Butternut Squash Mac N’ Cheese
Hope everyone had a wonderful fall season and Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s one last fall seasoned recipe – enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups shredded butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 medium onion grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 vegetable bullion
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
- 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 slices white bread
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1 pound cooked macaroni
- grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
Method:
Butternut Squash:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Spread shredded butternut squash into small baking pan and brush with olive oil
- Bake for 10 minutes until butternut squash is cooked and set aside
Breadcrumbs:
- Cut bread into small squares and add to food processor
- Add 1/8 cup chopped basil to food processor
- Add drizzle of olive oil and salt/pepper to taste
- Process until bread crumbs become course
Mac n’ cheese:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Heat olive oil in medium heat in a pot
- Add minced garlic and cook until brown (1 to 2 minutes)
- Add grated onion and cook for 1 to 2 minutes
- Add butter and basil and cook for 2 minutes
- Add vegetable bullion, water, cream, and flour and cook until it reaches a boil
- Add all three cheeses and butternut squash and mix well until cheese melts into sauce
- Add salt/pepper to taste
- When cheese is completely melted into sauce add cooked macaroni and mix well
- Transfer macaroni and cheese sauce into a baking pan
- Spread breadcrumbs over macaroni and cheese
- Bake in oven for 30 minutes
- Serve hot and garnish with Parmesan cheese
Add a comment December 2, 2011
Italian Shrimp N’ Grits: Lemon butter shrimp over pumpkin polenta
The east coast got a taste of early winter last weekend when we got over 5 inches of snow with gusting winds – most of my town in North Jersey was severely damaged with multiple trees knocked down – almost 1 tree per house was knocked down. And most of my town was out of power for 6 whole days – today being the first day the town was restored power. Thankfully, my house did not lose power, but I did lose my internet connection, cable, and phone lines for 6 days. Since I was not connected to the rest of the world I did bit of cooking – now that my internet is restored, I can finally post it on my blog!
A few days ago, I decided to make Shrimp N’ Grits – a popular Southern style dish in the U.S. Since it is fall season, I wanted to experiment with pumpkin and decided to replace grits with a pumpkin polenta. Here is the recipe – enjoy!
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Polenta:
- 1/4 pumpkin – cut into small squares
- 3 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 box Delallo instant Polenta (9.2 ounces)
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons rosemary flakes
- 1/3 cup cream cheese – room temperature
- 1/3 cup romano cheese – grated
- Salt/Pepper to taste
Lemon Butter Shrimp:
- 1/2 pound peeled/deveined shrimp
- 2 tablespoons whipped unsalted butter
- lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/ 8 cup chopped fresh chives
- 1/4 cup capers
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt/pepper to taste
Method:
Pumpkin Polenta:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Drizzle bottom of small baking pan with olive oil and add pumpkin squares to baking pan
- Coat pumpkin squares with a little more olive oil and bake for 15 minutes
- Take baking pan out of oven and puree pumpkin in blender until it becomes a smooth texture and set a side
- In medium sized pot, bring 4 1/2 cups of water to a boil
- Add salt, pepper, rosemary flakes, pumpkin puree and stir
- Add Polenta to water by pouring slowly while stirring until mixture is thickened
- Add cream cheese and romano cheese – stir until polenta is a creamy mixture
Lemon Butter Shrimp:
- Heat olive oil in medium sized skillet in medium heat
- Add garlic and sautee for 1 minute until golden brown
- Add onions, lemon juice and butter and sautee for 3 to 5 minutes stirring
- Add chives, basil, capers, salt, pepper and sautee for 3 minutes
- Add shrimp and mix well; cook until shrimp is red on both sides (about 5 to 7 minutes)
Serving: (Serves 4 to 6)
- Place pumpkin polenta on plate
- Top polenta with 3 to 4 shrimp with sauteed ingredients
- Garnish with chives and capers
Add a comment November 4, 2011
Halloween pumpkin spice cookies with cinnamon icing
“TRICK OR TREAT, SMELL MY FEET, GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT”
Ingredients:
Cookies:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter – room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
- 1/4 cup cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 4 tablespoons butter – room temperature
- Halloween colored sprinkles
Method:
Cookies:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt in small bowl and set aside
- Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and cream together; add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to mixture, and beat until creamy
- Mix in ingredients from both small and large bowl and mix until well blended
- Make round balls of cookie dough and place onto to greased cookie sheet
- Bake for 11 minutes
Icing:
- Place butter in small bowl and beat using electric mixer until butter is fluffy
- Add remaining ingredients and beat using electric mixer until icing is of a smooth consistency
Finale:
- Spread icing onto cooled cookies
- Top with Halloween colored sprinkles
Add a comment October 26, 2011
Marinated green chimichurri steak topped with red chimichurri sauce
My brother’s fiance and her Mom are here from Lima, Peru and one evening I decided to make Chimichurri steak for them. I’ve already blogged about this dish, but I made it a little differently this time. Chimichurri is Argentinian – it’s very close to the Italian pesto – except instead of using basil, the main ingredient is parsley…hence, it’s traditionally green in color. This time, I decided to marinate the steak in chimichurri sauce and grill it…and then top it with a red chimichurri sauce with a hint of Guyanese flavors (my brother picked up Wiri-wiri Guyanese peppers from my Guyanese aunt’s brother’s backyard when he went to visit them in Michigan last month – so I thought why not use them in the sauce!).
