Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Leeks

Despite what some people think, I don't have gourmet meals for dinner every night. Sometimes I am just too tired, or lazy, or get off work too late to make anything fancy. It's nights like those that I will just turn to some chicken, some harvest grains mix, and some vegetables. However last night, the vegetables were special. A few nights ago I roasted up a bunch of brussels sprouts and leeks tossed in a simple balsamic dressing. These were inspired by our fall potluck a few weeks ago. I don't even remember the last time I have had brussels sprouts before a couple of weeks ago. I always thought I didn't like them, but now I can't get enough! I am a huge fan of the nutty flavor that comes from roasting vegetables and it's a great paring with the sweet and tart balsamic and mellow onion flavor from the leeks. I'll probably be making this once a week from now until spring!

Happy Halloween weekend to all! What are you doing to celebrate?




Balsamic Roasted Brussels Spouts and Leeks

1 bunch brussels sprouts, cut in half
3 leeks, washed and cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
No salt Greek seasoning (optional)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Drizzle the foil with a bit of olive oil.

In a small bowl toss the brussels sprouts with balsamic, Greek seasoning, more oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lay the sprouts cut side up and spread the leeks in between. Spoon any remaining balsamic mixture of the the sprouts and leeks. Roast for 20 minutes. Using tongs, flip the sprouts and leeks over and roast for about 10 more minutes until the sprouts are crisp on the outside and the balsamic vinegar has caramelized. Serve warm.

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Butternut Squash Pasties

I have been so excited to use butternut squash this season. As much of a pain as it can be to peel and cut up, it's so worth it for that sweet flesh. I came across the recipe for butternut pasties last week and was all set to make them until I saw a separate recipe for a butternut squash quesadilla. Instead of making two different recipes, I just combined them by adding the cheeses.



These little pasties were so good. I think I had three all at once. However, it was pretty late on Saturday evening when I made them so I got kind of tired of rolling out circles. With the leftover dough, I just loaded it up with the butternut mixture and baked a little galette. Cute, right? I was a little worried that the blue cheese would overpower the other ingredients, but it went beautifully with the nutty Gruyere and salty Parmesan. I think the only thing I would do next time is use only half of an onion. I love me some onion, but there was just a bit too much in here.



Once again, I must apologize for lack of blog visiting and commenting. I've been so busy lately. How about a piece of galette to make up for it?



Butternut Squash Pasties
(Adapted from The Kitchn)

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
6-8 tablespoons ice water
8 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
1 medium red onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely chopped sage
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 egg, beaten

To make dough

Sift flour and a generous pinch of salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or knife, cut butter into flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time, gently tossing between additions, until the dough just holds together. Shape dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

Before rolling out the dough, let it soften slightly so that it is malleable but still cold. On a lightly floured surface, roll it out to 1/8-inch thick. Cut out two circles using a plate or bowl.

To make pasties

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine butternut squash, onion, garlic, sage, parsley, and cheeses. Season lightly with salt and pepper

Spoon mixture over half of each dough round, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge.

Moisten the edges of the dough with beaten egg. With cool hands, fold the pastry over and crimp the edges. Brush dough with beaten egg.

Bake until golden and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

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And the Winner Is....

Thanks to all for entering my agave giveaway!! There were 36 comments and Random.org picked #9! Congratulations to Elle of Elle's New England Kitchen! Elle, please email me your address to: dishingupdelights AT gmail DOT com so we can get you your bottle of agave and cookbook. Happy cooking and thanks to all who entered. You all left me with plenty of fall ideas and I can't wait to spend some more quality time in the kitchen!

Result: 9

Daring Bakers: Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.



I can't believe that in over two years of existence, the Daring Bakers have never taken on a macaron challenge. To me, macarons are one of those things that everyone hopes to be able to accomplish in the kitchen at least once. I made my first successful batch of macarons last winter so I was excited to have the opportunity to try them again...until I heard about how many people were failing with the recipe. The Daring Bakers forums and Twitter were full of complaints about time and money spent on a recipe that didn't seem to work. I don't know about you, but as a broke Hollywood assistant, I don't have a lot of extra time or money to repeatedly make something that may or may not work. Since this past weekend was my only shot to get the macarons done before the challenge due date, I decided to go with a recipe and tips that worked for me before.



Chocolate and pistachios are a wonderful combo. I ground my own nuts and used half almonds and half pistachios. I didn't grind my nuts as finely as I should have, so there was an interesting crunch in the shells, but it wasn't unpleasant. I used a chocolate ganache recipe from Sherry Yard that was easy and absolutely heavenly! If you make this ganache, be sure to use good chocolate because the flavor really comes through. (eek, how Ina Garten did that sound?). Katrina of she's in the kitchen is the one who gave me the heads up about the ganache recipe. Thanks Katrina! Check out the other Daring Bakers to see how their macarons turned out!

