Acorn Squash: 2 down, 7 to go!

Last night, I used ingredients I had in my pantry and freezer to make a great stuffed acorn squash recipe that I happened upon while browsing the Internet. While it's a Martha Stewart recipe originally, it was reproduced on a blog, called The Bitten Word. I thought I'd give credit to the blog, as I appreciate when readers do for me, but also a nod to Martha, herself! I gathered the ingredients together in the order in which I'd be using them, so first things first: get the squash in the oven. I cut the two squashes in half, cleaned the insides of seeds and gook (yup, gook - that's what I called it!) and also sliced a bit off the bottoms in order to allow them to sit flat in my casserole dish.

After preheating the oven to 400 degrees, I placed the squashes in a casserole dish, cut side down and allowed them to cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, I gathered the spices that would be used to season the ground beef that I cooked in a dutch oven on the stove. Some cinnamon, some nutmeg and some coarse salt added great Moroccan flavors to the meat.

While the beef browned, I minced 4 cloves of garlic, and diced an onion. Once the beef had been cooking for about 7 minutes, and no more pink was visible, I removed it from the pot, reserving as much liquid as possible. The onions were added to the pot for about 7 minutes, allowing them to cook until translucent. During the last 30 seconds, add the garlic and allow it to become fragrant.

At this point, I added the Bulgar wheat, and some more coarse salt to the pot, along with 2 cups of water, and brought it all to a boil. Once boiling, I brought the heat down to medium low, covered the pot, and allowed the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. It should then be removed from the heat and allowed to rest for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. While this simmered, I gathered my last three ingredients - pine nuts, parsley, and some currants. The original recipe calls for golden raisins, but as a substitute, I used currants because I had those on hand.

Once I had fluffed the Bulgar wheat mixture with a fork, I added the above ingredients along with the ground beef, and some of the squash scooped out of the halves that have been cooking in the oven. Once everything is all mixed together, it's time to fill our acorn squash cups with filling. I scooped a few tablespoons of the mixture into each half, until they were all overflowing with stuffing.

After another 15 minutes or so in the oven, the squash should be ready to eat! Look for a bit of browning over the top of the stuffing. Be careful, the center is hotter than the top sometimes but this is a very hearty way to eat squash. It was very tasty. If I did it again, I would rub some nutmeg and cinnamon on the inside of the squash before cooking them, and add a bit more seasoning to the stuffing mixture. It was a bit on the bland side for my palate, but I would love to experiment with some extra spices to give it a bit more bite! The leftovers will make a great lunch for work, though!

Honey Glazed!

Hello there, readers! I'd like to start off by apologizing for not posting for a few days. It was a pretty hectic weekend and while I did do some dining out and about, none of them were noteworthy enough to mention here, unfortunately. I think the best food I ate this weekend was at my friend Heidi's house, where we celebrated our friend's baby shower, and Heidi hosted...she's such a great entertainer, and a wonderful cook!

Today was a laid back day, and I finally had time to prepare a meal at home again - it's been a few days so it was great to get back into the kitchen! Tonight, we are having Honey-Glazed Pork with Wilted Greens. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart Living Magazine a few years ago and have made it a few times since then. It's a foolproof easy dinner, and it's delicious!

Let's get our mise en place in place. You'll need:

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

3 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

4 tablespoons raw honey

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons olive oil

1 3/4 pounds pork tenderloin

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

freshly ground pepper

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced lengthwise into thin strips

1/2 head escarole, cut into 2-inch strips

1/2 pound spinach, washed well

It's a pretty simple prep right off the bat, huh? The first thing I did was preheat my oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 teaspoon mustard, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey, garlic, rosemary (I ran out of rosemary, so I used some dried thyme - not AS flavorful, but it works) and 2 teaspoons oil.

Once your glaze is made, place your pork tenderloin into a shallow baking dish and pour the glaze on top. Flip the pork a few times to coat all sides really well and then sprinkle the top with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Roast the loin in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes (until the thickest part reaches 155 degrees on a meat thermometer). Spoon the glaze over the pork occasionally as it cooks.

Once you pull the meat out of the oven, you want to let it rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. If you are using a meat thermometer, you want it to read 160 degrees before you cut into it. Check out my post on The Resting Period for more info on this process!

While the pork is resting, make the vinaigrette for your greens by whisking together 2 tablespoons honey, 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 teaspoon mustard. Whisk until the honey is dissolved and then slowly add a tablespoon of olive oil into the mix until it is emulsified well. If you want, you can also whisk in any cooking juices from the dish the pork is in.

Add 2 teaspoons of oil to a large saute pan, along with a splash of water. Add the fennel, escarole and spinach to the pan and cook until the greens are wilted, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Like the other night, this large amount of greens will wilt down to about a third of this size. Once that has happened, add the vinaigrette along with some salt and stir the greens to coat, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat immediately.

I let my greens sit for an extra minute in the pan and they got a little over-cooked, so once they are done, make sure to plate them immediately so they are removed from the heat. Slice the pork about 1/2 an inch thick and arrange on the plate with the greens. Tah-Dah!