butternut squash casserole.

the recipe i based this off of calls it a "gratin" rather than a "casserole."  now i don't know if there is a technical difference...but no need to use a fancy pants word in place of the glory that is CASSEROLE.  there are few things i love more than one-dish meals.  oh and did you want one with butternut squash, gruyere, sage, and caramelized onions?  YOU GOT IT.

butternut squash casserole.

ingredients.

1/4 c olive oil

4 c thinly sliced onion

4 thyme springs

2 t dried sage

salt and pepper

6 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (see this post for a super trick)

1/2 c flour

2 T chopped parsley (or 2 t dried)

1/2 c grated gruyere

1/2 c grated fontina

1/2 c plus 2 T heated milk

1 c breadcrumbs

directions.

1.  preheat oven to 350 and lightly butter a casserole dish.

2.  heat half the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  add onions, thyme, and sage, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes.

3.  season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.  spread in the dish. return the skillet to medium heat, and add the remaining oil.

4.  toss the squash in the flour.  add it to the pan and cook until it begins to brown in places, about 7 minutes.

5.  add the parsley, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more.

6.  layer the squash over the onions, cover with cheeses, and then add the milk.

7.  cover and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover, add the breadcrumbs, and bake until the top is browned and the liquid absorbed, about 25 minutes more.

8.  get ready to have a food-gasm.

cheese is really hard to photograph nicely.

vegetarian shepard's pie.

there was a shocking unfortunate oversight in my childhood called i was never introduced to shepard's pie. BUT when Christina described it to me a few years back i was certain i had to get to know this amazing food.  i love vegetable pot pie and this sounded similar but with an amazing twist.  THERE ARE MASHED POTATOES ON TOP.  are you KIDDING me?!?!  mashed potatoes!?  really?!  mashed potatoes are my favorite form of potatoes which are my favorite food.  hence, this saturday called for a shepard's pie making extravaganza with Cait.  and we wanted to adapt it to be vegetarian.  SO this is what was born:

shepard's pie.

ingredients

1 3/4 c vegetable broth
1/3 c dry red wine
1 heaping T tomato paste
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 T flour
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2-1 c milk
5 T unsalted butter
1 package (16 oz?) cremini mushrooms (baby bella), sliced or quartered
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
3 parsnips. peeled and diced
1 c frozen corn
1 c frozen peas
2 t dried sage
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
salt and pepper

directions.
1.  start by reconstituting the dried porcinis.  whisk together to broth, wine, and tomato paste.  add the mushrooms and let it sit for 30-ish minutes.  strain em and save the liquid.  whisk in the tablespoon of flour after the mushrooms are strained out.
2.  while the mushrooms sit, start the potatoes.  boil them for 20-30 minutes or until they are tender.  drain them and mash, adding milk and 2-ish tablespoons of butter until the texture is to your liking.  don't forget salt and pepper!
3.  melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a very large skillet/wok or pot.  add the porcinis and creminis and cook, stirring frequently, for about five minutes, or until the mushrooms are a little browned.  set aside the mushrooms.
4.  melt another tablespoon of butter in the pan and add the onion, celery, and garlic.  cook for about 3 minutes or until softened.
5.  add the carrot, parnips, corn, peas, herbs, and salt and pepper.  cook for 5-7 more minutes or until softened slightly.  now is a pretty good time to preheat the oven to 350F.
6.  pour the wine mixture back into the pan and deglaze by scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan.  simmer for about two minutes or until slightly thickened.
7.  add the mushrooms back in and simmer for 5-8 minutes.
8.  transfer the deliciousness to a buttered casserole pan and then layer the potatoes on by plopping them on in globs then smooshing those down into a thick layer.
9.  bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F then broil for the last 2-3 minutes to brown the potatoes.
10.  FEAST.


i'll give you a photo when i find my camera...

squash soup ecua-style.

now that it is super chilly out, i have been feelin' in the mood for soup.  everyone loves butternut squash soup....SO i wanted to share a interesting twist on it.  i like to make it like i've had it in ecuador.  don't be put off by the mixture of sweet and savory.  just trust me.  (as usual with my ecua-recipes, this one comes from laylita.)


sopa de zapallo.

