Winter Squash: A Study in Still Life Part II

I just know you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for this next post!  Well, wait no longer my friends...here is Part II.  I had grand ambitions of getting this to you much sooner, but the craziness of the season got the best of my time.  Rather than work my way through the natural order of a meal, as I had originally intended, I'm going to play the "I'm a woman-it's my prerogative to change my mind" card and instead give you a few recipes that might be fun to play with over the holidays if you have time.  I am at least sticking to one theme, and that is Breakfast!

This fall I heard that Willy St. Coop had developed a squash smoothie for their juice bar.  I have not yet tried one, but I have heard from reliable sources that they are wonderful.  I'm a big smoothie fan, but in all honesty the thought of this type of smoothie made me wrinkle my nose just a little.  And, because it sounded a bit off, I naturally had to try to make one for myself.  Those who know me well know that I am not one to shy away from oddities in the food world.  In fact, I relish them.   The results felt a bit Willy Wonka-ish...in a very good way.  It's like pumpkin pie in a glass AND it's good for you!  Doesn't get much better than that.  I've been imbibing these creamy delicious drinks on and off for the past few weeks for breakfast.  They are satisfying and actually keep me full until nearly lunch time.  Here's what I did:

1 hard winter squash (I used pumpkin, because I love them...butternut is also a great option)
**This is the time consuming do ahead part: cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, roast flesh side down in a shallow baking pan (with a little water added) at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the skin is browning and the flesh is nice and soft.  Let cool enough to handle, scoop flesh in to a bowl that can be used for storage, and mash the flesh just until it's a consistent texture.  You can do this any time in advance and store covered in the refrigerator.

Squash Smoothie
Ingredients
3/4 C. mashed roasted squash (see above)
1/2C Cottage Cheese or Plain Yogurt
1 banana** (see tip below)
1 C. milk (you can use any kind of milk you want...cow, almond, soy, rice...) OR Apple Cider
a slug of real WI maple syrup (probably a tablespoon or two)
5-6 good shakes of Penzey's Baking Spice  (you can substitute some cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom)

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a good blender and blend until smooth and frothy.
The awesome thing about smoothies of any kind is they are hard to screw up.  You can adjust flavors and ingredients until you get a product that suits you.  This recipe will make a couple of 8 oz glasses and will store in the refrigerator for a couple of days if needed.

(If you spend a good amount of time in the kitchen and have the means I highly recommend getting a VitaMix blender.  It is definitely an investment, but I think it is a versatile workhorse and worth every penny.)

**Banana tip.  I buy free trade bananas from the bargain bin at the grocery store (WSC).  When they are nice and ripe I peel them and store them in a gallon sized freezer bag in the freezer.  When I need a banana for a smoothie or other recipe that calls for mashed banana, I pull one out and nuke it for approximately 30 seconds to thaw and use.**





Crock Pot Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
(the original recipe can be found through this link)
A co-worker just told me about this idea and I can't wait to try it.  It sounds delicious and is a smart way to feed a crowd a unique and healthy breakfast or make some convenient freezer packages for busy days ahead.  As I said, I can't wait to try it...meaning I haven't given this recipe a "go" but it looks like it should be a winner and my co-worker raved about it, so I feel comfortable sharing it with you.  Besides, we can all try it together.  Let me know how yours turns out!  I modified the recipe a touch so you can use the squash you have on hand and with the changes I will make when I give it a try. The recipe calls for pumpkin, but I think you could use any variety of hard squash.  See the Squash Smoothie recipe above for instructions on roasting your squash.

Ingredients

2 cups Steel Cut Oats
1 1/2 C. mashed roasted squash/pumpkin
3 1/2 cups milk
3 1/2 cups water
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon Penzey's Pumpkin Pie Spice or Baking Spice (you can also make your own)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Optional additions:  chopped apples, raisins, chopped walnuts or hickory nuts

Directions

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.  Cook on low 4-6 hours.  If it needs more sweetening when it's ready try adding Maple Syrup and add more milk if it's thicker than you like.  Oatmeal freezes very well.  Simply portion in to freezer safe containers.  **Remember to always label your containers because frozen food all looks the same and is nearly unrecognizable.**  When ready to eat, thaw and reheat. It is ideal to reheat oatmeal on the stove top and be sure to have more milk or water on hand.  

