38 Power Foods, Week 33, Pumpkin Seeds -- Acorn Squash Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Cumin Vinaigrette

My favorite place for pumpkin seeds is in my mouth.  Preferably with salt or salt with cumin and cayenne.  I also like them on top of pumpkin soup. Texture! I put them in my pumpkin bread, too.  If you're a jack-o-lantern carver, you probably have saved your seeds, cleaned and dried them, and roasted them in the oven for a treat in the days following Halloween when your teeth are still gritty from the sugar high night. (You can roast and eat the seeds from any kind of pumpkin at all.)

38 Power Foods, Week 15 -- Winter Squash -- Israeli Couscous-Butternut Squash Salad with Fall Fruit, Cheese and Orange Vinaigrette

Israeli (Pearl) Couscous, butternut squash, apples, pears, figs, cranberries, cheese, and pecans with an orange vinaigrette--cornucopia salad.

How are new salads born at my house?    Like this......

I've had some Israeli couscous (actually a blend) in my cabinet for a few months.  Waiting.
Typically I throw some leeks, garlic, and asparagus in a sauté pan come spring and throw those lovely things into a bowl of couscous or orzo with a handful of grated Parmesan and lots of black pepper.

Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf or Here You Go, Lori!

It was ready for its close-up, but does meatloaf ever photograph well?

 I have a friend named Lori.  She's smart and tall, is mom to a big hulking chocolate lab, is beautiful and talented, and does things like run a salon and also fly airplanes.  Sometimes in the same day.  Did I mention she's a runner and that she's from Boston?  She also "did" my nails for several years in Colorado Springs.  When you spend an hour and a half every three weeks literally face to face with someone for years on end, you either become friends or sleep.  Lori and I chose to become friends. (I miss her.)

So, being women and being friends, and being a foot apart so often, Lori and I talked food. (Also family, men, sports--her, not me, work, whatever)  Lori's mostly vegetarian, though she eats some chicken, etc.  And Lori makes meatloaf.  Turkey meatloaf.  It's good, says she, but she's a bit bored with it.  More than once, she asked if I had another recipe.  Recipes, now that we have the internet, are a dime a dozen, but I hadn't made turkey meatloaf in years.  I was intrigued and remembered someone saying, "You cannot season turkey meatloaf like beef meatloaf; it's awful.  You must season it like turkey."  While that brings sage, onions and celery to mind, for me it also brings hot peppers, feisty cheese, and salsa.  Living in San Antonio for four years and Colorado for 15 would do that.  Taking cooking classes in Santa Fe would definitely do that.

One day, after months of turkey meatloaf ideas perking around in my head from time to time, I decided to try it.  Wow!  Both Dave and I loved it.  This loaf is full of chiles, onions, garlic, and salsa, and I stuffed it with overlapping slices of pepperjack cheese so that when you cut it (make sure and let it sit a while or you'll have a gooey mess), there are lovely melting bites of sharp cheese right at the center.

I mean, if meatloaf is good, people adore it--right? It's filling, homey, stretches to feed a bunch, and makes great sandwiches.  Though, really, loving meatloaf isn't something everyone wants to admit.  It's not on top of the trendy list, though come to think of it COOKING LIGHT has a meatloaf article in the October Issue.  But trendy or not, if you make it, they will come.  And they'll want the recipe.  It's one of those emotional food-pingers like, "My grandma made the best meatloaf!"  Make this even if you have to invite people over to eat it.  ESPECIALLY if you have to invite people over to eat it.

Side: Mashed potatoes is the usual suspect, but I did an all-in-one sauté of sliced new potatoes, onions, garlic, and late summer squashes that comes together just before the meatloaf comes out of the oven and while it rests before serving.  Top it with finely diced fresh tomatoes and sweet green peppers for color and crunch.   That's not much for directions; let me look in the cooking journal and see if I kept amounts listed when I cooked it.  If I did, I'll include a recipe.  How's that for informality in the cooking blog?   Here's the meatloaf recipe, for which I definitely kept the list of ingredients and, uh--techniques and methods!

