Pumpkin Pie Au Natural Part 3

And here it is...the prize at the bottom of the cereal box.

This recipe is for 2 cups of pumpkin puree, so you'll have to change it based on the size of the pumpkin you prepared. It takes about 2 cups of pumpkin puree to fill one 8 inch pie. I made two pies with my medium sized pumpkin.

What you need:
2 cups of pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups heavy cream or one 12 oz can of evaporated milk (I used both)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 pie crust

What you need to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix the sugars, salt, spices, and zest in a large bowl. (Note: I used premixed pumpkin pie spice. It was a little old, so my pie wasn't that spicy. Just keep in mind that your baked pie will probably be less spicy than your unbaked pie, so it's ok to overdo it a little and only add what makes you happy.)
3. Beat the eggs and add to the dry ingredients.
4. Stir in the pumpkin puree, cream, and/or evaporated milk.
5. Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. You can put little pie crust decorations on the top at this point if you like.
6. Turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes. The pie is done when a knife or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. You'll have to check fairly often in the last 10 or 15 minutes. I like mine a tad bit underdone, so I took it out at about 40 minutes.
7. Cool on a rack for one to two hours before slicing. Add whipped cream and enjoy!



And here's a neat whipped cream recipe:
Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in one or two tablespoons of bourbon (such as Maker's Mark). This make the pumpkin pie fun! (Note: If you freeze cream, it separates into the milk liquids and solids and doesn't make good whipped cream. Yes, I did this and we ended up with Bourbon Butter.)




I did plagiarize and paraphrase quite a bit. Here are my references (NOT in MLA format):
Pumpkin Pie Puree: http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/pumpkin-shortage-make-your-own-pumpkin.html
Pie Crust: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-pie-crust-recipe/index.html and http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/piecrust
Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream: http://www.bunkycooks.com/2010/11/pumpkin-pie-with-bourbon-whipped-cream/

Pumpkin Pie Au Natural Part 2

How to make the pie crust!

This recipe should give you 2 10-inch crust, plus a little more for cinnamon sugar cookies.

Mix 3 cups flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tbsp sugar in a food processor and give it a quick mix. Add 12 tbsp cold, cubed, unsalted butter and 1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter breaks up into small pieces. Keep the processor running slowly and pour ice water into the bowl until the dough forms into a ball. You'll probably need 1/2 to 1 cup of ice water. Wrap the ball in some lightly floured plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This ball of dough will actually last a long time in the freezer.

Now cut the ball in half and roll it out on a very floury board. Start from the center and roll outwards to make a circlish shape. Put the rolled out dough into a pie dish and cut the edges off. It's better to leave a little extra on the edges because they shrink when cooked. If you have trouble lifting the big sheet of dough, fold it in half, lift it onto the dish, and then unfold it to fit the dish. Repeat with the other half of the ball.


Now if you are smart and rich, you have a food processor or mixer. I have niether. So I mixed that dough the old fashioned way. And while I was endlessly mixing the really cold and hard butter, I was thinking, "Why does the butter have to be cold?! *!$&#@ Can't I just use soft butter so that I can finish mixing this sometime this century?! How did people make pie crust 200 years ago before they had refrigerators?? Seriously!!". So I found out.

I guess the goal is a flaky crust, so you are kind of deep fat frying the flour. When you are mixing the fat (butter) with the flour, you don't want to completely mix it, you just want to coat it. This is easier to do if the butter is cold and hard. People used to just cut in the butter and quickly mix it, but refrigerators and mixers have made this process faster and more efficient, so the butter doesn't have much time to melt and the chef doesn't get her hands dirty. You also don't want to work the dough too much because the molecules tend to stick better when you push them together, which makes the crust tough. Now doesn't that make things better? I am now at peace with my cold butter.

If you have extra crust, mold it into fun shapes, sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on them, and pop them in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. They make great Christmas cookies!



Almost done!...

Pumpkin Pie Au Natural Part 1

This is my first time making pumpkin pie the old fashioned way. I kind of cheated though because I didn't use a wood burning stove. And I have a refrigerator.

