Surf and Future Turf

Moqueca (moe-keck-kah)

Wow! This dish is an amazingly taste-filled way to prepare fish!  It's called a soup, but not by me. "Soup-y" maybe, but there's not nearly enough liquid to be a soup. Whatever you want to call it, it's downright delicious! Moqueca is a Brazilian dish, and not particularly spicy. Just a few red-pepper flakes from one of those packets you get with take-away pizza.  

 

I made this for two instead of six or eight diners, which was a sort of a pain. Sometimes it's hard to divide down a recipe. So, you do the best you can. I used half a pound of nice cod for the fish, but used more like half the onion and peppers rather than one-fourth of the recipe below. I used half a can, not a quarter, of the coconut milk. I also skipped the cilantro, as Sally doesn't like it, and I'm not that fond of the taste. Still, the result was very tasty, and nearly equal to moqueca that we've had at a couple of Brazilian restaurants around town. In retrospect, little cilantro would have been a nice touch.

1-1/2 to 2 lbs of fillets of firm white fish

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 Cup lime or lemon juice (three limes or two lemons juiced)

1 Cup Onion, sliced

1 bunch Green Onions with greens, chopped

1 Yellow and 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced

2 Cups chopped Tomatoes (fresh rather than canned)

1 Tbsp Paprika (Hungarian sweet or smoky)

Pinch or more Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

1/2 Cup or more chopped Cilantro, to taste

1 14-ounce can Coconut Milk

Salt & fresh ground Black Pepper

Olive oil

Place the fish in a flat, fairly tight fitting pan or baking dish, add the minced garlic and lime juice so that the pieces are well coated. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Keep chilled while preparing the rest of the soup.

In a large covered pan (I used my electric skillet) with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, saute the chopped onion, bell pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook until the bell peppers begin to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and onion greens. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes, uncovered. Stir in the chopped cilantro, to taste.

With a large spoon, remove about half of the vegetables (you'll put them right back). Spread the remaining vegetables over the bottom of the pan to create a bed for the fish. Arrange the fish pieces on the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now add back the previously removed vegetables, covering the fish. Pour the coconut milk over the fish and vegetables.

Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. You may need to add more salt, lime or lemon juice, paprika, pepper, or chili flakes to get the soup to the desired seasoning for your taste.

Garnish with additional cilantro. I served it with white rice. 

 

Then on Sunday evening, I combined the leftover 'soup' with the leftover rice and added some beautiful 16-20 shrimp that I barbecued with a bit of butter and some Pride of Szegedtm Hungarian Fish Rub spice blend, to make a great second meal.

Chicken with Eggplant, Onion and Ginger

This is my take on a Mark Bittman recipe from the New York Times.  Mark has shallots, I didn't.  I had a couple pieces of cooked chicken breast and needed to make something "light with vegetables" for Sally's dinner one night last week.  I had an eggplant that needed to be used up, an onion and some powdered ginger.

Peel the eggplant and cut into 1" cubes. Peel the onion and cut into long slices.  Saute the two vegetables with a splash of oil, and get those onions sweet and caramelized.  When they're nearly done, add about a two teaspoons of ground ginger.  Add a bit of water, if necessary and saute to a thick consistency.

Ladle the vegetable 'goulash' onto plates, and add half a chicken breast and, in the foreground, the remnants of the Cauliflower Parmesan from last week, as a third veg.  Pretty darn tasty for leftovers.

Jones Creek Beeftm

From a food blogger site, I heard that Jones Creek Beef, out of Springville, UT was looking for some bloggers to help them promote their grass-fed, humanely raised beef, which just happens to be marketed through Walmart and its organic foods program. This is not stringy old range cow, folks. This is some fine, top-of-the-line beef!

After providing Jones Creek with my bona fides as an experienced food blogger and writer, I was given several categories of beef to choose from, and I elected to work with Chuck and/or Rump Roasts.

