This one is definitely a keeper! Griddled corn cakes with greens and andouille sauce

This one is compliments of Jamie from Top Chef Season 5
Serves: 2-3
Corn Cake: a box of jiffy corn mix will do and use the pancake recipe on the side

Collards: 8 leaves collard greens, chiffonade

½ Small Onion, minced

½ t Butter

Salt to taste
***Husband does not do any kind of fish/seafood :( so I skipped the crayfish, but it sure sounded good!

Cream Sauce:10 crayfish tails, blanched, shocked, and cleaned

½ onion, minced

1T Dried Thyme

½ Serrano chili, minced

2oz Tasso, diced

2oz Andouille, crumbled (fresh is best)

½ C White Wine

2/3 C Cream or half and half

1T Butter

2 Bay Leaves
Collards: Sauté onion until soft in butter. Add collards, season with salt. Cook until semi-soft (green still should have texture).
Cream Sauce:In a sauté pan melt butter over medium heat. Add Tasso, andouille, Serrano, and onion. Season with salt. Cook until onion is soft. Add dried thyme, bay leaves and white wine. Cook until wine reduces. Add cream and reduce until sauce consistency. Adjust seasoning, add crayfish, reserve warm.
To Serve: Griddle a corn cake in a non-stick pan with a small amount of butter or oil. Top with sautéed collards, then with a poached egg...I skipped the egg. Spoon cream sauce on top.

Rick Bayless Green Rice

GrEeN RiCe
Great accompaniment to flank steak!
Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can broth, or better than bouillon
1-2 poblano peppers, stemmed,seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper or serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 small onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
Directions
1. Place chopped peppers and broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes, or until peppers are tender.
3. Allow mixture to cool (if you blend it hot, it will fly out of the blender and burn you), then puree in a blender (broth and all) along with cilantro and salt.
4. Place onion and rice into a saucepan with the oil, and cook, stirring, until rice is opaque and onions are tender.
5. Add garlic and cook briefly, until it becomes fragrant.
6. Stir in broth mixture from the blender.
7. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed.
8. Allow to sit with the pan lid on away from heat for 12-15 minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve.

Practice for a ski trip

I always go on a late season ski/eat fest with friends. I thought I would try Potato Skins from scratch and if they were good, introduce them to my friends as a mid-afternoon snack!

I must admit scooping out the potato to get a perfect skin is not as easy as it looks!

Compliments of one of my favorite sites, Simply Recipes

Potato Skins

Ingredients
6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes (total 3 pounds)
Olive oil
Canola oil or grapeseed oil ....80/20 I used vegetable oil and it worked fine.
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions
Method
1 Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave. If using an oven, rub with olive oil and bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour until the potatoes are cooked through and give a little when pressed. If using a microwave, rub all over with olive oil and cook on the high setting for about 5 minutes per potato. I have found that baking the potatoes in a conventional oven yields potatoes that are easier to work with (cut and scoop out), the potato seems to adhere to the skins a little better, but there is hardly a discernible difference in the final product.
2 While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.

3 Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.
Increase the heat of the oven to 450°F. Brush or rub grapeseed oil or canola oil (or another high smoke point oil) all over the potato skins, outside and in. Sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking rack in a roasting pan (don't use a cookie sheet, it will warp, use a roasting pan or broiler pan that can take the heat). Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the skins over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.

4 Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on the roasting pan or rack. Sprinkle the insides with freshly ground black pepper, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. Return to the oven. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Use tongs to place skins on a serving plate. Add a dollop of sour cream to each skin, sprinkle with green onions.
Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Butternut Squash Soup with Green Chili Chutney

Liked the spin on this soup and that it didn't include cream...
Butternut Squash Soup with Green Chili Coriander Chutney
Gourmet November 1990

Ingredients for the chutney
1/4 cup sliced blanched almonds
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 jalapeño chilies, (wear rubber gloves)
2 cups loosely packed coriander/cilantro

