Goat Cheese and Potatoe Encrusted Stew

This time of year brings out the comfort cook in me.

Today I saw the Oryx in the freezer; which is very similar to beef and venison. Just then I decided something had to be done with it for tonight's dinner.

A little about Oryx. Last year while we were living in Texas my husband was lucky enough to win the lottery to get a two day hunting permit for one of these beautiful majestic animals. By some miracle he actually managed to get one the first day out.

As a meat eater I very much appreciate that circle of life. As the Native American's did it; an animal living a good free range experience in the wild.

So anyways I also LOVE goat cheese. Couldn't you just eat it every day! Combining my love for comfort food, and fresh products this recipe was born.

              

                 VEGATERIAN NOTE
***Side note for my veggie friends. All meat can be substituted.  In replacement of the meat I would use butternut or acorn squash. Peeled and cubed. Also in replacement of the beef bouillon use vegatable. Truth be told if my hubby wasn't home for dinner I would have made these substitution's myself****

Goat cheese and potato encrusted stew

Ingredients:

1 LB beef or squash
2 TB flour; I used locally grained dark rye
4 TB olive oil
1 onion; diced
3 cloves garlic; crushed and diced
1 red pepper; seeded and sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 cup carrots;  roughly chopped
1 cup mushrooms; cleaned and sliced in half
2 beef bouillon
1 cup red wine
2 cups water
1 TB paprika
2 TB smoked paprika
1 TB garlic powder
1 cup masa
Salt and pepper to taste

Goat cheese potatoes

4 lg potatoes
1 small block goat cheese
1 cup milk
2 TB unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Start with beef and or squash. Cube and coat with flour. If using squash coat with about 1 TB olive oil before coating with flour. Heat large saute pan to high heat and add 1 TB oil. Saute meat/squash to browned. Once browned all over turn down heat to medium.  Add other 1 TB oil. Add garlic and onion. Saute till softened. About  7min. Add the rest of your veggies. Add all of your spices. Saute for about 15min until veggies are softened.  At this point add all of your liquids, bouillon and tomato paste. Cover and cook about 30 min or until everything is fork tender. Once done cooking add masa a little at a time to obtain desired consistency.

While stew is cooking work of potatoes. Boil about 6 cups of water. I usually add about 4 TB to that to help it boil faster and also to season the potatoes while they are cooking. Add potatoes to water once it is boiling and cook about 20 min again till fork tender. Drain. Add butter to pan and then add the rest of your ingredients and mash up.

At this point pre heat your oven to 450. Take a baking dish and coat with cooking spray. Taste your stew as well as your potatoes and adjust your seasoning accordingly. Add your stew in first then spoon over your potatoes on top to form a crust.

Bake about 20 min until the potatoes are browned and the stew is bubbling out a bit. Tip I usually bake this on the top rack and put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch any spills.

Serve immediately and enjoy my friends!

Rambutan Fruit...a tropical fruit adventure

This is another lovely tropical fruit I picked up at the market yesterday.

Very similar to the lyche nut. I just cut this in half, and then the fruit easily came out.

I honestly don't notice a huge difference in flavor. I do enjoy a fruit that makes an interesting edigle center piece. This I believe fits that bill.

Don't be shy if you see these hamdsome devils at the store. Pick some up and take them home with you. Delightful tropical flavor to off set all this cold weather!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Lyche Nuts...get your fruit adventure on!

Known as lyche nut, but really really just a fun fruit to eat. Peel it and what you will find is an opaque grape like fruit inside the will make some think of an eyeball. Delicious with a small "nut" non edible seed inside.

These things are simply addictive!  Pick some up next time you are at a fruit market.

Remember it's good to try new things!

Black and White Carmel Apple Nachos

Sorry been behind schedule getting posts on here the last few days. Halloween with three kids in elementary, and a party to plan for one of them made for a very hectic week!

So last Friday I had signed up to bring a fruit for my MOPS group. Well naturally I just couldn't bring myself to just bring in cut fruit as delicious as that always in.

And that is where my version of apple nachos was born. Crowd pleasing apple nachos is what I should rename these. Pretty enough to eat in appearance, and so quick to assemble. I put these babies together in a matter of minutes; which is just about how long it took them to be devoured!

Black and White Carmel Apple Nachos 

Ingredients:

1 bag apples; washed, cored and sliced

Carmel apple dip; about half

1 cup walnuts; chopped

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Once apples are washed, cored and sliced into wedges scatter onto a serving dish. Starting with chocolate chips add to a glass bowl, and put in microwave for 30sec increments until melted. When melted you should be able to put a spoon in it. It should be the consistency of maple syrup. If it is too thick add 1tsp Crisco stir in. It may be necessary to put in microwave for an additional 5 seconds to melt Crisco. Stir and using a spoon drizzle over apples making a back and forth motion. Dip spoon into chocolate to re coat spoon till all the chocolate is used up.

Repeat with white chocolate. 

