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I'm finding or coming up with something new a couple of times a week, but I never have anybody to really inflict my discoveries on. To that end, I am inflicting them on all of you.
Of course, you're welcome to inflict right back.
Vegetarian Stuffed Acorn Squash
1 fresh medium acorn squash, cut in half
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup dry stuffing or croutons
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Be sure to cut your squash in half lengthwise, as you get the best cavity for stuffing that way. Scoop out the seeds and pulp, then slice a bit off the rounded side to create a flat "bottom" so it won't wobble. Place each half on a cookie sheet. Season squash with salt if desired.
In a large skillet on medium-high, cook mushrooms, onion, celery, and garlic together.
After the vegetables are softened, add broth, mushroom soup, croutons/stuffing, and red pepper flakes. Let it sit for about five minutes to absorb the moisture, then stir in Parmesan and 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese. Spoon into acorn "cups" and pile extra stuffing on top.
Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Place back in oven and bake an additional 20 minutes, until the cheese starts to turn brown. It's ready for serving immediately, but you do run the risk of burning your mouth on the deliciousness.
The recipe I adapted this from used a pound of sausage, no pepper flakes, only one clove of garlic, and white wine instead of the vegetable broth. If you do those substitutions, it'll take two acorn squash instead of one.
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May I suggest my wife's world-famous and insanely good Lemon Ahead Cake?
1 sm. (3 oz.) package lemon Jello
1 cup water
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1 box lemon cake mix (Duncan Hines)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Dissolve package of lemon Jello in cup of boiling water. Let cool. In large bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add oil to eggs and a little pinch of salt. Add cooled Jello. Add cake mix. Beat 2 mins. Pour into 13x9x2” greased pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30-45 mins. Pierce w/ fork every 2” while hot. Mix confectioners sugar with lemon juice and pour over cake while hot. Better if baked two days ahead, for the cake to become well-saturated (hence the name). Allow to sit at room temperature.
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I try to avoid processed food, so technically speaking neither of those recipes should fit into my repertoire, but they both sound well worth making an exception for. (I'm not a purist, anyway. Where would I be, culinarily speaking, without the occasional Maggi bouillon cube? Nowhere, I tell you.)
So this past Saturday I had 34 (yeah, you read that right) people at my house for a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner. The cooking involved didn't bother me (I chose several recipes I could make in advance and freeze, and we have a big freezer) but I was terrified that I would not be able to manage to get all the food hot at the same time. As I know from experience, if you try to use my microwave continuously for half an hour or more, may blow a fuse.
Somehow, the event was a huge success - I used our grill, oven, stove and microwave all at the same time to get food hot all at once, but also relied on dishes served cold whenever possible. One successful cold dish was this one (the inspiration is from this allrecipes.com recipe but I changed it to suit taste, number of servings, and available ingredients):
CORN SALAD
1 cup whole fresh basil, sort of packed
6 tablespoons salad-quality olive oil
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
5 cans corn
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large peeled, seeded and chopped cucumbers.
Chop the basil slightly in a food processor. Add olive oil, lime juice, sugar, and salt, and whir to make a rather thick salad dressing (it will somewhere between salad dressing and pesto in consistency, because of the large quantity of basil). Put corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a very large bowl. Top with dressing and fresh ground pepper, then stir to combine. Chill and serve.
This would probably be considered about 12 large servings, but since it was part of an enormous buffet of goodies when I served it, there was some left over even though there were so many guests. It was really good, though - and pretty to look at. The basil didn't oxidize much because it was quickly coated with the oil and lime juice, so the yellow corn and red tomatoes were coated with pretty green speckles.
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Orual's Famous Lazy-Ass Pumpkin Soup
1 can of pumpkin, because roasting your own pumpkin requires time and effort
2 cups lo-sodium chicken broth - some people may make their own chicken stock, but they sure as hell aren't me.
2 cups whole milk
2-4 Tbsps butter (I actually have no idea how much I use.)
half a bunch of green onions, chopped up
garlic? maybe chop up a clove or two
Assorted spices, chiefly:
ginger
cumin
coriander
But mostly what you have in your spice rack and think will taste good.
DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a big soup pot. Add green onions and garlic, sautee until they're turning brownish and smelling good. (I have long had a theory that it might be tasty to use sausage here in place of the butter, but - lazy ass.)
Add pumpkin. Heat and stir mixture until it's bubbling a bit, then add the chicken stock. Let it all simmer together for a while, then start adding spices.
When you start getting bored, add the milk. if you have an immersion blender, now would be the time to use it, if you want to smooth out all the little onion bits. I almost never remember to do this.
Adjust spices. Keep in mind that adding too much cumin will make the soup taste like feet. This is bad.
When you think it looks/tastes done, it's done. Serve with shredded parmesan cheese and chopped cilatro sprinkled on top.
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MISTAKE - I forgot to double the lime juice and sugar! (I didn't double the tomatoes when I made it, so the original number is is correct):
CORN SALAD
1 cup whole fresh basil, sort of packed
6 tablespoons salad-quality olive oil
4 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
5 cans corn
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large peeled, seeded and chopped cucumbers.
Chop the basil slightly in a food processor. Add olive oil, lime juice, sugar, and salt, and whir to make a rather thick salad dressing (it will somewhere between salad dressing and pesto in consistency, because of the large quantity of basil). Put corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a very large bowl. Top with dressing and fresh ground pepper, then stir to combine. Chill and serve.
This would probably be considered about 12 large servings, but since it was part of an enormous buffet of goodies when I served it, there was some left over even though there were so many guests. It was really good, though - and pretty to look at. The basil didn't oxidize much because it was quickly coated with the oil and lime juice, so the yellow corn and red tomatoes were coated with pretty green speckles.
