Pumpkin Pot Pie

I know, I know, I missed yesterday. Was busy killing dragons... but on the plus side, all content cleared in Wrath! Woo! Anyway: Pumpkin Pot Pie.

Pumpkin Pot Pie
Ease 4

Needed:
1 small pumpkin or butternut squash. You're looking for something about the size of a volleyball
2 Russet-Burbank potatoes
1 sweet potato
2 carrots
8 oz chorizo sausage
2 Cups kale (about 5 large leaves)
salt
pepper
1 sheet puff pastry OR 1 package Pillsbury dinner rolls (the kind in the cardboard tube that pops open)

Heat your oven to 450.

If you're using a pumpkin, cut a hole in the top and scoop out the seeds and pulp, like you're making a jack-o'lantern, then cut in half. If you're using butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and pulp.

Cover every exposed inch of squash with a light coating of oil (olive oil or vegetable oil). Place cut-side-down in a baking tray and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. The skin will start to brown/blacken and you should be able to easily pierce it with a knife. Turn the oven down to 350

Take the roasted squash out of the oven and let it cool. In the meantime, peel the sweet potato, chorizo (if you use the kind with casing) and carrots.

Chop the sweet potato, regular potatoes, carrots and chorizo into 1/2 inch sections. Put into a 9x9 baking dish.

The pumpkin should be cool enough to handle now, so discard the rind (it should be pulling away from the flesh easily at this point) and put the flesh into a food processor or blender. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to the pumpkin and puree until very smooth (it'll take about a minute).

Pour the pureed pumpkin into the baking dish.

Rise the kale and tear it into bite-sized pieces. You'll want to throw away the stems, they're really tough. Just keep the curly leaf bits. Layer the kale on top of the pumpkin puree.

Unroll the puff pastry/dinner rolls onto a floured surface (flour is much more needed for the puff pastry than the rolls). Roll it out gently, pinching together any seams in the dough.

Place the dough on top of the baking dish. It's ok if the edges hang over, just make sure they won't be touching the wire rack of the oven.

Put the baking dish into the 350 oven for 20 minutes. The dough should be cooked through and turning golden brown. Scoop into dishes and enjoy!

Chorizo Paella

Chorizo is a type of Mexican sausage. You can get it either fresh or cured, in casings or not in casings. If you do get it in the casing, the casing itself is usually not very good to eat, so you can peel it off.  Cut the tip of the sausage off with a knife, then peel the waxy paper away.
Ease: 2

Needed:
2Cups rice (not the quick-cook kind)
3 Russet-Burbank potatoes (the generic brown kind)
8oz chorizo sausage
1 can black beans
1 medium onion
1 cup frozen corn
4 1/2 Cups water (or, if you're feeling fancy, 2Cups chicken or beef stock and 2 1/2 Cups water)
Paprika
Cilantro - 1tsp dry, 1/4Cup fresh
Salt
Black Pepper
Chili Powder (optional)
Grated Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Sour Cream (also optional)

In your largest pan (or a medium pot) combine the rice and water (or water/stock).

Dice your potatoes into 1inch cubes and add to the pan

Peel your chorizo if necessary, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick and add to pan

Peel the papery outer coating off the onion and slice in half top-to-bottom. Take each half (cut side down) and slice 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick slices of onion, and add to pan.

Open the can of beans, drain (but don't rinse) and add to pan

Add the frozen corn to the pan

Add 1Tbsp paprika, 1tsp cilantro, 1/4tsp salt, 1/2tsp black pepper and 1/4tsp chili powder. This makes a very mild paella - if you like hot foods, add more chili powder

Turn the stove on medium-high and cover. Cook the mixture for 20 minutes.

Serve, topping with grated cheese and sour cream, if that's your thing. I'm lactose-intolerant, so I skip them.

Perch in Tamarind Sauce

I know, I already posted a recipe for today, but I just made this for dinner and it was SO GOOD I wanted to post the recipe before I forgot it.

Perch and Tamarind Sauce
Ease: 3 (but time-consuming)

Need: 1/4 of a block pre-husked tamarind
Ginger
Allspice
Salt
Water
Perch fillets
Butter
Sugar - I used brown, but I bet white or raw would be fine.  I think I'm going to try agave nectar next time

Sauce - seed the tamarind by putting the block in about 2Cups of water and swishing it around.  You'll need to remove the seeds manually by tearing off the outer husks, but the water helps a lot.

Put the water-tamarind mixture into a saucepan on high heat. Add about 1Tbsp powdered ginger (or a bit of ginger root), 1/2 tsp allspice and 1/2 tsp salt. Add sugar. I think I probably used a half cup? Such are the woes of not measuring.

