LIGHT SUMMER SUPPER!

I have blogged this recipe in the past, but here it is again with a twist. Spring Rolls make a fabulous, light simple supper on a warm summer night.

http://cookwithcindy.blogspot.com/search?q=spring+rolls

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS

I didn't have all the correct ingredients, but decided to wing it as I was having a serious Spring Roll hankering. I had no rice vermicelli, no basil-Thai or otherwise, no cilantro, but did have enough ingredients on hand to make a tasty roll.

 

Drop rice wrapper into a bowl of cold water for a few seconds.
Lie flat on a damp dish cloth.
Add filling along edge of the rice wrapper.
Fold in the 2 edges at long side.
Gently roll tucking in ingredients as you go.
If you tear the rice wrapper, simply double wrap with another moistened wrapper.
Place wrapped rolls on a damp dish towel as the rice wrapper dries out very quickly.

In place of the rice vermicelli I used some Jasmine rice that I had cooked the previous night in Asian spices. I added chives both inside the roll and as a garnish and also garnished with sesame seeds. I included avocado slices inside, which added richness. Bottom line: Wrap whatever ingredients you have on hand that have an Asian flair. For the sauce I mixed: Fish sauce, teriyaki, soy sauce, Hoisin, minced garlic, and a little red pepper flake. I served with Edamame beans lightly steamed and then chilled with soy sauce.

Next, on to a surprisingly easy dessert.
Our neighbors, Lori and Brian Itule, have been so generous over the last few weeks of 'Staying at Home' by bringing us lovely fresh produce. Last week they included a huge butternut squash in the mix of fruit and veg. I like to roast butternut squash in the skin as it is so difficult to peel. My husband, Jerry, has a sweet tooth so I was roasting in cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, a little nutmeg, maple syrup and salt, all topped with thick slices of butter. It smelled just like a pumpkin pie so Jerry suggested I turn this into pie rather than a savory (which it really wasn't anyway!) side. I found this recipe online, but changed a couple ingredients. Instead of 3/4 cup white sugar I used a combo of brown sugar and maple syrup. I also increased the quantities of the sweet spices.

BLENDER BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash or 2 small butternut squash
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for baking squash
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for baking squash
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, plus more for baking squash
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, plus more...well, you get it!
Salt and butter for baking the squash.

9 inch deep dish pie crust (I cheated again and used a frozen crust.)

All ingredients are in the blender!



As you can see I had a little extra filling.
The Butternut squash 'puddings' will only take
about 30 minutes to bake.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half and remove the seeds. Cut in even chunks so it all roasts at the same time. Lightly sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Very lightly drizzle some maple syrup over the squash. Top with slices of butter on each piece. Roast in the oven until squash is very tender; about 1 hour. Turn once during the baking. Cool completely and then remove the skin.

Place the cooled squash (a generous 2 cups) in your blender or food processor and add all other ingredients. Blend/process until very smooth.

Pour in prepared pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until center is nearly set. It will still be a little wobbly. I covered my crust with foil so it would not get too brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

HERE IN ARIZONA, OUR STATE IS BEGINNING

TO 'OPEN UP'.  JERRY AND I REMAIN CAUTIOUS,

BUT ARE STARTING TO VENTURE OUT...SAFELY!

 

GOOD HEALTH TO YOU AND YOURS!

Keeping JoJo safe!

WWW.COOKWITHCINDY.COM

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE AND SCENES FROM THE RABBITT'S 2020 THANKSGIVING FEAST!

I am not sure I will ever make Pumpkin Pie again for Thanksgiving as this pie was richer, tastier and had a creamy, beautiful texture. I found the recipe online and changed it up a bit by making it with a Ginger Snap crust. I also thought serving the pie with ginger infused whipped cream would make it extra special. It did! And finally, my good friend and fellow foodie, Dorita Pina, told me she always roasts pecans using maple syrup instead of sugar and thought this would also be a nice touch on our Thanksgiving Day pie. Brilliant Dorita! The nuts were very crispy and flavorful making an attractive border on the pie.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

Ingredients: FOR THE FILLING

 3 large eggs

1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used roasted cinnamon for added flavor.)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups roasted butternut squash, pureed

Ingredients: FOR THE CRUST

1/2 cup Ginger Snaps, crushed

1/2 cup Graham Crackers, crushed

3/4 cup pecans, very finely chopped (I used my Mini-Max food processor.)

