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  1. Wednesday, July 17, 2013

    Garlic Knots

    Hi, my name is Jane and I am addicted to bread. Of all kinds. Especially buttery bread with garlic.

    garlic knots | thisweekfordinner.com

    Sunday night I made a simple dinner of pasta with sausage and crudite. I decided I needed to make a little something special to add to our boring simple fare. So, here’s the deal, if a restaurant has garlic knots on the menu, I am ALL IN. Surprisingly, I have never tried to make them at home. I know. SHOCKING. Until now, that is. Sunday was the day!

    I used a breadstick recipe from the Food Network as my starting point and the garlic knots came out AWESOME. Against all odds. No, seriously. There were a lot of odds. First, I decided to half the recipe, but didn’t halve the amount of water, so ended up having to add in ingredients after it had already been kneading for a little while and I wasn’t entirely sure how much flour was already in there. Then I let the garlic knots rise for WAY TOO LONG. Just more poor planning on my part. Lastly, I pulled a ridiculously rookie baking mistake…I put both pans in the oven at the same time. The top rack of garlic knots were browning on top but doughy on the bottom, and the bottom rack of garlic knots were totally white on top. I snagged the pan on the top rack, threw it in my toaster oven and hoped for the best. Amazingly, BOTH trays of garlic knots cooked perfectly.

    It’s like the garlic knot gods were intervening for me. Thank you, garlic knot gods. I owe ya one.

    garlic knots | thisweekfordinner.com

    Garlic Knots
     
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 1 package active dry yeast + ¼ cup warm water
    • 4¼ cups flour
    • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • 1 tablespoon fine salt
    • 1¼ cup + 2 tablespoons warm water
    • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • 1-2 garlic cloves, pushed through a garlic press
    • pinch of dried oregano
    Instructions
    1. Place ¼ cup warm water in the bowl of a mixer. Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for about five minutes, until foamy. Add the flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter, sugar, fine salt and warm water. Mix with paddle attachment until a slightly sticky dough forms, 5 minutes.
    2. Food Network instructions: Knead by hand on a floured surface until very smooth and soft, 3 minutes. Jane instruction: Put your dough hook on the mixer and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a bit of flour to the bowl. (I like to let the mixer do the work for me!)
    3. Dump dough out onto floured surface and form a round ball. Cut ball into four pieces. Make each piece a nice round ball and then cut each of those into four pieces, leaving you with 16 uniformly-sized balls of dough. Roll each piece out like a snake, about 9-12 inches long. Tie into a knot and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise until almost doubled, 45 minutes.
    4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix melted butter, salt, garlic and oregano together. Brush over the top of the rolls, making sure you get a lot of the good stuff right in the middle of the knot. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, brush with 1 more tablespoon of melted butter just for extra butteriness.
    5. Makes 16 garlic knots.
    6. We reheated the leftovers the next day in our toaster oven at 325 degrees for about 8 minutes, wrapped in foil. I uncovered the knots with about 3 minutes left and they were perfect!


  2. Tuesday, March 19, 2013

    Ginger Candied Vegetables {and a giveaway from Libby’s with another chance at some Le Creuset!}

    This giveaway is now closed, but there is other good stuff in this post, so keep reading…the glaze on these veggies is yum!

    Today’s post is chockfull of great stuff. A recipe, helpful resources AND a giveaway. Are you ready? Let’s go!

    I cannot believe that Passover and Easter are NEXT WEEK. Where does the time go? I blame the Daylight Savings Fairy.

    Libby’s® Fruits & Vegetables recently contacted me about creating a side dish recipe for Easter and/or Passover that uses carrots, peas and corn. I thought and thought and decided candied vegetables would taste pretty darn good, especially with a little ginger thrown into the mix. So Little Chef Anna and I hit the kitchen and started creating. She looked into the big container of brown sugar and exclaimed in disbelief, “Brown sugar and salt and pepper?!?!” I assured her it would be delicious. Once she took a bite, she agreed!

    The glaze for these veggies would be delicious on a host of vegetables, not just carrots, peas and corn, although carrots lend themselves very  nicely to this treatment. Feel free to experiment with your veggies! I like the salty sweet flavor and the ginger adds a nice layer of flavor. This side dish would be a nice complement to all kinds of Easter feasts!

