December 10 "Progressive" Dinner

Here are some of the recipes for food that was brought to the Enrichment Dinner on December 10 at the lovely home of Marla S. Sorry there aren't any pictures--I think I should make someone the official Enrichment food photographer!

Cheese Ball
prepared by Marie H

2 8-oz packages cream cheese
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
2 T finely chopped onion
1 T Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Warm/soften cream cheese. Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate 45 minutes. (I don't do this--too impatient). Divide into 3 balls. Roll in 3/4 C finely chopped pecans.


Autumn Comfort Mac
originally published in Portland Monthly Magazine, March 2008
prepared by JaneAnne P

Casserole:
1 butternut squash (about 2 lb), peeled, seeded and cut into 1" cubes
1 T olive oil
12 oz cavatappi (hollow corkscrew pasta; I used a 16-oz pkg and adjusted the sauce)
4 oz pancetta, diced (I used 8 oz thick-cut uncured bacon)
1 med shallot, minced (a few T)
4 T unsalted butter
4 T all-purpose flour
2 C whole milk
1/2 C heavy cream
2 C Tillamook Italian cheese blend (not the mozzarella one)
1 t ground black pepper
1 1/2 T fresh sage leaves, minced
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Topping:
1 T unsalted butter
1 C homemade bread crumbs
1 T fresh sage leaves, minced
1/2 C more of the same shredded cheese blend

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a bowl, toss butternut squash with olive oil. Spread in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once mid-way. Remove when squash is tender. Set aside and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

3. Bring several quarts salted water to a boil. Add cavatappi and cook until al dente. Drain well and set aside.

4. Cook pancetta or bacon in a skillet over medium heat until fat is rendered and bacon is starting to crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove rendered fat. Add shallot and sauté 2-3 minutes more. Remove from heat.

5. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, stirring constantly, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add milk and cream slowly, whisking constantly, until smooth. Cook until thickened slightly and floury taste is gone. Stir in cheese until melted. Remove from heat and stir in pepper and sage.

6. Combine pasta, cheese sauce and bacon-shallot mixture in large bowl. Fold in squash and goat cheese. Pour into a buttered (or sprayed with cooking spray) 9x13" pan.

7. In a small saucepan (or the microwave), melt butter, then stir in bread crumbs, sage and cheese. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake 20-25 minutes, until bubbling. Brown for 3 minutes under the broiler. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Strata with Italian Sausage, Rainbow Chard, Shallots and Fontina
prepared by JaneAnne P

This dish is freely adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand. In spring, you could make it with salmon, asparagus and havarti. The possibilities are endless!

stale bread--enough 1/2-3/4" slices for two tightly-fitting layers in a 9x13 pan (I used one loaf Pearl Bakery ciabatta)
1 T olive oil
1 lb Italian sausage (sweet or hot), removed from casings
1 bunch rainbow chard, stems cut into 1/2" lengths, leaves cut into 1" pieces
1 large shallot, peeled and sliced thin
8-12 oz grated cheese (in this case a mixture of Italian fontina and the same Tillamook grated blend used in the Mac above)
15 eggs
1 qt half and half
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Add sausage and cook, breaking up pieces with spoon, until starting to brown and render its fat. Move sausage to side of pan and remove most of the fat, then return to heat and add shallot and chard stems, with just a little salt and pepper. Sauté until shallot is limp but not fully translucent, then add chopped chard leaves. Continue sautéing until vegetables are tender.

2. Put half of bread in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Top with half the sausage-shallot-chard mixture, then half the cheese, and repeat layers.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, and 1/2 t each salt and pepper. Pour over layers in baking dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and weight top to keep bread submerged in egg mixture (I use the plastic lid to my Pyrex baking dish, turned upside down, with a few large cans of food on top.). Let sit at least an hour or as long as overnight (refrigerated if longer than an hour) (this works great for holiday breakfasts or brunches, since you can assemble it the night before).

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake until puffed and brown and starting to pull away from the edges of the pan, and not at all jiggly in the middle when shaken (a poke into the middle may reveal some uncooked custard, but some residual cooking will happen after the pan is removed from the oven). Let stand 15 minutes, then serve.


Kay's EASY Chicken Parmesan Bites! (for busy moms)
prepared by Kay H

Ladies, this is the short version of a long version classic.

One large bag, breaded chicken tenderloins (Costco)
One bag shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
One container grated Parmesan cheese
oregano
One jar of your favorite pasta sauce, mine would be Barilla marinara, or Prego marinara
hot pepper flakes

(This will save you time on all the breading and home made sauce, that I save for the holidays)

Place a layer of jar sauce on the bottom of a large Pyrex baking dish. Sprinkle lightly with hot pepper flakes, oregano, and Parmesan cheese.

Bake the tenderloins on a sheet pan for 40 minutes, turning once at 20 minutes, until crisp.

Place tenderloins in a tight row on top of sauce.

Cover chicken with another layer of sauce, oregano, Parmesan cheese, hot pepper flakes, and a generous layer of part-skim mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered with aluminum foil.