Jones Creek is sending me a Walmart Gift Card to buy five 2-pound roasts, take them for a test-cook, and present you my readers, and the Jones Creek Beef Company, with the delicious fruits of my labors. The five recipes I've chosen to develop present a wide range of "cultural flavors" which suitably enhance, without overpowering the delicate flavor of top quality grass-fed beef.

Over the next several weeks, I'll be preparing some of the recipes at Sally's. Others will be prepared and shared with my "dock mates" at the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin, where I hang out in my sailboat ManCave when I'm not at Sally's. The recipes will be named in the appropriate week's blog title along with the usual assortment of other recipes, tips, and techniques.

Here are the five recipes, in no particular order, that I'll be sharing with you:

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Bajan Pepperpot Beef

Rump Roast Wellington

Mexican Shredded Beef

Mississippi Roast

Some of these you may have seen in earlier blog posts, but the new recipes will put those old posts out to pasture as I work my "culinary magic" on these Jones Creek roasts!

Cauliflower Biscuits?

Not so many dishes this week, but they sure are tasty. You'll really want to make these for yourself!

Southern Breakfast, Cabana Style

Our new guests this week are the first to ask for this southern classic breakfast done my way: biscuits, white gravy flavored with bacon, and chef-made marmalades.

Biscuits

The simplest, easiest, fastest biscuit recipe that I know of.  Makes 4-6 light, flaky biscuits suitable for gravy or with strawberries, for a classic dessert.

2 cups Bisquick tm baking mix

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Lemon-Lime Soda

Flour for prepping the work surface

Combine the baking mix, sour cream and soda into a soft dough. Liberally flour a working surface.  Turn the dough out on it and knead, flouring the dough as you go, until it comes together without being a sticky mess.

Pat the dough out about 3/4” thick and cut out biscuits with a 3-4" round cutter, and place them on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Collect scraps, knead and pat out again as necessary. Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes until GB&D.

Gravy

The gravy is a basic roux. Cook a couple of strips of bacon. Into the drippings, add some butter and flour. Stir together to make a roux. Cook the roux a minute or so, but don't let it brown. Now thin out that roux with half and half, and crumble the bacon into it. Add salt & pepper to taste

Ham Steak

The Brits would call this 'gammon'. About 6-8" diameter and 1/2" thick, serves two.

Marmalades

This week I've got two kinds of marmalade -- my signature Florida Marmalade (orange, lemon, lime) and my new favorite Blood Orange Marmalade that I told you about a couple weeks ago. 

 

Cauliflower Parmesan

This recipe is one of the 2015 Top Twenty recipes from the New York Times cooking section. Makes a great alternative to the classic Eggplant Parm. Several people commented on the original recipe with improvements, notably roasting rather than frying the cauliflower.  I'll show you mine.

1 Head Cauliflower, disassembled into 2" florets

½ cup AP Flour

4 large Eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups Panko

Kosher salt, as needed

Black Pepper, as needed

4 oz sliced Mushrooms

24 oz can Tomato Sauce (I used Hunt's tm Garlic flavored)

8 oz finely grated Parmesan

8 oz shredded Mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Use a somewhat deep, narrow container (coffee mug) for the egg dredge, and a deep small bowl for the panko. Rinse the cauliflower in a collander, and shake mostly dry. Place in a plastic vegetable bag from the grocers. Add the flour, twist the top closed, and shake to coat the cauliflower. This will save you tons of time, trust me!

Dredge the floured florets, individually, in the egg and then the panko, and place on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Next time I'm going to try the bag trick with the panko too.  Drop a few egg-coated florets in the bag, shake, then transfer; and repeat.  It's gotta be faster than one-at-a-time.

Roast the cauliflower for 30 minutes, flipping it over at the halfway point for good color on both sides.

Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of an 8x10 or 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle about a third of the Parmesan over the sauce. Arrange half the cauliflower over the Parmesan and top with half the mozzarella pieces. Add a layer of sauce. Now add a layer of mushroom slices. Repeat layering and end with sauce, some panko and Parmesan on top.

