Last night was a night of cooking. I sadly, didn't take pictures, but maybe will one day! Not only did I make dinner (with The Pedant!), but I also made soup and zucchini bread and TP made mac and cheese.
Mac and Cheese (times 2)
There was a tiny bit of confusion between me and TP about dinner. I was going to make a baked mac and cheese for dinner since I had milk to use. This is a Vegetarian Times recipe and it's pretty fantastic: using skim milk, you create a "cream" sauce and then add in 1/2 a cup of reduced fat cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. You top it with panko and then bake it. It comes out really great and much healthier than regular mac and cheese. So, I had to run some errands after work and asked TP to start water for the pasta. He got home earlier than I expected and started to make the pasta from the mac and cheese he got from the BBQ festival. Since it was Kraft and gooey and delicious (read: too many WW points...) he ended up making the Kraft stuff for himself and we made the mac and cheese from VT for dinner still.
Green Beans
We got a TON of green beans from our CSA and are making a Hungarian Strogonoff in the slow cooker tomorrow, we made a sort of French style green beans with almonds. TP did most of the cooking (I was doing zucchini bread) and they came out great. The beans were still crispy and the slivered almonds were perfectly toasty. It was a great dinner: baked mac and cheese and green beans.
Squash Soup
Since squash is in season, I made (yet again) my new favorite soup - Chilled Curried Squash Soup. (I already have 2 containers in the freezer!) Plus, since squash is in season and super cheap at the Farmer's Market, it's so tasty. It's pretty easy (I've blogged about it here) and fun to play with. For this one, I think I put in too much salt (or, parve chicken soup) and a bit too much curry, but I think it's still tasty.
Zucchini Bread
As I said in my last post, I got a TON of zucchini. I used half of the GIANT one (which means I still have 1/2 a giant zucchini and a large one left!) and made 4 zucchini breads. The recipe I have makes 2 loaves, so I bought some aluminum pans at the Teet on Monday (I only have 2 loaf pans). It was a GIANT batter. I had to use my GIANT glass bowl to mix and it was a work out. Nonetheless the bread came out great and tasty. I've gotten several complements from my coworkers (I brought in a loaf) and will enjoy the other 3 loaves in my freezer.
But now - I need to do something with the rest of my zucchini. Ideas??
Showing posts with label squash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squash. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Risotto Stories
Last night I broke the faucet. Again.
Or, more accurately, the faucet broke while I was handling it, trying to clean butternut squash risotto out of our large pan. It then sprayed me in the chest with hot water, and when I moved out of the way, shot a jet straight out of the kitchen that left a big puddle in front of the entryway.
The risotto was worth it, though. I would say that it came from the Washington Post's most recent Food section, but I doubled the recipe as there's two of us in the house, except not really, as there was only one shallot at the Teet, I have no idea whether the two butternut squash from the CSA were bigger or smaller than required, and I had just slightly more Wolfgang Puck organic vegetable broth (yes, as my brother says in his Dadaist way, I get the Nazi discount at Spago) and arborio rice than would strictly double the recipe, but I added it anyway. Also a bunch of Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend which may not have been exactly doubled. Or the fact that I couldn't get unsalted shelled pistachios at the Pentagon Row Teet.
But thanks to patience and the indestructable tastiness of butternut squash and toasted coconut, I came away with a tasty risotto, which is now in the fridge waiting for future risotto meals.
The only thing I would absolutely change in the future is to mash up the butternut squash instead of merely scooping it out and throwing it in; it was a little clumpy. Still tasty, though.
Or, more accurately, the faucet broke while I was handling it, trying to clean butternut squash risotto out of our large pan. It then sprayed me in the chest with hot water, and when I moved out of the way, shot a jet straight out of the kitchen that left a big puddle in front of the entryway.
The risotto was worth it, though. I would say that it came from the Washington Post's most recent Food section, but I doubled the recipe as there's two of us in the house, except not really, as there was only one shallot at the Teet, I have no idea whether the two butternut squash from the CSA were bigger or smaller than required, and I had just slightly more Wolfgang Puck organic vegetable broth (yes, as my brother says in his Dadaist way, I get the Nazi discount at Spago) and arborio rice than would strictly double the recipe, but I added it anyway. Also a bunch of Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend which may not have been exactly doubled. Or the fact that I couldn't get unsalted shelled pistachios at the Pentagon Row Teet.
