Happy October!

We went out for dinner last night, so I got nothing.  But since October is just hours away, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites from last October.  Isn't this a great time of year?  I think later on today I'm going to whip out our Halloween decorations and scare my son.  Happy Fall Weekend!  

Fried Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

Roasted Acorn Squash with Brown Butter, Hazelnuts & Sage

With the seeds from your acorn squash... Roasted Autumn Seeds

Halloween Peppermint Patties

Obsessed. For now...

...with Goat Gouda cheese...

...and Honeycrisp apples...

Thanks for listening.

(Images here and here)

Cutest. Apron. Ever

Are you guys crafty?  Skilled with a sewing machine?  If someone was pointing a gun to my head, I still wouldn't know how to sew a button to a shirt.  To a shirt?  On a shirt?  See.  But I thought I'd pass this 'oven mitt pocket apron' tutorial along because it's so damn cute.  And if you are crafty, then you can make me one and send it as a glorious gift.  Just a suggestion.

p.s.  If you're not reading E's blog, you're missing out.    

Homemade English Muffins

Hey everyone in the world!!!  Listen to me!!!  Making homemade English Muffins is an outrageously easy thing to do!!!  Simple ingredients, no hours upon hours of dough rising required AND... you don't even use your oven.  That's right, you cook the dough on a griddle on your stovetop.  After our science lesson last week, I applied my new 'do not over-mix' knowledge and ended up with a muffin full of nooks and crannies.  Nooks and crannies?  Am I an elderly British woman??  Anyway.  I copied HER and used THIS RECIPE, because with this recipe I didn't have to go out and buy dried milk.  Please, only elderly British woman have dried milk in their cupboard.    

Post-punched dough...

Rolling out the dough, surprisingly easy to work with...

Cutting out the muffins...

Resting, rising.  I used Semolina flour instead of cornmeal because I've had Semolina flour for a year and I've never used it.  Prediction: a celebrity couple will soon name their daughter Semolina.  

On the hot griddle...

Cooling...

Say, look!  Nooks and crannies!  

Jack's dinner last night...

*Note: next time I would add more salt to the dough.  For now, I've been using slated butter after toasting.

Siriously Delicious on Unstitched

SD was featured on a new blog favorite of mine, Unstitched, today.  The blogger, Lillian, has started a new column called 'Kitchen Comforts' and she chose little old ME to kick it off.  Check out the feature HERE for a little peak at my dining room.

And in unrelated news, I want to make these...

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Tomatoes

Where do I apply for a Mom Of The Year Award??  I know I'll win because last night I tricked Jack into thinking Spaghetti Squash was actually pasta.  It wasn't easy.  At first glance, he gave me this skeptical look that said, "What are you doing woman?  This is a damn vegetable."  But instead of giving up, I began to skip around the kitchen like a fairy singing, "you need more cheese for your pastaaaaa" and somehow covering it completely with Parmesan worked!  He ate double helpings of squash and Nemo.  That's what we call salmon.  I know, completely disturbing, he's eating a cartoon.  

Of course, I left the roasted tomatoes off of his dish and he was MISSING, OUT.  Sweet, caramelized tomatoes over buttery squash sprinkled with salty cheese.  I would take that over real pasta any day. Not really.  But you know what I mean.

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Tomatoes

(Serves 4)

Printable Recipe

1 spaghetti squash

1 large tomato, chopped

1 large handful of yellow grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 T olive oil

Coarse salt

2 T unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Place squash, whole, on baking sheet and bake for one hour.  

In the meantime, place tomatoes in a separate baking dish and toss with olive oil and coarse salt.  When timer for squash is at 30 minutes, put tomatoes in oven and bake for remaining half-an-hour.     

Let squash cool.  (I keep forgetting NOT to use tin foil when roasting tomatoes, they stick.  Stupid.)

Once squash has cooled, cut in half and remove seeds.  Using a fork, scrape out squash into bowl.  Set aside.  In a large skillet, melt butter.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes, until fragrant.  