Transfer to the oven and bake about 40-45 minutes, until cheese is golden and casserole is bubbling, Let cool a few minutes before serving. 

This is a real keeper, folks. It's hearty enough that it can be served as a stand-alone main course, but can also be used as a side dish along with a green vegetable. Even if you're not fond of cauliflower, I challenge you to try this dish -- it really doesn't taste of cauliflower! Crispy and cheesy and tomato-y and oh so good!

 

Contest Entries and Swamp Cabbage Update

Strawberry Scones

This is a first attempt at creating a winning scone recipe for the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, KY. The recipe deadline is April 15th, and the winning scone will be served as part of a four-course tea at the event.

2-1/2 cups AP Flour

3 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, cut into chunks

1 cup chopped fresh Strawberries

2 Eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Half-and-Half (make that a "scant" half cup, so the dough isn't too moist)

Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl stir together the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut-in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gently toss in the strawberries. Make a well in center of the mixture; set aside.

In another bowl stir together eggs and half-and-half, and beat until well combined. Add egg mixture to flour mixture a bit at a time, gently stirring with a spatula until the flour mix is just moistened.

Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Knead dough 5 or 6 times by folding and pressing. Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat or lightly roll the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick disk. Slice disk into wedges and pull apart slightly.

Brush wedges with additional half-and-half and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden.

Not bad as a first pass. But there are some "enhancements" I want to make to bring out the "strawberry-ness" -- the dough needs some strawberry flavor of its own, not just the berries.

Cajun Seafood Pie

This contest entry is for the Healthy Solutions tm Spice Company Contest. The contest is for bloggers, and once you pre-registered, they send a sample packet of your choice of one of their 16 spice blends. 

 Healthy Solutions blends are all about the spices -- unlike many other company's blends which are half salt or MSG or other fillers.  Healthy Solutions spice blends have no salt, no fillers, no MSG. And 'boy howdy' can you taste the difference! 

I chose their Cajun Seafood Blend tm because I knew it would do wonderfully in my signature Seafood Pie. I like this a lot more than other "cajun" blends I've tried; it's go a smokey component that will go well with lots of spicy dishes I make.   Regular readers may remember I posted this basic recipe quite some time ago.

1 premade frozen Pie Crust

1/2 pound Salmon

1/2 pound Sea Bass or other firm white fish

1/2 lb medium-large Shrimp

1 14-16 oz bag of Frozen Mixed Vegetables (your choice of veggie blend)

1 cup Cajun Trinity - equal amounts of diced Celery, Onion, Bell Pepper

1 8oz bag of shredded Cheese

1+ Tbsp HEALTHY SOLUTIONS Cajun Seafood Seasoning

Preheat oven to 400F.

Put the frozen veggies in a large bowl along with the Trinity. Cut the fish into 1" pieces and add to the bowl. Rough chop the shrimp and add to the bowl. Toss/stir to combine. Add 3/4 of the cheese and stir again. Dust the mixture with seasoning and stir one last time.

Transfer the veggie/fish mix to the pie shell and pack it down. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 400F for 45 minutes until the cheese is melted, golden brown and delicious.

One tablespoon of the Healthy Solutions spice was just right for those who want a tang but not a slap in the face.   For me, I'll use 1 Tbsp + 1-2 tsp next time. If there is any leftover filling, you can chop it finer and make some excellent seafood empanadas using a tube of crescent roll dough.

Swamp Cabbage Fritters

We went to the La Belle Swamp Cabbage Festival -- a wonderful gathering -- on Saturday. Caught the parade. It was more 'cowboy' than most Eastern parades I've seen, reminded me of small town parades out West.  But this part of Florida is Cracker country, and the Crackers were America's first cowmen!   After the parade we wandered the vendor and food booths in the park. Just had to sample some Swamp Cabbage fritters and BBQ. This recipe can easily be made with canned Hearts of Palm, and sounds tastier than the ones we had at the festival, which were pretty good. Look in your megamart in the same place as they have canned artichoke hearts...

