in tightly covered container.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 8: Clean out your refrigerator. Before you can bring home the groceries and get cooking, you need some room. It’s a great week to feed your family from the fridge & freezer. Be creative, be firm. You’re going to need the room. I plan my fridge-cleaning day for trash day, so the stuff’s not hanging around getting ripe.

Another way to save fridge and freezer space is to have guests bring some things that take up space there, like salad (if you go there, see a post on that later this week) or ice.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 9: Let’s talk turkey. For starters, Butterball turkey has a great site to help you get through cooking your first turkey or refresh your memory if you only do it once or twice a year. Use their tools to help you:

• Plan perfect portions. This tool allows you to indicate the number of adults, the number of children, whether you’re big eaters or light eaters and whether you want leftovers or not, then it tells you how many pounds of turkey you need and how many cups of stuffing. For 11 adults and 2 children (my teenagers are counted as adults, they eat more than I do, and we want leftovers), we need 24 lbs of turkey and 18 cups of stuffing. Bear in mind that the larger the turkey, the more bone you’ll get too, so you might want two 12-lb turkeys if you have the room in your oven.
  
  
• Figure out how long to thaw. This tool has the refrigerator option, or what I call the Last-Minute (or Oops!-I-Forgot-To-Put-The-Turkey-In-The-Refrigerator) option. The refrigerator option is definitely the set it and forget it method, the way to go for a stress-free holiday. But, we all forget sometimes, and it’s nice to have the specifics for the cold-water option too. My 24-lb turkey will take 6 days to thaw in the refrigerator, so I put it there yesterday because I want to brine it before I cook it on Thursday. (More on brining later.) Your thawed turkey can stay in the refrigerator for 4 days before you cook it.
  
  
• Figure out how long to cook. This tool gives you the amount of time it will take to cook your turkey if you roast it in an open pan in a 325° oven; it gives you the option of stuffed or unstuffed. My 24-lb turkey will take 5-5½ hours stuffed, 4-4½ hours unstuffed. That said, there are as many ways to roast a turkey as there are side dishes on my parents’ Thanksgiving dinner table (and, in case you’re wondering, that’s alot): Not just stuffed or unstuffed, brined or unbrined, breast-side-up, breast-side-down, start in a hot oven and reduce heat, start in a low oven and increase heat, cook steadily in a moderate oven, tent with foil at beginning, tent with foil at end, don’t tent with foil at all, cook in a covered roaster, rub with butter, rub with olive oil, don’t rub at all, put liquid in roaster, ... I prefer to start my turkey in a very hot (425°) oven for the first half hour, then lower it to 325° for the remaining time.

Brining a turkey is soaking it in a salt-sugar-water solution before roasting. The advantage it gives to the bird is that it moistens and flavors it on the inside, not just the outside. Cooks’ Illustrated magazine has a great “Basics of Brining” article online. When it comes to turkey, especially The Thanksgiving Turkey, I think simpler is better, so I use their basic brine, with minor modifications.

To brine my 24-lb turkey, I will use 2 gallons of brine, and allow it to brine for 8 hours. To make 2 gallons of brine, combine 2 gallons cold water, 4 cups kosher salt, and 4 cups brown sugar and stir to dissolve salt and sugar. You can add herbs and spices, peppercorns, rosemary or thyme sprigs, bay leaves, if you like, but I’m going the Taste The Turkey route this year.

If you’re brining a smaller bird, you can reduce the amount of brine accordingly, they guideline is to use 1 quart of brine for one pound of meat, but not to exceed 2 gallons of brine. Now clearly, I will not be able to find a container that will both contain the bird in the brine and fit in my fridge, so I will use a cooler, kept cool with ice packs while I’m brining.

Once brined, you’ll want to dry the turkey so that the skin will be crisp, not soggy, when roasted. If time allows, it’s best to air-dry the turkey, uncovered, on a rack on a baking sheet, in the refrigerator overnight.