This is also my first time putting up pictures! I saw another culinary blogger had put up really nice photos and I thought, "ooooooo, good idea!". I am not a photographer, so be prepared for some pretty mediocre cell phone pictures. The food, however, is fantastic!

I am going to start with the pumpkin preparation, move onto the pie shells, and finish up with the final pie fashioning, hence the "Part 1". This whole thing is actually really easy, it just takes a long time.

Preparing your pumpkin puree!

Step 1: Pick your pumpkin. DO NOT use your old Jack O Lantern. Ew. And don't use the huge ones that stores sell for Jack O Lanterns; they tend to be bland. Sugar Pies, Fairytales, Cinderellas, and pretty much any other pumpkin that doesn't look like a traditional pumpkin are good choices. Also, if they advertise it as food, it's probably pie material. I'm not 100% sure what my variety is called, but I think it's called Casper. It's 5-10 lbs, which should yield a good amount of pie filling.



Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and clean your pumpkin. Wash it off like you would any other vegetable and cut it in half. Scrape out the insides. I like to use a cookie cutter - it makes a perfect scraper. You can roast and salt the seeds at this point, but I don't like pumpkin seeds, so I'm not going to talk about it. (nyah!) Baste the insides of the pumpkin halves with butter or olive oil and lay the cut sides down on a cookie sheet or other oven safe dish. You can use cooking spray for a lower calorie alternative, but butter and olive oil really do give pumpkins a wonderful flavor. The dish should have a lip to it because pumpkins release a lot of water when they cook.


Step 3: Bake and wait. Every pumpkin will take a different amount of time to cook. I cooked mine for about an hour. You want it to be tender when you stick a fork or knife in it. It'll be hot, so let it cool before moving onto the next step. This would be a perfect opportunity to work on Part 2: The Pie Crust!


Step 4: Once your pumpkin halves are tender and cool, you should be able to peel the skin right off. Put a cheesecloth into a strainer and squeeze most of the liquid out of your pumpkins. You may need to let the pumpkins drain overnight if they are really moist. Soggy pumpkin puree means soggy pie, and no one likes soggy pie. Make sure to put it in the refrigerator if you intend to leave it overnight because bacteria LOVE pumpkins!


Step 5: Plop those babies right into a blender and push "puree" until it is silky smooth. This should make a fabulous, smooth base upon which you can let your imagination run wild! Visions of ravioli, soup, and sauces are running through my head. mmmmm. pumpkin. Anyway, we're going to use this particular piece of yummy for the pie, so set it aside for a few minutes so that you can finish your crust!



To be continued...

Return of the Kitchen Jedi - Christmas Mac & Cheese

I am back after a long hiatus during which time I learned how to spell "hiatus"! I am trying to keep myself busy and have decided to start cooking school. I plan to keep y'all up to date with the yummy things I am burning at school, so sit down, shut up, and pay attention!

I won't start school until late January, so I will fill the time with all the holiday goodies I can wrap my gut around. To start off, I would like to introduce you to my Christmas Mac & Cheese. (Disclaimer: If you don't celebrate Christmas just call it Michelle's Totally Awesome Mac & Cheese. I won't mind the name change.) I recently had a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese and was so grossed out that I decided to make my own. I find that I am spoiling my palate by learning to cook, but life just seems so much more fulfilling with good food in my belly.

The Christmas part comes from the red and green vegetables and the appetizer nature of the dish. I designed this recipe for two appetizers since I live in a small household, but you could easily double it for the first course of a family dinner or make a whole casserole dish full of it for a large party. I wouldn't recommend making this the main dish because it is very rich.

Are you ready, young Jedi? OK, let the kitchen force guide you...

