Roasted Butternut Squash with Kale and Pecan Topping

I understand it's been a three month hiatus.  It was a very busy holiday season, as I'm sure it was for all of you. Who doesn't feel a little overwhelmed during that time of the year?  But mine was very busy, you see. I started a brand new job the week after Thanksgiving. A great job. The kind I've been looking for, with generous vacation time and health benefits.  Yes sir, I went and got myself a big girl job.

Spicy Pickled Carrots

I spent the early part of my childhood moving around from city to city: born in Oklahoma, grew up young in Arkansas, briefly settled down in Seattle and moved to Texas at the end of my 4th grade year. So it’s no surprise that I (proudly) consider myself a Texan. After all, I did spend the majority of my life living there. Enough with the history lesson however, my point is this: I’m no stranger to Mexican or Tex Mex food. In fact, I was raised on it. My mom always swore, and still does to this day, that she could eat chips and salsa and an enchilada lunch special every day of her life. I feel the same way. It’s something I could just possibly never get sick of. We must have spicy salsa running through our veins… So, with 27 years of eating Mexican food, most often on a weekly basis, it comes as a surprise, to myself and Jon, that I had never heard of Spicy Carrots- that is until I moved to Arizona.

Jon likes to eat breakfast burritos most weekends and we usually get them at cheap, shack like places titled something along the lines of “Fiesta Burrito” or “Super Burrito”- so you know they’re classy. For those in the know, they ask for a side of Spicy Carrots to go along with their egg, cheese and potato burrito. When I first moved here, Jon could see the quizzical look on my face- the one that gave away that I had never been exposed to these tangy, spicy, crunchy pickled carrots. He was in disbelief. How had I, a long time lover of Mexican food, never experienced this traditional Mexican accompaniment?

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

I’ve learned that I need to start prepping for certain holidays weeks in advance for the benefit of this blog.  I would love to feature a dish that would shine during a particular time of year.  I’ve attempted this in the past, but failed rather miserably.  My Christmas Croquembouche was posted Christmas Eve, which didn’t allow near enough time for someone to make their own croquembouche for a Christmas festivity, had they wanted to.   I had planned on making rosy pink macarons for Valentine’s Day… which, as I’m sure you can tell, I did not.   Furthermore, this featured ooey gooey, cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Dip was intended for Super Bowl Sunday.   And if I’m not mistaken, I believe it is now March. Only a month past due.

I can’t beat myself up too much, I guess.   I’ve never been one to be punctual- and you can forget expecting me to be ahead of schedule.   I’d also like to mention that I’m superb at procrastinating or pushing things aside.   Nevertheless, I’m determined to get better.  There is always room for improvement and that’s what I like to think of this blog as: my own personal log of self-advancement. It’s a diary for my growth as an individual.  A place where I can share my thoughts and the current events of my life, as well as tracking the progress I’ve made over time.

For instance, wouldn’t you agree that I’ve improved vastly on my photography skills?   You only need compare my current photos from this post or perhaps this one to the posts when I first began this little blog, with Chicken Milanese or Summer Peach Cupcakes.  I’d also like to think my skills in the kitchen have improved as well.  That’s why I sometimes select recipes that might be a little too involved or over complicated.  I think it’s fun challenging myself to learn a new technique.

So maybe in time for Easter this year I will have posted a stunning leg of lamb recipe for you all to try out in time to serve on Easter Sunday.  After all, recognizing the problem is the first step to self-improvement.

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup low fat sour cream

1/4 cup light mayonnaise (preferably Hellman's)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated parmesan, divided

1 cup jarred pizza sauce

2-3 oz pepperoni slices (I used a mix of regular and mini- the mini slices are just so cute!)

1/4 cup thinly sliced green pepper

2 tbsp sliced black olives

1/4 cup sliced button mushrooms

1 crusty French baguette

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan together in a small bowl, and spread it evenly across the bottom of a 9" pie pan.

2. Spread the pizza sauce on top then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  Top with the pepperoni slices, green pepper, black olives and mushrooms.

3. Bake until the cheese is melted, bubbling and golden brown on top, about 20 minutes.  Serve with a sliced baguette. Enjoy!

Serves 6-8 (or in my case, just Jon and I :-)

Mini Sausage, Fontina, and Bell Pepper Stratas

Where to begin? So much has transpired since my last post (which was well, over a month ago). I spent nearly 3 of those weeks in Hawaii (both Maui and the Big Island) and I will discuss that surreal and unforgettable experience at a later time. (I plan on doing a Hawaiian series, much like my New York one, with pictures and inspired recipes in the very near future). For now however, I would like to talk about the other major event that has recently taken place.  Please indulge me for a moment while I brag on myself. Are you ready for the big news??? Drumroll please.... My recipe for Pumpkin Latté Crème Brûlée (created for this blog and posted last November) has been published in an internationally distributed cookbook!! I submitted this recipe way back in February and quickly found out I was a finalist, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, I began to lose hope in my chances at winning. What a pleasant surprise to find out I was wrong (one of the only circumstances where I will gladly accept and acknowledge the notion of being wrong)!

