Baked Pumpkin, Sausage, and Cheese

I cut a "lid" like you do for a Jack-O-Lantern and scraped out the seeds from a 4 lb. pumpkin I got from my winter vegetable vendor. 

1 1/2 C. eggs (five very large eggs)
1 1/2 C. Chicken broth
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Whisk together the eggs, broth, and seasonings.

3/4 lb. Fried, crumbled sausage plus or minus to your taste and add to empty pumpkin.
2 C. Shredded cheddar or Swiss divided.  1 1/2 C. goes into the pumpkin now.

Pour egg/broth mixture over the sausage and cheese.

Put the lid on the pumpkin and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours in a pan with sides to contain any liquid that runs out, then remove lid.

Add reserved cheese and bake without lid for 1/2 hour. 

Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.  Scoop out filling and pumpkin for each serving.  This is better served after cooling to bring out the flavors.

Dinner Casserole similar to Breakfast Casserole

When I make my Breakfast Quiche Casserole, I sometimes use spinach for the first layer to make a lower carb. version. Tonight I used onion tops and they are just wonderful.

Melt 4 T butter in large glass casserole dish in the oven set to 350 degrees.

Chop green onion tops. I had lots from the onions I bought last week at the farmer's market. I sometimes throw these away, but no longer.

Pull out the casserole with the melted butter and toss the green tops in butter and put back in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute:

1 lb. sausage-pasture raised or ground pork with
1 t. sea salt and
1 t. pepper for seasoning, sauteed gently and set aside.

Mix equal parts eggs and milk, and this time I used some goat broth for the liquid.

3 C. eggs (about 1 dozen), whisk in bowl.
3 C. Milk or broth or both, add to eggs.
1 t. sea salt-unrefined
1/2 t. pepper

4 C. grated cheese. I use a grass-fed Colby cheese and I don't mind that this cheese is NOT raw because I'm going to cook it anyway.

Pull out the hot sizzling onions and top with the sausage, cheese, and milk/broth mixture.

Return to oven for 30 minutes.

The mixture of milk and broth was interesting. There was clear broth that separated from the milk/egg mixture but in a really nice way. It was very juicy which I really liked.

Everyday Cassoulet-Fantastic

I love cassoulet. After I read Julia Child's recipe, I was delighted to learn all about it. Though inspirational, I've never made her recipe because it's so involved. I tasted two authentic cassoulets in France and both were hearty, plain, and delicious. I developed an everyday version that uses simple ingredients.

Soak 2 lb.s Great Northern beans in warm water with whey or lemon juice. Leave overnight. I like to rinse them once during this time, like early in the morning before I cook them. I think it makes them digest easier.

Boil a kettle of water to precipitate as much calcium from hard water as is possible. Pour boiling water over the drained beans and simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain again and pour more pre-boiled water over the beans and simmer for 2 to 3 hours until tender.

Prepare the chicken by cutting into pieces and then make stock out of all the bones. You will need this to pour over the bean-meat mixture.

Roast chicken pieces in the largest Le Creuset casserole you have. I added Italian sausages (no nitrate) and a piece of fatty bacon (no nitrate) too. Drain the beans when cooked and pour over the meats with 2 bay leaves. Add a can of diced tomatoes and about 2 T. tomato paste. A tiny amount of paste is best. I keep extra tomato paste in globs in the freezer. Add un-refined sea salt. Pour the chicken broth over the mixture until you can see the liquid. Add more water to the bones and keep them cooking for even more broth for future cooking.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Remove the lid and bake 20 minutes longer. I let this cool down in the oven after I turn it off. The skin that forms makes the broth delicious.

Let this casserole cool down a bit before serving. This is a dish where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's not authentic cassoulet but what a fabulous flavor it has.

Sweet Potato Apple Sausage Bake

Sweet Potatoes - wash, dry, peel and save the peelings.
Apples- peel and slice apples
Sausage-Fry and crumble.

Toss Sweet Potatoes and Apples with cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
Put in oven proof lidded casserole and put sausage on top.
Add chicken broth or water to come up 1/4 of the ingredients.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. Best served after cooling slightly.
Green Beans with garlic and butter on the side.

While the casserole is in the oven, toss the peelings in olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp. This happens fast, so watch. I actually used my toaster/convection oven for these. They are like potato chips and since I don't really like them left on the potato in this casserole, this was a delicious way to eat this vitamins.

Breakfast Quiche Casserole

In a large bowl:

1 t. salt
7 c. shredded potatoes
1 onion shredded
1/2 c. butter melted and tossed with the potatoes
Press into large glass baking dish and bake at 400 for 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile prepare:
2 lb. sausage fried and crumbled and set aside
4 c. shredded cheese

Whisk in the same bowl:

12 eggs (3 c.)
3 c. milk or Chicken Broth (Updated 1-26-11)
1/4 t. pepper

When potatoes are baked, sprinkle on the sausage and cheese and then pour liquid mixture over everything. Squish your finger tips down into the bottom of the baking dish several places and then bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Since the baking dish is nice and hot already, it doesn't take long for this egg mixture to set.

For lower carbs sometimes I use spinach instead of potatoes and bake for only 15 minutes at 350 during the first part of prep. Cool, and cut into squares. I wrap in plastic after it's room temp. Another way to freeze would be to freeze the separated squares on parchment paper and then put into a big container to keep in freezer.

This dish seems to improve with freezing even though potatoes don't usually freeze well. For Fast Food at breakfast, I put the squares into individual casseroles the night before, place them in the counter top convection oven and in the morning, they are ready to heat. This makes a wonderful fast breakfast.

Update January 26, 2011
I often use chicken broth instead of milk to mix with the eggs.  This adds the benefits of broth and means I have more raw milk available.  I don't like to ruin the enzymes if I don't really have to. 

Roasted Vegetables with Sausage

In a large bowl toss ingredients in fat:

Potatoes cubed
Rutabaga peeled and cubed
Sausage fat melted
Sea Salt-(Real Salt)

Pour into roasting pan with:

Sausage links-pastured, cut up

Roast in a 400 degree oven until browned.

Served with:

Steamed red cabbage and a dressing made from
Vinegar, sucanat, butter, and sea salt.

Steamed Swiss Chard with butter and salt.

A small scoop of sauerkraut for the pro-biotic.

Streamlined: For this meal, I used the big bowl to toss the vegetables first. Then I used the same bowl to toss the cabbage and sauce. I love using the same equipment over again. I used the steamer twice too. The red cabbage was first and the quick cooking swiss chard was last. The water from the steamer was a beautiful blue.