Oven Roasted Vegetables with Sage and Thyme

recipe_ovenroastedThis is a great side recipe for the holidays incorporating a lot of root and winter vegetables you have on hand. Jeanette Chen from Jeanette’s Healthy Living loves roasting vegetables as it sweetens them, so the maple syrup is strictly optional. You can drizzle some syrup on to make them more kid-friendly. Some balsamic vinegar would also be nice with these roasted vegetables. This recipe takes a total of 40 minutes for prep and cooking and will serve 8-10.
Oven Roasted Vegetables with Sage and Thyme
Ingredients
7 cups of assorted root vegetables, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, celeriac, beets, and parsnips
2 cups of winter squash, such as acorn squash, butternut squash, or pumpkin
1 onion, sliced
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 sage leaves, chopped
4 thyme sprigs
salt and pepper, to taste
maple syrup, to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut up all the root vegetables and squash into approximately equal size pieces. I cut them into roughly ½” pieces (except the beets which I sliced thinner since they seem to take longer to get tender). Put root vegetables, squash and onion in a large bowl. Add olive oil, sage, and thyme to the bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat all the vegetables.
Spread vegetables on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 30-40 minutes until tender. Drizzle with maple syrup, to taste.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

appleberrycrispThis is a great dessert for Thanksgiving from Lisi of Lisi’s Luscious Desserts. The cranberries make it festive, the red color throughout is visually appealing and it tastes great. The pecans in the topping add great crunch and texture that offsets the tartness of the cranberries and apples.  This is just great served warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream. This is also delicious cold the next day if it lasts that long!
Cranberry Apple Crisp
Filling-
8-9 granny smith apples (peeled cut up into nice sized chunks)
2 1/2 cups whole fresh or frozen (not dried) cranberries
1/2 cup sugar (you can fiddle here – taste it after 1/3 cup for sweetness then add more as needed)
lemon juice from half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)
Topping-
(We like a lot of crumb topping – if you don’t,  just cut recipe in half and bake as directed)
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2 sticks unsalted butter (cold and cut into small pea like pieces)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter a 9×13 inch pan. Or split into two pans…or a pie plate. Or three pans. Really any shape will do.
In a large bowl, place the cut apples, cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon. Mix and taste for sugar, lemon, and cinnamon and see if you want to add any more. Place the mixture in the prepared pan(s).
In another bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, oats, butter and salt. With your hands, firmly rub this mixture together.  Squish the butter and slide and spread it around rubbing your hands together – try to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Keep working with the mixture until it starts to come together a bit. You can also do this effortlessly in your stand mixer on low speed. Add the pecans.
Place the topping all over the fruit. You can mound this. I make a lot of topping – so if you don’t want it all, you can bake it on the side – on a sheet pan and save it for ice cream mix ins or just a ridiculously decadent treat.
Place in oven and bake for about 55-65 minutes. You will see the fruit bubbling and the topping will turn a nice golden color.

Glazed Sweet Potato Slices

With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, we’re sharing a delicious Glazed Sweet Potato Slices recipe from Stonewall Kitchen, featuring their Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, available in our Stonewall section at the end of aisle 5.  A fresh and simple holiday recipe destined to be a big hit! This flavorful dish is an outstanding side served with chicken or pork as well as Thanksgiving turkey!

Glazed Sweet Potato Slices

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/4 cup Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic Onion Jam
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:

  1. Steam or boil potato slices until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well.
  2. Combine orange juice and Roasted Garlic Onion Jam in a large skillet and bring to a boil over medium–high heat. Add sweet potatoes and tarragon. Gently boil until the liquid is reduced and coats the potatoes.
  3. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at once or cover and refrigerate until needed, then gently reheat, adding additional orange juice or water if needed.

courtesy of Stonewall Kitchen

Sweet Spiced Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Spiced-Butternut-Squash-Soup-3We are thankful that Jeanette Chen of Jeanette’s Healthy Living shared this perfect soup for these cool fall days. It’s actually really easy to make at home. A nifty trick she used is roasting the entire butternut squash whole. You literally throw the whole butternut squash in the oven and let it roast. It takes about an hour for the butternut squash to get tender. Then, you just cut it open, remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Pumpkin pie spice and maple syrup add just a touch of sweetness to compliment the roasted butternut. A swirl of coconut cream is the final touch. If you like it creamier, feel free to stir in extra coconut milk into the soup.
Sweet Spiced Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash
olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
coconut cream, for garnish, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place whole squash on baking tray and bake for an hour or until a knife pokes through skin easily. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds; then scoop out flesh into a blender or food processor. Add vegetable broth, pumpkin pie spice, salt and maple syrup. Blend until smooth. Heat in soup pot. Ladle into serving bowls. Drizzle some coconut cream on top, if desired.

