A Feast for a Jarl: Skyrim Dinner

My boyfriend Zak and I are avid fans of the Elder Scrolls series, and we often play Skyrim together. I'm a newcomer to the series while he has been a fan since Morrowind. In the midst of a new DLC that was to be released, Dawnguard, I decided to throw him a feast fit for a Jarl. I cooked him a delicious beef and butternut squash stew, baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, and sweetrolls! Yes, I decided to tackle the infamous desert that the Whiterun guards like to joke about. Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll. My boyfriend actually did steal one of the sweetrolls from my plate and quipped that little line with the silliest smirk on his face. What a butt. The recipe I used for the sweetrolls is from Gourmet Gaming, a food blog with recipes based on videogame food. The sweetrolls were perfectly soft, light and deliciously sweet, and the cinnamon-sugar glaze inside was perfect to bite into, and the cinnamon-cream cheese frosting added an extra sweetness to the airy rolls. Luckilly, I had a bundt cake cupcake pan, so I didn't have to create my own holes or mold the cake into the classic sweetroll shape.

The roasted vegetables were butternut squash, onions, carrots and asparagus, and the baked potato was simple with butter and some Montreal steak seasoning sprinkled on top. I love Montreal steak seasoning; top anything with it and it's addicting and delicious with a little kick. The stew was amazingly delicious and hearty, and I was surprised at how well butternut squash complimented the beef. I ended up adding some of the baked potato and roasted veggies to the stew for extra flavor.
              


Beef and Butternut Squash Stew
Recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 pounds stew beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup Marsala wine
1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
3 to 4 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Heat 3 tbs of olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan, and add the onions, thyme, rosemary and garlic. Saute until the onions are tender. 

2. Toss the beef in flour, salt and pepper and add to the pot, turning the heat up to medium high. Cook until the beef is browned.

3. Add the Marsala wine and stir up all the bits and goods at the bottom of the pan with a spoon.

4.  Add the squash and sun-dried tomatoes, stir, then add the beef broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an hour. Season with salt and pepper. Top with parsley and serve!

Pasta with Simple Garlic Sauce

I decided to make do with what was in my house and come up with a simple pasta recipe with a quick and easy sauce. The aroma of the garlic and olive oil cooking together is divine! I've made this quite a few times whenever I'm at a friend's house and the only things available to cook with are garlic, pasta, and olive oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of pasta (whatever kind you want)
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• Parmesan Cheese to serve
• Parsley (optional)
• Salt & Black pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a rapid boil and add the pasta, cooking for about 9 minutes.
2. While the pasta cooks, add the olive oil and garlic to a saucepan and cook on medium heat. When the garlic turns a golden brown, take the pan off the heat, add parsley and black pepper.
3. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and return to pot. Add the sauce and mix it with the pasta. Top with parsley and parmesan cheese and serve.

Bruschetta and Fall Vegetable Soup

Last year my friend Nicole and I threw a little dinner party at my house and invited about seven friends over. We made tomato-basil bruschetta, which was extremely easy and delicious, and a warm fall vegetable soup. 

Bruschetta

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tomatoes
• 3/4 c fresh basil
• 1/2 of a French loaf
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO, you Rachel Ray fans)

DIRECTIONS

1. De-seed your tomatoes.  Dice up into small pieces.
2. Chiffonade your basil.
3. Combine Italian seasoning, tomatoes, and basil.
4. Cut your French loaf into 1 inch wide slices.
5. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with some oil in it.
6. Rub the clove of garlic on each side of the bread.
7. Fry your bread in the oil.  Remove when crispy and light brown.
8. Top with basil, tomato, and seasoning mix.
9. Enjoy!

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Rustic Fall Vegetable Soup

Nicole and I made this AWESOME soup.  7 amazing people came over and had some of it.  We adapted this recipe from the Cooking Channel website, by Kelsey Nixon.  We thought it looked too chunky, so we changed some things and we couldn’t find winter squash so we used yellow squash instead.

INGREDIENTS

Adapted Recipe

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 of a French loaf

DIRECTIONS

1. Dice up your onion and heat your oil in a soup pot on medium-high heat.
2. Add in the onion to the hot oil, allow onion to become translucent.
3. Add in garlic.
4. Dice your zucchini and slice your squash, add into your pan.
5. Peel your yam and dice it up.  Add to pan.
6. Add your tomatoes, seasoning, chicken broth, and orzo.  Finally, add in your salt and pepper.
7. Simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables cooked thoroughly. 
8. Ladle into bowls and serve with toasted/pan fried bread sliced 1 inch thick.

Oh, and then we made cookies from Nicole's recipe.  We’re insane so we made 4 different kinds: pumpkin, minced walnut and dried cranberry (fan favorite), chocolate chip, and butterscotch.

Lemon Fusilli with Arugula

Hello there! It has been years since I last updated, and I apologize deeply for that! But, I am restarting my little food blog. :)

This dish is one of my favorites to make, and is always a hit in my home. The recipe is adapted from Ina Garten. I added chicken to the pasta, which brings an extra dimension of flavor and makes the dish, imo. It’s very easy to make as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs (2 cloves) minced garlic
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 lemons
• salt and pepper
• 1 bunch broccoli
• 1 pound dried fusilli pasta (bowties)
• 1/2 pound baby arugula /2 bunches regular arugula, leaves cut in thirds
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pint grape/cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 roasterie chicken, cut into bite size pieces (I got mine already made from Target)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, cooking for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest and juice from 2 lemons, 2 tsps of salt and a 1 tsp of pepper, Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it thickens.
2. Cut the broccoli into florets and discard the stem. Cook in boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes. Drain the broccoli and shock in cold ice water to stop the cooking, set aside.
3. Cook the pasta according to directions on the box (about 12 minutes). Drain pasta and put back in pot. 
4. Add the cream sauce and cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. 
5. Pour the pasta into a large bowl (I used a giant bowl for this), add the arugula, tomatoes, cheese, chicken, and broccoli. Cut the last lemon in half and slice thinly, add it to the pasta. Toss well and serve hot!