If you stuff the turkey, you’ll want to stuff cold or room temperature stuffing into a cold or room temperature bird just before roasting, and once roasted, remove the stuffing immediately.

It’s a good idea to let the turkey come to room temperature before roasting it. You can let it sit on the counter for 2 hours to do this safely. When you’re ready to put the turkey in the roaster, tuck the wing tips under the body of the bird, and place turkey breast-side-up in a roasting pan. Season inside of bird with salt and pepper. If you’re going to stuff the turkey, do it now.

Cross the legs over one another and tie them with butcher’s string. Rub the turkey with butter and season salt and pepper. Place the turkey in a heavy roasting pan with sides at least two inches high. You can use a roasting rack to keep the turkey from sticking to the pan.

As I said earlier, I like to start at high heat, and reduce to low heat, to do so preheat your oven to 425° and roast the turkey for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce the oven to 325°. Roast for another 4-5 hours. After 4 hours start checking the temperature of the thickest part of the thigh with an instant-read thermometer (avoid the bone). When the temperature of the thigh has reached 165°, it is safe to take the turkey out of the oven.

Let the turkey rest 30 minutes before carving. I move the turkey to foil on the counter or to a cutting board so I can make my gravy directly in the roasting pan while the turkey’s resting. This is also a great time to get all your side dishes into the oven to get them warm.

Martha Stewart’s web site has great articles on how to roast and how to carve a turkey. The USDA has good food — specifically, turkey — safety guidelines.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 10: Getting prepared.

• Firm up your guest list. Call and confirm as necessary.
• Read through all the recipes and make your preliminary shopping lists and to-do lists.

Double-check your serving pieces, equipment, and utensils. My sister lays out her serving pieces with a Post-It Note inside indicating what will go there, that way she doesn&rquo;t forget anything at the last minute. If you don’t have something you need, you don’t necessarily need to buy it, if you only use it once a year, consider borrowing it.

Think about your centerpiece, table setting, and any other decor you might need.

• Shop for staples and equipment. Green produce and other fresh foods will wait until next week, but you can buy root vegetables now, while the selection is better. You can buy the cranberries, and put them in the fridge or freezer.
• Take your linens to the dry cleaner or press them yourself. You don’t want to be ironing at midnight on Wednesday.
  

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 11: Plan your menu and order your turkey. Thanksgiving is 11 days away, if you haven’t given any thought to what you’ll serve (or bring with you, if you’ve been invited elsewhere), now is the time. Many supermarkets and specialty stores have a two-week sale that runs through Thanksgiving weekend, take advantage of that — and the relatively empty stores — now. (Mind, I say “relatively empty” because some of the shopping craze has already started, especially among the bakers. So if you can’t find something on the shelf, ask; chances are they have it, they just haven’t gotten around to restocking it.) If you need some inspiration for menu, check out my menu for both traditional favorites, and new ideas to shake things up a little. Also make use of cooking TV shows and web sites, such as www.foodtv.com, epicurious.com, and allrecipes.com.

When you’re planning your menu, keep in mind the following:

• The food doesn’t need to be fancy. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s all about the family and the food, but you don’t need to go overboard. People look forward to your signature dishes, don’t apologize for making the same menu as last year, or just throw one new recipe in the mix.
  
  
• It’s a long day of eating, don’t go overboard on the appetizers. Something to tide people over is fine, but don’t make a meal of it.
  
  
• The turkey will be large and will be in the oven the longest, and until the last 30 minutes before you carve it and serve it. Plan side dishes that can make use of that half hour of turkey resting time to be cooked or reheated in the oven.
  
  
• If you’re making gravy, that will be happening during that 30-minute turkey resting time as well, so don’t plan on a lot of hands-on sides.
  

Finally, if you’re planning to serve a fresh turkey, order it today.

Great Glazed Cupcake Recipe?

