November 20, 2012 · 7:04 pm

Squash n’ Sauce

((Sorry, does squash n’ sauce sound gross?  I really mean two separate dishes.)) 

Two-for-one today!

  1. Super simple, irresistible, maple roasted butternut squash
  2. Fresh cranberry sauce

I’m battling butternut once again!  We’ve made friends since our first adventures together.  Now I can’t get enough.

This is my favorite way to eat it.

I  love the crispy outside and the creamy inside.

This is a salty-sweet flavor burst with a decidedly autumnal spin.

I love to roast one up just to have on hand for for snacking, or to throw in salad or soup.

To get crispy perfection, find a way to raise the squash off of the baking sheet.  I use a cooling rack that does just fine in the oven.  Make sure you leave plenty of space between pieces, too; if the squash is too close together it’ll steam instead of roast.  Give it some room to breathe!  Like this:

Roasted butternut squash is awesome all the time, but it can be an especially nice Thanksgiving side dish.  This combination of salty-sweet squash, sweet-tart dried cranberries and toasty pecans makes me swoon.

I could eat a squash a day like this…I’m totally addicted.

Speaking of cranberries…

Hey guy.  You’re cute.

Cranberry sauce, I’m sorry I never fully appreciated your potential.

Can we just discuss this beast for a second?

Gorgeous!

Gorgeous and…intense.  They’re bitter, insanely tart…it’s hard to believe they get delicious.  Oh, but they do!  They really, really do.  It’s not even difficult.  Not one bit.

This is my first time on the sauce so I kept it pure and simple.  Cranberries, sugar, orange juice and water.  Throw ’em in a pot.

You can cook them as long as you like.  I would recommend at least letting them cook until they burst.  Biting into a whole fresh cranberry doesn’t appeal to me at all; it’s like concentrated bitterness.  As they cook they take on the orange juice, water and sugar until they explode into a juicy, ruby mess of awesome.

In other words…once they pop the fun don’t stop 😉

You can even puree the whole mess…it’s entirely up to you!

Not just for turkey!  I discovered that this stuff is delicious on sandwiches of all kinds.

(That guy is egg, avocado, tomato and cranberry sauce. Don’t knock it til you try it.  Oh, and bacon if you roll that way =)

All on a homemade English muffin.  Recipe coming soon!)

For more awesome things to do with leftover sauce:  check this out!  Lots of good ideas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash

EVERYTHING IS TO TASTE! Use however much you want.  Seriously.  I’ll give you rough estimates but PLEASE adapt to your own taste.  You may like it saltier or sweeter than I do, or maybe you hate thyme.  Choose your own adventure.

1 medium utternut squash
at least 1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pecans (toasted)

1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. While the oven heats, peel your butternut squash and cut into slices or cubes (whichever you prefer).  Put the pecans in to toast while you prepare the squash for roasting.  Seriously, check them every 5 minutes.  The SECOND they start to smell toasty, taste toasty and brown slightly take them out.  They’ll burn quickly!  Set aside to cool.

2.  Place the squash in a large bowl and toss with at least enough maple syrup to coat evenly.  Add the salt, pepper and thyme and toss to coat. (Yes, pepper and maple syrup are delicious together.)

3. Arrange on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath, (to catch drippings), leaving space between the pieces of squash.  Roasting time will depend on the size of your squash pieces.  It will probably take at least 20 minutes.  Let it go until it starts to brown and you can easily pierce it with a fork.

4.  Toss with cranberries and pecans in a serving dish.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately

Cranberry Sauce

Recipe a conglomeration of quite a few recipes I found…adjusted to taste

1 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup water

1. Put the cranberries, sugars, juice and water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir until the sugars dissolve.

2.  Let the mixture cook down until the berries start to pop (best part-about 5 minutes after the sugar dissolves).  Turn the heat down to low and let simmer until it reaches the desired consistency.  The longer it cooks, the thicker it’ll be.  If you don’t want any chunks at all, puree in a food processor, or in a blender in batches.

*Now do what you want. Add nuts, add vanilla, add orange or lemon zest, add salt and pepper, add apples, pomegranates and pears or nothing at all.  This is a base for you adjust to your taste.  Happy cooking!