Ingredients
1/2 lb farfalle pasta (any small pasta could be used here, such as the traditional elbow macaroni)
2 tbsp salted butter
1 tbsp minced garlic (I used store bought minced garlic with peppers which will be less potent than fresh garlic, so you may want to use more or less, depending on your garlic preference)
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup cream (Use milk if you want less fat, but I mean, really,at this point does it matter?)
1/4 cup of each cheese: Mozzarella, Gruyère, Swiss, Blue (I prefer Gorgonzola to Blue)
A handful of your favorite cheese and/or panko bread crumbs for topping
1 tsp cumin
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 cup of frozen chopped spinach (Don't like spinach? Try fresh basil, braised kale, steamed broccoli, sauted green beans...the options are endless! Basil and Spinach tend to cook quickly, so add them last. The other vegetables take longer, so add them with the pepper.)
red pepper flakes and/or pepper to taste (This recipe shouldn't need extra salt because of the butter and cheese, but taste as you go and add as you need.)

How to make your guests go "yum!"
Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the package and set aside. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the garlic and sauté for a couple minutes. Add the wine and bell pepper and simmer for about 4 minutes. Add the cream, and Gruyère, Swiss, and Blue cheeses. Also add the cumin and any other spices you like, like the red pepper flakes. Simmer and stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and stir until the spinach is completely incorporated. Make sure you taste it before you plate it! Turn on the broiler in your oven. Divide your pasta between 2 16 oz ramekins or other similar sized oven safe dish. Don't mash the pasta down. If you have extra pasta, that's OK (extra pasta + melted butter + Parmesan cheese = white trash pasta = awesome!). Divide the sauce between the two ramekins of pasta. Don't worry about being pretty or mixing it, just pour it right over the top of the pasta. Sprinkle a handful of your favorite cheese and/or panko bread crumbs on top and put under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately. Serves 2.

You really can't screw this up, so be adventurous and make it your own! Happy Holidays everyone!

Cheers,

Cupcake the Nerd

Passport 7-17-10

We were driving slowly into the heart of the ghetto. B was at the wheel avoiding the potholes and filthy, undernourished kids running across the street. I was in the passenger seat, cocking my sawed off shotgun while staring down the kids who were menacingly pulling up their shirts to reveal handguns stuffed in their pants. One more turn and there it was! The huge La Honda sign was a beacon of safety. B sped towards the huge gilt edged warehouse and screeched to a halt between the Grecian planters surrounding the door. "I'll cover you...run!", I yelled as B jumped out of the car and started to madly pump the door handle. "Goddammit, it won't open", he said as I took up position next to him and leveled my gun at some of the kids who cautiously advancing, like a lion stalking it's prey. Suddenly the door opened inward. I whipped my gun around and narrowly missed blowing the top off a well dressed woman at the door. All she said was, "I saw you trying to open the door. Come on in!" And we ran in to enjoy the safety and solace of a good glass of wine. Just another day on the Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries Passport Weekend Trip.

Uh, no, that didn't actually happen, but I bet a lot more people would go along if it was always this exciting. We did actually drive through the ghetto of Redwood City to get to La Honda, a huge, beautiful warehouse. Dominico was also at La Honda because they were having a private event in their own tasting room which is about 10 minutes away. We then drove a tiny highway along with about half of the bay area over to Half Moon Bay to go to a cute little winery called La Nebbia. Finally, we made our way to the grand Thomas Fogarty and then home. The weather was beautiful, the company was excellent (Jeff and Vicky joined us), and the wine was pretty good. Here are my thoughts:

1. La Honda in Redwood City. Overall not impressed with these wines, but the place and the people were nice. They had a taco truck out back. I didn't have any, but Jeff said they were ok. The Pinot "Sequence" and the Cab Syrah "Exponent" were pretty good and fairly inexpensive, but we didn't like them enough to buy them. We did however buy a $10 crescent shaped wine holder that's pretty cool.

2. Dominico. I've been here before and I have liked their wines. Today was no different. The people were very knowledgeable and friendly. The Aglianico ('05) smelled great and was a little spicy. We bought a bottle for $30.

3. La Nebbia in Half Moon Bay. This is a cute little winery out in the boonies of HMB. They have a bottchie ball court and a glass blowing shed. There was even a guy giving glass blowing lessons. Overall, the wines were good, but the dessert wines were too sweet. I liked their sparkling wine (light and fruity) and it was affordable at $13.95. Also good was the Merlot ('05 from Russian River), but it was a little expensive ($29.95). I liked it so much I bought it anyway. They also had the port in the chocolate cup for an extra $2, but I didn't partake because they had already poured us 9 wines.

