Personal Favorite Fall Recipe Roundup

My blogger friend, Stacey (of Stacey Snacks), left a comment a couple of posts ago that I should rename my blog "The Weekend Cook".   For those of you who are new to my blog, I wish you a warm welcome.  My two year anniversary is coming up at the end of this month, and I am planning a celebration/giveaway.  Until this July, I was blogging several times a week.  Everything has changed, since I'm at a new school site, working at an Adult School. That means I'm working a split shift and am gone for 13 hours a day, during the week.  So, as Stacey pointed out, it's the weekend and this is where I do my marathon cooking and baking.
I'm still editing and organizing last week's Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, and I hope to find a way to share some of it with you. In the meantime, I'd like to share with you some recipes from last Fall that are worthy of an encore in my own home:

This Rainbow Salad has been featured on my header for some time.  I made this with roasted golden beets and .  I'm fortunate to live in the Salinas Valley, where I can buy beautiful salad greens from Fresh Express. Another salad that I serve for holiday tables is:

This salad with pears, gorgonzola, candied pecans and a balsamic vinaigrette is a recipe I fell in-love with at a restaurant in Pacific Grove, California. Sadly, the restaurant is gone but I was able to replicate the recipe.

While this soup doesn't wouldn't win for it's looks, it's has a mild flavor from a very ugly vegetable-- celeriac. This is a Creamy Celery Root & Yukon Gold Potato Soup.  It's comforting and makes a beautiful starter to any dinner party.

Pumpkin takes center stage this time of year.  I've made this Pumpkin pasta with fried sage pasta dish for several years.  When I first saw this recipe, I couldn't bond with the idea of pumpkin in a pasta.  It changed my mind and I'm going to recreate this very soon.  The pasta is made with Italian sausage, white wine, spices, red pepper flakes and is served with a savory pumpkin cream sauce. Trust me, it's a winner.

Speaking of pumpkin... I do stock up on canned pumpkin for lots of recipes. Last year, I decided to learn how to make my own pumpkin puree.  It was easier than I thought, and I was able to enjoy pumpkin year-round. (Just click on the bold and highlighted recipes names, to be see how I made this)

I also show you how to make tasty pumpkin seeds.

I made the Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Spice Muffins.  They come together, fast, and disappear even faster.

I created a Pumpkin Ice Cream that turned out even better than expected.  It would be delicious as an ice cream cake.

This is one of the first food shots I ever took for my new blog.  The photo is grainy and was shot in flash-- since then I've learned not to use flash photography or it muddies out the colors. It has zero comments, which also shows that it takes time to develop friendships with other food bloggers. I will remake this so I can re-shoot it and show how I did it.  The picture does not do justice to the Pumpkin Brulee recipe. Trust me, it's delicious and makes for a nice alternative to pumpkin pie.

I'm not sure if this is a dessert or a side dish.  The Pioneer Woman posted this recipe, and I'm going to make it again and again. If you love sweet potatoes and pecans, here's a great Sweet PotatoCasserole side dish/dessert for you.

For pie recipes, Pumpkin and Apple Pie are top on the list.  Making your own pie crust is easier than you think. I'll show you how by clicking here.  I'm making my pie crust dough, this weekend, so I can freeze some and store some in the refrigerator. I found two recipes I hope to make, and I'll share it with you.

 Fruit Crisps are "Cheater Pies".  This is a Cranberry & Pear Fruit Crisp that offers a sweet-tart cooked fruit combination, with a brown sugar & pecan topping that makes you want to eat seconds.

Of course, the Thanksgiving Turkey is what most of us look forward to. I've made many turkeys over the years, but I pay extra for Diestel Turkeys that are fresh and always turn out juicy.  I've evolved into buying range-free, hormone-free turkey that aren't injected with vegetable oil or any other kind of fats.  I don't brine my turkey, either.  Somehow, I think that the turkey takes on a rubbery texture and even Alton Brown's recipe didn't appeal to us.  Ina Garten's Roast Turkey was easy to make and very flavorful.

 I made King Arthur Flour's Buttered pull-apart rolls.  I blew it the first time I made them, and I show you what happened. I also share how my second attempt yielded tender and buttery rolls. Store-bought rolls cannot compare with these! I show you how to make them, and you can do it!

