Sunday, December 7

More vegetables for breakfast:

Butternut Squash Bread Pudding
(adapted from Cooking Light)

3 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
Cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups low-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided (I used 2 ounces of cheddar in the pudding and 2 ounces of Parmesan on top)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
8 ounces (1-inch) cubed day-old bread (about 9 cups)

Preheat oven to 400°.
Arrange squash in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 350°.
Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, milk, 1/2 cup cheese of your choice, pepper, nutmeg, eggs, and egg whites in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in squash and onion mixture. Add bread, and stir gently to combine. Let stand 10 minutes. Spoon into a 2-quart baking dish (9 inch square) coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until pudding is set and lightly browned.

I bought some bison yesterday at the farmers' market for our cats and also bought some stew meat for us so that I could try this interesting sounding stew. It uses lots of vegetables.

Bison Cranberry Stew
(adapted from BisonBasics.com)

2 tbsp canola oil
2 lbs. bison stew meat, cut in one inch cubes or smaller
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 medium to large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry red wine
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. paprika (I used Penzey's smoked paprika)
3 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
8 carrots, scraped & cut in thick slices
4 potatoes (about 4 cups) scrubbed and cut in large chunks
1 1/4 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3 stalks celery, cut in large slices
1/2 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Put canola oil in a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven.
Over medium high heat brown bison cubes dusted in flour.
Once bison cubes are browned, add 2 1/2 cups water, salt and pepper to Dutch oven.
Bring contents to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Add onion, garlic, wine, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cloves and bay leaves to Dutch oven.
Cover and continue to simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
Add carrots, potatoes, cranberries and celery.
Top-up casserole dish with additional water to cover contents (usually another 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups).
Add maple syrup.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
Cover and cook for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until carrots are fork tender.
Adjust seasonings — more salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce may be required.
Using a separate bowl, make thickener by gradually stirring 1 cup water into flour.
Increase heat so that stew maintains a moderate boil.
Stir the stew continuously while blending in half of the thickener.
After two minutes, add more thickener and continue to cook and stir until desired consistency is reached. (Note: You may not have to use all of the thickener.)
Remove bay leaves and serve.
Don't be surprised when you find the cranberries have disappeared, but they give the gravy a great flavor.
Re-heats well.

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