4. Thomas Fogarty in Woodside. This is a huge compound with a great view. They have excellent wines and great pourers, but their wines are way too expensive. Their '06 Chardonnay was really good (tasted like lemon butter). We didn't get it because it costs a whopping $36.00. The '05 Fat Buck Ridge Santa Cruz Mtns. Estate Syrah was meaty and rich ($48.00). This wine was fantastic! We ended up getting the Barbara and the Gewürtztraminer because they were really good and a little more affordable than most of the wines. This is an interesting winery. It was started by a doctor who invented so kind of heart surgery stint or something like that, so he had a lot of money and started a winery on some prime real estate. Now they are a popular wedding spot in addition to the tasting room and warehouse.

It was a good day.

Happy Tasting!,
Your Wine Nerd

BBQing for Beginners #2

Scientists think that our ancestors brains started to get bigger once we figured out how to start a fire and cook our meat. Cooked meat is easier to digest, so our digestive tracts got smaller and used less energy while being more efficient. This allowed us to get more energy from our food and have more energy to power our massive brains (even though it may not seem like it, humans do have enormous brains for their body size). Secondly, protein is the one of the building blocks of our body. Protein is a part of our cells and tissues, like muscles, and is used as essential cellular messengers such as hormones. So I figure, with the amount of BBQing I'm doing, I'm going to brilliant by the end of the summer!

Last night I took a page from Alton Brown's book (actually it was a video on foodnetwork.com) and made some steak and vegetables. Check out his grilling videos. He has some good tips for grilling and the basis for my adventure (triple duty marinade) in video form.

Step 1
Marinate 2 NY steaks for 1 hour in a bag with the following ingredients:
4 oz molasses
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes.
At some point you need to accidentally tip the bag so that a while bunch of lime juice spills out and then squirt a whole bunch of lime juice back in the bag in the vain hope that you are adding back what you spilled.

Step 2
Cook the steaks for about 15 minutes on a hot grill. This will give you medium cooked steaks, so cook longer if you like 'em dunner. You're supposed to do this on a stove so that you can reserve the juices for the sauce. I tried to rig a foil pan on the grill, but it just burned the juices. It didn't ruin the meal, but if you want those juices, do this in a pan. Let the steaks rest as you go onto...

Step 3
Dump some olive oil, salt, and pepper (no, not a pinch...a dump!) onto one bunch of asparagus. Cook on a medium heat grill for about 10 minutes. If you find that the asparagus doesn't like to stay on your grill, try a cooling rack on top of the grill. This can be found at any home goods store and is usually used to cool cookies or meat.

Step 4
Boil the marinade for about 4 minutes and then whisk in 2 tbsp red wine, 1 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp vegetable oil. While this sauce is cooling, stir fry 1 jar of roasted red peppers and 1 head of cabbage in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Once the cabbage wilts, stir in the sauce and enjoy your meal! The cabbage dish was originally meant to be a slaw, but I turned it into something more like a sauerkraut, which is also awesome on bbqed sausages (no really...I just had it!). I was thinking that a little mayo would make this unnecessarily good. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Why let meat rest?
Meat proteins get smaller as they heat up and squeeze out some of the juice. Meat gets drier as it gets hotter. If you cut the meat while it is still super hot, all of that juice that is being squeezed out of the proteins will gush out of the meat and be lost forever. If you let it cool a little bit before cutting, some of the juices will be reabsorbed by the cooling proteins and your meat will stay moist. It should take about 10 minutes for the above steaks and you can save any liquid that leaks out during it's little nap and use it in a sauce!

For more information on meat naps go to The Virtual Webber Bullet. Thanks also to Mental Floss Magazine.

Happy grilling!
Love, Cupcake

BBQing for Beginners (that would be me!)

Ahhhh, summer. That beautiful time of year when you can cook outside at 9 pm over an open flame. I just popped my bbqing cherry tonight and it was FANtastic. Let me tell you about the experience.

