Butternut Squash Soup

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butternut squash

Butternut squash one of my favorite parts of fall, and soup is the easiest way to prepare it. Plus, it basically tastes like autumn in a bowl, yum!

I have issues with a lot of squash soup recipes I’ve eaten. One is that they’re often too sweet. People try to make them taste like dessert with pumpkin pie spice and sugar and all that jazz. Not my thing. I want something I can eat a sandwich with and pie flavored dessert soup just won’t cut it.  My recipe is more of a hearty & savory one, and with the added cayenne, it has a little kick.

Ingredients

6 cups (about 2 large squash) seeded butternut squash

Melted butter, for brushing

3 cups chicken stock

4 strips of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled for garnish (optional)

1 onions diced

2 carrots grated

4 cloves of garlic minced

2 red bell pepper diced

4 ounces heavy cream

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

chives

goat cheese for garnish (optional)

fresh ground white pepper to taste

salt to taste

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut squash lengthwise, remove seeds, and cut again lengthwise. 20151106_172755

Brush the flesh of the squash with a little butter and season liberally with salt and freshly ground white pepper. On a sheet pan lay the squash flesh side up. Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the flesh is nice and soft. 20151106_175140

While the squash is roasting, saute in a heavy pot onion, garlic, carrots, and pepper until onions are translucent.  Add chicken stock, cayenne pepper and simmer for 20 mins. 20151106_185347

Scoop the flesh from the skin, an ice cream scoop works well, and add to your heavy pot of stock and vegetables.20151106_185721

Bring to a simmer and puree using a stick blender.  Stir in the heavy cream and return to a low simmer. 20151106_195900 Season with salt & pepper  Garnish with chives, bacon crumbles, and goat cheese.  OMG so good!

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Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Pascha (Greek Easter)

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Greek Easter is a wonderful magical holiday.  It is full of many meaningful traditions.  In order for “Greek Easter” to be celebrated the same week as “American Easter,” Passover has to have been celebrated already. We Greeks don’t do Easter until after Passover, because how can you have Easter BEFORE Passover. Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, after all.

One of my kids favorite things are the red eggs. greek easter5

According to age-old Greek tradition, Easter eggs are dyed red. The red color represents the blood of Jesus Christ, whose resurrection is celebrated on the holiday of holidays throughout the Greek world. The egg itself represents the sealed tomb of Jesus from which he emerged following his crucifixion.

Tsoureki is a Greek Easter sweet bread that is typically braided and will have one or more red eggs baked into it.

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The game of cracking— or “tsougrisma” as the Greeks call it symbolizes the breaking open of the tomb and Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The custom takes place after the Resurrection (on Easter Saturday at midnight or the following day during the Easter feasts). Two people compete by holding their respective egg in their hand and tapping at each other’s egg. The goal is to crack the other player’s egg. The winner, then, uses the same end of the egg to tap the other, non cracked end of the opponent’s egg. The “winner” is the one, whose egg will crack the eggs of all the other players.

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  PASTITSO

Pastitso is similar to lasagna and a must have at any Greek gathering.  Our family’s recipe is a little different from what you’d get if you ordered it at a Greek restaurant, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

INGREDIENTS

1 onion

2 lbs ground chuck

salt & pepper to taste

3 whole cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

2 rows Ritz crackers (finely crushed)

1 stick butter

1 lb macaroni

4 C milk

8 eggs

3 heaping TBS pancake flour

½ lb ground Romano

½ lb ground Parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS

Saute onion in butter then add meat, cloves, cinnamon, and brown.  My mother-in-law says not to drain the meat, but I drain about half of it.  The hardest part of this whole recipe, in my opinion, is finding and removing the cloves.  Sometimes I use a flashlight especially when I make a large pan and my meat and amount of cloves are doubled.

Cook the macaroni following the timing on the package.  Remember that pasta should always be boiled in water that’s “as salty as the sea” so add a good handful!

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Misko macaroni #2 is what we use for pastitso.  The pasta looks like long tubes or hoses.

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Beat 1 egg and mix though the cooked and drained macaroni. BE SURE THE MACARONI HAS COOLED ENOUGH SO THE EGG WON’T SCRAMBLE.

Place half the macaroni in a well greased 9 x 13 x 3 or 14 x 10 ½” pan.  Add the meat.  Add half the cheese.  Add the other half of the macaroni and then the rest of the cheese.

In a separate bowl, beat 7 eggs, then add 3 cups of milk, and 3 heaping TBS of pancake flour.  Whisk well and pour over pan.  Top with crackers and drizzle melted butter on top.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees covered.  Bake an additional ½ uncovered to brown.  I usually leave tinfoil around the edges of the pan so they don’t get dry.  If a knife comes out clean, it’s done!  Let it sit for a ½ hour or so before serving.

Apolamvano! (Enjoy!)


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How to Care for Your Cast Iron Cookware

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I love cast iron!  A well seasoned cast iron pan is durable, easy to cook with, and is virtually non-stick.  So the next time you see a rusty, unloved cast iron pan at a garage sale or flea market, pick it up and rejuvenate it.  I promise you’ll love it!

When you get your pan home, the first thing you will need to do is wash it well with hot soapy water.  It may even need a little steel wool to get any rust off.  THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY TIME YOU WILL CLEAN WITH SOAP.

