Butternut Squash Pizza

I always see recipes that pair butternut squash with sage, and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about.  I decided to try it this combination out in pizza form!


Caramelized onions...

Butternut Squash goes in the oven to roast.

Sage Fried in oil

Top pizza with fried sage and oil, then squash, caramelized onions and goat cheese.
By the time I remember to take a picture of the finished product only 2 pieces were left!

I also made a side of roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic reduction.
Brussel spouts halved and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Simmer balsamic in a small sauce pan until liquid is reduced, then toss with the roasted brussel sprouts.

Mole Pipian

Pumpkin Seed Mole!

Recipe from:

http://leitesculinaria.com/74276/recipes-pumpkin-seed-mole.html

• 1 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
• 1 white onion, cut into wedges
• 5 tomatillos, husked and halved
• 5 garlic cloves, halved
• 2 jalapeño peppers, sliced
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 cup packed coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh epazote (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt

First you roast the pumpkin seeds, cumin and oregano in a skillet for 4 minutes.  Then blend in a food processor until finely ground.

Next in the same pan, add oil, tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapeno.

Cook vegetables for about 5 minutes.  You don't need to stir continuously-let vegetable brown a little.

Meanwhile prepare the epazote, cilantro and parsley..

Put vegetables, herbs and chicken broth into a food processor and blend.

Mix blended vegetables with ground pumpkin seeds and spices.

Gently simmer mixture for 20 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

I served this over chicken and zucchini, but it could also be served with fish or on top of enchiladas.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Usually not a big fan of pumpkin, but around the Fall holidays I usually make a few pumpkin treats.

Recipe acquired from:

http://www.feastie.com/blog/super-soft-pumpkin-dark-chocolate-cookies

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I will admit these were good :)

Hawaiian Pizza

Hawaiian Pizza!  My favorite kind of pizza ever!

Tried out Trader Joes Pizza Dough- pizza dough was a success!

The most essential ingredient- Pineapple!  In this case I had chopped up a fresh pineapple.

For pizza sauce I used some homemade pasta sauce made from fresh vegetables from my Aunt's garden! Yum yum!

Mozzarella and Canadian bacon.

Time to assemble the pizza! First sauce...

Then toppings...

Then cheeeeese!

Bake into golden, melty goodness! :)

Middle Eastern Feast

Here's three new recipes that I had had bookmarked for a while and finally decided to make on my days off!

Lamb stuffed eggplant.
Recipe from: http://www.gnom-gnom.com/stuffed-eggplant-with-lamb-and-pine-nuts/
In this recipe I made a few changes- I substituted almonds in place of pine nuts and I left out the tamarind paste.
First roast the eggplants for a bit.

Cumin, paprika and cinnamon

Cook the onion with the spices and then add ground lamb, almonds, parsley, and tomato paste.

Pile lamb mixture on top of the eggplants.  Then you mix spices with water and lemon juice and pour into the bottom of the pan.  Cover tightly with foil and bake 1 1/2 hours.  Open up to baste with the cooking liquid a few times and to add water if needed.

The next recipe I tried was tabouli!

Recipe from: http://deliciousshots.blogspot.com/2012/03/true-middle-eastern-feast.html

Basically you mix bulger, chopped onion, tomato, lots of parsley and lemon juice together.

The last recipe was for Ma'amoul, a shortbread like cookie filled with a date and nut mixture.

Recipe from: http://www.fiveeurofood.com/index.php/2012/12/fun-with-maamoul/

For this recipe I got rose water and orange blossom water, which I have always wanted to try!

Very floral!

Walnuts and dates for the filling.

For the filling I used almonds, walnuts, dates, sugar, cinnamon, rose water and orange blossom water.

Blend together in a food processor until a crumbly paste is formed

The dough for the cookies is made from Semolina flour, (another new ingredient for me!) regular flour, sugar, butter, rose water and orange blossom water.  After kneading the dough you let it rest for 30 minutes.

Form dough into pots and fill with a Tbsp of the nut filling and then seal, roll into ball and flatten.  Place formed cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Out of the three recipes that I tried I was most impressed with the cookies!  A little bit of work was involved, but it was totally worth it!

Culinary adventures with Dom

Here are some long overdue pictures from the last time I visited my best bud Dominique McManus up in the Bay Area!
I have been dreaming about these pizzas we made ever since...
Pictured here is a brussel sprout, goat cheese and bacon pizza and a bacon and shrimp pizza about to go into the oven.

Yay for cute dogs!

Here are two pizzas fresh out of the oven- asparagus with thinly sliced lemon and goat cheese, and a vegetarian.

We visited The Fat Cactus Grill- which features some very unique tacos!  We had kangaroo, duck, ostrich and alligator.  I wanted rabbit, but they were out of that!  The alligator was pretty chewy, but the rest weren't bad.  My favorite was the duck taco with habanero mango salsa. 

A chilly bike ride from Plesanton to Livermore yielded this pretty view!

We rode bikes to brunch where I got this delicious Blood Mary!