Chili Pepper Chili

recipes-chilipepperchili-bIt’s almost November now, the football season is in full swing and the NY Mets are in the World Series. It’s the perfect time for Chili! Our friend Angela has a delicious and easy Chili recipe –  New Canaan’s own Little’s Specialty Foods Chili Pepper Chili recipe. You can pick up your fresh ingredients and the seasoning mix right at the store for a delicious game time dish.   All of the savory seasonings in the mix are the perfect blend of specialty spices – transforming this ordinary dish into extraordinary. All their products are free from artificial ingredients, gluten, and no added MSG so the whole family can enjoy. This recipe can be made in 25 minutes and serves four to six. Make up a big pot today!

Chili Pepper Chili

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef or turkey

1 cup water

1 can (15 oz) beans

4 oz. vermicelli noodles (uncooked)

1 package (1.25 oz.) Little’s Specialty Chili Pepper Chili Seasoning Mix

Directions

1. In saucepan, brown meat with water on medium-high heat.

2. Drain and rinse beans. Cook noodles as directed. Set aside.

3. Lower heat, add Seasoning Mix. Simmer for 20 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

4. Before serving add beans and noodles.

5. Garnish with cheddar cheese, onions and jalapenos.

Apple Brownies

applemuffins_photoWith the delicious abundance of local apples this season, it time to share a tasty recipe for dessert from Julia Deane at Culinary Works. This is has some variations with the sugar depending on what your family and guest would enjoy but otherwise this is a simple recipe to share! While baking, make sure to check the brownies as all oven temperatures can vary.
Apple Brownies
Ingredients
1 cup room temperature butter
1.5 cups sugar (you can use brown sugar instead, optional)
2 eggs
4 large apples, peeled and chopped small
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
Raw Sugar
Directions
Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Combine well. Add apples, mix gently. Separately mix together the dry ingredients in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients, slowly and mix gently. Pour into a greased/sprayed 9 x 13″ pan. Sprinkle raw sugar on top before baking to give them a crunchy crust. Bake at 350 degrees, for about 30-40 minutes on convection until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Red Wine Beef Shank Stew

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 3.02.42 PMWe’ve all begun to crave comfort food as the weather has turned cooler. Stews, chili and soups are some of the meals Jeanette of Jeanette’s Healthy Living makes more of with the change of seasons. The good news is that it’s easy to use less expensive cuts of meat that are tougher in these meals because they benefit from low, slow cooking. Another benefit is this recipe makes a lot (serves 4-6 and doubles well) and leftovers can be frozen and turned into a Mashed Cauliflower Potato Crusted Beef Casserole (To make this Mashed Cauliflower Potato Crusted Beef Casserole, simply chop the leftover beef stew into bite size pieces, top with mashed cauliflower potatoes and sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Bake the whole thing at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes until stew is hot and topping is browned.), or Beef Vegetable Soup (just add some broth, cooked whole grains or pasta, and chopped leafy green vegetables).
Slow Cooker Red Wine Beef Shank Stew
Ingredients
2 beef shank pieces (about 2.5 to 3 pounds)
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion (about2 cups), chopped
4 carrots (about 2 cups), chopped
3 celery stalks (about 2 cups), chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons umami paste or tomato paste
2 cups red wine
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence (or substitute a mixture of thyme, oregano, rosemary)
3 cups chopped tomatoes (30 ounces)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Directions
Season beef shank pieces with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat oil in a large pot and brown beef shank pieces on both sides. Transfer to slow cooker. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic to pot and sauté until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Add umami paste and sauté another minute. Add red wine, Herbs de Provence and tomatoes; stir to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of the pot.
Transfer everything to slow cooker; cover and cook on high for 6 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
NOTES
For extra umami flavor, add some porcini mushrooms, season with soy sauce instead of salt and serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Orange Pumpkin Cornmeal Cake