PICTURE OF WIRI-WIRI ABOVE – WARNING – DO NOT MISTAKE THEM FOR CHERRIES – THEY ARE FIREY HOT!
Here is the recipe – enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 pound skirt steak
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley – chopped
- 1/2 cup mint leaves – chopped
- 1/4 oregano leaves – chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 10 cloves garlic – chopped
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley – chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon pureed chipotle in adobo
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 4 cloves garlic – chopped
- 2 Wiri-Wiri peppers – chopped
- salt/pepper to taste
- Combine Green chimichurri ingredients into food processor and process until it reaches a smooth consistency
- Add green chimichurri sauce to skirt steak on both sides and refrigerate to marinate for 5 to 6 hours
- Combine red chimichurri ingredients into food processor and process until it reached a smooth consistency
- Grill steaks to order
- Serve steak topped with Red Chimichurri sauce (optional: garnish with parley leaves) and side dish of choice
Add a comment October 23, 2011
Gorgonzola stuffed Turkey Burger on a Challah Roll
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Dewdrop Recipes and thought it was time to come back! Couldn’t let the summer go by without a posting on burgers on the grill! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. lean ground turkey
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 small green chilles chopped
- 2 cups crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- Herbs: Fresh rosemary and chives chopped
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- Challah Roll
Method:
- Mix all above ingredients except Challah Roll in mixing bowl
- Form 4 patties
- Grill patties on high heat until meat is fully cooked (about 4 to 5 minutes on each side)
- Toast Challah roll on grill until crusty (about 2 minutes)
- Serve turkey burger on Challah roll and garnish with Romaine lettuce and 1 slice of tomato
Add a comment July 17, 2011
Cheddar-Chive Garlic Ciabatta
Summer has begun with the kick-off of Memorial Day weekend and it’s exciting to be able to walk to my parents backyard and pick out the herbs for that my Mom grows every summer for cooking! Easy but tasty recipe – enjoy!
Ingredients:
- Ciabatta bread -sliced
- Cheddar cheese – shredded
- Chopped Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Chives – chopped
- Butter
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- Garlic Olive Oil
Method:
- Spread olive oil on Ciabatta sliced bread
- Mix all other ingredients and spread on sliced bread
- Toast for 5 minutes until golden brown
Add a comment June 5, 2011
Homemade pizza with fried kale, prosciutto, and mozzarella
Ingredients (for a thin crust pizza)
Pizza:
- Pizza ready made dough
- Pizza sauce (see below for ingredients)
- 1 cup chopped Kale
- 2 slices of Prosciutto -cut into small slices
- 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella – cut into small slices
Pizza sauce:
- 1, 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 fresh tomato chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
Method:
Pizza Sauce:
- Mix together the tomato paste, fresh tomato water, and olive oil
- Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, oregano, and basil.
Pizza:
- Take ball of dough and flatten it with your hands slightly
- On a floured work surface, press the dough to 1/2-inch thick.
- Keep stretching dough until it will not stretch further.
- Sit for 5 minutes and continue to stretch until it reaches 10 diameter
- Brush bottom and top of dough with olive oil (this makes for a crispy crust)
- In a pan fry chopped kale and set aside
- Spread tomato sauce to pizza dough
- Add fried kale, slices of prosciutto, and mozzarella as toppings
- Bake in oven (450 degrees) for 15 minutes
Add a comment May 9, 2011
Pasta Primavera with a sherry wine butter sauce
“Primavera” is Italian for Spring. In Italy, Pasta Primavera is served in May and June and sometimes into summer. This dish has been obviously very popular in the U.S. for many years – but it’s spring….and my best friend from high school is first generation Italian…..so that makes me quasi “I-talian”. Hence, I had to cook a traditional Italian pasta dish to celebrate good spring weather. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- Penne pasta cooked (1 box)
- 2 cloves garlic – chopped
- 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 cup grape tomatoes – cut in half
- 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
- 3/4 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 cup sherry wine
- 3/4 stick butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt/pepper to taste
Method:
- Heat olive oil in large skillet
- Add garlic and cook until golden brown (~2 minutes)
- Add grape tomatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes
- Add salt, pepper, and fresh basil, butter, and sherry wine and cook for 5 minutes
- Add canned tomatoes and cook for 5 to 10 minutes stirring in between
- Add pasta to sauce and serve hot…..and Bon App!
