Brussels sprouts.  As a kid the mere mention of the things would have sent me running to my room in fear, yet here I am sharing a recipe for them at the request of my kids, who absolutely adore them.  It’s a strange turn of events to be sure.

It’s strange the things I adore today that I never would have touched as a child.  I’m not sure if it was the lack of fresh ingredients in our diet for most of the year, or if my tastes have just changed that much.  I know that most of the vegetables we ate for may years were canned, that probably didn’t help.

In any event, these sprouts do not disappoint.  They have my Son’s seal of approval and I have to admit that I’ve eaten two plates of them in the last two days.  They truly are tasty. As a matter-of-fact, I think I’m going to add them to my permanent Thanksgiving lineup in one form or another.  That way I know my kids will eat at least one green vegetable at the family table…

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Ah, fall.  Squash are everywhere, and in every variety.  It’s the time of year for soups, stews, chili and other things made from late crops, and I for one am just in love with the idea.  Seriously, what in nature is more creamy and luscious than a roasted squash or sweet potato?  Both are a perfect compliment to anything else you happen to have hangin in the oven for long periods of time, and they make the house smell fantastic!

The other thing I adore about squash is its shelf life.  You can leave a squash hanging out for quite a while before you finally get to it.  sometimes weeks, without worrying that it won’t just be sitting there waiting to become something wonderful.  In the case of Halloween and Thanksgiving, I tend to buy them as table decoration for this week and dinner for next week.  It’s perfect double-duty food, and not much makes me happier.

For this round I go to the unsung hero of the squash world, the spaghetti squash. For most people this is just a replacement for thin pasta to be used as the base for a marinara or Bolognese.  In my opinion that is a crying shame.  This is not pasta.  it will never taste like pasta.  You can’t make it taste like pasta, and why would you want to?

This dish is slightly spicy, has a wonderful texture and is the perfect compliment for a roast chicken or pork loin.  It’s not heavy but it is quite filling and the flavors are nutty and sweet all at the same time.  Add a little smokiness from the bacon and you’re all set!  Of course you could always skip the bacon if you wanted to go vegetarian.  it would still be fabulous.

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Winter weather means soup.  For my family, soup usually means something extremely hearty that sticks to your ribs and will keep you warm through a cold night on the Great Plains. (which, if you’ve never experienced it, can be very cold indeed!) For me the king of all rich and hearty soups is potato soup and this is my take on it.

This soup is hearty and filling.  It’s incredibly thick, sumptuous, rich and warming. It’s slightly thicker than most potato soups and the bacon adds a certain richness to the earthy flavor of the potatoes that I don’t think ham quite accomplishes, though it’s the more traditional addition to this dish.

A warning, though.  If you’re looking for something light, this ain’t it.  There’s enough cream and butter I this recipe to make staunch dieters cower in fear, and your cholesterol levels may never be the same again.  Having said this, I only recommend this dish as an occasional treat.  One to be savored when the weather is chill and the nights are long.  It’s not every day fare, it’s comfort food at the highest level, with the calorie count to match.

This recipe makes enough to serve about eight people, but don’t worry about scaling back if you’re only serving one or two.  It freezes exremely well and can be kept sealed in the chill chest for three to six months in airtight containers. That way it’s just waiting for you the next time the weather gets seriously chilly and you’re in need of a wintertime booster shot of soothing warmth.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

From the lost recipe files:  I found the pics for this hanging out in a folder from JUNE!  Luckily, I still remember how I made the dish.

As Italian chefs the world over will tell you, the key behind a great pasta dish is that no one ingredient ever overloads any of the others, and that the pasta is truly supposed to be the star of the show.  This is one dish that follows those guidelines, even with the strong flavors of bacon and greens tossed into the mix.

The secret with this or any other pasta dish is to make sure that you add just enough sauce to coat the pasta, not drown it. This may go against the American tradition of dumping a full three cups of sauce over the top of a quarter pound of noodles, then topping it with some form of meatball, but believe me, it’s worth the restraint.

Let’s revisit summer, shall we?

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Vegetarians avert your eyes.  Have your children leave the room, you don’t want them to see this.  For you it won’t be pretty.  However, for those of us who are dedicated omnivores (or in Dr. Biggles case, card carrying carnivores), it’s a dream on a bun, and I had to share it with the world at large.

