FSU Chefs Unite (Recipes Thread Part II)

[peibeck]

Artemis@BC - I am going to try and your schezuan mixture on some steamed green beans tomorrow. (I have a lemon that has been sitting a while as well, so I may add some lemon juice for some extra acidity on top of the mixture when it's done.)

[Artemis@BC]

^ I hope you like it as much as I do.

[Rex]

I wish someone would send me some squash - I lurves baked squash with a little cheese on top.

[Artemis@BC]

Squash is so plentiful and cheap right now, I love it. I always cook up some extra at this time of year and freeze it for later. Made a curried squash & walnut soup the other day that was heavenly.

And last night I made one of my standbys: squash quesadilla. Basically mash some squash (and I added a little soft tofu since I had extra to use up), season with garlic, green onion, cilentro (optional, since I know there are haters out there), and cumin, maybe finely diced red pepper if you have any on hand. Stir in some grated cheese. Spread between 2 whole wheat tortillas, and brush with oil; pan fry til golden on both sides. Cut into wedges and serve with your favourite condiment. Last night I had it with an amazing smoked tomato salsa that I got at a farmer's market. Mmmm.

[Jenny]

No Thanksgiving thread so far this year I'm a big fan of American Thanksgiving, but sadly not celebrating this year - it's a Thursday, just another workday here - and usually look forward to reading everyone else's menus to live vicariously through our American friends.

That, and given that we have no hockey this season, means I've decided to use the 100th Grey Cup (Canadian Super Bowl) this Sunday as an excuse to create a themed food and drink menu. Sadly the teams and game location don't offer much inspiration. The hometeam and stadium are in Toronto, which doesn't have its own food identity or signature dishes. It's a very multi-cultural town, so you get everything in Toronto, but nothing comes to mind that is uniquely Toronto. Ideas welcome!! The other team is from Calgary - so steak and Caesars I guess. Not my favourite drink though, so I might whip up a bath of Earl Grey Martinis in honour of the Cup's namesake. Again, ideas welcome

[BigB08822]

I plan on making some carrot cake cookies to take over for Thanksgiving dinner. They look/sound delicious. They are actually cookie sandwiches with a cream cheese frosting in the middle. I hope they turn out!

[Jenny]

OMG those sound decadently delicious!

I'm reminded of this version of carrot cake from Jamie Oliver - made it once, a bit gooey (likely my fault, not his - I'm not much of a baker) - but the lime icing was a really fresh twist.

[BigB08822]

Here is the link:

http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_de...e_makeover.htm

I plan on using Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of buying the nutmeg, ginger, etc. No point in wasting money on those spices which I will hardly use when the pie spice will work just fine.

[TwizzlerS]

Anyone have suggestions for sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving? I'm up for trying something new.

[Japanfan]

Pumpkin-Chestnut Soup (Easy and Divine)

You start with equal parts cooked pumpkin and chestnuts (can be baked or boiled, with an X cut into each nut). I bake the pumpkin and roast my own chestnuts, then take off the skin/shells and chop the pumpkin in fairly small pieces, the chestnuts into smaller pieces. Here we can get packaged chestnuts as well and they are preferable because you don't have to cook and shell them. But they are also way more expensive than fresh. And I don't know if this recipe would work well with canned pumpkin.

I had about five cups each of pumpkin and chestnuts for my last soup. First, I chopped a small onion and several cloves of garlic, then sauteed them in butter. Then I added the pumpkin and chestnuts and add chicken stock to the mix, which is very thick. I bring the stock to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer - add a few bay leaves and some fresh ground pepper, simmer for five-ten minutes. Then puree in a food processor. The mix may still be too thick for soup, so you can thin it down with more chicken stock to the desired consistency. Vegetable stock would work just as well as chicken stock for vegetarians.

You can freeze some of the puree as well, then add more stock when you are ready to eat it.

This dish could be spiced all sorts of way but really needs nothing more, as the chestnuts have such a wonderful flavour. I usually add some shredded parmesan reggiano to the soup and serve with a baguette.

[Prancer]

Anyone have suggestions for sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving? I'm up for trying something new.

