Cheesy Zucchini Squash Casserole

After saute, before oven & cheese topping........Beautiful!!

 I grew up on a ranch/farm in WA state. Had lots of   horses (rode in rodeo's with my sisters). We also raised our own beef, pork, chickens etc.... so of course grew our own vegetables. I remember the hours weeding and tending the garden which at that age was not my idea of fun but so appreciate the benefits of now. I recently remembered one of my father's favorite dishes my mother used to make and since I had my mother and father over for dinner last night I made her famous zucchini squash casserole. Anyone who grows a garden and plants zucchini or squash knows that you end up with enough to feed a small country.

Very meaty, amazing flavor

Since my mother is in her golden years now and is not cooking much these days it was a real treat for them to enjoy a regular from the past we had almost forgotten about. It will now be a regular again breaking out of the archives.
My mother always added water chestnuts or bamboo shoots for a bit of crunch that we loved. I just happened to have water chestnuts in the pantry however I will from now on replace it with bamboo shoots which are much more carb friendly.
              (1/2 cp Water Chestnuts 8.7g/Bamboo Shoots 2.1g)
We have worked to eliminate nitrates and nitrites from our diet so I have been using Trader Joe's Uncured Bacon Ends for all of my bacon seasoning.

Zucchini Casserole with BBQ Smoked Pork Chop
& Cucumber Salad

 Ingredients
1 pkg Trader Joe's Uncured Bacon Ends
6 cps zucchini/squash-sliced
1 Lg white onion- lg chop
2 cans Bamboo Shoots-drained
1 15oz can diced tomatoes-drained
2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cps shredded cheese
   
Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°. I use a dutch oven so I can saute and bake in the same cookware. Cut bacon into bite size pieces. Cook on med/low in skillet until cooked but not brown. Drain off a bit of the drippings if necessary, (it will depend on how lean your bacon ends are). Add onion and saute to just before softened.  Add sliced zucchini and all other ingredients except cheese and toss. Bake covered for 30 min. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the casserole. Bake, uncovered until melted.
option: add mushrooms,
Serves 6 to 8.

Seattle Food and Light Workshop

Since I live part time in Seattle, I was able to participate in an amazing workshop. It was a Food and Natural Light workshop with Clare Barboza (documentary food photographer). 

Clare Barboza's Spare Room Studio

The workshop was held in one of the historic lofts in downtown Seattle known for their amazing light from huge, almost floor to ceiling windows. I remember when my daughter used to model in Seattle, these lofts were where some of her photo shoots were. I fell in love with them then and was looking forward to working in one. I was not disappointed.
Fabulous for food photography layouts.

One section of Props.....there is much more

Clare has "Wall of Props" in the studio to die for. Check out the link....this is just a smidgen.

We had wonderful food prepared for us to style and photograph. Fruits & cheeses, Soup & fresh baked breads and of course an array of desserts.

Rustic bead & tomato herb soup

We would design, ..shoot... eat our props, design... shoot... eat our prop.

The lighting of course was fabulous here to shoot in. I have been able to identify better places to shoot in my own home now.
The class also helped me learn so more about my new camera. Classes like this range from newbies to very seasoned photographers and bloggers.
It was such a great way to see what others are doing in the food blogging world. 

Array of texture and color

 Clare has upcoming classes in Seattle as well as other places in the country. Check out her site.

A couple of my shots of the day. Of course I had tons more that only a food blogger would be able to appreciate.
(I  planned ahead and brought some chicken and veggies as well just in case there  were not LC props for lunch)

Vietnamese Pho Soup

Chicken Pho Soup

We used to live in Bellevue, WA where not far from our home was the most fabulous Vietnamese restaurant. We frequented it often or called in the big order for Chicken Pho Soup.
Now that we have moved to the desert and not one Vietnamese restaurant in town I went on the hunt to recreate it. After pouring over recipe after recipe and making many batches I found what is the closest to our favorite restaurant. Adapted from: steamykitchen.com. Great site with lots of delicious healthy dishes.
For us LCing, we do not use the noodles, we add LOTS of bean sprouts to our bowl of hot soup. You'll never miss the noodles.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 med onion-cut in half (char-see below)
3-inches of ginger-unpeeled (char-see below)

 Broth Spices
2 tbl whole coriander
4 tbl whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 tbl Splenda or sweetener of choice
2 tbl fish sauce 
small bunch cilantro- stems only-tie in bunch

Accompaniments at table
6 cups bean sprouts
4 large sprigs of fresh basil
1 jalapeno, sliced
cilantro tops-leaves and tender stems
1/2 cup shaved red onions
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha hot sauce- add to taste
Hoisin Sauce-add to taste
 

As I began to cook this, I thought I would skip this 1st step as most of the other Pho recipes I read did not included it however I  the others I tried did not quite taste like what I remembered. So I grudgingly did it..... I think this is what made it the winner.

