Then we had my Butternut squash lasagna. I just thought this was okay, but a great vegetarian option. A few of us thought it would have been better with the addition of some spicy sausage.
We finished with Letoya's Chocolate cobbler. This was nothing like I thought it would be. It was kind of like a molten chocolate cake or a not quite cooked brownie and it was served with very fancy vanilla ice cream and I almost licked the bowl! I did a bad job taking pictures of this and this picture does not do it justice. Imagine a scoop of this with a topping of french vanilla ice cream.
I had such a great time at our first cooking club night! A teaser for next month, "Anti-Thanksgiving"!Here are the recipes:
Recipes:
Mini Sweet Potato Pies
Ingredients
3/4 pound sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 (9 inch) refrigerated or homemade pie crust
3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
2 egg whites
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup halved cranberries (optional)
Cooking Instructions Place the sweet potato in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until fork tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and mash with a fork or potato masher. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Divide the pie crust into 24 small balls. Press them into the cups of two 12 cup mini muffin pans to make tartlet shells. Set aside. Spoon the sweet potato into a blender or food processor, and add the evaporated milk, egg whites, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Puree until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of this mixture into each tart shell. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the tarts comes out clean. Cool in the pans over a wire rack. Garnish each tart with a cranberry half before serving.
Autumn Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
· 3 heads of Bibb lettuce
· 2 Bartlett pears
· 1 pint cherry tomatoes
· 1.5 oz walnuts (simple syrup/salt&cayenne to candy)
· 6 Tbsp Gorgonzola cheese
· 6 Tbsp Pancetta (diced and rendered) Dressing
· 1 cup apple cider reduced 75%
· 1/4 cup cider vinegar
· 1 roasted shallot (roast whole shallot in oven)
· Evoo
· S&P to taste
· toasted poppy seeds (toast in oven until you can just smell them)
· 1/2 tsp of brown mustard
Directions
Candied Walnuts: Boil walnuts in a mixture of equal parts sugar/water. Approx 1Tbsp each. Spread walnuts on baking sheet and bake at 350 until shiny. Toss with salt and a touch of cayenne. Cool.
Dressing: Reduce cup of cider down to 1/4 cup. Combine cider, vinegar and shallot with hand blender. Slowly blend in EVOO until dressing is emulsified. Whisk in S&P, touch of mustard and toasted poppyseeds.
Assemble: Rinse/clean lettuce and remove the core. Tear in half and plate lettuce core side up. Lightly dress lettuce with vinaigrette. Julienne pears and slice cherry tomatoes in half. Warm pancetta in microwave. Top lettuce off with a "haystack" of pears, garnish with walnuts, cheese and pancetta. Place tomatoes around lettuce.
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
1 Butternut squash, about 2 pounds
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon finely minced jalapeno pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
Directions Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel the squash and cut into 1 inch pieces. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then add squash, jalapeno pepper, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15- 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Return to the heat, add the cream and adjust the seasonings
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Cooking spray
3 cups chopped onion
10 cup fresh spinach
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (15-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta cheese
3 cups diced peeled butternut squash
6 cups marina sauce
15 oven-ready lasagna noodles (such as Barilla)
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Preparation Preheat oven to 375°.Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Combine provolone, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and ricotta cheeses in a large bowl. Place squash in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or until tender. Coat the bottom and sides of 2 (8-inch-square) baking dishes with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup Smoky Marinara in the bottom of one prepared dish. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups squash over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over squash. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over the noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups onion mixture over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over spinach mixture. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup Smoky Marinara evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients in remaining pan. Cover each pan with foil. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes. To freeze unbaked lasagna: Prepare through Step 6. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months. To prepare frozen unbaked lasagna: Thaw completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 375º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover lasagna with reserved foil; bake at 375º for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly
Chocolate Cobbler
1 cup All-purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
7 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder, Divided
1-¼ cup Sugar, Divided
½ cups Milk
⅓ cups Melted Butter
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ cups Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1-½ cup Hot Tap Water
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar. Reserve the remaining cocoa and sugar. Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch baking dish. I prefer my small oval Corning Ware glass dish. In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining white sugar (it should be 1/2 cup), the brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter. Pour the hot tap water over all. DO NOT STIR! Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set. Let stand for a few minutes if you can hold yourself back. Serve with homemade ice cream using the gooey sauce to spoon over all.
We finished with a lemon cheesecake made by Jennifer. It was very yummy. The sauce enhanced the lemon flavor which was subtle in the cheesecake itself.
