Showing posts with label meal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meal. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup



 My favorite seasons are Fall and Winter. There are so many wonderful things that happen during this time of year. The holidays are just around the corner. It's a wonderful time to spend with family and friends, giving thanks to God for all His wonderful blessings and faithfulness to us. It's a fabulous time of year!

What's also wonderful is the weather. I love when the weather changes, the fog rolls in and the air is crisp and bright. This type of weather is perfect for  good comforting soups. One of the most delicious of soups is Butternut Squash Soup. It's velvety texture wraps your taste buds in a cozy blanket. Though this soup taste absolutely decadent it's not, unless you add cream then that's a different story. I wanted a very hearty yet healthy soup, so i bypassed the cream.  It's amazing how simple this soup was to make. There is some time involved because you're roasting the sqaush, but it's so worth the time. There is so much flavor in this soup and the color alone is enticing.

This soup is wonderful as an entree or side. If you want a more richer soup add cream. If you want completely vegetarian, use vegetable stock. Make it your own! Slip into those cozy pajamas and find comfort in this beautiful bowl of soup!

Buen Provecho!

Preheat oven 425F. Cut in half & scoop out the seeds.

Place on a lined baking sheet. I forgot to and I paid the cleaning price!

Season with thyme, salt & pepper. Roast for 50-60 minutes. Put carrots in half way through the cooking time, otherwise they will burn. Learned the hard way on that one, had to cut off the burnt parts. :0

Scoot out roasted flesh and set aside.

Add olive oil to a large pot. Add onions and saute until transparent, 5 mins.

Add roasted squash, carrots and sag leaves.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Blend in batches until smooth.  Add more broth if soup is too thick. Your preference. :)

Nice and velvety!

A delicious bowl of goodness! Garnish with parmesan cheese or a splash of cream. I added a sage leaf just for contrast for the photo. : 0

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash (about 3 1/2 lbs)
2 small carrots
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp thyme, dried
3-4 fresh sage leaves, whole
4-5 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 Tbsp Olive oil
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese to garnish

Road Map:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds into a bowl. Reserve to roast later for a healthy treat!

2. Place squash cut-side up on baking sheet and drizzle & spread with olive oil. Season with thyme, salt and pepper.  Roast for 50-60 minutes. Add carrots during the last 30 minutes of cooking, otherwise the will burn.

3. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the tender squash and set aside. Add olive oil to a large pan. Add diced onions and saute (5 minutes), season with salt and pepper. Once onions are transparent add squash, carrots, sage leaves and chicken broth.

4. Bring to a boil , reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

5. Use immersion blender to blend soup or pour soup in batches into a blender until smooth. Pour back into pot. If consistency is too thick, add more broth. Season to taste. Add a pinch of nutmeg.

6. Enjoy!


Friday, July 18, 2014

Chicken Katsu

My husband and I love eating from our local L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. If you're not familiar with it, it's a chain restaurant that serves up local Hawaiian dishes. One of my husband's favorite lunch plates is Chicken Katsu. What's not to love?! It's juicy, crispy and served with a delicious sweet & tart sauce. I love their Katsu sauce, you'll learn that I'm a BIG sauce fame. I would be happy with a bowl of practically any sauce and some bread. Returning from that white rabbit hole, Chicken Katsu is simply a Japanese style fried chicken. There is no brine, soaking or deep frying involved, like Southern fried chicken, but the end result is still crispy chicken that's delicious.

Hawaii is known for their lunch plates. The plate consists of a protein, rice and macaroni salad. It's probably not the healthiest in the world, but it's oh so delicious! So to stick with tradition, I'm serving it up Hawaiian style. No need to fix what's not broken.  Aloha!

Cut off excess fat. Salt & Pepper chicken on both sides.

Prepare breading station

Flour, tap off excess.

Dip in egg, tap off excess.

Cover well in panko. We want it crispy!

Add to oil. When putting in oil place away from yourself to avoid oil splattering on you.

It's getting there!

Almost...

Golden brown and delicious!

Come and eat!



Buen Provecho!

Chicken Katsu - yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 Thigh, skinless boneless
1/2 cup flour
1 Egg
1 cup Panko
Salt n Pepper
Oil for pan frying

Katsu Sauce:
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup SoySauce
1/4 cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Road Map:

1. Make sauce. Combine Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, sugar & soy sauce.

2. Heat oil in a pan.

3. Set up breading station. Add flour, whisked egg and panko in separate plates/bowls.

5. Salt & pepper chicken on both sides. Bread chicken in flour, egg then panko.

6. Pan fry chicken, cooking 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown, making sure chicken is cook through.

7. Serve with rice, macaroni salad and katsu sauce.

8. Enjoy! 









Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Pasta Carbonara



 My hubby's favorite cuisine is Italian. He loves spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, ravioli, tortellini, particularly any pasta dish. He had never had carbonara. This is a crime. He needed to try this deliciously creamy dish. One of the many things I love about carbonara is that you don't need tons of ingredients. Spaghetti, garlic, bacon, parmesan and eggs are the basics. Traditionally in place of bacon is pancetta, but I love the smokiness of the bacon. The other liberty I've taken is added cilantro in place of parsley. I'm Latina and I love cilantro, it's my parsley, but feel free to use what you like, that's the best part of cooking you get to be creative!  

Regardless of what herb or bacon you use this dish is the most decadent plate of pastas I've had. I recently got the opportunity to visit Rome, bucket list check, and had the pleasure of tasting Carbonara in it's home country and it was amazing! This recipe brings me back.

Carbonara is a simple dish with a bit of technique, nothing hard I promise.  Just follow the road map and you to will find yourself in Rome.

Buen Provecho!


Spaghetti
garlic, 1-2 cloves

Egg Mixture, eggs, parmesan, salt, pepper

The best sound, crisping bacon.

Lovely bits of goodness.

Creamy Carbonara. Yum!!




Pasta Carbonara: yields 4 serving

Ingredients:

1lb spaghetti
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1-2 garlic, minced
4-5 slices of bacon, chopped
handful of Cilantro & Parsley, chopped
Salt n Pepper to taste

Road Map:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2.  Place a small pan over medium heat. Crisp up bacon and drain bacon on paper towel. Reserve bacon fat.

3. When water comes to a roaring boil add a handful salt and spaghetti. This is your only chance to season the spaghetti. Cook until al dente,  about 7-10 minutes.

4. In a bowl mix eggs, Parmesan, salt, pepper and herbs. Set aside.

5. Once spaghetti is done, reserve 1 cup of spaghetti water, drain pasta.

6. With a microplane grate garlic to pan with bacon fat, careful not to burn garlic. You only want to infuse fat with garlic.

7. Add spaghetti to bacon fat making sure to cover each strain with bacon fat. Remove from heat. 

8. Whisk a 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water to eggs, this tempers the eggs to avoid scrambled eggs.

9. Add egg mixture into spaghetti and coat. Add reserved bacon & serve.

10. Sprinkle chopped herbs & extra parmesan if you like.

11. Enjoy!! Buen Provecho!