We are having a ladies lunch for my best friend, who is expecting her 3rd baby, in a couple of weeks.

I have a great floral cupcake pan from Pampered Chef (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13837&words=floral%20cupcake) and am looking for a delicious cupcake recipe to use in it. Because the tops have such a pretty flower design, I don't want to cover in frosting. I am open to different flavors.

Appetizer - Proscuitto & Pear

With the holidays coming up, and a couple of events I am hosting or co-hosting, I was looking for some fun, new appetizers. I just came across this deliciously simple looking appetizer. Plus, it looks beautiful! I will be trying this sometime this month and will report back.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/crispy-prosciutto-cups-with-pear?backto=true

Wild food day!

Yesterday was Wild food day. We were busy so postponed it until today. We are having Wild Duck. The best way I found to make wild duck is Orange Duck . Soak the duck in milk for 24 hours to remove the gamey flavor. I make it a little less sweet by adding orange juice instead of Orange Marmalade. I serve with fried rice, egg rolls and baked cream cheese wontons.

Life gets busy, no excuses, but it’s a fact, and as a result, I am hot and cold about blogging. But I try to be responsive when a friend or a client makes a request for a recipe or help with a specific problem. A friend is hosting Thanksgiving and she wants to serve Cranberry-brie puffs as an appetizer.

This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Sarah, and it never fails to impress. Sarah’s recipe calls for whole cranberry sauce, which I often use, but I also make cranberry chutney and fresh cranberry-orange relish around the holidays, so I sometimes substitute those. Another quick fix for these is to use prepared, thawed filo cups. You can bake them just a touch or eliminate the baking altogether. Please note, the baked puff pastry version is superior, but sometimes you’re in a pinch and it’s nice to know you can work with what you have.

An additional plus for the hostess: They don’t take much time to assemble, you can do the assembly the day ahead, then just pop them in the oven at the last minute. Happy hostess, happy guests, what more could you want?

Cranberry-brie puffs

1 package puff pastry, thawed
1 small wheel of brie, chilled
1 can whole cranberry sauce
slivered almonds, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Roll out puff pastry and cut into 2-inch squares. Place one square of puff pastry in each cup of a mini muffin tin. Cut brie into ½-inch cubes. (Chilled brie cuts easier than room-temperature brie.) Place one cube of brie and one scant teaspoon of cranberry in each cup. Top with slivered almonds, if using. (Can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated at this point if you’ll be baking them later.) Bake for 20-30 minutes, until puff pastry is golden brown and brie is melted. Let cool about 5 minutes before removing from tin and serving as the brie will be extremely hot.

Friday night cocktails and appetizers

My neighbor’s hot artichoke and spinach dip — the best I’ve ever had! — and key lime martinis that tasted just like key lime pie! Part sweet, part tangy, part garlic, part creamy, it was the perfect combination. If you like, for an extra special touch, rim martini glasses with graham cracker crumbs.

Key lime martinis

2 oz vanilla vodka
2 oz liquer 43
2 oz Rose’s lime juice

Combine in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, let set to chill well. Strain into martini glasses.

Today is National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day. I’m so glad all the fattening desserts have national holidays. What else would I do with my time? How else would I keep my waistline growing?

Besides the flavor and the creaminess, the good news is, it’s a vegetable!

Don’t cheat like I did and eat the cake an hour or two after it comes out of the oven, it’s not worth it. Wait the full six hours, or better, overnight, you’ll be glad you did. Also, my cheesecakes almost always crack when they cool, even when I leave them to cool slowly in the oven. It’s not the end of the world, and that’s how your friends will know that it really is homemade.

Pumpkin cheesecake

1 c ginger snaps, crushed into crumbs
2 T butter, melted
2 T sugar
¼ t nutmeg, freshly grated
8 ozs cream cheese, softened
1 c light brown sugar
16 ozs ricotta cheese
1 15-oz can canned pumpkin
¼ t nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°. In 9" round springform pan, with fork, stir ginger snap crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and nutmeg until moistened. With hand, press mixture onto bottom of pan. Tightly wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty foil to prevent leakage when baking in water bath later.