My fridge is stocked with all kinds of bbqable goodies this weekend in anticipation of the ZERO people I will have over for 4th of July. Actually, I stocked it so that I could experiment with bbqing and then blog about it. Nerd.

I got some ground lamb (1 lb.), yellow onions (1/2 small), and blue cheese (about 2 tbsp) for the burgers. I chopped the onions real small, crumbled the blue cheese, and mashed everything together into some patties(four medium sized patties). I have a gas grill, so I cooked them over medium high heat for about 10 minutes and then put them on the second rack for about 5 more minutes. Remember to only flip once and never mash the burgers (that's how you lose that tasty juice). They turned out to be perfectly medium and tender, but not as flavorful as I expected. The onions weren't fully cooked and I don't like uncooked onions. Brendan thought it was great, though. If you don't like your onions mixed with meat, I would suggest something I learned from my hero, Alton Brown. Stick three skewers through an onion and then slice in between the skewers. This will give you nice onion slices that won't fall apart on the bbq. Check out foodnetwork.com for a video of Alton demonstrating this.

The next dish was my favorite and definitely the easiest: portabella mushrooms! Most people think that this is a vegetable, but it's actually a fungus...an organism that absorbs chemicals from decomposing matter. And it sure does make em tasty!! Liberally apply oil to the mushrooms, sprinkle a little Cajun seasoning, grill on high heat for 10-15 minutes and you have magic. They should be done when you see them get darker, wrinklier, and start to sweat. These mushrooms are big and meaty, so they are perfect for grilling. I have seen people marinate these babies in all kinds of things, so get crazy!

I want to talk a little bit about hamburgers. Most people immediately go for the beef burger, but there are millions of different variations on burgers: turkey, lamb, beef, salmon, soy, mushroom, pineapple, etc. Vegetarians actually have a lot of choices these days for pre-made soy and vegetable burgers that are quite tasty and healthy. Meat burgers can be pre-made, but homemade is always better. Turkey tends to be leaner than beef because fowl hold most of their fat in a layer above the muscle, while cows hold their fat in a layer above the muscle AND threaded through the muscle. Beef will always have more fat unless you buy the leaner versions which have had some of the fat removed. Also, animals that have been raised on their natural diet are always better. Making animals eat foreign food always does weird things to their bodies which can make it's way to the dinner table. For example, I just learned today that cows are not used to eating corn, so when they are on a corn diet, their stomachs become more acidic to handle the corn. After awhile their stomachs develop acid-resistant e. coli which could make you sick. ew. So get grass fed beef if you can. Anyway you want it, that's the way you need it. Just trying typing "burger" into a search engine and you will get millions of ideas to make that everyday patty transform into a little party for your tastebuds! I want to try the mozzarella stuffed turkey burgers next! mmmm...

Happy grilling!

Your Nerd, Cupcake

Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Ok, I know it's summer and you don't want some rich casserole, but this is mind-blowing AWESOMENESS!!! And super rich, so plan to spend the night in the bathroom afterwards. NUM!

Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Courtesy of Food Network Magazine

* 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
* Kosher salt
* 1 pound elbow macaroni
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 2 stalks celery, finely chopped (I eliminated this)
* 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (also, ground sausage is HELLA GOOD)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 3/4 cup hot sauce (preferably Frank's) (I used Tapatio, of course; you may want to reduce this depending on your heat tolerance...this is a spicy dish!)
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons dry mustard
* 2 1/2 cups half-and-half (milk is fine)
* 1 pound yellow sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups) (shredded is fine too)
* 8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
* 2/3 cup sour cream
* 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
* 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (Optional...I actually put fresh basil and it was yummier)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half, then add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth. (Keep whisking! This will burn easily!)

Spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni. Pour the cheese sauce evenly on top.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley. Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.


This is a simple recipe, but it is very labor and time intensive. Plan accordingly (ie have lots of wine and cheese). I served this with a spinach and prosciutto baked potato which was also awesome and also very rich. It took a few days for my digestive system to return to normal, but my taste buds were dancing for weeks!

