Beet this Salad

This is one amazing salad. The balance of sweet, pungent and salty flavors are perfect. I am not even a lover of blue cheese but I love it here. (You could substitute goat or feta if you can't take the blue). There really isn't a recipe for this one, just a list of ingredients. It's up to you how much of each you'd like to use. This salad is from Whole Living magazine.

-cooked lentils
-chopped celery
-blue cheese, crumbled (use a good one)
-toasted walnuts
-roasted beets, sliced (use two different colors if possible)

You Butter Nut Squash This Gratin

How can you improve the flavor of a perfect, sweet delicious butternut squash? One word: cheese.
Well, okay, in addition to cheese, this fall-themed Bon Apetit squash gratin recipe also includes leeks. Yes, leeks. And nuts. Just put them all together in a dish and let that sweet, sweet cheese melt all over it.
This recipe serves 8-10 so feel free to half the ingredients if you're just cooking for two or three. Or four.

Ingredients:

- 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash (about 2 medium), peeled, seeded, cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes (8 cups)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Coarse kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
- 3 cups sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 5.5-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place butternut squash cubes and olive oil in large bowl; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and ground pepper and toss to coat. Spread out squash cubes on large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until just tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally with a nice spoon your grandma gave you, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add sliced leeks and chopped sage; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until tender but not brown, about 15 minutes. Coat 11x7-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Spread half of leek mixture over bottom of prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with half of squash and half of cheese. Repeat layering with leeks, squash, and cheese. If you want to do this ahead of time, it can be made 1 day ahead, but it's better when served fresh.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Pour cream evenly over gratin. Sprinkle with toasted chopped hazelnuts. Bake uncovered until both you and the gratin are heated through and cream is bubbling, about 30 minutes (40 minutes if previously chilled). Eat and feel guilty when your veins throb with cheese and cream.

There May O May Not Be Mayo in This Coleslaw (There's Not)

Traditional picnic/BBQ coleslaw is slathered in mayo, and sometimes that totally hits the spot. But other times, maybe you're not in the mood for all that white fatty stuff. That's why this coleslaw recipe from Gluten Free Goddess is dressed with oil and vinegar instead of mayo. It also throws in some apple slices for a nice extra touch.

Ingredients:

2 heaping cups chilled cabbage — ideally, some green and some purple- shredded thin
1 tart or sweet apple, peeled, julienned
1 smallish carrot, julienned
Half a smallish red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
3-4 tablespoons light and grassy extra virgin olive oil, as needed
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar, to taste
1-2 teaspoons organic raw agave nectar, to taste
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon dill
A small pinch of cumin
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Toss all the fruits and veggies into a bowl and mix it up. Then drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle the rest of the seasonings on.

The First B is for Bourbon

Forget about going to the store to buy some crappy BBQ sauce. Why do that when you can make your own — and fill it with bourbon!

Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup bourbon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons mild (light) molasses
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
11/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Boil all that in a saucepan over medium heat, then let it simmer on low heat for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally while getting delicious whiffs of bourbon. Cover. Chill (you and the sauce).

Fal-La-FULL

My husband and I love falafel. The best we've had is sold at a cart in Astoria where they serve up some amazing Middle Eastern food. The owner of the cart has a license plate on his truck that says "falafel1". That pretty much sums it up.

Cooks Illustrated does a great make at home version. This was actually my first time deep frying something and it wasn't as scary as I had made it out to be. This recipe is now a staple in our house (with some gluten free pitas of course).

Falafel

8 oz. dried chick peas, rinsed, picked over, and soaked overnight in water to cover by an inch
6 scallions, chopped coarse
½ c packed fresh parsley leaves
½ c packed fresh cilantro leaves
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Vegetable oil for frying

Drain chick peas, discarding the soaking liquid. Process all the ingredients except for the oil in a food processor until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Form the mixture into small disks and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Falafel can be refrigerated at this point for up to 2 hours.)

Heat the oil in a 5-quart dutch oven over medium high heat to 375 degrees. Fry the falafel, a few pieces at a time, stirring occasionally, until deep brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet using a slotted spoon and keep warm in the oven. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with the remaining falafel.

Serve on pita bread with hummus, lettuce and tomatoes. Pickled beets are a bonus.

Freeze! This is a ribbery!

Our new spices have inspired us to try out new recipes and even get creative and come up with some of our own. We made one of the most delicious chili's I have ever had with a bottle of beer (GF) and a ton of smoked paprika. Dustin mixed up a spice rub (chili, cumin, red pepper, paprika, lots of other good stuff) and cooked up some fall-apart-tender baby back ribs. I took on the challenge of braising up short ribs for the first time for Valentine's Day and came up with my own recipe by pulling together ideas from various foodie websites. And damn, they were rich and delicious. See the recipe below.

Frenchie's Tall Order Short Ribs
serves 2 people

1 lb short ribs (bone-in)

2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 onion, minced
2 carrots, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 bay leaves
2 tbsp tomato paste
few shakes Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chicken broth (preferably home made)
1/2 bottle good red wine

1. Dry off meat well with paper towel, salt and pepper. Brown meat very well on all sides in medium-large dutch oven on medium-high heat. I used a little canola oil here but you don't need much. This step is imperative as you need to render off much of the fat so your ribs are gristly and fatty at the end. Really brown the heck out of them. Remove meat to the side. Pour off much of the fat, leaving about 2 tbsp.

2. Turn down heat to medium. Add aromatic veggies (carrots, onion, celery, garlic). Saute in leftover oil, make sure garlic does not brown. Add spices (garlic, paprika, bay leaf).

3. Return meat to pan when veggies have softened. Add tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, wine and broth. **You may need to modify your liquid amount here depending on how many ribs you have and how big your pot is. The liquid should reach up to about 1/2 up the side of the meat. Put cover on dutch oven.

4. Put dutch oven in COLD oven turned to 200 degrees for 2 hours.

5. After 2 hours, increase the heat to 300 and cook for another 2 hours. Check periodically to see if the braising liquid is too low, if needed, at some extra stock or wine. (I didn't have to do this).

6. Meat should be pull apart-fork tender when done cooking. This is a low and slow recipe so don't even attempt to speed this one up! You will just end up with some gross, rubbery meat.

7. Remove from oven. Check and season sauce with salt and pepper accordingly. You can choose to reduce the sauce a little bit if it is too loose for your liking. (Make sure to spoon some sauce over the meat.) Serve over soft polenta, mashed potatoes or this white bean and garlic puree (which I did and was delicious!).

The Next Spice Girl!

I am back from a long hiatus. No good reason really, just haven't felt totally inspired to post. But I did get some recent motivation after receiving a really awesome present from my husband for my birthday. After hearing me complain about the lack of cupboard space for our spices every time I reached for the cumin, he decided to do something about it. I received 27 magnetic spice tins to put on our fridge and also had the pleasure of picking out some fresh spices at different stores in NYC (i.e. Penzey's, Kalustyan's). Holy cow, these high end spices make the ones you buy at the super market seem like dirt. Seriously, they are completely worth the extra money and add such punch to every dish, you will never go back to Ms. Dash.

Dustin added his creative touch and made labels on the computer. They look like art on our fridge.

Along with this exciting addition to the kitchen, I had the honor of being a call on my cooking idol, Lynne Rossetto Kasper's radio show, Splendid Table. I spoke to Lynne to get some ideas about some unusual must-have spices, how to store them, and how to use them in various dishes. Although I was very nervous (I said okay about 345 times!), I consider this my 5 minutes of fame and loved speaking to Lynne.

Listen to my conversation with Lynne below. Just fast forward to 41:42.