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. dried Ginger powder

5 Tbsp. butter

That sounds like a lot of butter, but it really keeps the crust together and as it pre-bakes becomes caramelized. Bake the crust in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 12 minutes. If doing ahead of time let the crust cool completely, then cover and place in fridge until ready to fill.

Ingredients: FOR THE ROASTED PECANS

1 lb. pecan halves

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 large egg white, beaten until frothy

1 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients and spread nuts out on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with PAM. Bake in 300 degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes until nuts are nicely browned. Stir a couple times as they bake to make sure all the nuts crisp up evenly. Cool. This is also many more nuts than needed to ring the pie, but the nuts store well in a covered jar for up to a week.

I roasted twice as much squash as needed for the pie, but it's nice to have it all cooked in the fridge. I also roasted and pureed the squash the day before Thanksgiving and made the crust day before, too. On the morning of the holiday I made the filling, baked the pie, made the maple candied pecans and infused the whipped cream with ginger. 

Ingredients FOR GINGER INFUSED WHIPPED CREAM

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 inch knob of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced 

2 Tbsp. of candied ginger, chopped.

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream with the gingers over medium heat until it comes to a gentle boil. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat, but let it cool in the pan. Strain through a fine mesh sieve pushing on the ginger to extract flavor. Chill thoroughly before whipping. I also like to chill the beaters in the freezer before whipping and place the chilled cream in freezer for about 5 minutes before whipping. This allows the cream to whip much faster. 

TO ROAST THE SQUASH:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and salt lightly. Place the squash on a foiled baking sheet and roast for about 40 - 45 minutes or until squash is very tender. Let cool and then scoop out the squash from the skin. Because it is so tender it is easy to mash with a large fork. Set aside. 

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

If doing all the same day, reduce oven temp to 365 degrees. 

In a large bowl beat eggs thoroughly. One by one, add sugar, spices, salt, vanilla, cream and squash puree. Pour the mixture into a 10 inch pie plate. I still had a little mixture left over so made a mini pie in a ramekin. 

Bake on a baking sheet until filling is set, about 45 - 50 minutes. The center of the pie will still be a bit wobbly. Cool to room temp on a wire rack. Once cooled, arrange the Maple Candied Pecans. 

Here's the pie out of the oven, cooled with its Maple Candied Pecan edging. This pie sounds like a lot of work, but because you can do so many things ahead of time, it really is not.

And here's my husband, Jerry with JoJo 
on his lap, enjoying the first piece of pie!
...well, Jerry is! JoJo not so interested.

Last time you saw our complete menu. The brined and smoked turkey was a huge hit. I brined the bird for 2 days prior to smoking. This is the brine I used:

TURKEY BRINE

2 gallons water

1 1/2 cups Kosher salt

3 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. black pepper corns

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 large sprigs of fresh sage

Combine all and stir until salt and sugar are completely dissolved. I used a turkey oven roasting bag to brine the turkey, which worked well. Place the turkey in any food-grade bucket or brining bag. Seal and place in a large roaster in case your bag starts to leak, which mine did. Turn the turkey morning and night to ensure that all sides benefit from the brine.

I had never smoked a turkey and was concerned it might dry out so also made an Apple Cider reduction to baste the bird as it smoked.

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION

Reduce by half: 2 cups apple cider, 3 Tbsp. maple syrup, 1 stick cinnamon. This can also be made a few days in advance. 

I couldn't believe how burnished the skin became. This bird was moist, juicy and flavorful. And, VERY smoky!

Since I had the smoker going I decided to smoke some chicken livers to make BOURBON INFUSED LIVER PATE with smoky bread toast points!

You can find these recipes on my blog. The only difference is I smoked the chicken livers for about 20 minutes before continuing with the recipe. I served the pate with a Cranberry Ginger Sauce and Onion and Apricot Jam. These recipes are also on my blog, but if you need help finding them, please just let me know. Pomegranate seeds were the perfect contrast to the creaminess of the pate.

Here are a few more scenes from our holiday eating extravaganza...

OUR GATHERING WAS SMALL, 

BUT IT CERTAINLY WAS FESTIVE, 

FUN, AND FILLED WITH LOVE!

