Harvest Pear Crisp

Harvest Pear Crisp

I made a Harvest Pear Crisp today and it was sooo heavenly. I love any dessert recipe that has the word "crisp" in it. Sugar, flour, oats and butter are truly the only ingredients needed to create this magically addicting crisp topping. But sometimes I like to kick things up a notch, like with this recipe, so I added old fashioned oats, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yum! Any fruit can be used when making a crisp…apples, blueberries, strawberry rhubarb, peach, the list goes on.  I used bosc pears because it's in season and I had some from my CSA share.

I titled this recipe "Harvest" Pear Crisp because these were the freshest picked pears I could possibly get my hands on since they were harvested at a local farm. Blackman Homestead Farm located in Lockport, NY. is where my pears were born. I selected pears from the share this week because they looked gorgeous. I think pears, bosc variety in particular, are such beautiful elegant looking fruit…like little pieces of art work. I immediately thought of poaching them in red wine, because that's what those beauties deserved but unfortunately I didn't have the time. So I decided on a crisp instead. Trust me, my pears were thanking me for it. Making a crisp is so easy and it can be thrown together in no time. To make things even easier I simply peeled the pears, halved and cored them. Halving them, rather than dicing or slicing, made them not only easier but prettier, especially when they were done being baked….heck that was the least I could do for these beauties!

When I pulled my Harvest Pear Crisp out of the oven the boys ran to the kitchen to have a look. Their eyes and mouths were wide open as they stared at the beautiful fruit crisp. They kept saying how amazing the kitchen smelled and begged me to let them have a piece even though it was before dinner. How could I say "no" when I wanted a piece myself. I asked them to grab some bowls AND the vanilla ice cream. You can't make a fruit crisp without serving it with a huge scoop of ice cream. They just about screamed with excitement. The pear crisp was so hot from coming out of the oven that the ice cream began melting immediately. Every bite was melt in your mouth delicious. The boys loved the crispy buttery topping. Zachary even said that the pears were awesome but he could just have the crisp topping as a dessert. I laughed and said that I totally agreed with him! Dave declined the pear crisp because he doesn't like dessert…crazy I know…but I think he would have liked this one because it's not too sweet. This is a wonderful fall dessert to make if you are hosting a dinner party….it's simple to make and will make a lasting impression on your guests. Serve it in pretty little ice cream bowls or even in a martini glass to make it extra elegant. And pairing this dessert with a glass of ice wine would be a perfect compliment!

Salute to enjoying a warm Harvest Pear Crisp served with vanilla ice cream on a beautiful fall day with my family!

Warm pear crisp topped with vanilla ice cream

Just out of the oven…the crisp topping is incredibly buttery, sweet and crunchy!

Bosc Pears from Blackman Homestead Farm, Lockport NY

Beautiful and elegant looking pears

Peel, halve and core seeds. The pears will be a little slippery.

They look just as pretty halved.
I didn't want to take the stems  off.

Generously butter a pie or quiche plate and lay pears evenly, sprinkle with a little white sugar

Mix the flour, sugar, butter, oats and cinnamon with a fork or your fingers until it forms a crumble

Fill the cores with a large mixture of butter crumble 

Spread butter crumble over the top

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes until golden brown and
pears are  tender

Elegant enough to serve at a dinner party

Serve warm and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to complete this fall comfort dessert!

Harvest Pear Crisp

Serves 6

Preparation and cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 pears, peeled, halved and cored (I used bosc)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old fashioned quick cooking oats
• 1 stick cold salted butter, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a round pie plate. Place pear halves on buttered pie plate and sprinkle with a little white sugar, set aside. In a large bowl mix flour, white sugar, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon with butter. Use a fork to integrate the butter into flour sugar mixture until it forms a crumbly mixture. Place a large piece of crumble in the core of each pear. Next place all of crumble mixture over top of pears. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and bubbly and pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Keep refrigerated and reheat in microwave for 45 seconds.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "Oh my gosh, this is sooo good. I am so glad my cough is ending so I can taste this yummy dessert." Nate is getting over a nasty cold so I am happy he is feeling better:)

Tyler: "Yummmm, this is so good warm. Can I have seconds?"

Zachary: "Oooooh, I really like pears in this dessert, but I think I like the crisp topping more. Can I have seconds?"

Dave: Didn't have any pear crisp but he did have a pear and loved it…said it was incredible fresh tasting.