    Libby’s, the company sponsoring today’s giveaway, has two new fabulous resources for you that help make the meal planning process easier and more inspiring. We wanted to share them with you today!

    • Libby’s Digital Recipe Box: The Digital Recipe Box application just launched on Facebook. It houses more than 100 recipes and allows users to share, like and print recipes to their heart’s content. The app also allows you to plan meals by dish, ingredient or type of gathering. You will also find the recipes featured on the…wait for it…
    • Libby’s Pinterest Page: The Pinterest page is also brand-spakin’ new, featuring recipes, family activity ideas, nutrition tips and more!

    Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Giveaway time! And we have MORE Le Creuset to share with you!

    One lucky, randomly-selected winner will receive a variety of Libby’s® Fruits & Vegetables product as well as a Le Creuset 10.5″ Oblong Grill Pan in Ink. Oh how I LOVE Le Creuset’s Ink.

     

    Here’s how to enter!

    Be sure to leave separate comments for each additional entry. All comments must be posted by Midnight PT on Monday, March 25. (Prize must be shipped to a U.S. address.)

     

     

    Good luck with the giveaway! Big thank to Libby’s! And, without further ado, today’s recipe!

    Ginger Candied Vegetables {and a giveaway from Libby's with another chance at some Le Creuset!}
     
    From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • ¼ cup brown sugar
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • 2 15-ounce cans Libby’s Gourmet Baby Carrots, drained
    • 1 15-ounce can Libby’s whole corn, drained
    • 1 15-ounce can Libby’s all-natural peas, drained
    • (This glaze would be good on other types of veggies, too. Shoot for 3-4 pounds total of vegetables if you mix things up. Blanched or steamed vegetables would work very well.)
    Instructions
    1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add brown sugar, ginger, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for a few minutes, until sugar crystals are mostly dissolved (about 3 or 4 minutes total). Add veggies, stir and cook until vegetables are heated through. Serve immediately. Makes about 10-15 servings.

     

    This post was sponsored by Libby’s – payment was received for services rendered.


  3. Thursday, February 7, 2013

    Homemade Grocery Store Garlic Bread

    Today, a simple side.

    As a kid, I loved it when my mom would get the grocery store garlic bread. You know, the kind in the foil bag in the baskets by the cashiers. Okay, I’ll admit it, I still kind of love the stuff. But I find that I like my homemade version better. Less greasy, less overwhelmingly flavored, but still full of that buttery, garlicky goodness.

    And it’s oh-so-easy to make. You’ll maybe add 5 minutes of prep time to your dinner routine. No biggie at all.

    Homemade Grocery Store Garlic Bread
     
    From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
    Author:
    Cuisine: Side Dish
    Ingredients
    • 1 loaf Italian bread (16 oz), sliced horizontally
    • 1 stick butter (told you it was still super buttery!)
    • 1 garlic clove, finely minced or pushed through a garlic press
    • 3 pinches of dried parsley
    • 1 pinch dried basil
    • 1 pinch dried oregano
    • 1 pinch coarse salt
    • 1 Tablespoon fresh grated parmesan cheese (if you don’t have the cheese on hand, leave it out!)
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Soften butter (leave on the counter for an hour or two or microwave for 10 seconds at power level 2). Mix in all the other ingredients. Spread butter mixture over cut surface of garlic bread. Reassemble loaf of bread and wrap with foil. Bake 15-20 minutes, until inside of bread is hot. Slice and serve!

     


  4. Tuesday, November 20, 2012

    {Thanksgiving Prep} Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

    Today’s post might be a little controversial. Maybe even more controversial than the 2012 presidential election. I know. Are you ready?

    I don’t like green bean casserole. You know, the casserole that practically everyone else in America seems to LOVE except me. The casserole that graces many a Thanksgiving table every November. I appreciate that it is a staple and I love that other people love it. But, yeah. I’m just not that into it and always pass when it’s available.

    See. Controversy. I may as well just tell you who I voted for for president. That might actually cause less of a stir! So, I voted for…

    What, did you REALLY think I’d fess up about my secret ballot? Yeah right!

    Back to casserole. I decided to invite green bean casserole into my life this year. But I also decided I wanted it to be made completely from scratch. Fresh green beans and mushrooms, no canned soup, homemade onion rings. The task was daunting, but I have to tell you, I am SOOOOOO glad I tackled this challenge. Because the end result was unbelievably delicious. And I am NOT speaking in hyperbole here.