I HOPE YOURS WAS, AS WELL!

ON TO THE NEXT HOLIDAY!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM 

MY KITCHEN TO YOURS!

WWW.COOKWITHCINDY.COM

HEIRLOOM WINTER SQUASH!

My good friend, Karen Sykes, recently gifted me with some beautiful squash, two of which I had never heard of.


Kabocha is on the left, Delicata in the center
and of course a beautiful Butternut Squash,
which we're all familiar with.

The big, round green squash is KABOCHA, also known as Japanese Pumpkin. It is the sweetest winter squash variety and has a taste and texture somewhere between a pumpkin and a sweet potato. The flesh is a beautiful bright orange and the skin is edible! Filled with lots of fiber, beta carotene, iron and vitamins B and C, it is also good for you. Being in the winter squash family it was a little tricky cutting, but I brought out my big knife to do the job.

I decided to roast the Kabocha with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. cinnamon, a drizzle of maple syrup-about 1 Tbsp., and liberal amount of salt. Wash the squash and cut into 2 to 3 inch chunks removing seeds. I used a grapefruit spoon, which works well to remove seeds and stringy pieces. Rinse the seeds and add salt. They can be roasted along with the squash, but won't take as much time. You want them crispy, but not burned. I roasted for about 15 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the Kabocha with the olive oil and other ingredients and roast for 30 minutes or until tender.

The pale yellow squash is called DELICATA. It is also known as Peanut Squash, Bohemian Squash and Sweet Potato Squash. Technically a summer squash, however Delicata is classified in the winter squash family because of its hard flesh and late harvest. As with all winter squash it is rich in Vitamins B and C, fiber, potassium and manganese. The creamy flavor and texture is also reminiscent of sweet potato with hints of corn and as with the Kabocha the skin is tender so no peeling necessary. Some varieties are striped in green or orange. This sweet little squash is only about 6 inches long. Since I have not had this squash I decided to keep it really simple so I could taste the true Delicata flavor. Wash the squash and cut off both ends. Cut the squash into rounds and pull out the seeds using a grapefruit spoon. Coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

Now that I have experienced both Kabocha and Delicata I look forward to trying some new recipes. The Delicata would be excellent stuffed with ground meat--possibly ground lamb with pine nuts and feta cheese; or sausage with lots of fresh herbs and parmesan. I think the Kabocha would be great roasted and then pureed to use as a spread. They both would make a rich and delicious soup flavored with curry. Thanks again, Karen, for introducing me to 2 delicious winter squashes! My husband wants me to make another Squash Pie with the Butternut Squash. http://cookwithcindy.blogspot.com/search?q=butternut+squash+pie Scroll down to find the recipe.

I served the squash with a ROULADE OF BEEF.

I didn't have any real parmesan,
but this grated cheese worked OK
with all the other luscious flavors!

Using Round Steak, salt/pepper on both sides of the steak, sprinkle with dried tarragon, stuff with cheesy bread crumbs, finely minced garlic, lots of fresh spinach. Roll the steak the long way and wrap with a slice of thick cut bacon. Cook on the grill until bacon is crisp.

The two squash were a perfect complement!

THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY.

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

CONTINUE STAYING SAFE.

 

COVID19 IS SURGING HERE IN ARIZONA

SO MY HUSBAND AND I ARE

CONTINUING TO STAY AT HOME.

 

THAT MEANS LOTS MORE

COOKING AND BAKING!

 

WWW.COOKWITHCINDY.COM

 

THANKSGIVING 2020!

 Here we are at another holiday during the time of Coronavirus. What a troubled and disturbing year it has been, but I remain hopeful that things on all fronts will improve and life will return to something that feels a bit more familiar, normal and safe. In the meantime, I am grateful for so much: My husband whose love and support is endless; the fact we live in a beautiful, rural area allowing me to walk and enjoy nature; and the love of friends and family who I continue to enjoy both near and far, and so much more! We just celebrated my husband Jerry's 76th birthday, which has come to be known as the "kick-off" to the holiday season. And now on to Thanksgiving. I'm going to start by sharing the soup we will have as a starter on Thanksgiving day.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH GREEN APPLE SOUP

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, cut in half and seeded

1 onion, peeled and cut into thick slices

2 Granny Smith apples, cut in half and cored

Olive oil for drizzling.

