How to Cook a Spaghetti Squash

My first encounter with a Spaghetti Squash came from a roommate in college.  Undercooked, strange, and foreign, it looked like she ate it to prove a point to me.  It completely turned me off of even the thought for several years, until the novelty of a squash that cooked to look like spaghetti got the better of me.  I used to make them in the oven, mainly because my poor old microwave (recently retired) couldn't actually cook one faster.  Now, with my adult-sized microwave, cooking Spaghetti Squash is quite easy and amazingly fast.  About the same amount of time it'd take to make the real stuff.

Microwaved Spaghetti Squash
Difficulty: Easy!
Time: 15-20 minutes of nuke time total for a 1000w microwave.  Adjust the time to meet your specs.
Serves: The one in the pictures made three plates full.
Requires: Microwave

• Spaghetti Squash, washed
• Optional: Spaghetti/pizza sauce, cheese, butter & garlic, etc

1. Microwave the Spaghetti Squash for 3-5 minutes, or until soft enough to safely cut in half.  I underestimated the strength of my new microwave, and the squash sort of blew a seam and shot a couple seeds around the inside of the microwave.
   
2. Move the squash (it'll be hot) to a cutting board and slice in half.  I had overcooked mine a little, so it was difficult to cut in half.  Scrape out the seeds innards; an ice scream scoop works perfectly!
    
3. Put in a microwave safe dish with about a half inch of water, face down.  Cover and microwave for another 10-15 minutes.
   
4. Skewer a half with a fork and let it drain.  Holding it with an oven mitt, use a fork to pull the insides apart into strands of 'spaghetti.'  Top with spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc and enjoy!
    

Carmelized Balsamic Onions

I find that switching out a different topping for standard fare is a simpler way to breathe new life into an old recipe.  I didn't like onions growing up in any form or fashion (and I'll still skip the raw ones, thanks), but I've grown to appreciate the wide range of uses, flavors, and textures of the cooked onion.  I saw a similar recipe that called itself "Onion Marmalade", which is probably about right.  This recipe has the consistency of a heavy chutney.

Carmelized Balsamic Onions
Difficulty: Medium
Time: This is not a quick cook.  In total, expect about 30-35 minutes of cook time, though it only needs your continual attention for the first 10 or so.
Serves: 4, and is easily scalable for larger parties.  It also keeps in the fridge for up to a week!
Requires: Standard kitchen stuff, nothing fancy.

• 1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup broth - beef works best, but chicken does just fine when I don't have any on hand.  I've never tried vegetable, but I'd imagine that'd work too for a vegetarian version.
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt
• Optional: 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar - not everyone likes it, so feel free to leave it out
• Optional:  Substitute 1/4 cup red wine (alcoholic or non) and 3/4 cup broth for the 1 cup broth

1. Coat the bottom of your pan in olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.  I tend to use the "wipe on" method I've mentioned in other posts to avoid splatters.  You really don't need much oil in this recipe; just enough to keep the onions from sticking! 
2. Add the onions and cook, stirring somewhat frequently, until they start to nicely brown.  Onions are forgiving even when they burn, so I do this step even while prepping or cooking something else.  No big deal!
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3. Add the sugar and the salt and continue to brown a little bit longer, until you've got a nice golden hue to the onions.
    
4. Carefully and slowly pour in the broth and vinegar, stirring all the onions up.  Reduce heat to bring the mixture to a simmer, which is JUST below boiling.
    
5. Then leave it alone.  You can stir it if you want, but it doesn't actually need it.  Let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes (you may need to turn the temp down to keep it at a simmer as the liquid evaporates), until basically all of the liquid has evaporated.
    
6. Serve hot or cold!  It pairs best with pork or beef.

Aromatic Apple Cider Pork Chops

It's better than this picture makes it look. I promise.

These are amazing. They smell like Christmas and taste even better. My former roommate made them for dinner group one night, and I've made them multiple times since then. The original recipe came from the Food Network website and was for chicken, but I like the pork chops so well that I haven't tried the chicken. I leave the decision up to your preference, because what matters is that the combination of apples, onions and thyme is divine. It's perfect for a special occasion (still looking for something special for Valentine's Day?), but it's easy enough for any night. Yum.

Difficulty: easy
Prep time: about half an hour
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 thickish pork chops or boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1/2 Vidalia onion
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 bay leaves (although this time I didn't have them and it was still good)
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups apple cider

Heat oil and one tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium high heat (although I really like making it in my electric fry pan because I tend to splash less with all the liquid, but it might also be because I'm in love with my electric fry pan). Season with salt and pepper and sear the pork chops for about four minutes on each side.

