To everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn)

It’s soup weather!

You know, sometimes it’s snowball weather, and sometimes it’s crawfish weather. Well this weekend, it was soup weather. When I woke up Sunday morning and remembered that it was my turn to cook a meal of new recipes, I knew I didn’t have a choice. The weatherman planned my menu for me. It was sunny and cool with a high chance of soup, he said.

Now when it came time to decide what kind of soup I would make, I turned to the calendar. As a price-conscious recent college grad/newly wed, one thing I’ve become very aware of is what produce is in season. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll buy some things year around – especially certain fruits that I snack on like strawberries – but when it comes to vegetables, I make the sometimes-failed attempt to buy in season. Every week my husband asks me if asparagus are in season yet. (They’re not, if you’re wondering, and won’t be until spring.)

So one week after Halloween, what am I going to cook? Pumpkin, of course!

Pumpkin is similar to squash in that when used fresh, it needs to be cut in half and roasted for a while before the useable part can be removed and added to the dish, so if you’re in a time crunch, canned pumpkin will suffice. (It’s found on the baking aisle next to the pie fillings, but make sure you’re not grabbing canned pumpkin pie filling – definitely not the same thing.)

Pumpkin can be a very overbearing flavor if a recipe is too concentrated with it, but I turned to my Bayou Gourmet Cookbook to find something with just the right balance of pumpkin and local flair. So yesterday the winner of the soup, salad, and vegetables section’s Pumpkin and Crabmeat Bisque filled our bowls… and our bellies.

For dessert, I tried another recipe from my Chocolate for Breakfast cookbook from Napa Valley – Triple-Threat Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. No, zucchini are not in season, but they are relatively inexpensive regardless of the date. During winter, however, they tend to be much smaller often too soft, so you may have to search through and squeeze every last one – pulling a Sookie St. James – but it’s worth it to get a good veggie.

The muffins turned out scrumptious. (My mom had two despite the nutmeg in the batter!) I will probably leave out the ground cloves next time, but with or without the robust spice this unique dessert and/or breakfast recipe is a keeper.

Pumpkin and Crabmeat Bisque

[From: 35^th Anniversary Bayou Gourmet Cookbook; Recipe by Todd Manno]

Serves 10-12

For stock:

1 package frozen gumbo crabs or 6 fresh-cleaned small crabs, if available

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ounce brandy

1 medium onion, cut in half with skin on

1 bulb garlic, cut in half

2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

10 peppercorns

2 quarts water

For bisque:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups fresh sugar pumpkin pureé or canned pumpkin may be used

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth

6 cups crab stock

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Dash of hot sauce

1 pound lump or white crabmeat

1 teaspoon sour cream for garnish per serving

Cumin for garnish

To make pumpkin pureé, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut sugar pumpkin in half and remove stem, seeds and pulp. Coat with vegetable oil and cover with foil. Bake skin side down for 90 minutes. Allow to cool 30 minutes. Scrape meat from shell and discard the shell. Pureé in a blender or food processor and set aside. Excess can be frozen for future use.

To create stock, chop crabs and claws into small pieces. In a heavy saucepan over high heat, add the vegetable oil and crab pieces and cook until edges start to brown.

Lower the heat to medium and add brandy. Allow the alcohol to boil away, approximately 30 seconds. Add onions, garlic, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and water, and raise heat to high until water begins to boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the stock and discard the solids and set the stock aside.

To prepare the bisque, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add flour before butter turns brown. Make a blonde roux stirring constantly for approximately five minutes. Add pumpkin pureé and stir frequently for about five minutes allowing the pumpkin to come up to temperature. Add the garlic and stir for about one minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.

Add the wine and stir for about 30 seconds and allow the alcohol to burn off. Add stock one cup at a time, stirring occasionally, and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Add heavy cream, green onions, salt, white pepper, cumin and hot sauce, and bring back to a simmer over medium heat. Add crabmeat and stir in gently. Adjust the seasoning to taste. [I did find that the bisque needed a good bit of salt, so be sure to taste it and adjust the seasoning before serving. I know many of us often skip this step.]