Happy Eating!

Love, Your Nuuurd

Chicken with Vegetable Ragout and Polenta

This sounds really fancy, but it's actually a really easy dish that everyone will love. Vegetarians can just remove the chicken and cut down on the cooking time.

________

Chicken with Vegetable Ragout and Polenta

Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee and Foodnetwork, 2008
Cook Time: 5 hr 0 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
* 3 cups frozen primavera vegetable medley (recommended: Birds Eye)
* 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (recommended: McCormick)
* 1 (14-ounce) jar pasta sauce
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
* 1/4 cup dry sherry
* 1 (24-ounce) tube pre-made polenta, sliced 1/2-inch thick (recommended: Gennaro)
* Grated Parmesan, for garnish

Directions

Combine frozen vegetable medley in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Place chicken on top of vegetables.

In a large bowl, stir together pasta sauce, tomato paste, garlic and sherry. Pour 2/3 of the sauce over chicken and vegetables. Top the chicken with polenta slices and cover with remaining sauce. Cover and cook on the LOW setting for 4 to 5 hours.

Serve hot with Parmesan.

_________

Easy, right? But it take a long time. Here are my modifications:
I was short on time, so I used my deepest, biggest pan on the stove top. I only had 4 chicken breasts, which I browned in the pan for about 5 minutes with some olive oil. Then I dumped the vegetable, tomato sauce, spice mixture over the chicken and layered the polenta on top of everything. I cooked it, covered, on low heat for an hour and then high heat for about 10 minutes to get it piping hot. It turned out to need a little more salt and pepper, but the sauce was good, the chicken was moist and tender, and the polenta was creamy. It didn't last long. ;)

Hey did you notice the sun? I think we're finally seeing some summer and it's time to talk BBQ! Look for my next entry on how to make your BBQ sing!

Happy Eating in the Sun,

Your Nerd

Brendan's Favorite #1

The nerd I cook for is my boyfriend. He is always very positive about my cooking ("it's only a little overcooked!"), but he does have his favorites. This is his favorite from this week. It's a slightly sweet sauce that pairs well with a savory ravioli and white wine. The recipe is courtesy of Tyler Florance and Foodnetwork.com.

Butternut Squash Sauce with Sage

Ingredients

* 1 large butternut squash, about 1 1/2 pounds (Trader Joe's has pre-cut squash)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 shallots, minced
* Salt and pepper
* 1 bay leaf
* Pinch ground nutmeg
* 6 fresh sage leaves, cut in thin strips
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
* Chopped chestnuts, for garnish

Directions

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise to remove the seeds and strings. Peel the skin using a paring knife and cut the squash into small cubes.

Place the olive oil and shallots in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the shallots begin to color, add the squash and season with salt and pepper. Saute a few minutes to lightly caramelize the surface of the cubes. Add the bay leaf, nutmeg, sage, and chicken broth. Cover the pan and cook until the squash is tender but still holding its shape, about 8 minutes.

Puree the sauce with a standard or immersion blender and serve with potato gnocchi or your favorite ravioli. I didn't puree the sauce when I fixed it. I just left it chunky and it was just fine. I think it might have been better pureed, but Brendan thought it was still awesome chunkified. Top with grated cheese and chopped chestnuts before serving. If desired, fry some sage and shallots in olive oil to garnish.

Alcohol pairing: This dish goes well with any type of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

If you try it out, let me know what you think and what you paired it with. Happy eating!

<3, your Nerd

Passport April 17, 2010

Wine and food have been besties for a long time. "Who invented this magical brew", you say? Yeast! And we took kind of a gross idea and ran with it. Yeast will digest the sugars in grapes if you don't eat them first. This is called fermentation and it leaves behind a wonderful thing called ethyl alcohol, making the grape juice turn into wine. Mmmmm...ethyl alcohol. Actually, raw wine is pretty nasty. The wine makers got really good at controlling the fermentation process to make it not so nasty. In fact wine is so not nasty now because wine makers have been practicing this art for centuries. Some of the earliest grape juice residue was found in a jar in Iran and dates to around 5400 - 5000 B.C.! Grapes aren't the only thing that you can ferment and make tasty. Rice can be fermented to make sake, cabbage and cucumbers can fermented to make sauerkraut and pickles, and beer and bread are also a result of fermentation.

