Tuesday Tip: How to Roast a Butternut Squash & Brussel Sprouts

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Happy Thanksgiving week!  I’m giving thanks for a wonderful life, a great husband, a close and kind family (which I get to visit with this holiday), my sweet dog Jacques & my friendships. 

I thought I’d bring you a recipe for your Tuesday Tip.  I love roasted vegetables during the Fall and Winter.  They just scream cool crisp days and chilled winter evenings. 

But really the best thing about a roasted vegetable is that you can make it ahead of time for your holiday dinners.  In fact, I’ve been known to make several different types of roasted vegetables the night before, store in the fridge, then bring them to room temperature and serve.  How’s them apples? 

The second best thing about serving a roasted vegetable is that you can serve it at room temperature.  It’s a fail safe on both “best things”; not too mention time saving.  Oh, yeah! 

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded & cut into 1” pieces
3C brussel sprouts, stem trimmed, large brussels cut in half
1C extra virgin olive oil
1Tbsp salt
3tsp fresh ground pepper

Process

Pre-heat oven 350°

Place butternut squash on one sheet pan.  Place brussel sprouts on another sheet pan. Gently drizzle half of the olive oil over butternut squash and half of the seasoning (salt & pepper). Repeat  process for brussel sprouts.  Mix thoroughly so that all vegetable pieces are surrounded by olive oil and seasoning. Take both sheet pans and place them in the oven on the top and center shelves.  Roast for up to 40 minutes (checking doneness at 10 minute intervals) or until you are able to stick a skewer through the vegetables; they should be soft all the way through.  Serve immediately.  Or store in a tightly lidded container in the fridge. 

Yields up to 12 side servings.

Note:  You can store vegetables up to 4 days in the fridge. This recipe’s technique can be used for most vegetables.

Friday Food Find: A Holiday Egg, Cheese, Potato & Essence of Truffle Breakfast Casserole

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After that mouthful of descriptive words, I’m actually going to say this and own it, “I LOVE a good breakfast casserole!”

And isn’t it just a cat’s meow for a holiday season? Why? Because you can make, cook and freeze it well in advance. When you are ready for it just take it out of the freezer, thaw and bring it to room temperature. Finally, pop it back into the oven to warm through.

How fab is that?

This one came my way when I started researching and teaching tapas classes. It is a take on a traditional Spanish potato tapa which I found, many years ago, in a Penelope Casas cookbook, “Tapas: The little Dishes of Spain” It’s a keeper; especially for a super busy holiday season. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 eggs
2C heavy whipping cream
1Tbsp of white truffle Oil
1Tbsp of thyme leaves
Salt and Pepper
Cooking oil or spray
3C of frozen hash browns (see roasting process below)
1 C Cheddar cheese, shredded
½ C Mozzarella, shredded

Process

Preheat oven 350°.

In a medium bowl beat eggs, cream, truffle oil and herbs together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spray one 9”x13” Pyrex dish or cake pan with cooking oil. Evenly distribute roasted potatoes in dish or pan. Do the same with the cheese. Pour egg mixture over potatoes and cheese. Place in oven and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes or until egg mixture does not wiggle and is golden in color. Check every 10 minutes. Take out of oven when done and let set 5-10 minutes. Run a paring knife between the outside edge of the omelet and the inside edge of the dish or pan to loosen. Then slice into squares and serve immediately.

Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

3C of waxy potatoes (red bliss or Yukon gold), diced in to ½” pieces (or frozen hashbrowns)
2tsp of kosher salt
1tsp of fresh ground pepper
2-3tsp of extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven 350°.

In a medium size bowl mix all ingredients together thoroughly so that the olive oil, salt and pepper coat the potatoes. Place oiled and seasoned potatoes on to a medium sheet pan. Distribute evenly over the pan surface. Place in the oven on the middle shelf. Roast until potatoes are gold and soft through. This will take up to 20 minutes. Check at 10 minute intervals. When roasted remove from the oven and let cool. Now they are ready for the omelet.

Note: You may use seasoned hashbrowns. If you do, cut back on the seasonings in the recipe.

Friday Food Find: Cranberry Sauce

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It’s the Holiday’s…with a capital H!  OMG! In just a little over a week some of us are going to be sitting down to a table full of turkey and fixin’s.  It has only been as an adult have I come to like, enjoy and even crave one this holiday’s most precious accouterments: cranberry sauce.  Oh, the beet colored, jelly shaking, tin can indented blob of what some may call cranberry sauce still exists.  In fact it’s what I grew up with and most probably why I didn’t appreciate how wonderful it could really be.  You know, I’m not judging, I’m just saying, “There’s another way; and, it takes 3 ingredients (1 optional) and no cooking what-so-ever”.  I don’t imagine you can beat that.  Can you?  Here’s the recipe. Hopefully, this will be you most joyous holiday Friday Food Find evah! I know it’s been mine.

Ingredients

1 bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed & gently patted dry (does not have to be perfectly dry)
1 small to medium size, seedless orange, cut into 6 pieces (however you want to do it) leaving the skin on
up to 1Tbsp of sugar (I use raw)

Process

Place cranberries and orange pieces into a food processor.  Begin processing until all ingredients come together to form a pureed relish type consistency (see picture).  Taste.  If the mixture is too bitter add suger a little at a time (processing in-between & scraping down sides of processor) until the sweet level is perfect for you.  This may take more that a tablespoon.  The sweeter the orange the less sugar you will need or at all. 

Use a spatula to remove cranberry sauce from processor.  Place into a container you can seal tightly.  It will last up to 1 week.

Yields up to 10 small servings. 

Tuesday Tip: A Perfectly Roasted Tomato

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Tomato season is so over here in Central Texas. But boy oh boy do I have a craving. And the truth is you can buy tomatoes at your grocer that are actually quite good - even out of season. Buying tomatoes out of season may be blasphemous to some of my colleagues. And I understand but sometimes you must satisfy that craving. So here’s how I do it.

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This is actually a technique I’ve been teaching to students for years. The basic standard is, “If you buy out of season, in this case tomatoes,  you’ll get the best flavor by roasting them”.  And you get the best flavor by roasting because it brings out the sugars which in turn caramelize leaving you with a sweet harmony of flavor that’s irresistible.  Ready for a perfectly roasted tomato? 

Ingredients

5 medium Roma tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2C of dried or fresh basil (if using fresh tear gently into small pieces)
2Tbls of extra virgin olive oil
3tsp of salt (I use kosher)
1 1/2tsp of fresh ground pepper
Pre-heat oven 300F

Process

Clean tomatoes, pat dry, remove stem and slice lengthwise into 4 even pieces.

Take sliced tomatoes and place them on a parchment papered sheet pan. Be sure to use a pan that has a lip around each edge so that the tomato juices to not drip when cooking.

Drizzle olive oil over each tomato slice. Sprinkle basil, salt & pepper over all the tomato slices.  Make sure each tomato slice has a little bit of every ingredient.  Place tomatoes into pre-heated oven on the middle rack. 

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Roast for up to 1.5 hours or until the tomatoes begin to carmelize (see the “browning” in the picture). 

Check your tomatoes every 15 minutes.  You can take them further than I did.  It’s really a preference.  Take the tomatoes out of the oven.  Let them cool.

Serve with any salad or by themselves.  At my house I can’t keep them around at all.  However, refrigerated they will keep well up to 1 week.

Enjoy this weeks Tuesday Tip: a perfectly roasted tomato!