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November 18, 2012 · 4:38 pm

The Best Dinner Rolls of Daniel’s Life

((For real.  He said that.  I didn’t make it up.  The world needs to know =) ))

This is it!  Crunch time.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and yours truly will be contributing to the feast this year.  Starting with my favorite thing:

Bread…duh.

(What?  Were you expecting turkey?)

Listen, I know I don’t need to tell you this, but bread is great.

Dinner rolls should taste like something.  Not too much something, they are in a supporting role after all, but a great roll could easily elevate a meal to the next level.  Forget tasteless, cardboard filler…this is not a side to neglect!

The task:  light, fluffy, tasty, simple, excellent gravy sopper.

Mission accomplished.

The secret’s in the butter y’all.

We’re going to use all of that…don’t worry about it.

Oh and yeast…you know how I feel about yeast.

Those little guys are such miracle workers.  I can’t get over it.  I know they can be scary but they don’t have to be!  All they need is some time and respect.  A little warmth changes their temperament dramatically.  I can relate.  Keep the little buggers warm, (not hot!), give them some time and they’ll  come through every time.  That means you need to be patient. If the recipe tells you to let it get frothy….let it get frothy.

At some point in this process, your life will look something like this (minus the ugly plastic yellow bowl from the dollar bin at Target…):

That, my friends, is soupy grossness.  Don’t panic!  With more flour and more loving you’ll make your way to this:

Nothing makes me happier.

After it doubles in size you need to shape your rolls.

There’s a technique here…tuck and roll.  You want to form a nice smooth skin.  Use the table to pull the dough tight.

Tuck one side under with your thumb…

..then drrraaaggg it along the table to pull it tight.

Or you could try this technique.  Do whatever it takes to get a smooth skin!

Honey wash to make sure they get perfectly golden brown…also because honey is delicious.

A second rise before they go in the oven relaxes that taut skin and makes sure they’ll be light and fluffy.

Not just for turkey!

((Potato soup recipe coming soon!))

Good enough to make someone say “this is the best blankity blank of my life.” What an awesome thing to hear.

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

P.S.  I would bet a lot of money that a bit of orange zest in the dough and a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze would make these instant sweet bun treats.  Just saying.

Parker House Rolls

So here’s the deal.  These rolls are classic.  I didn’t change the recipe enough to claim it as my own and frankly…I wouldn’t dare mess with such a reliably delicious recipe.

My only alterations:

-Buttermilk in place of the milk.

-Honey wash before baking. (Make honey wash by thinning honey with juuuust enough water to make it easy to brush on a roll.)

Click here for the recipe.  Happy baking!

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October 23, 2012 · 6:13 am

Apple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Hey, don’t worry.  Everything is going to be ok.

I know it’s going to be ok because I have apples.  I have lots and lots of apples.

Here’s some advice from me to you: when life throws everything in its arsenal directly at your face…make something yeasty.  The bad gets good and the good gets better!

Or maybe life isn’t throwing anything at you.  Maybe life kind of forgot about you.  Yeast works well for that too…it’s an attention grabber.  (Who can ignore warm bread?  Especially when it’s a cinnamon bun 😉 )

Today, I suggest soft, lightly spiced, yeasty dough.  You know…the kind that takes a really long time to rise.  You’re gonna have to knead it, and pat it, and roll it, and read it a story, and bring it one more glass of water, and tuck it in and roll it again.  This is certainly not an every day project.

It takes some loving…and I love it.  All that rising and kneading and rolling gives you lots of time to think.  It’s a zen thing, man.  We’re totally meditating.  We’re figuring out life and what to do with it.

All of this and more made possible by butter and sugar…as usual.

This butter situation is not a joke…

…and the cinnasug means even more business.

Oh, did I mention? I put apples and pecans in my cinnamon rolls.

It’s such a simple addition but the difference is divine.  It’s like an apple pie and a pecan pie became best friends and threw a party in a cinnamon roll.  (That was the obvious scenario, right?) This is a great thing, people.  We threw all of the delicious into one gooey, doughy container…for the indecisive among us!  Or for the pie crust-fearing among us. (Silly.  We’ll discuss that ridiculous situation soon.  Pie crust is much less terrifying than you think, I promise.)

The risen dough is slightly tacky, but the lightest of flour showers later, it becomes a dream to work with.  All rolled out it takes over a third of my table.  Perfect.  You want the maximum number of gooey layers.  Trust.  (Let’s just be honest with each other.  That doughy middle bit is the real reason anyone eats a cinnamon roll. More dough=more layers=more doughy middle bit.)

