Happy Insides

Here we go with another sweet potato recipe.  What did I say before?  We just can't get enough of these things.  They are so great for the cold fall weather.  We found this recipe and couldn't wait to make it.  Not only was it delicious looking, but it also included fresh rosemary which we happened to have on hand and wanted to use up before it dried out.  The recipe can take some time, but it is definitely worth it.  It is perfect for a hearty Sunday night meal.  We really enjoyed the flavor of the squash, caramelized onion and feta all together.  It really created a satisfying meal.  We added bacon to the pie because, well honestly, because we are both a bit of bacon fanatics.  It added another layer of flavor and was a really good addition, but certainly isn't necessary to the overall pie and would be perfectly delicious left vegetarian.

Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Feta Pie
Adapted from Christine's Recipes
Makes 4 generous main dish servings or 6 side dish servings

Shortcrust Pastry:
8 oz. whole wheat pastry flour 
4 oz. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 T. cold water

Pie:
15 oz. butternut squash,diced
7 oz. sweet potato, diced
6 cloves garlic unpeeled
3 T. olive oil, divided
3 oz. feta cheese
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. sucanat
2 t. finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 egg, whisked
shortcrust pastry

To make the pastry:
1) Place the flour and butter into the food processor and pulse until well combined and crumble.  Add the cold water and pulse again until the dough begins to come together.

2) Knead the dough into a circular disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes until you are ready to use it.

To make the pie:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the squash, sweet potatoes, and garlic cloves into a baking dish and toss with 1 1/2 T. of olive oil.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until the mixture is tender.  Remove from the oven.

2) Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan.  Cook the onions over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes.  Add the vinegar and the sucanat and cook for another 12 minutes until the onions are caramelized.

3) Squeeze the roasted garlic out of their husks and discard the husks.  Return the garlic to the roasted vegetables.  Add the onions, rosemary, feta, salt, pepper and bacon (if using) into the roasted vegetables.

4) On parchment paper roll the pastry till it is about a 11 inch circle.  Heap the vegetable mixture in the center of the pie leaving a 1 1/2 inch border of crust.  You may have some filling left over.  Fold the edges of the pastry up pleating it as you go.  Brush the crust with the whisked egg.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes on 400 until the crust is golden.  Serve immediately.

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As we've posted before, pizza is probably our favorite thing to cook.  When we have dinner guests, especially for the first time, we usually bust out the old reliable pizza, because almost everyone likes it, you can feed quite a few people for very little money, and a well planned and executed pizza is just impressive.  Not everyone is as crazy as we are about pizza, and a lot of people would consider what we put on them to be unacceptable, not because it's not good, but because it sounds sort of bizarre.  We usually save our pizza experiments for when we're not expecting anyone over, so as not to offend anyone with our sometimes crazy notions.  A few weekends back we experimented with bacon, fig and balsamic vinegar.  It was absolutely fantastic, so we thought we'd share.

Toppings (for 2 pies):
10 fresh figs
1 onion
7 or 8 large mushrooms
4 strips of bacon, cooked
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar

Begin by following our basic pizza recipe for the crust and sauce.  Thinly slice the figs, onion, and mushrooms.  Leave the basil leaves whole and crumble up or slice the bacon.  Place half the cheese on the pizzas, then the toppings, and then the rest of the cheese.  Drizzle a little vinegar over each of the pizzas and put them in the oven.  Cook for 12 minutes at 450 degrees or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

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We are big fans of savory and sweet mixed together.  We are always combining things like fruit and cheese, salt and chocolate, etc.  When we saw this recipe for chocolate bacon cupcakes we knew that this was a recipe we just had to try.  Chocolate and bacon are two of our favorite foods so mixing them together sounded like genius.  The we decided to add peanut butter frosting into the mix and it sent these cupcakes to a whole different level of amazing.  Both of us agree that these are by far our favorite cupcakes that we have ever had.  We will be making these again and again and again.  We served these at our Halloween Party and they were a huge crowd pleaser.  Everyone was a little hesitant at first, but once they tried them every single one of our guests raved about them.  

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This dish is so delicious.  Now most people would read that the chicken is cooked in bacon grease and automatically put this dish in the "better not eat" category.  Now normally we would agree, but this uses only 1 slice of bacon.  That is only about 45 calories and that 1 slice packs a serious flavor punch!  Not only is this dish tasty, but it is relatively easy too.  We frequently make this dish on Thursday nights.  Why Thursdays?  Well Thursday nights seem to be the nights that we are most likely to not want to cook and just order pizza.  That always leaves us feeling gross and wishing we hadn't  This is so good that we look forward to cooking and eating.  The thought of pizza never enters out mind.  We served this with some steamed summer squash and brown rice.  

Caraway Chicken Breasts with Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage
 Adapted from February 2010 Bon Appetit Magazine
Makes 2 servings 
1 t. caraway seeds
1/2 t. ground allspice, divided
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 slice thick cut applewood-smoked bacon
3 c. thinly sliced red cabbage
1/2 c. sliced shallots
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. sucanat

1) Sprinkle caraway and 1/4 t. allspice on both sides of chicken breasts and then sprinkle with salt and pepper

2) Cook bacon until crisp in a skillet over medium heat.  Transfer to a plate.   Chop bacon.

3) Add chicken to drippings in skilled.  Sautee until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

4) Add the cabbage, shallots, broth, vinegar, sucanat, and 1/4 t. allspice to the skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until the liquid is reduced to glaze and the cabbage is crisp-tender.  Mix in the bacon and season with salt and pepper.  Serve.

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What the heck is biscuits and gravy doing on a healthy eating blog? Well we both firmly believe that a healthy lifestyle contains the occasional unhealthy food. Splurging once in awhile helps keep you from feeling deprived and then binging. Biscuits and gravy really don't need any kind of introductory hype. They're just flat-out, savory goodness. We've made basic biscuits and gravy before, then we discovered a recipe for Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits in Bon Appetite magazine, so we thought why not use those instead of your regular buttermilk variety. We adapted the recipe to include jalapenos and no chives, which added a complimentary spice.

Gravy (found at: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbiscuitsandgravy.html)

½ lb. ground breakfast sausage.
2 T. butter
4 T. all purpose flour
3 c. cold milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You'll need it to make the roux...

You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste.

Cheddar, Bacon, and Jalapeno Biscuits (adapted from Bon Appetit, Feb. 2010)
Makes 6 biscuits

3 thick-cut bacon slices
2 cups bread flour
3/4 T. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chilled, unsalted butter,
cut into half inch cubes
1 jalapeno, minced
3/4 c. chilled buttermilk

Position rack just above center of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels and drain, then chop coarsely.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in processor. Add butter cubes. Blend until coarse meal forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Add cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and copped bacon; toss to blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).

Using lightly floured hands, drop generous 1/2 cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Now, split two biscuits onto each plate and pour the gravy on top.


Remember, you don't have to live in the deep South to eat like the world is going to end tomorrow, so when you're craving something that'll leave you and your dinner guests speechless, give this a try.

Servings: 3

Calories: Don't ask

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