Roasted Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup

Even though it feels like spring right now in the middle of January, this soup is a fabulous fit for any meal.  

1 Acorn Squaush
1 Butternut Squaush
Butter
Brown Sugar
Nutmeg
Cayenne
1 shallot
6 pieces of thick bacon
6 sage leaves
8 oz Heavy Cream
16-24 oz of Vegetable stock
Salt



Starting with an Acorn Squash and a Butternut Squash, halved and oven preaheated at 400*, I like to coat my squash in some seasonings before hitting the oven.  Rubbing some butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, and a dash of cayanne over the halved squaush, these go face down on a sheet pan and then about 2 cups of water added to the pan to help the steaming process. These bad boys are then roasted for about an hour or so... until soft and tender. Once at this stage, they need to cool before hitting the pot.  While cooling, fry bacon in the pot. Remove once crisp and add the diced shallots to the drippings. Scoop out all of the squash and add to the shallots. Once this mixture is soft, start adding ladels of vegetable stock to thin out to desired texture.  Let simmer for 30-45 min.  Once mixture is well combined, blend using a stick blender until silky smooth.  Finish with heavy cream and let simmer until ready to serve.  Top with crisp bacon bits, and fried sage. Also, a cruton is always fun to have with this soup!

 

Holiday Meal #3 - Bacon wrapped chicken, Risotto stuffed tomatoes

Apologies for the small delay in posting over the holidays. It got crazy in Tahoe!

This meal was a lot of fun and also featured one dish that always seems to test my stress level. 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken, stuffed with rosemary, sage and garlic: Taking from a very traditional Tuscan dish, the main part of the meal was a chicken breast, stuffed with rosemary, sage, and garlic. This is usually made with turkey, tied then roasted.  I took it a step further. I wrapped it in bacon, then tied it.  Roasted it in a little white wine.  Now, where this dish usually gets me is internal temp and bacon crispiness.  So, when the chicken was almost cooked, I took them out and then pan fried to crisp up the bacon.  Worked like a charm!  With the time I had while this was roasting, I decided to make a sauce.  I took a healthy portion of the already amazing pan drippings and added it to a sauce pan.  Added a couple pads of butter, some sherry, sage, and dijon mustard.  This gravy turned out as a perfect compliment to the chicken breast. 

Also on the menu was some risotto stuffed tomatoes, and a light chopped asparagus salad (pictured to the right of the sauce).

Recipe: 
8 Chicken breasts, pounded flat
12 pieces of bacon (varies, just need to have enoug to wrap each chicken).
5-6 cloves of garlic
Fresh rosemary
Fresh sage
Butcher twine

Sauce:
Pan drippings, Dry Sherry, Dijon Mustard, Sage, Peppercorns, white wine, salt, brown sugar.


Finely chop garlic, rosemary, and sage and combine together in a bowl. Take chicken breast and lightly stuff a pinch of the herb mixture in the center, then roll. Wrap this roll up with bacon to cover, then tie off with butcher twine.  Roast in the oven at 350* for 30-35 min.  I also like to add about a cup of white wine to the pan to keep moisture and add a flavor base.

Holiday Meal #2 - Stuffed Portabellos & Chocolate Mousse

When I got the call on a very rainy day in November that a family wanted a couple of meals over the holiday, I got very excited. I had the pleasure of cooking for this family once in the summer and had a blast in their incredible kitchen. I got even more excited when I was given free rein on the menu.

App: 
Gorgonzola & Pear Crostini

Main: 
Mustard-Dill Flank Steak
http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/mustard-dill-skirt-steak.html
Pearl Cous Cous w/ Arugula
Stuffed Portabellos (recipe to follow)
Grilled Rosemary Bread


Dessert: 
Chocolate Mousse w/ Grand Marnier Whipped Cream

Stuffed Portabellos:
1 Red Onion, diced
1 Granny smith apple, diced into strips
1 bag of baby spinach
1/3 cup of bread crumbs
1 - egg
3 oz of Smoked Mozzerella
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Parmesan Cheese Shavings
6 Portabellos


In a pan, heat olive oil and add onions. Cook till soft. Add in a couple dashes of balsamic. Add apples and cook till soft.  Once soft, add spinach. Cook till wilted. Add beaten egg & bread crumbs then transfer to a mixing bowl.  Add mozerella, and mix till all combined.  Transfer to mushrooms and bake at 350 until mushrooms are cooked.  You can also pre-cook the mushrooms for 10 min to speed up process and not dry out stuffing.


