Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Apple Chips

Does not get much easier or yummier then this.

All you need is 

Apple(s)

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

Wash and dry an apple--I prefer a tart apple like granny smith.

Peel your apple. Using a mandoline, slice very thin. 

Preheat oven to 250F. 

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, spread thin, careful not to crowd.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake about 30 minutes till crispy.

Enjoy. My kids can't get enough of these.

Apple chips with Cinnamon and Brown Sugar

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Another yummy and simple Thanksgiving classic.
If you like a lot of cranberry sauce, double the proportions of this recipe.

1 cup brown sugar (adjust to taste)
1 cup orange juice
1 12 ounce pack cranberries

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve sugar in the orange juice. Stir in cranberries and cook about 10 minutes till they start to pop. Remove from heat. Transfer to bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

*adapted from allrecipes.com

CRANBERRY ORANGE SAUCE

Candied Yams (Otherwise Known as Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows)

Candied Yams 

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 sweet potatoes

1 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 cups mini marshmallows (divided)

Ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil, Boil potatoes about 15 minutes till somewhat but not fully cooked.
3. Drain, cool and peel.
4. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, 2 cups marshmallows, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook stirring occasionally, until marshmallow are melted. 
5. Stir potatoes into marshmallow sauce. Stir and mash some of the potatoes and break the rest into bite sized  chunks. Transfer to the prepared dish. 
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with the remaining 1 cup of marshmallows. Return to over and bake till marshmallows are golden brown.

Yams after baking for 15 minutes toped with marshmallows and ready to go back in oven for browning

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Lamb Roast with Rosemary and Honey Dijon

LAMB ROAST PRIOR TO CARVING

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
3 tsp minced garlic
3 pound lamb roast
Salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine honey, pepper, lemon zest, garlic and rosemary. Mix well and rub all over  both sides of the lamb.

Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove from fridge about 30 minutes prior to cooking.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place lamb in oiled roasting pan and sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and roast another 35-40 minutes. The internal temperature should be about 145 for medium rare. I don't like it that rare. 150 internal temperature resulted in a medium roast.

Wait 10 minutes before carving.

I served with sweet mashed potatoes and hericot verts.

Recipe for mashed sweet potatoes is here: Mashed Sweet Potatoes and for the hericot verts is here: hericot verts

CARVED LAMB ROAST

DINNER IS SERVED

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Corn Bread, Sausage and Chestnut Dressing

Corn Bread Dressing with Sweet Sausage, Chestnuts, Shallots and Leeks

Thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday and I look forward to it all year. I am not such a huge turkey fan but dressing, yams and cranberry sauce is where it's at for me.

I have been making this for a few years now. It's a big hit in our house. Will be making it again this year.

This recipe is loosely based on a Williams Sonoma recipe that I have adapted to fit my needs and taste.

Ingredients:

1 bags of corn bread stuffing mix (I like Pepperidge Farm)
3 cups of county style white bread cubed (about 1 loaf)
Oil (as needed, I use grape)
1 bulb of leeks (some people use celery but I hate it so it you prefer it, ok to substitute) finely chopped
1 onion or 2 shallots finely chopped
3-4 links of italian sausage casting removed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup roasted and peeled chestnuts. I take a shortcut here and use 2 bags of ready made ones. See a picture/description of them here: http://www.saladgirlnat.com/2012/11/chestnut-soup-w-leeks-and-shallots.html
1/4 cup of fresh herbs (your choice here, I like sage or rosemary or both)
3 cups  of low sodium chicken broth, more if you like your dressing more moist

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Butter a shallow pan.

Cup up your country bread into cubes crusts removed (you can save them for another use such as croutons)

Spread the white bread on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until lightly brown. This can also be done in a toaster over if you prefer.

In the meantime, in a saute pan over medium heat, brown the sausage breaking it up into crumbles with a fork until cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon.

If not enough oil, add a bit. Add leek and shallots, saute till translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes, add salt/pepper to taste. Transfer to bowl with sausage. Mix in cornbread, white bread cubes, chestnuts, herbs and stock.