Prepare pumpkin filling: In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth; slowly beat in sugar until blended, about 1 minute, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. With mixer at low speed, beat in ricotta, pumpkin, nutmeg, and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Pour pumpkin mixture into crust and place in large roasting pan. Place pan on oven rack. Carefully pour enough boiling water into pan to come 1 inch up side of springform pan. Bake cheesecake 1½ hours, or until center barely jiggles.

Remove cheesecake from water bath to wire rack; discard foil. With small knife, loosen cheesecake from side of pan to help prevent cracking during cooling. Cool cheesecake completely. Cover and refrigerate cheesecake at least 6 hours or overnight, until well chilled. Remove side of pan to serve. Garnish with crystallized ginger.

The Dunican sisters were anti-grocery shopping today. I’m not sure what Regina ended up finding in her pantry and freezer to turn into dinner, but I had quite a coup, inspired by National Seafood Bisque Day, I combined the recipe the punchbowl.com page recommended with some inspiration from Ina Garten’s Shrimp Bisque (because I had all the ingredients on hand).

This recipe is truly a last-minute preparation. I made the whole thing from frozen shrimp to eating the piping hot bowl with a piece of crusty bread in 30 minutes. If you use frozen shrimp, skip the sautéing step, but the olive oil does add some depth of flavor to your bisque. If you don’t have white wine, you can substitute seafood stock or even water, but add a splash (less than ¼ cup of brandy, vermouth, or dry sherry at the end). Remember to take the center out of the blender when blending hot liquids; hot liquids tend to cause the blender to “explode” and are quite dangerous, so place a folded dish towel over the hole in the blender top to let the steam escape, and keep your hand on it so the top and towel stay in place.

Truly last-minute “National Seafood Bisque Day” shrimp bisque

1 T olive oil
1 lb shrimp, in shells, frozen is fine
1 bottle white wine
1 qt light cream
¼ t thyme leaves
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper

If shrimp is thawed, sauté shrimp, shells and all, in olive oil; add thyme, pepper, and salt. Simmer shrimp in wine just until cooked (pink), overcooking shrimp will cause it to be tough. Pull shrimp from wine and chill in refrigerator until cool enough to handle. In the meantime, add cream to wine and continue simmering over low heat.

Once shrimp is cool enough, peel shrimp and place in blender; reserve 12 shrimp, peeled, with tails intact. Add liquid so blender is half full. With center of blender top out of hole, place folded dish cloth over hole. Keeping your hand on dish cloth, pulse blender until shrimp is chopped fine. Return to pot to warm over low heat. Stir in cayenne pepper. Serve immediately with two whole shrimp as garnish.

Friday night cocktails and appetizers

It was a quiet rainy night. One football practice had ended early, the other one had been canceled altogether, so there were more kids around, and fewer adults. It called for just a bottle of red wine and an easy dinner. Corn chowder was in the crockpot, and I put together some Open-faced Italian tuna melts based on Rachael Ray’s Tuna Mini Melts with Rosemary, but I was looking for less sandwich, more appetizer. And, as usual, I wanted to use what I had in the house, so I used a hearty whole-grain bread, and made them open-faced (who needs that extra slice of bread when you could have an extra glass of wine instead?). I added some sundried tomatoes for color and flavor too.

Open-faced Italian tuna melts

2 cans Italian tuna in olive oil, lightly drained
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 large sprig rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
1 sundried tomato, finely chopped
Black pepper
1 T olive oil
4 slices provolone cheese, deli sliced and chopped
8 full-size slices of grainy bread, or 32 slices of cocktail bread

Mash tuna with finely chopped shallot, rosemary, sundried tomato, black pepper, and olive oil. Stir in the chopped cheese. Toast one side of the bread under the broiler until light brown, turn bread over, top each with a generous tablespoon of tuna. Place under the broiler again, just until warm.