This recipe turned out a lot cooler than I expcected.  The red onions and smoked mozerella gave the apperance and smell of bacon. A little trick on the eater, but equally as delicious!

And for dessert, all the credit goes to my amazing Soux Chef, Amanda Adams.  She took this menu and provided an incredible treat. A 60& Cocoa (Ghiridelli) Chocolate Mousse, with Grand Marneir Whipped cream.  All I did was assemble in martini glasses, but this dessert was absolutely devine!! Thanks Pants!!

Christmas Cioppino

For the first time, I was an orphan for Christmas. Not to fear, I had the Pollock family near by and armed with, as Darcy put it, "The Sea."

The idea came up over dinner a few weeks ago with some of the Pollock clan.  Cioppino for Christmas. Only Darcy and I had endulged in this incredible seafood treat, and Darcy wanted to be sure her family could experience the same goodness as she did a few weeks back.  I sent "The List" over to Darcy before she made her way to Tahoe from San Francisco.  She treated us (well, Buck paid) with "The Sea" from the seafood preveyor in the famed Ferry Building.  5 Crabs, 1 pound of shrimp, 1 pound of mussles, 1 pound of scallops and 3 filets of rockfish later, we had the makings of our cioppino feast. 

The recipe didn't change, nor did peoples excitement.  The meal was superb, and this post comes out of thanks to the Pollock family, and also a mini quote board for those choice one liners through the night...

"I wanna go stretch out and take deep breaths." - DP
"I'm a base of sourdough." - DP
"I think I can finally button my pants again." - DP
"I have birds on my skis." - RP

It was truly a fabulous Christmas night. 

Holdiay Meal #1 - Asian Theme

I've been fortunate during the push of the holiday season to be very busy and booked up with wonderful meals. The first of which came recently with the Bourgraf family visiting Lake Tahoe from Ohio.  Right from the get go, I knew this was going to be a fun meal. The menu was Asian themed, and the bar was full:

Leading off with Thai Lemongrass & Shrimp Soup:
http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/12/thai-lemongrass-shrimp-soup.html

Followed by a wonderful Sesame seared Ahi with Mango, Avocado, & Arugula salad. Accompanied by a Mango Dipping sauce. 

The main course was Ginger Citrus Pork Tenderloin with Asian slaw, and Lavender-Ginger rice.

(I'm starting my new years resolution a bit early here. My dear Auntie Peggy, has badgered me over and over again to include measurements in my online recipes. So, here's for you Peg!)

Ginger Citrus Marinade:
Juice of the following:
2 Limes
5 Lemons
6 Oranges + 1 rind Julianned
1/2 bunch of Cilantro chopped
2/3 cup of Soy Sauce
1 TBSP of Sesame Oil
6 Oz of Honey
1/4 cup of diced Ginger (about 2 medium roots)
1/2 bunch of Green Onions
2 TBSP of White Miso Paste


And, for dessert, my lovely friend Amanda provided a homemade Strawberry Sorbet with light wafer cookies.


This meal was a pleasure to prepare for a great family. If any of the Bourgrafs want to chime in, I believe the Square bowls won the night!

San Francisco Holiday Party

I was very fortunate to be considered to prepare some appetizers for a last minute holiday party for the Executive Producer of a feature film currently being shot in our beautiful city of SF.  With not a ton of time to prepare, I decided on a simple menu pulling from some old ideas and also modifying some entree recipes.  

Let me first speak of this gorgeous home. The picture on the right is the view from the kitchen window... not too shabby! The party called for lots of champagne and some light appetizers.  On the food menu:

Toasted bar nuts (http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/mmm-bar-nuts.html)

Brie wonton cups (http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/easy-appetizer-brie-won-ton-cups.html)

And, a take on my crab rolls, but minature:
(http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/crab-rolls.html)

But first, the champagne needed a buddy.  My friend Muffy organized this event and asked me to make something that would go well in champagne.  I browsed the market for fruit, tried a few, and came across some gorgeous raspberries. I decided to make a compote that would go into a squeeze bottle so people could spice up their champagne with some nice sweet flavors.  In the reduction went fresh raspberries, orange zest, orange juice, sugar, a dash of white balsamic vinegar, and plenty of time. This mixture was cooked, reduced, then ran through a strainer to separate the seeds.  