Andrea: I'm glad Dave doesn't like dessert because it means more for me. I had his share and more!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Now that it's finally fall I can dedicate more time to my blog. My boys love it when I blog, not because I'm on my computer more, but because I am in the kitchen more cooking them delicious meals! This weekend we went to our farm house in Ellicottville. It has been quite a week for me, so a little rest and relaxation in the country was just what the doctor ordered. We enjoyed amazing wine and food all weekend. We also enjoyed shopping in town and buying new skis for the boys, telling stories by the bonfire of which Nate made us keep guessing who he had a crush on (shocking he fessed-up this information!), hot tubbing, sleeping in, petting and holding a pot belly pig (yep), and watching the movie San Andreas which wasn't that good in my opinion. Sometimes weekends are best when there is no agenda and you do whatever you feel like in the moment. And that's exactly what our weekend was all about…ahhhhh!

In my last blog post I mentioned that I recently joined a CSA (Community Supported/Shared Agriculture) through Native Offerings Farm and am loving it. It's only been my first week but I've already created some amazing dishes with my generous share of vegetables and fruit. The first recipe I am going to share with you is Butternut Squash Risotto. Risotto is one of Dave's favorite foods and butternut squash is one of my favorite fall vegetables, so I figured why not marry the two ingredients and create Butternut Squash Risotto. Well it was marriage made in heaven! Risotto is not the easiest to prepare but once you get the hang of it, it's actually not so bad. You just need to dedicate about 20 minutes babysitting your risotto to get perfectly creamy results. Risotto is made from arborio rice which is an italian short grain rice. Making risotto is so versatile that you can literally add any ingredient and it will taste amazing…ok, maybe not any ingredient, but you get a point. I'm so happy that I grabbed some butternut squash from my farm share this week. I typically buy the butternut squash already peeled, cleaned and cut from Wegmans because it's a total time saver in the kitchen. But quite honestly that short cut is no comparison to preparing your own! Nothing beats farm to table fresh veggies so peeling, deseeding and dicing my own butternut squash was way worth it. And my family thought so too!

We served the butternut squash risotto with chicken cutlets and an arugula salad using all of the vegetables from my farm share. It was a delicious fall meal which we all enjoyed. Salute to butternut squash risotto and salute to using the freshest vegetables from my CSA farm share!

The multi-step process in making butternut squash risotto
is so worth it.

Adding the parmesan cheese to the risotto..yum!

Butternut squash, leeks, sage and garlic sauteing while the risotto cooks through.

Picture perfect butternut squash

Butternut squash risotto...a creamy and savory dish
that's perfect in the fall months. 

I served the butternut squash risotto with chicken cutlets
and an arugula salad using ingredients from my CSA share.

Proud father moment...teaching your son how
to open a bottle of wine.

A glass of wine by the bonfire...bliss!

Boy's new skis!

Isn't this pot belly pig the cutest? We ran into the breeder who was introducing the pig named Trixie to her new owner. The boys want a pig as a pet now!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Serves 6

Preparation and cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 6

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled butternut squash

6 garlic cloves diced

2 tablespoons butter

• 1 cup sliced leeks 
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh sage 
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 4 14-ounce cans warm chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt n pepper

For risotto: Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a small sauce pan and keep warm.  In a separate saucepan add olive oil over medium heat and sauté garlic until softened. Add rice and salt n pepper and stir for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of chicken broth to rice and stir. When broth has absorbed add another cup until absorbed and keep doing this until rice is tender but still a little firm. Add the parmesan cheese to risotto and stir. 

For butternut squash: Meanwhile, as broth is being added to risotto, start sauteing the butternut squash and leeks with olive oil and butter in separate medium pan over medium heat. You will have 3 pans on stovetop and multi-tasking! Continue to saute butternut squash and leeks until softened, about 10 minutes or so.  Add the thyme and sage to the butternut squash and stir. 

When risotto and butternut squash is cooked through add butternut squash to risotto and gently stir. Divide among 6 plates and add sage on top.

Food Impressions:

Nate: For whatever reason Nate decided he didn't like butternut squash today...go figure. Luckily I decided to dice and saute the squash and add it to the risotto in the last step. Some recipes call for pureeing the butternut squash and blending in the risotto during the cooking process. For Nate I was able to give him a side of plain risotto which is amazing in itself since it has the flavorful chicken broth and parmesan cheese. It was a win-win.

Tyler: "This risotto is really good and I like that the squash tastes really sweet."

Zachary: "Yum, it's pretty tatsty" I could tell Zachary preferred the chicken on his plate.

Dave: "I like this a lot; it's says fall."

Andrea: I think I liked this recipe most of anyone in my family. Hey, butternut squash is one of my favorite fall veggies so it was a huge hit with me! 

