What are you having for dinner? (wanna share your recipe?)

[The Albatross]

Orzo Salad w/ Buttermilk Dressing

This year I made a new variation on cranberry sauce. I used mango nectar instead of orange juice, lime juice, and a jar of raspberry jelly with the mulled spices... totally. Turned out awesome.

 

[VioletButterfly]

@The Albatross - That salad looks divine!

P.S. I'm still using the cranberry sauce I made last year (frozen). It's been a great addition to homemade vinaigrette salad dressing. :) Your recipe sounds like a great one to try. ? I love cranberries.

 

[The Albatross]

Aw crap, to late to edit... JAM... Raspberry jam in the really rough recipe above. I wanted the sauce to thicken a bit faster than cooking the crap out of the cranberries.

@VioletButterfly I actually was gonna try another one, look up Peach Schnapp's cranberry sauce. I was going to do it and thin chop frozen peaches in and add them in near last. But I acquired on the cheap some high end low sugar raspberry jam... so tabled that one maybe til Christmas.

 

[nursenurse]

Getting ambitious today, my daughter the Vegetarian and family are coming for dinner. Squash tart on the horizon, supposedly an easy crust reipe with it. I put the crust together last night and am praying it works. I can make any complicated recipe, but pie crust eludes me, no matter which no fail recipe I use, and no matter how little I handle it. So we will see. Anyhow, this one has a carmelized onion base topped with sharp cheddar, then concentric circles of thinly sliced butternut squash, delicata squash, red onions and sweet potatoes. Using Yukon golds instead of the delicata squash. Baked until nice and brown, then brushed with melted butter and fresh thyme. It looks and sounds wonderful. We will have a vegetarian minestrone soup, and a salad methinks with blue cheese dressing. I may throw a hunk of meat in the oven for the non veg son in law and me. Still thinking about dessert...
Squash and Caramelized Onion Tart Recipe

 

[Friday]

Molly Makes Crispy Smashed Potatoes

I looooooove this chick! She is just cracking me up.

Really badass party potatoes, too.

 

[nursenurse]

She had me until the raisins. Not much in this world that I wont eat...but raisins are hugely ick for me. //however, I think those taterswould be just as good without

 

[nursenurse]

And as predicted the crust was not great. Not the worst, but the contents of the pie were delish. Threw on a pork loin roast, I slather on dijon mustard mixed with kosher salt, lots of freshly ground black pepper, garlic and caraway. Makes for the most divine smell while roasting. Also made the soup which went over well. And a vanilla cake, because my grand daughter likes that. I thought about it, and in all my years of cooking and baking, I have never made vanilla buttercream. I found a recipe for “the best”, which has a milk, flour, butter and vanilla base, cooked. Then beaten with more butter and sugar. I was very leery, but not enough to stop me. My daughter who bakes cupcakes and cakes for others thought it was worth the effort, thank goodness, because I experiment on her and her family a lot.

 

[The Albatross]

Slaw... with a twist.

Cabbage slaw mix (of your choosing)
1/2 cup of dried cranberries (ours were from the dollar store and pomegranate infused)
1/3 cup green onion and/or green pepper (as you wish)
1/2 cup of shaved toasted almonds.

Dressing (ours):

1/3 c sour cream
1/3 c mayo
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 2 oz packet of siracha ranch dressing (you can substitute but I had a condiment pack so I used it).

Substitution would be, likely tabasco, or ketchup with vinegar.

Optional (but I didn't use it)… a 1/3 cup of sweet relish.

Combine dry ingredients... dress and refrigerate for a couple to a few hours... and yum. Tangy slaw variation with two thumbs up from the fam'.

 

[Teasel]

Looking for low carb dairy free recipes and soup seemed like a good idea. Today made mushroom soup. Always blows my tiny mind when a simple home cooked recipe tastes so much better than bought stuff.

Fry a diced onion seasoned with black pepper in olive oil for 5 minutes, add 500g chopped mushrooms and a minced clove of garlic and gently fry for another 8 minutes.

Add 500ml stock, 3 or 400ml coconut milk or other non dairy milk, a tbsp of soy sauce and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Blend part of the soup to thicken it. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Yum.

 

[VioletButterfly]

Well, I made one of the soups from the website I shared. Hmmm, I think if you like mushrooms (@berlinda ), you will like this. It is very "mushroomy." I made a few tweaks.

Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup | Gimme Some Oven

Definitely read the comments at the bottom of the recipe as there are some really good ideas! ? Some made this soup with coconut milk and really liked it a lot - one even used chia seed instead of flour to thicken the soup. Those seems like a great ideas, but I only had my cow and a wheat field at my disposal yesterday. There are a lot of other recipes on this website for soup and other dishes that you might want to try. I looked through them and was drooling a bit. ha ha ?

As for me, I used roasted butternut squash instead of using sweet potato, adding it later in the cooking process (about 2 hours in), and used spinach instead of kale. Added 2 C cooked and shredded chicken about 2 hours into cooking). Added 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp regular paprika (not smoked!), and extra garlic. I also sauteed the mirepoix to al dente before adding it to the broth and spices at the beginning of cooking. Sauteed the mushrooms as well and added them 2 hrs into cooking. Of note, I used 2 boxes (8 cups) of chicken broth for cooking, adding more water at the end to thin it out a bit. I found that the rice took 3 hours to cook. A lot of notes, but just in case....

Sorry the picture is a little blurry.

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

Will be having this in some fashion tomorrow, but started it today to let it marinate overnight....

Burmese Chickpea Tofu - a non-fermented soy-free option - no pressing necessary

Burmese Chickpea Tofu recipe (soy free tofu) {vegan + dairy free + gluten free}

I made a marinade for it using a combination of Bragg's liquid amino/coconut amino/azuki bean soy-free tamari/balsamic vinegar/black pepper and a little extra water in place of the oil, mixed with some dried oregano/basil/rosemary/garlic powder, originally derived from this recipe:

Baked Italian Herb Tofu Recipe + How To Press Tofu Like a Champ

 

[VioletButterfly]

@Tornadic Thoughts - What is the texture like for the Italian tofu once prepared? It's been a long time since I have cooked with tofu and then it was more like I combined the soft textured variety with ricotta in a lasagna. Tks. VB