sage

Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

This creamy pumpkin soup is made with just 7 ingredients! I like to stir in a little mascarpone cheese to bump up the creaminess factor and always add a sprinkle of crispy sage leaves on top.

I won’t waste a lot of time explaining why we had this creamy pumpkin soup, not that the big birthday wasn’t speeeecial, but because for me, the night got hijacked by the soup. Sorry babe, maybe next year.

This soup isn’t about pumpkin puree, or extra veggies to make it sweeter, or crunchy bits to make it more manly. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

It’s just that this pumpkin soup recipe is so killer. And so simple. Like, 7 ingredients simple. Plus a slurp of cheese. Done and done.

A few weeks ago, some friends helped us celebrate my man’s belated birthday dinner at Park City’s Canyons Resort and their award-winning restaurant, The Farm. The menu meets and delivers on the hyper hot trend of farm to table, with all ingredients sourced within 50 miles for max freshness and keeping it local, local, local. And man, this place does deliver.

While the littles were mesmerized by the pea soup amuse bouche, I was totally transfixed by this pumpkin soup that was served with homemade marshmallows. I HAD to have the recipe.

I had barely mentioned this fact to our patiently attentive server and next thing I knew, Chef Steve Musolf swooped in, deftly dodging the growing number of empty wine bottles and generously obliged, delivering a fresh copy of the recipe to the table.

Go ahead. Put it on your Thanksgiving table. And then maybe on your leftover turkey. And afterward over pumpkin pie. It’s really that good.continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

Farro, Butternut Squash, Sausage and Dried Cherry Stuffing

Farro, a healthy whole grain, adds a nutty bite to stuffing’s traditional flavors with sausage, butternut squash and sage with a sweet taste of dried cherries.

This post and its bountiful Thanksgiving flavors is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm.

At my house it’s called stuffing.

Drunk with chicken stock, brimming with celery, onion, and butter, and perfumed with sage, this bread concoction is always cooked in the bird and comes out supremely moist. Yes, I did say “moist.” Moist. Moist. Moist. It’s how I prefer my stuffing.

At your house you may refer to it as dressing.

To me dressing delivers a dryer bite. Something maybe even a little crunchy. A bit more austere, perhaps even a little stark.

Not like my beloved stuffing. It’s my favorite part of the feast.continue to the recipe… about Farro, Butternut Squash, Sausage and Dried Cherry Stuffing

30 Minute Pork Scallopini With Lemons and Capers

Tart lemons and briny capers give this sauce its signature taste over lightly fried, boneless pork cutlets for an easy Italian dinner that’s on the table in just 30 minutes.

Sometimes you just need to work out your aggressions instead of act on them.

We all have those days. But rather than taking it out on the poor soul who cut you off in traffic as they dove across lanes to duck into Starbucks (hey, they obviously NEEDED their coffee) let’s take it to the kitchen and do some damage that does some good.

Let’s pound some meat.continue to the recipe… about 30 Minute Pork Scallopini With Lemons and Capers

Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes

It’s not even December yet and I feel like the holidays have already passed me by.

Working in magazine publishing means you’re always working at least 3 months ahead of each and every holiday. Plotting Halloween while others are launching firecrackers and decorating Easter eggs to the jingle of Christmas carols.

Hence why I’m always 3 months ahead yet 3 steps behind.continue to the recipe… about Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes

Pumpkin and Fried Sage Flatbread plus 5 Savory Pumpkin Recipes

Sometimes you just don’t have time to create a complicated meal. And sometimes you have the time and just don’t want to.

Today was one of those days.

Last week Smudge and I picked up a few sugar pumpkins at the farmer’s market, both for decoration and to cook with. She isn’t so sure she’s ready to relinquish her babies—Bob, Harry and Babycakes—to me and my menu making plans just. quite. yet.

So I had to be stealthy and cagey to sacrifice the pumpkins to the oven gods to create a roasted, creamy, orange base for the simplest pizza I’ve ever made.continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin and Fried Sage Flatbread plus 5 Savory Pumpkin Recipes

Brined and Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Balsamic and Raspberry Chili Glaze

This week has definitely been one for the record books.

Thank you, thank you for all of your amazing support of—and eyeballs on—the launch of the Summer 2012 issue of FoodieCrush magazine. Your comments through the blog, on Twitter and Facebook reinforce my belief that there IS an audience that loves food bloggers, their recipes and photography and you too want to know more about these talents beyond their blogs.

Please don’t stop learning about these bloggers after you click close on the magazine. Visit their blogs and let them know you’re there with a simple comment, a wave or a shout and let them know you like them and their work.

One of the articles I was most excited to share is the Boys of Summer feature, featuring some of the best boy bloggers on the web aka Verses From My Kitchen, The Sophisticated Gourmet, SippitySup, Closet Cooking, A Thought for Food and Eat the Love, to give them some man-love-food props and strut their boy food stuff. I keep thinking they would make an amazing boy band, I’d be a groupie for sure.