This past Saturday, I got up close and personal with some yeast of the best kind. If you haven't been on a Passport (http://www.scmwa.com/passport/index.htm) excursion in the Santa Cruz Mtns. in California, you HAVE to go. California is one of the best places in the world for wine now, and the Santa Cruz Mtns. is an unsung hero in this industry. I visited 5 wineries in the Corralitos area with Brendan, Barry, Kristin, Jared, and Rama.

1. Alfaro. Friendly people. Got to meet the winemakers/owners. Great food spread. Must have the 08 Chardonnay. It is light, refreshing, and buttery. Also try the 07 A Estate Syrah. This wine is super spicy and tannic. For a very drinkable table wine, try the 07 Scarlet. Num!

What is tannic? Tannins in wine are from the stems/seeds/skins of the grapes or from the wood barrels. They make the wine rougher in your mouth...your tongue feels like it's going to stick to the roof of your mouth. Tannins usually mellow out as the wine ages.

2. Windy Oaks. We actually went here on a whim because they aren't in the new passport, but the Alfaro people told us that they will still honor passports. Sure enough, they did! We were served by the winemakers and they were fantastic. It's a pure family business and a small operation, but they make beautiful pinots. They don't pump anything because the pinot grape is so sensitive, so they rely on gravity to transport the wine. They use a lot of wild yeast and don't ferment the wine. All of this natural wine making results in greatness, but rather expensive greatness. Diane's Block Pinot and the Estate Cuvee Pinot were super good, but my favorite (and the winemaker's) was the Wild Yeast Pinot. Their wines are smooth and oaky.

Oak is a common flavor in wines because most wines are aged in oak barrels. Most oak barrels come from France or America, each of which will impart different flavor profiles to the wine. I couldn't tell French or American when drinking the wine, but the wine maker can.

3. Natal. Now the fun begins. I haven't had much of an opportunity to taste bad wine on these passport trips, but this one takes the prize. This is the worst wine I have ever tasted. It was like the wine maker ran out of time and just dumped some water and vinegar into some grape juice. I never pour out wine, but this shit was in the spit jar after two sips. Even stranger was the Chardonnay...it was like a port! To give them some credit, I guess the real ports weren't bad. And they had an awesome bar. I need to find out what country they are from so that I can never go there. Love the dogs though!

4. Pleasant Valley. In the wine makers back yard, which was stunning. They had a hammock in their little redwood grove. Totally pimp. They had named all the wines after the various kids in the family, and the adults in the family were pouring the wine, so it was a nice and comfortable atmosphere. The whites were tasty (08 Paso Robles Viognier and 07 Estate Chardonnay) and the reds were interesting. The 07 Pinot was super spicy and smooth (and $60!!) and the 07 Syrah was similar but not as spicy. The Syrah was my favorite drinking wine, but the Pinot was really interesting. They also had a Zinfendel from 06 which was a little too sweet for my tastes, but most people in the group liked it.

5. Nicholson. This was in a pretty farm area. They had a really good, consistent wine spread (all from 07) and decent prices. Their chardonnay was tropical and good (I usually like buttery rather than fruity). Maybe my pallet was geared for spice that day, but the Pinot and Syrah were spicy and smooth. They were good, but might benefit from another couple years in the bottle. I don't normally like Cabernets, but their's was good. And finally, they had a Zinfandel which was rich, tannic, and slightly sweet. Overall enjoyable. And the wine pourers/makers were great... they put up with hearing us complain about Natal.

It was a beautiful day, we got to taste some great wines, we got to talk to most of the wine makers, and we took a nap on the way home (except for the drivers). Can't ask for a better day!

Want to know more about passport? Go to http://www.scmwa.com/passport/index.htm. Want to know more about wine? Look it up! Just kidding...you can just ask me.
Want to know how to pair wines? I'll be blogging about that later, but you can ask me specifics in the mean time!