2-1/4 cups Bisquicktm or similar biscuit mix

1/2 cup Milk

2 Eggs

2 tsp Red Pepper (optional)

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 (14 oz) can Hearts of Palms, drained and sliced or chopped

1 small Onion, diced

1 stalk Celery, diced

1/2 cup diced Red Bell Pepper

Oil for frying

Combine everything except the oil. Heat the oil for deep frying. If you don't a deep fryer, use a small/deep pot. Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil, fry until golden, and drain on paper towels.

Bleu Tuna

That's right -- Bleu Tuna, not Bluefin Tuna. This is how I make Tuna Salad (or as the Brits call it, Tuna Mayonnaise). This is a technique, not a recipe...

Celery

Red Bell Pepper

Canned Solid Pack Albacore Tuna

Bleu Cheese Dressing

Pinch of Spice

You've heard my rant about canned tuna -- always buy solid, not chunk. If you buy chunk, you're paying good money for far too much fish-flavored water and not enough fish.

To each can of tuna (drained and flaked), add a stalk of celery diced small, and a third of a red bell pepper also diced small.

Instead of mayonnaise, or mustard, add a good dollop of chunky Bleu Cheese Dressing, and a pinch of a somewhat peppery spice -- I like Evergladestm seasoning, but Sazon Completa or even fresh cracked black pepper works too.  Stir to combine well.

Now make a Tuna Melt with some nice sharp cheddar cheese and a multigrain bread. Stuff some Bell Peppers, or make a tuna omelet. Or anything else you like to use tuna salad with.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of those on-again, off-again vegetables. Right now it's in favor, and readily available. Other than Cheesy Cauliflower, my favorite way to make this relative of broccoli and cabbage is roasting it with some curry spice. For two of us I usually use half a head of cauliflower. This is another technique rather than a recipe:

Cut the head apart into flowerettes, and rinse them thoroughly. Drop them, still damp, into a plastic bag and add some Indian spice blend -- couple teaspoons or so. Twist the bag closed and give the contents a good shaking to spread the spice around.

Lay the flowerettes out on a baking sheet, and roast at 400F for 20-25 minutes until just coming tender. Serve plain, or with honey-mustard for dipping.

Peach Blood Orange Lemon. What??

Peach Crescents

Found this recipe in the newspaper the other day. Publix had some nice looking nectarines so I picked one up to experiment with, since I don't care for peach fuzz. The chiller section had tubes of crescent roll dough, so I picked up one of those, too. Cinnamon, butter and sugar are always on hand.

1 large, firm-ripe Peach or Nectarine

1 tube 8 count Crescent Roll dough

4 Tbsp softened butter

1-2 tsp Cinnamon, to taste

Granulated sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together the cinnamon and butter. Chill in the freezer until semi-solid. Reserve. If using a peach, peel and it, and cut into 8 sections. Nectarines don't need to be peeled, just pitted as you cut them into eighths.

Separate the crescent roll triangles and lay them out on your work surface. Brush cinnamon butter on each triangle. Lay a fruit segment on the wide end of each triangle and roll up to the point.  Tuck the ends around to enclose the fruit. Place the rolls seam side down on a baking sheet, and bake 15-18 minutes, until dough is golden and the fruit has softened.

Remove to a cooling rack. Brush the rolls with more cinnamon-butter, then sprinkle with sugar. Best while still warm but good cooled as well.

Blood Oranges

My local Publix got in a new-to-me variety of Blood Orange, called a Moro. The usual dark read flesh, less acidic sweet taste and mottled darker orange skin. Also they peel easily, almost like a tangerine. If you've seen blood oranges and never tried them, please do. You're in for a pleasant and flavorful surprise.

While I was in the mood to experiment, I made two dishes, which "if you try it, you'll like it". The first dish was

Blood Orange Salmon

Simple enough.