There are so many amazing food bloggers on the www. I swear I have enough content to publish a new issue every week. Hey, that might be something to aspire to right?

So getting another issue of FoodieCrush out the door. Whew. That was a big deal.

And another big deal happened for me too, something some of you may have seen a mention of on Twitter or Facebook.continue to the recipe… about Brined and Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Balsamic and Raspberry Chili Glaze

Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese

Hallelujah and haul out the tambourines. It’s National Grilled Cheese Month!

Grilled cheese. A brilliant choice by whoever is the event-of-the-month designator. Wouldn’t that be an awesome assignment? Deciding what is worthy of a whole month of celebrating? Job envy. Kinda like the guy that gets to choice the names of wall paint colors.

A whole month to say its okay and perfectly reasonable to eat grilled cheese every day.

I first discovered Grilled Cheese Month thanks to Clementine Bakery in West Los Angeles. Every April they celebrate the entire 30 days with 15 grilled cheese specials that make you say, “Whoa, I gotta get me some of that.”

From the Philly Cheespaocalypse to the Cuban Sandwich Crisis, these sandwich makers know how to put a spin on the traditional grilled cheese.

For the month of April I’ll be sharing my ode to the grand grilled cheese. Each week I’ll feature a cheesey compilation—pure melt-worthy goodness between golden pieces of toasty bread. Week one starts now.

5 from 1 vote

Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese

Celebrating Grilled Cheese Month with a recipe for Turkey & White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion and Grape Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion sliced
12-15 red seedless grapes
1 tablespoon sage slivered
1 pound turkey deli meat shaved
2 cups white cheddar cheese grated
1 cup arugula leaves
8 slices sourdough bread
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until semi-transparent and caramelized. Add grapes and sauté for 5 minutes more. Add sage and remove from heat.
Heat a skillet on medium. Butter one side of each piece of bread. On unbuttered side of 4 slices of bread layer 1/4 cup cheese, onion and grapes, 1/4 portion of turkey, 1/4 portion of arugula leaves and 1/4 cup more cheese. Place slice of bread on top, buttered side up, and grill in skillet until bread becomes golden. Flip sandwich once and cook until cheese melts and bread becomes golden. Cut in half and serve hot.

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch. Subscribe to Foodie Crush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest and check out Foodie Crush magazine and Cookie Cravings cookbook.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Turkey Chili

Seasonal is the new black.

Everywhere you look and everything you hear is all about eating and cooking farm to table, with what’s fresh and in season. Add to this foodie phenom a plethora of fall squash—not just your everyday butternut or spaghetti—and I’m seeing some serious foodie cravings.

It seems that there’s a bigger demand for recipes that include non-run-of-the-mill varietals and cooks who are ready to experiment with easy recipes, like these two that I found in my tweet feed within minutes of one another for Kabocha squash: Pistachio-Dusted Kabocha Squash from Turntable Kitchen and La Fuji Mama’s Simmered Kabocha Squash in Miso.

I’m squashing my squash craving (doh!) with this recipe I whipped up thanks to some gourds and pasilla peppers pulled from the garden before the first frost. It makes for a super easy party with friends.

These are the steps: Make it, heat it and serve it.

No last minute fuss, throw out a few bowls, some sliced baguette for dipping and you have time to sip a glass and visit with guests—the antithesis of my normal party-prep frenzy. I’m thinking the recipes was a success, given that I had 3 people asking for it.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Butternut Squash and Turkey Chili

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Hazelnut Browned Butter and a Magazine Sneak Peek

So happy for the weekend, and wow. Just wow. This fall has been a gorgeous one. There’s almost nothing I love more than fall light–how does it actually warm you to the bones? It always inspires me to get my nesting on/in/done.

But fall is nearly in my rear view mirror, with the forecast of a winter storm set for Saturday. And while I watch those snowflakes fly, I’ll be working at my computer getting my little dream of launching Foodie Crush magazine all stitched together.

sneak peek photo > Britt Chudleigh

We’re in the midst of editing, layouts and photo editing for the debut issue of Foodie Crush magazine, an idea that’s been percolating in my brain for 2 years, that I finally threw myself into just a few short months ago.

I kind of can’t believe its actually happening.

continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Gnocchi with Hazelnut Browned Butter and a Magazine Sneak Peek

Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

Farro, Butternut Squash, Sausage and Dried Cherry Stuffing

30 Minute Pork Scallopini With Lemons and Capers

Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes

Pumpkin and Fried Sage Flatbread plus 5 Savory Pumpkin Recipes

Brined and Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Balsamic and Raspberry Chili Glaze

Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese

Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

Instructions

Roasted Butternut Squash and Turkey Chili

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Hazelnut Browned Butter and a Magazine Sneak Peek

How to Make the Best Potato Salad

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon

The Best Greek Chicken Marinade

sage

Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion & Grape Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

Instructions

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