Spaghetti squash

I was watching the Today Show a few days ago and the health food expert that was demonstrating how to prepare healthy alternative meals talked about spaghetti squash. She said that you can eat it just like regular spaghetti with pasta sauce, butter or anything else over the top that you'd like. After she said it was fun for kids to eat, I knew I had to try it because I'm a kid-at-heart.

Liz was excited because she said she had heard people at work talking about spaghetti squash. She didn't know what it meant and admittedly had never heard of spaghetti squash. We eat butternut and acorn squash regularly, especially in the fall, but neither of us had ever had spaghetti squash. That night, I went to the grocery store and purchased a spaghetti squash. I cooked it tonight and we had it for dinner.

There are two ways to prepare it. You can place it in some water and broil it for about 20 minutes or microwave it for about 10 minutes. I chose to microwave it. It looked like any other squash when I took it out of the microwave until I started scrapping it out with a fork. I couldn't believe it...it looked just like spaghetti! Whoever named it didn't need much creativity.

We tried some of it with pasta sauce and some with buttered rice. It worked great with the rice. I've made squash risotto many times, so I new the combination of rice and butter would be money, but the marinara didn't work very well.

It was definitely fun, but Isaiah wasn't interested in it at all. Left alone, it was very bland and had far less flavor than butternut or acorn squash. It didn't bother me, though. I thought it was a lot of fun and will make it again.

Lack of posts...

I'm making my second consecutive post apologizing for my lack of posts. I don't anticipate that I'm making my "followers" angry because those that do follow this blog understand that my summer months are quite different than those in the fall and winter in my world. Add to that the addition of another little Black a month ago and it goes without saying that experimenting in the kitchen has not been high on my priority list.

With that said, I'm starting to look forward to the change in the season soon. When the school year starts, so does my activity at work (Victory) and the weather begins to change. There is something about a brisk morning that gets me excited for cooking. Hot summer days almost do the opposite. I have created a few new recipes this summer, but we've eaten a lot of fresh vegetables (thanks to the Farmer's Market) and fruit plus done our fair share of grilling. We've also eaten a lot of pizza.

The one recipe that I recall from this summer that will be a mainstay in summers to come is a creative new cucumber salad. I made it once when Liz's parents were here and it was a hit. A few days later I made it for a picnic at my sister's house. It was a hit again. It contains cucumbers, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, minced onions and garlic with red wine vinager and olive oil and an abundance of fresh dill and grated peppercorns. I was "shooting from the hip," so I don't have an exact recipe for you, but throw it all in a bowl and try for yourself. It's a combination of ingredients that can't go wrong.

Oh yeah, another good one that I put together was edamame hummus. Yum.

A lot of traveling

I apologize for my lack of blog posts in the recent months. I've spent a lot of time traveling and, as a result, haven't made blogging a priority. This doesn't suggest that I haven't been cooking and carrying my share at home. I've actually made some extremely good meals and even had two robust cookouts (Easter and Memorial Day). I've also had my share of food on the road. Although I haven't seen a professional, I'm sure I have some form of addiction to Taco Bell.

The best food I've had on the road came last weekend in Kenosha at Tenuta's. It's a small Italian grocery store that specializes in Italian sausage and other Italian favorites. I was thoroughly impressed with the sausage. It was the best I've ever had.

I also ventured into one of Northwest Wisconsin's best sausage shop - Louie's Fine Meats in Cumberland. I bought a cow tongue that I plan on using to make authentic Mexican tacos with later this summer.

With visitors I've had to pull out some of my classics, especially my famous Italian sausage tortellini with homemade pesto. That's on the menu tonight and I'm very excited because I will be using sausage from Tenuta's.

Monster Burger! My Version of the "Jucy Lucy"

OMG!

I made the best...I repeat, BEST...hamburger I have ever had privy to eat! I was fabulous. Colossal. Magnificent.

Last week at the Twins Home Opener (jealous?), I spent $12 on the "Vincent Burger." It's a huge burger stuffed with goodies that make it extra juicy. In fact, it's a recreation of the famous "Jucy Lucy" burger that's a favorite of Minneapolis food connoisuers. Two restaurants rival each other for rights to this burger. Matt's Bar calls it the Jucy Lucy and it's been on the Food Network and Travel Channel. The "other place" calls it the Juicy Loosey. Who knows who gets credit for creating this monster? All that I know is after experimenting at Target Field, I knew that I had to create my own version of this beast.

It goes like this: a couple pounds of hamburger stuffed with barbecued pork and cheese and laced with seasoning. Unbelievable.

I buy my hamburger at Trader Joe's. We eat grass fed beef. It might be placebo because I pay more, but I think the meat is always better quality this way. I brought home one pound of lean 96/4 hamburger and one pound of 85/15. I like mixing them because the 85/15 helps the burgers stick together more. I added an egg and three cloves of garlic, fresh ground pepper and Lawry's Seasoning to the hamburger and mixed it all together. Then I made four 1/2 pound patties.

