Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Spinach, Bacon and Freshly-Grated Nutmeg
Low in saturated fat and cholesterol with tons of Niacin, Vitamin B6, Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C, this winter vegetable is made sublime with the addition of spinach, specially-prepared bacon, red pepper flakes, pastured butter, sea salt, cracked pepper and freshly-grated nutmeg.
Boldly-flavored and satisfying, this dish is inexpensive and easy to make..
1 organic spaghetti squash (cucurbita pepo, squaghetti)
1-1/2 cups spinach, blanched and squeezed dry
4 oz thick-cut bacon
1 cup filtered water, boiling
olive oil as needed
sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons pastured butter
red pepper flakes to taste
Split the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and fibrous material as you would do before carving a pumpkin for Halloween.
Place the squash cut-side-up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mist with olive oil and season liberally with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Place the squash in a 300 degree oven and roast slowly for 1-1/2 hours. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue to roast until squash begins to brown and char slightly, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside, keeping warm.
Meanwhile, prepare the bacon by cutting it into 1/2-inch strips and placing it in a heavy skillet set over medium high heat. Pour the boiling water over the bacon and allow to cook until the water is half gone.
Pour off the water and rendered fat and return the pan to medium-low heat. Cook the bacon until nicely browned, then remove from heat and set aside, keeping warm.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat.
Using the tines of a fork, shred the cooked squash into the pan with the butter, separating it as best you can.
Toss the squash so that its coated with the butter, then add the spinach and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
Continue cooking and stirring the squash and spinach until heated through, then taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Turn the squash out into serving bowls. Top with bacon (including some of the drippings) and just-grated nutmeg. Serve immediately.
“Spaghetti squash are relatively easy to grow, thriving in gardens or in containers.
The plants are monoecious, with male and female flowers on the same plant. Male flowers have long, thin stems that extend upwards from the vine. Female flowers are shorter, with a small round growth underneath the petals. This round growth turns into the squash if the flower is successfully pollinated.
Spaghetti squash plants may cross-pollinate with zucchini plants.”
Roe-on Diver Scallops
Rarely seen in the US, these wild North Atlantic scallops with roe still attached are seared until opaque in a fiercely hot skillet with local, farm-fresh butter. The scallops are plated while black garlic, Louisiana shallots and bits of double-smoked bacon are sautéed and then quickly poured back over the top. Finished with a grind of black pepper and a few flakes of crunchy Fleur de Sel..
Roe-on Diver Scallops
A diver scallop is a sea scallop that has been hand-picked off a rock by a scuba diver. More ecologically friendly and less gritty than the boat-harvested variety, mature scallops are selected from areas with strong water currents, helping to assure that they have firm, plump flesh and nice color. Diver scallops also tend to be fresher, since they are shipped directly instead of being held in boats while they are sorted. (paraphrased from cookthink)
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Peanut-Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower, Thai Yellow Curry
Fresh broccoli and cauliflower cut into small florets, then tossed in a mixture of coconut oil, chopped peanuts, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and a pinch of blonde palm sugar. Oven roasted at high heat until fork tender and partially caramelized, then served over a curry of coconut milk, galangal, red chilies, star anise and coriander..
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- Our Bangkok Vegan Kitchen- Green Curry (themenopausalminimalist.wordpress.com)
Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies
Thick, soft and chewy cookies made with organic peanut butter, pastured eggs, sea salt, freshly-ground sweet cinnamon, and much less sugar..
Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies (makes about 2 dozen cookies, recipe adapted from Saveur Magazine)
2 cups organic peanut butter without added oil or sugar, creamy or chunky
1 cup granulated piloncillo or rapadura sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large, pastured eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon organic, pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground Sweet Cinnamon (True Cinnamon, Ceylon Cinnamon)
Cream together peanut butter and 1 cup of the sugar in a large glass bowl. Using a hand mixer at low speed, beat in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until just combined. Mixture should be slightly grainy.
Using a small cookie scoop (or your hands), form mixture into 2-inch balls and place 4 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Use the tines of a fork to flatten slightly, pressing a cross-hatch pattern into each cookie. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Place the tray into an oven preheated to 350 degrees and baked until puffed and lightly browned on the edges. Allow to to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before removing from tray.
Kept at room temperature, the cookies will remain soft for a day or two, assuming they last that long.
Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Wild Porcini Demi-Glace
Gorgeous, pastured lamb from Menzie’s Farm in the Hill Country outside of Austin is misted with Texas olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and cracked black pepper, then flashed in a 500 degree oven for 10 minutes.
The lamb is then packed with a persillade-like mixture of fresh bread crumbs, melted butter and garlic with a bouquet garni of both fresh and dried herbs including rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram, sage and tarragon.
Next, the lamb is roasted at 400 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees (approximately 15-20 minutes), then removed from the oven and allowed to stand 15 minutes before being carved into double chops.
While the lamb rests, dried wild porcini mushrooms are soaked in just-boiled water enhanced with porcini powder, then strained into a pot containing brown stock and toasted shallots. The sauce is furiously reduced by a third and the mushrooms added and simmered for a couple of minutes before being finished with a spoonful of demi-glace and a knob of cold butter.
Served a perfect medium rare, this is one of my all-time favorite things to eat..
American lamb, especially those that are pastured and grass-fed, are generally milder/less gamey in flavor than those from New Zealand and Australia, with young lamb (less than 1 year old) being preferred for its tenderness.
Blue Crab Créole
A bounty of fresh garden vegetables including green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and celery, with loads of herbs and fresh spices like thyme, oregano, bay and cayenne.
Toss in a pound of Gulf blue crab and serve over steamed rice topped with garlic chives. Don’t forget the hot sauce!
I eat Créole whenever I have the chance, which is a lot. If you need it, here’s an easily adaptable recipe for the base.
The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In Texas and Louisiana it is often called the “Third Coast,” in comparison with the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts. –Wikipedia
