Cooking Update: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette (88 of 90)

For lunch today, I made Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette from Ina Garten’s Back to Basics cookbook, another recipe in my cooking challenge.

It turned out great! Enjoyed with a glass of apple juice. The squash had a hint of maple, the walnuts provided the crunch, the cranberries provided the tart, the vinaigrette was very flavourful. Nice and festive salad, warm and comforting on a cold day.

 

6 recipes to go. Although honestly, I’m finding some of the last few tough to get excited about.  I’ll definitely make a couple of them (red below). But for the rest, I just may let myself off the hook.

• Chilled Cucumber Soup with Shrimp (not a fan of cold/cool soups…)
• Homemade Chicken Stock (I’ve always wanted to make my own stock so I’ll definitely be making this)
• Lobster Corn Chowder (lobster now out of season so would have to wait until next year to do this one)
• Roasted Turkey Roulade (on the fence with this one – ingredients look good but I’m not a stuffing fan)
• Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce (neither my husband nor I find this one particularly appealing)
• Tri-Berry Oven Pancakes (these look good – will be making these)



So there it is. I’m letting myself *not make* a few recipes. I’ll focus on getting the last two red ones done. This brings the current total to 88 of 90 done (well, done or removed from the list :)).

2 to go!

What will I do next?!?

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Cooking update: Chive Risotto Cakes (65) and Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream (66)

Don’t you just love it when recipes turn out amazingly well… Ah bliss.

So, on this Labour Day Monday, I decided to knock off two more recipes to bring the completed total to 66 of 90. That’s 24 to go! I have my doubts about a couple due to my inability to find key ingredients (i.e. cheddar grits – cannot find grits anywhere…) but we’ll see as things get closer to the end. Do they have mail order grits? 🙂

First up were Chive Risotto Cakes.

This is what they looked like when they were first added to the pan. I prepared the mixture earlier in the day and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. The mixture is made up of arborio rice (cooked), with minced chives, shredded Fontina cheese, egg, Greek yogurt, salt/pepper. When ready for cooking, made small patties and coated them in panko crumbs and fried them up.

Here they are after the flip:

Mmmm crispy crust. Surprisingly, we had never had Fontina cheese before (or that we could recall). It’s got a bit of tang to it which really came out. The best way to describe the taste/consistency was almost like a hash brown but with an added richness and zing from the chives. Very good.

Staying warm in the oven:

Success. I’m bringing one for lunch tomorrow. 🙂

Dessert was a Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream. It’s like a Thanksgiving Yule Log – the flavours were very “Fall” which fit perfectly with the weather we’ve been having lately.

Here is the cake (cooked in a sheet pan, laid out on a clean dish towel sprinkled with icing sugar):

Next, while it’s still warm, roll it up in said dish towel to form the roulade shape:

While I waited for it to cool (completely), I made the filling. Mascarpone cheese, icing sugar, bit of cream, minced crystallized ginger. Awesome.

When ready, unrolled the cake, spread the filling, then rolled it up again:

Isn’t it cute? Once it was assembled, I cut off both ends to make it clean (yes, I ate one of the ends – I have to test these things out before serving them – you know, for research purposes). *blinkblink*

The cake was very moist and tasted like pumpkin and holiday spices. The filling was smooth and had just enough richness and the zing of the ginger was fabulous. It would be perfect with coffee.

My husband and I really liked both dishes. The chive risotto cakes could be served as an appetizer (one per person), or served as a side dish or main – very versatile.

Excellent results this evening – I’m very pleased. 🙂

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Cooking update: Easy Strawberry Jam (61 of 90)

I’m really on a roll lately – already at 61 recipes done out of 90!

This time I made Barefoot Contessa’s Easy Strawberry Jam and yes, it was easy. Soooo easy. It’ll be tough to buy store-bought jam after this…the initial tastes I snuck before popping it into the fridge were very promising! Chris’ eyes bugged out of his head (in a good way) when he snuck a taste too.

3 pts strawberries, 1/2 c bluebrries, 1/2 granny smith apple, 3 cups sugar, 2 tbsp Grand Marnier. Boil for a half hour. Done!

When it first started bubbling on the stove

....boiling away.....

Ta da!!! I didn't have any jars 🙂 They'll stay good for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Jam extreme closeup!

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Cooking update: Parker’s Beef Stew (59 of 90)

Yet another recipe knocked off the list: Parker’s Beef Stew. Boy, did the house ever smell good while this baby was cooking (in my new dutch oven). 🙂

Beef. Bacon, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots. Red wine – a whole bottle. Sundried tomatoes, beef stock, rosemary, salt & pepper.

Warm delicious goodness. This just became my new go-to beef stew recipe. I didn’t take a pic at the end but it’s thick and hearty and full of flavour. I should have had some crusty bread but didn’t have any on hand.

