Tasting Table posted an adapted recipe of Marcie Turney’s Salted Caramel Budino. If you’ve never been to Barbuzzo in Philadelphia, your taste buds are missing out on one fantastic dessert. So, if my attempt at this adapted recipe is even half as good as the original salted caramel budino, I will consider this a win.
Barbuzzo’s version is described as “dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, sea salt.” The Salted Caramel Budino version below omits the crust, but maintains the vanilla bean salted caramel poured over a maple flavored custard.
New York Times recently had an article with a recipe from Carmen Quagliata, the executive chef at Union Square Café. The recipe was for a perfect winter dish: Vegan Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Apple with Candied Walnuts. Usually when searching for Brussels sprouts recipes, bacon is almost always included, so I was happy to find a somewhat healthy alternative. I thought Ash Wednesday would a great to try out this recipe for dinner.
Ingredients for Brussels sprouts:
1 ½ cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch asymmetrical chunks
2 cups (about 1 large) Honeycrisp, Cortland, or Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into 1-inch asymmetrical chunks (my local market was out of these options so I used two Pink Lady apples)
1 shallot, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 fresh sage leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ tablespoon maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While it is heating up, prep your Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, apples, and shallot. To trim the Brussels sprouts, cut off the rough white stem and then cut the sprout in half. If any outer leaves fall off discard them as well.
This was my first attempt at cutting and peeling a butternut squash, and I found the blog A Veggie Venture to be super helpful. The blog has a lot of great tips about veggies in general, so I suggest checking it out. If you’re not up for cutting your own butternut squash, Trader Joe’s sells already cubed pieces. However, they are a bit more dried out than freshly cut squash so keep that in mind.
I only needed the top half of the butternut squash
I used an apple corer to prepare the apples, and then cut the slices in half.
Keep the skins on the apple
Toss the Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, apple, and shallot with the olive oil and sage leaves in a shallow baking dish.
So many colors!
Season with salt and pepper.
Bake at 375 until vegetables and apple are wrinkled and slightly brown, about 45 minutes to an hour. Do not disturb or mix the dish while it’s cooking.
If you don’t have time or are just apprehensive about making the candied walnuts, you can purchase them already made.
However, the recipe is below in case you’re feeling adventurous. (Honestly, it wasn’t that difficult!)
Ingredients for walnuts:
6 cups vegetable oil
6 ounces walnut halves
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (I ended up using less than a cup and they were fine)
kosher salt
To make, place a deep fryer or high-sided saucepan over high heat (I ended up using my pasta pot; my saucepans were all dirty from previous cooking adventures). Add the oil making sure there is at least 3 inches from the top of the pot. (When the walnuts are added, the oil bubbles and rises so you need room for this to happen) Heat to 375 degrees.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in another pot. Add the walnuts and boil for 10 seconds. Drain well and immediately toss with confectioners’ sugar. Spread flat on a baking sheet to allow to dry.
Walnuts after tossed in powdered sugar
The original directions suggest having a baking sheet lined with paper towels nearby. Mine stuck to the paper towels (boo) so I’d suggest maybe using parchment paper. Working in batches if necessary, add the walnuts to oil and stir once or twice. Fry until amber-brown or about 30 seconds. Using a wire skimmer or a heatproof slotted spoon, remove walnuts and move to baking sheets. Sprinkle with salt and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
To serve, drizzle maple syrup over roasted vegetables and sprinkle with walnut pieces.
How good does that look??
This dish was really great. It had the feel of a comfort food dish without the leftover heaviness.
I was sort of hoping the Brussels sprouts would play a bigger role in the dish, but the butternut squash was what I kept going back for (nothing wrong with that). The walnuts add a lot of sweetness to the dish so don’t go overboard on topping the dish with them. The best part though, was that with so much flavor, I didn’t even miss not having meat for dinner!
Note: If you want something to pair with this to make a more hearty meal, the recipe suggests serving it with walnut bread.
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to test out my recipe for Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting before the big day to make sure it didn’t need any tweaking.
Guinness cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes that use a dark stout to enhance the flavor.
To keep with the theme, I decided to also make Bailey’s frosting.
Ingredients (makes 24 cupcakes)
Guinness Cupcakes:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz bottle of Guinness (or any other dark stout) – if your bottle is more than this, just measure out 12 oz
1 (4 oz) stick of butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
Most sides are a bit of an afterthought. I tend to just whip something up really quick to give my dish more color, or to make me feel like I’m being healthy because there is some green on my plate. But this Wilted Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette side dish is so good, I’d be happy to have just this for dinner. I am not the biggest fan of mustard in general, but the small amount of Dijon mustard really ups this side from good to great.
Ingredients
1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced (or thinly sliced, whatever makes you happy)
6 cups baby spinach leaves
¼ cup sliced red onion
To prepare the vinaigrette, combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl (up to salt) combining with a whisk. Heat the vinaigrette in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add the spinach (it will shrink up a lot!) and toss to combine. Remove from heat when wilted (1-2 minutes).
