Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 13, 2011 · 10:14 pm

Ellen vs. Butternut Squash: Part 1

The opponent: Butternut Squash

  • orange flesh
  • nutty/sweet taste
  • pretty much interchangeable with pumpkin, sweet potato and most other types of squash
  • a pain in the REAR to carve
  • funny looking

bring it on weird lookin guys.

((psst…Mama got me a BEAUTIFUL orchid at the farmer’s market.  LOVE. IT. It had to make an appearance))

I participated in a butternut squash challenge this week.

SO much fun!

 Especially because it got me to tackle a butternut squash and make something that wasn’t soup.

(creativity counted)

I had such a blast looking up recipes, deciding which seemed the most delicious and then having a marathon cooking day (while Daniel worked a Sunday at the office poor guy) where I was free to experiment and royally fail and swear and taste and take my sweet time and produce something freakin delish that I never would have made otherwise.

I also got to think.

Cooking is therapeutic.

Then you get to eat.

And spend an evening with some really cool people eating delicious treats.

What is better than that?

In part 1 of Ellen vs. Butternut Squash I’ll show you nut/sage stuffed butternut squash…my main dish for the challenge.

Part 2 will bring butternut squash parfaits AND butternut squash hand pies (which is fancy for POPTARTS) with maple glaze.

Yep.  2 desserts. I’ll tell you about that later.

It will be awesome.

Ready for this? Let the battle begin!

Before you do ANYTHING

Off with its head!!

And chop it in half! (This IS a battle after all…show that squash who’s boss)

Also scoop out those seeds and KEEP THEM!

More about that later…

I clearly struggled with the chopping in half part.

This one became puree so it’s ok.  A prettier one got stuffed but not photographed.

Silly me.

All things butternut squash start with a nice long roast in the oven to make it soft.

Which basically means all of this took me forever…not gonna lie.

For the stuffed nonsense I’m going to recommend you do as I say not as I do.

The original recipe was for a stuffed delicata squash.

A delicata squash looks like a long oval with seeds all the way down the length of its body which you can scoop out and fill with tasty mixtures.

A butternut squash only has seeds in the round bottom part of its body.

Oops.

I ended up doing this awkward/frustrating-because-my-knives-suck chopping a well in the neck thing so I could put the filling in more of the squash.

It worked just fine and tasted good and everything butttttt……

Just save yourself the agony and fill a delicata squash.  The filling is the best part anyway.

Here are the things that make this amazing

Nuts+Sage=Faux Sausage.

One might even go so far as to call it faux-sage if one was that kind of person.

For real.

It’s the weirdest thing… but it smells divine and tastes even better.

Trust.

After a quick chop of nutoniongarlisage (it’s this new spice…that I made up just now…) and a little stir with a bit of creaminess and an awkward chopping-a-bigger-well deal and a nice long roast in the oven…

You end up with a hearty, comforting, crunchy-creamy meal that’s kinda like fall time on your plate.

Round 1: Ellen wins!

Faux-sage Stuffed Butternut Squash

Recipe adapted from Nut-Stuffed Delicata Squash

  • Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 medium onions finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • some pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
  • 1/3 cup almonds, chopped
  • 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/3 cup cashews, chopped
  • 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 butternuts squash (if you’re crazy…or just use delicata…seriously use delicata) halved lengthwise

**Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan, add onions & garlic and cook until softened.

2. Add the sage and cook for 1 minute

3. Set aside, and add nuts to the pan

4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and combine them with the cheese and yogurt

5. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt & sprinkle with pepper

6. Add the nuts to the mixture and fill each of the halves of squash

7. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. The squash should be soft when tested with a knife. Top with some sprinkles of cheese and dig in!

by the way

I have obviously changed the look around here again.

What do you think?

I need to figure out how to incorporate Sabrina’s awesome banner….technical difficulties….

Thanks for stopping by! Part 2 coming soon!

❤ Ellen

1 Comment

Filed under Main Dish, Uncategorized

October 5, 2011 · 7:21 am

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changessss

Ohhhhh snap I’m messing with life on here.

Talk to me! Talk to me honestly.

What do you think?

Love it? Hate it? Miss the old look? Want something else entirely?

Let me know…it’s your opinion that matters.

Thank you so much for checking it out! You’re the best.

Have an absolutely fantastic day!

❤ Ellen

3 Comments

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October 4, 2011 · 7:39 am

Big Girl Birthday Cake

Here’s the thing….

I’m not a huge cake person.

Don’t get me wrong…it’s a birthday requirement I can definitely live with.

But given the choice…I would almost always choose some other dessert over cake.

Especially if there is a brownie option.

But you know…birthdays happen.

And on birthdays you eat cake.