Apple Cranberry Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel

A few weeks ago I spotted this amazing picture on The Daily Green's food site and I could not get the thought of the recipe out of my head. I have never cooked with cranberries because they aren't exactly local to Los Angeles, but this recipe sounded too good to pass up. I got some awesome pink lady apples at the farmers market. I normally bake with Granny Smiths, but I wanted something sweeter to contrast the tartness of the cranberries. The pink ladies are sweet and tart and hold up really well while baking. I am definitely going to be using them again for some fall baking. The only change I made besides halving the recipe was to add some cinnamon to the cran-apple mixture and to the streusel topping. Of course that made my apartment smell amazing. One bonus is that this recipe calls for only a little bit of butter so it's pretty healthy. I didn't have the whole wheat flour called for so I just used all-purpose, but the whole wheat would definitely add a nice nuttiness. This is definitely a tart recipe with the cranberries, but I really enjoyed that tartness against the sweet nuttiness of the streusel. I served this with some (melted) honey vanilla ice cream...normally I hate melted ice cream, but it appears my freezer isn't actually freezing things right now and it was surprisingly pleasant with the warm crisp. I have a ton of apple cider left over so please leave suggestions for cider (that aren't doughnuts) in the comments.

PS, you still have a couple of days to enter my giveaway.




Apple Cranberry Crisp with Oatmeal Streusel
(Adapted from The Daily Green)

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour*
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Filling:
12 ounces cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons apple juice or cider
3/4 pounds firm apples (I used pink lady apples), peeled, cored, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl and toss to blend. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 8x8-inch glass baking dish.

Combine the cranberries, sugar, and apple juice in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often for about 2 minutes. Stir in the apples and cook until the cranberries are softened and their juices thicken slightly, about 4 minutes more. Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish and sprinkle on the topping.

Bake until the filling bubbles thickly and the topping is brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

*You can substitute up to 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
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Braised Lentils with Swiss Chard and a Poached Egg

I never knew that lentils could be so sexy. I mean, look at that egg. Anyway, this dish came into my radar last week and I quickly added it to the meal plan. I always have things like garlic, eggs, shallots, and lentils lying around. I have been meaning to do a post on kitchen staples, but time has not been on my side lately. I picked up some beautiful red chard at the farmers market to complete this. I don't own a nonstick pan so I decided to poach the eggs instead of frying. I really like this method for poaching eggs, and it works pretty well for me. The earthy lentils and bite of the chard went well with that beautiful, creamy egg yolk. I was practically licking my dish when it was done. I think the only thing that could make this better is a bit of crusty bread to sop up the egg yolk and braising juices. I have a feeling I will be making this dish often this season.


Don't forget about my agave giveaway!

Braised Lentils with Swiss Chard and a Poached Egg
(Lightly adapted from Serious Eats who adapted from Last Night's Dinner)

Makes 2 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup French green lentils
1 bunch winter greens, such as kale, chard, collards, etc. (I used swiss chard)
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup red wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon red chili flakes, or to taste
Splash of lemon juice or sherry vinegar (optional, I forgot and it was fine)
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 eggs

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup water and the red wine and the lentils, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender but not mushy, 25-30 minutes. Add more water as necessary. Season to taste with salt.

In the meantime, wash the greens and slice the leaves away from the stems and roughly chop the leaves. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil, garlic, and chili flakes in a saucepan or large skillet until fragrant, then add the leaves along with 1/4 cup or so of water and a pinch of salt. Cover, turn the heat to medium-low, and allow the leaves to steam as the water evaporates, tasting for tenderness and adding more water as necessary. Finish with lemon juice or vinegar to taste if desired.

When the lentils and greens are nearing completion, poach the eggs in simmering water. Serve the greens on a bed of lentils, topped with the egg and fresh black pepper.

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Fall Favorites...and a Giveaway!!

Well, hello pseudo So-Cal fall! As I've been (complaining) talking about lately, my hopes of a nice fall have been completely teased and then dashed lately. However, I haven't let that stop me from making some fall inspired dishes, but I have also wanted to share with new viewers of this site some of my favorites from last year. PLUS, I am having a giveaway and regular readers know how rare that is here, so stay tuned.

So as you all know, one of my favorite fall/early winter favorites is pomegranate. I have been lucky enough to be gifted with some more Pom Wonderful juice this year so look for some exciting recipes. In the meantime, let me take you back to some "old school" pom recipes.

Pom ice cream was the first ice cream I ever made and the first one without a machine. It was so worth the effort



Pom Pizza was kind of strange sounding, but totally addictive and a classic.



Of course, who can forget the pumpkin recipes at this time of year. I have had quite a few...Pumpkin cinnamon rolls are so incredibly decadent and swoon worthy, I almost got a proposal!



Pumpkin shortcakes with Apple Compote and Honey Vanilla Ice Cream are a perfect way to use up the canned pumpkin you may have laying around plus all of the apples of the season.



Butternut squash is one of my favorite things about the fall and winter, but I tried not to overload you with it last year (like I did with poms). One of my favorite and most simple ways to enjoy it was in a simple soup.



Another fun way to enjoy butternut was in this super easy galette.



I have an apple dessert coming soon, but in the meantime, how adorable is this mini apple crumb cake? Check out those huge crumbs too!!



Persimmon crisps were just so cute and a unique way to enjoy this fall fruit.