I sometimes make this for Thanksgiving, but don't know how new it is: http://southernfood.about.com/od/sid...r/bl90911u.htm

And I plan to try these sometime (but not for this Thanksgiving): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/g...ipe/index.html

One of my friends makes these and a lot of people like them: http://southernfood.about.com/od/swe...r/bl30626r.htm

And there's always sweet potato pie, which has infinite variations.

This is my favorite way to have sweet potatoes (not a huge fan), but not for Thanksgiving: http://clarecooks.wordpress.com/2011...berry-ketchup/

[flyingsit]

I tried this last week and it was really good, and simple to make: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/st...oductId=348349

[AragornElessar]

A couple of months ago, Dr. Oz did a show on Gluten Allergies/Celiac Disease and had this lady on who does a blog called Bran Appetit. Which is a play on both her name, Brandy, and how she focuses on trying to come up w/healthy recipes that still taste good. Her blog is now one of my "I've got to see what's on there today" first time online stops of my day. We've tried a couple of Brandi's recipes since, but this one? I saw this over there, saw the words "Raspberry" and "Mocha" and BING!!

Bran Appetit ~ Raspberry Mocha Chip Snack Cake

The best part? It's all done in the Microwave and so easy peasy to make, it's hard to believe until you give it a shot. If you hadn't read the recipe before tasting this, and didn't know what you were eating wasn't decadent and not filled to the brim w/not so good ingredients before reading the recipe, you wouldn't believe it.

One heads up...You might have to play around w/the cooking time, as everyone's microwave cooks at different levels. We had to add, IIRC, 2 or 2 and a half more minutes of cooking time when Mom and I gave it a shot and have added that to our copy of this recipe. Just keep doing the toothpick in the centre of the dish test you're baking it in and go by 30 seconds until you get it baked.

Once done, enjoy the yummy nummy fudgy goodness that this is.

[TwizzlerS]

I sometimes make this for Thanksgiving, but don't know how new it is: http://southernfood.about.com/od/sid...r/bl90911u.htm

I found this one on the internet and it looks like it would be very good. Thanks for the endorsement!

[Simone411]

A couple of months ago, Dr. Oz did a show on Gluten Allergies/Celiac Disease and had this lady on who does a blog called Bran Appetit. Which is a play on both her name, Brandy, and how she focuses on trying to come up w/healthy recipes that still taste good. Her blog is now one of my "I've got to see what's on there today" first time online stops of my day. We've tried a couple of Brandi's recipes since, but this one? I saw this over there, saw the words "Raspberry" and "Mocha" and BING!!

Bran Appetit ~ Raspberry Mocha Chip Snack Cake

The best part? It's all done in the Microwave and so easy peasy to make, it's hard to believe until you give it a shot. If you hadn't read the recipe before tasting this, and didn't know what you were eating wasn't decadent and not filled to the brim w/not so good ingredients before reading the recipe, you wouldn't believe it.

One heads up...You might have to play around w/the cooking time, as everyone's microwave cooks at different levels. We had to add, IIRC, 2 or 2 and a half more minutes of cooking time when Mom and I gave it a shot and have added that to our copy of this recipe. Just keep doing the toothpick in the centre of the dish test you're baking it in and go by 30 seconds until you get it baked.

Once done, enjoy the yummy nummy fudgy goodness that this is.

Thanks for sharing this recipe! I'll definitely have to try it!

[BigB08822]

My cookies are coming out well. I am baking them today and going to ice them tomorrow before we leave. I am not thrilled with the icing but it will do.

[immoimeme]

the quick chicken fricassee recipe from america's test kitchen is delicious AND makes extra-delicious leftovers! try it! it's online

[Artemis@BC]

I don't bake a lot (too many rules!) ... but I think I'm going to have to try these cookies. And then try not to eat them all.

Coffee dulce de leche icebox cookies

[JeffClair1979]

Does anyone have any good tips on how to zazzle up the traditional green bean casserole?

I was toying with the idea of adding some diced onions (in addition to the French Fried Onions that are, lets face it, the ambrosia of the Gods...), but I'm not sure if that would be too OTT.

So many of the recipes on here look delicious, so I'm confident that you will all guide me in the right direction!

[BigB08822]

What about some caramelized onions? Or maybe some meat such as ham diced up in there?