Please excuse the fact that this really isn’t a recipe.  It’s more of a field assembly guide for the ultimate in meat based sandwiches. There will be no fluff, no cheese, no greens or sprouts.  Only bell peppers (or jalapeños, if you’re so inclined) are worthy of this carnivorous delight.

This sandwich was three days in the making. Was it worth it?  I think so.  Hopefully you will as well, but the only way you’ll ever know is if you try it for yourself.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

If you’ve spent any time at all hanging around this blog you’ll know that I love frittata. Just like the omelet, frittata’s offer a nearly unlimited choice of ingredients and variations on a theme. Anything this versatile should be celebrated, and I do every time I’m offered the chance. This time was no different.

This dish features some of the ingredients I had lying about the fridge in need of usage. The spinach was nearing the end of its days, the feta was getting close to expiration and the bacon… Well, let’s just say what wasn’t used here went to the local trash collector. They say that necessity is the mother of all invention. In this case necessity was the mother of inspiration, and I thank her profusely for the nudge.

Regardless of the nudge from my cooking muse, I wasn’t too sure this particular combination ws going to work well. I shouldn’t have worried. The salty taste of the bacon played incredibly well with deep rich flavor of the feta and the spinach just served to tie everything together into something amazing. If you happen to have this combination of ingredients around, I highly recommend you give it a shot.

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Deviled eggs have come a long way since my mother used to make them. Top chefs all over the world have revisited this rather classic dish and added new twists along the way, and so have I. In the past, I’ve added tappenade, pepperocini, artichoke and cayenne to mine, all with great results. This experiment was to see if the classic breakfast combo worked as well. it did, in fact it worked better than I expected.

Originally I thought that bacon would be the dominant flavor in these eggs and it was in a way, but not in the way that I expected. The first flavors that you pick up on are the tang from the mustard and lemon juice, then from the salad dressing. Next there is a hint of onion and egg, which is wonderful. Only after all of these things grace your palate does the bacon flavor come into the mix, starting of as a subtle backdrop to the other flavors, and in the end standing on its own. The bacon becomes the crescendo in a wonderful finale of flavors and textures that I will happily serve again and again.

These eggs could easily be made the day before and kept in the fridge for a quick breakfast, or served at any brunch, so feel free to use them as you see fit.

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Who said breakfast had to be predictable? Just because you’re in the mood for breakfast ingredients such as bacon and eggs doesn’t mean that they should be served in the classic manner. This little gem of a breakfast idea shares the same basic ingredients found in fast food breakfast sandwiches served in paper wrappers across the country, but the resemblance ends there. It is served open faced with crispy bacon, scallions and sharp cheddar on an oven crisped English muffin, and is far better suited to eating with a fork than as a hand-held item.

If your mind is flashing to soggy English muffins, overworked eggs and processed cheese, be heartened, this dish contains none of those things. The muffins are crisp, crunchy and browned to perfection, the perfect compliment to fluffy eggs, a hint of scallion and crisp bacon. the cheddar brings it all together into something that is somehow more than the sum of its parts in some subtle way sure I can describe.

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If you say beans in the southwest, it’s taken for granted that you mean pinto beans. In Tex-Mex cooking they serve ‘em up refrito, or refried, you get ‘em in the stores with or without jalapeños, or kick ‘em up a bit with some chili powder and cumin and call ‘em Ranch Style.

Up in Oklahoma where my family hails from, you serve ‘em with ham hocks or bacon, with cornbread and fried potatoes on the side. Of course, you can serve what you’d like, but I’ll stick with my old standby. Read more…

Popularity: 4% [?]

Fried potatoes are a southern staple. They are served at nearly every good southern table, and can be served at any meal. There was a time when I was young that my family didn’t have much, and the running commentary around dinner time was often as follows:

“Mom, what’s for dinner?”

“Beans and potatoes.”

“Awwwww! We had that last night!”

“No, last night we had potatoes and beans.”

Thankfully those days are long gone, but I still enjoy a heaping plate of fried potatoes and I even use the same cast iron skillet that both my mother, my grandmother and my great grandmother used to make them. (much to the dismay of my sister, who probably should have got it, not her cranky older brother.) Read more…

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