Stuffed Acorn Squash

This blog is no longer actively updated, please visit my new site at MintGrapefruit.com to keep up with new recipes and all the other whats-goings-ons

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so in keeping with the spirit I decided to test out a few different Thanksgiving types foods. Today I made a Stuffed Acorn Squash with a Maple Syrup Drizzle...doesn't that just make it sound just a bit more fancy...ha.

In our house our stuffing is usually made with sausage, and this mix was no different.  As I was making these, I think they would be great for a leftover meal. Using your leftover stuffing and turkey all mixed together then covered in gravy? I don't see why not!

You are also not limited to using an acorn squash, there are many different types of winter squash that would work great. I used one fairly large acorn squash that if used as a side could feed four or two pretty filling meals.  I ate the smaller half for dinner and was full, I cut the larger half in half and will eat those for lunches this week.

On to the recipe...

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Maple Syrup Drizzle

1 acorn squash
1 cup prepared gluten free corn bread, cubed (I used Bob's Red Mill, and prepared it with soy milk)
2/3 cup sausage
1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1/4 of an apple, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add one cup of water to a 13x9" baking dish, cut the squash and remove the seeds, place cut side down in the pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, just until fork tender.

While the squash bakes, prepare the stuffing. Brown the sausage. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl with the sausage. Mix well.

Remove the squash and carefully empty the water and turn the squash over. Fill the squash with the stuffing mix. Bake for an another 10-15 minutes just until the stuffing browns.

Once removed, drizzle with extra maple syrup. Enjoy!

**For a vegetarian/vegan option, use mushrooms instead of the sausage. If you have a corn allergy, you could easily use a different type of bread or even a grain.

Keep an eye out for a really simple cranberry sauce recipe, coming on Wednesday!

I want to know...
What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

Another take on chicken...

I wanted to do something a little different with chicken, we always tend to just roast our chicken with some rub or glaze, which by all means is fine.  But, I was wanting something different.  I rummaged in our fridge and decided to make a mushroom stuffed chicken breast and wrap it in prosciutto...sounded good to me!

Chicken Prosciutto Roll with Mushroom Stuffing

served 3

2 large chicken breasts
1 pint mushrooms, chopped, use your favorite!
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 slices of prosciutto
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Chop one slice of the prosciutto and combine with the mushrooms and garlic in a large saute pan, add the sherry and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are tender, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside to cool.

Mean while, butterfly the chicken breasts and lightly pound them out until you have a uniform thickness.  Lay out two pieces of the ham, lay one of the chicken breasts on top of the ham. Spoon half the mushroom mixture over the chicken breast and sprinkle with half the cheese.  Carefully roll the chicken and prosciutto, place in a baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the other breast.  You can use tooth picks if needed.  (A good amount of cheese will ooze out of the rolls while cooking, add more cheese if you would like.)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes (may vary depending on your oven)

Slice and serve with rice and a salad.  Enjoy!

**This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated or you could even make ahead and freeze. To freeze, after they are rolled you could either wrap individually with plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag or lay on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour, remove and place in a freezer bag.  Thaw in the fridge before cooking.

My top 12 of 2012!

The year is over, and I know I am a couple days late, it has been a long yet quick 2012.  I have made a couple life changes this past year which have made me stronger and healthier.  I accomplished my first triathlon, which I never thought in a million years (and probably anyone who knows me) thought I would ever do. I have completely changed how I eat, going gluten free has been a blessing.

So, I thought I would share my top 12 viewed posts of 2012 (in order from oldest to newest), thank you for following and listening to my rants, struggles and adventures! 

Adventures in Training #3: January recap & February Goals

Vegetable & Tofu Stir Fry

Recycled Crayon Disks

Antojitos: Mexican Pork Tarts

Super Chocolate Cake with a Homemade Fluff Icing

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Moms Meet: Kashi Chocolate Soft Baked Squares

One Week Down: Gluten-free

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

Sandy and Vegetable Quinoa Soup (GF)

My First Gluten-Free Thanksgiving (with recipes)

GF Stuffing

Sporty 3rd Birthday!

It's a soup kinda day!

Potato Soup - My top viewed post!

Looking forward to more in 2013!