Liberal Salt/Pepper

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup apple cider

Preparation:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare veg and apple. Drizzle with oil. Salt generously. Roast for about 30-40 minutes until veg is just starting to caramelize and squash is very tender.

Let the veg cool. Peel the skin off the butternut squash and put in a large soup pot. Smash up the squash with a large spoon. Scoop the apple out of the skin. It will be very soft. Add to the pot. Drop in the onion and add 4 cups chicken stock and 1/2 apple cider. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Cool slightly and blend either with an emulsion blender or add all to your blender and blend until very smooth. Taste for seasoning. Salt/pepper as needed. I also add a dash of white pepper to help counter the sweetness of the soup. Serve this soup, hot or cold, with a scoop of Greek-style yogurt and thinly sliced green apple. I really like it best cold! This soup tastes like Thanksgiving in a bowl!

RABBITT'S THANKSGIVING MENU

Smoked Chicken Liver Pate Garnished with Pomegranate seeds

    Served with Caramelized onion, Apricot/Shallot Jam and Smoky Bread toast points

Roasted Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup

Applewood and Sage Smoked Turkey with Apple Cider Glaze

Traditional Herb Stuffing

Sweet Potato Puree with Pecan crust

Creamed Boursin Spinach

Cranberry Ginger Relish

Freshly Baked Rolls

Butternut Squash Pie with Ginger Pecan crust topped with Ginger-infused Whipped Cream

I think that meal should feed the two of us!

I will brine the turkey for 24 hours, then marinate, and finally smoke the bird brushing with an Apple Cider glaze. 

We celebrated Jerry's birthday, which was Friday, November 13, for the entire weekend. Birthday night we had a rack of lamb, gruyere scalloped potatoes and roasted asparagus. For dessert I made one of his favorites, a blueberry cheesecake! Here is Jerry on our birthday morning walk...Looking good Mr. Rabbitt!

Saturday night we made pizza's on the grill. Thank you to my old friend Trudy G. Silverman who suggested I put the pizza right on the grill! It will take me a couple times to perfect the grilling technique as I had a little trouble controlling the heat, but they were delicious!

THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY!

WISHING YOU THE HAPPIEST 

THANKSGIVING POSSIBLE!

WITH LOVE...

WWW.COOKWITHCINDY.COM

COCONUT KEY LIME PIE...AND MORE!

I'm starting with dessert today as this ranked high as the favorite dish of the Easter celebration feast! It's an absolutely delicious Martha Stewart recipe and easy to put together. Since I'm short on photos I'm pulling the photo from her website. I did not top the pie with toasted coconut thinking it would mar the creamy, sublime text. It looks pretty, but I think I was right!

COCONUT KEY LIME PIE

Ingredients:

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (13.5 oz.) unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup fresh or bottle Key Lime Juice
7 large egg yolks
1 Graham Cracker pie crust (recipe follows)
2 cups cold heavy cream
2 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
3 Tbsp. sweetened shredded coconut, toasted (if you're using as topping)
I used Nellie & Joe's Famous 100%  Key Lime Juice. You can get it online. It was Mom's favorite and her Key Lime Pies were famous!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together condensed milk, coconut milk, lime juice, and egg yolks until smooth. Pour into crust (I made the crust two days before the party.) and bake until set, but still slightly wobbly in center, about 40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, 1-1 1/2 hours, then refrigerate 3 hours (or up to a day; I made the pie the day before the party and topped with whipped the cream just before serving.)
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar on high until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. To serve, top pie with whipped cream and if you like, sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Tip: Cream will whip faster if you chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 1/2 hour (or longer) before whipping.

 

GRAHAM CRACKER PIE CRUST

You hardly need a recipe for this, but here are the proportions Martha uses.

Ingredients:
12 Graham crackers
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). Add sugar and butter and pulse until combined. Firmly press crumbs into bottom and up sides of a 9" pie plate. I used a spring-form pan and  press crumbs halfway up sides. Bake until crust is dry and set, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely in a plate on a wire rack before filling. I placed in the refrigerator for 2 days which worked well.

THE MAIN EVENT...