2 Blood Oranges

2 Salmon filets

Everglades Seasoning tm to taste

Slice one orange into rounds to support the fish while it pan poaches. Put the salmon on the orange rounds. Dust with Everglades seasoning. Add water to come just below the fish.

Peel the second orange, and mince the skin. Add it to the water you put in the skillet, to make the courtbouillon.  

Courtboullion (pronounced coo-be-yon) is the liquid over which you poach something -- wine, water, herbs & spices, etc.

Section the peeled orange and reserve a couple wedges for garnish. Chop the other wedges and add them to the courtbouillion. Bring to a simmer, cover and poach for 12-15 minutes until the salmon flakes easily. Plate the fish, garnish with orange wedges and serve.

 Blood Orange Salmon ready to be plated.

Blood Orange Marmalade

My new favorite marmalade and toast/bagel/English muffin topper! This is simply fantastic. Better than my signature 1-1-1 Marmalade (one orange, one lemon, one lime).

Made the usual way by chopping then pureeing whole citrus fruit (skin, pips, meat and all), measuring into a microwave safe glass bowl, and adding the same measure of sugar (your choice; here I used plain white granulated). Stir, taste, adjust if needed. I used less than an equal measure of sugar because the blood orange is so much sweeter than a regular orange; I used about 2/3 cup sugar to 1 cup of fruit puree. Microwave on High for 10 minutes and ladle into screw-top jars. Cool on the counter before sealing and storing in the fridge.

Moroccan Style Lemon Chicken

In spite of the insanity in the Middle East and North Africa, this Moroccan dish is very tasty and a worthy addition to your repertoire. Traditionally the dish is cooked together with garbanzo beans and pimento-stuffed green olives and served over cumin rice. I was making chicken for Sally's lunches in the week, so it's just the meat and spices.

Ras el Hanut literally means "top of the shop". A fancy name for 'swept up leftovers'. I was usually made by combining the spillage as the spice merchant weighed, ground, shaved and otherwise prepared spices for his clients during the day. The 'fallout' would be swept off the blending table and combined with other days sweepings. The result was called Ras El Hanut. Fast forward hundreds of years, and today the flavor of Ras El Hanut is somewhat stabilized, somewhat like the "Curry Powder" in a red & white can...

2 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless

1 tsp Ras el Hanut spice blend

2 segments of Preserved Lemon (see below)

Dust the "show" side of the breasts with the spice blend. Oil a hot skillet and put the breasts show side down. Cook for 6-7 minutes. Turn the breasts over add about 1/4" water to the skillet along with at least two wedges of preserved lemon. Cover and cook another 6-10 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through.

 This is a file photo of Moroccan Lemon Chicken.  Since I was cooking breasts to slice for Sally's lunches, as the recipe above shows, I eliminated the olives and bed of rice.

Preserved Lemons

Got lemons? Now you can make something more than lemonade. These salt-pickled lemon wedges are great seasoning for chicken and pork dishes.

Lemons

Kosher Salt

Screwtop Jars

Cut several lemons into quarters. Pack some of the wedges in a jar. Add "some salt" -- say a palm-full. Repeat until the jar is full of wedges. Now add lemon juice (juiced from some of those other lemons you've got) until the jar is brim full. Place in a dark, cool-ish place for at least two weeks before using. To use, take out a couple wedges and reseal the jar before putting it back on the shelf. Will last a year or two in the jar, un-refrigerated (even here in Florida).

 

Two Updates 

Here's a photo of the latest iteration of my Savory Breakfast Muffin.  I got some nice paper baking molds and they worked just fine:

 Some folks wanted to know what a Scotch Egg looked like inside after it was cooked.  Here you go:

 

Flounder Quiche, Lobsta Mac, Creole Omelet and much more

New England Style Baked Flounder

We got some beautiful frozen flounder filets from Costco and I've been looking for some different ideas on how to prepare and serve this delicate, mild fish. Baking appealed for its simplicity.

