Butternut Squash Pie

So I decided that this Christmas I wanted to make a different dessert. The pops and I were heading to Madison to visit family and see my cousin's new baby. Since they were making dinner (which included a very yummy goat curry), I decided, even though I was post-call and exhausted because the stupid pager was going off all night, that I would make dessert. So after Googling online for various pie recipes, I found one I liked @ a blog called Farmer's Daughter, and made a few changes to make my own and this is what I came up with:

Lulu's Butternut Squash Pie

Ingredients:

Pie crust (frozen)

1/2 butternut squash

1.2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 banana

2 eggs

In the oven I baked the squash @ 325 degrees for an hour. I then let it cool and scooped out the squash from the skin and placed it into my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl. I added all the remaining ingredients (except the pie crust) and mixed well until everything was well combined. The oven was preheated to 425 degrees. I rolled out the pie crusts (I used two) and placed them inside a 12 x 8 baking dish (something like that) as I didn't have a round pie pan. I then filled the crust with the squash filling and placed the pie in the oven for 10 mins. After the first 10 mins were over I decreased the temp to 350 degrees and continued baking the pie for another 50 minutes. Once the pie was done baking I took it out to cool, et voila! The pie was a BIG hit at dinner. There was only two pieces left by the end of the night because I had to steal them before anyone else tried as I wanted some for breakfast the next day. I really hope you guys give this one a try.

Christmas Pear Custard Pie

This Christmas, KStead's sister, who lives in Milan, Italy, sent us a Harry and David gift. The Taste of the Valley basket consisted of Royal Riviera Pears, smooth Red Pears, award-winning Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue cheese, buttery Havarti and a walnut-handled spreader, this uniquely designed trivet made of sustainable bamboo unfolds into a pear-shaped basket. KStead engulfed a few pears and they were so juicy. We decided to make a pear pie since I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer. I wanted a recipe that didn't require me to leave the house, so I found a custard pie recipe from Martha Stewart. The pie turned out great! I usually don't eat seconds, especially with desserts, but I kept on going back for more.

Pear Custard Pie

• 3 Royal Riviera or Red Pears, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; Prick pie crust with a fork and cook for 5 minutes.  
2. Peel, halve, and core 3 pears; slice 1/4 inch thick lengthwise. Arrange slices, overlapping slightly, in crust.  
3. In a blender, process 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, 1/3 cup each granulated sugar and all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 large eggs, and 3/4 cup milk until smooth.  
4. Pour batter over pears; bake until golden and firm to touch, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Great American Bake Sale

First of all, I have to thank those that participated in the great American Bake Sale which I organized at my jog along with the help of the fabulous Nurse J. I thought, "What a great was to help raise money to end childhood hunger" because I love sweets and so do our patients at the clinic. But our patients are primarily obese people with diabetes and hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, so I thought, "Why not do a bake sale of all our favourite holidays treats, but make healthier versions of them?" So here's what we came up with and soon to come... The Cook Book! Big thanks you to the Milwaukee Cupcake Company for donating TWO DOZEN gluten free cupcakes to the bake sale. 

Nut Clusters

Cupcakes from Milwaukee Cupcake Company

Chocolate Truffles

Mini Sweet Potato Pies courtesy of Dr. I

Even the medical student joined in by baking granola bars

Slllllooooow Cooker Asian Short Ribs

The weather has been getting a bit chilly here in VA: that's a sign for warm comfy homemade food. I've always wanted to make short ribs but was scared I wouldn't get the same "fall off the bone" effect as in restaurants. Until now! I found this recipe on Real Simple and... it's real simple. I ended up making this dish twice within a week. Kstead and I gobbled this up the first night and the second night we had my parents and Kstead's mom over to meet for the first time. Prep time took no more than 15 minutes!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 8 beef short ribs (about 4 pounds)
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper. Add the short ribs and carrots and arrange in a single layer.
2. Cook, covered, on high for 5 to 6 hours (or on low for 7 to 8 hours), until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone.
3. Transfer the short ribs and carrots to plates. With a large spoon or ladle, skim the fat from the cooking liquid and discard.
4. If the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth. Whisk into the cooking liquid and cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the sesame oil. Spoon the sauce over the short ribs and vegetables and sprinkle with the scallions (if using). Serve over jasmine rice.

India in Milwaukee

So last month CP and her man JP came over for dinner for CP's birthday and we decided we celebrate with a home-cooked Indian dinner. So we raided the grocery stores and got all the ingredients to make vindaloo, naan, mango lassis, cilantro chutney, cucumber salad with yoghurt dressing, and basmati rice. OMFG, the dinner was beyond awesome! all the food tasted fantastic, which it should have after the way we slaved over the stove... well not really slaved. We actually totally enjoyed the evening making dinner and drinking Malibu with mango lemonade on the rocks (which, my friends, is a truly delicious drink and makes cooking even more enjoyable). So we couldn't get our hands on any lamb or goat that day for the vindaloo so we used beef instead. Totally perfect substitution. And instead of grounding all our spices manually, we just bought the pre-grounded spice mix.  Umm yes, just because we used pre-ground spices the meal is still considered homemade, And why not? We cut all the veggies, the meat, cooked the sauce, cooked the dish.

We even made our own naan bread. That's right, we baked bread! It really wasn't that we baked it, because actually we grilled it on the grill pan. Basically it was water, yeast, white flour, sugar, salt. Following the standard rules of making bread, we let the dough rise and then divided it into small balls, flattened them out with our hands, brushed oil over them, and then threw them on the grill. 

