TJ's Curried ButterNut Soup

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash.
1 1/2 heads of garlic, smashed.
2 Shallots, finely diced.
3 TBSP Red curry paste.
2 cans coconut (cream, milk or combination).
4 cups strong veggie broth.
Some (4 or 5?) chicken thighs, sliced thinly against the grain.
A bunch of broccoli. Be generous.
Some yellow/Dutch potatoes.
A bunch of crushed/chopped peanuts.

Instructions: Cook this is a stockpot. Cast iron is a good idea.
• Peel squash. Quarter it. Remove seeds & goop.
• Rub squash with high-temperature oil.
• Roast squash: 45 minutes at 425. Turn halfway through.
• Cook curry paste for two minutes.
• Add shallots and garlic. Cook 'till translucent.
• Dice the cooked squash. Add to curry, onions, garlic. Re-heat.
• When it's hot, add broth & coconut. Re-heat again. Blend 'till very smooth with immersion blender.
• While it’s simmering, cook chicken, broccoli & potatoes separately (Reminder: they take different times). Season liberally with salt & pepper.
• Combine solids with blended liquids just before serving. Dust with peanuts.
• Serve and enjoy!

Comment: This is delicious! 

TJ's Succotash

 INGREDIENTS: 

-1red bell pepper

-1 green bell pepper

-1orange bell pepper

-1 red onion

-1 Zucchini, small

-1 yellow squash (or two Zucchini if you can't find the squash)

-1 bunch of cilantro

-corn (frozen or fresh)

-Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne, paprika

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Basically try to have equal amounts of everything, though if the onions tip the balance, it isn't a bad thing.

Dice everything really finely.

Sauté red onions till translucent, add Zucchini, sauté for a couple minutes, add peppers and corn. 

Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne, and paprika. Add more heat as you like. Add cilantro at the end.

(Thoughts: I think a little white pepper would go nicely, and fresh jalapeños or serranoes will also go well.) [I may try it with de-seeded scotch bonnets.]

Cook till a happy texture. Avoid mush.

Pizza on the Grill

Ingredients:

▪️ Flour tortillas (We like thin crust pizza anyway) 

▪️ Tomato sauce 

▪️ Garlic powder (I had smoked garlic powder available) 

▪️ Sliced pepperoni 

▪️ Slices of sweet peppers (I had baby bells) 

▪️ Italian sausage, cooked 

▪️ Cheese, shredded (I had cheddar) 

▪️ Dried basil (I had cinnamon basil) 

▪️ Corn meal

Instructions:

🔹 Preheat grill to 450 or 500 with pizza stone in it. (It took longer than I expected.) 

🔹 Lay the tortillas on a cutting board 

🔹 Spread sauce (back of a spoon is helpful)

🔹 Layer stuff on. I added things in the order listed above. 

🔹 Sprinkle corn meal on pizza stone. 

🔹 Slide pizzas off the cutting board onto pizza stone 

🔹 Bake until top is melted and the bottom is getting brown. 

🔹 Turn off the grill and let the pizza finish as it cools, 

🔹 Slice, serve and enjoy. 

Observations: this was a good pizza. It was fairly mild. Definitely need to discover more options for toppings here. Need to discover a vegetarian version.

Chicken Turnovers

Ingredients (makes 6 turnovers):

1 Chicken Breast, cubed to ½”, room temperature

2 Sausages, cubed to ½”, room temperature

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 TBSP fresh garlic, minced

½ cup shredded (or cubed to <¼”) cheddar cheese

1 tsp fresh tarragon, finely minced.

Lemon pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Phyllo dough

An egg (for egg wash)

Instructions:

• Thaw the phyllo dough. Preheat [toaster] oven to 350°.

• Combine filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. Season well (don’t skimp).

• Cut 8” circles out of the dough. Put ½ to ¾ cup of the filling in (be generous). Fold over, and seal the edges using either water and crimping or egg wash.

• Egg wash the top. This makes a big difference.

• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Comments:

○ This is worth remembering. Also, this is worth refining some more.