Fantastic.

Here’s a pic before it went into the oven for 2 hours.

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Cooking update: Baked Shrimp Scampi (56 of 90)

Holy Scampi Batman, was this ever good!

Phenomenal.

The first step is to marinate the shrimp in an olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper marinade. Let them sit while you prepare the “topping”, which is made of butter, parsley, garlic, shallots, rosemary, salt, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, egg yolk and panko crumbs.

MmmMmm

And it bakes in 10-12 minutes! Easy peasy!

Total recipes completed: 56 of 90

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Life List Update: Cooking…

As a followup to the item on my Life List to cook all recipes in a cookbook, here’s the updated list.

The latest to be crossed off were: Affogato sundaes (omg heavenly..have made them several times since), maple-roasted butternut squash (had this tonight – YUM!), herb-marinated loin of pork (very good – the marinade is fantastic), roasted tomatoes with basil (classic flavours, very tasty).

Total completed:  38 of 90

Cocktail Hour (completed 5 / 9)

Bruschetta with Peppers and Gorgonzola

Campari Orange Spritzer

Gravlax with Mustard Sauce

Juice of a Few Flowers

Mango Banana Daiquiris

Parmesan & Thyme Crackers

Pomegranate Cosmopolitans

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Savory Palmiers

Soup (completed 2 / 8 )

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Shrimp

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

Homemade Chicken Stock

Italian Wedding Soup

Lobster Corn Chowder

Pappa al Pomodoro

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Condiments

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

Lunch (completed 4 / 11)

Cape Cod Chopped Salad

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Mache with Warm Brie & Apples

Old Fashioned Carrot Salad

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts

Truffled Filet of Beef Sandwiches

Warm Goat Cheese in Phyllo

White Pizzas with Arugula

Dinner (completed 9 / 21)

Baked Shrimp Scampi

Bay Scallops Gratin

Chicken Bouillabaisse

Company Pot Roast

Coq au Vin

Dinner Spanakopitas

Easy Sole Meuniere

French Bistro Steaks with Provençal Butter

Herb-Marinated Loin of Pork

Indonesian Grilled Swordfish

Mustard Roasted Fish

Niman Ranch Burgers

Parker’s Beef Stew

Pasta with Pecorino and Pepper

Prosciutto Roasted Bass with Autumn Vegetables

Roasted Turkey Roulade

Soft-Shell Crab Sandwiches

Spring Green Risotto

Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Vegetables (completed 10 / 14)

Baked Potatoes with Yogurt & Sour Cream

Baked Sweet Potato “Fries”

Celery Root & Apple Puree

Chive Risotto Cakes

Confetti Corn

Creamy Cheddar Grits

Garlic Ciabatta Bread

Maple-Roasted Butternut Squash

Orange Pecan Wild Rice

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Pan-Roasted Root Vegetables

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Roasted Parsnips & Carrots

Roasted Tomatoes with Basil

Dessert (completed 7 / 14)

Affogato Sundaes

Apple Dried Cherry Turnovers

Brownie Pudding

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

French Apple Tart

French Chocolate Bark

Fresh Lemon Mousse

Fresh Raspberry Gratins

Honey Vanilla Fromage Blanc

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

Plum Crunch

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Breakfast (completed 1 / 13)

Bagels with Smoked Salmon & Whitefish Salad

Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Country French Omelet

Date Nut Spice Bread

Easy Sticky Buns

Easy Strawberry Jam

Fruit Salad with Limoncello

Homemade Granola Bars

Homemade Muesli with Red Berries

Sunrise Smoothies

Tri-Berry Oven Pancakes

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Plans for my vacation

I am officially on vacation. 1 week at home, 1 week at Disneyworld. Life is good. 🙂

My plan for the first week is:

• Horseback riding tomorrow (Life list item!)
• Loblaws – grocery shopping to pick up ingredients for the recipes I’m planning on trying this week: date nut bread, chicken bouillabaisse, bruschetta with peppers and gorgonzola all from the Back to Basics Barefoot Contessa cookbook (part of Life List item)
• Finish painting gym room
• Call to book chimney sweep in time for cold weather wood fires
• Call to order firewood
• Buy sneakers for all that walking at Disney

Let’s see if I stick to the plan. 🙂 I’ll try to post some pics of the dishes I make.

Plan for the second week:

Disney! Epcot wine and food festival, fun, Cirque do soleil show, fun, spending the day with Scott&Angie, fun. Can’t wait!

 

EDIT: I’ve actually done everything on the list except for the painting. I think we’ll be skipping that til a free weekend down later in November. Made all the yummy food, had a blast at horseback riding (although I’m in PAIN today!), got sneakers, firewoode is being delivered on Monday, chimney is getting checked on Thursday, and our door is also getting meaured on Thursday. Productive weekend!

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