Add squash, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Toss until warmed through.  

(Microwavable version HERE.)

MISO love my Vitamix.

Do any of you own a Vitamix?  Oh dear god.  A friend of ours gave Carson one for his birthday which, come on, was really a present for me.  Sure, he'll probably make a blended drink once or twice a year BUT I WILL USE IT EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.  Holy money balls, I just googled it and noticed that it is not cheap.  Listen up: are you getting married?  Having a baby?  REGISTER FOR IT.  It is unlike any blender you will ever experience.  You can puree vegetables and garlic and cream and whatnot, flip a switch, and IT WILL TURN INTO A NICE, HOT, COOKED SOUP!  I am over-using the caps lock, can't help it.  I made the Miso Dressing (above) from Gwyneth's cookbook and in 10 seconds it was the perfect consistency.  

Vitamix, are you listening?  I love you.  I would wear you as a hat on my head, if that weren't so dangerous.

(photo by Katy)      

Lucy's Ham Sandwiches

I could never be one of those classy food critics they have on Top Chef.  Food excites me like football excites men.  When I eat something fantastic, all I want to do is shout things, unbutton my pants and grunt a little.  Did I just lose followers?  Anyway, these sandwiches fall into that fantastic, grunt-inducing category.  I've written about them before, but if I have ANY new readers who are unfamiliar with them, then they are worth a reintroduction.  Plus I wanted to give you a printable recipe.  Go to there.  Go to them.  Warm ham and cheese, melted together between a soft, sweet Hawaiian bun, smothered all over with a sticky glaze.  Eat, like cave people.  

(Last photo shot by Katy)

Chicken Corn Chowder

It is a gray, rainy morning in Los Angeles.  I usually enjoy those, but this one started at 5am with the following chant, "is it morning time, is it morning time, is it morning time, is it morning time..." - you get the idea.  I put up with that for almost an hour before I finally caved, went downstairs and found out what PBS has to offer in the wee hours: Barney.  Joy.  

On a more positive note, there were aromas lingering in my kitchen from last night's dinner, which made me want to have a cup of soup for breakfast.  I didn't (I had a cookie instead), but I'm already excited for lunch so I can heat up a bowl.  Chicken Corn Chowder with creamy butternut squash, sweet red bell peppers, bright cilantro, and much more.  Extremely flavorful, hearty, yet surprisingly light.  Yes, there's a cup of cream in it, but with enough soup to feed a small army, the ratio won't make you fat.  Especially if you use half & half instead of heavy whipping cream like I did.  I also used pancetta instead of bacon and skipped the potatoes because the squash offered plenty of starch.  Click HERE for the recipe, I highly recommend it.  

Soup Season

I've made a lot of soups on this here blog here.  And I should know, because I just went through ALL OF THEM and made the pictures big for you.  Well, almost all of them.  I could barely look at the really old ones.  How did you guys put up with me in the beginning when my photos were the size of a fingernail and the color of night??  

Anyway, if you're in the mood for soup, check them all out HERE.

(Adding to the list tonight with Chicken Corn Chowder)  

Sirious Science: Over-Mixing

You've met a lot of my family on this blog.  My mom, my sister Hannah, my brother Dylan, and now I want to introduce you to my youngest sibling... Georgia.  Georgia is a freshman at Syracuse University, on the Rowing team and majoring in Nutrition.  That's right, she's better than all of us.  Broadening her mind, exercising her body and just saying no (NO) to alcohol.  (Don't mess with that image, she's my teeny, tiny sister.)  Georgia's currently taking a Food Science course, so I've asked her to come here from time to time and learn us some things.  Science (and nutrition) was never my strong suit.  SO, ever wonder if recipes are just being bossy when they say, "don't over-stir?"  Ever wonder why the muffins you bake are so dense they could be used as a weapon?  Listen up, there will be a quiz.