○ I made this recipe because I had some phyllo dough to use up, not because phyllo is the best pastry for this. Next time, I might use pie crust or shortcrust pastry. 

 

○ The tarragon was not amazing. Maybe sage? Rosemary? Tomato & basil? Dehydrated lemon might be good with the tarragon, sage or rosemary. 

○ I forgot to put the cheese in. Oops. Needed it.

○ Needs more veggies! Double the onion. Maybe add celery. I considered putting some frozen corn in; that would have been good. Some diced tomatoes might be good too, maybe with basil more than tarragon.

Simple Smoked Salmon

Quick & Easy Smoked Salmon

Ingredients:

• Some fresh or thawed salmon fillets

• Some dry brine: (Mixture of ⅓ kosher salt and ⅔ brown sugar and a touch of freshly ground pepper)


Instructions:

• Remove any pin bones left in the fish.

• Wipe down the fish. Cover it with the dry brine. Rub it in some. be generous. Let it sit for between 2 and 12 hours.

• Choose Alder, cherry or apple chips. Pre-heat the smoker to 175° F. (I always add secondary smoke, as 175° F isn't hot enough to generate much smoke.)

• Rinse briefly. Wipe off the excess liquid, put the salmon, skin-side down on aluminum foil, and transfer to the smoker (still on the foil).

• Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 145° F and let it rest at least five minutes. Expect less than an hour for this. 

Basic Banana Bread

 
INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
2 TBSP stevia powder (or more sugar)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1 TBSP buttermilk powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 medium bananas, very ripe
1¼ - 1½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup shredded coconut or coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ - ¾ cup chopped nuts (I use cashews)
¼ tsp salt (optional if using salted butter)
Cooking spray or parchment paper.

INSTRUCTIONS
• Heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange a rack so top of pans will be in the center of the [toaster] oven.

• Melt the butter in the microwave. (Word to the wise: do not over-melt! Messy!)

• Crack eggs into mixer bowl. Mix on medium for a minute or two. Add sugar, stevia and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth.

• Add the over-ripe bananas piece by piece. Mix aggressively for a while. 

• Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Keep mixing. Add a TBSP or two of milk only if the batter needs thinning.

• Add the chopped nuts & mix them in. 

• Spray the insides of two 8x4 (medium sized) bread pans with oil, then coat the oil with flour. Or line them with parchment paper. (Parchment is preferred.)

• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Bake until the top of the cake is caramelized dark and a toothpick or knife poked into the middle comes out clean. Baking time will vary — start checking around 30 minutes.

• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
 
• Remove from pan and cool another 10 minutes on cooling rack.

• Enjoy with friends.

 

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

Ingredients
(for six individual servings; scale up for larger quantities.)

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 12 slices bacon
• 6 jalapenos (stems, core, and seeds removed)
• 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 4 oz cheddar cheese (shredded)
• 2 TBSP Homemade Sweet Rub
• 1 cup BBQ Sauce

Instructions
Preheat your smoker to 250° F (120° C). Pretty much any smoking hardwood will work; what do you like?

•  In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and 1 Tablespoon of the sweet BBQ seasoning.

•  Spoon some of the cream cheese mixture into each of the cored and seeded jalapenos. Use the back of the spoon to press the filling all of the way into the jalapeno.

•  Wrap each jalapeno with 1/6th of the pork sausage (about 2½ oz each). Use your hands to ensure the sausage is covering the entire jalapeno and roll back and forth into an egg shape.

•  Wrap each sausage covered jalapeno with bacon. Count on two pieces per pepper. Secure with toothpicks.

•  Place the bacon wrapped peppers on the smoker over indirect heat and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temperature reads 165° F. This usually takes around 2 hours at 250° F, depending on the size of your peppers.

•  If you want soft, bite through bacon, brush the peppers with BBQ sauce and serve immediately.

Or,

•  If you want crispy bacon, brush them with BBQ sauce and then increase the heat to 400 degrees and cook for a few minutes or transfer the peppers to a baking sheet and place under your oven broiler for 1-2 minutes.

•  Serve hot and enjoy!

From Bill Carney