Remove the pork chops from the pan and set aside. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, onion, garlic, apple, thyme and bay leaves. (For Christmas, my mom also added some cinnamon and nutmeg, which was tasty.) Saute until the onions soften and the apples go kind of golden, 5-6 minutes. Add the flour and stir for 2-3 minutes.

Put the pork chops back in the pan and add the apple cider. Bring the cider to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer it until the pork chops are cooked through. (You can leave them on for 12-15 minutes, depending on how thick you like your sauce.)

The whole thing is quick and delicious - although I recommend making sure whoever you're cooking it for is in the room smelling it and thinking you're super amazing while you make it. It's a hit.

Newbie Boston Cream Pie

Okay. First, let me tell you that 1) I had never made Boston Cream Pie before this month, and 2) I have previously been a fairly unsuccessful maker of cakes. Second, when my husband asked for a Boston Cream Pie for his birthday, I had never had Boston Cream Pie, and was a little confused when I started looking for recipes and every recipe looked so different. I finally ended up cobbling something together that I thought sounded good, and it was delicious. Just know that this isn't the definitively end-all in Boston Cream Pies, because I know nothing about them.

Cake: Williams-Sonoma Butter Cake

This was the cake they recommended for Boston Cream Pie, but it's also a good one for people who are afraid that their made from scratch cake will be cry. A cake this full of butter can never be dry.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups flour (it says cake flour, but I just used all-purpose and it was still good)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (or microwaved slightly, if you are me)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature (or not, if you are me)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk, at room temperature (see above)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or butter the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper and tap out the excess flour. (I laughed about this, but it actually worked really well. No broken cakes on my watch!)

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very light and pale yellow - 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat for one minute. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour - for some reason they think flour should be first and last). Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the pans cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, then invert pans onto racks, peel off the parchment paper and let cool completely. (If the parchment won't come off, they suggest brushing a little warm water on it with a pastry brush - should loosen right up.)

*I didn't want to make a two layer cake, because we have had an insane number of sweets in our house lately and didn't need it. I wrapped up one layer to freeze and split the other layer by working a piece of dental floss through the middle. That makes the next bit more delicate. *

Take a knife and cut out an indentation about half an inch from the edge and about half an inch deep (or 1/4 of an inch deep, if you're doing the one layer). Spread the pudding in the indentation and place the other cake/half cake on top. (I recommend putting the cake where you want it to end up before doing this, which for me included putting a little parchment paper on the cake plate so I wouldn't get goop all over it. I slid it out later.)

Pudding: Homemade Vanilla Pudding from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

2 2/3 cups whole milk, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg

Bring 2 cups of milk to a boil (be careful - I had to do it twice because some milk burned to the bottom and I didn't clean the pan before adding everything back in and then my pudding was full of brown milk scum, which is not appealing)

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add the remaining 2/3 cup milk, a little at a time so lumps don't form. Whisk in the egg. When the milk is boiling, pour it into the mixture very gradually, whisking the whole time. (This is to avoid cooking your egg. Whisk like crazy!)

Return the whole mix to the sauce pan (but if the sauce pan is full of milk scum, clean it off first. Trust me.) Stir constantly until it comes to a simmer, then for about a minute more. The pudding will get thick very suddenly and there will be big bubbles on the surface. If you do get little pieces of egg, you can strain it through a fine mesh strainer (but I don't have one, so I stirred like my life depended on it.)

Chill the pudding for a couple of hours before stirring it up, spreading into the indentation in the cake and putting the cakes together.

Ganache (used in lieu of frosting): Adapted from Alton Brown's Ganache

Ingredients:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cream or half and half (every recipe I've seen has called for cream, but the half-and-half was great)
1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch (I didn't really measure)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bring the half-and-half and cornstarch to a boil (I recommend stirring occasionally during this process to avoid burning milk scum to the sides)
Add the chocolate and stir like crazy until it melts. (Some recipes just call for pouring the milk over the chocolate. I've done this successfully, but with Alton's blessing I melted it in the pan this time - and pulled it off as quick as I could to avoid burning. Just be careful or you'll end up with tragic burned chocolate.)

Remove from heat and add the vanilla, stirring to combine. Spread over the cake while it's still very warm. Remove the parchment paper. After cooling, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sparkler candles really class this thing up. 