•  Place ginger and onion on baking sheet. 4" from the heating element. Set to broil on high 15 minutes. Turn them over a couple of times to char. The skin will get dark and the onion/ ginger will get soft. Let cool, rub to get charred skin off the onion.    
  Use a butter knife to scrape the skin off the ginger. Slice ginger into thick slices. 
• In a large stockpot, fill with water and boil. With a sharp cleaver, carve the chicken breast meat off and reserve. With the rest of chicken whacking hard through the bones to get sections about 3″ big. The more bone that is exposed, the more marrow that gets in the broth (translation: rich, flavorful). You can even whack several places along the bone just to expose more marrow. When the water boils, add chicken sections (not breast) and boil on high for 5 minutes. You’ll see lots of foam and “stuff’ come up to the surface. Drain, rinse your chicken of the scum and wash your pot thoroughly. Refill with about 4 quarts of clean, cold water.
• Add chicken, chicken breast meat, onion, ginger and all of "Broth Spices" in the pot and cover. Turn heat to high – let it come to boil, then immediately turn heat to low. Prop lid up so that steam can
  escape. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts, shred with your fingers when cooled and set aside (you’ll serve shredded chicken breast with the finished soup). With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities in the broth. Skimming every 20 minutes ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 1-1/2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sweetener.
• Strain the broth, discard solids. Add shredded chicken breast and ladle broth to into each bowl.
  Have accompaniments set at table for each person to add to their bowl. 
  Serves 4

Stuffed Peppers



My husband loves meatloaf. When I say "loves" meatloaf....he can have anything he wants for his birthday. He can go anywhere, order anything or I will make whatever he wishes....you guessed it, meatloaf at home with all the kids and grand kids is his request. So, now that he is eating low carb along with me (he's lost 20lbs, yeah Mark) he is willing to allow me to tweak my meatloaf a bit. Of course not for the big birthday dinner. Tonight I am taking my basic meatloaf to stuff peppers. Instead of the usual oatmeal I would normally put in my meatloaf, I am replacing it with Quinoa.

Quinoa-the Gold of the Inca's

Ingredients

4-5 peppers (I like red or orange)
1 lb ground chuck or beef
1 1/2 cp cooked Quinoa (I cook it with broth instead of water for more flavor)
1 TBS olive oil1 Lg rib celery-finely chopped
1/2 med onion-finely chopped2 garlic cloves-finely chopped

4 oz.crimini mushrooms-trimmed & chopped
1/4 cp fresh flat leaf parsley-chopped
2 TBS Worcestershire
2 Eggs-beat
½ tsp pepper, salt

1Tbs Better than Bullion (or similar)
1/2 cp vegetable or chicken stock (can use water)
¼ cp dehydrated onions
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp granulated onion
Sugar Free Ketchup
Sesame Seeds


Preheat oven to 350°. Cook quinoa according to package. Let cool.
Saute celery, onion, garlic & mushrooms in olive oil just until tender. Let cool. Combine all ingredients except ketchup and sesame seeds and mix well (con, de-bling and use your hands). Cut tops & clean out seeds of peppers. Fill peppers with meat quinoa mixture. Arrange in baking dish. Pour 1 cp wat er or broth in bottom of dish. Bake fore 35-45 minutes depending on pepper size. Baste tops with ketchup and sprinkle with sesame seeds half way through.

LC Country Fried Okra

Do not over crowd

My daughter just loves fried okra. We don't have it often so it is a real treat when we do. I have made many batches that were not my favorite, but over the last couple of years these have been winners. I use this same mixture now on fish, chicken.
This batch however, I put the whole okra in the egg wash, then into the LC flour mixture to coat then back in the egg wash to do it all over again as I have heard on some of the food network shows recently.

The outcome was much more fried batter that did indeed cling better to the okra. 

Ingredients
1/2 lb fresh okra (or 1/2 bag-thawed)
3 eggs-beat
1/2 cp almond flour- fine
1/2 cp Carbquick
1/2 parmesan cheese-fine
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp granulated onion
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp smoked paprika (or paprika)
3 to 4 cups oil (more if your fryer is large)

Bring oil up to 350°. Rinse okra. Air dry or pat dry. Dip okra one at a time into egg wash, into flour mixture, back into egg wash being careful not to loose your mixture, then back into flour mixture. I keep a dry wash cloth handy to wipe my hands often to keep them dry. Continue to add more into your fryer depending on what size you have. 
Don't over crowd. Turn okra over with a fork to brown on other side.