Here you are, Lori.  Sorry it took so long.

Here it is all dressed up with someplace to go.  Your mouth!

 Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf Stuffed With Pepperjack Cheese  serves 8  (or 2 with lots of leftovers for sandwiches)

1# each ground turkey breast and ground turkey
1 1/2 cups salsa, divided (I like Frontera Roasted Tomato, mild)
2 cups whole wheat bread, cubed
1/4 tsp each:  kosher salt freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup minced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
8 oz (about 1 1/2 c) sliced or chopped button mushrooms
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles, drained

1/3# Pepperjack cheese, sliced

2T olive oil, divided

Note about salt:  I do not include much salt as the salsa contains quite a bit.  If you'd like to check and see whether or not you'd like to add salt, make a small meatball of the mixture and fry it in a bit of oil.  Taste and see (great song, too!) if you'd like any salt.

Garnish optional:  Diced fresh tomatoes and green peppers

1. Oil your biggest loaf (I used 9x5) pan using 1T of the olive oil.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Wash your hands well and take off your rings and watch.  Get a big bowl out of the cupboard and throw in everything (using only 1 cup of salsa; the rest is for later)--turkey through chiles-- but the Pepperjack cheese, olive oil, and garnish.  Put your hands down into the meat mixture and combine thoroughly.
3. Pat about half of the meat mixture into the oiled loaf pan and place the slices of pepperjack cheese right down the middle of the loaf, overlapping, and stopping before the very end. (So that the cheese doesn't ooze out while the meatloaf bakes.)  Place the other half of the meatloaf mixture on top of the cheese and pat down to create the loaf.  Brush with the other tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Place loaf pan on a foil-lined sheet pan and bake for about 1 1/4 hours or until thermometer registers 160.  Remove from oven and let  rest 10 -15 minutes.  Invert onto serving platter (or carve in the pan if that's easier) and top with the other half-cup of salsa.  Garnish with diced tomatoes and green peppers if desired.  Surround the loaf with  the Potato-Zucchini Sauté and serve hot.  Store leftovers tightly wrapped in refrigerator for up to two days.

Yes, it was in the cooking journal and here it is...
 
Potato Zucchini Sauté

• 6-8 small (1-2") new red potatoes, sliced thinly
• 1 T olive oil
• 1T butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 t chili powder (I like Penzey's; choose your style.)
• 1/2 t kosher salt
  
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1 ea:  small zucchini and yellow squash, sliced thinly
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
•  
• Garnish, optional:  1/4 cup each:  diced fresh tomato and green pepper

1. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat oil and butter.  Add potatoes. 
2. Cook until potatoes brown on one side.  Stir and turn potatoes.  Add onions and dust with chili powder, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Cook one minute and add squash and garlic. 
3. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender and squash is al dente or grandma done (your choice)--another 2-3 minutes. 
4. Serve garnished with tomatoes and peppers if desired.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood
It's that time of year.  Keeping the cantata on the piano at all times (skipping my own piano lessons), planning holiday travel, getting the last of the outdoor chores accomplished before it snows, changing out the clothes, ordering wool socks, taking as many walks as we can with the doggies, and grabbing yet another bouquet out of the flower garden. This may have been the last rose of summer:

 Or maybe this one!

While very dry, the grass is still mostly green.

 Here are the pies I baked for Pops and Pies, one of the monthly concerts at Prospect Park United Methodist:  

Must be October if it's pumpkin!

This is a sour-cream apple topped with a decadent crumble.

I did make that beef-vegetable soup I mentioned (with three variations plus some ideas on how to make it a bit cheaper) and if you'd like to see how I did it, you'll need to visit examiner.com where I write cooking and food articles for St. Paul.