For the soup
2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
a 3- to 3 1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, the seeds and strings discarded, and the flesh cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 cups chicken broth
two 4-inch strips of orange zest
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
8 coriander sprigs for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
Make the chutney:
In a blender or food processor blend the almonds, the coconut, the jalapeño, a pinch of salt, and 1/3 cup water until the mixture is ground fine. Add the coriander and blend the mixture until it is ground fine. (This recipe makes what is known as a dry chutney, which has a slightly grainy texture.) The chutney may be made 8 hours in advance and kept covered and chilled. Makes about 1 cup.
Make the soup:
In a kettle cook the onion in the butter and the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is softened, add the squash and 1/2 cup water, and cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the broth, the zest, and the juice and simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 15 minutes. In a blender or food processor purée the mixture in batches and strain it through a sieve into a large bowl. The soup may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.
Ladle the soup into 8 bowls and garnish each serving with about a tablespoon of the chutney, to be stirred into the soup, and a coriander sprig.

Great Pasta for a Cold Winter's Night

Mushroom Ragout
Compliments of our friend, Martha...

Ingredients
4 slices bacon cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 small onions finely chopped
1 10 ounce package cremini mushrooms, trimmed and "torn"~ no need to cut the mushrooms just tear them up with your hands

10 ounces or so of other assorted mushrooms (oyster, shitake etc.), trimmed and "torn"

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup broth or water

2 teaspoons thyme
1/4 cup chopped parsley...if you have some
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
3/4 lb spaghetti or fettucini
parmesan cheese, shaved for garnish (optional)
Directions
In a large 5-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid (that will be used later), cook bacon over medium heat, uncovered, stirring until crispy, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Set aside.
Add onion to saucepan; stir until golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms; cover. Cook until juices have evaporated, about 20 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, thyme, and 2 cups water until combined; cover. Cook until sauce has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in parsley and vinegar. Add bacon, reserving some for garnish, if desired.
Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions.
Do not rinse pasta -- return immediately to sauce and toss together. Garnish with reserved bacon and LOTS of shaved Parmesan, if desired. Salt and pepper to taste.

Jen's Roasted Broccoli

I happened to try this at Awesome Jen's today... YUM and so SIMPLE!

1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into florets

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 tsp. seasoning salt...like Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Use a large bowl to toss broccoli florets with olive oil. Lay florets in a single layer on a baking sheet. Evenly distribute seasoning salt, sea salt and pepper. Bake until tender and a little crispy, usually around 15 minutes.

New Year's Eve - Part 2 - Easy and Very Good Coq Au Vin

A Casey/Top Chef Recipe
Only thing I would have changed was I would have added about 10 chicken thighs for 6 people.
6 chicken thighs, skinless
Salt and pepper
Grapeseed oil for searing ...olive oil works just fine
1/2 lb bacon, diced small
1 small white onion
1 bunch ramps...80/20 and also impossible to find
1T tomato paste
1 tomato, cut into chunks
1 bay leaf
3 cups red wine
3 sprigs thyme
2 cups chicken stock
2 bunches, asparagus spears
4 russet potatoes
1 cup cream
1 stick butter, salted
1T mascarpone
Chopped dill
1t grapeseed oil
7 cipollinis, blanched and peeled...80/20 ..impossible to find

Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In a hot saute pan, heat grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Sear chicken on both sides. Set aside.
Remove all but one tablespoon of oil from the pan. Add bacon and render the fat. When bacon is almost cooked, add onion and ramps. After 2 minutes, add tomato paste, tomato chunks and bay leaf for seasoning. Turn heat down to low-medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Deglaze pan with red wine. Cook wine for 10 minutes. Return chicken to pan, add thyme sprigs and chicken stock. Cover with foil and place in preheated oven of 350 degrees. Cook for 1 hour. Remove foil and continue cooking after stirring chicken uncovered for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, slice asparagus. Peel and cut potatoes into chunks. In a pot of cold, salted water, place potatoes on medium-high heat. When potatoes boil, cook until just tender. When ready, completely strain off water and return potatoes to pot. Steam off the water over low heat. Be careful not to scorch potatoes on the bottom. Run potatoes through a ricer and mix with cream and butter (reserve 1 tablespoon) a little at a time until creamy. Whip in the pan with a wooden spoon. Season and add in mascarpone; garnish with dill. Set aside.
In a sauté pan, melt one tablespoon of butter with grapeseed oil. Add cipollinis and saute with salt and pepper. When browned and cooked through, add to tomato-chicken stock sauce.