This past weekend my friend Bridget visited because she just had a birthday and I epically failed so we had our own little celebration.

And, obviously, I made a cake.

It involved a big girl ingredient called Kahlua.

Do not be alarmed.

This cake does not taste like booze.

It tastes like delicious chocolate cake with coffee liqueur.

Get excited

It came from this awesome book (thanks, Mom!) called The Cake Mix Doctor.  The recipes start with a plain old box of cake mix and doctor it up, (get it? get it?) until it’s something ridiculously delicious that is SO easy to make but will make everyone think you’re a master chef.

Best thing ever.

I actually made this cake for my friend Claudia over the summer.  I brought it to the lab and it was a huge hit!

It even made me into a cake person…at least for the day.

It is UNBELIEVABLY moist and has just the right amount of sweetness and chocolatey flavor.

I like that it has a glaze rather than a 2 inch thick layer of pure sugary grossness.

It may look like boring old chocolate cake but do not be deceived by its modest appearance! This is a chocolate cake like you have never had.

Trust me. This is coming from a pretty strict brownie person.

SO let’s boogy.

(ugh boogy? really? I need to hire a writer or something)

The cool thing about this recipe is that it requires only one bowl!

Throw everything in there.  Yup. Everything.  All at once.

Mix it up until everything is well combined.  That’s harder than you think because of the ridiculously thick batter. Check this out…

Luckily that’s all you have to do.  Now spread it in a pan and bake it up.  The original recipe calls for a bundt pan.

I do not own a bundt pan.

So I made it a sheet cake.  Bridget forgave me.

Real life.

You could also make it a layer cake with two rounds, or even make it into cupcakes if that’s your thing.

Bridget is not a cupcake person.  She is a sheet cake person.  What kind of person are you?

(Suddenly that sounds like a loaded questions…it’s really not)

Chocolate cakes tend to overcook more easily than lighter cakes so start with way less bake time than you think you need…you may surprise yourself…then let bake longer as needed.

When it’s all cooked up…stab it all over with a fork or a chopstick…

(yeah I have those…but no bundt pan…it’s fine)

…or whatever other pokey object you have laying around.  You’re making holes for the glaze to seep into the cake.

Yeah.  Important stuff here.

Next take your glaze (powdered sugar and kahlua…I added a little milk…so simple!) and pour it all over.

I decided not to sugarcoat things here.

(Bridget’s got that covered HA!)

Yes, that is Bridget pouring the glaze so I can take a picture.

Yes, I did make a corny sugarcoating joke just now.

Yes, we are on the floor.

There’s better light next to my back door than anywhere else in my house.

Real life in action right there.

Pretty much after this you know what to do!

Light some candles, sing happy birthday, don’t forget the cha cha chas…

Maybe shave a little chocolate over it for added pizazz…

Savor that supermoist, melt-in-your-mouth, best-cake-you-ever-had feeling.

Have a good time with some good friends and some good food.

Happy Birthday Bridget!

❤ Ellen

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

Recipe adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn

Cake:

1 package (18.25 oz) plain devil’s food cake mix (whichever is you favorite)

1 package (5.9 oz) chocolate INSTANT pudding mix

3/4 cup Kahlua (**note: I bought a 200 mL bottle, used 3/4 c for the cake and the rest for the glaze)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs (really)

Glaze:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

remaining Kahlua (**note: original recipe calls for 1/4 cup kahlua and no milk.  I just used the rest of my little bottle…it was delicious but had a more subtle Kahlua flavor)

milk

**Oven 350 degrees

1. Place cake mix, pudding mix, Kahlua, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scrape the bowl, then increase the mixer speed to medium for 2-3 minutes more

2.  When batter is thick, smooth and completely combined, pour into a greased and floured cake pan of your choice (bundt for original recipe, sheet cake, rounds or cupcakes..doesn’t matter!)

3. FOR A BUNDT PAN: bake 45-47 minutes.  OTHER PANS WILL NOT BAKE THIS LONG! You can cut the time at least in half.

4. To prepare the glaze: mix sugar and remaining Kahlua, then add milk a little at a time, mixing completely, until you reach the desired consistency.

5. Poke holes in your cake so the glaze will absorb into the cake itself and pour the glaze all over the cake (in a bundt-allowing the glaze to drizzle down the sides, in a sheet cake-spreading evenly)

6.  Shave some chocolate over the cake just before serving.  Enjoy!

Notes:

  • The Cake Doctor suggests adding 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon to play up the Mexican flavors.  I’ve never tried it but I bet it would be delicious.  If you try that let me know!
  • Cake keeps on the counter up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.  You can also freeze it (wrapped well) for up to 6 months! Let it thaw completely on the counter before serving.

10 Comments

Filed under Dessert, Uncategorized