My recipe was one of 100 selected to be a part of the first grassroots cookbook to emerge from social media. The book, Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs and Voices, was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is available through Amazon (there is also a Kindle version) as of today! So support me, Foodista, and the other 99 featured food bloggers and order your copy today. It's a beautiful book with lots of great recipes (mine, of course, being one of those) and I'm so very proud to be a part of it! 

Alright, enough bragging I suppose. I'll instead talk about the matter at hand: mini sausage stratas. Stratas are one of my favorite ways to prepare a breakfast casserole. As long as you include eggs, milk or cream and bread, you can pretty much throw whatever other ingredients you have on hand into the mix and come up with something tasty and filling. The type of bread is also easily interchangeable. French bread, sandwich bread, english muffins, you name it. The sheer versatility of this dish is why I often suggest it for catering menus. However, some parties I do are less formal, with standing room only, which can make eating with a knife and fork somewhat of a difficult task. So I wanted to create a way for a strata to become hand held, kind of like a muffin. This was actually a rather simple solution and the end result turned out pretty much just as I hoped it would. 

Mini Sausage, Fontina, and Bell Pepper Stratas

Heavily Adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

4 eggs

8 oz half & half

4 oz skim milk

1.5 oz shredded Romano cheese*

¾ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp kosher salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup chopped green onion

¾ lb hot Italian turkey sausage

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

8 oz French bread (about half a loaf), cut into ½-inch cubes

1.5 oz shredded Fontina cheese*

2 oz shredded smoked Fontina cheese*

1 oz shredded cheddar cheese*

chives for garnish

10 foil muffin cups

10 folded tulip muffin cups

*all cheeses are easily substituted, you what you like!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.  Arrange folded muffin cups in a regular size muffin pan. Place a foil muffin cup inside each folded muffin cup (this helps eliminate greasy paper muffin cups).  Whisk first 9 ingredients in a medium sized bowl until well combined; set aside.
2. Place turkey sausage in a large non-stick skillet; push to one side. Add bell pepper to other side of skillet. Sauté over high heat, breaking up sausage with fork, until sausage is cooked through and bell peppers are tender, about 7 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, egg mixture, sausage mixture and Fontina cheeses. Mix with hands to insure bread in thoroughly soaked.  Let stand for 20 minutes or cover and chill overnight.
4. With a large cookie scoop, evenly divide the strata mixture among the 10 prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake until puffed and brown, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool, garnish with chopped chives, and serve.

Makes approximately 10 mini stratas

Stuffed and Grilled Jalapeño Peppers

I have had my eye on the jalapeño grill rack from Sur La Table for quite awhile now, but never had a real reason to buy it- that is until last weekend. Making stuffed and grilled jalapeños part of my Father's Day Menu gave me the perfect excuse to go out and make the purchase. I love jalapeños. Fried, stuffed, sliced, pickled, on top of a taco, wrapped in bacon, puréed in salsa, you name it. I even have several jalapeño plants growing in my new garden in my backyard. I scoured online for different recipes, but never came across one that appealed to my liking. I knew exactly what I wanted from these particular jalapeños. I wanted a creamy cheese filling and plenty of smoke flavor. The grill would take part of the latter. All I had to do was come up with the perfect cheese filling, which I think I managed to come pretty close to. The beauty of cheese stuffed jalapeños though, however, is that any combination of cheeses can be substituted in this recipe to fit your own personal tastes. Give it a Spanish flair by adding Manchego or perhaps try goat cheese. The possibilities are endless really, just remember to pace yourself. 

Stuffed and Grilled Jalapeño Peppers

Ingredients:

18 large jalapeño peppers
6 oz cream cheese, softened
¾ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 clove garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Optional Add-ins:
cooked ground spicy sausage
chopped and sautéed bacon
1/2 cup corn kernels

Directions:

1. Cut ¼- inch off the top of each jalapeño; reserve the tops. Using a thin knife, small melon baller, or pepper corer, hollow out the centers of the peppers, removing the seeds and ribs; do not cut through the flesh.

2. Prepare a grill for indirect grilling over medium-high heat.

3. In a bowl, stir together the cream cheese, Monterey jack, cheddar, green onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the center of each pepper with 1-2 tbsp of the cheese mixture, filling to within 1/8-inch from the top. Place the filled peppers upright in a jalapeño pepper roaster and set the tops back on the peppers.

4. Place the pepper roaster on the grill over indirect heat and cover the grill. Roast the peppers until they are tender and the cheese in melted, about 25-30 minutes.

5. Transfer the peppers to a platter and serve immediately.