The Perfect Winter Treat

Here is a winter treat that will warm the soul and the body on a cold day.  This soup was part of a winning entry for a friendly cooking competition and this grilled cheese is a family favorite.  I am really a fan of this rustic sour dough I get a local bakery, but any rustic loaf will work.  Enjoy!

Curried Butternut Squash & Mango Soup

By Ted Slee

Servings: 8-10

Prep: 10-15 mins

Cooking: 30 mins

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium sized butternut squash (peeled, seeded & cubed)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
2 green mangos (peeled, seeded and chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 inches of ginger (grated)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
2 tsp red curry paste

½ tsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or harissa paste)
1 can coconut milk (well shaken)
1 can water (or more to cover all ingredients

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Prep

Heat the olive oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat until oil is shimmering.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Stir as you add the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about a minute.  At this point add the butternut squash, carrot, mango and and gently stir until contents are coated with oil.  After about a minute add the red curry paste, yellow curry, cumin, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric and red pepper flakes.  Continue to occasionally stir until spices are mixed.  Add the coconut milk and water, cover and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for roughly 30 minutes.  Let soup cool for five minutes then puree in manageable batches until silky smooth in a blender (be careful of steam).

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Pepper Jelly Grilled Cheese

By Ted Slee

Servings: 4

Prep: 5-10 mins

Cooking: 5-10 mins

Ingredients

Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Rustic Sour Dough Bread

Butter

Pepper Jelly

Prep

Slice bread into 1/2” slices and spread pepper jelly liberally on inside.  Spread ¼” thick of cheese on pepper jelly.  Grill in a hot pan with butter until golden brown and cheese is melted.  Cut in half and serve.

A Decadent Treat - Bacon Wrapped Dates

Bacon Wrapped Dates

By Ted Slee

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10-20 mins

Servings: 5-7 ppl

Ingredients

20 Medjool Dates – Pitted Preferred but not necessary

1/2 pound aged Manchego or Blue Cheese, Cut into inch long slivers

10 full slices of bacon, cut in half

1/4 cup Maple Syrup (if desired)

Prep

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Depending on if your dates are pitted or not, make an incision on one side of each date with a sharp paring knife.  If dates aren’t pitted yet, use the tip of your knife to remove the pit once you’ve made the incision.  Gently open the date and insert the cheese and press it closed.  Wrap each date with bacon strip and secure with a toothpick.  Place the dates on a non-stick baking sheet or a sheet tray lined with a sil mat or parchment paper.  Let the dates roast in the oven until the bacon on top is starting to crisp.  About 8 to 10 minutes depending on your oven.  Make sure to turn the dates over and cook until golden brown another 2 to 10 minutes.  Once they have reached that golden color remove the dates from the oven.  This is when you can brush both sides with the maple syrup and return the dates to the oven for about 1 to 2 minutes more.  Make sure to serve them right away.

Burger Luck Winning Slider!

Kickin’ Espresso Sliders

By Ted Slee

Serves 4

Prep Time: up to 6 hours (letting meat marinade)

Cook Time: 30-45 mins

Ingredients:

Burger

1 1/3lb 80/20 ground beef

½ tbsp espresso fine ground

½ tbsp garlic powder

½ tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tbsp black pepper

½ tbsp sea salt

1 pinch mambosa (cayenne pepper) or to taste

3 tbsp bacon grease

Caramelized Onions

3 oz Chipotle peppers in adobo

1 tbsp cilantro (fresh chopped)

1 lime (zest and juice)

2 tbsp white tequila

½ Vidalia onion (sliced thin)

½ stick butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

Finish/Garnish

½ lb extra sharp cheddar (sliced)

8 dinner rolls (French bread style) sliced open

3 tbsp bacon grease

Tools:

Cast Iron Skillet

Non Stick Skillet

Tongs

Knife

Cutting Board

Prep:

Beef

Mix the espresso, garlic powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, sea salt and mambosa in a bowl.  Break the ground beef up gently using a fork or your hands in to small pieces in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet and coat evenly with espresso spice mixture.  Mix beef thoroughly and portion the ground beef into 8 patties a ½” thick.   Set aside until onions are cooked. 

Cook:

Onions

Melt butter in non-stick skillet.  Add onions and brown sugar and cook on med-hi until onions are translucent and soften.  Add the 2 tbsp tequila and continue cooking 5 more minutes.  While these are cooking mince chipotles and mix with cilantro, lime juice and zest.  Turn off onions mixture and add chipotle paste thoroughly. 

Beef

Melt 2 tbsp bacon grease in cast iron skillet and toast dinner rolls (2-3 mins on high).  Once removed add remaining bacon grease and add burgers and cook 2-3 mins a side.

Assembly

Put a good helping of cheddar on bottom half of bun then add the burger and top with caramelized onions.  Enjoy this tasty, burger!!!!