4 Flounder filets, thawed, rinsed and patted dry

1 cup Panko or other bread crumbs

4 Tbsp Butter, melted

Old Bay tm Seasoning, or salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour a little of the melted butter in a baking dish and spread to coat the bottom. Combine the bread crumbs with the rest of the melted butter.

Spice both sides of the fish, and lay in the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over the fish.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until fish is cooked thoroughly (and flakes easily). Serve on top of lemon slices and with fresh lemon wedges to squeeze liberally!  

I served it with a side of:

Mojo Green Beans

Add some magic to your green beans, with a splash of mojo sauce in the cooking liquid.

Mojo Breakfast Burrito

Speaking of mojo sauce, here's another Cabana breakfast.

3 Eggs, beaten

1/4 cup diced Celery

1/4 cup diced Onion

1/4 cup diced Bell Pepper

1/4 cup diced Crimini mushroom

1/4 cup shredded White Cheddar cheese

3 oz ground Turkey

2-3 Tbsp Mojo Criollo Sauce, I like the Badia tm brand

1 large Wrap tortilla -- I use the green 'spinach' wraps from Toufoyan tm

Saute the stuffing vegetables in a splash of oil for a few minutes until they start to soften. As they soften add the mojo sauce, and then the ground turkey. Continue cooking until the turkey is nearly browned. Now add the eggs and scramble everything together.

Mound the filling in the center of the wrap and top with the cheese. Roll everything up. Top with additional cheese if desired. Serve with sides of salsa and sour cream or yogurt.

Red Hot Bleu Sauce

I've got a problem. See, I like hot sauces, but not gratuitiously hot hot sauces; I prefer those that have flavor as well as some heat. I also like bleu cheese dressing on my salads. In a moment of inspiration -- like the mingling of chocolate and peanut butter -- I created Red Hot Bleu Sauce. 

Take some Frank's Red Hot tm Wing Sauce or any similar hot sauce, and cut it about 50% (more or less) with a good chunky Bleu Cheese Dressing. Now you're talking!! Great on wings, chicken nuggets or a roast beef sandwich.

Lobsta Mac & Cheese

Sally requested this for Valentine's Day Brunch with Mum. So of course she got it. This recipe makes a ton of pasta and cheese sauce. I used about 3/4 of each and froze the rest separately for later consumption.  This isn't a cheap dish, but it's great for a special occasion.

12 oz Lobster -- I used 4 of the little ones, which happened to be on special at the megamart.

1 box Macaroni -- I used Cavitappi/Corkscrews with the grooves to hold sauce better

2 cups Sharp Cheddar

2 cups Mixed Cheeses

4 cups Heavy Cream

4 Tbsp Butter -- we use Olivio tm

5 Tbsp AP Flour

1/2 cup diced Onion

1/4 cup White Wine

1 Tbsp Tony Chachere's Creole Spice tm or paprika, salt and cayenne to taste

1 cup frozen Peas

1/2 cup Panko or breadcrumbs

Pre-cook the lobster tails. I baked them @ 350 for about 7 minutes. Cool, then chop the meat into pieces.

Make the pasta according to the box. Drain. Cool.

In a pot, slow cook the onion in the butter. When the onion is translucent, add the flour and stir to make a roux. Let the roux cook for 4-5 minutes, to cook out the flouriness. Cut the roux with the wine, stirring. Reduce heat to low. Slowly add the cream, whisking to get rid of any lumps. Add the creole spice. Keep whisking. Finally, add the cheeses, a handful at a time, whisking until every thing is smooth and cheesy.

Measure the cooked mac that you'll need into a baking dish, then transfer the mac to a mixing bowl. If you use the whole box of mac, you're gonna want a pound of lobster at least, and a 9x13 baking dish. Add the lobster and frozen peas and stir to combine. Now add the cheese sauce until the mix gets a soupy as you like. Top with panko or other breadcrumbs.