When I was adapting my sister Bridget’s recipe for Microwave Corn Chowder to make Crockpot Corn Chowder this week, I may have come across the greatest time-saving and cleanup-saving tip of all time. To add crispy chopped bacon to a crockpot recipe usually meant a big mess and some time and diligence cooking up and chopping bacon, or chopping, then extra diligence because small pieces burn faster.

Bridget’s recipe, however, uses a pair of kitchen shears to cut the bacon into small pieces. Place the bacon in a 4-cup glass measure, cover with a paper towel, and microwave for 5-6 minutes (I paused after about a minute or two to stir them up, so they weren’t stuck together). Voilà! Crispy bacon pieces for my corn chowder in no time, with minimal mess!

For the final cleanup, this tip is from my cousin Jenn’s husband Frank: Place a piece of aluminum foil so that it sets in your sink drain, and turn the edges up a little to catch the bacon fat as you pour it into the foil. Let the fat congeal, wrap the foil around the fat, and toss it in the trash!

Thanks Bridget & Frank for making my life easier this week!

The Ultimate Sandwich

I love this blog author’s honesty; that is exactly what would happen to me if I planned a hike to discuss how the key to the success in the new school year is to be “organized, organized, and organized.” But it did get me thinking about The Ultimate Sandwich. What would yours be?

Friday night cocktails and appetizers

Part deux. I have some homemade amaretto on the hutch staring me down. My friend Tammy has seasonal cocktails, and my husband usually loves them. I can’t remember what her summer cocktail is right now, but her winter cocktail is amaretto and ginger, and Fred loves it. I’m not a ginger ale person, but you can only drink so many amaretto on the rocks before you’re lying flat on your back, so I came up with amaretto and orange juice. Whether you prefer ginger ale or OJ, serve it in a highball glass, on the rocks.

This evening, we’ll be having our amaretto cocktails with black bean “hummus”. This is a recipe that originally came from my friend Eileen. It isn’t a Mediterranean inspired hummus, it’s more of a Mexican black bean dip, but because of it’s consistency and color, we had trouble coming up with a name for it [that didn’t sound like the punchline of a 5th grader’s off-color joke]. Thus, I’ve taken to calling it “hummus”. Again, one of my favorite things about it is that I usually have all the ingredients on hand, and if I don’t, they’re simple enough that I can remember what they are without writing them down.

Black bean hummus

1 can black beans, drain and reserve liquid
½ jar Mrs. Renfro’s Roasted Garlic Salsa, more if you like
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
½ bunch cilantro, more if you like

Put garlic in a blender and blend until garlic is chopped fine. Add beans, salsa, lemon, and cilantro to blender. Blend until smooth (a hummus-like consistency). Add as much reserved liquid as you like to reach your desired consistency.

Sunday is Football Day in our house this Fall. Youth football games at one o’clock, and the Patriots after that (so far it’s been on tape delay because the games have all conflicted with the 1 o’clock youth games). It has worked for us, though, because I have been able to throw a meal in the crockpot and have dinner waiting when we come in to sit down in front of the game. Last Sunday I tried a new recipe, and (as usual) I didn’t have all the ingredients handy, so I improvised. It made so much that we had some other folks from my son’s team come back and join us, and it was such a hit that my sons asked for it again for dinner on Monday night — and there was enough that they could.

Crockpot pork carnitas (Based on Slow Braised Carnitas from foodtv.com)

3 lbs lean boneless pork loin, roughly chopped
15 ozs red enchilada sauce
15 ozs beef broth
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 chipotle pepper, roughly chopped
4 green bell peppers, roughly chopped
4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 T vinegar
½ bunch fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (even better if you have a friend to do this for you like I did)
hard and soft taco shells, salsa, guacamole, cheddar cheese, sour cream

Season pork with salt and pepper and sear in skillet until it has a nice golden crust. Place pork in crockpot with enchilada sauce, beef broth, onion, peppers, and tomatoes. Cover, and simmer on low for 6 hours or until pork is tender.