Transfer to pan, cover with foil and bake about 35 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 20 minutes or so, until brown and crispy.

Shrimp Mark Bittman's Way

First, let me just say that I am completely obsessed with Mark Bittman's cooking. I can really credit his book "How to Cook Everything" with teaching me how to cook. I have both editions thank you very much. How sad is that? And though I own many other cook books, his are the only ones that I use regularly. Somehow, every single recipe that I have ever made from his book has always come out.

This one is one of my favorites's. Without further adue,

Shrimp "My Way"  from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves garlic cut into slivers
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of shrimp peeled, deveined, rinsed and dried
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp fresh paprika (recipe calls for spicy but I used smoked)
Mixed fresh parsley for garnish ( I omitted as did not have any on hand)

1) Preheat broiled and adjust rack so that it's as close to heat as possible.
2) In a large oven proof skillet ( I use le creuset cast iron, warm oil over low heat. There should be enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add garlic to oil and cook till golden for a few minutes.
Raise heat to medium high and add the shrimp, salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Stir to blend and immediately place under broiler . Cook shaking pan once or twice and stirring if necessary but generally leaving shrimp undisturbed, until they are pink all over and the mixture is bubbly. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes depending on heat of broiler and the size of your shrimp. Garnish with parsley and serve.

We like these with a side of brown rice and string beans. These are also awesome as a party appetizer.

Chestnut Soup w Leeks and Shallots

Years ago, I tasted Chestnut soup during restaurant week. It was so amazing and I have been trying to recreate it ever since, hopefully a slightly healthier version too.

Initially, I was actually crazy enough to purchase chestnuts, roast them and peel them. Results were phenomenal but it was incredibly time consuming and therefore not going to happen ever again for this working momma.

In come my the amazing discovery of chestnuts that area sold already roasted and peeled! Yeay! That's more like it.  There are various brands that sell and make these, I really have no preference, it's all good. The ones I bought most recently are USDA organic by a Galit.

3 bags of chestnuts 
4 cups of chicken stock (homemade or canned).
   *I used Imagine Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1-2 Leeks white parts only
2- 3 Shallots
2 tbs Grape Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp nutmeg
Thyme (a spigg of fresh if possible) or 1/2 tsp dry
Heavy Cream (1 tsp per serving)

1. Wash leeks really well as they can be sandy. Cut up shallots and leeks. Reserve a bit of leeks for garnish, you will want to pan fry these (see step 6)

2. In a large saucepan, saute chopped shallot and leeks in oil for about 6 minutes till soft. 

3. In the meantime, cut up most of the chestnuts in half. These will be used for soup. Reserve about 1/3 a cup and cut into small pieces. You will want to pan toast these for garnish (See step 5).

4. Add chestnuts halves and stock.  Bring to boil. Add thyme if fresh (else add later). Simmer about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add nutmeg and thyme if using dry. Using emersion blender, carefully blend. If too thick, add more stock and bring to boil again.

5. While the soup is simmering,  preheat small pan and add cooking spray, add small pieces of chestnut to a pan and toast about 5 minutes. 

6. Remove chestnuts, add 1 teaspoon oil and pan fry the remaining leeks till crispy about 5 minutes. 

Add about 1 teaspoon of cream on top. I do this rather than blending with cream to keep is relatively healthy. Garnish with your pan fried leeks and toasted pieces of chestnut.

Enjoy.

*Note that if you store this soup, it gets thicker, in that case, add a little more stock when reheating.

Update: Last night I  made this soup again but I avoided adding any dairy(I also pureed all the chestnuts). Instead, I topped it with crunchy bacon. In addition, I had some chanterelle mushrooms that I needed to use up. I sauteed those in the bacon drippings (after spilling out about half). Voila! Another tasty meal!

Curry Coconut Shrimp

1 tsp oil
1/2 cut shallots
1/2 cut diced red pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
1 can light coconut milk
2 tsp sugar
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp cilantro fresh is best, dry is ok


Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallot, red pepper and garlic until begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Season with cumin coriander and curry. Cook for 1 more minute. Stir in coconut milk and sugar. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 minutes.