    Our friend Brandon, a renowned casserole hater, took a bite and said, “Where have you been all my life?”

    Is that enough of a build up for you? Are you ready to cast aside the canned soup and the store-bought french fried onions and throw a little blood, sweat and tears into your green bean casserole? Good. Here you go.


    {Thanksgiving Prep} Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
     
    Adapted from two recipes, one from Williams Sonoma the other from Cook’s Illustrated
    Author:
    Recipe type: Side Dish, Thanksgiving
    Cuisine: American
    Ingredients
    • 1½ pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 2”³-3”³ pieces
    • 1 cup water and a large bowl of ice water
    • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
    • 3 tablespoon butter
    • 1 small onion or ½ regular-sized onion, chopped
    • ⅓ cup flour
    • 1½ cups chicken or veggie stock/broth
    • 1 cup cream
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • 3 shallots, sliced very thin
    • ¼ cup flour
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon pepper
    • ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    2. In a large skillet with a lid, heat 1 cup water to boiling over medium-high to high heat. Add green beans. Put on lid and cook for three minutes. Remove beens and place in ice water. Set beans aside.
    3. Pour water off of the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and melt butter. Add mushroom and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chopped onion and cook an additional 5+ minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle ⅓ cup flour over the mushrooms and onions and stir well, cooking for a minute or so. Slowly stir in the chicken broth. Slowly stir in the cream. Mix well. Add ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir well then mix in green beans. Transfer to 9×13 casserole dish and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes (you will put fried shallot rings on top for the last 5 minutes of baking”¦see below).
    4. While casserole is baking, heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Mix flour, ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper in a medium to large bowl. Mix shallot rings in the flour, coating well. Use your hands to mix the shallots in the flour so you can break the rings up and get them coated really well. Transfer floured shallots with tongs to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until shallots are crisp and golden.
    5. Sprinkle fried shallots over the top of the casserole at the 25 minute baking point. Bake 5 more minutes. Serve hot!
    6. If you want to make this ahead of time, I would do everything except the fried shallot rings and put the casserole in the fridge BEFORE baking. Bake 5-10 minutes longer since the casserole will be going into the oven cold and make the fried shallot rings while the casserole is baking.

    green bean casserole from scratch by @janemaynard from thisweekfordinner.com


  5. Monday, November 19, 2012

    {Thanksgiving Prep & Giveaway!} Beet and Carrot Salad

    Thanksgiving is all about rich, comforting foods. That’s one of the things I love about the holiday. That said, sometimes it’s nice to get a fresh salad on the table or some veggies that haven’t been drenched in butter, sugar, or both! Today I have a quick and easy salad recipe for you that offers that element of freshness but still has the Thanksgiving comfort of autumnal, root vegetables.

    Two weeks ago I ate at Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay for the first time. I ordered the clam chowder, of course! And it was amazing. Oh. Those. Clams. Anyway, my friend Mindy and I split a beet and carrot salad, to counteract the buttery, creamy soup we were going to be eating for dinner. The salad was great! The roasted carrots and beats were delicious served cold with fresh greens, creamy feta cheese and pistachios. The salad was tossed with a savory dressing, which balanced well with the sweetness of the vegetables.

    The very next day Libby’s asked if I would work with them to make a recipe using their canned sliced beets and sliced carrots. I responded with a big fat YES, knowing that I wanted to recreate the beet and carrot salad I had eaten the night before. The Thanksgiving salad stars were aligning! It’s a simple salad that’s full of flavor, and using Libby’s canned sliced carrots and sliced beets makes it quick and easy to throw together. Quick and easy are always welcome recipe attributes on Thanksgiving Day!

     

    Before we get to the salad, how about a giveaway? Okay? Okay!

     

    The randomly-selected winner of this giveaway will receive a KitchenAid 6-Qt. Slow Cooker along with an assortment of Libby’s fruits and vegetables, courtesy of Libby’s. For the record, this slow cooker is totally awesome. Four heat settings and all kinds of programming options? Totally jealous. Anyway, enough about me and my envy, here’s how you can enter!