My First Gluten-Free Thanksgiving (with recipes)

I have to admit I was kind of dreading and excited for this thanksgiving. I love thanksgiving, all the great food that usually triggers memories. I love spending the day with my family, kids running around, drinking wine and eating too much.

Since I have been married we have tried to alternate holidays with both our families, sometimes it works well and sometimes things come up that make it a little harder. There have been a few years where my husband has had to work on thanksgiving and he always has to work the day after so traveling is usually out of the question. This year we did something different and spent the day with our good friends.

Our wonderful hosts!

We didn't realize where we were going to go until a week before, I knew out of our options what I would be able to eat would be limited and therefore had it in my head what I was going to make no matter where we went. Stuffing and gravy. There ended up being about at least 30 people (including kids) so I made two different stuffing's  one that was gluten free and the other was not, but both were very similar.  I also can't do a Thanksgiving without a pie, so I also made a GF Apple Pie. (Recipes below)

GF Apple Pie and GF Pear & Raspberry Cobbler

Buffet Table

The menu included the normal staples for a Thanksgiving meal (or at least what I am used to); there was a 25 lb. turkey, two hams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, stuffing, a broccoli casserole, mac-n-cheese and of course pies. The only thing that I missed, that I thought I wouldn't ever miss was cranberry sauce. There was a lot of food, I knew that I couldn't eat most if any of the casseroles but I did taste the sweet potato.  I also brought along my own gravy, which was not the same as homemade with the drippings. 

GF Stuffing with Sausage

Gluten-Free Stuffing with Sausage

(Both stuffing recipes were adapted from my dads traditional stuffing recipe) 

For the gluten-free stuffing:

1/2 loaf GF bread (I used Rudi's)
1 box of GF Cornbread prepared (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 pound pork sausage (make sure GF, I bought mine from a butcher)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh sage
3-4 cups GF chicken broth
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the cornbread, (I only used half, save the other half just to enjoy), cube the breads and place on a cookie sheet, bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes just until dried out, but not brown. Set aside to cool.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet, once it is cooked through carefully remove the sausage to let drain.  Add the celery and onion to the sausage drippings and cook until tender. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine.  Add the thyme and sage.  Add about one cup of the broth and stir picking up any bits that may be left on the pan.  Put sausage mixture aside to cool, just until it can be handled with out burning your fingers.

Once the sausage mixture is cooled, add the eggs and about another cup of the broth, mix well.  I used my hands.  Pour over the bread and toss to combine, depending on how moist you like your stuffing, add a little more broth over the whole dish.  Bake covered at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, uncover and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes.

For the Regular (non-GF) Version; do all of the same except use a whole loaf of old old white bread, or your favorite type of bread, instead of the GF bread.

GF Apple Pie

GF Apple Pie

This is my recipe, it is never the same because I never really measure anything, I will do my best, but the flavors can be adjusted to your liking.

For the GF Crust

2 cups GF All Purposed Four Mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp. Xantham Gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 and a half sticks of cold butter (3/4 cups), cut into cubes
ice water (about 2-3 tbsp.)

Put the flour, xantham gum and salt in the food processor (feel free to do this by hand but the food processor makes it so easy), add the butter and pulse until the butter in combined. Slow stream in a little of the water, add just about a tsp at a time.  Keep pulsing until dough is formed, remove and separate into two flattened balls, cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.  (You can make this a head to save time)

For the Apple Filling

8-10 medium apples, I usually use a mix of different apples, I have even added firm pears, use what you like.
juice of half a lemon
1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. ground cinnamon, (more or less depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 cup apple cider or juice (optional)

Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place the apples in a large bowl, squeeze the lemon over the apples (to keep from browning).  Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg over the apples, toss to combine.  If you plan on doing this the day before, add the cider.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

Prepare the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator   Roll one dough ball out to about a 1/4 inch thickness, and place on the bottom of the pie pan.  Add the apples, there will be a big mound. Roll out the second dough ball, place on top of the apples and pinch the edged sealing both the top and bottom crust together.  Poke a few hole on top using a fork, you can brush the top of the crust with egg yoke or butter if you would like, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees, for 60-70 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil, remove the foil for the last 20 minutes just to make sure it browns.  You don't want to burn the crust!  Note: You may want to line the bottom of the oven with foil, in case of juice drips.

