Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos; Apricot Breakfast Crisp

I'm gleaning lots of cooking inspiration from my new "smitten kitchen" cookbook - found here.  It's great - you should definitely look into it! 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Goat Cheese - adapted from smitten kitchen
I started with what looked like a really yummy option - spaghetti squash and black bean tacos with queso fresco.  I ended up somewhere a little different... 

Rather than spaghetti squash - I used butternut squash, cubed up and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Instead of queso fresco, I used some herbed goat cheese on hand.  Finally, I used some grilled chicken we had as well.  Could obviously be left out, but didn't want it to go to waste! 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Goat Cheese - adapted from smitten kitchen
3 pound butternut squash - cubed and roasted with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 yellow onion, diced 
2 T lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
1 t chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t course salt
1/4 c. stock (chicken, vegetable)
flour tortillas
4 oz. goat cheese

Saute onion in a frying pan with 1 T. olive oil.  Add lime juice, spices and salt.  Mix in black beans and stock and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Assemble taco as desired, and enjoy!

Apricot Breakfast Crisp - also from smitten kitchen

I followed this recipe to the letter - except a only mixed one tablespoon into the fruit rather than two.  It smelled so good as the sugar melted into the butter and as it baked in our oven.  The way Deb describes this crisp sounded so desirable - something that can be scooped out in the mornings onto a bowl of yogurt.  As she writes, you can substitute the apricots for peaches and plums - any 'stone fruit'.  I think blueberries would have been nice to mix into the crisp as well... I'm sure the world is your oyster.
Super easy - and so wonderful!

Christmas Morning Delight!

We shared a wonderful breakfast on Christmas morning - something I'd spotted on Pinterest and saved for the occasion.  Our first Christmas morning together as husband and wife where we didn't shove off first thing for family time. 

The recipe was fairly simple to put together, though I'm not sure I liked the texture of the pancakes.  They seemed kind of dense and 'light' - in that the lack of fat in the recipe seemed to make them very chewy.  In addition to exchanging the recipe, I also would sub red food coloring for beet juice - I've heard its a much healthier option, and perhaps would have brought forth a brighter color than the food coloring did.  The contrast between white and red was a fun idea!

The fudge syrup sauce, however, was awesome, and a fun topping!  It took me forever to find a candy cane to use - but Walgreens saved me on Christmas eve night.  It was smashed up and dissolved into a conglomeration of cocoa powder, chocolate, corn syrup, and amazingness to create a spread unlike any other.  

As Rachel Ray says - "yummo!"

Fudge syrup:
1 cup (250 ml) water
1/2 cup (160 g) glucose (or light corn syrup, agave nectar)
Crushed candy canes, I used about 12 medium ones, about 150g
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
2.6 oz (75 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Lindt 70%), you can also use milk chocolate if you are worried about it being too rich
Extra crushed candy canes, to serve
From: http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2011/12/christmas-pancakes-with-candy-cane.html

A bittersweet day...

While the world learned about, and suffered alongside of, the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I was sequestered in my kitchen for a day of Christmas baking.  The year before I was so engrossed in paper-writing that I did little more than mix together an egg with pre-made sugar cookie mix.  I set aside this beautiful Friday to watch Christmas movies and bake sweets. 

And while I did churn out many great treats, the date will always be connected with the lives of innocent boys, girls, and women that were forever destroyed by insane brutality.  

With that said, I am thankful for the gift of time and opportunity to spend with food in our kitchen.  This is a recipe for a 'Stollen' as suggested by my mom.  It is an incredible three-layer coffee cake, baked to perfection and iced with powdered sugar, butter, milk, and sweetness of the soul. 

Dough is mixed, kneaded and rises.  A cinnamon, brown sugar blend is liberally sprinkled between the soft and delicate layers, and transformed into this beauty.  Looks even better baked! 


Recipe to follow (including other cookies made)