     

    • Simply leave a comment to enter! If you’d like to share your favorite healthy Thanksgiving recipes in your comment, we’d love to hear your ideas, although it is not mandatory.
    • For additional entries you can “Like” Libby’s on Facebook and/or follow Libby’s on Twitter. Be sure to leave separate comments for each entry!
    • All comments must be added to this post by Midnight PT on Tuesday, November 27.
    Big thanks to Libby’s for an awesome giveaway! Good luck to all! And now for the salad!
    Beet and Carrot Salad
     
    Author:
    Recipe type: Side Dish, Vegetable
    Ingredients
    • 1 5-ounce package mixed baby greens
    • 1 can Libby’s sliced carrots, drained
    • 1 can Libby’s sliced beets, drained and cut into bite-sized pieces
    • Shelled pistachios, amount to taste
    • Crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese, amount to taste
    • Your favorite savory oil and vinegar salad dressing (don’t use a sweet salad dressing)
    Instructions
    1. Mix everything together! Add salad dressing right before serving and toss.

  6. Tuesday, November 13, 2012

    {Thanksgiving Prep} Brown Butter Squash

    Last week I met some friends for dinner at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco. We ordered a salad appetizer to share, which was topped with squash cooked in brown butter. The salad was good, but honestly, I could have eaten a pound of that brown butter squash for dinner and been happy.

    Since squash pretty much screams autumn, I decided brown butter squash would make for a great Thanksgiving side dish. It’s easy, it’s wholesome, it’s comforting. And that bit of sage sprinkled in? That seals the Thanksgiving deal. I don’t know about you, but all I have to do is smell a bit of sage and I’m immediately transported to Thanksgivings past.

    brown butter squash with sage by @janemaynard from thisweekfordinner.com

    Owen and I are eating the squash that is pictured for lunch today. He’s gobbling it up.  Pun intended. In fact, I’m going to see how many times I can use the word gobble before Thanksgiving arrives…get ready!

    Brown Butter Squash
     
    From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner
    Author:
    Recipe type: Side Dish, Squash
    Ingredients
    • 1 acorn squash (or any kind of winter squash you like), peeled, cored and cut into small cubes (about ½”³ in size) – my acorn squash yielded about 4 cups of cubed squash
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • ½ teaspoon dried sage
    • salt & pepper
    Instructions
    1. Heat a medium-large-ish skillet over medium heat. Add butter and whisk until butter browns. Here’s what will happen”¦the butter will melt, then it will start to bubble, then it will really start to bubble and foam, then that bubbling and foaming will stop (although there will still be residual bubbles) and THEN the butter will brown. Take it off the heat at this point – you don’t want it to burn. This whole process takes about 5 minutes.
    2. Whisk in the sage, then add the cubed squash to the pan and toss to coat in the butter. Return the pan to the heat, heat the pan back up to medium, then turn the heat down to medium-low, cover the pan and cook until the squash is soft. This will probably take about 5-10 minutes. Once it’s the consistency you want it, take the lid off, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste, carefully stir and flip the squash to coat, let cook 1-2 more minutes, then transfer to serving dish. Be sure to pour all that yummy browned, seasoned butter over the squash because, darn, that is some good butter.
    3. Probably about 4-6 servings if used as a side dish. Feel free to use more squash, just up the amount of butter and spice accordingly!

     


  7. Tuesday, September 18, 2012

    Devilishly Delicious Cream and Potatoes

    A side dish that I grew up with were these delicious potatoes…cooked in cream and seasoned simply with salt and pepper. There’s something about the flavor of cream and potatoes paired with pepper that just takes me back in time.

    I realized a few weeks ago that I’ve never actually made these tasty taters myself. Which is crazy because they are easy to throw together and OH SO GOOD.

    And, yes, they are devilishly delicious. I mean, it’s pretty much straight up cream with some potatoes thrown in for good measure. But the peels are healthy, so there ya go!