Now for some random pictures...

My wonderful husband after dinner

Me and my son

First round of after dinner wrestling

Round two

Antojitos: Mexican Pork Tarts

If you know me...I am fascinated, obsessed, in love (you can get the picture) with Mexican Cuisine. I find any excuse to try something new, and this weekend was no different.  Even though the out come was not quite how I expected, these tarts were still good when eaten fresh and warm. 

I had some friends over to shop for Thirty-one bags, and decided to make some savory Mexican snacks, antojitos.  For the tarts I combined ideas from different blogs, and Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Mexican magazine. I made the tarts, shredded the meat, and mixed the bean mixture the night before.  I assembled the tarts about an hour before and put in the oven to keep warm (which in turn slightly dried out the tarts, so I don't recommend it.)

On to the recipe...

 For the Tart Shells:

 2 cups masa harina
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Monterey jack and cheddar)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening (lard would be great)
1 egg yolk
1 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Using a stand mixer, beat the shortening and yolk until light and fluffy. Alternately add the masa mixture and the warm water. Beat until a soft dough forms, if it seems too dry you can add more water, 1 tsp at a time.

Shape the dough into about 32 balls, using a tablespoon of dough per ball.  I pressed the dough balls in the bottom of a greased muffin tin. You could free form and bake on a greased baking sheet. Bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes until the dough it set and slightly brown.  If you make the tarts ahead of time, store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the Filling:

1 can of refried black beans

1/4 cup of your favorite salsa

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 small Jalapeno. diced

1 package of Trader Joe's Traditional Carnitas (or you can make your own, this was my short cut.)

Queso Fresco



In a medium bowl, mix the beans, salsa, lime and jalapeno (you will have some extra, so you can half if you want or use for nachos!) Heat slightly until just warm, the microwave works great. Set aside. Prepare the pork as directed on the package and shred. 

Take one of the tart shells and add a spoonful of the bean mixture, top with some pork and sprinkle with the queso. 





Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms with Pork

I can't remember if I mentioned doing something different every week or not...but the concept is to introduce or re-introduce flavors to my husband.  I have been slacking mostly due to the fact that our household has been sick so we have been eating a lot of soup.  So back on track...last weekend I was going to go all vegetarian but I got some grim faces so I decided that I wouldn't go there yet.  The result with this meal was really good, I however will probably tweak it somehow next time, but my husband said he really liked it.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (170 calories)


Mushrooms
4 Portobello, stem and gills removed
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Brush mushrooms with oil and season, grill for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Stuffing

half of onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup Spinach, fresh
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup Bread crumbs
1 Egg
2 tablespoons Herbs; basil, parsley (Italian seasoning)
1 Roma Tomato, thinly sliced

Using a food processor, puree onions and garlic, saute over medium high heat, add chopped spinach (just until wilted. Remove mix from heat and allow to cool slightly add Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, herbs, mozzarella cheese, egg. Mix until well combined. Spoon into the grilled mushroom.

Place one slice of tomato on top of mixture. Bake about 10 min. at 350.

Pork Cutlets (about 300 calories)

4 pork cutlets, about ¼ inch thick
2 Eggs
1 cup Flour
1 cup Bread crumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Oil, mild for pan

Prepare dreading station. Mix bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning.

Cover pork in flour, followed by egg, followed by bread crumb mixture. Pan fry in oil on skillet.

On a baking dish, place one of the cutlets along with one mushroom cap on top. Sprinkle with extra mozzarella cheese and broil for just until melted. Serve with a green salad.

Omit the pork for a vegetarian meal.

Slow cooker pulled pork

I must say this was my first time making real pulled pork and it was so good and easy!  We own a grill that is also a smoker and have talked about smoking the pig and even though it would have been a beautiful day to use it, I just wasn't ready to try it. So I opted for the slow cooker.

I put the pork butt in the cooker and filled it half way with root beer. Yes, root beer. Then cooked it on low for about 8-10 hours (I started it before I went to bed and just let it cook all night.) After cooking on low, drain (saving some juices) and using a fork shred/pull the pork. Place the pork back in the cooker and mix in your favorite BBQ sauce, I only used about 3/4 cup. Cook on low for another hour or so then turn to warm. Serve with extra BBQ sauce.
So easy! So good!