LAMB ROAST STUFFED WITH SPINACH AND CHEVRE

This recipe came from Emeril Lagasse, but I made a few tweaks. There are a lot of ingredients and many steps, but it is incredibly flavorful and not complicated. All the herbs and combination of different chevres make this dish very special! This is also a "stolen" photo. Mine looked nearly identical, but had more spinach since I doubled the amount.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced shallots
1/2 cup chopped leek, white part only
4 cups fresh spinach, stemmed and cleaned (I used about 8 cups as I knew it would shrink.)
1 clove minced garlic (I used 2 large cloves.)
1 1/2 cup Chevre (I used 4 oz. Herbed Chevre; 4 oz. plain Chevre, and added 2 oz. (1/2 container) of Garlic/Shallot Boursin.)
I also added 1 Tbsp. of finely minced rosemary to the cheeses.
1 (5 lb.) leg of lamb, boned and butterflied (Mine was 6 lbs.)
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary plus fresh rosemary sprigs
Salt/Pepper
1/2 cup cracked black pepper (That sounds like a ridiculous amount of black pepper so when it came to this step-coating the leg once it is stuffed and tied--I just liberally covered the roast with freshly ground black pepper, but it was not nearly 1/2 cup.)
2 Tbsp. chiffonade of mint (I used about 4 Tbsp.)

Essence--Emeril's Creole Seasoning:
I made this a few days ahead of time and still have some left. It's great on chicken or other meats, like pork.
2 1/2 Tbsp. paprika (I used 2 Tbsp. and 1/2 Tbsp. of smoked paprika.)
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. dried thyme

Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight jar. It makes about 2/3 cup which is more than you need for this recipe.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. When the pan is smoking hot, saute the shallots and leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 1 minute. Add the spinach and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Remove from the heat and turn into a mixing bowl. Stir in the cheese to the spinach mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Lay the lamb on a work surface. Remove any silver skin, obvious big pieces of fat and tendons. Rub the entire lamb with the remaining olive oil, chopped rosemary, salt and pepper. Spread the spinach filling evenly over the meat. Roll the lamb lengthwise and tie with butchers twine. This is a little tricky because the lamb is slippery from the oil, but go slow and keep pushing the stuffing toward the center and you'll get the roast all tucked and tied. Pack the outside of the rolled meat with the cracked black pepper. Again, use your judgment, but 1/2 cup sounds like too much for my taste. Instead of garnishing the cooked roast with the Essence I sprinkled it on before roasting. Place the roast in a shallow roasting pan and roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let the lamb rest for 10 minutes before carving. Garnish with mint and Essence.

The last recipe of Easter 2016!

SCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES
AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH CASSEROLE
My friend Paula made this for me some time last year and I loved it. I brought it to Christmas dinner at our good friends, Joyce and Jim and Bonnie and Richard's festive table and it was a big hit, so I decided to include it in Easter. I think what makes it stand out is the use of fresh sage. Instead of 2 cups milk, I used 1 cup milk and 1 cup half and half, which made it a little richer.

Another photo from the internet. Fortunately my casserole did not get overly browned on top as the one in this photo did!

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, quartered lengthwise
1 butternut squash, quartered and seeded
2 Tbsp. olive oil, or as needed
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk (or combo of milk/cream)
1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh sage (I used about  1 1/2 Tbsp. minced sage.)
1 pinch garlic salt, or to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese (I used about 1/3 cup.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and 8x8 baking sheet. Brush sweet potatoes and squash with olive oil. Arrange sweet potatoes on a baking sheet; set squash aside.
Bake sweet potatoes for 5 minutes. Add squash to sweet potatoes and cook until almost tender. The recipe calls for 10-15 minutes, but my veg took closer to 20-25 minutes to get 'almost tender'. Maybe my chunks were larger. Just test with a fork and you'll know when they're ready. When they are, remove from oven and cool.
Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir onion until tender, about 10 minutes. Add flour and stir until well combined. Add milk and sage, season with garlic salt and black pepper. Cook and stir until sauce is thickened, 5-10 minutes.
Remove and discard skins from sweet potatoes and squash. Thinly slice potatoes and squash. Butter a baking dish bottom and sides. I used my favorite 13 1/2" oval Polish baking dish.  It's Boleslawiec pottery; very pretty royal blue and cream pattern. I saw it for sale all over Poland when we visited a few years ago, but I bought mine at Home Goods!

