Theme Food Week: Fall Flavors
If you remember (or saw) in a previous post I had mentioned the "theme food" weeks that I was going to start doing and make a regular feature on the blog. In case you don't remember (or didn't see) here's the basic idea..... One week of every month will be "Theme Food Week", with a different theme each month. Dinners that week (and by week I mean Monday-Friday for the most part) will be dedicated to the theme (although most of the ones I have so far I've only planned 4 nights for because there always seems to be at least one day a week that we end up getting dinner somewhere else). The goal is to use it as a week to try new and different recipes/foods and to have a little fun with dinner, and break out of the food ruts we tend to get in. So for September my theme was "Fall Flavors"... pumpkins, and apples, and sweet potatoes, and warm cozy spices...
Last week was Theme Food Week and the first official week of fall, so it was the perfect week for "Fall Flavors Week". My husband is not always a fan of non-dessert (or coffee) type foods that have pumpkin or fall squashes in them and he's not typically a very adventurous eater (even though he's a Chef - go figure) so I actually bribed him with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to not complain too much about the food, but even he liked some of these dishes. (we are sharing Theme Food Week with my parents so I get other reasonable opinions on the dishes other than just my own haha)
{Our Menu For the Week}
Monday: Fall spice rubbed NY strip steaks; Sauteed green beans; and Apple-Bacon-Walnut crostini
{fall spice rubbed NY strip steaks}I made my own fall spice rub blend for the steaks
1tbs Sugar
1tbs Allspice
1tbs Nutmeg
1 1/2tsp paprika
Kosher or sea salt and black pepper to taste
Sprinkle/rub as much of the spice mix as you want onto one side of the steaks before cooking (I broiled ours)
{Sauteed Green Beans}drop fresh green beans into boiling water for a few minutes, then saute in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
{Apple-Bacon-Walnut Crostini} the recipe is from Entertain, Decorate, Celebrate magazine's October 2013 issue. Unfortunately they apparently don't leave all of their recipes on their website so I can't give you the recipe link, but if you do get your hands on a copy of the magazine, I did make a few small changes, I used goat cheese crumbles instead of blue cheese because my mom and I don't like blue cheese and I also used slices of an Italian bread instead of a baguette since we were eating it as a side dish not an appetizer (also the store was out of baguettes when I went)
Tuesday: Chicken- Pumpkin Soup with whole grain bread
{Chicken- Pumpkin Soup} the recipe is here, and it.is.amazing. even my husband liked it (after adding hot sauce/jalapenos that is lol)
Wednesday: This ended up being the night we got other food (Chinese). I had planned for that to be Friday, but my schedule for Wednesday ended up being different than what I had expected it to be and also I had forgotten to thaw the puff pastry)
Thursday: Apple, Sweet Potato and Bacon Turnovers; Roasted Red Potatoes; and Sauteed Broccoli
{Apple, Sweet Potato, and Bacon Turnovers} here is the recipe. I think I made ours bigger than they were supposed to be, but maybe not because I ended up with the correct number of them and seemed to have the correct amount of everything... I did mine rectangles instead of triangles too. Oh and there were no eggs (oops) so I brushed them with olive oil instead of an egg wash so they didn't get quite as golden. They were soooooo good though! And if you left out the bacon they could even be dessert.
{Roasted Red Potatoes} cut red potatoes into 1 inch chunks and toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder. Roast until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. (you can set the oven temp. anywhere from 350-425, if you're using the oven for something else too it's easier to just roast them at the cooking temp for the other dish. Obviously they take longer at 350 and less time the higher the temperature)
{Sauteed Broccoli}Same as Monday's green beans, but with broccoli florets
Friday: Roast Chicken; Wild Rice and Bread Stuffing with Pumpkin, and Apple; and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
{Roast Chicken}I actually just picked up a rotisserie chicken because I knew I'd be too short on time to roast one myself, but when I do I love using this turkey recipe (which I use for Thanksgiving for the turkey), just adjusting the time, etc. for chicken
{Wild Rice and Bread Stuffing with Pumpkin and Apple}This recipe was also from The October 2013 issue of Entertain, Decorate, Celebrate, and is also no longer on their website, but like every recipe I've ever gotten out of this magazine, it was good! (I did leave out the sausage that the recipe called for though because I'm not a fan of sausage).....{I did check on Amazon and you can get a copy of the magazine there or I'm sure you can get it as a back issue from the publisher..... the magazine's website is Celebratemag.com}
{Roasted Brussels Sprouts}Cut sprouts in half (after trimming off stem base and I like to take off the outer layer of leaves); toss in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder; roast until done to your preferred done-ness. (the note about oven temperature with the potatoes goes for these as well)
And my bonus recipe! I made these Sunday afternoon, even though Theme Food Week was officially over and it was a snack/dessert not a meal it's definitely a "fall flavor"
{Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Rings}
you can find various recipes for these all over the internet, but here's mine.
3-4 large honey crisp apples
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup water
Cinnamon
Sugar
Oil for frying
{1} make batter - mix Bisquick, yogurt and water
{2} mix up some cinnamon-sugar in a bowl big enough to dip finished apple rings into (I don't measure, I just dump in some sugar and a few good shakes of cinnamon and mix it up)
{3} cut apples into round slices and use a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut out center
{4} heat oil in fry pan, wok, or deep fryer
{5} dip apple rings in batter to coat and fry, turning once until both sides are golden
{6} dip in cinnamon-sugar on both sides as soon as they come out of the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate/cutting board/cookie sheet to drain and cool
{7} eat and enjoy!
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