Ladle soup into hot bowl and garnish with one teaspoon sour cream and sprinkle liberally with cumin.

Triple-Threat Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

[From Chocolate for Breakfast by Barbara Passino]

Makes 18 standard muffins

3 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips [I use semi-sweet.]

1 cup chocolate nibs or substitute chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamias) [I left this out and just put an extra half cup of chocolate chips.]

 

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix the milk, eggs, oil and sugar together and add to the dry ingredients. Add zucchini, chips and nibs and mix just until blended. Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes until the top bounces back when tapped lightly with your finger.

Hello, again. Hello.

I know what you’re all thinking. Why would you start a blog and then not post anything for almost a month??

I admit the commencement of my blog had bad timing. Shortly after my first posts, my husband and I began the process of buying a home, so our evenings and weekends have been filled with painting, floor installation, cabinet staining and more. For the last month, my free time switched from Food Network to HGTV.

But I'm back! The past several evenings have focused on a louder calling than my impending home-ownership – the growl of my stomach.

Sunday nights returned to their usual culinary adventures chez Mom, and that is where our tale begins.

My parents took a trip to Napa several weeks ago and returned with a wonderful cookbook for me. The title – Chocolate for Breakfast. Do they know me, or what?

Ever since, I’ve been itching to try some of the delectable (and not all chocolate) recipes. Attempt/Adventure number 1 was Butternut Squash Ravioli with Black Walnut Brown-Butter Sauce.

Now, there are two things you should know about my “weekend cooking adventures”.

First: my mother and I have a rule about trying new recipes. Try the recipe as is. Use all the ingredients and follow every direction and see what happens. After you’ve tasted the original, then make your changes. Soup too liquidy? Make a note to add less broth next time. Not enough seasoning on your chicken? Make a note to add or increase that ingredient. I absolutely recommend this to all of you.

95 percent of the time, we follow this rule, but as with most rules, we have our exceptions. For my mother, it is nutmeg. For me, it is expensive ingredients (prosciutto, hazelnuts, pancetta, etc.) or ingredients that aren’t always readily available in home sweet Houma. It doesn’t happen often, but in this case, of course it did.

The second thing you should know is that these adventures occasionally induce freak-outs, and by occasionally, I mean always. This particular instance included two freak-outs.

Freak-out number one: Rouses is out of butternut squash??!!? But I’m making butternut squash ravioli?!!? How am I supposed to make butternut squash ravioli without butternut squash!??! I guess we’ll just order pizza. [Did I mention that my freak-outs tend to conclude with completely ridiculous resignations?]

After wandering around Rouses for half an hour trying to decide what to do, I throw in the towel on my rule for this recipe and decide to just go with a different kind of squash. ‘Tis the season for winter squash, so I looked through what was available and settled on one called sweet dumpling squash. I know that butternut squash has a sweet taste, and these look pretty, so I go with it.

Through my experiences with substituting winter squash [re: the squash cake freak-out of 2009], I’ve determined that, while I’m sure they have specific differences, they can be interchanged when necessary.

As I go through the recipe, step by detailed step, I start to feel pretty good about the dish. The squash and goat cheese filling is smelling delicious. The ravioli are coming together pretty well. As they come out of the boiling water they look appetizing. It isn’t until we sit down at the table to eat that I experience freak-out number two.

My ravioli are sticking together. I’m trying to use a slotted spoon, as instructed, to serve them, and the pasta is keeping them glued together. Just before I resort to ordering pizza for the second time in one recipe, my mom recommends serving it like lasagna rather than like individual ravioli, so we scooped it out in casserole-serving fashion. Second disaster averted. (Thanks, Mom.)

While it wasn’t the most beautiful dish I’ve made, it was delicious. I’ll be tweaking it for the next time around, perhaps using eggroll wrappers rather than wonton wrappers to add more substance and hopefully prevent sticking, but I certain will be cooking it again.

