Read & Print Recipe from www.greatgrandmother.org

 

2009 --three new butternut squash recipes from the chef

 

When fall comes around in New England, harvests of hard skinned squash are abundant. Prices are good, and these types of crops tend to be grown with fewer synthetic pesticides, thus reducing our exposure to the nasty Monsanto stuff.

I set out this week to purchase some great looking butternut squash and selected some smaller sized, locally grown ones. They are easy to peel and still have a deep yellow flesh and a bright orange center, with some plump seeds. This is the sign of a healthy, fresh squash.

Butternut squash and rice gratin

This is a particularly good dish to accompany a roasted piece of meat, as you have only to serve this as a side dish and you get your starch and your vegetable, if you think in terms of the basic threes!

You'll need a cup of steamed white rice, one small butternut squash cut into 1/2" cubes, six ounces of goat cheese, unsalted butter, olive oil, fresh sage leaves, three large eggs, one cup of cream, one onion, one clove of garlic, and one large leek. You will also need a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar and a couple tablespoons of maple syrup. And you'll want to top this casserole with homemade croutons and your favorite melting cheese, as with any gratin, the key is to have a creamy center and a hard crust on top!

As your rice steams, and your oven preheats to 350 F, sweat a diced onion, clopped leek (white part only, please), and minced garlic in some butter. You can salt and pepper this mixture if you wish. As they glisten, add the apple cider vinegar and the maple syrup to make a classic agrodolce--an Italian sweet and sour mix. Cook down a bit but make sure that you have a nice syrupy consistency. Remove from your pan into a small bowl.

In the same pan, add the chopped squash, some olive oil or butter, and sage. Use your judgment as to how much sage you like in your dishes. As the squash begins to cook, soften, and caramelize, add a cup of water to deglaze the pan and create a little squash broth. Remove from heat.

As your ingredients cool, add them all to a large mixing bowl. Add the cream, the [cumbled] goat cheese, and three whisked eggs. Might need to add a bit of salt at this stage. Just a sprinkle. Blend nicely to make a creamy rice pudding.

In a buttered 8" x 11" casserole dish, add the mixture and send to the oven to begin baking. 20 minutes into the process --or when you start to see the edges brown and the middle is still wiggly-- remove, stir, and add the crouton and cheese to the top before you send it back to the oven to finish up. Check again in 20 minutes and eat immediately!

 

Italian Butternut Bisque with Pancetta

This is different than most butternut creamy soups or bisques in that it starts with a powerful punch of one cup of diced pancetta. Fry this in a stock pot with a good amount (3-4 tablespoons) of olive oil and chopped fresh thyme. I like to use a tablespoon of fresh English thyme as it nears the end of its season in my garden. Pepper it up nicely, add some hot stuff if you wish, and then incorporate a quarter cup of all purpose flour. Make a roux with the fat in the pot. (For those who are hip to the culinary ways, make a blonde roux. For those who are not, then just heat the paste mixture for two minutes until it starts to fold away from the pot's edges and do not make it smoke or brown.)

Add 1/2 cup of small diced onion, a pound of chopped butternut squash, and two cups of chicken stock, unsalted. You can also add some garlic if you wish, but remember that just because this is an Italian recipe, it does not mean that it has to have garlic! Plenty--if not most--Italians cook frequently without garlic.

Cook until the squash is ready to be blended with your stick blender. Do the deed, then add two cups of buttermilk and warm nicely. Do not boil from this point, as any time you add a liquid dairy product to a soup, it is best not to return it to a full boil.

Here you have a flavorful bisque that will be unlike anything you have tasted before.

 

Mushroom, Onion, and Butternut squash pie

This is the dish to bring to a potluck, as it will be eay to prepare, easy to transport, can be served at room temp, and can be eaten by your vegetarian friends. If you have many carnivore buds, then go ahead and add chopped bacon to the recipe.

Start with 30 nice sized button (white) mushrooms sliced in half and two chopped medium onions in a pan, galzing and cooking nicely in a 50/50 mix of butter and olive oil. Do not salt at this point. When the shrooms get firm and brown, and the onions are glistening, you are done with this step. If you want to add the bacon, you can do it here and reduce some of the butter.

At the same time, add one clove of minced garlic with enough squash to make two cups of puree, and steam in a pan with some water and butter. Puree when cooked thorougly.

Cool both mixes. Add one cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and three whisked eggs. Pour into a raw pie shell (not need to blind bake) and place into a 350 F oven. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce to 325 F and check doneness with a toothpick.

In this recipe, the pureed squash serves as the medium to bring together the mushrooms and onions and cheese. The eggs binds and leavens. The crust holds it all together as a foundation. The pieces are all right here! Enjoy.