Stir in cilantro and serve with taco fixings.

I served a quick black beans and rice side dish with this. Nothing beats a quick side dish, and I like this one because of the easy proportions, so put this in your mental file (and the ingredients in your pantry) for a rushed night. It would work equally well as a main dish if you add in a sausage like kielbasa or chorizo.

Quick black beans and rice

1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 can water
1 can rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ c cilantro, roughly chopped

Add tomatoes, water, and rice in saucepan, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes, remove from heat, stir in black beans , and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Can also be served as a cold rice salad.

P.S. The Patriots won!

Friday night cocktails and appetizers

Most Friday nights you can find some neighbors in my kitchen (and some neighborhood kids of all ages in various rooms in the house), kids generally feast on chips and salsa and pizza, but whomever is in the kitchen is looking for a signature cocktail and a tasty app.

Today felt like Fall. Today’s signature cocktail was apple cider with some dark Puerto Rican rum. Yum. Today’s signature app was red bean dip. For those of you who don’t live in New England, red bean dip is often served at Really New England restaurants (those with lobster specials, early bird specials, and lots of blue hairs). The red bean dip is great with Wheat Thins^® — and all those red beans pack quite the protein punch!

Red bean dip
1 can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
¼ c ketchup
¼ c relish, drained, squeezed dry
½ t dry mustard
2 T horseradish
2 t worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate at least 3o minutes. Serve with Wheat Thins^®. Even better the next day.

I just found this link on 30 Fall menus on myrecipes.com today. It’s really a recipe a day for the month of September, but since September hasn’t really felt much like Fall anyway here in Newburyport (I love Indian Summer!), maybe you can use these ideas to get you through the month of October.

The last Saturday in September is Family Health & Fitness Day. Get out there with your family and ride a bike or take a walk or play some soccer of football. When choosing your meals, choose healthy, fit options. Who knows? One day could be the beginning of a whole new routine.

Cream Puff Pie?

Can you post Del's recipe for the Cream Puff Pie? Manny loved it and requested it for his Confirmation!

Fun & Easy Meals for Kids

My husband will be traveling next week, and I will still have to be shuttling the kids back and forth from events, so I need thing that can be ready when we walk in the door, ie. crockpot meals, or shortly after we arrive home, or in-between runs.

Any fun, tried-and-true meal ideas? I usually try to make fun meals when George is away, but I'm not sure I can keep that up for a week...

Risotto -- Traditional Method

A couple of people have commented that they’d love to try the Butternut Squash Risotto, but they don’t have a pressure cooker. It can still be done.

The traditional method for making risotto is to:

1. Bring broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and maintain at a simmer.
2. In a large heavy skillet, cook onion in oil over medium heat until tender (for the butternut squash recipe, you'd want to add the pancetta here too). Add rice and stir to coat well; cook 3 minutes longer. Add wine and stir until absorbed.
3. Stir in 1 cup simmering broth and butternut squash. Cook until broth is almost completely absorbed, stirring frequently, then add another cup of simmering broth. Repeat until only about ¼ cup of broth remains; the process should take about 45 minutes and you'll have a sore arm (and if it’s a day like the first time I made it this way, hot!, you’ll be sweltering). Rice should be slightly firm in center and look creamy.
4. Remove from the heat; add the butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper (for butternut squash recipe: add sage). Serve immediately.