Let’s talk about dental floss for a second.

(Hang in there!  This is relevant, I swear.)

Dental floss is a “Cinnabon” baker’s best friend.  If you start hacking at the log with a knife you’ll end up with some sad, squashy, misshapen cinnamon blobs.  You want perfect swirls of cinnamon delight…ammiright? Avoid cinnamon blobs and create perfect cinnamon rolls with dental floss!  Here’s the trick:

Scootch the floss under the log until it gets to your desired cinnamon roll size, cross the two ends at the top and pull them apart until the floss cuts all the way through the roll.  Yes, this works even with pecans and apples in the way.  You’re left with perfectly round  and swirly buns.  No prob, Bob.

Half of my dough became minis – straight up, no gimmicks.  Baby cinnamon rolls of pure cinnasug delight.

(Remember cinnasug?  We’re bringin’ it back!)

The other half took a hard left toward fall and fat pants and there’s no turning back.

Look: toasted pecans sauteed with butter and brown sugar until they could be candy in their own right.

Apple.

Drool.

The glaze is simple.  It’s just powdered sugar and milk, but really, that’s all you need.

Have you ever seen such magnificence?

My work here is done.

Your work is just beginning!  Go! Eat! Be merry!

((But don’t you dare eat these cold.  Warm and gooey is the only way to go!))

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Apple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe from my high school Gourmet Foods class =)

**I’m sharing the recipe I used but if you have a favorite cinnamon roll recipe, toss some apples and pecans in there! You won’t be sorry.  Also, cinnamon rolls have a special place in my heart.  If you have a great recipe, please share!  I’m always on the search for new gems!**

For the Rolls:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or one 1 1/4 oz packet)
1 cup warm milk (105-110 degrees F)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 TABLESPOONS cinnamon (it seems like a lot but it’s not a joke)
1/3 cup butter, softened until it’s easily spreadable

[optional.  but do it]
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large apple, chopped into your desired chunk size (mine were tiny)

Glaze:

Powdered sugar
Milk of choice

1. Heat milk slowly over low heat until it reaches 105-110 degrees F or until bubbles juuusssttt barely start to form along the edges.  Do not let your milk come to full boil.

2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl until it starts to foam.

3. Add the sugar, melted butter and eggs.  In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt and spices before adding the flour mixture to the milk mixture.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead with lightly floured hands until it forms a large, smooth ball.  Place in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about one hour or until doubled in size.

**At this point you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day.  Make sure you allow the chilled dough to rest on the counter for at least half an hour before attempting to roll**

5.While the dough rises, saute the pecans with the butter and sugar over low heat until everything is dissolved and the whole situation smells toasty.  The SECOND you smell even a hint of burning get it off the heat.  Set aside.

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle(ish shape) that is 1/4 inch thick.  The recipe says the final rectangle should measure 21 inches long and 16 inches wide.  I didn’t measure.  Everything worked out just fine.  Just roll your dough until it’s flat and not so thick you can’t roll it into a cinnamon bun shape.  If your dough is too sticky to work with, sprinkle LIGHTLY with flour.  Don’t go too crazy with the flour or the buns will be tough.

7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and mix the brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling.

8.  Spread 1/3 cup butter evenly over the surface of your rolled dough.

9. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the butter.  Make sure you get the butter and sugar all the way to the edges.  Spread the apples and pecans in a even layer over the sugar mixture.

10.  Cut the dough in half (vertically, not horizontally) to make it more manageable.  For minis, tightly roll the dough into a log like a sleeping bag starting from a long side.  For big buns start rolling from a shorter side.

11.  Slice the log into roughly 2 inch sections, arrange in a greased baking pan and sprinkle with any of the sugar mixture that fell out while you sliced.  It’s kind of ok if they’re squished up next to each other but it’s better if they have some room to breathe (and grow!)

12.  Bake minis at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes (17 for me), and big buns for 20-25 minutes (23 for me)

13.  Starting with a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl, slowly add milk, whisking after each addition, until the glaze reaches the desired consistency.  Add more milk to make it thinner and more sugar to thicken.  Vanilla extract is allowed as well.

Glaze and SERVE WARM!!

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