I flattened one patty on a plate and smashed it down with a spatula to make it almost perfectly round. Then the fun began. I added approximately 1/4 pound of barbecued pulled-pork to the top of the burger and then topped that with Swiss Cheese. I covered it with another patty and sealed the sides to enclose the pork and cheese. It was gigantic! I made another for my beautiful bride.

I slapped the two monstrosities on the grill and cooked them on medium for 15 minutes. As I checked on them periodically, I noticed them "swelling." My best guess is that the cheese and juices inside were festering and bubbling.

I was in seventh heaven when it was finally time to eat these massive marauders. I took the first bite (video below) and the juice nearly exploded from within the burger. Barbecue sauce, cheese and other mysterious juices oozed onto my plate. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and what I was eating.

Not only was the presentation out of this world, the taste exceeded my expectations. I kept telling Liz all night that I had the sweetest after taste. I think the barbecue sauce caused that.

I challenge you to try your own version of the Jucy Lucy. I'm going to get very creative next time and might throw in some green peppers and mushrooms. Look out!

Corned beef and cabbage

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I made a traditional Irish dish (actually, a traditional St. Patty's Day dish). Every year I make something authentically Irish on St. Patty's Day. Last year, it was bangers n' mash. This year, I went with a corned beef brisket with roasted vegetables, including cabbage, of course.

I bought the brisket from the grocery store. You can always find corned beef around St. Patrick's Day. I prepared my own seasonings with the mortar and pestal which included corriander, peppercorns and sea salt as well as fresh garlic. I started the roast in my Dutch oven inside the oven (at 300 degrees) with approximately one cup of water and 1/4 cup orange juice. After two hours, I added the vegetables.

The vegetables included carrots (not baby carrots), baby red potatoes and green cabbage.

With the risk of sounding redundant, I absolutely love my Dutch oven. It's fool proof and makes "can't miss" meals. Everything is done to the perfect tenderness and it keeps all the flavors in whatever is being prepared. This corned beef was so tender. It was chock full of flavor and, like most corned beef, was somewhat salty. It was perfect. This was the first time I put the Dutch oven in the convential oven. I must say, I was pleasently surprised.

Ingredients:
3.84 lbs corned beef brisket
3 cups chopped cabbage
10 carrots (chopped in half)
20 baby red potatoes
a variety of seasoning

Weather: gorgeous, 61 degrees
Music: Ke$ha - Blah, blah, blah

Sauteed scallops

It's been way too long. I haven't blogged about my food creation is what seems like forever. I promise, I have been eating very well and cooking for my family. I just haven't found the time to write about them.

Scallops are very delicate to prepare. They need to be fresh and can't be overcooked. I sauteed the scallops in two tablespoons of olive oil and seasoned them with garlic, pepper and basil. I fried each side for about six minutes, or until each side had a hint of a golden finish. After the first flip (with tongs), I added a handful of Parmesan cheese and, mixing with the oil, it created a little glaze of sorts. After placing them on the serving plate, I topped the scallops with pesto.

The scallops were so tender and "melted" in my mouth. They did. If they're overcooked, they become chewy. These weren't chewy. They were perfect. As a side dish, I broiled asparagus seasoned with garlic and basil. It turned out to be a very good Italian meal. It tasted very expensive.

Weather: 64 degrees!
Music: Milow - One of It

Slow cooker sweet & tangy chicken

Well, it's March and I successfully cooked my way through February without having to spend an arm and a leg on groceries. I must say, I felt pretty resourcefull and my February meals were very rewarding. I didn't have a lot of time to blog about them, but I threw a few in for you.

March will probably be a different all on its own. I'll be doing a lot of weekend traveling and with the change of weather, our mood starts to lean towards fresh produce and, weather permitting, the grill.

My first documented meal came by way of the slow cooker, or Crock Pot. I know what you're thinking, I'm too modern and creative to use such an old-fashioned cooking appliance like the Crock Pot. I mean, come on, I received six of them, in a variety of sizes, as wedding gifts. I seldomly use the slow cooker because they're not very hands-on, but they're easy to use and make wonderful food.

I mixed the barbecue sauce with onion, green pepper and garlic. I put three chicken breasts in the slow cooker, covered it with half of the barbecue sauce, put down two more pieces and poured the rest of the sauce over the top. Then I let it cook on low for 8 hours. That's it. I also made a side of rice.

The chicken had a terrific flavor. I was expecting an Asian taste, but it was a sweet backyard barbecue taste instead. It was very good. The chicken was moist and soft. It went very well with rice, but would probably be better with some broiled vegetables next time.

Ingredients:
5 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple with juice
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Weather: 40-degrees and sunny!
Music: Train - Soul Sister