Please drink, but enjoy responsibly.

<3, The Nerd.

KISS

It's 8 pm and you've just drug your tired ass through the door after a long, frustrating day at work. Do you cave and just stop by Wendy's on the way home, or do you KISS? It's the IT mantra...Keep It Simple, Stupid...such as when they have to tell the confused customer that their computer doesn't work because they haven't plugged it in. We're going to keep it simple for those days when you are pissed off, exhasted, and just plain done, but don't want to go down into the evil land of the Fast Food Queen.

Our first love = pasta. Our second love = fast pasta. I love boxed mac and cheese. But it doesn't have too much nutrition. So let's jazz it up (insert jazz hands here), but let's keep it simple.

Step one: Fix your favorite boxed mac and cheese according to the directions. I'm sorry, but if you screw up this part, I can't help you. If you want a lower fat option, limit the amount of butter you use or use lower fat butter. Don't worry too much about the fat and carbs at this point because we are going to limit your intake later. One box makes about 4 cups of cheesy goodness.

OOOOO...science! A lot of people say that you should add salt to boiling water to make it boil faster. This is a fact, but not a useful fact. Salt will raise the boiling temperature of water which means that the water will boil at a higher temperature and cook the pasta faster. But the amount of salt that you would have to use to raise the temperature a degree or two just isn't worth it. Add it only if you want some extra flavor.

Step two: Meat. Muscles are so tasty! And they have protein. MMMMMM...protein. I grew up with hotdogs in my mac and cheese, but I can't even begin to tell you how bad most hotdogs are. Try some healthier alternatives such as chicken apple sausage or soy based sausages. Add some grilled chicken or tuna. Most sausages are precooked, so all you have to do is fry them up! Same with the chicken. Buy frozen chicken breasts and fry them up with about a tablespoon of oil. Coat them with fresh ground pepper for some flair.

Hey noticing a trend? Let's talk salt again. Why is salt so good, yet so bad? Well, salt used to be in short supply, but your kidneys need it to clean your blood. So we evolved to crave salt so that we would search it out. Now it's not in short supply and our bodies are having a hard time dealing with the excess. Short story is that the kidneys will use sodium and the natural process of diffusion to control the level of water and minerals in your blood stream. Anything our body doesn't need is pumped into the urine. Normally, our body can adjust to high levels of sodium by getting rid of the excess, but this is stressful. Sometimes our body will start pumping too much liquid into the blood stream in order to dilute the excess salt. The extra liquid in our blood vessels stresses our whole circulatory system. Honestly, you get enough salt everyday. You don't need to add more.

Step Three: Steam and add vegetables. This is the magic ingredient. They are full of vitamins, low in fat, and low in carbohydrates. And the more vegetables you have mixed in, the less pasta you will ultimately eat. Steaming is important because boiling actually leaches those magical vitamins out of the vegetables. They are actually marketing steam-in-bag vegetables now! You can also buy pre-cut fresh or frozen vegetables to cut down on prep-time. Some of my favorites are peas (vitamin K for bones), green peppers (vitamin A for healthy teeth, skin, and eyes), broccoli (vitamin C for a healthy immune system), and carrots (vitamin A again). All vegetables have an array of vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy, but they also have fiber which keeps us *ahem* regular.

Step Four: Add some Tapatio and enjoy. But don't enjoy too much. I know you want to eat all four cups because it tastes so gosh darned good and you've had a bad day, but chill! Dish yourself a couple cups first (keep in mind that this is no longer two cups of just pasta because you added all that other good stuff). Eat this slowly. Wait 20 minutes...your brain needs time to digest this new event. If you are still hungry after 20 minutes go get another 1/2-1 cup and repeat the eat-wait process. And don't stuff...you're not at Build A Bear! Imagine you are getting gas (har har)...fill it up but don't top it off. But seriously, make sure you enjoy it. Savor the taste of your food and think about the little vitamins swimming happily into your blood stream.

KISS your food and your cook,

Michelle