Basic Beef-Vegetable Soup

Pumpkin Custard just for YOU

 Also, on my blog for The Solo Cook (Dinner Place), there's a great pumpkin custard topped with cinnamon-kissed creme fraiche. It's made for those who cook for one and is done in one minute in the microwave.  Your very own (crustless) pumpkin "pie."

Warm enough for flip flops yesterday.

Stubborn Tucker:  wouldn't turn around for his picture.

Happy October, my friends.
Sing a new song,
Alyce

Pasta with Eggplant and Pancetta

What's in your frig?  Make pasta for a cool fall evening.  Pancetta helps.

We lived for four years in Dayton, Ohio.  How at home I felt there.  The flora and fauna welcomed me warmly (and coldly) as, indeed, the atmosphere felt just like northern Illinois where I grew up.  The summers were wilting (and our air conditioning never worked right) and the winters were damned cold.  Gray.  A long period of waiting for spring was how some approached it.  I felt differently.  I adore late fall; Thanksgiving is my favorite season.  I'm entranced with Advent and greet it positively every year, knowing my walk to the stable will be a new one.  Again.

But, in Ohio, summer seemed to disappear without a trace one wet day in October.  It happened in such a way that a week or two later, you wondered what had happened.  There were weeks of cool, sunny times and God's great leaves flying.  Lovely Saturdays at the farm watching cider being pressed.  Nights on hayrides with bonfires later for hot dogs.  A morning you dug out the sweaters.  Any time, though, an 80 degree day could still pop up.  Really.  And then, one day on the way to work, you knew that day wasn't appearing.  At all.  Anymore.  It had been raining for a week or two, getting colder all the time.  It just rained itself right into winter.  And gray it was.

We're on the edge of that here.  Mostly the days are still perfect.  A light sweater or short jacket needed sometimes.  Flowers still in bloom---somewhat.  The yard is drooping mightily, though, and the window boxes have definitely seen better days.  I broke down and bought mums and pansies, but haven't gotten them all out yet.  And, truthfully, taking care of the yard (and watering) is beginning to seem like yesterday's diapers.  But today it's rainy and there's no sun.  At all.  Gabby still has her head hanging out by the window in case that German Shepherd or Black Lab has the nerve to walk by on the sidewalk.  But soon she gives up and puts her head down on the rug near my chair.  The other doggies are staying home more these days.

The oven can stay on for bread now.

What will I do with these?

Why does it have to rain, Mom?

Droop.

 A bunch of green tomatoes appeared on the back porch from the gardening neighbor.  We won't have enough sun or heat to ripen them.   I go around turning lights on during the day.  Think of making a big pot of beef vegetable soup.  Planned activities are a girls' night at Scusi and then out to a movie.  Not a picnic or outdoor concert or backyard cook-out.  This morning I ordered a long down coat and tall, warm boots.  I'm looking for a freezer so I can make Christmas cookies ahead for Drop in and Decorate.  We're getting our floors redone before snow flies.  That's what time it is.

 

Oh, we're not at the point of storing the patio furniture.   Or of skipping Saturday breakfast on the porch.  But it's coming.  And I've just woken up to it.  I still get up and put on capris and flip flops.  Sometimes I change.  Not always.

Last night, it was cold enough for a filling and warm dinner of whatever's in frig for pasta.  I occasionally blog these instant meals (and lately I'm doing it often) because that's how so many of us have to eat.  If we can even get THAT much cooked.  I have friends who are happy to have time to pull out cheese, apples, and crackers because that's all there's time or energy for.  But listen, 15-20 minutes will give you this admirable and filling meal.  You'll be busy the whole time, but you can put on Vivaldi while you do it and you'll definitely have time to set the table in a welcoming way.
 

Well maybe not quite like this, but why not set an attractive table?

 If you must (and who knows?), throw all of the vegetables in the food processor (except the tomatoes) and get it done even faster.  (Note:  I keep chopped pancetta on my freezer door all of the time.  There's almost nothing it won't do.  And, yes, a bit of American bacon will work.)