Arrange sweet potato slices in bottom of prepared baking dish. Layer half the squash atop sweet potatoes. Pour a little less than half the cream sauce over squash. Sprinkle with half the Asiago cheese. Repeat layering with remaining squash, cream sauce, and Asiago cheese respectively. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 10 more minutes.

The only recipes I have not included are the mini-Beef Wellington's which we had as part of the appetizer tray and the Asparagus and Peas with warm Tarragon and Bacon Vinaigrette. I just made the mini-Wellington's again so will include when I do an upcoming blog on appetizers. The asparagus dish just wasn't that good...too many textures and flavors did not seem to meld.

I guess that means Easter 2016 is over....ON TO THE NEXT FESTIVE PARTY!


From left to right starting in front: Diana, Jerry (behind), yours truly, Steve, Paula and Jack...Debby is taking the photo.
 

And here is the lovely Debby V. with her adorable husband, Steve!

Me and Paula enjoying a hug before the main event is served!

Diana and Jerry licking their lips after the intermezzo course
of Blood Orange, Cucumber and Lavender Granita.

The Boys of Easter 2016: Jack, Jerry, and Steve.

 

TUNE IN AGAIN SOON FOR ANOTHER EPISODE OF:

 

WWW.COOKWITHCINDY.COM

 

NEXT UP, BEEF TESTICLES
(AKA...ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS)
...DONE JUST RIGHT!

YUM! YUM!

EASTER DINNER MENU!

I have been a negligent blogger of late...does not mean I have not been cooking up a storm or thinking and wondering about what you all are cooking; just not taking the time to write about it. Please forgive and that will change. I have so many things I want to share with you that my head is spinning, but tonight, I simply want to tell you about our Easter dinner menu. I love Easter. It is one of my favorite holidays, which may be a little odd because I was not brought up with any formal religion. I see Easter as the beginning of spring; a time of re-birth; new-beginnings; anything possible; and complete hope for a bright future.

So here is this year's menu, and the theme this year--

WELCOME TO A GARDEN PARTY!

Starters:
Stuffed Eggs Topped with Hickory Smoked All-Natural Bacon
Mini Beef Wellington's with Mushroom Duxelle
Roasted Red  Pepper with Smoked Salmon and Fresh Herbed Cream Cheese


This is an appetizer tray I put together for my tennis group. The peppers are front and center.

From a previous Easter dinner...they look a little devilish!

Cocktail Du Jour:
Butterfly Martini Garnished with Garden Pansies

I have to admit, I cannot wait to try this one!

First Course:
Cream of Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon Croutons (Thanks Deb!)

This is my new door ornament. I love the rabbits on these cute little eggs!

Next Course:
Scallop and Sole Mouselline with Beurre Blanc Sauce, Fresh Dill and Watercress

Father Zeller's Candles...so very special. Thank you Dennis and Diana (and Doris!). We will only light if you join us.

Intermezzo:
Blood Orange, Cucumber and Lavender Granita

Primary Course:
Spring Leg of Lamb stuffed with Spinach and Chevre (and a lot of other good stuff!)
Roasted Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Casserole
Asparagus and Spring Peas with warm tarragon and bacon Vinaigrette

Finale:
Coconut Key Lime Pie topped with Whipped Cream, Toasted Coconut and Lime Zest

Easter 2014 with good friends Diana and Dennis.

I can't wait to share these recipes with you and want to wish you all a very happy, healthy, wonderful Easter Celebration!

I am trying to decide which will be my favorite dish on this year's Easter table (a game my husband and I play with nearly every meal!). I think possibly the scallop and sole mouselline, but we will see.

Ultimate Hippies!

Me getting ready to stuff the lamb 2012.This year's theme, btw, HIPPIE!
We had lots of good 70's music and throw-back stuff.
 

We hope to eat our feast Al Fresco this year, but March traditionally is a windy month in Arizona so we will just have to play it all by ear!

My hubby Jerry and me Easter 2009!
 

2011 theme--Hat Party!

LET THE FUN NEVER END!!!

LOVE TO YOU ALL AND BEST WISHES FOR A BLESSED AND HAPPY, JOY-FILLED HOLIDAY!

 

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LOVE OF COOKING!

 

www.cookwithcindy.com

Easter sunrise 2009. Beautiful, gentle walk to greet the sun rising!