Wordless Wednesday:Zesty Sausage Cheese Balls

http://jimmydean.com/recipes/zesty-sausage-cheese-balls.aspx

Meatless Monday: Creamy Light Macaroni and Cheese

Every once in a while I try a recipe just because I am curious. Maybe it’s something I have never prepared before (like short ribs) or maybe it’s something that has a unique ingredient. Thumbing through my Cooking Light magazines and cookbooks in preparation of creating the monthly menus, I revisited their September cover recipe: creamy light macaroni and cheese.  I had some real interest in this because my hubby bless his heart loves the stuff but he has high cholesterol so I very rarely if ever make it. What makes it light? Well, here is where the unique ingredient comes in: butternut squash! Yep, Cooking Light shared a recipe that calls for a butternut squash béchamel and since they are in season I said, why not?

Frankly the hardest part of preparation was pealing that damn squash!! Perhaps this would be the point that I should mention this is the second time in my life I have dealt with this particular gourd in its original form (I usually cheat and buy the pre-peeled and cubed they sell in the produce section). I spent Saturday at our local Farmer’s Market with my family and some friends and picked up just-from-the-farm butternut squash and promptly struggled to peel it and seed it. If only I had seen this first: How to Peel and Cut a Butternut Squash.

RECIPE: Creamy Light Macaroni and Cheese:

I varied a little from the instructions, choosing to use my stick blender rather than attempt to pour hot squash and chicken broth from my pot...and it still came out wonderfully creamy:

The sauce was in fact absolutely delicious! I was so impressed that it didn't taste like squash at all. The high quality cheese is certainly a little pricey but it makes all the difference. Once it's added to the pasta it already looks delicious, and I used whole wheat penne:

The topping was super easy and it takes only a few minutes to brown the panko which when combined with the Parmigiano-Reggiano surprisingly made enough to sprinkled over the top as indicated.

The moment of truth was the taste test after it's 25 minutes in the oven. It was more than a success as hubby almost went for thirds! The 4 year-old ate it too and it made a ton so we had plenty to freeze for another time. Definitely a keeper!!

Sunday Supper: Cabernet Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta

When I received this month's issue of Cooking Light magazine I was super excited about the section on cooking in a Dutch oven. I recently acquired a very nice seasoned cast iron one and have been waiting for the opportunity to break it in! The first recipe that caught my eye was the one for Cabernet Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta. I love short ribs, but frankly have never cooked them so this was going to prove to be an adventure...luckily my Harris Teeter had these already on hand:

NOTE: I halved the recipe since it was just for me and hubby!

The recipe has several parts so I actually prepared my mise en place:

I could have eaten the short ribs after they were just browned in the pan:

Here is another case for smell-o-vision...I think I tweeted the night I was cooking this about how heavenly the house smelled. Just the ingredients through the rosemary smelled delicious, but the addition of the wine made everyone's mouth water:

Once the short ribs went into the oven, it was time to start the polenta. This is also something I have never attempted. The recipe called for "quick cooking polenta" and I bought this:

Once I read the package I realized I may have erred, but it turned out to be a simple fix. While the recipe called for 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of water, since the package said the contents could be reconstituted with 1-2 cups of liquid, I just used 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of water.

When the short ribs came out of the oven, I had to refrain myself from tearing into them right there:

After I strained the cooking liquid and used my fat separator, I returned the liquid to the pan as the recipe indicated...here is where I made another error: I let it reduce too much. the flavor was still fantastic but I didn't get the sauciness I expected or the recipe promised. But the dish was in fact beautiful and every step was worth it:

Turns out hubby is not quite the short rib lover (he has this thing about "fatty" meat) but I am using the leftover ribs (two per person was more than filling) to make a shredded beef BBQ I will be serving over the reused polenta, fried into cakes. If I ever have someone over for dinner I want to impress, these will make an appearance again.

Steal of the Week: Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I have been making a conscious effort to shop seasonally more and more so much of this month's menu features produce that is plentiful (and thus cheaper!) this time of year. One of the fall's most popular produce items is a personal favorite of mine: sweet potatoes. I can rock a mean puree (if you are local and been able to watch Cooking with Passion on Cox 11 you saw that in Round 1 --or look for my hands and a stick blender in the promo here) or I always go the standard cook-like-a-baked-potato and dress in butter and cinnamon and sugar. This time I had cream cheese on hand and thought I'd give that a whirl in creating a simple mashed sweet potato side to go along with these beautiful marinated strips (the marinade was fresh squeezed lemon, fresh ginger, Worcestershire, ketchup and soy sauce) :

I ended up stumbling upon a super easy recipe for Creamy Mashed Sweet Potatoes courtesy of Kraft Recipes.    

And really it doesn't get any easier then peeled and cut sweet potatoes, chicken broth (I used the organic free range I had on hand), cream cheese (I as usual used neufchatel) and nutmeg (I saw no need for the almonds). The great thing about a stick blender is one pot cooking! The finished meal came together with the steaks beautiful grilled by my hubby:

Hubby was such a fan of the sweet potatoes he had to restrain himself from a THIRD helping! They were delicious and I am already thinking of making them for Thanksgiving in lieu of regular potatoes.