    Devilishly Delicious Cream and Potatoes
     
    From Phyllis and Hans Wallin (Jane’s parents)
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • About 6 good-sized red potatoes (go with a less starchy potato, like new potatoes, if you can)
    • 1 pint cream
    • Salt & pepper, to taste
    • 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter
    Instructions
    1. Chop potatoes into evenly-sized, bite-sized pieces. Heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook over medium-low to medium heat until potatoes have softened and can be cut easily with a thin knife. I usually cook the potatoes with the lid on the pan and stir them every few minutes.
    2. Pour cream over potatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper, about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of each. Make sure there is enough pepper that you can taste it. Heat over medium-low heat uncovered until hot and cream has started to thicken. The potatoes will help thicken the sauce, which is good but is also why I like to use red potatoes so that they hold their shape and don’t thicken the cream too much.

     


  8. Tuesday, July 31, 2012

    Orzo Salad Yumminess

    My mother-in-law Pat made a super yummy orzo salad for us on the Cape last week. It was simple and oh-so-tasty. A definite keeper of a recipe and perfect for summertime!

    Pat said normally the feta is all mixed in, unlike what you see in the photo. But a certain brother-in-law of mine doesn’t like feta (what the what?!?!), so we sprinkled it on top so Cuyler could pick it out easily. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Pat’s a good mother-in-law.

    Happy Orzo salading!

    Orzo Salad Yumminess
     
    Adapted by Pat Maynard from a recipe from Jean Harford of Gregg Lake
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 8 ounces orzo, cooked and drained well
    • 1 small red pepper chopped
    • shaved carrots
    • parsley (and dill if desired)
    • 2-3 stalks celery, finely chopped
    • 1 cup black beans or chick peas, rinsed and well drained
    • 1 small can sweet corn, drained
    • ground black pepper
    • 8 – 10 sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped or sliced
    • ¼ cup feta, crumbled
    • ⅓-1/2 cup Greek salad dressing (Ken’s Steakhouse and Newman’s Own are great)
    Instructions
    1. Mix orzo with dressing once it has cooled a bit, breaking up any clumps. Refrigerate while you put together the other ingredients. Combine with orzo and refrigerate to combine flavors. Can adjust by taking away any of the above ingredients and adding others such as grape tomatoes, shrimp, cucumber,green onion or black olives.

     


  9. Friday, April 27, 2012

    Grandma Wallin’s Bulle

    My Grandma Wallin was a wonderful cook. A reluctant American, she never stopped eating and cooking like a Swede, despite living in the United States for the last 45+ years of her life. Many of my memories of her are centered around food. Amazing ham for Christmas Eve dinner, rice pudding with a hidden almond for dessert. Swedish meatballs for Sunday dinners. Cheese and hard bread every single day of her life. Despite all these food memories, my strongest by far is of cardamom bread. Officially called vetebröd, our family calls Swedish cardamom bread “bulle,” which means “roll” or “bun” in Swedish. Every time I taste cardamom, no matter what dish it is in, I immediately think of my grandma and her bulle.

    Grandma Wallin served bulle pretty much every time we saw her. My memories of Grandma’s bulle involve buns that looked like cinnamon rolls, but flavored with cardamom rather than cinnamon. I remember one time when I was around 9 years old she came to visit and baked a batch, specifically making a cinnamon version for me. I laugh when I think that I would have asked for cinnamon bulle since I always liked the cardamom version anyway. Crazy 9-year-old Jane.

    My mom has continued the tradition of making bulle, especially at Christmastime. While the little rolled buns remind me of my grandmother, the beautiful braided version of the bread reminds me of my mom and Christmas. Since I’ve been married and have started a family of my own, I always make bulle on Christmas Eve so we can have it Christmas morning. Like my mother, I braid the dough.

    I was thinking about my grandmother’s version of the bread the other day, so I gave my mom a call to find out how Grandma Wallin made her bulle. My mom started to describe the process for making the braid. I stopped her and said, “Yeah, I know how to do that. That’s how I’ve always done it. How did she make the buns?” My mom laughed and said, “She switched to the buns when she was older. My memories of her bulle are of the braids!” While we both had the same Grandma Wallin bulle memories, it was funny to us that the shape of her bread was so different in our minds.

    I was talking to my sister about these memories the other day. She’s nearly nine years younger than I am, so her memories are not always the same as mine. When I was telling her about how my recollections of Grandma Wallin’s bread were similar but different from our mom’s, she laughed and said, “I always thought that Grandma made cinnamon rolls…but now that I think about it, I’m certain it was bulle. I never even realized those buns were the same as the braided bread Mom makes.” I love that one type of food in the same family can have such different associations for the different family members.