Roasted Chicken w/Cranberry-Rosemary Gravy

Roasted Chicken w/veggies & Rosemary/Cranberry Gravy

By Ted Slee

Prep Time: 10-15 mins

Cook Time: 90-120 mins (depends on size of chicken)

Serves 4-8 ppl

Ingredients:

Roaster Chicken 5-7 pounds

Med Butternut Squash peeled and cut in 1 to 2” cubes

Vidalia onion peeled quartered

3 apples cored and quartered

8-10 small red potatoes halved

2 cups Cranberry Juice

Half a stick of softened butter

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

4 Sprigs of Rosemary

Chicken Stock Paste

Flour or Wonder Flour

Prep:

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.  Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Place in roasting pan large enough to fit chicken and have at least 2 inches of space around each side.  Stuff cavity with a mixture of the vegetables, sprig of rosemary & apple.  Coat outside of chicken liberally with soft butter and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.  Add remaining vegetables to pan and add cranberry juice until it fills the bottom ½” of the pan.  Cook the chicken for 30 mins and then turn temperature down to 365 degrees until breast reaches internal temp of 170-175 degrees.  When chicken is done remove from oven and let chicken rest.  Gravy: Remove chicken stock to a separate sauce pan and add 2 tbsp of butter and whisk in cranberry, flour, salt & pepper, chicken paste to taste.  Carve chicken and serve combination of vegetables and gravy.  Enjoy!

Leftover Linguine - Cold Sesame Noodles

If you have leftover pasta, this is a good way to reuse them and make a really tasty dish!

Leftover Linguine – Cold Sesame Noodles

By Ted Slee

Servings: 6-8

Prep: 15 mins

Noodles:

½ pound cooked linguine cold

3 tbsp sesame oil

Sauce:

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3 green onion (scallions) halved and sliced

1 inch of ginger minced

1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp hot sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup smooth peanut butter

Garnish:

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

4 tbsp cilantro chopped

Prep:

Toss the cold noodles with sesame oil and set aside

Add oils to medium sauce pan on medium heat.  Add green onion, ginger, vinegar, garlic, hot sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar.  Stir until sugar melts and mixture is fragrant.

Add peanut butter and water until blended smooth.  Cook for a minute then remove from heat.  Mix with noodles and toss till well mixed Add cilantro and sesame seeds as garnish.

Leftover Pizza

This recipe came from the need to use up the leftovers I had from my previous Summer Grilled Chicken Parmesan recipe post.  This pizza is really as good as it looks!

Summer Grilled Chicken Parm - Leftover Pizza

By Ted Slee

Serves 4-8 people

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients

One Leftover chicken breast diced

2 cups of Leftover tomato & mozzarella mixture

4 tbsp garlic/basil oil

Store pizza dough ball

Prep

Let pizza dough rest out of refridge while preparing the rest of the ingredients.  Set oven to 485 degrees with pizza stone inside.  Prep pizza dough, brush garlic/basil oil on entire dough and cook for 5 minutes without toppings.  Then equally distribute chicken and tomato-mozzarella mixture and finish cooking.  Let sit for 5 minutes then cut and serve.

Summer Grilled Chicken Parm

Summer Grilled Chicken Parmesan

By Ted Slee

Serves: 2-4ppl

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 30 – 45 mins

Ingredients

4 Boneless chicken breasts (Pounded to an even thickness)

2 pints of Grape Tomatoes (Mixed Varieties Add Color to Dish)

9 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Tomato Paste (to slightly thicken sauce)

3 tsp Course Sea Salt

1.5 tsp minced Garlic

2 tbsp Creole Mustard

1 oz Fresh Basil (rough chopped)

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

16 oz Fresh Mozzarella (rough cubed)

1 tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper

1 tsp Crushed Pepper Flakes (or more to taste)

4 Servings of Fresh Linguine or other pasta Cooked Al Dente.

Preparation

First step is to create the marinade for the chicken.  I always use gallon freezer plastic bags for storing chicken and marinade for easy clean up.  Add 4 table spoons of the Olive Oil, Mustard, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Black Pepper and Sea Salt and whisk together.  Put the chicken in plastic bags and pound to an even thickness then add equal amounts of marinade to the bags and massage into meat.  Let rest at room temp until prep of other ingredients are complete. 

Next halve the Grape tomatoes and add to a bowl with 4 table spoons of Olive Oil, a pinch of Salt and Pepper.  Mix well and put aside until grill is hot.  Rough cube the Fresh Mozzarella and let rest. 

When the grill is hot, slowly and carefully add the tomato mixture to the cook surface.  Depending on your grill use tin foil or a vegetable tray.  Cooking is complete when tomatoes have softened.  Remove from the heat and put back into mixing bowl.  Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper and let sit until almost cool before adding basil and mozzarella.

Grill the chicken till just cooked.  Serve the Chicken on a bed of Linguine, cover with tomato mixture and garnish with basil.