Wild Card: Squash-Giving

As I explained last week, we are getting in a lot of squash and zucchini early. It's hard to believe it's not technically summer yet, but I already harvested twice from our garden.

And that's not all that we picked this week

 Since last week, we were able to get about seven zucchini and six yellow squash. So needless to say, we needed to get cooking. Thankfully two dear friends from home came to visit us. Ashley even brought another zucchini recipe to try: chocolate chip zucchini cookies.

One of the best friends a girl could ask for

One night, we worked up a menu that would use as much as zucchini and squash we could use. This is what we came up with:
- Roast Beef Stew
- Cheesy Squash Casserole
- Zucchini Tots with a Garlic Aioli Sauce
- Zucchini Cookies

In total we used six squashes & more zucchini than I can remember. So we decided to call the night "Squash-Giving." Get it? It's like Thanksgiving? Hilarious, I know. None the less, it turned out great and delicious.

So let's start it off. First the non-squash dish. Our roast beef was a basic slow roast with some water, onion, celery, potatoes, and rosemary with some spices. Oh, and of course, it was made with local, grass fed beef. I'm not the biggest roast fan, but it was good. And we have a semi decent beef broth now.

Back to the squash dishes, there's the awesome cheesy squash casserole:
- 6 yellow squash thinly sliced
- 1 vidalia onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Salt & pepper for seasoning
- 1 sleeve crackers crushed (note: breading does not work)

Saute the squash & onion in a pan. Warning: there's a lot of squash and onion. You will need a big pan.

Really. It's a lot of squash.

Mix everything else but the crackers in a bowl. Add the sauteed squash & onion. Mix together & pour into greased baking pan. Sprinkle crackers over the top. Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for at least 20 minutes or until golden brown on the top.  Enjoy. It's light, buttery, and fabulous.

Then there is the zucchini tots. It's a great recipe, but there wasn't quite enough. But here it is:
- 1 cup zucchini, grated
- 1 egg
- 1/4 yellow onion diced
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs, we used an Italian style
- Salt & pepper for taste

Put the grated zucchini into a dish towel and squeeze out the excess water. We did this for the zucchini cookies, but that's for later.

Squeeeeeeeze

After you get all that done mix the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin pan. Bake in an oven at 400 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until top is browned. For us, there was so little that the bottoms burned a little.



But that's ok because we topped it with a great garlic and basil aioli that I originally use with some baked sweet potato fries:
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves sliced in chiffonade style
- Salt & pepper to the taste
- 3/4 cup mayo
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

First mix the basil, salt & pepper into one bowl. Mix mayo, garlic & lemon juice into another. Then combine. Simple & delicious.

Then there is the dessert: zucchini cookies. This recipe comes from Ashley's lovely mother in law.
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
- 3 cups grated zucchini
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups granola cereal
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (milk chocolate & butterscotch works too)


Cream butter & sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, orange extract & zucchini. Stir in flour, baking soda & salt before adding granola. Then stir in chips. Spoon out mixture on cookie sheet with tin foil. Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. This recipe makes a lot of cookies.

And if that's not enough, we also made the delicious zucchini rice skillet last night. And there's still alot. of. zucchini.

I think we have a problem.

Wild Card: Steak Sauce & Cauliflower Gratin

Each day, there seems to be new things to do. But as my husband & I finish up moving and unpacking, I thought I'd share a wild card recipe for you all to enjoy. For the past few times, we've seasoned our steak with a delicious port & shallot sauce. We also fell in love with great recipe for Cauliflower Gratin from "French Women Don't Get Fat," by Mireille Guiliano.  I hope you are able to enjoy these two ideas as much as we do!

First, the steak sauce. It's great because it works with any kind of steak. You just grill some beef to your heart's desire. But while it's cooking, try out this recipe:

- 2 Shallots finely diced
- 1/2 c Ruby Port or other red, sweet, cooking wine
- 1/2 c Beef broth
- 1 T Dijon mustard

Start by simmering the diced shallots in olive oil. Be careful to not burn the shallots since olive oil has a low smoking point. Stir briefly then add the Port. Let that simmer until the liquid almost evaporates totally (about 2 minutes). Stir in broth & cook until it's reduced to half (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat before stirring in the mustard (don't want it to curdle). Serve with the steaks.

See? It's super easy & oh so tasty. The original recipe calls that you make this sauce from the skillet you cooked the steaks with so it gains more flavor, but we prefer to use a grill. Either way works.

And if you're looking for a good, healthy side, you gotta try this cauliflower gratin. My husband & his family loves it. And if you want all the benefits to cauliflower, but don't like it raw, here's a great alternative.

- 1 Medium cauliflower head
- 2 c Milk
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 c Grated Parmesan cheese (you can use other cheeses, including Swiss)
- A Pinch of Salt & Pepper
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

First thing is to trim the cauliflower & separate the florets. Cook that in a pan of milk, salt & pepper for about 10-15 minutes. Drain, but reserve about 1/3 of a cup of that cooked milk. Place florets onto cooking sheet (lined with tinfoil). Beat the reserved milk with the egg & Parmesan cheese. Pour mixture over florets. Bake for about 10 minutes, then set the broiler on until the tops are toasty & golden brown.

And there you have it. A tasty sauce for steak & an equally delightful side. Just serve & enjoy... while thinking "om nom nom."

