Fresh start.

As winter morphs into spring, there's a change here at KARE11 too!

Bryan Piatt and I will be joining Diana Pierce for KARE11 at 11am weekdays. Both Bryan and I are super excited to start this new role. We hope you tune in!

The new KARE11 at 11 team!

And by the way, Pat Evans isn't going anywhere, so don't worry. He will still be anchoring the 4pm news with Di, although he is on vacation this week. In addition, Pat will begin reporting on entertainment news here in the Twin Cities in a segment called "In the Know" so watch for that beginning next week.

Dinner for One, Pumpkin Pasta

It's guys night. The golf simulator was calling. So it's dinner for one tonight. And when I'm not obligated to put meat in the meal I generally skip it. So tonight, pumpkin pasta with blue cheese sounded fab!

First off, I inherited some pie pumpkins last fall. To save time my mom and I cooked and pureed them all at once. We then separated them into plastic baggies and threw them in the freezer of they are ready to use on a night like tonight! You can totally use canned pumpkin puree. Or butternut squash puree! In fact, my original plan was to use squash, but my freezer only offered pumpkin. In general, I use the two interchangeably.

Sauce time. Heat a small drizzle of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan. Add half an onion, diced, and two cloves of garlic, minced, and cook until softened. Sprinkle in some fresh or dried herbs and a bit of crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. If your onion starts to brown add a splash or two of chicken broth or water. Stir in the pumpkin puree and let it bubble over low heat for a few minutes. Season to taste. Done!

And this one didn't do anything to help...

Meanwhile... cook some pasta. I chose some whole wheat bowties this time around. Drain them and return to the pot. Add the sauce and stir it all up!

Dish it up, add some crumbled blue cheese, sliced almonds (or chopped walnuts) and some fresh cracked pepper. Ready to eat!

Recipe: Pumpkin Pasta
Ingredients -
1Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Medium yellow onion, diced
2 Cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 Tsp Dried herbs
1/2 Tsp Crushed red pepper
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp Chicken broth, if needed
2 Cups Pumpkin puree (or butternut squash puree)

1/2 Pound Pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Crumbled Blue Cheese
Slivered almonds (or chopped walnuts)
Fresh cracked pepper

Heat oil and butter in sauce pan. Add onion, garlic, herbs, red pepper, salt and pepper and cook until onions are soft, adding broth if necessary. Add pumpkin and simmer 5 minutes over low heat. Serve over pasta. Top with cheese, nuts and pepper.

 I always make extra for leftovers!

Save the Artichokes!

After extensive Googling, I have not found any decisive material on whether or not artichokes can successfully be grown in Minnesota.  But I'm trying.

My mom and I bought the plant from a sale not knowing anything about them, but thought it would be fun to try. Now it's October and although the plants grew very large, there have been no artichokes.  This is not all bad news... several online blogs and articles say that artichokes do not produce fruit in the first year.

Herein lies the problem.  Artichokes are not hardy enough to withstand a Minnesota winter.  My challenge is to figure out how to save them as the show falls and the temperatures drop this season.

From various sources, here's what we came up with for an experiment.  I have no idea if it will work, but here it goes.

Step 1: Trim the artichokes back to about 12".

Step 2: Cover plants with 12" of straw.

Step 3: Top with Manure. (I used 1 5 gallon bucket per pile.)

Step 4: Cover with a dark colored tarp or plastic and secure.

Step 5: Hope for the best.

We'll have to see what, if anything, comes up next Spring! 

Special shout out to Fritz at Gleason Farms in Corcoran for hooking me up with both the straw and manure for this project!

Sunday Dinner: Luxury Lasagna Night.

The girls literally spent all day cooking.  The morning started off with canning stewed tomatoes and we ended the evening with two lasagnas that are made to please.

Lasagna #1 used up one of the  many butternut squashes growing in our garden, and we took care of the remaining basil that my sister had been growing as well. This is a recipe from Food Network's Giada de Laurentis (one of my favs) that I have made once before.  Like most lasagnas, its one that gets better in the fridge overnight for lunch the next day.

Click here for the recipe.

Lasagna #2 is an ooey gooey pan of artichokes and sun dried tomatoes. My sister found the recipe through Pinterest.  We substituted the mozzarella for pepperjack.  That was a good move.  Just a little kick in the layers really added to the dish.  We also cut down just a little on the cream cheese.  It's a super rich supper.

Click here for the recipe.

After one slice of each lasagna a piece, we were stuffed. Add a glass of wine, or two, to the equation and I was falling asleep on the way home. Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner, Shrimp Tacos.

We didn't have a specific recipe for shrimp tacos this week, so we made things we like, to put on top.  It turned into a bit of Asian-Latin fusion and ended up delish.

I'm not one for measuring but I'll try my best to type up a recipe.

Shrimp:

2 pounds, raw medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lime, juiced
1Tbsp Siracha Sauce
1Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

Grill 1-2 minutes per side until just pink.  Serve immediately.

Topping 1: Asian Vegetables
2 medium zucchinis, sliced into sticks
1 onion, sliced
1 - 8oz package mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp Canola oil, or Olive oil

Heat oil and butter in a sautee pan or wok. Add remaining ingredients and sautee over high heat until crisp-tender.  Serve.

Topping 2: Carribbean Beans and Rice

This is a recipe adapted from Pinterest

1- 15oz. Can black beans

1 onion, chopped

1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped

1 mango, chopped (can substitute papaya, pineapple or other tropical fruit if mangoes aren't available.)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lime, juiced

1 orange, juiced

1 Tsp Cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup cooked rice, white or brown.

Sautee bell pepper and onion in olive oil until softened. Season with salt and pepper.  Add remaining ingredients except rice and simmer until heated through.  Serve over rice.

Although we used topping 2 for our tacos, this is a great side dish on its own as well!

Sauce: Benihiana's Shrimp Sauce

2 cups mayonnaise

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon garlic juice

3 -4 teaspoons ketchup

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon Siracha sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon white pepper

up to 1/2 cup water to thin as desired

Whisk together and serve with Asian veggies and shrimp, recipes above.

Side: Cilantro and Blue Cheese Slaw, Courtesy: Taste of Home

8 cups shredded cabbage

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon grated lime peel

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, onion, cilantro and jalapeno. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; pour over salad and toss to coat.

 

Now for the tacos, make any or all combinations with the above.  Add extra chopped onion, chopped cilantro, jalapenos, hot sauce, sour cream, etc to make it your own!

I preferred the beans and rice on a soft shell.

Brother-in-law Andy, preferred the veggies and shrimp sauce with jalapenos on his! 

Plus here's a pic of his pateneted borrito hold... to keep the spillage to a minimum. :)