Boil down, testing and adding sugar as needed for 10 minutes or until the sauce is about the consistency of gravy, or a cream-of-whatever soup.

Pour sauce into a blender and blend until smooth

Saute the perch fillets in 1Tbsp butter for about 3 minutes each side.

Serve over wild long-grain rice and a side of broccoli

Baked Ziti - a lazy lasagna

Baked Ziti - a staple of buffets everywhere. You'll need a batch of tomato sauce - check out the side page for how to make that.
Ease: 2

Need:
Tomato Sauce - a three-can variation of the Tomato Sauce in the sidebar
An appropriate pasta - you'll want something tubular. Ziti, Mosticolli, Rigatoni, Penne all work just fine
Block of Mozzarella cheese
16oz Ricotta cheese
1 egg

Pre-heat oven to 350

In a medium pot, boil the pasta according to the directions. I like my pasta on the al-dente side (Italian for 'with bite'. It's slightly less-done than 'normal' and yields a bit more of a chewy texture), so I usually only cook it for 8 minutes.

Drain pasta in a colander.

You can use either an 8x12 or two 8x8 baking dishes. Either case, pasta goes in the baking dish. Ladle most of the sauce into the dish with the pasta, reserving about 1 1/2 cups for later.

In a separate bowl, crack the egg and beat slightly. Add the Ricotta cheese and mix thoroughly.

Add the Ricotta-egg mixture to the pasta and sauce and stir thoroughly.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. While this is cooking, grate about half the block of Mozzarella cheese.

Take the aluminum foil off the baked ziti and sprinkle the grated Mozzarella on top. Put back in the oven, crank the heat up to 400 and cook for 10-15 minutes. The cheese on top should get bubbly and start to brown.

Scoop onto a plate, top with extra sauce if you want and enjoy.

Scotch Eggs

Here we go - Scotch Eggs and Hash.  I served this with a bit of oatmeal, but plain oatmeal is not very tasty

Scotch Eggs - serves 2

Hardboil 2 eggs: Fill a medium saucepan with water.  Bring the water to a full boil.  Using a slotted spoon, gently place 2 eggs into the water.  Boil for 9 minutes.  Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and stick in the refrigerator to cool.

Mix Sausage: 1/2 pound ground turkey, 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 pepper, 2 tsp sage, 1 tsp onion powder.  Dump in a bowl and squish around with your hands until thoroughly mixed.

 Peel eggs: When they're cool enough to handle, tap gently on a counter to crack the shell.  Peel the eggshell off and discard, then run under cool water to wash off any eggshell grit

Wrap eggs in sausage: Grab 1/4 of the sausage mixture and make a round patty.  It should be about the thickness of your pinkie. Place an egg in the center of the patty.  Take another 1/4 of the sausage mixture and shape it into a patty.  Place it on top of the egg.  Pick the whole thing up and gently mush the sausage edges together, wrapping the egg. 

Dredge the monstrosity: Put 1 cup of flour onto a plate.  Put 1 cup of breadcrumbs onto another plate. Crack an egg (raw this time!) into a bowl and beat with 1 Tbsp of water. Roll the sausage-egg thing in the flour, then dip in the egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs.

Fry 'em: Put a medium saucepan over medium heat. Fill it about halfway with oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola) and wait for it to heat up (should be fine in about 8 minutes.  If the oil starts to smoke, it's too hot). Make sure the saucepan is *completely* dry when you're doing this or the water will explode and splash boiling oil all over. Place the sausage-eggs GENTLY into the hot oil  and fry for 3 minutes.  If it's not a deep enough pan, rotate the sausage-egg and cook 3 minutes on each side.

Drain: Remove the eggs from the oil with a slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.

HASH

Potatoes: Put a small pot of water on to boil. Slice 2 Russet-Burbank potatoes into 1-inch chunks and dump in the water. Bring the water and potatoes to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. The potatoes should still be a bit on the firm side.  Drain the water out.

Onion: Put 1.5 tsp of oil into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slice a small yellow onion in half and take off the outer paper.  Put the flat side down and chop into small pieces, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Put the onion into the oil and cook on medium-low for 5 minutes

Assemble the hash: Put the potatoes into the oil with the onion. Take half a cabbage head and chop into pieces about 1 inch. Add 1/4 cup water and the cabbage to the onion and potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Hash goes on the plate, Scotch Eggs get sliced in half lengthwise (so you can see the pretty yellow yolk) and placed on top of the hash.