Meatball Sliders w/ Butternut Squash Fries

Today I just could not decide what I wanted to make for supper, sometimes you just get tired of doing your same hand full of ground beef recipes. I took a look in the freezer, and stumbled across some home made buns that Shelby and my Mother in Law whipped up a bit ago. Solved. Meatballs....Yum.....Buns....Yum....Together.....Delicious!

We have attempted squash fries a few times before...the new trick I found out is to bake them on wire racks on a cookie sheet, rather then just on a cookie sheet. You get an even crisp and then a soft squash fry in the middle. Dead simple to do.

I peeled and sliced the butternut squash into "fry" shapes. Toss with some canola oil and a good season with Sea Salt. Lay on wire rack and bake for 40 mins @ 350 F. I failed to turn them once, and I don't think it would have made a difference. They were evenly crisp on all sides. Re season with Salt and serve!

For the sliders, I mixed lean ground beef with Salt and pepper, a bit of garlic powder, dash of soya sauce, and 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs. Mix and form into whatever sauce Meatball you want. I cooked on med high heat turning 3 or 4 times for 15 mins. You can add whatever you want for sauce, I used sweet basil marinara, and fixed my bun in jalapeno ranch dressing. Before I added the meatball to the bun, I dug out the bottom a bit so the Meat would sit in nice. Baked off until buns were brown,

Enjoy

Cory

Pork Roast w/ Leek Gravy and Roasted Fall Veg

I'm Back! Man it has been awhile! No posts from me in forever!!! Well here you go! A new post. It was delicious!!
Slow cooked Pork Roast with leek gravy. Roasted delicata squash, spuds and rainbow carrots. Sweet corn and delicious buns from my Mother in-law! It went down soooo good!

Ingredients:

2lb Pork loin
2 small leeks
1 lb rainbow carrots
1 small delicata squash
5 spuds.
1 spanish onion.
5 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper
3 tbsp corn starch.

(we had frozen local corn, and home made buns on the side)



Slow cooked pork roast is dead easy, actually, slow cooked anything is easy! Season your roast with salt and pepper, wash and cut leeks throw em in. half a cup of water, cook on low for 6-8 hours. Pull out and let rest for 10 mins before slicing. I removed the drippings from the crock pot, and simmered those on the stove for 15 mins, added corn starch, re seasoned, and leek gravy is done!!

We are so blessed to live in an area that is abundant in fall vegetables. Local spuds, carrots, squashes, peppers, beets, cabbage, leeks, onions and more!!

This roasted veg was easy! Cut the veg to any size you want, the squash I chose, you can eat the skin and all! Its called Delicata. Google it!! Very mild and tasty. I removed the seeds and stem, and sliced into wedges. Add to the rest of the veg, season well with salt and pepper and add the Balsamic and olive oil. Balsamic when roasting vegetables is fantastic. The sweet flavors of the vinegar become evident, and the acidic flavor disappears. Wonderful. Roast for 1 hr at 400f. turning once.

Enjoy!!!

Cory

Squash and Ricotta Stuffed Ravioli

Okay, So I have wanted to make my own pasta numerous times. And finally I attempted. And it is definitely challenging in some areas and dead easy in others!
My inspiration for this is Jamie Olivers second cook book "The Naked Chef Takes Off". He has a basic fresh pasta recipe and so many options with kinds to make from it. So I decided to try ravioli.

I had some hubbard squash that I roasted, then I took the flesh from that, a small tub of ricotta, salt and pepper and some lemon zest. mixed together well for the stuffing.

For the fresh pasta I took 8 eggs to 4 cups of flour. I just used a clean surface, made a well in the flour, added the eggs, stir with a fork to break the yokes up, and then combined with my hands kneading until combined. Wrapped in plastic wrap and stuck in the fridge for 30 mins. A mixer with a dough hook would be easy peasy.

Once dough was chilled, you have 2 options. Use a pasta machine to roll it out, or use a clean surface with a rolling pin, which is what I used.
Divide the dough into 4, use one ball at a time. On a clean, well floured surface, begin to roll out dough making sure your rolling pin and dough is floured well if it is sticking.
try to get it as thin as a cd. You need a fairly large counter to do this. Once you have 2 sheets rolled out, you can add your mixture.

Add one teaspoon of mixture and space it out every 2 inches along the bottom sheet of dough. Using water and a pastry brush dab around the mixture and then lay the next sheet on top. Starting with the one closest to you, press the sheets together getting rid of the air bubble. Use a sharp knife and cut into square ravioli shapes. Any size you want, I made them fairly large.

Press tight together, cook when done, or flour well and keep in fridge for a few hours. Cook in boiling salted water for 3-4 mins. Ravioli will float to the top when done. Drain well and serve.
I enjoyed this process very much, it was a great experience. The squash mixture was very tasty, sweet, light and would make a great summer side. I noticed my pasta was a little too thick in some areas, lesson learned for next time!!

Alternative to this: Instead of making raviolis, roll thin and slice into odd strips, cook and toss in your favorite sauce. Don't be afraid to try fresh pasta! Its great for entertaining, there is tons of ideas out there. Search around on the internet or in a good cook book!

Cory