A quick search on allrecipes.com turned up a recipe for microwave risotto that boasts minimal stirring. I can’t vouch for it, but if it works, it would save you a lot time and effort:

1. Combine the chicken broth, salt, and pepper in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Keep warm over low heat.
2. In a square baking dish, or glass pie plate, heat the butter and olive oil (and pancetta) in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add the onion to the dish, and stir to coat. Cook in the microwave for 4 more minutes. Add the uncooked rice, and stir to coat with oil. Cook for another 4 minutes.
3. Pour the simmering chicken broth and wine (and butternut squash) into the rice, and stir. Cook in the microwave for 9 minutes. Stir, then microwave for another 9 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, butter, salt, and pepper (and sage) as soon as it comes out of the microwave. Serve immediately.

SOUP-er Easy!

My kids always love to order Miso Soup when we get Chinese or Japanese food, mostly for the tofu. They have been asking me to make tofu at home, but anytime I have, it hasn't come out right -- mostly apparently because I do "stuff" to it. So tonight, mostly because I didn't have much food in the house and partly because I had 2 running out to soccer practice, I threw together a super easy soup:

I heated up some chicken broth, threw in some veggies from the fridge, added a can of cubed chicken breast and some diced tofu. Really easy and the kids loved it!

All Things Pumpkin

So, I admit it, I’m in Fall Mode. I am going to start wearing sweaters and browns and oranges and pick apples and pumpkins and make crisps and pies and pumpkin scones. You may have made one variation of my cousin Mary Fran’s scone recipe: traditional, cinnamon, cranberry-orange, blueberry, double chocolate, but now I want to make pumpkin scones from that standard recipe. (You may know I love a standard recipe that is versatile enough to become several different recipes. Fewer things to remember, but you still get to experience variety.)


Pumpkin scones
makes 12 large or 18 medium scones

2 sticks butter
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
4 c flour
1 c brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cloves
1 t ground ginger
1 c canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 c milk (I prefer buttermilk)

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine dry ingredients with butter into a coarse mixture. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and milk. Make an indentation in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Stir together with a fork to moisten. The less stirring the better, stirring makes for tougher scones. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Fall flavors

In my last post, I extolled the benefits of the pressure cooker. Today it’s the crockpot. I’m reinventing the leftovers from last night’s intimate dinner party (roasted pork tenderloin with tomato-pear chutney and sweet and sour butternut squash) to be today’s game day repast for the boys (pulled pork). Nothing says “Fall” like pulled pork, yum. I just pulled out the crockpot out of the cabinet, threw in the little bit of leftover pork tenderloin (which I had roasted only with lemon pepper and garlic last night) and another pork tenderloin, because I’d bought the value pack of tenderloins on sale, along with the leftover chutney (about 2 cups), the leftover squash (about 1 cup), and a cup of my homemade BBQ sauce, put it on low and let it go. When the boys sit down to watch the UMass football game at 3:30, it’ll be falling apart and ready for some crusty bulkie rolls and pineapple-cole slaw. Bear in mind, that you don’t have to have the same leftovers to do what I have done. Whatever flavors you had together as your first meal will meld wonderfully into your new meal. Usually the key to pulled pork is some sweet (fruit or molasses or sugar) and some acid (vinegar), it’s also a good idea to add something spicy (jalapeños). In this case, the fruit from the chutney and the squash will just melt into nothing but flavor when the pork falls apart. You can also use a cheaper cut of pork, but I used what I had on hand because I had bought the value pack. Slow cooking is a great method for tenderizing less expensive cuts of meat, and the crockpot is the best for slow cooking on a day when you have a lot of things going on. As a final note, many of the meals you can cook and leave in the crockpot, you could also cook quickly, at the last minute, in the pressure cooker. Test out your favorites in various methods, or click on these links to try some of mine.

Tomato-Pear Chutney
The first time I made chutney of any kind it was tomato-pear chutney, from the pears from the tree in my yard about 10 years ago. The trees have since stopped producing usable fruit, but I was feeling nostalgic for the chutney.