Ok, now on to the giveaway. Remember those amazing agave sweetened brownies I made recently? Well, Xagave is giving one of my readers the chance to win a bottle of agave nectar and the same amazing cookbook I have had the chance to peruse. All you need to do to win is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite fall recipe. If you would like an extra chance to be entered, you can tweet about it and leave another comment with a link to your tweet. By the way, you can follow me on Twitter, by clicking here. One week from today, I will pick a random number to win this awesome prize. Good luck!! If you're interested in ordering any items from Xagave for yourself, you can use the code "DISHINGUP" for free shipping!

Baked Shrimp and Feta Pasta

I am so happy the tomatoes are still plentiful this season. I discovered this dish a while ago, but I have not had all of the ingredients to make it. I tell ya, strange things are going on here in So Cal. A week ago it was raining and then a few days later it was 90 degrees. Then it cooled down briefly and now it's about to be 90 again. I just can't handle this. In fact, my body is not responding well to this roller coaster and I haven't been feeling so great the last few days. When I saw this dish, I knew I wanted to try some dill in it. Unfortunately the dill at the farmers market was not in good shape because of the rain, but fortunately I got a great deal (free!) on it. It took me a while to get this done with all the prep work, but otherwise it's a straightforward dish that really delivers on flavor. I wanted to healthy this up a bit with whole wheat orzo, but my teeny, little Bev Hills Whole Foods just does not stock the stuff (or maybe it's hidden). Regardless, despite the feta, this only requires a small bit of oil so you get great flavor for not a lot of fat and a dish that is very satisfying to eat.





Baked Shrimp and Feta Pasta
(From Closet Cooking)

Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup orzo
2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh herbs, chopped (I used a mix of dill and parsley)
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup crumbled feta

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

In a medium saucepan cook the orzo for about 8 minutes until just al dente, but not soft (the pasta will cook more while baking).

In a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the white wine, tomato and oregano and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the herbs and green onions. Mix the sauce, orzo and shrimp, place in a baking dish topped and top with the feta.

Bake until the shrimp is cooked and the sauce is bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.

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Honeyed Fig Crostatas

This past weekend I got together with my friends for one of our famous potlucks. As the host, JenFinn got to pick the theme which was "fabulous fall foods". As you know, I love this time of year, especially when it comes to the produce. With many pumpkin based items already planned, I wanted to do something different. The figs at the Beverly Hills market are just about gone, but I was lucky to score a couple baskets of the beautiful fruit.



This was definitely one of the most amazing potlucks that we've had. We stuffed our faces with pumpkin ravioli, stuffed acorn squash, brussels sprouts, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, salmon, pear salad, and two kinds of potatoes. Plus, later after all the wine, I had my first poutine experience (yum!). The tarts seemed to go over really well. They were pretty easy to make too. I did the dough by hand, but other than that I followed the recipe directly except I did add a splash of lemon juice to the fresh figs on top of the tarts. Fig season is just about done, so I was happy to get my hands on some and make this wonderful, simple desssert.






Honeyed Fig Crostatas
(From Food & Wine, October 2009)

Makes 8 mini crostadas

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons ice water
1 1/2 pounds fresh green and purple figs, each cut into wedges
5 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves, plus small sprigs for garnish
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

In a food processor, pulse the flour with the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. Add the water; pulse until the dough comes together. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 5-inch rounds, rerolling the scraps if necessary; transfer to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, toss two-thirds of the figs with 3 teaspoons of the honey, the lemon juice, thyme leaves and a pinch of salt. Arrange the figs on the dough rounds, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Fold the edges over the figs and brush the dough with the egg wash. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake the crostatas for 35 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until the crusts are golden. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Gently toss the remaining figs with the remaining 2 teaspoons of honey. Transfer the crostatas to plates, top with the figs and thyme sprigs and serve.

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John Dory with Tomato-Olive Relish

I often complain about SoCal in the "fall", but there is something I do love about living here. Even though the weather is fluctuating between rain (2 days ago) and 90 degree temps (today), the farmers market is the perfect mix of the bridge from summer to fall. Over the past weekend, I noticed the market was full of fall goodies. Squash, pomegranates, grapes, and apples were crowded into many baskets. At the same time, the remnants of late summer were still lingering. There were plenty of figs, summer squash, and tomatoes. This was especially lucky for me as I didn't get to play with summer produce as much as I wanted during my short stint at Grey Gardens. Organic roma tomatoes were a steal at a dollar a pound. I picked up a bunch of them and slow roasted some and made this phenomenal and simple dish with the rest. I wasn't able to find halibut and the guy at the market told me that John Dory was the closest thing. Bonus points for it being inexpensive, but I am not too sure about it's sustainability. One good thing about John Dory is that it is firm and mild and able to withstand the bold flavors of the relish. Plus this is quick cooking for a weeknight meal. I need to do some more research on sustainable fish, but I did enjoy this easy and healthy dinner quite a bit.




Tomato-Olive Relish
(Adapted from Once Upon a Plate)

1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped ripe olives

1 Tablespoon capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon parsley
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced

Gently mix all of the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over freshly cooked shrimp, fish, chicken, or meat.
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