So what do you serve with Indian food? Umm no, its not ketchup. Eww! So we made some cilantro chutney. Basically all we did was dump a lot of cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, and a little bit of cumin, tumeric, and chili into a blender and let it whirl and whirl and whirl until you've got a sauce :o) Ahh, isn't Indian food just so easy? So yeah, that was CP's birthday dinner. After that we made a stop @ Kafevino for some red wine... some yummy Australian red wine. I think it was a 10 point birthday dinner. Sorry I don't have the recipes typed up step by step, but honestly, there are so many variations to these recipes I suggest just google a basic recipe and just putting your own twist to them. If you don't like spicy then don't use green chili. If you prefer chicken instead of beef, or lamb instead of goat, or maybe fish or tofu, go for it. Just be creative and bon appetit. 

Pina Coloda Cupcakes

So my girlie CP and I were tempted to create our own version of a Pina Colada cupcake after we tasted the ones made @ Milwaukee Cupcake Company (which, by the way, are awesome. Sorry H and K, you guys should have called me in advanced and I would have happily got the Lady Gaga cupcakes for you). Anyway, so on one of our many girls' weekends we hit Whole Foods and got all the ingredients to make Pina Colada cupcakes following the Coconut Rum Cupcake recipe from the How Sweet It Is blog. We did make a few changes for instance we used brown sugar instead of white (because that's what we had in the kitchen) and unsweetened coconut. We also sweetened our frosting with maple syrup (maybe because CP and I are Canadian we just love that maple syrup). So anyway they turned out yummy yummy in our tummy. Not too sweet, but not so alcohol-y either (but oh HUNNY, that Malibu tasted oh so fresh and so clean). I think our next cupcake experiment is going to be in the peanut butter category...

Pina Colada Cupcakes (adapted from the Coconut Rum recipe)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup Malibu rum
Preheat the oven to 359 degrees. In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar and eggs until it becomes white and fluffy. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix them well. Mix the dry ingredients separately and slowly add half to the wet mixture, combining the dry to the wet 1 cup at a time. Add the coconut milk and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Make sure it is all combined. Add the rum and shredded coconut. Pour the batter into a cupcake tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
When the cupcakes are cooling make the frosting. We decided to take a separate approach to the frosting from that in the original recipe. We went ahead and made a cream cheese frosting. In a mixing bowl we combined one package of cream cheese softened with 1/2 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup Malibu and 1 tablespoon vanilla. When it was all mixed I put it in a plastic baggie and did my best to pipette it on top of each cupcake while CP sprinkled coconut on top. Et voila!

Oh Canada!

So recently, well like two weeks ago, I went back home to Montreal to take care of some business and visit old friends. Well, there's nothing as amazing as the food in Montreal (except the shopping, and night life, and the hockey!). So my first day there I travelled down to Boul. St. Laurent for breakfast @ Cafe Sante Veritas which is a health food cafe that caters to both meat eaters and vegetarians. Everything is cooked to order (except the muffins and cookies, but they're baked fresh). ATTENTION NON-HEALTHY PEOPLE: they don't serve soda. By the way, why are you drinking soda anyway? Its so bad for you. All that sugar, artificial sweeteners, food colouring. I mean, is water that frightening to you? But if you're not into water, they have a wide range of fresh fruit juices, Odwalla smoothies, fresh smoothies and coffee and tea. So anyway, breakfast, right. I had the Belgian Porridge which was delicious! Porridge with oats, mixed nuts, raisins, apricots, and apples topped with soy milk, its just a bowl of happiness.

But if you're not in the mood for oatmeal, they have the fluffiest egg white omelettes you'll ever see (I think they whip up the egg whites in a mixer first) with all sorts of mixings like sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach...

Cafe Sante Veritas

480 Boul. St-Laurent

Montreal, PQ

514.510.7775

So later that evening I needed to find somewhere to have dinner. Well, unfortunately they rain decided to show up during my stay so that night I decided to have dinner @ the Petit Opus in the Omni Hotel (where I just happened to have been staying). Well, like most hotel restaurants, vegetarian options are usually hard to find, but this one, most likely because it is in Montreal, and a really nice vegetarian stir-fry dish with tofu. What I really liked about this dish was that the sauce wasn't thick and didn't over power the meal. A lot of times I have found that restaurant chinese food is drenched in sauce and that the sauce is usually too sweet and over powering. Sprinkled with some black sesame seeds, the Omni's Petit Opus satisfied my appetite and my vegetarian diet.

Omni Mount-Royal Hotel

1050 Sherbrooke St West

Montreal, PQ

514.284.1110

Well my last night in Montreal I had to go to my favourite Italien restaurant growing up: Wienstein & Gavino's. I knew right away what I was going to have: Risotto Con Pera (risotto w/ pear). OMG! It was the best risotto I have had in the longest time (and had me set on a risotto cooking escapade when I returned home). So creamy topped with warm slices of pear. every bite was just bliss. Unfortunately, the dish was a a la carte item so it may not always be there.

After my fabulous risotto dinner I had to go for some gelato. I mean, how can you leave Montreal without having dessert? So the waiter brings my friend and I this HUGE cup that contained two scoops and vanilla gelato and two scoops of chocolate gelato. I'm sure she have one scoop and I completed the other three scoops. It was so good though, I couldn't let it go to waste.

Wienstein & Gavino's

1434 rue Crescent

Montreal, PQ

514.288.2231