 There are folks who don't like to eat turkey. I don't understand it, but another alternative is a Greek Stuffed Pork Loin that I created.

It's stuffed with fig jam, feta cheese, garlic and spinach.  I made this the night before company was to arrive and it worked perfectly! I made a port-wine reduction sauce, and it was outstanding and worthy of another gala dinner entree.

The weekend flies by so fast, that I need to get up and running. I have a house to clean, errands to run and some new recipes to make.  Someday, I'll return to working a daytime shift. Until then, I'm temporarily The Weekend Blogger!

Remember, all you have to do is click on the recipe names in each paragraph, and you will be linked to the post that shows you how I made the recipe and you will also find a printable recipe at the very bottom of each post.

I need to work on my Two-Year Anniversary Giveaway. Thank you for not giving up on me. I love to cook and bake, and my food blog has led me to meeting so many of you who share the same passion as I do.

Ina Garten's Braised 4-Hour Lamb & Provencal French Beans

I have stubbornly held on to Summer, even though Labor Day has come and gone. I still have summer tomatoes to pick, and I'm still wearing shorts and flip-flops on the weekends!  Just last weekend, we grilled Rib-Eye steaks and were sipping cold beer, while watching the Salinas Air Show from the top of our neighborhood hill. Finally, I surrendered my grocery budget to a beautiful display of pears, apples, squash and root vegetables at Whole Foods.  With that said, today we are waiting for our first rain shower and I have a log in the fireplace, waiting to be lit for a cozy night at home.  Yes, I'm beginning to let go of  summer melons and iced teas-- slowly, but surely.

Hello, Fall!  Welcome.  I really mean it. My pressure cooker and slow cooker are ready for soups and stews.  Bring on the root vegetables, squash and bread baking! So with that said, I present to you my first offering of a delicious way to prepare lamb.   I know, I know.... some of you don't like lamb.  Neither does my husband.  Stick with me, and I will show you how my husband changed his mind.

I caught this episode on the Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa show.   This recipe was adapted by Ina Garten from a traditional French 7-Hour Lamb.   However, Ina says that she tested the recipe a few times and found that 4-hours was the perfect time to braise a leg of lamb in white wine, lots of garlic and herbs-- the end result being tender meat that can literally be removed with a spoon.  I was drooling while watching Ina spooning mounds of Provencal French Beans around the finished lamb.   That was it!  I was inspired to make this. The very next day, I bought a leg of lamb at Whole Foods--

 

The  butcher was kind enough to cut a leg of lamb to 3 pounds.  This is New Zealand Lamb... grass fed.  $21.00 might seem pricey, but this will feed at least 8 people. Here we go:

Season the lamb with coarse salt & fresh cracked pepper.  Now for lots of fresh garlic, thyme and rosemary...

After reading the reviews from folks who made this, some said that "it lacked flavor".  I used a LOT of garlic, and then I decided to add one onion to flavor the braising liquid. Think that will work?

Sear the lamb, on really high heat with olive oil. Set the lamb aside.

Add white wine to deglaze all that tasty brown stuff.  Ina adds water, but I added homemade chicken stock,  into the Dutch oven.. Now, add the herbs, garlic and onion...add the lamb and cover. Place into a 300F oven and let it cook for 3 hours.  Next, make the beans (which I soaked the night before):

Rinse Northern White Beans and prepare a mire poix (chopped carrots, onion and celery).  Next, I add fresh parsley, thyme, garlic and rosemary.  I added more chicken stock and simmered the beans for more than Ina says she did-- like over an hour.  How's the lamb doing?

Oooh... falling off the bone!

Remove the lamb, the herbs and drain the liquid...

Push the garlic through a sieve, for more flavor. Discard everything else. Reduce the liquid until thick-- about 15 minutes. Time to serve! Add the sauce over the lamb, and serve with the beans.

Did four hours do the trick?

You bet!  Tender!  No, that's not a spoon.  But that would have worked, too.

VERDICT:  The lamb was tender and flavorful.  The braising liquid had plenty of flavor, just the right notes of garlic, without being overpowering.  I'm glad that I added an onion, because the broth had plenty of flavor. The beans..oh, the beans!  This is French comfort food that served 8 people.  Um, only we are only three in the family.  Suffice it to say that this was delicious the next day. I had to fight over it with my boys, who loved it.