The spinach ended up stealing the show when I made it (I had a pasta/chicken dish along with it). It was a very quick and easy side; I cannot wait to make this again!
As much as I love cooking, sometimes I am just too exhausted at the end of the day to whip together a tasty meal. But why should my taste buds be punished? So I always keep a few different types of ravioli in my freezer for a quick meal. Tomato sauce on meat or cheese ravioli is great, but I tend to lean towards mushroom, pumpkin, butternut squash, or spinach fillings. So here is a short list of a few different sauces (besides tomato) that you can cook in the time it takes to cook the ravioli.
White Wine Sage Sauce
(great with mushroom ravioli)
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried sage
1/2 cup white wine (whatever you have open, I have been using a Pinot Grigio recently)
Optional ingredients:
Truffle oil
Panko bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese (grated or shaved) Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!
To make, add the olive oil to a saute pan. Heat over medium-high heat, and add the garlic and sage. Let cook for one minute. Add the white wine, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let simmer for a few minutes until it reduces. Remove from heat and pour over cooked ravioli. I really enjoy adding a little drizzle of truffle oil and then topping the ravioli off with panko and parmesan cheese. The truffle oil enhances the flavor of the ravioli and the panko adds a bit of a light crunch to the dish.
Brown Butter Sage Sauce
(great with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
4 sage leaves
Lemon juice, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste
Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!
To prepare, melt butter in a saute pan until a light brown color appears (about 3 minutes). Add the sage leaves and cook for one minute more (to help the leaves get a little crispy). Remove from heat and add a few drops of lemon juice. Add some Parmesan cheese and mix. Pour over the ravioli and serve.
Brown Butter Sage Sauce with Dried Cranberries
(great with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dried sage
1-2 teaspoons dried cranberries
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!
To prepare, melt butter in a saute pan. Add the sage and dried cranberries and cook until a light brown color appears (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper and mix. Pour over the ravioli and serve. Note: If you have walnuts, they would be fantastic in this dish, I just didn’t have any. Toast the walnuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the walnuts to the melted butter when you add in the sage and dried cranberries.
Roasted Walnuts – more of a topping than a sauce
(great with cheese or spinach ravioli)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese (grated or shaved), to taste
Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!
To prepare, heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and walnuts and cook until the walnuts are slightly toasted, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes). Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and parsley. Remove from heat and pour over ravioli. Top with the Parmesan cheese.
When the weather gets cold, I start craving pasta, pasta, and more pasta (I fully blame this on my Italian mother). I don’t want to get stuck eating the same thing every night though, so I try to have a few recipes on hand that I can cycle through so that I don’t get sick of my delicious carbs.
Combining my love of mushrooms with my affinity of pasta, I tend to use this recipe a lot. This recipe does include whipping cream though, so I wouldn’t suggest making this a weekly staple. But it is a really easy and comforting meal.
Ingredients:
1 box uncooked farfalle pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 package of each of the following: shiitake, cremini, portobello and oyster mushrooms (if your supermarket has an exotic mushroom blend, grab 2 of those. If some other mushroom is calling your name, feel free to sub), sliced
½ cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
Pepper, to taste
¼ cup dry white wine (I just used whatever white wine was on hand and open)
VisitPhilly.com’s Philly Homegrown section recently posted fall recipes from local eateries in Philadelphia. All of them sounded amazing and I hope to try them all in the coming weeks, but my pumpkin obsession took priority. Metropolitan Bakery’s Pumpkin Walnut Muffins were calling me. I’ve adjusted the recipe a bit, but the general idea is still very much there.
The recipe made two dozen large muffins, or 4 dozen cupcake-sized muffins. Your friends and coworkers will like you a whole lot after you make this recipe!
As the days grow colder, I begin to mourn the loss of one of my favorite summer ingredients: tomatoes. I know, I know, tomatoes are available year round. But they lose their appeal when they begin to look like Styrofoam. Trying to get in one last hurrah with fresh tomatoes, I decided to try a recipe from Cooking Light (September 2010 edition, I’m a little late in my preparation), “Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce”.
Ingredients
1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine (I substituted box spaghetti, I’m sure fresh pasta would really enhance this dish though)
I love pumpkin… the word “obsessed” has been used many times to describe my affinity for this delicious gourd. Sadly, I had to choose a rather seasonal (unless its from a can) product, so I’ve really been trying to get my fix of pumpkin over the past few months. A good substitute for pumpkin in most dishes is butternut squash, which is a little easier to come by. Tonight for dinner, I decided to try to make a Moroccan Butternut Squash (or you can use pumpkin) soup. As with most of my base recipes, I went to myrecipes.com to see where to start. I tend to switch the recipes based on what I happen to have in my house already.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cubed peeled fresh pumpkin or butternut squash
2 cups organic vegetable broth (I had chicken broth on hand)
1 3/4 cups diced yellow onion (I used two medium sized onions)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Ras el Hanout (this is a mixture of a bunch of other spices that I mixed together, I’ll add that recipe below)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup whole milk (I had heavy cream, so I changed it to a little more than a splash)
