An Inspired Kitchen

Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts, Cranberries and Balsamic Glaze

My family loves roasted Brussels sprouts and we have them at least once a week in the winter.  I thought I would change them up and added walnuts, cranberries and drizzled some balsamic glaze over them and they were delicious..  Trader Joe’s carries a great balsamic glaze that I use quite often to drizzle on vegetables and meat.  It has a wonderful sweet and slightly tart taste and goes well with so many dishes.  I add the walnuts (you can use any nut) when the Brussels sprouts are almost finished so they can lightly brown and then I toss cranberries in when they come out of the oven.  Click here for the recipe….

Smoked Salmon Dip

This is my mom’s recipe for smoked salmon dip and we all love it for the simplicity and how it highlights the wonderful flavors of smoked salmon.  It just has cream cheese, green onions and salmon, and I add a little lemon zest and juice.  You can make it the day before and it’s great with Triscuits or any cracker.  Click here for the recipe….

Boston Cream Pie

Why they call it Boston Cream Pie I will never understand. It’s not a pie – it’s a cake!  Legend has it that the pastry chef at the Parker Hotel in Boston came up with it in 1856 and it is still good after all these years despite the confusing name.  First you make the yellow cake, and then make some custard and put it between the layers.  I love to add ground vanilla beans to make the custard even more decadent.  Make a chocolate ganache and pour it over the top of the cake.  To make the decoration, melt some white chocolate in a little baggie and cut a small end.  Starting in the center of the cake, make a spiral almost to the edge of the cake.  Take a toothpick and start from the center and draw it all the way to the edges. Start again in the center and make 3 more lines dividing the cake in fourths.  In between the lines, draw 4 more lines drawing the toothpick to the edges.  Then start from the outside edge of the cake in between each of the lines and draw the line to the center of the cake to make the pattern.  I also made individual Boston Cream Pies to serve for a dinner party.  Click here for the recipe….

Swedish Meatballs

I love Swedish meatballs and like to make them several times in the winter.  They have such a great spice combination with the allspice, ginger and cardamom.  I use half ground beef and half ground pork to make the meatballs and add grated onion, bread soaked in milk and an egg.  I found it so much easier to roast the meatballs in the oven instead of frying them.  I drain most of the fat off and scrape all the roasting juices into a skillet and add flour to make a roux and then add some beef stock and cream to make it rich.  I also add the spices again to reinforce the flavor of the meatballs.  Lingonberry jam is traditionally served on the side, but you can also use red currant jelly or cranberry sauce if you have it on hand.  It really goes well with the rich meatballs and sauce.  The meatballs are traditionally served with boiled potatoes but I like to serve them over wide noodles so they can soak up all the wonderful sauce.  I usually make a double batch and freeze them.  Click here for the recipe….

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

This is not the prettiest dessert, but it is delicious with the moist custard soaked raisin bread, and the fall smells that fill your kitchen with the fabulous waft of pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg as it bakes.  The homemade caramel sauce takes it over the top.  It can be made the day before and baked on the day, and it can also be made in individual ramekins for a prettier presentation.  I like the rustic look of the bread pudding and the compliments usually outweigh the looks.  Click here for the recipe….

I hope you had a great Christmas!  I had a wonderful time with my family with lots of laughs as usual.  I really made a departure from the usual glittery silver and gold Christmas table themes I normally do and decided to pay tribute to my Scottish grandparents and my Grandmother who loved to entertain.  I was inspired by a table I saw on Pinterest and was really lucky to find a nice guy to cut the wood chargers for me.  My Dad gave me a wool tartan blanket that is his great grandfather Fraser’s clan tartan and I used it as a base and pop of color for the table.  I cut cedar and pine boughs and scattered pine cones and used sprays of berries for color accents.  I put paper whites down the center of the table on “stumps” and as is our family tradition, we had Christmas crackers at each place setting to pop open after dinner and sit around with the funny paper hats, read the corny jokes and play with the silly prizes.  It wouldn’t be Christmas without them!  Now onto New Year’s!

Ham Steak with Orange-Ginger Glaze

For a really quick week night dinner that serves the 3 of us, I like to sauté a ham steak and make a quick glaze with the pan juices.  To get the whole dinner going, I start by boiling some diced potatoes to make mashed potatoes and get some water boiling for vegetables.  Then quickly cook the ham – about 3 minutes per side and remove it to a plate.  Deglaze the pan with white wine, chicken stock or water, add some orange marmalade, a little Dijon mustard, and ginger ~ fresh grated or powdered and simmer it for a few minutes and then pour it over the ham. Cook the veggies, mash the potatoes, and a fast and tasty dinner is ready in about 12 minutes!  Click here for the recipe….

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto

This is a perfect fall side dish and goes well with any meat although the Italians usually serve it as a first course.  Risotto is made with a high starch low-amylose short grain white rice.   The most popular varieties are Arborio and Carnaroli known for their starchy properties and can be found at most grocery stores and Trader Joe’s carries it.  I had some leftover roasted butternut squash and decided to make risotto.  Risotto takes about 25-30 minutes to make and for a weekday dinner and I usually don’t take the time to heat the broth up and pour it ladle by ladle into the risotto the way it is classically made.  I just need to get it made!  I end up just pouring some chicken broth from a can into the lightly browned rice and onion mixture and stirring between the other tasks I have on hand and it comes out fine.  I add some Parmesan cheese at the end to reinforce the creaminess of the dish.  It’s cooked when the rice is al dente and can be poured into a serving dish.  I also sometimes add sautéed pancetta which makes it really fabulous, but since I was roasting a pork tenderloin, I didn’t add more pork to the meal (I’m not sure why!).  I have a sage plant outside that usually makes it right through the winter that I can keep cutting from throughout the season.  Dried sage is also good, but fresh is always best.   Click here for the recipe….

Indian Butter Chicken

I love Indian food and I especially love Butter Chicken.  The first part of the recipe starts out with a chicken tandoori marinade with yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon, garam masala, and turmeric.  You can marinate the chicken for 24 hours or 1 hour depending on how much time you have.  Since the rain is here to stay, I am not so motivated to stand outside and grill the chicken, so an easy way to do it is to place a piece of crimped foil on a baking tray and pour the chicken marinade in an even layer and broil the chicken in the oven until it is most of the way cooked.  Meanwhile, you can make the butter sauce by sautéeing an onion and garlic and adding 4 diced tomatoes or a can of diced tomatoes, garam masala, a cinnamon stick, several cardamon pods and 2 whole cloves and cooking it down with a little crème fraîche or heavy cream (hence the name Butter Chicken!) until it is slightly thick.  When the chicken is almost cooked, carefully add it to the creamy tomato sauce and cook another 10 minutes and taste for seasoning.  Serve over basmati rice with some naan bread on the side.  Click here for the recipe….