The printable recipe is at the bottom of this post.  Thanks Ina Garten!

Pan Seared & Roasted Halibut, Summer Garden Succotash and Yellow Lemon Rice

As a kid, I disliked fish.   My mother, in her true German way, loved to cook whole trout and serve it to us this way.  When you're young, if it doesn't look like fish sticks and isn't served with tater tots-- well, a fish with cooked eyeballs looking up at me is about as disgusting as you can get.  I refused to eat it. Period.

I avoided fish at all costs, until my early thirties.  That's when I discovered Petrale Sole.  It was a whole new world!  I have also learned to appreciate fresh salmon and fresh tilapia.  I've also discovered that fresh trout, sans eyeballs, is a very tasty fish.  My favorite way to prepare fish is to sear and roast it (grilling it comes in second).  I love the flavorful crust that develops on high heat on a stove, and then is roasted perfectly to present moist and tender fish.   Ever since I watched "Food Inc." I have decided to spend a few extra dollars to buy fresh and non-farmed fish.  I decided to splurge and buy fresh Pacific (Alaskan) halibut, at my local fish market, which is considered to be the best sustainable choice-- @$17.00 a pound. Ouch.  "How long ago was this halbut swimming off Alaskan waters?", I asked.
"Two days ago", he replied.
"I sure hope so", I thought to myself.

When I arrived home, I opened the packaged and sniffed the fish.  Nothing.  This is good!  Fresh fish shouldn't  stink "smell" like fish.  To keep things simple, I reached for my can of "Old Bay Seasoning" and preheated the oven to 400F.  I grabbed my favorite cast iron skillet, added a little olive oil and heated the pan until the oil just began to ripple and smoke...

I left the fish to sear for about 3 minutes, without moving it around.  By lifting a corner, I could see that I was achieving that beautiful brown sear.  I flipped the halibut and put the entire pan into the oven.  I started the side dish while the halibut was searing...

I originally wanted to make a zucchini gratin. However, our squash isn't quite ready. We're having an unually cool summer with less sunshine that usual.  Our tomatoes are behind schedule, but they are showing promise.  I picked the few cherry, Sweet 100's and pear tomatoes that I could find.  I found one zucchini squash that was ready to cook.

So I pondered what to do with these....

I spotted two ears of corn a friend had given me from her CSA box.  In the bowl  have fresh corn, zucchini and tomatoes.

I decided to slice a vidalia onion I had, on hand.  I drizzled the vegetables with olive oil, kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper....

...and I set the whole pan into the oven, next to the roasting halibut.  You could cook the succotash entirely on the stove top, if you prefer.

 It took about 5-6 more minutes for the fish to reach an internal temperature of 145F.

On a whim, I added a bit of dried thyme (fresh would have been great) and then a little bit of freshly grated romano cheese.  Traditional succotash, I know, is made with corn and beans...and even some heavy cream.  This version is much healthier and took about 10 minutes for the cherries to pop.  They were ready.

 For "Yellow Rice", I rinsed white rice, added about 1/4 tsp of tumeric, used half chicken broth and half water. When the rice was ready,

...I added some lemon zest and squeezed lemon juice and gently blended. You can add fresh herbs and even peas.  It's inexpensive to make, and the color is really pretty. This dinner was ready in less than 45 minutes.

I served a chilled bottle of white wine, and the two of us had a quiet and romantic dinner at home.

VERDICT:  Halibut is currently my favorite fish.  This fish is very mild, and was moist and perfectly cooked.  The succotash was so delicious, if I do say so myself.  There is something to be said when you can enjoy vegetables that were freshly picked from your own backyard!  We grow most of our vegetables in containers, and I encourage anyone to try this.  As for the fish-- it was well worth the price I paid.  It feels good to support my local fish monger, and I truly could taste the difference from farm-raised not-so-fresh fish.  My childhood aversion to fish is gone.

This dinner would have cost, easily, $50.00 in a restaurant.  Of course, the dishes don't wash themselves.  Fortunately, my husband is great about helping with that.

That's what I call a Date Night!  I cook. He cleans.  Then, we cuddle and watch a movie at home.

No recipe card for the fish is needed, don't you think This is all technique, and not being afraid to use herbs and seasonings. The side dish recipe cards are below.


Happy Summer!