    As I write this, I have a batch of bulle baking, the familiar scent filling our home. I am delighted that my daughters love bulle as much as I do. I look forward to teaching them how to make the bread and then watching them one day make it for their own children. It remains to be seen what shape of bulle they will associate with me and ultimately make themselves!

    Please share your own family food memories! Would love to hear them!

    Note: I’ve shared the vetebröd recipe previously, but I’ve only ever made the bread into a braid. This was the first time I made bulle into buns like my grandma did and they turned out deliciously. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit here to tailor to the bun shape. If you want to try your hand at the braid, click here!

    Grandma Wallin's Bulle
     
    Makes 48 buns”¦I promise you can eat them all.
    Author:
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Ingredients
    • 2½ cups milk
    • 2 cakes compressed yeast OR 2 packets active dry yeast OR 4½ tsp. active dry yeast
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 8 cups sifted flour
    • 1 cup melted butter
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ~3 teaspoons ground cardamom
    • ½ cup or so of butter, melted
    • Sugar
    • Powdered sugar
    • Milk
    Instructions
    1. Scald milk and cool to luke warm. Crumble yeast in bowl: add ½ cup luke warm milk and stir until yeast is dissolved. Add remaining milk and ¼ c sugar. Beat in 3 C flour and continue beating until smooth. Cover and set aside to rise until double in bulk, ¾ – 1 hour.
    2. Add remaining sugar, 1 cup melted, cooled butter and salt. Add about 1½ teaspoons of the cardamom and 4½ C flour to yeast mixture. Place remaining ½ C flour on board or pastry cloth for kneading. (I let the KitchenAid do the kneading, so add 5 cups of flour at this point if you are going to do the same.)
    3. Turn out dough and knead until smooth and elastic. (If you are using the KitchenAid to knead, use the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes or so on low.) Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with cloth and let rise until double in bulk, ¾ – 1 hour.
    4. Divide dough into four even pieces. Roll each piece out into a rectangle, about 15”³ x 20”³. Brush rectangle with butter, then sprinkle evenly with sugar and cardamom (dividing the remaining 1½ teaspoons of cardamom between the four rectangles”¦it may be more than that). Roll the dough up so you end up with a 20”³ long roll. Slice off pieces so you end up with 12 pieces per rolled rectangle. Place rolls in buttered muffin tins. Let rise until double in bulk, 30-40 mins. Brush with egg. Bake in moderately hot oven (400 degrees F) 12-15 minutes, until tops and bottoms are golden.
    5. Drizzle rolls with glaze (see below).

    Vanilla Glaze
     
    Author:
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Ingredients
    • 1¼ cups sifted powdered sugar
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla
    • Milk or half-and-half or light cream
    Instructions
    1. Whisk sugar and vanilla together. Stir in enough milk/half-and-half/light cream to make drizzling consistency (a little goes a long way!).


  10. Friday, November 18, 2011

    Pat’s Butternut Squash

    It’s a good thing my mother-in-law came to visit last week because it actually gave me some food to write about! It’s been great being able to post about the delicious food she made for us…and so much of it is perfect for Thanksgiving, so it’s great timing!

    Today I have a nice, simple side dish for you that would be perfect right along with some turkey and stuffing, although we had it with filet mignon and that was pretty perfect, too. Pat ate some butternut squash at Whole Foods once that she loved, so she went home and recreated it. It is simple, easy and delicious. Just the kind of recipe you need for that busy Thanksgiving day.

    Pat's Butternut Squash
     
    From my mother-in-law Pat Maynard
    Author:
    Recipe type: Side Dish, Thanksgiving
    Ingredients
    • 1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into ~1”³ squares
    • One small onion, cut into thin slices
    • 1-2 Tablespoons butter
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • 3 heaping Tablespoons dried cranberries
    Instructions
    1. In a large pot, cook onions in butter and olive oil until soft over mediumish heat. Add sugar towards the end to sweeten/caramelize the onions. Add dried cranberries. Stir with onions about 1 minute or till softened a bit. Put the butternut squash into the pot with the onion mixture. Cover and steam/cook slowly over low-medium heat until squash is nice and tender (but not moist because Pat can’t stand that word and this is her recipe). Stir gently and add a pat of butter if needed before serving.