Parmesan Herb Faux-Zotto

Crazy name, true. Fabulous dish, yes!
Morgan is here with us this weekend. He's now 18. The last time I 'attempted' to serve cauliflower when he was here I made twice baked cauliflower casserole. You'd have thought he was having a seizure or something the way he acted when the serving spoon filled with warm, cheesy cauliflower goodness headed towards his plate!
This time was different. He looked at it. He smelled it. He smiled. He tasted it. He savored it. He went NUTS about it! Hearing his description was like winning a cooking show! He said the consistency, texture and flavor was incredible!
That, coming from an eighteen year old ... I'll take it!

INGREDIENTS:
1 large head of cauliflower
2 tablespoons Rosemary Infused Olive Oil
1 teaspoon chopped Garlic
6 fresh leaves of Lavender plus the buds off a large stalk
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Half & Half
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
Sea Salt
Fresh ground Pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash cauliflower and cut it into small pieces. In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower into the size of rice grains.

2. In a heavy pan, heat olive oil, adding salt and pepper and garlic. Sautee garlic until it's golden and aromatic. Add cauliflower, mixing well, to coat evenly.
3. Add lavender and more salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat, cover and allow to cook for 5 -7 minutes.

4. Add half and half, butter and parmesan cheese. Mix well and cover. Allow to cook an additional 5 - 7 minutes.

 After the liquids have thickened ...

5. Serve and enjoy!

RECIPE: Thanksgiving Dinner Trader Joe's Style

Every year of my life I have had Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Tennessee. Well, all but a couple of years when we were flying there on Thanksgiving Day. This year we are at home in California. Since I've always been in Tennessee, we've always spent the day with my family. My sister-in-law wasn't there this year either. Her daughter just gave birth to a beautiful baby earlier this week, so she's at their home helping them. She said this was the first time in 27 years she's not been with our family, too. Not to mention this was the first Thanksgiving without my dad. Anyway, we will be getting together soon, so we'll make up for lost time then. Dad definitely was the glue that held our family together. I miss you, dad.

So, with many changes in traditions, it's time to try new things and start our own traditions. Conrad and I talked over options of what to do for Thanksgiving dinner and we quickly ruled out making reservations at local restaurants. We discussed ordering a meal from a local restaurant or grocery store and quickly ruled that out, as well. We ended up cooking at home. We bought a 12 pound turkey ...

 I rinsed it, dried, it, put salt, pepper, fresh sage, rosemary and thyme inside, along with the neck and the organs and a slices sweet onion … 

 I also placed a couple of slices of bacon inside the cavity, as well. I rubbed the skin with olive oil, then generously salted and peppered the skin.

 I added a few more fresh herbs … 

 Then covered the bird in BACON! I had preheated the oven to 500°, so I put the bird in for 30 minutes before reducing the temperature to 350° for the duration of the roasting time. As you know, cooking time varied by oven and size of the bird, but it's done when the temperature reached 161 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. After it's done, take the bird out of the oven, place it on a large platter, cover it with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. 

While the bird was roasting I made dressing. Some folks call it stuffing, but I grew up calling it dressing.  I had never tried Trader Joe's Thanksgiving dinner fixin's before, but I will definitely use them again. To sum it up in one word … DELICIOUS!!!

I added a few of my own ideas to their stuffing mix recipe, including a pound of sage sausage, chicken broth instead of water for a richer flavor, and an egg to hold it together better.
First you empty 4 cups of water (or broth), 4 tablespoons butter, and the seasoning mix packet into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir often and let it gently boil for 3 - 5 minutes. I let it go 6.

 Fry the sausage … 

 Oh, and I added poultry seasoning! What stuffing/dressing is complete without it!

 Ready to go in the over … 350° for 50 minutes.

Yum! Finished product!

We also had grilled asparagus with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and fresh grated parmesan. In the background there's a triple crock pot with mashed potatoes for Conrad, mashed sweet potatoes for me, and Trader Joe's turkey gravy in the third one. 

Ding! And, the bird is ready! The bacon kept it moist, golden brown, and crispy skin with tender meat throughout!

Conrad made his famous deviled eggs, too. We splurged a little by having the dressing, a small piece of homemade rosemary bread, and cranberry sauce … Also from Trader Joe's. 

The table is set and dinner is served!

 Definitely a member of the clean plate club tonight!