Bake at 375F for about 30-35 minutes until bubbly and hot. Let it rest about 5 minutes before spooning out portions.

Red Velvet Roll

I didn't really "make" this. The megamart had the delicious looking cream cheese filled Red velvet cake roll. All I did was slice up strawberries and raspberries add some simple syrup, and ladle the fruit onto slices of yum.

Creole Quiche

This one is for Susan Duplantis, my blogger friend from Baton Rouge. I created this for our cabana guests who wanted something with lots of veggies and eggs, on a Saturday morning when Sally and I had to be somewhere early. They had two slices one day, and two slices the next, along with a bowl of cut fruit.

3/4 cup diced Celery

3/4 cup diced Onion

3/4 cup diced Bell Pepper

3/4 cup chopped Mushrooms

12 Shrimp, cooked and shelled

4" of diced Andouille sausage if you can find it. Or a Johnsonville tm New Orleans "sausage"

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp ground Cardamon

1-1/4 cups half & half or whipping cream

6 oz shredded mixed Cheese

1+ Tbsp Tony Chachere's tm Creole Spice Blend, to taste

1 premade frozen Deep-Dish Pie Crust

Preheat the oven to 425F.

While that's happening, saute the meat and veg filling until the celery and onion are tender. Drain and reserve.

Beat together the eggs and dairy and cardamon. Add half the cheese. Reserve.

Put the still frozen pie crust on a baking sheet. Spoon the filling into the crust and pack down if necessary. Pour the egg/dairy/cheese mixture overall, to fill, add more dairy if needed. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm and set, golden brown and mouth-wateringly delicious. Let rest at least 15 minutes before serving.

Kabocha & Swiss Chard Galette

Sally found this recipe in an issue of the Oprah magazine. It was 'way too fussy and complicated as written (an excerpt from Anna Thomas' cookbook Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore), so I've simplified it considerably.

Basically this is a vegan, or at least vegetarian, pizza featuring a strange winter squash and Swiss Chard. Slightly sweet, slightly nutty.

1 Kabocha Squash (substitute a Butternut, it will be lots easier to work with... trust me)

1-2 large Sweet Onions (Valdosta, Maui, WallaWalla, etc)

2 large Garlic cloves

1 bunch Swiss Chard or Rainbow Swiss Chard

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan or similar cheese.  Vegans use soy-cheese.

1/3 Raisins

1/3 cup Pine Nuts or Sunflower kernals

1 lb fresh Pizza Dough - from your megamart or local pizza parlor

Juice of half a Lemon

Salt & Pepper to taste

EVOO as needed

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Peel and seed the squash and cut it into 1" cubes. You want 3-4 cups of cubes. Toss with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon or so of EVOO. Spread the cubes on a baking tray and roast them for 30-40 minutes, turning periodically, until they get some nice color and soften a bit. Reserve.

Slice the onion into strips and caramelize in a skillet until golden (medium-low heat). Again, this will take about 30 minutes. Near the end, slice the garlic and add it to skillet. Don't let it burn.

While that's happening, rinse the chard and cut the long stems into 1" lengths. Add the stems to the onion/garlic mix and continue to cook until they soften a bit (about 3 minutes). Add the chard leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper, cover and cook until the chard wilts (about 5 more minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the raisins, cilantro, pine nuts and lemon juice. Reserve.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the pizza dought to make a 16" disk, or roll it oblong to fit a baking sheet, like I did. Spread the onion-chard mix around, leaving an inch or so of the dough edge bare. Add the roasted squash. Finish by sprinkling the cheese overall. Bake at 400F for 30+ minutes, until the crust browns nicely. Slice and serve. Serves 4-6.

Overall, pretty tasty, but it needed "something" to give it pizazz. A spice blend perhaps, other than a pinch of salt and pepper.  Perhaps a base sauce, not necessarily tomato.  Next time I'm going to give the rolled-out dough a schmear of Romesco sauce, or even French dressing, before laying down the veggies, just to take the flavor profile to the next level.