Diet Soda Cake in Ice Cream Cones

We have to wonder - if the wonders of diet soda and cake mix been known to man for all time, would the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too" ever have been uttered?  Probably, since it's not physically referring to cake... but you get the idea!  It's sort of amazing - the cake comes out just like you'd expect a cake to, but without the added oil and egg yolk!  Just for some added fun, I baked some in Ice Cream cones and baked the rest of the batter in a 8x11 pan.  This recipe works with ANY diet soda, and ANY cake mix. 

Diet Soda Cake (in Ice Cream Cones)

Difficulty: Easy
Time: Prep is nothing.  For baking times, the ice cream cones take about 15 minutes, and if you bake the cake in a pan, just follow the cook times on the package.
Serves: As much as a cake mix always does!
Requires: Muffin tin if you want to make the ice cream cone cakes.

• 1 cake mix - any flavor
• 10 oz diet soda - any flavor
• Optional: 2 egg whites.  This recipe will come out VERY light and fluffy, so adding egg whites gives it a little bit more firm fluffiness.
• Optional: Cake Ice Cream Cones

1. Preheat your oven to 350, and spray any pans you plan to use.  No need to spray the muffin pan for the Ice Cream Cone Cakes.
2. Combine cake mix, diet soda, and optional eggs, stirring according to the package instructions.  See, the consistency of the batter is exactly what you'd expect cake batter to be!
   
3.  For ice cream cones, place them in the muffin pan upright and fill halfway with batter.  Let them rest a few moments before putting them in the oven, adding more batter if needed.  Pour the leftover batter (or the entire batter if not feeling a little coney) into your prepared pan.
4. Bake the cones for 15 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean from the center, and the prepared pan(s) according to the mix's instructions.  They come out great! 
5. P.S. For a healthy icing, use a fat-free vanilla pudding!

Salisbury Steak

Confession: Before we got married, I had never used, bought, or eaten (knowingly) potato flakes.

I remember going to the store shortly after we were married, and Porter suggested we buy some. I turned up my nose. Why would you use dehydrated flakes from a box when you could just make the real thing from a potato? Yet, there they were in our shopping cart.

Confession: I used to love the school cafeteria's Salisbury steak.

I know, I know. Yuck, right? I'm not sure what it was, but Salisbury steak was one of the few things, I liked from school lunches. Perhaps it was that my mom, as far as I remember, never made Salisbury steak, and so I had nothing to compare the school's to.

Confession: I still really like Salisbury steak, and still really don't like potato flakes. That is unless the potato flakes are in a Salisbury steak.

Cook's Country had a recipe for Salisbury Steaks which I wanted to try. You can find their recipe here. I omitted the port. I found it interesting that this recipe called for potato flakes. According to Cook's Country this is supposed to help the patties stay together and remain moist.

First, whisk the milk and the potato flakes together.

Then add the ground beef, salt and pepper. Knead until well combined. Form into four to five oval patties about 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate patties for thirty minutes.

After the patties come out of the fridge, melt a tablespoon of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the patties about five minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Melt the remaining butter. Add the onions and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the mushrooms, and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the tomato paste and flour, and cook until well browned. Slowly stir in the beef broth. Return the meat patties to the pan; cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for another 12-15 minutes.

While you're waiting, you should check to make sure that your kitchen cabinets are secure. You never know what, or who, you might find in them. (Isn't she cute?)

After checking your kitchen, check the steaks. I like to serve mine with mashed potatoes (real, not instant) and a green salad. Noodles also make a great accompaniment. Enjoy.

P.S. For a little extra reading, you should look up the Wikipedia article on James Salisbury, creator of the Salisbury steak. Apparently, he thought the steak would make a good meal three times a day.

Impossible Quiche

This is a recipe I got with a wedding present from a lovely lady named DeAnn Anderson. Don't let the name fool you. "Impossible" refers to the amazing way the quiche makes its own crust, not to the difficulty of the recipe. Ours had cheddar cheese, tomatoes, onions, and the leftover ground turkey from our asian lettuce wraps the night before. The ginger and cilantro in the meat added an interesting flavor - pretty darn good.

Difficulty: easy
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Tools required: blender, quiche dish (a biggish pie pan would probably be fine)

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup pancake mix
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup cheese (we used cheddar, but swiss or anything else you want is great) 
• Whatever else you like in your quiche - meat (ham, bacon, crab, shrimp, sausage - whatever), mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, olives, zucchini

Please ignore my bathrobe. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In a blender, combine eggs, pancake mix, butter, and milk. Pour the mixture into the quiche pan.