2 ½ c plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 ½ c pears, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ c raisins
½ c green pepper, diced
½ c onion, diced
1 c brown sugar
½ c white vinegar
1 t salt
1-inch piece fresh ginger
½ t dry mustard
⅛ t cayenne pepper
1 jalapeño, minced

Combine all ingredients in saucepan or crockpot. In saucepan, bring to a boil; boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and reduced about one-half in volume (about 45 minutes), stirring occasionally. In crockpot, simmer on low for 4 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Can be packed in clean, hot jars, and sealed using the pressure cooker, or can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.

Sweet and Sour Squash

3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium butternut squash (about 2½ lbs), peeled, seeds removed, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 c balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350°. Toss squash with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and place in a single layer in a casserole dish. Bake for about 2o minutes, until squash is golden. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Experiment with this dish with your other favorite vegetables. I’ve also done this on the stovetop, and with green beans and shallots or broccoli and golden raisins.

I made the most unbelievably easy comfort food for dinner tonight. It was another one of those crazy, busy days when it was unlikely that we’d sit down for a family dinner, so I pulled out the pressure cooker. What a savior for a busy family! With the crisp, Fall weather, butternut squash was a natural, and nothing is more “comfort” than creamy, cheesy risotto.


The trouble with most 30-minute-or-less recipes, and what most people don’t know, is the ingredient lists. If the recipe says that it takes 30 minutes to complete it, but lists 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed, that means that the squash has to be prepped before you begin the work, the peeling, seeding, and cubing time is not included in the time estimate. So, at 3:08 pm I pulled out the pressure cooker and the ingredients and got started. (I’m a big fan of the chop-and-throw method, that way you don’t have to worry about pre-prepped ingredients, you just chop (or dice or cube) and throw them in the pot as you go.) I poured the olive oil in the pressure cooker, diced and added the pancetta, onion, rice, butternut squash, chicken stock, and white wine (thank God for my neighbor, Ellen basically sharing her pantry with me; I was out of white wine; the payoff is that I sent her some risotto when my son went to babysit for her son), placed the cover on the pressure cooker and brought it to full pressure. I cooked it for 20 minutes, turned it off, and was in the car on my way to my son’s football game by 3:38. Thirty minutes exactly.

Now, the pot just needed to let the pressure come down while I was gone. When I returned from the game I mixed in the butter, parmiggiano-reggiano, and sage (from Ellen’s beautiful pot of herbs), and dinner was ready. If I had been really prepared, I would have had my other son make a salad while I was at the football game, then I wouldn’t have even had to do that before I sat down to eat.

But wait, there’s more, this can be one of those everready go-to recipes for you too. When I buy pancetta, I only need ¼ of the piece, so I cut the rest into individual pieces and store it in the freezer for future batches. I also keep frozen butternut squash on hand so I’m always ready.

And, even my anti-vegetable son had seconds ... it’s amazing how a little cheese and rice can change the character of a vegetable.

Butternut squash risotto with pancetta and sage

2 T olive oil
4 ozs pancetta
1 medium onion
2 c arborio rice
1 small butternut squash
6 c canned low-salt chicken broth
1 c dry white wine
2 T butter
½ c parmiggiano-reggiano cheese
6 fresh sage leaves

Place the pressure cooker on the stove over medium heat. Add olive oil. Coarsely chop and add pancetta, sauté until it’s a little crispy. Finely dice and add the onion until it’s a little soft. Add the rice and stir to coat. Chop the butternut squash into large pieces and add them (when the risotto is done, you will have some larger pieces of squash in there, if you like a smoother risotto, cut your squash into smaller pieces).

Add chicken stock and white wine, place the cover on the pressure cooker, and bring it to full pressure. Cook for 20 minutes, turn it off, and let the pressure come down. (If you’re in a hurry, you can run it under cool water to bring down the pressure more quickly.)

While the pressure comes down, grate your parmiggiano-reggiano and chop your sage leaves finely. Once pressure is down, mix in the butter, parmiggiano-reggiano, and sage. Serve immediately, with freshly ground pepper and more parmiggiano-reggiano for the top.