Squash Souffle

If you've been to Panera for breakfast lately, you know they're now serving delicious souffles. It's not a textbook souffle, but it was all I needed for inspiration.

I decided to use some fresh squash that Cilla gave me and this was the result.


I started by sauteing thinly sliced squash and small-diced onion.


Cook it low and slow for about 10 or 15 minutes until soft.

Next, I made the egg mixture.

Three eggs, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, and cheese. Lots of cheese. I put at least two big handfuls.

Panera uses cute paper cups for their souffles, but I happen to have some neat aluminum ramekins from my granny. I love this one lonely yellow one.



For the crust, I used refrigerated croissant rolls. When you unroll them they are attached as triangles that make a rectangle, so just pinch the seams together and roll out into a square.




Or...sometimes not so square.

I just folded it over and rolled it out again.

I then laid the squares (or squiggles as they may be) into my ramekin and let the edges hang over.


Then I ladled the egg mixture into the ramekins and folded the edges up like a present.




I didn't take a picture, but I did brush on some of the left over egg mixture from my mixing bowl onto the croissant before baking for 20 to 25 minutes.

Ta da!

Squash Souffle!


Recipe:
1 1/2 cups yellow squash, seeded and sliced thin
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 eggs -- beaten
2 teaspoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon dijon
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons margarine
1 1/2 cups cheese -- grated
1 roll refrigerated croissants

Cook squash and onion together until tender in butter and set aside to cool. Beat eggs and add flour, cheese, salt, pepper, mustard and milk. Roll out Croissant rectangles into rough squares. Line round ramekins with croissant squares leaving the ends hanging over edges. Add squash and onion into egg mixture and pour into ramekins. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Guacamole

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but anytime I use a photo that's not my own, you can click on it and it will take you directly to the photographer's site. In this case, that's the recipe on www.allrecipes.com because this photo was taken by them for this particular recipe. Moving on, I made this for the 4th of July just like everything else I've posted this week. Even my husband who hates guacamole loved this. It's a really easy recipe, and was no problem for me even though I've never made guac before. Actually, I'd never made anything I made for the 4th before. I'm a daredevil like that.

TIPS

If you're an avocado virgin like me, I think it's best to buy under-ripe avocados and ripen them in a paper bag yourself than trying to figure out just what a ripe avocado feels like.

The unripened avocados are a bright green. Just buy them a day or two before you need them and put them in a brown paper bag. When they are dark all over and give into the pressure of your finger when you squeeze it, they're ripe.

INGREDIENTS

3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. 1. In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.

Spicy Bean Salsa

DON'T JUDGE ME. Sometimes, I crave something that looks complicated, but is incredibly simple. Sometimes that involves vegetables in a can and pre-made dressing. I've accepted my flaws, and enjoyed it without shame! It was delicious. So delicious, that I plan on making this on a regular basis either as a side, or as a salsa served with chips. I made a few changes to the recipe, which I'll post here, but you can click here to see the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 (15 ounce) can chick peas
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, combine chick peas, black beans, corn, red onion, and tomatoes. Season with Italian-style salad dressing and garlic salt; mix well. Cover, and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.

Jen's Quick Coconut Rice

When I made the spiced chicken, I made some coconut rice to go with it. I understand that in theory when you have very few ingredients in a recipe, you should use the best ingredients you can find. Then, there's life where you need dinner on the table in 30 minutes and there just isn't enough of you to make several time consuming recipes at once. I chose to use 5-minute rice, and it was delicious!

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups White 5-Minute Rice
1 Cup Lite Coconut Milk (found in the Asian food aisle)
1 Cup Water
1 Tbsp sugar
Salt - to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a sauce pan bring milk and water, sugar, and salt to a boil.


2. Remove from heat and add rice.


3. Let stand for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. I usually add it back to the cooling eye to cook off more of the liquid if there is some left over in the rice.

Yeilds 4 servings.

Jen's Secret Recipe Corn Muffins

Tonight I wanted Macaroni and cornbread. I always cheat and make cornbread from a mix, but this time, I discovered something incredible. I had some leftover buttermilk, so I used that. Then I went to reach for the eggs and...realized I didn't have any. No problem right? I just added a little vegetable oil. Dave normally doesn't respond to food until they day after when he'll say something like "hey, can we have that yellow stuff again sometime?". Tonight though, the first words out of his mouth was "Write this recipe down!". So, now I have my very own "secret recipe", but I'll share it with you. I'd have posted a picture, but dave ate them all. I'm using a photo from myrecipes.com instead.

INGREDIENTS

1 package Martha White Corn Muffin Mix
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Measure milk in a 2 cup measuring cup and add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Stir in muffin mix until well incorporated.
3. Poor into muffin tins until about 2/3 full and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Yeilds 6 corn muffins.

Apple Muffins

I made some muffins to take with us on our trip to Jacksonville, AL this weekend. I made two different kinds, but this one came out the best.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar*
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chopped apples

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.


2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.


4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.


5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

*These were too sweet for me as is, so next time I will probably only use 1/4 cup of sugar. Also, I did use red delicious apples, so if you have granny smith or another tart apple, I would use the 1/2 cup sugar

Yeilds: 9 muffins.

Jen's Macaroni & Cheese

I made up my own macaroni and cheese recipe after being disappointed with the recipes I was finding online.

INGREDIENTS

16 oz uncooked macaroni, prepared according to package directions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups warm milk (whole milk ideal, but 2% will work)
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium sauce pan melt butter over medium-low heat and add flour. Make sure heat is low enough that the flour doesn't clump.
2. Add warm milk, increase heat to medium, and stir until the sauce thickens.
3. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and stir in cheeses until fully incorporated.
4. Mix with cheese sauce with noodles and serve.

Easy Apple Sauce

INGREDIENTS

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft.
2. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

I used Red Delicious Apples because I couldn't remember what the recipe called for, and doubled the recipe omitting the sugar all together. Because my apples were sweet, I only added 1/4th cup of brown sugar to the finished product and a dash or two of Allspice.

I also removed most of the liquid produced (about 1 cup) and then used my blender to make the applesauce smooth instead of a fork or potato masher.

Pesto Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS

10 small ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup homemade or purchased pesto
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Slice tomatoes in half, and scoop out about a tablespoon of flesh from the center of each half. Be sure to get most of the liquid out. Fill pocket with pesto, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Place tomato halves in a well oiled baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until cheese is melted and bubbly, and slightly browned. Serve warm.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I make this every year for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. It's perfectly lightly sweetened and very fluffy, not heavy like most sweet potato casseroles. I never make the topping, but I wanted to include it for you anyway.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING (OPTIONAL)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, salt, 1/3 cup butter and vanilla. Mix together and pour into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
2. To prepare the topping, combine in a separate bowl the brown sugar, flour, 1/3 cup melted butter and pecans. Mix together and crumble over sweet potato mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes.

Apple Cider Syrup

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons margarine

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a small saucepan.
2. Add apple juice and lemon juice.
3. Cook and stir the mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
4. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the margarine until melted.

Serve in a lidded pitcher.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups.