Slice or chunk any kind of soft squash, a yellow summer squash or a zucchini squash for instance, and sauté it in a frying pan or shallow pot over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil for 3-4 minutes depending on how large the pieces are. Add salt, a little bit of pepper (I use white pepper), ½ teaspoon of brown sugar. At this point you can experiment by adding ONE other herb to the pan. Continue cooking until the pieces are no longer crisp, and they should be transleucent instead of white, which might take as long at 10 minutes. Serve.
Although it doesn’t sound like a lot of sugar it is just enough to take the bitterness out of the squash.
This recipe is by Robert J. Stritzenger, the Executive Chef at The Grand Hotel in Grand Canyon, Arizona: http://www.grandcanyongrandhotel.com/dining.html. We ate dinner there in December 2004 and I had this sauce on organic sustainable Elk tenderloin. Needless to say the meal “knocked my socks off”. This is one very talented chef, using organic and sustainable products whenever he can, and by glancing over the menu I realized that I could learn a lot about seasonal eating from him. He also grew up near here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and graduated from G.R.C.C. which I am told is currently the #5 best culinary school in the U.S.A.
This recipe is wonderful on almost any meat, including elk, venison, pork, ham, and turkey.
I’ve cut the recipe in half for manageable portions, and it does freeze well.
2 cups fresh Cranberries ¾ cups Port Wine 1/3 cups sugar 8 figs, diced (I used un-sulfured Calimyrna figs) 2 cups water
Put all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer 20 minutes. Puree in blender and thin with a little water if needed.
This is my new Essential Holiday Sauce. If you try it please comment on it (below) and tell me what you think.
Although I always suggest limiting the amount of cured meats in your diet, including sausage, ham, bacon, hot dogs, lunch meats, etc., this recipe is just not as good without sausage. I have made it without meat, and it’s good; but with the sausage it’s downright yummy! Let’s just say that the nutritional value of the veggies, vinegar, and mushrooms makes up for the sulfites in the sausage.
2 medium potatoes 1 small head cabbage 4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms (or your favorite kind) 2 tsp. “Better than Bullion” brand mushroom or beef broth in 2 cups hot tap water. 1 clove garlic ½ ring of kosher beef kielbasa-type sausage ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
In heavy pot heat 2 cups water with 2 tsp. mushroom or beef broth to boil. Add 2 potatoes, cubed, and about ½ small head of cabbage, sliced into strips and “pulled apart”. Cut mushrooms into strips, add to pot. Cut sausage into bite-sized pieces, add to pot. Peel garlic, smash with flat of large knife, add to pot with the vinegar. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add up to a tsp of sea salt, and some pepper to taste.
Feeds about 2 hungry people, or 4 people at a light lunch.
3 lbs. peeled uncooked shrimp (1/2 lb per person, this feeds 6 people) 2 large onions, diced 1-2 tsp Fresh grated ginger root 1 clove fresh garlic 2 Packages (4 oz. each) of fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced 2 tsp “better than Bullion” mushroom bouillon, in 2 cups hot tap water. Also a little: Salt, pepper, flour, oil, and a splash of wine out of your glass.
Now get 1 pot of water to boiling for the pasta, 1 sauce pot for the mushroom sauce, and a deep fry pan for the shrimp.
Mushroom sauce: Get the 2 cups of mushroom broth to a good simmer or low boil, add mushroom slices. Shake the following vigorously in a container; 2 tbsp flour in about ½ cup cold water. Add this to mushrooms slowly, while stirring continuously. This will make a THIN gravy.
In deep fry pan: Sauté onions, garlic, ginger, salt & pepper, in butter and oil until no longer translucent, about 4 minutes. Add shrimp on top and cover. At this time put the pasta in the boiling water and put the timer on 4 minutes, which is how long most angel hair patas need to cook. Stir the shrimp once or twice. When the timer goes off, drain the pasta and the shrimp should just be done.
Put pasta on the plate first, then shrimp/onions, then mushroom sauce on top. If your noodles get a little sticky the sauce will un-stick them.