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Now let’s season that skillet!  Generously coat inside and out with Crisco; a paper towel works well to get a nice even coating.  Next, place the skillet in a 350 degree, pre-heated oven, upside down with a tray or sheet of tin foil on the rack below to catch any oil drips.  After one hour, turn the oven off and let the pan cool inside.

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The more you use your cast iron the more seasoned and non-stick it becomes.

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The best and easiest way I’ve found to clean up after cooking is with chain mail.  Just scrub with chain mail under warm water, remember – NO MORE SOAP.  If you don’t have chain mail to scrub with, salt and olive oil works well as a scrub also.

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Spicy Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

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They might be small, but brussel sprouts are incredible powerhouses of nutrition

In Chinese medicine, they are prescribed to help with digestion. There have been many U.S. studies done on the relationship between this vegetable and cancer prevention. Brussel sprouts are able to provide special nutrient support for the body’s detox system, antioxidant system, and inflammatory/anti-inflammatory system, all of which are important for fighting cancer.

brussel sprouts

  • Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 pounds brussel sprouts
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha, or more to taste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Directions
    2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the base away from the brussel sprouts and discard. Cut the sprouts in half.
    3. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, honey and Sriracha to combine. Add the brussel sprouts and toss until they are fully coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
    4. Spread the brussel sprouts on a baking sheet. Pour any extra olive-oil mixture onto the pan and tilt the pan around to distribute it.
    5. Roast until the sprouts are crispy on the outside and golden and caramelized on the outsides, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Oh my YUM!

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Greek Style Chicken Linguine

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greek style linguini

Comfort foods are staples for anyone wanting a hearty meal and a little taste of home and is often characterized by a high carbohydrate level and simple preparation. Pasta is most definitely one of my family’s go to comfort foods.

INGREDIENTS

    • 1 lb of linguine
    • 4 to 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1 lb of shrimp deveined, cooked, and tails removed
    • 1 onion
    • 4 garlic cloves, minced
    • 2 zucchini
    • 1 yellow squash
    • 1 lemon zested and juiced
    • 2 to 3 cups chicken broth
    • 1 can of artichoke hearts drained
    • 1 cup feta
    • 1/2 cup shredded or shaved Parmesan
    • 1 cup kalamata olives pitted and sliced
    • 1 cup petite diced tomatoes 
    • 1/2 flat leaf parsley chopped
    • 2 TBS corn starch
    • salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Cook pasta to al dente, drain and set aside
    2. Cook chicken, cut into bite size pieces, set aside
    3. Saute onions, garlic, yellow squash, and zucchini until crisp tender
    4. Add chicken broth, bring to boil, and thicken with cornstarch and cold water slury
    5. Add chicken, artichokes, olives, tomatoes, parsley, cheeses, lemon and cook for an additional minute
    6. Add to pasta and serve

 

Chicken Barley Soup

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So what about the proverbial apples and chicken soup? Do they really work as well as folk wisdom seems to dictate? While an apple a day certainly won’t guarantee perfect health, apple extract has been shown to decrease cancer cell growth dramatically. Just don’t forget to eat the peel—that’s where most of the beneficial nutrients are found. And several studies have demonstrated that chicken soup does indeed have anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce cold symptoms. As for tomatoes for acne and vodka for foot fungus, however, the jury’s still out.

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INGREDIENTS

Whole chicken

8 cups chicken broth

1 large yellow onion

1-1/2 cups of carrots

1-1/2 cups of celery

1/2 cup pearl barley

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp thyme

salt & pepper

Remove the skin from the chicken and place in a large stock pot.  Add chicken broth, onions carrots, celery, and salt & pepper, bay leaf, thyme.

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Cook for 1 – 2 hours, until the meat is falling off the bones.  Remove chicken, debone, and set aside.  Strain the broth into a large soup pan.  Add barley to the broth and simmer for 45 mins or until tender.  Return meat and vegetables to pan.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

It’s Chili

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It’s 30 degrees in Chi Town today.  Let’s make chili!

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Here’s a few tips I’ve learned over the years.   First, browning ALWAYS matters. Searing your meat first will get you great flavor that will permeate your chili. Plus, you don’t want your beef or pork to become grayish lumps in your stew, do you? No. So make sure you’ve got a nice sear—this goes for both diced and ground meat.

Next, don’t throw your vegetables in raw.  Sautéing onions, garlic, and other veggies first coaxes maximum flavor out of them. So make sure your onions, for example, are soft and translucent before you add your liquid.

Like with your veggies, heat and fat draw out the flavor in ground spices. If you add them when the stew is almost finished, all you’ll taste is raw spice—not the deep, rich, spicy flavor that you love about chili.

Let that chili cooooook. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors will meld together. In fact, chili is just the kind of thing you want to make a day ahead: it gets better with a night in the fridge.

Lastly,  always say yes to toppings: onions, scallions, cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs ground chuck

3 peppers, 1 green, 1 red, & 1 yellow

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 large yellow onion

28 oz can tomato sauce

14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

15 oz can of light red kidney beans, drained

15 oz can of great northern beans, drained

15 oz can of red beans, drained

3 TBS chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place meat in a large pot and season with salt & pepper.  Add peppers, onion, and garlic.  Cook until meat is well browned and onions are translucent.  Drain off excess fat. Then add the rest of ingredients and simmer for 1 hour or longer.  Serve with desired toppings such as shredded Cheddar, chopped onions, sour cream, and avocados.

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