As this is more a method than a recipe, I write it in steps.  Read it through to understand the process and then make it yourself.  Boil the pasta, fry the pancetta (or bacon or ham), add vegetables, garlic and herbs, put it together and serve with cheese.  So there.  Maybe you need read no further.  But go on.

Pasta with Eggplant and Pancetta  serves 2  generously with a bit leftover for someone's lunch

1.  Put a covered 10 quart stockpot 3/4 full of salted and peppered water on to boil. Sprinkle with a pinch of crushed red pepper and dried oregano.  Add  1/2 # whole wheat pasta when the water is boiling and cook about 10-11 minutes until al dente.  Drain and reserve.
2.  Meantime, in a large, deep skillet, brown about 1/4 cup of chopped pancetta or bacon.  When it's crisp, remove it to a plate lined with paper towels.   Leave fat from pancetta in the pan.
3.  Into that same pan, add 1 large chopped onion, 1 large chopped carrot, 1 chopped medium yellow squash or zucchini, 1/2 cup chopped, peeled eggplant, 1/2 sliced or whole fresh spinach leaves,  and 1/2 cup chopped red or yellow pepper.  Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste) and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  Vegetables can be changed to suit what's in your crisper.  I do think you need onions, garlic, something for bulk like squash or eggplant, and fresh herbs of some sort.
4.  Cook vegetables until they're softened and add 3 cloves garlic, minced.  Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add 2 chopped ripe tomatoes (or a cup of cherry tomatoes) and 1/4 cup chopped parsley and/or basil.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.  Return pancetta to the pan and stir well. 
5. Add drained pasta to skillet.  Mix and toss well, using tongs, and taste for seasoning.
6. Serve in pasta bowls with grated  Parmesan or Romano cheese at the table.

Wine:  We had a little Barbera leftover from burgers on the grill, so we drank that.  A big Chardonnay would work, as would Zinfandel or even a Cabernet Sauvignon.  While we think of big reds as the province of big meats, they stand up and support a hearty, vegetable-filled pasta--especially if it's topped with a strong cheese like Parmesan or flavored with a warm, deep meat like pancetta.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood

The singing fellowship:

Choir came to lunch Saturday.  Chicken chili, sangria, brownies.

Good bud Kim all but moved in to the kitchen to keep things going.  Love you, Kim!

Nope, we didn't sing.  Just visited and ate.  Rested our pipes.

Fall--Time for Grooming.   Didn't much like it.  But they looked good for the choir.

Exhausted after their baths and trims.  What did we have to do that for? And what's with the bandanas?

 My life is currently full of playing catch-up at work.  Reading all the fall lectionary texts so I can choose appropriate music.  Off and on for a couple of weeks, the dining room table is full of music, bibles, notes, computer, etc.  I run back and forth trying to familiarize myself with the music library at church.  What's there?  What's possible to learn (and do well) with only two rehearsals?  Listening to anthems online. Listening to the choir.  Attending one lectionary study at Cabrini Catholic church  and one Bible Study with the neighborhood women.  Praying for a co-worker, who had to undergo emergency surgery.  Looking at a choir retreat in November.  Dreaming of the cantata much later than I typically do.  And I'm sooo excited and...

 I'm so busy ...  Being grateful, grateful, grateful for the opportunity.  Thanks, God.

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Instant Supper or Why I love Eggs, Honey

There are days when you just don't want to put that book down.
Remember those?  As a kid, my mom would not argue with me at suppertime if I was under a tree on a blanket with my nose in a book.  I try to do the same for myself nowadays on occasion.

This day, I just watched the dogs.  No time to cook.

 Or there are times you've stayed on the phone too long with your sister.
Your best friend.
Your boss.
If you're a piano player, your butt might have been stuck to the bench, right?

Here's someone I've spent hours talking with.  Thanks, God.