For my cooks of quick and simple recipes, I paired the ravioli dish with a very simple but flavorful tilapia dish, which has become a favorite of my husband. Tilapia with Balsamic Browned Butter is a Rachael Ray recipe that I first saw on (shock of shocks) Food Network, and – as with most of her recipes – I haven’t made any changes.

My only note is to be sure that you let the oil get hot enough before trying to cook the fish. Use the flour test: drop a tiny bit of flour into the hot oil. If it sizzles, it is hot enough; if it doesn’t, let it continue to heat. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the fish will stick and then fall apart.

And with that, my “weekend adventure cooking” comes to an end for this Sunday. Next Sunday is Mom’s turn, so I’ll be returning to the quick, the painless, and the inexpensive for my next entrée. 

Recipes:

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Black Walnut Brown-Butter Sauce

[From: Chocolate for Breakfast by Barbara Passino]

Makes 30 ravioli/Serves 6 to 7

Ravioli filling ingredients:

2-pound butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded. [Remember, I used 2 sweet dumpling squash.]

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium onion chopped, (about 1 ½ cups)

1 garlic clove minced

5 sage leaves, finely chopped (or substitute 1 ½ tsp ground sage)

1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves finely chopped (or substitute ½ teaspoon dried thyme)

½ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper

3 ounces aged goat cheese, crumbled (or substitute ricotta)

Additional ingredients:

60 wonton wrappers, or gyoza or potsticker wrappers [This can be found in the produce section of most grocery stores, and yes Rouses does carry it.]

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter

1/3 cup black walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped coarsely

TO PREPARE THE FILLING

Preheat the oven to 425° F and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Cut the squash in half and place it on the baking sheet, cut side down. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the flesh is very tender when you poke it with a fork. Let it cool a few minutes so you don’t hurt your hands, and then scoop out the insides and throw away the skin. Place the squash in a mixing bowl and mash it with a fork.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the onion, garlic, sage and thyme, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the onion is golden and soft. Add salt and pepper.

Add the onion mixture to the squash along with the goat cheese and mix together with a spoon.

TO PREPARE THE RAVIOLI

Put 3 wonton wrappers on a work surface, lightly dusted with flour. Place a tablespoon of the squash filling in the center of each wrapper, and then lightly brush the perimeter with water and press a second wrapper on top, pushing out any air bubbles and sealing the edges. If you have a round ravioli cutter, you can trim the edges of the dough, but it’s not necessary. Place the ravioli on a towel to dry a bit while you continue making the remaining ravioli.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the black walnuts. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3 minutes, and immediately remove the pan from the heat. Add salt and pepper and keep the black walnut butter warm and covered.

In a large pot, add 1 teaspoon of salt to 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Cook 10 ravioli at a time in gently boiling water for 5 minutes, or until they rise to the surface and are tender. Carefully remove cooked ravioli with a slotted spoon and place them on a plate with a small amount of the hot cooking water to keep them warm until the rest are finished.

Lift them with a slotted spoon and serve 5 to a plate, topped with the brown-butter sauce.

Tilapia with Balsamic Browned Butter

[From: Rachael Ray, Food Network]

This recipe also includes a pasta dish that I didn’t care for. The fish, however, was wonderful, so I’ve continued to make it, pairing it with other sides.

Ingredients:

4 (6- to 8-ounce tilapia fillets) [Walmart and Sam’s has them frozen individually, very convenient and reasonably priced.]

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of butter

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

EVOO

Directions:

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Dust fish with flour and shake off excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. [Remember: make sure it gets hot enough or else the fish will stick!] Cook fish 4 minutes on each side.

Remove fish from skillet to a platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Reduce heat to medium and add butter to pan. Brown butter, 2 to 3 minutes, stir in balsamic vinegar and simmer 1 to 2 minutes to reduce by half. Pour the brown butter and vinegar over fish.