But thanks to patience and the indestructable tastiness of butternut squash and toasted coconut, I came away with a tasty risotto, which is now in the fridge waiting for future risotto meals.
The only thing I would absolutely change in the future is to mash up the butternut squash instead of merely scooping it out and throwing it in; it was a little clumpy. Still tasty, though.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Cookin' With Beer, continued
Made Bittman's spiced squash tart last night for a gathering tonight. Hope it works out; I tried to slice the squash as I was cooking the onions and I think I burned the garlic.
As the Sherbs pointed out, we went on a bit of a beer foods kick recently, which is kind of funny as the Sherbs doesn't like beer and I rarely drink it. Not only did we make tasty beer-sauced mushroom tempeh (which really could be anything in the mushroom gravy; white wine would work just as well, as would a tasty stock), we made our regular favorite, beer-glazed black beans.
The beer and black beans we made was pretty tasty, in my view, but using Heineken (and some Rolling Rock when we ran out of Heineken) instead of a darker brew gave it less of a malty, wheaty taste, and highlighted the spice more. Still good, but not with a hint of caramelized porter sweetness.
As the Sherbs pointed out, we went on a bit of a beer foods kick recently, which is kind of funny as the Sherbs doesn't like beer and I rarely drink it. Not only did we make tasty beer-sauced mushroom tempeh (which really could be anything in the mushroom gravy; white wine would work just as well, as would a tasty stock), we made our regular favorite, beer-glazed black beans.
The beer and black beans we made was pretty tasty, in my view, but using Heineken (and some Rolling Rock when we ran out of Heineken) instead of a darker brew gave it less of a malty, wheaty taste, and highlighted the spice more. Still good, but not with a hint of caramelized porter sweetness.
Friday, January 30, 2009
A Very Tasty Dinner
Dinner last night was amazing, not only because we watched A Very Colbert Christmas (yes, a month late...) but also because we made Roasted Winter Squash and Parsnips with Maple Syrup Glaze and Marcona Almonds. And it was good! We made it a bit healthier by using 2 tablespoons "butter" and 1/3 cup maple syrup instead of 1/2 cup. Plus, we used regular slivers of almonds. Since it was easier.
It took a while to cook - I cut up the squash and parsnips before my aerobics class - and The Pedant made the glaze and cooked them. But it was well worth the wait. The squash was soft and tender and caramelized. It was so tasty. The perfect comfort food. So good we ate all of it (8 servings! HA!). Granted, we were very full afterwords.
Tonight's Dinner: Tempeh au Vin from the new Vegetarian Times. The verdict tomorrow.
It took a while to cook - I cut up the squash and parsnips before my aerobics class - and The Pedant made the glaze and cooked them. But it was well worth the wait. The squash was soft and tender and caramelized. It was so tasty. The perfect comfort food. So good we ate all of it (8 servings! HA!). Granted, we were very full afterwords.
Tonight's Dinner: Tempeh au Vin from the new Vegetarian Times. The verdict tomorrow.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Squashing Enemies!
Yesterday morning The Pedant and I chose our menu for the week. TP had a craving for squash, a tasty, tasty fall veggie, and we looked for a recipe. As usual, Mark Bittman came through with a spicy squash gallette, which we modified to a bit healthier version. Sadly, (or happily?) I didn't help with the dinner prep since i was on the phone with my sister and married a wonderful cook, but I will try to recreate the recipe:
Saute a red onion in some oil. Add some minced garlic (PS: Best invention ever - GARLIC PRESSES!) until it smells awesome. Put in a mini can of tomato paste and loads of spices (especially cayenne). Add some wine (finally, a use for the spicy apple wine TP acquired). Put in some sliced winter squash and warm. Put in pie crust (TP used a thin layer of panko instead of an unhealthy pie crust), bake for an hour. Watch The Tick and enjoy.
The outcome was fantastic. Also the Tick is fantastic. But mostly the tasty, tasty squash.
Saute a red onion in some oil. Add some minced garlic (PS: Best invention ever - GARLIC PRESSES!) until it smells awesome. Put in a mini can of tomato paste and loads of spices (especially cayenne). Add some wine (finally, a use for the spicy apple wine TP acquired). Put in some sliced winter squash and warm. Put in pie crust (TP used a thin layer of panko instead of an unhealthy pie crust), bake for an hour. Watch The Tick and enjoy.
The outcome was fantastic. Also the Tick is fantastic. But mostly the tasty, tasty squash.
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