RECIPE: Moroccan Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I often refer to Gavan Murphy's website for cooking adventure ideas. Two of my favorite dishes from his website are Orange-Ginger Pork and Moroccan Marinated Chicken. I decided to see how cooking a pork tenderloin would be with the moroccan marinade. The results? OUTSTANDING! I'm glad I doubled the recipe because now we'll have enough for several meals.
I paired it with some stuffed roasted zucchini. Excellent stuff!
***Please note***The meat must marinate for 4 hours, so there is preparation that needs to be done in advance.
MOROCCAN MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 pound pork tenderloin


Marinade:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon groung Coriander
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Lemon Pepper
1 teaspoon organic Agave

DIRECTIONS:

Preparing/marinating the pork ...
Combine the marinade ingredients together and blend well. (I used my immersion blender) Taste and set aside.
Preheat large skillet on high heat. Lay pork on foil or a paper towel then sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to hot pan, then add the pork to sear all sides. This should take 2 or 3 minutes per side. 

Once all the pork is golden brown, add it to the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Baking the Tenderloin ... 

***Allow the meat to return to room temperature to insure even cooking.***
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place tenderloin on a foil-lined baking dish and place in oven. I doubled this recipe and it took 35 minutes, so be sure to start checking for doneness at about 20 minutes. 

I used my meat thermometer and checked the thickest part of a meat.  At 25 minutes the inside temperature of the pork was 139 degrees, so I returned the dish back to the oven for 10 more minutes. If you're checking with a meat thermometer you want the internat temperature to be 155 degrees.

Remove the dish from the oven and allow the meat to 'rest' for at least 3 minutes. This allows for the juices to be reabsorbed back into the meat for maximum juiciness.

RECIPE: Stuffed Zucchini

It's been a hectic day, but I still wanted to prepare a nice meal for us. I was a bit ahead of the game because I prepped a pork tenderloin yesterday afternoon and let it marinate all night and all day today. I'll add that recipe shortly, but I wanted to add this one before I forget what I did, since I didn't write it down!
STUFFED ZUCCHINI
INGREDIENTS:
2 medium sized Zucchini
2 large White Mushrooms
1/4 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
grated Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning (I used Wildtree Italian Herb Blend)
Sea Salt
Pepper

 ... And after thought ... I added mushrooms!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a baking dish with foil.
3. Wash zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise.

4. Using a melon baller, scoop out the insides of the zucchini, reserving the scooped out goodness.

5. In a food processor, pulse the reserved zucchini pieces a few times until you have chunks. Repeat with the mushrooms.

6. In a medium sized bowl, add zucchini bits, mushrooms, sea salt, pepper, italian seasonings, 1 tablespoon parmesan, and red sauce. Stir well.
7. Place zucchini "boats" in the foil lined pan and scoop mixture into them, using all the mixture.

8. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.

9. Remove from oven, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and return to oven for 5 more minutes.

10. Remove from oven. Plate. Serve. Enjoy!

RECIPE: Veggie and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

I bought a LOT of spinach at the market the other day. Some much that I was worried it would go bad before we could eat it all, so I started looking for new ways to prepare it. I already had mozzarella cheese for the zucchini dish last night, so I wanted to incorporate the remained into the dish. I found a recipe for spinach mozzarella egg bake on Kalyn's Kitchen, so I decided to see what else I had in the fridge that needed to be used. With my modifications, here's what I came up with ...
VEGGIE & CHEESE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:
6 packed cups of organic baby Spinach
1 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
4 ounces Mushrooms - chopped
1/4 of a sweet onion - chopped
Sea Salt
Pepper
Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
8 Eggs

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9 X 13 casserole dish with olive oil.
2. Heat a large skillet, lightly coat with olive oil, and add all spinach at once. Stir spinach often until it's all wilted. Spread evenly in casserole dish.

3. Add a little more olive oil to your skillet and sauté the mushrooms and onions. Stir them often. You dont want them to brown - just soften.

 4. Layer the vegetables on top of the spinach, then cover with grated mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle with seasonings.

5. Beat eggs, salt, and pepper well, then pour evenly over the vegetables and cheese. 

6. Using a fork or spoon, blend ingredients lightly to insure even distribution.
7. Bake for 35 minutes. The mixture will be completely set and starting to brown. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

8. Cut. Plate. Serve. Enjoy!

(I served this with my  Crunchy Chewy Fruit and Nut Bars , fresh strawberries, and a Carrot Spice Smoothie!)