Screen Shot 2015-10-05 at 11.34.45 AMLisi from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts shares the perfect cake recipe for fall. This cake is rich in color and texture. Though there are a number of steps, it’s so very very moist with a hint of citrus. It’s not as pumpkiny as you may think.
Ingredients
Cake-
2 sticks or one cup of soft butter
1 cup sugar (which reader Anne pointed out that I forgot to include my in initial post as she was getting started.  thank you!)
1 tablespoon grated chopped orange zest
1 large egg
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal
Syrup-
1/2 cup fresh orange juice from about 2 oranges
1/2 cup sugar
Directions
Butter a 9 inch bundt pan (click to show better butter detail – scroll down in baking tips) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Separate your eggs and keep both whites and yolks.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal.
With your paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.  Add the egg yolks (one at a time) and then the egg and beat well after each addition.  Scrape down the bowl, and beat again.  Beat in the pumpkin puree and vanilla.
In three additions, slowly add the reserved dry mix to the mixer – stirring on lowest speed (or gently by hand) until just incorporated.
Beat the 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.  I find this easier to do by hand with a whisk but you can certainly do with a hand mixer.  Or, you can transfer your pumpkin batter into another bowl, clean the mixing bowl well, and then beat your eggs with the whisk attachment.  (If you bake a lot, you may want to invest in a second bowl for your stand mixer.)
Then gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin batter – until you can’t see any more streaks of whites, but be careful not to over due it here.
Pour the batter into the prepped pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes (mine took 43 minutes).  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack to cool.
While the cake is cooking, make the orange syrup.  Juice the oranges and place the fresh juice in a saucepan with the sugar.  Mix until sugar dissolves and there isn’t any white sugar on the bottom of the saucepan (it will burn if so).  Boil the mixture for about 2 minutes and then remove from heat.
When cake is warm, brush with the orange syrup.  You can repeat when cool if desired.  For service, dot the  syrup on the side of the cake (if plated) or serve on the side and accompany with vanilla yogurt.
Screen Shot 2015-10-05 at 11.34.59 AM

Maple Pumpkin Bread Pudding

rec_mapumpbredpudgNow that is officially Fall we’re celebrating the season with a delicious recipe featuring a versatile Autumn delicacy –  Maple Pumpkin Butter by Stonewall Kitchen.
Maple Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Ingredients:

  • 1 loaf good quality cinnamon raisin bread
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Maple Pumpkin Butter
  • 3/4 cup half and half
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 2 Braeburn or Winesap apples, cored, peeled and diced
  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • Dash of salt
  • 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or foil.
  2. Lay bread slices on pan and toast for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.
  3. Remove from oven and cut each slice into 6 pieces and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
  4. Butter a 9×13-inch pyrex pan and arrange bread pieces over bottom, slightly overlapping.
  5. To prepare apples, in a sauté pan melt 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter.
  6. Add apples, salt and cinnamon and sauté until soft and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
  7. Spread apples over the bread. Sprinkle with chopped, toasted pecans.
  8. To prepare the custard, in a non-reactive bowl whisk together eggs, egg yolks and Maple Pumpkin Butter.
  9. Add orange zest, heavy cream and half and half. Mix thoroughly.
  10. Pour custard over bread, nut and apple mixture. And allow to sit for 30 minutes.
  11. Place baking dish in a large roasting pan. Fill with enough water to come halfway up sides of baking dish.
  12. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 35-45 minutes, checking for doneness after 35 minutes, by inserting knife in center. If the knife comes out clean, bread pudding is done.
  13. Serve warm with softened vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream

stonewall_maplepumpkinbutter
 
 
 
 
 

Courtesy of Stonewall Kitchen

Braised Broccoli with Garlic

broccoliAs we move into the fall, it’s time to search out vegetables that can add not only a healthy element to a meal but create colorful variety. Julia Deane, owner of Culinary Works, shares with us a simple and easy way to please your family and friends. This serves many but its easy to cut the recipe down if its just a couple of you.
Braised Broccoli with Garlic
Ingredients
2 large heads broccoli – preferably organic
3-4 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 cups Chicken Broth – preferably organic
Directions
Trim the bottom stalk off the broccoli and cut it into even size florets, about 1.5 inches in diameter and 3-4 inches long. Gently smash the garlic to peel the skin and slice each clove, set aside.  Preheat your largest skillet over medium heat and add a very generous coating of olive oil.  Then add more olive oil, because guarantee you did not add enough the first time, it makes a difference. Add your broccoli and sauté it for 2-3 minutes, season generously with salt and pepper.  Add your garlic to broccoli and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes or until you smell the garlic.  DO NOT let it burn.  Add your broth and cover with tight fitting lid. Let cook for 10-12 minutes, taste, check for doneness and re-season if necessary. You may need to add more broth – just check it a few times.
Welcome Julia to our list of chef contributors
Julia Deane of Culinary Works lives and works locally and has had a passion for food from an early age. She began her culinary career as a young child baking in the kitchen with her mother and brothers. Lessons learned from baking pies and cakes  has lead to experimenting with various foods and cooking techniques throughout her career. “I believe the best method of learning is through practical experience in the kitchen. I truly enjoy helping others learn how to become better cooks for themselves and for their loved ones. It makes for a happier and healthier table. There is something to be said for coming together, cooking and sitting down to enjoy the fruits of your labor.” says Julia. We look forward to many delicious recipes to come!