 Or maybe you're just tired.  Somebody burned up your brain online and you keep waking up at 4 and your cousin's in an awful personal jam and work's a mess and your dog got a thorn in his paw and you had to have a tooth pulled (like I did Friday) and ... well... and..

Maybe you taught a piano student to make chocolate mousse that afternoon.

 Perhaps you broke down and spent the cash to go see a movie and got home at 7.

And then you just thank God for scrambled eggs.  Maybe scrambled eggs and tomatoes, if it's summer.

From my garden

Could be scrambled eggs and toast.  Or asparagus.  Even a few fried potatoes (if you microwave them first, it's even faster), eh?

In this case:  in under five minutes, you can cook up some grated summer squash with a tish of onion or garlic, add your eggs, stir, plate, and top with salsa.

There's nothing magical about it.  Except that it tastes very good, is quite filling, and takes no time away from the weird novel your neighbor left on your porch.  Or from listening to a Charpentier Christmas Cantata or David Russell's guitar music.  From playing with the dog.  Chatting with your husband.  Try it:

Scrambled Eggs with Grated Squash and Salsa-- Serves 1; doubles or quadruples easily

   Into a small skillet heated over medium heat, measure 1-2 teaspoons olive oil.  Grate 1/2 cup summer squash (yellow, zucchini, etc.) and chop 1-2 teaspoons of onion or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic.  Place vegetables in the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes until softened.  If you like, throw in a teaspoon or two of the fresh herb of your choice here; I like basil. Meantime, whisk (or fork) together two eggs and a teaspoon of water and pour over the squash.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Let eggs cook until about half-way set and stir briefly.  Remove from pan while still tender.  Top with salsa and serve with sliced tomatoes or toast.  Et voila.  Dinner is served.

Two-Dog Kitchen or Around the 'Hood

Whenever I start a new job, my brain is full.  So goes it these last two weeks. Lots to dream of in this lovely worship space where God engages my heart...

Prospect Park United Methodist, Minneapolis, MN

The beautiful thing is, I told Gabby and Tucker (who must wait at home when I'm gone),

is that I'm so very aware of the change-the transition--, once more, from writer-cook and pianist to  church choral director.  And while it isn't easy in many lives, it is a truth that we are called to be together.  And together singing--however it happens--is fun indeed.  On 9-11, I'm so very grateful to be alive to share my voice.  Thanks to all the singers in my life.  And thanks, God!

Sing a new song,
Alyce

You Know You Love Chicken Basil, but Tell Me Why?

You know how you have an addiction to certain Thai restaurants?  (If  you know why, let me know.)  Now I like almost all things Thai foodie, except I can't handle the tres, tres spicy dishes. "I like them; they don't like me." My father-in-law, Gene, says that, and he is so right.  Ever since I came back from summer study at University of St. Thomas,  I've been just dying to get into cooking Thai.  For two summers, we lived above a Thai restaurant and I think it began to get into my pores.

I've dibbled and I've dabbled and I'm now at the point where I'm making it up as I go along.   Perhaps it's because I eat at Bhan Thai sometimes once a week...usually to get in an all-veggie meal that's not a salad.   Each dish provokes, "What's in this?"

Here's my Thai basil with regular basil.  Planted in a pot under a shade tree.  It'll burn up in the Colorado sun otherwise.

Finally, though, I kept looking at my Thai basil out by the whiskey barrel under the tree....and I knew its days were numbered.  Not that fall is ever REALLY coming (and winter, true winter,  only makes it a couple of times a year in the Springs, despite what others think), but we do get freezes.  And herbs that haven't been cosseted and lovingly brought in to my dining room south window bite the dust.  Or whatever herbs do.  (Sometimes they resurrect in the spring.)  All told, it was time to get my Chicken Basil on.

So google that and put it in your pan.  There's a million Chicken Basils.  But most of them are almost all chicken.  I sooo wanted a big bunch of veg in this one.  And the one Thai cookbook I wanted to buy is out of print.  Figure it out yourself, I said.  You're a cook; you've got the stuff.  And here's what I got.  Do use fresh herbs; if you can't do all three, don't make it without at least the basil.  I think that if you have the minty Thai basil, you could consider skipping the other two herbs, but I like it with all three.