Boom Boom Pow

Recently I’ve been experimenting with recipes from a cookbook I found called Rice Cooker Meals. Because the author and publisher is from Louisiana, many of the recipes are Louisiana favorites – jambalayas, crawfish and shrimp pastas, sauce piquantes, etc. The cool (and very obvious, given the name of the cookbook) twist is that all of the recipes are cooked entirely in a rice cooker, requiring only about half an hour to cook.

My first try, a shrimp fettuccini, led me to the realization that my rice cooker is too small. While mine is perfect for making enough rice for a couple of people, most of the recipes require the regular 8-cup or larger size. After consulting my mom (a very common occurrence when I’m in the kitchen), I cooked it on the stove, using the cooking method of a rice cooker. So even if you don't own a rice cooker, you can take advantage of this creative cookbook.

I picked a pot that has a little lip so that when covered the steam can escape just as it would in a rice cooker. (If you don't have a pot like this, you can set the lid so there is still a crack. I've used a metal binder clip on the side of the pot to create this crack in between the pot and the lid.) I followed the recipe’s instructions, set the stove on high, and when the food began to boil, I put the lid on, lowered the temperature to medium-low (low, but still boiling), and set the timer for the amount of time the recipe says the rice cooker takes. And voila! My makeshift rice cooker worked like a charm, and the meal was a success!

Today’s try was a recipe for Black-eyed Pea, Chicken Breast, and Turkey Burger Jambalaya. According to the author, this recipe is the perfect representation of his cookbook – using ingredients he has on hand to whip up something quick and delicious. And for me this was exactly true. I only chose the recipe because I happen to have all the ingredients. I once again used my makeshift rice cooker, threw the ingredients in, and crossed my fingers while it cooked up. 

When the timer buzzed and the liquid still hadn’t quite boiled out to the jambalaya consistency I was looking for, I just took the lid off and let it cook on low for another 5 or so minutes.

Yum. One of the best things about this cookbook is the Louisiana flair, so the dishes all turn out with the zest of Cajun cooking that has us packing Tony’s in our carry-on when we travel. If you didn’t get the love-for-spicy-food gene or if you’re from the North, you can adjust this recipe with the kind of Rotel you buy (go for mild or get plain diced tomatoes without green chilies), how you season the meat (stick with salt and pepper or something without the cayenne like Cavender’s Greek Seasoning).

Recipe: Black-eyed Pea, Chicken Breast, and Turkey Burger Jambalaya

[From Rice Cooker Meals: Fast Home Cooking for Busy People by Neal Bertrand]

1 (12-oz.) chicken breast, diced

1 turkey burger patty, crumbled

1 tsp. Cajun or Creole seasoning, or to taste

1 tbsp. plus 1/2 stick butter, chopped

1 (15.5-oz.) can black-eyed peas with jalapenos, with liquid

1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, with liquid

1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) uncooked medium-grain white rice

1 cup water

Season chicken and turkey with Cajun seasoning; brown in skillet or rice cooker with one tablespoon butter. Add with all remaining ingredients to the rice cooker, stir well, cover and press down COOK switch. Once meal is cooked, and the COOK switch pops up to WARM mode, let is stand covered 10-15 minutes before serving.

Cooked for 30 minutes and made up to the 6-cup level.

Welcome to the Jungle

I’ll start this off with the phrase my friends and family often hear when I serve a new dish:

I’m not making any promises.

I’m no cooking expert, and I don’t pretend to be. I’m just a girl from South Louisiana who likes food. OK, so that’s a lie. I LOVE food. And I also happen to love to cook, which is not always the case when you love food (e.g. my husband).

As a first-year teacher, first-year wife, and first-year off my parent’s bank roll, my cooking tends to be on the less-expensive, less-time consuming end of the spectrum during the week, leaving the weekends for an occasional culinary adventure.

So if you are looking for delicious recipes, be they quick and easy to make and with simple ingredients that are probably already in your pantry or the more adventurous, I’ve-just-been-watching-Top-Chef recipes – this blog is for you.