Add a comment April 27, 2011
Estofado de Pollo with Chilcano!
My brother’s girlfriend, Victoria, is visiting from Lima, Peru and she’s been nice enough to cook some Peruvian dishes for us while she’s staying with us! Tonight she made Estofado de pollo….Estofado, according to Victoria is a dish that was made originally when leftovers were used to just “throw in the pot to make a stew”. Today, Estofado is made primarily with peas, carrots, and potatoes. Victoria made Estofado de pollo – (or with chicken).
Victoria also made a signature Peruvian cocktail called Chilcano de Pisco- a very refreshing drink made with lime and Pisco – (Peru’s staple choice of liquor, kind of like India’s staple choice of Johnnie Walker).
The smell of the garlic overtook the kitchen as Victoria prepared this dish and the dish was just so delicious. The fresh lime in the chilcano really complimented the tender chicken seasoned with garlic over carrots, peas, and tomatoes.
Here is the recipe for both Estofado and Chilcano. I purposefully did not include portions – because this is Victoria’s Mom’s recipe and she purposefully told us that she does not measure -and hence can not give proportions – I LIKE her Mom already!! Can’t wait to meet her parents when they come to the States next weekend! Enjoy!!
Estofado de pollo:
Ingredients:
- Pollo (chicken thighs – boneless)
- Papas (potatoes)
- Zanahoria (carrots)
- Arverjitas (peas)
- Tomate (tomatoe)
- ajo (garlic)
- Cebolla (onions)
- Sal (salt)
- Pimieuta (black pepper)
Method:
- Heat olive oil in skillet
- Add garlic and onions and saute for 5 minutes
- Add tomatoes and saute until mixture becomes a paste
- Add potatoes, carrots, chicken thighs, salt and pepper to taste, and 1 cup water, and simmer on medium heat until chicken and potatoes are cooked (~ 25 to 30 minutes)
- Serve over white rice
Chilcano:
Ingredients:
- Pisco
- Ginger ale
- Simple Syrup
- 1 Lime
- Ice
Method:
- Mix together and serve in a glass over ice
3 comments April 11, 2011
Chinese Chicken Stir Fry with Indian-Chinese Garlic Fried Rice
My Mom is vegetarian yet she always seems to make meat dishes for my brother and I as if she has eaten meat all her life! My Mom and I actually made this together tonight – but only my brother and I ate it. We made up our own recipe but the closest I could come up with to categorize it is probably a Chinese stir fry – but really we just threw in our own ingredients. The fried rice is probably more of an Indian-Chinese Fried Rice as it has typical Chinese ingredients for a fried rice with a little bit of Indian flavor adding jeera (cumin) seeds. Indian-Chinese is a popular cuisine in India as it’s Chinese cooking made for Indian tastes. It was actually started in Calcutta because of the presence of a Chinese community in Calcutta. There are several Indian-Chinese restaurants here in America – if you are in the NYC area, Nanking is a restaurant where you can try this cuisine. Here is the recipe – if you do try it, please let me know how it is and enjoy!
Ingredients:
Stir Fry:
- 1 pound chicken (cut into small pieces)
- 1 small onion – thinly sliced
- 1/2 green and yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons garlic flavored vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 2 tablespoons cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 4 pods garlic – sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
Garlic Fried Rice:
- 1 cup Basmati rice cooked
- 1/2 small onion sliced
- 2 garlic pods sliced
- 1 teaspoon jeera
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (can add red pepper as option for those who like spicy)
Method:
Chicken Stir Fry:
- Heat oil in wok over medium heat
- Saute onion, garlic, and pepper for 3 minutes
- Add salt and pepper
- Saute chicken in separate pan until cooked
- Add chicken to wok and stir
- Add vinegar, cooking wine, and chili paste and cook for 2 minutes while stirring
Garlic Fried Rice:
- Heat 2 tablespoons sesame oil in pan over medium heat
- Add jeera and sautee for 1 minute until brown
- Add onions and garlic and sautee for 4 to 5 minutes
- Add mixture to rice and mix together
Add a comment March 12, 2011