The brie cups were assembled ahead of time, and a second batch was in the fridge for round two... but the main assembly came with the mini crab rolls, which were dubbed "SF Crab Crostinis."  Taking a few crabs, and marinating the meat in my sauce of lemon juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar, these guys were assembled very carefully on Acme Sourdough croutons. First layered with slices of avocado, the a big portion of crab, the to top, some jullianned radish. These guys flew off the plate! 

From what I hear, the party was a huge success! Many thanks to Muffy and Trish for having me over to cater this event! I look forward to more in the future.

Thai Lemongrass & Shrimp soup

It's winter, its rainy & snowy, its soup season. The initial insiration for this soup was to diversify. Try a new idea, make something different, yet with familiar tastes. The starting flavor base was lemongrass. To start, I added some chili paste, ginger, lemongrass, jalepenos, and green onions to a pot to brown and release their flavors.


Then stock was added. I had some fish stock made from shrimp in the freezer. About 5 cups were added to the pot.  This was then simmered for about an hour or so. A little bit of soy sauce and mirin was added to help the salt level of the soup. During the cooking, I added a little bit of brown sugar and a bit more ginger.  

Once at a point where I felt good about the flavors, I started prepping the ingredients to help finish off this soup. Shrimp, more ginger, and fresh cilantro.  The shrimp were light seared in chili paste and ginger. The shrimp was then added to a bowl, and the soup strained over the top.


The soup was deliciously spicy, and with great flavor base. My dear friend Nikki joined me on this test meal and added the input that it needed just a few more items in the bowl, like mushrooms or broccoli.  However, this also came out "I don't like soup. I never really eat it." But, then I found Nikki finishing her bowl before me, and licking it clean, then heading back for more... 

 

This is Nikki's bowl. 

Rack of Lamb - Rosemary-Lavender Salt Crust

I had an idea to cook rack of lamb for a while.  The idea came from first making a crust.  I took some coarse sea salt, fresh rosemary, and lavender and blended it together in a food processor.  Crusted the lamb with some pepper as well, and seared it in a cast iron.  Finished in a 375* oven for 20 min. 

 

Paired with some pearl cous cous and fresh spinach lightly sauteed in olive oil and garlic.   

 

A cooking thermometer would have been helpful, as I slightly overcooked the lamb.  Also, a tad too much salt on the crust, but otherwise a solid addition to the pantry.

3rd Annual Holiday Cocktail Party

A non-food related post.

Enjoy! 

French Onion Soup

This dish has been on my radar for a while.  Finally I had the tools, and recipe to construct; the bowls were key.  I read about a dozen different variations on this classic dish, and I came across one that involved a lot more technique than the others. This is the one I used to start my dish.  

Onions. Lots of onions. I used about 5 very large vidallia and yellow.  Added to the dutch oven with a generous amount of olive oil and salt, this load was simmered and covered for 15 min. Yes, 15. Then uncovered and stirred occasionally for an hour. Yes, an hour.  The recipe calls for letting the onions naturally caramelize, which takes considerable time. Low & slow. Low heat, slow cook time.  After a painful hour, the onions looked a delicious brown.  The pot was deglazed with sherry, and white wine. Also added was a mess load of thyme and 2 bay leaves.  Once the alcohol burned off, I added beef stock, nothing fancy, just store bought organic beef stock.  This was then simmered for about an hour, until the soup looked very hearty and together.  Salted to taste.

Finally, the crown.  Some La Brea french bread, cut into 3/4 inch slices, oiled, salted and buttered and toasted in a grill pan until crispy.  This was added on top the soup, with a load of Gruyere cheese.  Broiled until melted.  Winner. 

From the roommate Sean (who orders this dish anywhere he sees it on the menu) "This is the best I've had. Don't change a thing."