Tacos!

I. Am. SO. Sorry. For. The. Delay. I haven't posted in FOREVER!!! I have been on vacation and traveling, preparing, spending time with the family and haven't had anytime to get on the computer! No excuses, I know. But, I do have a recipe that I want to share with you today. I tried this because of a friend and got addicted and I know you will, too.

First, you are going to need Masa. (Bob's Redmill Masa Harina corn flour) looks likes this

Use the directions on the back, super easy, and then roll into balls. Place in tortilla press.
(find it here!)


Carefully pull out and place in a non-stick skillet with a little oil.

Cook until firm and golden.

Say hello to my new best friend. Cholula sauce! This is AMAZING. It works on everything. I have never really been a fan of Tabasco and other hot sauces but this one is really worth it!

Prepare your taco with your favorite meat and toppings and enjoy!

More to come...so sorry for the delay of posting. Happy New Year! I'm hoping that 2011 will be a good year for Simply Seasonal :)

Lamb and Brussels

Here is my first winter meal. We have already had our first snow fall here and so I thought it was only right to share with you a warm, in season winter menu.

First, we start with the brussel sprouts. In this particular side dish I used parsnips also. About four or so medium parsnips, cut into medallions. And as you can see there are also some onions in there. About one big white onion. Oh...and about four nice handfuls of Brussels, cut into thin strips.

We also had some lamb to go with it. We injected it with garlic and put some rosemary around when we cooked it. It was a simple menu, but very delicious.

Lamb and Brussel Sprouts:

1 Medium white onion, chopped
4 Medium parsnips, cut into medallions
4 handfuls of brussel sprouts
Lamb leg, cooked for 20-30 minutes per pound
Garlic cloves
Rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper


Cut slits into the lamb leg and add garlic cloves and rosemary. Cook for 20-30 minutes per pound. Tie with kitchen string.

Put the onions, parsnips, brussels into olive oil and salt and pepper and saute on medium heat. When done, set aside.

Once the lamb is done, let rest for about 20 minutes.

Cut, plate and eat. Enjoy!

Cultural Food Feast Day

Recently, I learned that in my FCS class, (the new, hip way to say HomeEc) "Family Consumer Sciences", we are going to do a unit on cultural food. This is by far the most thought provoking thing we ever done in this class. Last year, we had a general unit of cooking and learned how to scramble an egg by watching a video first to prepare (that took 1 day) and then took many cautions in making the eggs themselves (day 2). Since cooking is a regularity in my family, it was ridiculous to have to watch a video on making an egg. But, I guess for most people this is an issue; not knowing how to cook even the simplest of things.

Anyway, this new project this year shines a new light on this class and has the potential to be a very interesting subject.

So, how this is supposed to go...
Thus the name; Cultural Food Feast Day we will make a food from a certain country or region and present and share it in class. I am partially Polish and so I was thinking maybe something like Galumpki (spelling?) or Perogies.

Any ideas or cultural dishes and recipes that you like? That are maybe Polish and/or otherwise note-worthy?

Cranberry Salad

Today I decided to make a salad that my family traditionally makes on Thanksgiving. It is a fall dish, but I think is a very good "transition" dish into winter. The toppings above are what I put into the salad. From left: dried pineapple, dried cranberries, dried dates, dried ginger, dried blueberries, different kind of dried cranberries, maple walnuts, dried Bing cherries.

I started with about a cup of pomegranate seeds.

Then about a cup and half of cranberries. Add them to the Cuisinart.

And they come out looking like this.

Add the pomegranates and then add the lovely toppings from before and a little sugar to taste.

And the final product is really pretty with everything showing through. I hope that you can enjoy this thanksgiving-ish side dish even though it's a little late for this thanksgiving!

Take care the rest of the weekend :)

~Zoe

Just In Time for Thanksgiving:The Notorius Turkey Cake

I will leave you with just this one picture. It's layers and layers of thanksgiving-ness. It's like everything you would every eat at a thanksgiving feast except downsized. Whoever is the genius who created this...I strive to be like him/her.

I fell in love when I first saw the crazzzzy good-looking photo at Chow.com.
Here's the link: http://www.chow.com/recipes/29029-thanksgiving-turkey-cake?tag=custom-doc;gumballs

Now, now, no judging once you've seen the other photo. We (Mom and I) did our best. It may not look as appealing as the one at Chow but it sure as heck was just as tasty! I'm stuffed. One piece of this baby and your pushing away the thought of eating for weeks and rolling on the floor laughing at nerd jokes...( just my personal experience.)

WARNING: this dish can make you happy to the billionth degree.

OK, down to business. The steps we took to make this masterpiece:




First, we made the stuffing. The link I put at the top will explain everything in better detail. But for now, I just want to show you what we did with making the layers and how we put it all together.

Then came the meatloaf. You will need to make two rounds of this. One thing I thought was new and different, bizarre, interesting and otherwise note-worthy was that the recipe called for using cooking oats in the meatloaf. Awesome.

First layer; meatloaf. Second layer; mashed potatoes.

Third layer; cranberry sauce. We used the whole can here but in the original it has you split it up so you can add another layer down the road. Whichever you prefer.

Fourth; stuffing. My favorite part :)

Now is the point where it is starting to look a little messy....
But then you add some more mashers.

Then add the rest of the mashed potatoes to the sides. Sort of like frosting.

Finally, add the mashed sweet potatoes and the mini marshmallows. The only thing I didn't do that the original did, was bake it after we came up with the final product.

Check it out! A turkey cake! Ha!

A Veggie Tale.

