Squash Casserole

4 cups sliced yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 sleeve buttery round crackers (such as Ritz)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350. Put squash, onion, and about a cup and a half of water in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until squash and onions are tender, about five to ten minutes. Drain well. Add half stick of margarine and let melt.

In medium bowl, crush crackers and stir in cheese. Add salt and pepper, stir. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the squash.

In small bowl, mix together milk and two eggs. Pour into squash mixture. Stir well. Pour into casserole dish. Top with remaining crumb mixture and butter.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until top is browned.

Pecan Crusted Trout

Pecan Trout Crust:

1 cup lightly toasted pecans, chopped
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
4 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves
4 trout fillets
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

To make the pecan crusted trout:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Combine all of the dry ingredients, seasonings, and herbs. Brush each trout fillet with the softened butter. Sprinkle the buttered side of each trout fillet with the pecan crust and press firmly with your hand to completely cover each fillet.  (I buttered both sides and pressed crust on both sides.)

Brush a cookie sheet with the remaining butter. Place the fillets on the buttered cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the flesh is firm and flaky.

Yumbo!

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New!

When I made the Pecan Crusted Trout recipe, I made a lot more of the crust, because we had more fillets than the recipe called for.  I ended up using about half of the crust mixture, so I froze  the rest for later use.  One night I wanted to try something new and John had bought Portabello mushrooms.  I took the frozen left over crust mixture and added some chopped frozen (peeled and cooked) baby shrimp and Monterrey Jack cheese to the trout crust.  Then I stuffed the new mixture into Portabello Mushrooms.  I baked them on 350 until the mushrooms were done and the crust was a golden brown.  AMAZING!!!  See below what I did with the leftover crust mixture from this batch.  (I finally used all of it!)

THEN...

I pounded boneless chicken breasts to about 1/4" and put the crust mixture inside and rolled it up.  I put the rolls into a glass baking dish.  Added uncooked rice and frozen brocolli around the sides of the dish around the chicken.  I poured in a mixture of cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup with two cans of  milk. (I mixed this separately first.)  I also had some left over sauteed mushrooms that I mixed in and added garlic salt and parsley.  I sprinkled the remaining crust over the top. I cooked this for about an hour at 350, until the chicken was done and the rice was tender.  We didn't even get left overs of this!  The boys cleared it out when they got home!  I wonder what else I could do with that mixture?  It was amazing!!!

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With Thanksgiving coming up this is a fantastic meal for in the morning.  I guarantee you won't have leftovers.  It is WONDERFUL!

Spinach and Sausage Quiche   (Makes 2 Quiches)  Deep dish pie pans only make 1

 
1pkg                              Pillsbury ready-made pie crust
1lb                                 Hot Owen's Bulk Sausage
1-10oz package              Frozen Spinach (thawed and all the water squeezed out)
1 Bunch                         Green onions chopped
1-1/2 cups                      Pepperidge Farms Herb Flavor stuffing mix
1-1/2 cups                      Monterrey Jack cheese grated
1/2 cups                         Parmesan Cheese (I use fresh grated but you can use powdered)
3                                    Eggs
1-1/2 cups                      Half-n-Half

 
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare pie crusts in pie pans.  Put waxed paper over pie crusts and fill pans with dry beans so they will bake flat.  Bake for 8 mins while you are preparing the filling.  Brown crumbled sausage.  Do not drain grease from the pan.  Once sausage is browned, add spinach, onions, stuffing mix.  Cook for five minutes longer, mixing well, Mix together eggs and Half-n-Half.  Divide everything into two portions.   Layer in each pie crust:

Monterrey Jack cheese, sausage filling, pour in egg mixture, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 300 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until the eggs have set.  Yumbo!!!  *note- This is NOT a low calorie food.  Enjoy!

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Variation on the quiche recipe.

This was inspired over the weekend when I had most of the filling ingredients, but no pie crust.  I wanted to make something amazing for our Sunday breakfast.  Wow!  This was amazing and the left overs reheat very well.  I just had one for lunch.  We will be doing this more often!

Sausage and Spinach Popovers

1lb                                 Hot Owen's Bulk Sausage
1-10oz package              Frozen Spinach (thawed and all the water squeezed out)
1 Bunch                         Green onions chopped
1 cup                             Pepperidge Farms Herb Flavor stuffing mix
                                     Monterrey Jack cheese grated
                                     Parmesan Cheese (I use fresh grated but you can use powdered)
1 roll (10 biscuits)                Grands Flaky Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown crumbled sausage.  Do not drain grease from the pan.  Once sausage is browned, add spinach, onions, stuffing mix.  Cook for five minutes longer, mixing well.  Place in a large bowl to cool a bit. 

While the filling is cooling, take a biscuit and roll out between two sheets of waxed paper until it is about 10" in diameter.  Peel off one side of the paper and on one half of the circle sprinkle both Monterrey Jack and parmesan cheese. Don't put too much or it will ooze out when you bake it.  I guess I used about a tablespoon of each. Then spoon about 2 tbsp of filling.  I am guessing.  I  filled it so when I fold over the other half of the biscuit it didn't over flow.  Leave a little edge clean so you can seal when it is filled.  Once you get the filling all in fold over the biscuit and press the edges.  A fork works well for this too.   Place each one on a baking sheet with a little space between each one.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the crusts are golden brown.   Amazing!!!

*I am going to try using Pillsbury croissants next time instead of biscuits.

Note:  You will have lots of filling left over if you only do 1 roll of biscuits.  With my leftover filling I am going to pound some chicken breasts thinly and roll it into a roll secured with toothpicks (either that or a pork tenderloin.)  I'll probably grill it.  I'll let you know how that turns out.  :)

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Pineapple-Ginger Upside Down Cake

Topping:

6 tablespoons butter (recipe calls for unsalted, I didn't have it so I used regular)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 small fresh pineapple, peeled, cored cut in rounds and drained
1/4 cup pecan bits (I used more)
6-10 cherries (optional)  I didn't use

Cake:

1-1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (again, I used regular butter)
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the topping:

In a 10" cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  (If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, melt the butter and sugar and transfer to an appropriate sized baking dish to follow the rest of the topping portion.  This will over-flow in the oven during baking if it is not deep enough) Stir in the brown sugar until melted and add the ginger.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Arrange as many pineapple slices in the skillet as can be attractively positioned.  Sprinkle the pecans around the edges and inside the pineapple holes, basically where ever you see the sugar.  Set the skillet aside.

Make the batter:

Sift together the flour baking powder and soda and salt.  Set the mixture aside.

In a bowl large enough to incorporate both wet and dry ingredients, with a mixer, cream together the sugar and butter.  Add the egg yolks, one by one, and then the vanilla, beating well after each addition.  Mix in the sifted  dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the sour cream and combine the ingredients well.  The batter will be somewhat stiff.

Spoon batter over the topping in the skillet, smoothing the top.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Run a knife around the cake's sides, and invert it onto a serving plate.  Allow it to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.  Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.