Makes 8 - 1 cup servings.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos 
(for original recipe follow the link...below is my modified recipe)

I was recently asked to do some freezer cooking for a friend who was planning ahead for the arrival of their baby.  I've always frozen food as a preservation technique or when I have too much to eat at once, but until that moment I had never planned meals specifically to freeze for convenience later.  The research of recipes and techniques for this style of cooking was a lot of fun and this Sweet Potato Black Bean Burrito recipe inspired a breakfast burrito that has proven to be one of my favorites and something I plan to keep on hand at all times.  FYI, the cookbook I found most useful for this project is "Don't Panic - More Dinner's in the Freezer" by S. Martinez, V. Howell,  & B. Garcia.  The above recipe is a vegetarian  option and uses sweet potatoes, which can often be interchanged with hard squash in nearly every recipe.  I am a big fan of breakfast style burritos and Mexican style chorizo sausage which is why I modified this recipe to suit my taste.  I usually get my chorizo from Jordandal Farm , but I occasionally make my own using local ground pork.


Ingredients

2 Tbls cooking oil* (see tip below) or your leftover bacon grease, divided
1/2 lb Mexican style chorizo, casings removed1 onion, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper** (see tip below), chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 large winter squash or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Tbls butter
6 Eggs (from a friend, farm neighbor, or farmer's market...pastured eggs taste better, are healthier, and are worth the cost) 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas
½ to one pound Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded


Directions


Heat large heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 Tbls oil or fat, when hot add ground chorizo.  Fry in skillet stirring often to break up in to small pieces.  When sausage is browned remove to paper towel lined plate, reserving fat in skillet, and set sausage aside.  


Return skillet to stove over medium heat.  Add another 1 Tbls of oil or fat, when hot add chopped onion and bell pepper.  Saute until beginning to soften, scrape up any crispy bits left in the pan from cooking the sausage.  Add a little water if needed to help loosen any stubborn bits.  Add garlic, spices, and squash.  Cook, stirring often, to combine for 2 minutes.  Cover skillet and continue to cook, stirring often, until squash is soft but not mushy, approx. 8-10 minutes.  While waiting crack eggs in to bowl and whisk briefly with a fork to combine.  Season with salt & pepper.  Remove lid, add black beans, and cook another couple of minutes to heat beans through and evaporate collected liquid. Remove contents of skillet to large bowl.  Add reserved chorizo to this bowl as well, stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. 


Return skillet to medium heat, add 1 Tbls butter.  When butter is foaming,  add whisked eggs and cook as scrambled until moist and glistening...they will seem undercooked.   Dump scrambled eggs in to bowl with black bean mixture, stir gently to combine.  Do not allow the eggs to brown or cook until dry or "done".  At that point they will be overcooked and rubbery. Check out this great video on cooking perfect scrambled eggs.  


Assembly

If you plan to freeze the burritos, allow filling to cool completely before assembly.  This is important! If you wan to eat them right away, carefully assemble with the hot filling.  Working with one tortilla at a time (they will be more pliable if room temperature or slightly warm...if you will eat them right away you can actually pre-heat each tortilla in a hot skillet first).  Lay tortilla on work surface.  Place 1/4 C. or so of filling in a line down the middle of tortilla (from top to bottom) leaving a good inch of space at each end.  Top with a couple tablespoons of shredded cheese.  Fold right side of tortilla over filling, fold top and bottom of tortilla next, and finish with left side being sure corners are tucked in and filling is completely contained.  Set aside seam side down.  Repeat until tortillas are used up. (My photos were taken after the fact, so I apologize that they don't follow my directions exactly, but they are still a useful guide)

For freezing: wrap each burrito in plastic wrap, followed by wrapping tightly in foil.  Label each burrito with a marker and freeze.

To eat from freezer:  if you plan ahead you can thaw them and heat in oven or microwave.  I never do that, so when I need to grab breakfast in a hurry I completely unwrap the frozen burrito (I save the clean plastic wrap & foil for another use), wrap the burrito in a paper towel, and microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds on 70% power.  I turn the burrito over and microwave another 1 minute 30 seconds on 70% power.  They are always perfectly reheated when I do this.  I top them with some of my canned salsa and enjoy.  These burritos are really tasty and satisfying!


*Cooking Oil tip:  I use Olive oil (not Extra Virgin) or Grape Seed oil for cooking; Sunflower Oil is being produced and sold locally from Driftless Organics and is a nice option as well.


**Bell Pepper tip:  Bell Peppers in their off season are expensive and have to be shipped to us from far off places.  During their peak season (late summer in our area), load up on these beautiful and tasty peppers from your local farmer's market.  Give them a wash, remove the stem and seeds, and chop or leave in large sections.  Place pepper pieces in freezer bags or containers and put in the freezer for use throughout the year.  When thawed they will lose their crunch, so won't be suitable for eating raw, but they retain their color and flavor so will be perfect for all of your cooked dishes.  


Whew!  There is a lot of information here.  But fun and delicious ideas for using your supply of winter squash.  Please let me know if you give these recipes a try.  I would also love to hear what your favorite uses for winter squash might be!  