Wild Card: On The Farm Pasta

I have a special treat for you all in this month's wild card. I'm about to share one of my absolute favorite recipes: On The Farm Pasta. I called it that since it includes about everything you would find on a farm: whole grain, chicken, dairy, and veggies. It is easy. It is delicious. And it makes plenty for left overs.

Even Cricket wants some

This simplistic, delicious & nutritious recipe calls for... 

1 package of whole grain ziti 

6 oz organic baby spinach leaves, washed 

1 jar of pasta sauce 

1 package to cheese chicken sausage 

1 c ricotta cheese 

½ c grated mozzarella cheese 

½ c grated parmesan cheese 

½ t garlic powder 

¼ t ground black powder 

 

Save for topping: 

½ c mozzarella 

¼ c parmesan cheese

You will want to heat a big pot of water (with some olive oil) & cook your ziti as directed on the box. And I know it sounds crazy, but when there is one minute left for it to cook, throw your spinach in the pot. It will wilt the spinach & allow the pasta to absorb some flavor.

While the water & pasta are boiling, prepare your other ingredients. I normally put all three of the cheeses & spices into a bowl. Be sure to also cut up the chicken sausage as desired.

After your pasta/spinach is ready. Strain & pour back into the large pot. Then add the pasta sauce, chicken sausage, cheese & spices. Mix well. 

Looking yummy

When all that is said & done, pour mixture into a large baking pan. I normally forget to grease it & I found that it doesn't leave too much of a mess. After you get the mixture spread into the pan, sprinkle the mixed cheese topping. Then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

And that's it. You now have one of our favorite meals on your dinner table. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 
As we get closer to the end of February, I'm getting more excited for what's ahead: gardening prep! See how I'm planning for the upcoming spring while dreading it all at the same time next week.

Playing The Wild Card

I know I only did it once, but I'm taking a quick break from Muz Loves to introduce a new thing I'm bringing to Limelight Musings: The Wild Card. From now on, I'm going to post about a fun project on the third week of every month (give or take). I hope you enjoy it.

I should warn you this week's Wild Card doesn't have any pretty photos since I didn't decide to write about it until afterward. Whoops.

Now that things have settled down from the Holidays, I'm attempting to get back into cooking. And I was able to find a bunch of new recipes to try thanks to pinterest (isn't it amazing?). One recipe that I had to try was the Pork Chops with Apples & Garlic Smashed Potatoes. Looking back on it, I really raised the bar since I've never cooked pork chops or potatoes and tend to mix up teaspoons & tablespoons (don't judge).

But I wanted to change all that and first went to the grocery store. And I think there maybe a conspiracy at my local grocer. One of the ingredients I needed was apple cider, which I was having a difficulty finding. So, I asked a store employee & this is how that conversation went:
Me: "Excuse me, do you guys have any apple cider?"
Clerk: "Actually, we just ran out. It's normally in the aisle one. You could even check, but we're out."
Me: "Darn, do you know when a new supply will be in?"
Clerk: "... So hopefully sometime this week. Once again, you could check aisle one, if you'd like."
Me: "But you're out, right?"
Clerk: "Yeah."
Me: "Ok... Thank you..."

While I picked up a few more items, I kept thinking about that conversation. I eventually headed over to aisle one and you know what I found? Apple cider and lots of it. But instead of enjoying the fact I now have a ridiculously large jug of apple cider (when I just needed 3/4th of a cup), I'm paranoid of some grocery store-apple cider conspiracy.

I'm onto you agent store clerk.

But lets go ahead and get to cooking dinner. First off, I never knew how easy garlic smashed potatoes are to make. Seriously. You boil some potatoes with a couple cloves of garlic, drain out some of the water, add some buttermilk & spices, then smash. That's it. And it's healthier to include the potato skins. Needless to say, I'm making garlic smashed potatoes more often from now on. You should too.

Now when it came to the pork, it was pretty simple, despite my fears. The worse part was trying to rub the spices on freshly butchered meat. Don't get me wrong, I love eating steak, ribs, you name it. But actually holding a dead animal's muscle in your hands (with some left over blood) is intimidating. But I eventually got them sizzling in the skillet.

I do have to say this about skillets. I don't know what it is with the Food Network's recipes, but they seem to think I have a skillet the size of Texas. This recipe calls for two apples and one large red onion. And they seem to think I could grill all four pork chops, the chopped up apples & onion, and be able to still stir in one pan. I ended up dividing the portions into two. I also suggest you use one apple and a medium onion. Depends on how much you like onion. There was a lot left over.

Despite the portions, I greatly suggest you try this recipe. I even got a high five from the husband as he went off to get seconds.

Also in the news, I'm trying out a new non-diet, but still a diet book. It's called "French Women Don't Get Fat," by Mireille Guiliano. It goes beyond counting calories and helps instruct you of how to approach food in a French way. And if you consider the French paradox, it's tempting enough to try. With me admitting that I'm reading a diet-based book, I hope my documented experience will help anyone else considering a non-American way of losing weight.

I've read a few chapters so far and am currently recording what I eat each day. That way I can take a broader look at what I am shoving into my mouth. The book itself is a good, easy read. It even throws in a few French words for you to look up; like dinde. Go ahead and Google that. I'll wait.

Next week, I'll bring back a Muz Love. And it will be just in time for a trip to the homeland. We will see what comes out of that.