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

My CSA produce share for week #1

I am so excited! I finally took the plunge and joined a local CSA! It's only been one week and I'm already kicking myself for not joining one sooner. For those of you not familiar with a CSA, it stands for Community Supported/or Shared Agriculture. A CSA connects people with a local farm and offers the opportunity to purchase fresh produce through a member share. Members purchase or buy a "share" for the season and pick-up their produce at a nearby distribution site. To learn more information on CSA's please click here.

There are so many wonderful local CSA's to choose from.  I chose Native Offerings Farm, located in Little Valley, NY, because I am most familiar with them. I've been buying their vegetables from the Bidwell Farmers Market for years. Plus, the boys and I also volunteered on their farm for the day helping to harvest the crops, packing vegetables and even feeding the pigs (which was of course the boys favorite farm duty!). So I knew first hand that Native Offerings Farm is top notch and the right pick for me and my family. See our pictures below of the day we volunteered on the farm.

My food impressions of the CSA so far:  Native Offerings Farm has an incredible selection of produce with such a wide variety. Their produce is all organic and everything has tasted super fresh. I joined their "season extension share" which runs for about 6 weeks and I am able to enjoy their late fall/early winter harvest. The cost for my share was $200.00 which is a great price in my opinion given it's all organic and it's the freshest produce I could buy. There are different share sizes depending on how large your family is. I chose a "small" share which is supposed to feed 2-3 people for the week. The small share isn't that small in my opinion. The small share consists of 12 pounds of root vegetables and greens…it's feeding my hungry family of 5 just fine so far. Since it was my first week of picking up my share I wasn't sure what to expect. My pick-up location was at a church on Symphony Circle. Luckily I remembered to bring a market tote to carry my produce home. I thought I was going to just run in and grab a share with my name on it….that wasn't that wasn't the case. I was able to choose what I wanted based on my share size. It was hard to decide what to pick so I just took a little of this and a little of that. There were so many vegetables that I have never even seen or heard of before. Like black radishes, dinosaur kale or butter beets, say whaaaat???  I can't wait to try some of these unique vegetables. I also grabbed herbs, arugula, potatoes, pears, carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, leeks, peppers and a lot more.  I am so excited to share some farm-to-table recipes with you from my farm share.  Just this weekend I made Butternut Squash Risotto, a Tuscan Chicken Stew, mashed potatoes, Chicken Milanese, and Pear Crisp. So stay tuned for these delicious recipes and more!

Salute to me finally taking the plunge in joining a CSA and making many delicious recipes chock full of veggies!

PICTURES OF OUR DAY VOLUNTEERING AT NATIVE OFFERINGS FARM

Sea Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Nothing says Halloween like Roasted Pumpkin Seeds do!  Every year we roast pumpkin seeds after we carve our pumpkins. They are so easy to make and so delicious. I always add extra salt which makes them even extra addicting. Salty, crunchy, buttery, golden brown pumpkin seeds....a favorite in our household!

Tonight Tyler and Zachary carved their own pumpkins with no help at all...a sure sign they are getting older and more independent. Nate didn't partake in pumpkin carving because he went to a dance at Buffalo Seminary tonight with his friends...another sure sign your kids are getting older and more independent! Yikes middle school years...I could dedicate an entire blog just to that topic alone! 

Onto pumpkin seeds, Tyler and Zachary's pumpkins were huge and loaded with pumpkins "guts" and seeds. Tyler and Zachary call the pumpkins innards slimy, slippery, mushy guts! Fitting description I say. While they were scooping out the pumpkin guts I made sure they separated the seeds and placed them in a bowl. Honestly, not a job I love but luckily they find it fun. After they separated the seeds, I rinsed them off in a colander and let the dry on paper towels. Making sure they are as dry as can be before baking will ensure crunchy pumpkin seeds. That's they key! Nothing's worse than eating pumpkin seeds that are chewy...try getting those out of your teeth...ewww!

I love making my pumpkin seeds with just olive oil, sea salt and pepper but you can be creative with your flavorings. Try adding garlic salt for a more savory taste, some cayenne pepper for some heat, some cinnamon sugar for sweetness or even cheddar cheese powder for an extra wow. 

If you are carving your pumpkin make sure to save the seeds and roast them...it would be a shame to waste them. Make it part of your Halloween tradition like it is ours. They make a perfect snack and are much healthier than gorging on snickers bars and Reese's peanut butter cups....my Halloween vice for sure! 

Salute to perfectly roasted sea salted pumpkin seeds on Halloween! 

Sea Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Ingredients:

• seeds from a pumpkin

• olive oil 

• sea salt and pepper

• Feel free to add any flavoring... Be creative. Cayenne, cheddar powder, garlic powder, cinnamon sugar, lemon zest, etc. 