So today I split half of a CSA share with a relative. Look at it! I just had to take a picture to show you how wonderful it looked together just by itself. I've got everything...cabbage, carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, scapes (its an onion/garlic) something that this farm did by accident and then my favorite; acorn squash.


And then, there is this...

It is intimidating me just a little. The person who brought the food to me said that you pull the leaves off and sautee them in butter and garlic, but didn't say or know what it was called.

Any ideas? Do you know what this is?

Delicata Squash Soup

Remember that old post where I asked about the delicata squash? Well I finally have gotten around to making something with them. Sorry for the delay! But I hope you enjoy.

You will need one or two medium delicata squash, depending on how many you are cooking for. Cut them into length wise and then cross wise. (Pictured above)
Take a spoon and pull out the innards. Then, peel and cut into one inch cubes. (Below)

Then, spread them onto a pan with parchment paper and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and thyme.

Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes. And set aside.

Meanwhile, boil two cups of water with a beef flavor bullion cube.

After it has come to a boil, add the roasted squash. Then, puree with an immersion blender.


Finally, add 2 tablespoons of half and half to add just the right amount of finished creamy flavor.

Enjoy!

Response to Liv Life Recipe

Ok, so my Mom and I tried this recipe from one of our favorite blogs "Liv Life". They are White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Cups. This was a total success and we wanted you to know about it! Check out the full recipe here: www.livlifetoo.blogspot.com

Delicata

So, I was at a local CSA/food share and I saw this lovely vegetable. I did a little research online but I wanted to show this to everyone here, too. Have you ever used delicata? It has a texture a bit like acorn squash and a golden color inside. I want to use it but I don't really know how. Every time I cook a squash, something is always off. Do you have any recipes or idea for this fall vegetable?

Let me know what you would do with delicata!

Tasty Pictures

Tasty pictures=pictures that look so good you want that thing inside that picture, so badly.

Have you ever taken a picture that looks so professional that you want to share it with the whole world and you feel like you almost want to take a career in photography? (well...maybe that only happened to me...)

But anyway, post a link to a picture you took that you LOVE. (In the comments) Or go out and take a picture and post it. Let us see your tasty pictures!!!

Apple Sauce

Ok, so I got a bag of mealy Empire apples. They sat for a week and no one really ate them. So our fruit drawer in the fridge was getting full. With the bad Empires and older apples as well. So what better time for APPLE SAUCE!!!

Cut into cubes/bite size pieces. This is rugged, no need for perfection. Peel some of them, leave the skin on the others. This will use about 12 apples for a nice big batch that will last for about a week. But use how every many "going-bad" apples are in your kitchen.

Add them to the pot with 1 cup Apple Cider, 1 cup water and cinnamon to your liking. (Only use however much juice/liquid you want for the number of apples you are using) BUT-- Be careful how much liquid you use because the apples will get juicy in the pot when they are cooking. And, then you will end up having to drain the sauce. Messy.

Here is my final product. It doesn't look too appetizing and I tried to get an appealing picture, but for some reason out of all the ones I took, this was the best one. Hopefully you are not turned off because this is a great way to get rid of bruised and neglected apples. (sob, sob) Soooo, take it from me, anything to help clean the kitchen, will taste good. ;)


And, just because the mood was right, hot apple cider to go with my apple sauce.
(Lots of appley-goodness right there!) Totally fall inspired.

Food share or Garden: Your Thoughts?

I have never really been a part of a food share. But I do help neighbors and relatives when they get more than they think they can eat. (He he!) What's your food share like? What do you love most about it? Favorite dishes to make from the items you get? Or do you use your own garden?

I especially love Swiss chard. I grow it in my garden on the side of the house and am more than happy to receive it from friends. It is the best side dish to any dinner, I believe.

I will have some pictures and recipes up of this wonderful garden/food share ingredient starting this week. What's yours?

Fall food--Yum!

Braised Beef Short Ribs (My Version)

Delicious and unspoiled...braised beef short ribs are elegant but hardy and are perfect for any get together.


Ingredients:
2lbs. Boneless Beef Short Ribs (cut into cubes)
2 Medium onions chopped
1/2 cup Minced carrots
1 Apple peeled and chopped; small
1 cup Italian Red Wine
1 cup Beef Stock
2 Sprigs Fresh thyme
1 Bay Leaf

Directions: Lightly flower beef short ribs and sear in 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil; small batches. Remove when brown on each side (not cooked all the way through) and set aside. Add carrots and onions to brown in leftover oil. When caramelized, transfer to CrockPot and add apple, beef, beef stock, red wine, thyme and bay leaf. Cook on low heat until tender and thick.

The Ingridients to A Tasty Kitchen (Pt. 1)

The always-important garlic and onions. You can use these babies in just about everything!


An apple has loaded fiber and nutrients. And if you're lucky, you'll find one that you really adore!



Sweet potatoes, yams....hardy and sweet. A must- have.


And lastly, delicious and nutritious. Bear Naked granola keeps me full all morning :)

Do you use CrockPot?

What do you love most about CrockPot? What do you know about the product that I dont? Experiences, stories? Tell, tell, tell! Do you use a different slow cooker?

My mom bought this one (pictured at the right) for easy dinners. With tennis, piano and dance after school everyday, this is simple at its best.

Any last reviews?

Tonights Cookin'

The ingredients for this delicious vegetarian chili....

Just keep chopping.....

Shred, shred, shred!

.....(Have you noticed something; my wonderful mother is the one preparing the food and crying her eyes out due to onion cutting)....big kudos to her :)

And finally, the finished product...drum role please! And the story ends happy, with a family of full seasonal bellies!!!