Sunday, November 4, 2012

Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash

Moroccan-Spiced Spaghetti Squash
Adapted from Gourmet
Cooking spaghetti squash in your microwave is super-quick, but roasting it isn’t much more work — I’ve made it both ways and it works equally well. This works great as a side, but I tried something different this time and bulked it up with canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed. We had it with couscous but if I had thought of it sooner, it would also be great with some sautéed greens.
Serves 4
1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) spaghetti squash
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, if you’re cilantro-averse
To cook the squash in a microwave: Pierce squash (about an inch deep) all over with a small sharp knife to prevent bursting. Cook in an 800-watt microwave oven on high power (100 percent) for 6 to 7 minutes. Turn squash over and microwave until squash feels slightly soft when pressed, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool squash for 5 minutes.
To roast the squash, two methods: If you’d like to roast the squash whole, pierce it all over with a small sharp knife to prevent bursting and bake it in a 375°F oven for one hour. If you are good with a big, sharp kinfe, you can save some time by cutting the squash in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and roasting the halves face-down in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes in a 375°F oven.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is barely golden. Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat.
If you have microwaved or roasted your squash whole, carefully halve it lengthwise (it will give off a lot of steam) and remove the seeds.
Carefully halve squash lengthwise (it will give off steam) and remove and discard seeds. Working over a bowl, scrape squash flesh with a fork, loosening and separating strands as you remove it from skin. Toss with the spiced butter and cilantro.

Tandoori Spiced Chicken

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons grated onion $
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon canola oil $
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves $
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning occasionally.
2. Place a small roasting pan in oven. Preheat broiler to high. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with salt. Place chicken on preheated pan coated with cooking spray. Broil in lower third of oven for 15 minutes or until done, turning after 7 minutes.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Coriander Cured Beef

Haven't tried this yet but it sounds like a good idea.
Cure and Beef
4	tablespoons coriander seeds
4	tablespoons black peppercorns
4	shallots, peeled and minced
4	garlic cloves, peeled and minced
¾	cup kosher salt
6	tablespoons dark brown sugar
2	tablespoons olive oil
2	beef tenderloins, boned and trimmed (8–10 ounces each)

.

Beef/
To prepare the cure and beef, preheat the oven to 400°F. Transfer coriander, peppercorns, shallots, garlic, salt and sugar to a large container and add the beef loins to cure for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until lightly smoking. Remove the beef from the cure and scrape clean. Sear on all sides in the skillet. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish and cook in the oven for about 5 minutes until medium rare. When the beef is done, remove from the oven and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes.

Slice the loin and serve with the potato cakes and the Cranberry Mojo.

Meatloaf

Serves 12

Meatloaf. Haven't actually tried this yet. Will try when I have leftover spinach artichoke dip

Ingredients

MEATLOAF (my basic meatloaf recipe really, with spinach / cheese filling)
2.5 -3 lbs. 97% lean ground beef or sirloin
1 egg, beaten.
1/2 white onion, chopped
1/4 c pamresan cheese, grated fine
1/2 c +/- Italian bread Crumbs
2 T chopped garlic
1 envelope beefy onon soup mix
2 T Worcestershire
garlic pepper
seasoned salt
FILLING
10 oz spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 c parmesan
1 c shredded swiss cheese, (or any white cheese, Italian blend would be good, softened cream cheese would work, too)
2 T chopped garlic
2 T Mayo or sour cream
3-4 chopped artichoke hearts
Dash red pepper flakes
hot sauce or cayenne (drop or dash, optional)
salt and pepper

Top with a can of tomato sauce before baking

How to make it

Mix meatloaf ingredients by hand
Pat out flat on waxed paper into large rectangle, about 1 inch thick
Mix filling and spread out over meat, leaving a good 2 inch border
Roll jellyroll style, using the long side, pinch ends together, and meshing together if breaks apart anywhere
Transfer to large casserole dish with lid
Cover and microwave 20 minutes, check, and I zapped for another 4 minutes at that point to get the edges a little crusty. All microwaves are different, so you will want to check on it a couple of times. I use high power. If you don't have a turntable in your microwave, I would rotate a quarter turn every 5 minutes. Or, you could bake if you prefer.
***NOTE***
Last time I made this, I used leftover spinach artichoke dip, and it worked great, too!
I like to saute my spinach with the chopped garlic and seasoning,, then drain, then stir in cheese and mayo/sour cream.
***Rolling the meatloaf***
If you don't want to roll the meatloaf, you can divide the meatloaf mixture in half, form a canal in the middle, spoon in the spinach mixture, the cover with the remaining meatloaf mixture and cook the same way.

Sunday, August 19, 2012