And, like everyone else, I'll tell you to drink a little riesling with this.  I do so like the Oregon ones... Chehalem in particular.  They do a fairly dry one that's just does my taster good.

Alyce's Chicken Veg Basil  serves 4

Set the table, pour the water or wine, etc.  Then start to cook.  

Rice:

First make enough rice for four people:  Bring 2 cups of salted and peppered water and a cup of rice to boil.  Lower heat to simmer, cover, and cook until done.  (About 20 minutes at sea level... a few minutes more at altitude.)  Add 1/4 c chopped cilantro and toss with a fork.  Replace lid to keep warm (up to half an hour) until the chicken and vegetables are done.  (I like medium-grain, cheap rice for this.  It should be sticky.)

Ingredients for stir fry:

2 boneless chicken breasts cut into 1"x1" pieces
2T fish sauce
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1T water
1 1/2 t sugar*

2 T cooking oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, ditto
1 small zucchini, sliced thinly
1 small yellow squash, sliced thinly
1/2 red sweet pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 yellow sweet pepper, sliced thinly

1 tomato, fresh, cut into quarters and squeezed to get juice and seeds out.  Next, cut into medium dice.
1 jalapeno, minus seeds and membrances, finely minced (for mild, use 1/2 the jalapeno; add more for hot)**
1 c fresh basil or Thai basil left whole, divided
1/4 c cilantro, chopped roughly
1/4 c fresh mint, chopped roughly
Freshly ground black pepper

Have all this stuff ready to go.

 Instructions:

1.  In a medium bowl stir together cut-up chicken and the next four ingredients, fish sauce-sugar.  Let sit while you
2.  In a wok or large deep skillet, heat oil over medium high heat and cook sliced onions for about two minutes.  Add sliced garlic, squashes, sweet peppers, tomato and jalapeno.  Let cook another two minutes, stirring often.

 



3. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from sauce and add to the pan of vegetables. Add half of the basil, the cilantro and the mint. Season well with black pepper. Cook about 3 minutes until chicken is no longer pink.  Pour sauce into wok/pan and cook another 30 seconds or so, stirring all the while.  Spoon in to serving bowl and top with remaining whole basil leaves. Serve with the hot rice.
*sauce recipe from FOOD AND WINE
**Whole jalapeno, seeded and membranes removed, minced finely for hot.  (Hotter?  Pass crushed red pepper at the table.  You could also use Thai bird chiles, but jalapenos are more accessible here.)

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood
Still feeling like summer around here....Decks got painted over the last two weeks.

This is what we call "The Doggie Door."  Still in the 60's.  Changing tomorrow.



Hasn't frozen yet.





Are you gonna eat that?

This week, I'm testing pizza and have already made some.  I teach the Italian section of "Cooking with Music" this Saturday and I WILL be up-to-date on my crust by then!  Blog coming, I'll hope.

This is the first try at a 15"x13" margherita.  It had its ups and downs  Cool thing about it is it's baked in a half-sheet pan like anyone has.  You could do it tomorrow!

Fitness update:  Gabby and I hiked the local hills instead of me going to the gym.  Spiritual practice of "putting one foot in front of the other," as Barbara Brown Taylor says.  Dave and I worked out together on Saturday morning...before going out to breakfast.  Gee.

Here's The Church at Woodmoor, where I've been worshiping and directing the choir lately.  It's a bit hard to photograph, but you get the idea.  Lots of wood; interesting light.  Loving singers and congregation.    They've been very welcoming and I'll miss them when I'm gone.   I'm in the process of new job applications now.   Today, I had to write my philosophy of music in worship.  Good experience. Not as simple as it sounds.  We'll see.  Living "Sing a New Song,"  Alyce.