If your muffins look like this...

Please, put down your rubber spatula. 

And your biscuits...

Never mind.  That is not a biscuit; that is a hockey puck.

Resist the temptation.  Yes, we all know how hard it is to stand over your bowl of raw dough and not stir the hell out of it; but, really, don't do it.  Mixing, either with your electric mixer or your hands, develops the gluten in the flour, which is what gives your baked goods their texture, structure - basically what makes them really yummy and appealing.  How can you tell your dough is over-mixed?  The end product.  The way it comes out.  If you do it just the slightest bit wrong, it affects your whole recipe, and you'll know.  

MUFFINS...

Rule of thumb for most muffin method recipes, STIR FOR ONLY 10 SECONDS. 

But there are clumps in my muffin batter!  YES.  PERFECT.  Most people don't know that this is the way quick bread mixtures are supposed to look like.  The clumpier the better.  In the oven, the heat will react with the leavening agent in the batter, causing carbon dioxide molecules to form and become trapped in the protein and starch.  This produces the tiny holes that create that bread-like quality.  When all is said and done, your self-control shall be rewarded with a soft and crumbly muffin like this:

(Your muffins should NOT have a high peak and should NOT have a smooth crust on the top.  The inside should be even without tunneling.)

If somehow you still feel obligated to stir until perfectly smooth, the gluten becomes overdeveloped, the air is released and the dough becomes tough.  You'll lose that desired light texture and your product will end up uneven, rubbery, and gross.  

BISCUITS... 

Same goes for biscuits.  Cut the cold fat into the flour using the biscuit method and stop until it's just combined.

But there are chunks of butter in my biscuit dough!  AWESOME.  Leave them there.  The butter chunks will melt, creating gaps, or flakes, where leavening does not occur.  The result?  A perfectly even-celled, light, buttery biscuit.

In short, don't pulverize the dough.  Respect the science and the science will respect your taste buds.      

Chicken Italiano

This dish is so easy to make, I feel like I should be wearing pumps and an apron, smoking a cigarette, and banging my boss.  (Yup, too much Mad Men.)  What I mean is, it's almost embarrassingly simple to throw together.  No chopping.  Ingredients that come from bags and bottles, that you most likely have in your fridge.  BUT SO DELICIOUS.  Carson's mom has been making it for him his whole life, so, naturally, I had to have the recipe.  I am, after all, a domestic housewife.  Of sorts.    

Chicken Italiano

(Serves 4)

Printable Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle light Italian dressing

1 pkg. onion soup mix

2 bay leaves

Sprinkle of paprika

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 cup cherry tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken breasts in baking dish.  Pour dressing all over and add onion mix, flipping breasts to make sure chicken is fully coated.  Cover and marinate in fridge for 30 minutes.  

Uncover, add bay leaves to dressing and sprinkle breasts with paprika.  Cover again with tin foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven, uncover, and top with sliced mushrooms and tomatoes.  Season slightly (depending on how salty your Italian dressing is).    

Bake uncovered for another 20 minutes.  Serve over brown rice.  

Open-faced Turkey Burgers

Carson was gifted a BBQ Sauce of the Month Club for his birthday, and I love it.  I'm pretty much a fan of any monthly club.  Bacon, beer, butter - I would like to sample all of those if they exist.  We just got a BBQ Sauce, above, that has blown the rest of them away (buy it here).  Spicy, sweet, tangy, bold, perfectly balanced.  I knew it needed to be smothered on a burger.  And I was inspired to do something with English muffins after seeing this.  So I used this recipe, swapped ground turkey for ground chicken, placed it on one half of an English muffin, topped it with sharp cheddar cheese, broiled it until the cheese melted, and finished it off with BBQ sauce, a thick slice of tomato and some arugula.  Good stuff.      

