Stuffed Baked Squash

Stuffed Baked Squash

Cut two acorn squash into halves: remove seeds.   Rub flesh with butter and season with salt.  Place halves in a baking dish cut side down.  Fill dish with 1/4 inch water.  Bake at 350 about 1 hour or until tender.

Filling:

1 cup dry lentils

2 3/4 cup nonfat chicken broth, divided use

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sage, crushed

1/4 teaspoon thyme, crushed

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 sprigs of fresh thyme, for garnish, optional

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Directions:

Bake squash until tender at 350 for about 1 hour.  

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While the squash are baking make the stuffing.  Cook the lentils in 2 1/2 cups of the broth. First bring to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until done, about 50 minutes.  Drain any excess liquid.

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Cook the celery, carrots, mushrooms, shallots, garlic and parsley in the remaining 1/4 cup of broth, covered, over medium heat, until the vegetables are tender about 20 minutes. 

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Combine the cooked vegetable mixture with lentils.  Add the seasonings and olive oil and mix thoroughly.  Stuff each seasoned squash half with 3/4 cup of the stuffing.  Return stuffed squash halves to oven to reheat up to 15 minutes.

Salmon With Bacon and Lentils

Salmon With Bacon And Lentils 

This is my "Go To" favorite recipe for entertaining.

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils
1 onion, minced
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
4 2-inch-long orange peel strips (orange part only) minced
2 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper

4 8-ounce salmon fillets, each cut crosswise into 3 pieces
6 bacon slices, each cut crosswise in half

1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onions
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon or 2 teaspoons dried

• 
  
• Directions:
  Combine lentils, onion, carrot and orange peel in heavy large saucepan. Add 2 1/2 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Discard orange peel. Return lentils to pan. Season lentils with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 say ahead. Cover and chill lentils and reserved cooking liquid separately.
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Place salmon on baking sheet. Wrap 1 bacon strip around center of each salmon piece, arranging bacon ends on bottom. Bake salmon until opaque in center, about 8 minutes.
• 
  
• Meanwhile, add enough reserved cooking liquid to lentils to moisten. Mix in cream, then parsley, chives and tarragon and bring to simmer. Spoon lentil onto plates. Top each with 3 salmon pieces in spoke fashion and serve.

Note: I also make this dish without using bacon. It too is delicious!

Refried Beans

Refried Beans

Pinto beans, prepared Mexican style, are such a staple. Although beans have a relatively long shelf life, the older they are the longer you'll have to cook them to soften them. Find a source that supplies fresh beans. If you have some that have been sitting around for more than a year, they'll be tough and not as good, you'll need to cook them longer. "Refried" is actually a misnomer. In this instance, refritos means "well fried", not "refried", though you can certainly reheat the beans as you go through a batch. Before frying them though you'll need to cook them, in water, to soften them. There are basically two ways to initially cook the beans - with a pressure cooker and without. Since we make beans so often, we use a pressure cooker. It greatly cuts down on the cooking time. Here are directions for both methods.

Refried Beans

Ingredients:

:2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb.)

3 quarts of water

1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)

2 Tbsp pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)

1/4 cup water

Salt to taste

Cheddar cheese (optional)

Method:

1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.

2 Cook the beans in water. Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open.Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.

Strain the beans from the cooking water.

3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.

Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.

Toasted Cumin Shallot Oil ~ Infused Oil

Toasted Cumin Shallot Oil

Infused Oil

A specialty at Maderas Country Club Restaurant is the lunch menu. Recently I chose an entree of:
Ingredients:

seared scallops served with

lentils seasoned with

crisp apple wood bacon,

sauteed mushrooms, and

garnished with a grilled green onion,

served drizzled with toasted cumin shallot oil.

I truly enjoy any lentil dish. I copied the description from the menu thinking I could duplicate the dish. I searched the internet for a source of the oil all to no avail.

Last week I returned to the restaurant for lunch asking the server if she would inquire for me the source of the infused oil. She returned to the table saying the source was a restaurant supply house. Not giving up easily I thought perhaps I could duplicate the oil.

Today I took my friend Laura, who is visiting from Calgary, to the Maderas CC for lunch. I was also hoping to purchase enough of the oil to prepare the dish this weekend if the chef would agree. The Executive Chef Earl Schryver came to our table with the recipe in hand. 

After sharing our compliments of the lunch we enjoyed, the chef shared tips on preparing the lentil dish. I returned home and the freshly made infused oil is now in my refrigerator. With the chef's permission, I am sharing the infused oil recipe. I have printed the chefs recipe measurements yielding 2 3/4 cup oil as shared with me. The measurements in parentheses which yields a 3/4 cup which is more manageable for home use. It is a delicious accompaniment with this dish.

Toasted Cumin Shallot Oil

4 Tablespoons Cumin seed      (1 Tablespoon)

2 cups E.V.Olive Oil                (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup lemon juice                  (2 Tablespoons)

2 oz. shallots, cut in 1/4s          (1/2 oz)

Salt and Pepper to taste            S&P to taste

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Toast cumin seeds and shallots in small heavy skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Cool. Put everything in a blender except the lemon juice. Blend until liquefied. Slowly add lemon juice. Blend until emulsified.