Scrape seeds from pumpkin. Rinse seeds in a colander making sure they are clean and free from pumpkin fibers or guts as my boys say. 

Dry seeds on paper towels. Get them as dry as you can. This will ensure crunchy seeds as opposed to chewy. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place seeds on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil to coat and add a generous seasoning of sea salt and pepper. Make sure the seeds are spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. This will ensure even baking of each seed. 

Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy! They keep well in plastic baggies in the refrigerator. 

Food Impressions:

Salty, crunchy, addicting, crispy, golden brown, and ghostly delicious! 

WNY Local Restaurant Week - October 19 - 25, 2015

October 19 - 25, 2015

It's that time of year again…one of my all time favorites…WNY Local Restaurant Week!

As much as I enjoy cooking an incredible meal at home with a glass of wine, I also love be wined and dined out at a fabulous local restaurant. And Local Restaurant Week is always the perfect week to enjoy a meal out. Not only are the restaurants bustling with people, they are bustling with amazing dishes at amazing prices! 

If you are reading my blog then you are obviously a foodie. If you are a foodie then you are obviously familiar with Local Restaurant Week. Right? Maybe not? Well if you're not familiar with Local Restaurant Week (shame on you) check out their website for more information on what it's all about and participating restaurants:

www.LocalRestaurantWeek.com

or follow them on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/LocalRestaurantWeekWNY

or follow them on Twitter:

@LocalRestWeek

So where are you dining out?

Shrimp Scampi over Zoodles (17 Day Diet Friendly)

Shrimp Scampi over Zoodles

One of my favorite recipes is Shrimp Scampi over Linguini. Surprisingly, since I've been on the 17 Day Diet I haven't craved pasta like I thought I would. This is hard to believe since I'm Italian and am used to eating pasta at least twice a week. I'm on Cycle 2 so shrimp is allowed as a protein, woo hoo! I couldn't wait to eat shrimp so my first thought was to make shrimp scampi, without the pasta of course...boo! If I can't have my pasta then zoodles or spaghetti squash are my best alternatives. If you are not familiar with "zoodles" they are zucchini spiralized into spaghetti strands. I used my Veggetti to create this zucchini and yellow squash noodles. It's an amazing alternative to pasta. So tonight we had Shrimp Scampi over Zoodles. I crossed my fingers hoping this recipe would taste similar to my original one with linguini. Lucky me it was... Yay!

None of us missed the linguini in our shrimp scampi recipe, including the boys. Seriously it was that good. It was buttery and lemony and oh so yummy. The zoodles, I used zucchini and yellow squash, were soft but slightly firm to be twirled with a fork. The shrimp and zucchini noodles paired really well together. And the combination of the butter, lemon, garlic and dill were the perfect flavors. I topped the scampi with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and extra pepper which made it over the top delicious. 

What I love most about this recipe, unlike my traditional scampi over linguini, is that it's a one pot meal. Everything is cooked in one large skillet and it's ready in under 30 minutes. Perfect weeknight meal. There is nothing not to like about this dish... It's 17 DD Friendly, low carb, gluten free, healthy and nutritious. 

We've all been so busy as a family, being pulled in a million directions, so this was the perfect meal to share together. Great meal + great conversation = great family memories!

Salute to one of my favorite meals Shrimp Scampi but without the pasta and not missing it at all! Now that's a positive food impression.

See other delicious Zoodles recipes:

• Garlic and Olive Oil Zoodles
• Zoodle Stir Fry with Chicken and Vegetables
• Veggetti Cucumber Quinoa and Feta
• Zoodles with Meat Sauce

Shrimp Scampi over Zoodles

Delicious and healthy every bite

Saute garlic in olive oil and butter

Saute Shrimp

Add zucchini and squash noodles

And you have yourself a one skillet meal in under 30 minutes

17 DD Friendly, C2

Shrimp Scampi Over Zoodles (Click to print recipe)

Preparation and cook time: 30 minutes tops!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 zucchini or yellow squash, figure one per person, spiralized
• 1 1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and cleaned
• 2 tb minced garlic
• 6 tb butter
• 2 tb olive oil
• 2 tb fresh dill chopped
• a couple pinches of red pepper flakes
• salt n pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• grated parmesan cheese, optional

In a large skillet heat olive oil, butter and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add shrimp, red pepper, a little salt n pepper and dill and cook for 3 minutes per side. Add spiralized zucchini/squash and mix until it's coated with butter and olive oil. Cook for 5-7 minutes until zucchini is soft but but firm. While the zucchini is cooking it will sweat a lot of water so be careful the noodles don't get mushy. Add some more salt n pepper to taste and lemon juice. Mix well. Plate into 4 bowls and add freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!