Stir in shrimp and increase hit to medium high. Cook and stir until shrimp is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and cook another minute.

If the sauce is too thin, you can thicken in up by mixing a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and adding it to the sauce. I did not do that.

Serve with rice (we prefer brown).

Enjoy!

Seared Duck Breast with Blackberry Red Wine Reduction

A disclaimer: the duck breast and sauce in this recipe was prepared by my husband who is a great cook. Now if only he did it more often. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 duck breasts each cut in half
Fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups of blackberries
2 tbsp butter
1 tbs oil (I used grape)
1/2 cup of minced shallots
1/2 cup cabernet sauvignon
1 tbs lemon juice
4 tbsp blackberry preserves
Salt pepper to taste
Montreal seasoning (optional)
Herbs de Provence (optional)
Dry coriander (optional)


Preparation for sauce
Puree blackberries and strain the juice. Use only the pulp. You can reserve juice for another use (yummy in a beverage of your choice).
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add shallots and saute for 10 minutes, till tender. Add the red wine and lemon juice. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer till reduced by half. Add the blackberry pulp and preserves, mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil once again then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Lastly, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir for another minute. Makes about 1 cup of sauce.

Preparation for duck breast
Wash and pat dry duck breast. Score the fat by putting some lines diagonally across the fat. Salt and pepper both sides. Use a savory seasoning to taste if desired. 
Preheat skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of grape oil. Place duck breast, fat side down over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Flip the duck over. Add fresh thyme. Sear for another 7 minutes.

Serve with sides of choice and add sauce on top of the duck breast.

We served with sweet mashed potatoes and hericot verts.

You can find the recipe for sweet potatoes here: 
http://www.saladgirlnat.com/2012/10/seared-scallops-w-roasted-farm-fresh.html 

If you are making hericot verts:

1/2 pound of hericot verts (can substitute green beans)
1 tbsp oil (I use grape)
Salt/ pepper to taste

Wash and spin dry hericot verts, remove tails on both sides.
Preheat oil for about 2 minutes. When nice and hot, add your verts. Cook about 15-20 minutes total. We like them w a bit seared. Add salt and pepper to taste.

adapted from http://aspicyperspective.com/2011/12/how-to-cook-duck-breast.html 

Arugula Salad w Strawberries, Blueberries, Toasted Almonds, Goat Cheese and Seared Chicken Breast

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CHICKEN
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Grape Oil

FOR SALAD
3 cups arugula (washed and spun dried)
1 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 container soft goat cheese (my favorite brand for salad is Chavrie)
2 tbsp aged balsamic
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup wheat berries (optional)

To prepare the chicken breast, I use LeCreuset's Grill Pan. This is the one that I have : http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Square-Skillet-Grill/dp/B00004SBI4  Wash and dry chicken. Heat pan, add oil. Cook chicken till cooked through. About 5-7 minutes per side depending on thickness. Add a splash of soy sauce towards the end.  Cool and slice. 

For wheat berries (if using) 
Note that wheat berries are not berries but a legume which means they do need to be soaked overnight. Totally optional in the salad but do give it a nice texture.

1 cup wheat berries
2 to 2 1/2 cups of water
Note that this will make more wheatberries that you need for the salad but these are good to have on hand for other salads or make a nice hearty breakfast.

Rinse the wheat berries well with cold water. 
Place in bowl filled with cold water and let soak overnight.
Rinse and drain the water.
Place in pan with water, bring to boil.
Cover and let simmer for an 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs till tender and chewy.


For salad:

Wash and spin dry arugula. Wash, dry and slice strawberries. Wash blueberries.
Thinly slice red onions. Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl.

For dressing, combine balsamic, lemon juice, olive oil. Mix well, add honey and dijon. Mix again. 

In a small, preheated skillet, toast almonds till light brown. About a minute per side.

Dress salad. Top with chicken, scoops of goat cheese and toasted almonds. Serve and enjoy.