Stay tuned for Part III where I'll share a versatile entree recipe that is great as a salad, side dish, or main course.  


One final thing I have to share.  I was very excited when Terese Allen and Joan Peterson released the first edition of their "Wisconsin Local Foods Journal" earlier this year.  I was even more excited to get my hands on a copy and saw what an amazing resource it really is.  The icing on the cake is that the proceeds from the book sales go to support REAP Food Group's food and sustainability programs.  As a leader on the board of Slow Food Madison, supporting local food groups who focus on sustaining our local food system is a priority for me.  I am such a fan of these women and this book is my favorite gift to give this year.  I anticipate it will become an annual favorite for years to come.

Happy holidays to you all and best wishes in the coming year!!

Winter Squash: A Study in Still Life part I

Winter squash is like a little ray of sunshine.  The varieties available make the fall farmer's markets look like a veritable candy store with the beautiful oranges, yellows, and greens that usher in our fall season.   Acorn, Butternut, Delicata, Hubbard, Spaghetti, Pie Pumpkin...just to name a few.  When these gems are stored properly (cool, dark, with moderate humidity...I keep mine in a single layer in my basement) they can feed us well in to our long Wisconsin winter.  They are loaded with vitamins and minerals and each variety has its own flavor and texture profile.

As with their Summer counterparts, Winter squash is very easy to grow.  If you have the space, a squash vine can give you quite a bang for your buck on the dinner table.  Or, if you have a CSA (like I did this year, thank you Primrose Community Farm!) you might have a stash of squash in your basement that can seem a little daunting.  Although we all love the familiar baked squash with butter and brown sugar there are all kinds of fun ways to enjoy this versatile vegetable.

Before I get in to the recipe portion of this post let's talk about the challenges to cooking with winter squash...cutting and peeling.  As we all know, winter squash comes in many shapes and sizes and has a very hard outer skin.  A large sharp knife and an easy to hold sharp vegetable peeler will make your life a little easier.  This is probably one reason that folks generally opt for the oven roasted squash dish I mentioned above.  Cutting the squash in half, baking, and scooping out soft flesh is definitely the easy way to go...not that there's anything wrong with that.

Peeling a smooth variety, such as Butternut, isn't as bad as dealing with a grooved squash like Acorn.  A tip I got from a friend is to pop the whole squash (uncut & unvented) in to the microwave for a few minutes.  This softens the skin just a bit and makes it easier to peel.  A smooth squash like Butternut is easiest to peel if you leave it whole and use a vegetable peeler.  (Please keep in mind, this is based on my personal experience and not some other kind of culinary edict)

There are a couple of ways to deal with the grooved squashes.

• Cut in half crosswise and scoop out seeds.  Microwave for 4 minutes or so on high to soften the peel and flesh a touch.  Cut halves in to wedges following the indents already present on the squash.  Peel each wedge with a vegetable peeler

OR

• Cut squash in half and scoop seeds.  Continue to cut each half in to 1 inch slices parallel to the first cut edge.  You will end up with rings.  Lay each ring on the cutting board and trim the peel from the flesh with the tip of a knife. (Sorry, bad blogger...I don't have a photo of this.  You'll have to use your imagination.)

One last thing to keep in mind is that once cooked and softened, nearly all squash peels are edible and may go completely unnoticed in your dish.  In some cases it can even add some decorative flair.

Let's get cooking!  Shall we start at the beginning of the meal hierarchy with soup?  Here is one of a few recipes that are my own.

Al's Squash Soup   

(Who is Al?  Just another nick-name folks)

1 large winter squash - halved and seeded
1/2 lb bacon or pancetta - diced
1 med onion - chopped
fresh Sage (large bunch) - leaves picked and stems discarded
2 Tbls fresh Thyme - leaves removed and stems discarded
1/2 C. Apple Cider
1 small bulb garlic
2-3 C. Chicken stock
1/4 C. Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche

Optional toppings:
crumbled Blue cheese
Walnuts roasted and finely chopped
Splash of an aged Balsamic Vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub olive oil over squash flesh and season with salt.  Place in roasting pan flesh side down.   Place garlic bulb on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap loosely with the foil.  Add garlic package to roasting pan with squash.  Cook until squash flesh is soft and skin easily pierced. (Approx 40 minutes)
2.  Check garlic after approx 30 minutes.  If golden and soft remove from oven while squash continues to cook.
3.  Meanwhile, pan fry the pancetta/bacon in a skillet over medium heat until brown and nearly crisp.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
4.  Pour all but 2 Tbls of the rendered fat in to your BGB (Bacon Grease Bowl- everyone should have one in the fridge for reserved bacon grease).  Return the skillet with 2 Tbls bacon grease to the heat.  Fry sage leaves in hot bacon grease, add onion & Thyme and reduce heat to medium-low.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until caramelized.  (approx 20 minutes)
5.  When squash is ready remove from oven. Scoop soft flesh out away from skin and put in food processor.  Add roasted garlic (by squeezing softened cloves from skins) and onion-herb mixture.  Process until smooth. Pour all contents in to a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add apple cider and chicken stock until you reach desired consistency and soup is heated through.  Taste and adjust salt to your liking...keep in mind that crispy bacon will add a bit of salt to the soup.
6.  To serve: spoon soup in to warmed bowls.  Top with a small dollop of sour cream/creme fraiche, crispy bacon and any combination of remaining optional toppings.