Heat up carmel according to package directions. Add small dollops all over apples. Use approximately half the container to whole depending on how much carmel you want on your apples.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts and serve!

Zesty, Salty and Sweet Three Way Pumpkin Seeds

Tis the season for yummy pumpkin seeds. I'm not sure about you, but I like a bit of variety in life. So I suppose why should my pumpkin seeds be any different.

I've tried a few combinations over the years, but this year I really think I hit the mark!
One traditional variety just with salt, one deliciously smoky with the aid of Mexican chili powder, and the last sweet goodness with the aid of local honey and cinnamon.

Zesty Salty and Sweet Three Way Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

Approximately 3 cups fresh pumpkin seeds;  washed clean
3TB olive oil
1 TB + 2 tsp sea salt
1 TB chili powder
1 TB garlic salt
1 TB cinnamon
1 TB local honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250. Separate cleaned pumpkin seeds onto three separate cookie sheets.
On sheet one drizzle 1 TB olive oil over pumpkin seeds and sprinkle with salt. Combine and set aside.
On sheet two drizzle 1 TB olive oil over pumpkin seeds.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, 1TB chili powder and 1 TB garlic powder.  Mix to combine and set aside.
On sheet three drizzle 1 TB olive oil over pumpkin seeds.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt,      1 TB cinnamon and 1 TB honey. Mix to combine and set aside.

Tip: make sure to pick cookie sheets you can fit into the oven all at once.  Two smaller sheets on one rack, and a larger one on the other rack works very well. Pumpkin seeds should be smoothed out over sheet in a flat layer.

Bake for approximately 2 hrs. Check and stir every half hour.  You will start notice the seeds seeming lighter as you stir them.  At the 1 1/2 mark take a seed out, and taste test it for doneness. At this point you can decide is they need the other half hour or not. The seeds are being dried out in the oven so you don't have to worry about burning.
The honey cinnamon seeds may still appear sticky. If so once the other two trays of seeds are done,  and have been removed turn the oven up to 350. Bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  The honey will quickly caramelize.
Allow to cool before eating and storing. The honey cinnamon seeds will need to be broken apart with your hands, but trust me they are well worth it!
Enjoy:)

Italian Egg Toast

Easy and delicious...just the way I like it! This is a wonderful breakfast dish my mom and I first saw years ago when watching Moonstruck. There's a breakfast scene I believe towards the end of the movie where the mom serves this up. As with many Italian dishes fresh, beautiful and simplistic! A dish that just nourishes your soul.

I was lucky enough to get some fresh Italian bread from my mom after she visited a great local market we have been going to since I was a child, Villa Bakery in Garden City, MI. That along with some farm fresh eggs on got from a friend yesterday this dish was just calling to me to be made.

Italian Egg Toast

Ingredients:
2 eggs (local farm fresh if you can get them!)
2 slices fresh Italian bread
2 TB butter
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Cut a medium sized hole out of the center of both slices of bread. Heat up skillet to medium high heat.  Add 1 TB butter and add slices of bread. Crack 1 egg in the center of each slice of bread. Season with salt and pepper. Cook to desired doneness. I cook them until the whites set. Flip over and add the other 1 TB butter and a bit more salt and pepper.
If there is room in the skillet put those cut out pieces of bread in there and toast up as well. They are a helpful addition in eating up all that eggalishious goodness.
Enjoy!

 

Roasted Chayote with Caramelized Garlic

Chayote...delish, sweet and very versatile. Upon my first bite I just feel in love!

I was first introduced to this amazing vegetable several years back thanks to chef Rick Bayless's cookbook Mexican Everyday.
The chayote recipe he featured was a cold salad with fresh tomatoes and a lovely roasted garlic dressing.
I still love making this one especially in the summer with a nice cucumber martini on the side!

The recipe I will be featuring here is a wonderful roasted chayote with Caramelized garlic.  I've made this one on several occasions, and it always comes together quickly and tastes amazing.

A few tips on preparation.  Wear rubber gloves. Either the medical variety or anything else you can get your hands on. Chayote has a sticky film on it that once it's peeled that will dry, and stay on your hands for several days. Not dangerous just bothersome, lol.

Another tip about cooking Mexican food. Only season with salt not pepper. Trading dishes do not use pepper, and you will start to notice the pepper more in other dishes once you take it out of your Mexican food.

Just another way to make your tasting palate more complex to identify mouth watering flavors!

Roasted Chayote with Caramelized Garlic

Ingredients:

6 chayote
4 cloves garlic; sliced thin
1 TB olive oil

Directions:

Cut chayote in half. Peel each half. Slice in half again, and then cut each of those in half twice more to make wedges. Repeat with all chayote.
Place chayote on large cookie sheet.  Top with garlic slices. Drizzle with olive oil.
Season only with salt.

Combine. Roast in oven at 500 for 30min, stirring twice.
When chayote are roasted to golden goodness remove from oven, and serve.
Enjoy!