Post-Thanksgiving Dinner

So as much as I was completely sick of turkey after last weekend, I ended the weekend with a dinner of roasted cornish hen. Now, I learned last year that making cornish hens is a bit of a process, but they always turn out so good that I am always tempted to make them. This week's was another success - I found this recipe on Food and Wine but I tweaked it a little...

Stuffed Cornish Hens
Ingredients:
1/4 cup slivered, toasted almonds
1/2 cup canned low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup rice
1/2 tbsp butter
2 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Cornish hens (about 1.25-1.5 pounds each)

--> I bought my slivered almonds already toasted, so I didn't need to toast them myself. If yours aren't toasted, heat the oven to 350 F. Toast the nuts in the oven until golden brown, 5-10 minutes. Remove them and set aside. Raise the heat to 425 F (I have a Convection Roast feature on my oven, so I only raised the temp to 400 and the timing still worked).
--> In a small saucepan, cook the rice according to package directions using the broth and the apricots. When done, add the almonds, 1/4 tbsp butter, 1 1/2 tsp honey, cinnamon and dash salt & pepper.
--> Clean up the hens and then fill the cavities of the hens with the rice mixture. If you want, twist the wings of the hens behind their backs and tie the legs together (I didn't do this because I didn't have any string to tie them with, but it is what the recipe calls for). Put the hens, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Sprinkle them with salt & pepper and dot with the remaining butter.
--> Roast the hens for 25 minutes. Then baste them with any pan juices (if none, no biggie) an drizzle another 1 tsp honey over the hens. Continue roasting until just done, probably another 10-15 minutes longer. That's it - serve and enjoy.

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

Last week marked the end of another CSA season. The past few weeks have been incredibly busy for me so I haven't cooked as much as I would have liked to, but most of the veggies we've been getting stay for a while - potatoes, beets, winter squash, garlic, etc - so we have some time to use them. Anyway, to celebrate the end of the season we cooked up a most delicious dinner that centered around our autumn vegetables. In our house, no delicious meal is complete without brussel sprouts and we generally make them the same way, yum! Here's our full menu. (all recipes serve 3-4 people)

--> Squeeze the lemon over the fish and then sprinkle the pecan and shallot topping over fish and serve. YUM.

Sauteed Halibut with Pecan Shallot Topping (from epicurious):
Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds halibut fillet
salt & pepper
EVOO
1/2 cup chopped shallot
1/2 cup chopped pecans
juice of 1 lemon

--> Rinse halibut and pat dry before seasoning with salt & pepper. Heat ~2tbsp EVOO in a large heavy pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add fish. Saute fish until golden, turn once, should take 5-7 min total. Transfer to plates and keep warm, loosely covered with aluminum foil.

--> Add 1 tbsp EVOO to the same skillet and cook shallot over medium heat, stirring occassionally. Cook ~3-4 minutes until they are golden in color. Add pecans and saute over slightly higher heat, stirring, until they are a shade darker, should take another 3 minutes.

On the 2 side dishes - I'll be honest, I don't really have recipes here, but you can't really screw up either of these - so this is basically what I threw together!

Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients:
1.5 cups brussel sprouts (cut them in 1/2s if they are big sprouts)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
EVOO
salt & pepper
1/2 cup mushrooms, halved
vegetable broth (or chicken broth works if you have that on hand)

--> Heat a small saucepan over medium high heat. Sprinkle with EVOO and add shallots and garlic - saute 3-4 minutes until golden. Add brussel sprouts, sprinkle with salt & pepper and continue to saute for another 3-4 minutes. Then add enough vegetable broth to mostly cover the brussel sprouts in the pot. Reduce the heat and cover. After ~4 minutes, add the mushrooms and stir. Cover again and leave the pot over heat until the broth is mostly or completely absorbed, probably another 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
a few sprigs rosemary
salt & pepper
EVOO

--> Preheat oven to 400 F (yes I actually turned my oven up for this dish). Peel the butternut squash and cut up into 1/2 inch cubes and put into a baking dish or even on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Drizzle with EVOO, salt & pepper, and rosemary. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour - test with a fork to when they are soft but not mushy. Yes, it is really that easy.