Butternut Squash Hash with Potato, Sausage, Egg and Chard

It”s a terrible photo, I know. You see, I was in such a rush to start eating this mash up of deliciousness that I attempted to take a photo of it with my iPhone in very bad light. It is clear to see – or is it blurry to see (heh heh), that it did not work out so well. “Oh bother” as little Winnie the Pooh would say, it does not matter much, as the real gem of this post is to be found in the recipe. I insist that you make this. Trust me on this one, it is delicious and super easy and all of the ingredients can be found in season right now. I am a little unsure of the feeling I was having as I was whipping this up – but I believe that the feeling was “fun”. I think it may have been the anticipation of getting to crack some eggs on something at the end and watch them dribble through all the nooks and crannies of the dish that evoked these feelings as I buzzed through the recipe. I found this recipe on this blog – www.alloveralbany.com which is foodie inspirational and fabulous! The recipe caught my eye, as the cook who runs that blog had the exact same blue cast iron pan that I have and love. The full post and recipe can be found here on her page at  http://alloveralbany.com Sausage and Butternut Squash Hash with Baked Eggs 3 links hot Italian local sausage (about ¼ pound) – check out Bacon Acres and Field Gate Organics ¼ cup diced local onion (about ½ medium) 2 cloves Ontario garlic, minced 1 butternut squash (approx 2 pounds), peeled and diced – these are everywhere right now! 1 medium Ontario potato, diced ½ cup apple cider 3 leaves of chard, chopped Eggs (however many you want) 2 Tbs fresh oregano Sea salt and black pepper Squish the sausage from it”s casing and crumble it into a hot, oven-safe pan set over medium heat. Cook the sausage completely and then remove it from the pan and set it aside. Next, throw in your chopped onion and garlic to the original pan and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until they soften. Next, add the squash, potato, and cider. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Keep cooking the squash and potato mixture, do not let it burn and adjust your heat settings as needed.Your oven should heat up in about 6 – 10 minutes and once it reaches 400 the hash should be ready – I found it was probably about 15 minutes of cooking time for me by the time the potatoes were cooked through and the squash became soft. Once you feel the postoes are cooked, add the sausage back into the hash, along with the chard. Stir it until the chard wilts. Turn of your heat and remove pan to side. Now, for the fun part! Create several shallow holes in the hash (one hole for each egg). Crack each egg into it”s hole. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the egg whites are set. I did not trust that the eggs were set because they looked a little jelly-like still, but I have to say to trust the 10 minute, or 12 minutes and remove from oven. You can then season with salt and pepper, and serve. Serves 2!  Read More

Rainbow Chard-a-lish-ous

That is a meatball-on top of some Rainbow Chard. Yummy heh? Chard, Chard! I have got it coming out of the garden like crazy. To tell you the truth, I am not even a huge fan, I grew it simply because I love the way it looks as it grows in the garden. Beauty aside, it is quite good – in a spinachy sort of way. I thought I could impress you with some fun facts on chard, but it is hard to find out any information on chard. I will tell you this, Swiss Chard is said to have been discovered by the Swiss. The legend states that a Swiss gardener thought this vegetable to be a beet that had special leaves/greens that kept growing and growing and then later deciphered that it was in fact different from the beet and hence named it Swiss Chard. Yes, these are all Internet stories, so who even knows if this is true! Does anyone have an Encyclopedia Britannica out there? Anyways, the chard I have growing in my garden is not Swiss Chard, I have some sort of rainbow cultivar – purrrrty cultivar. The other chards come from Sicily, although it is thought the Far East and the Mediterranean also grew this vegetable. “Cicla“,the scientific name,is from “Sicula” which does refer to Sicily. Chard is an exceptional source of vitamin A, iron and potassium, rainbow chard contains a good source of calcium, vitamin C, and fiber. So, now you know it”s good for you and it”s tasty! Now all you need is a recipe, so here you go – I made one up for you. Kelly”s Meatballs 1 pound of local ground beef (I used Duenk”s Angus Beef) 4 small Ontario shallots, diced. (half for mix and half for pan) 1 clove garlic minced or crushed big handful of breadcrumbs handful of fresh basil, chopped small few sprigs of fresh rosemary few sage leaves, chopped few fresh chives, chopped teaspoon of cinnamon 1 egg salt and pepperhandful of flour for dusting Combine all these ingredients in a big bowl, take all your rings off and mix it all together. Shape into little big balls, lol. I got 11 meatballs out of my mix, but if you are a bit of a weirdo about even numbers – especially dozens, you could totally squeeze out twelve. Roll your formed balls into some flour. Heat up some oil in a pan, toss in your remaining shallots and then your meatballs and cook over medium heat until all brown and delicious. For the Chard A big bunch of Rainbow Chard 2 cloves local garlic (minced) 4 Ontario shallots (diced) knob of butter tablespoon oil Wash and dry your chard, cut off the stems and dice them. Get your pan hot and coated with oil and butter, toss in the garlic and shallots. Cook off for a few minutes until garlic turns golden. Add the chopped stems of chard, cook for about 5 minutes and then add in the leaves and cook for a few minutes, just until wilted. Remove from heat and chard will finish cooking on own. Get a glass of red vino and Belissimo!  Read More