Makes approx 8 C.

That's all for now.  Stay tuned for more!

The 3-way Chili

In our house my husband reveres chili with passionate monogamy.  He is the only one who makes it and it has to be done in a very specific way.  Bastardizing it with pasta of any kind is near sacrilege.  (Interesting, because he's from Green Bay which touts its own brand of chili that includes spaghetti...which is how his mom makes it!)

When my Cincinnati friends told me about their chili that can be enjoyed as 3, 4, or 5-way, it caught my attention.  What on earth could this kinky, open minded chili be about?  Although it can be enjoyed as 3-way, it turns out that this chili with a cult following, also must be done in a very specific way.

If you've never heard of it, Skyline Chili is a chain of restaurants in Cincinnati, OH, founded in 1949 by a Greek immigrant.  The chili is a fine textured meat sauce with a very distinct flavor profile.  Although the official recipe is a highly guarded family secret, most agree that the sauce must contain chocolate and cinnamon which are common spices in Greek cuisine.  Because of Skyline's history and popularity, "Skyline" and "Cincinnati" style chili have become synonymous.

So what's this 3-way all about?  Cincinnati chili is traditionally enjoyed served over spaghetti noodles and topped with lots of finely shredded cheddar cheese. (Chili + noodles + cheese = three, get it?)  Sorry to disappoint any other notions of enjoying 3-way chili...though I can't imagine what that would even look like.  Add Red beans OR onions and now you have it 4-way.  Add both red beans AND onions, and now you have it 5-way.  If you can believe it there is even more to this madness.  Once plated it is common to squirt hot sauce across the top and cover the whole mess with salty oyster crackers.  Check out the Webner House blog for all of the specifics.

After consulting a friend of mine from Cincinnati, here is the recipe I use to make this wonderfully unique chili.  It is inspired by Skyline Chili Copycat from Food.com.

1 Qt water
2 lbs ground beef
2 med onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint (16 oz) tomato sauce
2 Tbls cider vinegar
1 Tbls worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp (rounded) ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne or ground red pepper
1/2 oz grated unsweetened chocolate or 3/4 Tbls unsweetened cocoa

Finely shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb spaghetti

Optional toppings:

Red Kidney beans

minced onion

oyster crackers

Sriracha hot sauce

1.  Fill saucepan with water.  Crumble raw ground beef in to pan of water. (Really, trust me).  It's okay if it's in clumps.  Bring water & meat to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to a simmer.

2.  Add all remaining ingredients (except cheese & pasta).  Simmer uncovered 2-2 1/2 hours.  Remove bay leaf, skim off visible fat, and cool.  Best if left in refrigerator overnight before serving.  

I just added the beans right in to the chili before serving.

When ready to eat.  Cook up a pot of spaghetti noodles to al dente and drain.  Reheat chili.  Pile noodles on plate, top with chili sauce, followed by your choice of optional kidney beans and onion.  Finish off with a mound of finely shredded cheddar cheese.  Proceed with hot sauce and oyster crackers if you so desire and dig in!   

This chili can also be enjoyed in the same manner on hot dogs or over baked potatoes.  We enjoyed ours with a side of Stella's Hot Spicy Cheese rolls!

I make this chili when I have time to cook ahead and then portion it into freezer bags for use at a later date.  Makes it a quick and easy meal when you are short on time.  

**An important thing for you to know about me is that I am passionate about supporting local farmers and food producers.  Whenever I can I source my ingredients locally and will either list an item as such and include a link to the producer or put a list at the end of the post with the folks I bought my ingredients from.  If you ever want to know exactly where to get a food item locally, please don't hesitate to ask.  I would encourage you to give serious consideration to where your money is going and who you are supporting when you buy your food.  A smaller visible price tag on the front end is often NOT without a higher hidden price tag on the back end.  Another topic for another time, but if you want to know more in a fun way...watch Food, Inc.    (It's available on Netflix.)**

My sources for this meal:

• Ground beef- Jordandal Farms
• Onions & garlic came from my garden
• Spices- Penzey's
• Pasta- RP's pasta
• Cheddar cheese- Hook's Cheese