Feta-Stuffed Fig-Glazed Grilled Lamb Burgers with Red Onion Jam -- OhMy!

I have two food blogger buddies who love figs as much as I do-- Marie, from Proud Italian Cook and Stacey of Stacey Snacks.  I have several of their recipes bookmarked, just as soon as I can find fresh figs.  I also have a love affair with fig jam.  This week, I was smitten with a recipe for Fig Glazed Burgers with Red Onion Jam that was posted on "The Bitten Word".   The recipe originally comes from Southern Living Recipes, and uses ground beef and Muenster Cheese. When I think of fig jam, I tend to think of pork... or even lamb. So, I started thinking of Greek inspired ingredients, and an idea was born. I adore lamb, but my husband is so-so about it.  I bought one pound of ground lamb and 1/2 pound of ground veal. I figured the mix of meats would tone down the sometimes "stronger" flavor of lamb.  I didn't want to add too many seasonings, since I wanted the fig jam to be the star...

I added fresh oregano & parsley, from our garden. The seasoning I chose was Montreal Steak Seasoning.  It's a Rachael Ray staple, but I have to say that it's perfect for seasoning burgers.  Done.  I made four patties.  I decided to add slices of feta cheese.  I stacked one patty on top of the feta topped patty...

This feta cheese had sun-dried tomatoes and basil.  It was really tasty, and will end up in a salad very soon. 

I carefully sealed the patties together. Now, that's a patty!

The red onion jam has simple pantry ingredients.  I love my mandoline, because you'll want the slices to be rather thin. This is about four cups.  I also need fresh thyme, red wine vinegar and sugar.   In a little bit of olive oil, the onion is cooked until very tender-- about 10 minutes.

Next, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of the red wine vinegar is added, the the fresh thyme. The recipe says 3/4 of a teaspoon. I added more. I think that's more for dried thyme, but add what you like.  Cover the onions and cook on low-- keep warm.  Fire up the grill...

Typically, I like to make my own hamburger buns. These are Honey Wheat Hamburger Buns from Trader Joe's.  I like their ingredients, so I take a shortcut today.  Fresh spinach ties in the Greek ingredients just fine, don't you think?

 The burgers are on standby...

I'm calculating one tablespoon of fig jam per person-- and a little extra... here we go!

Though we love our Weber, we fire up the gas grill and preheat it nice and hot.  The burgers are cooked about 6 minutes, covered (they are pretty thick)... and then flipped over...

Once the  burgers are flipped, we let them cook for about 4 minutes. Craig is adding the fig jam, now. He closes the cover and let's the burgers grill over direct heat.

Doesn't this glaze look amazing?  I was licking my chops.  We cooked these until an instant read thermometer registered at 145F.  The total cooking time was about 16-18 minutes.  My husband is wary of lamb that isn't cooked past medium rare, so cook according to your liking.

We let these rest for a few minutes.  In the meantime, I crack open a cold imported beer.

Let's build a burger.   I'm questioning how important the red onion jam will be, but I add that on top of this.

Carl's Junior has nothing on this.  It's big, I'm hungry and I'm going in!

I'm happy to see that the feta cheese melted perfectly...

Can you see how moist the burger is?  It's perfectly cooked.  So, what did I think?

VERDICT: Fig jam is the perfect glaze for grilling burgers. I am so going to use this more often... I'm thinking grilled chicken burgers, grilled turkey burgers, grilled anything burgers!  My husband liked the burger, and didn't think the lamb was overpowering at all. Whew! The red onion jam is very good.  I could go with or without it, because the fig jam is what intrigued me the most.   I'm a jam maker, so I expected more of chutney or thick jam consistency with the red onion.  I am very tempted to use brown sugar, instead of white sugar next time.    As far as the burger seasonings-- I might be tempted to add some garlic to this... maybe shallots. Heck, that's the fun of making burgers! You can go wild with different ingredients.

Whatever you do, don't leave out the fig jam.  That's the cherry on the sundae. Or, in this case, it's the star of this burger.  You hear that Marie and Stacey?! 

I am sending this post off to Deb at Kahakai's Kitchen. Each Sunday, Deb posts a healthy and tempting soup and includes posts from other food bloggers for Souper Sundays. Come check it out!

As always, a printable recipe is at the very bottom of this post.

Happy Grilling!