Autumn Panzanella

I've probably mentioned this before, but I like to say "autumn" vs. "fall" because it makes me feel like an elderly poet.  And who doesn't aspire to feel like that from time to time?  Wise, calm, quick to rhyme.  Should I start rhyming in every new post?  No?  Glad we had this talk.

Moving on to normal conversation.  Whenever I need a quick dinner and have no protein to work with, I like to put a poached egg over a salad.  Since it's autumn time, I decided to highlight some of my favorite seasonal ingredients: brussel sprouts and sage.  And what's better than a warm, bread salad on a chilly night.  It's been 90 degrees here.  By the way, when I put the sage in the frying pan, Carson walked in and said, "it smells like church in here."  An insult?  Or perhaps a comment from an elderly poet?  I'm going to ask him to write a poem called "Holy Sage" before he gets to eat any more of my food.  

Autumn Panzanella

(Serves 2)

Printable Recipe

4 oz. sliced mushrooms

10-15 brussel sprouts, sliced in half

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

3 T plus 1 tsp olive oil, divided

1 T pancetta, diced

1 tsp fresh sage, chopped

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1 T red wine vineagar

2 cups arugula

1/2 cup croutons

2 large eggs

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and tomatoes in small bowl and toss with 1 T of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread out on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.     

While vegetables are roasting, heat 1 tsp of olive oil over medium-high heat in small frying pan.  Add pancetta and sage, and saute until crispy.  Set aside on paper towel.  

To make dressing, combine mustard and red wine vinegar in small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the 2 remaining T of olive oil and whisk until slightly thickened.  Season with a little salt and pepper.      

Place roasted vegetables in a small bowl with croutons, and toss with the dressing (use as much or as little as desired).  Divide arugula into two bowls, top with vegetable/crouton mixture and a poached egg. Sprinkle with pancetta, sage and salt and pepper.  

Sur La Table Giveaway Winner!!

Good morning.  There is an ant convention going down in my kitchen.  So it's not a good morning, in fact.  I just took Lysol and maniacally started murdering them.  In fact, I might be drinking Lysol coffee - but that's better than drinking ant coffee.  I think.  Speaking of java, do you put cinnamon in your coffee grinds?  I recommend it.  I do it all year long, but it's especially tasty in the fall.

Ok, on to business.  Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway.  A couple of you even blogged about it, and many of you are now following my nonsense tweets.  It warms my cold heart to have followers like you people, so I hope to do tons of future giveaways!  I want you all to win.  Alas, there can only be one winner today and guess who that won't be??  THESE MOTHER F*CKING ANTS.

Random.org has randomly selected #51... LuRoSo!!

Lucy is also a blogger, check her out HERE.  And Lucy, please email me: siri at siriouslydelicious dot com and I will send you your ants- gift certificate.  Happy Monday to One and All!    

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Throwing away old bread is a sin.  A SIN, I SAY!  See that bread above?  It's old hot dog and hamburger buns, leftover from a friend's BBQ.  He asked if anyone wanted it, I pounced, and then it sat in a bag in my pantry for over a week.  I was close to throwing it out myself, and then I remembered that if you take old bread and let it swim in a tubby of cream, sugar and eggs, it can turn into something wonderful.

Something like this (and yes I just said "tubby")...

Chocolate Bread Pudding might be my favorite dessert.  Carbs, dairy, chocolate... all soaked together to create this ooey, gooey, luscious treat.  I tried out this recipe and enjoyed it, however I think I let my bread soak for too long which ended up drying out the pudding slightly.  The recipe recommends just an hour, but I got distracted by a gentle bird outside my window, harvesting a seed, it's delicate wings a flutter and- not really, I was distracted by TV.   

Cream and sugar...

Into the cream, these guys went...

Bread, meet chocolate...

This sort of looks like wet, meaty dog food they show in those gourmet pet commercials... I would make a GREAT food critic...

Dog food with marshmallows on top?  Butter, it's butter...

I sprinkled some chocolate chips on top prior to baking, cause I'm cool like that.  Chocolate Bread Pudding...