 

Add cheese, meat, other toppings. We just sprinkled them over the top and it was great. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, then let it set for about 10 minutes. Don't just muscle through and eat it hot - we found that letting it sit longer made the crustiness form better, and that made it 10 times more delicious. It should form a thin crust on the bottom and sides, and it should be just a little crunchy on top too. Easy, delicious, no need to make pie crust. 

Special Expose - In Search of Golden Brown

Sometimes I think I talk about myself too much.  It's a nasty habit, and to all those who put up with me, I thank you.  =)  Now let me talk about myself some more.  While talking about my cooking blog with some friends the other day, we got into a conversation about baking cookies, baking store-bought cookies, and just buying store-made cookies.  It eventually turned to a discussion about how to tell if cookies are done or not, and what this elusive "golden brown" really meant anyway.  Amazingly, I had the same conversation with someone else, in the same week!  Well, this was too much to be born, and so in a "late breaking news" release, I bring you an expose on golden brown!

I submit the following as an example of what golden brown should look like:

That's right, it looks like utter deliciousness.  So what you want to do is look for that color when it starts peeping around the bottom of your cookies.

These for example.  See any golden brown?  I don't.  They're still very doughy looking, and I don't see the tell-tale signs of golden brown sneaking up from the bottom edges.

They were so doughy, I added two minutes to the timer.  Let's check again.  I pulled these out of the oven to get a closeup (I felt sticking my head and camera in the oven to take a picture of golden brown edges was a bad plan).  Notice that golden hue at the bottom-most part of the cookie?  That's what you want.  Here are three shots of perfectly done cookies, with the golden either just peeking out from the bottom or going all the way around.

If you like your cookies more on the soft side, take them out at the first signs of golden brown.  Like them crunchy?  Cook till very golden brown and let them cool completely before eating.  Otherwise pull them out when the golden color is showing up along the edges all the way around.  Here is what the beautiful middle looks like on this delightful cookie:

So remember:

This beautiful color at the bottom-edges:

 Not the doughy, no golden brown cookies:

Have Your Mushroom-Sauce and Eat it Too!

As I mentioned in a previous post, baked chickens are a stable on my table.  I could eat chicken seven days a week with nothing but a pinch of salt and be perfectly content.  The husband, however, gets real tired of poultry, real fast.  So I learned a few ways to season up a bird to keep it feeling fresh for the rest of the family.  I came across a creamy mushroom herb sauce that called for all the tasties - namely half & half and a stick of butter.  It was a lot of calories to burden an otherwise healthy bird with, so I took it upon myself to make a trimmed down version, safe(r) for the dieting household.  P.S. - Substitute real half & half and use a whole stick of butter in place of the reduced butter and olive oil for the original recipe.

Reduced Fat Creamy Mushroom-Herb Sauce

Difficulty: Easy-Medium.  Have everything prepped before you even start melting your butter.
Time: 10 to 15 minutes - tops - of cooking.  Can be a decent amount of prep time chopping everything.
Serves: 4-6, depending upon amount of topping.
Requires: Nothing

• 1 tbsp reduced calorie butter
• 1 cup fat-free half & half (Land-O-Lakes is the only company I know who makes it)
• 1-3 tbsp of olive oil - you'll be eyeball-ing this, so don't measure out
• 1 tbsp of fresh herbs, cut small (Thyme is really really good.  In the pictures, I made it using 3/4 thyme and 1/4 rosemary) OR 1 tsp dried herbs
• 1 tbsp of parsley, chopped small (Easier to snip into bits with kitchen shears) OR 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp of shallot, finely chopped (You can sub normal onion or green onion, but the shallot is a nice touch to the recipe)
• 1 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp flour
• Salt/pepper
• Optional - 1 tbsp white wine (I always use non-alcoholic)

1. Start by melting the butter in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook till nicely browned.  Make sure not to overcrowd your pan; your mushrooms will steam and won't cook up as nicely.
    
2. This next step needs to be done in a bit of a hurry, so get your 1 tbsp of flour in one hand, have the olive oil standing by, and keep the spoon firmly in the other hand.  Dump on the flour and start stirring.  Slowly add the oil just until there's enough for the flour to sort of melt away into a thick paste with no clumps of pure flour.  Add your herbs.  I tried to show what the flour compound should look like in the image below, hope it's clear enough.
   
3. Slowly add in the half & half and the tbsp of wine.  Cook to desired thickness, season to taste, and serve immediately.  This stuff continues to thicken (and thicken and thicken), so make sure everything else is ready to go before you whip this sauce up.