ingredients.
3 T olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t cumin
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
6 c vegetable stock
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks**
s and p to taste
shredded cheddar cheese to garnish
avocado to garnish

directions.
1.  heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, cumin, and tomatoes.  saute for about five minutes or until the onions are translucent.
2.  add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
3.  add the squash, return to a boil, then let simmer for about thirty minutes or until the squash chunks are very tender.  (right now the word tender is really weirding me out).
4.  let the soup cool a bit to prevent injuries (we already conquered the squash) then puree it using an emersion blender.  if you aren't lucky enough to have one of these totally awesome items, then just use a regular blender and work in batches.  but be annoyed that it was inconvenient.
5.  add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  serve topped with grated cheese and avocado slices.

this immediately made me want to eat this again.

**ever lost a finger trying to peel and cut a butternut squash?  never again.  boil water in a large pot.  take the whole squash and put it in the boiling water (covered) for 3 minutes.  remove it from the water and let it cool til you can handle it.  NOW you can just peel it like a potato with a regular peeler and cut it with a regular knife and not worry about blood and frustration.  BEST TRICK EVER.

cranky distracted dinner.

tonight i got home from work cranky and tired.  and of course hungry.  i immediately poured myself an enormous bowl of trader joe's o's and scarfed it.  it was one of those nights where i stare grumpily into the fridge then close the door.  try the freezer.  close the door.  back to the fridge.  close the door.  and so it continues.  as i was eating my cereal i decided i wanted something warm and comforting so i decided to make muffins (had some frozen cranberries).  as the muffins were cooking i decided that this meal was lacking in protein (the milk wasn't enough) SO i decided to make hard boiled eggs.  (i only like the white part).  THEN as the eggs and muffins were cooking, i was impatiently looking in the freezer again and noticed these vegetable gyoza i had from trader joe's and decided to make those too.  so to recap, what did morgan eat for dinner tonight?

-huge bowl of cereal
-a cranberry walnut muffin
-vegetable gyoza
-two more cranberry walnut muffins
-two white parts of the eggies

i am much less cranky though...


oh and what did gypsy eat for dinner?

-her cat food
-amanda's crumbs
-beeb's crumbs
-a muffin top (she always manages...)

a fun way to eat tofu.

i happen to be one of those people who likes tofu.  however, i am always looking for more fun ways to eat tofu!  today i found one!  it comes from the cookbook "the enchanted broccoli forest" which was an awesome gift from my friend marianne.  i switched things up a tad from the original recipe by using a variety of nuts even though it calls for almonds only.  the book tells me even kids will eat tofu in this form and i believe it!


tofu-nut balls.
(ha, i said nut and balls)

ingredients.
1/2 c uncooked brown rice
1 c water
2 T soy sauce
1/2 lb firm tofu, mashed
1/2 c ground walnuts, almonds, and cashews (i used perhaps a 2:2:1 ratio here....improvise!)
1/2 c bread crumbs
salt to taste

directions.
1.  cook the rice (i use a rice cooker...just follow the package).
2.  preheat the oven to 350F.
3.  put the soy sauce, half the mashed tofu, and about 3/4 of the rice in a blender or food processor.  blend to a thick paste (this sounds really gross, but just go with it).
4.  put the remaining tofu and rice in a medium bowl and add the blended mixture, the nuts, and the breadcrumbs.  taste for salt.
5.  form the batter into 1-inch balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 30 minutes.


i ate these (really quickly) with lots of ketchup!!

next time i'm doubling the recipe.

this is my bed sometimes.

a wonderful book and a wonderful cat!

please don't judge me because of the cathairsheets situation.
white was an exceedingly poor choice.

(she is grooming).

sushi surprise! (in a good way)

the other day this amazing thing happened called morgan comes home from work exhausted and cranky to find her roommate and friends making a feast, including....SUSHI.  that's right, you can make sushi in your home.  whooda thought?  these kids are rad!

oh and by sushi i mean there is not fish involved.

check out the stuffingz.

cait had a lovely assortment of goodz: carrots, cukes,
scallions, daikon radish, zukes, eggplant!

then you use this bamboo thing to help roll em up!

THEN you slice em into little round guys!
and i'm really sorry about that yucky on the plate...clearly didn't plan
for that when i was taking this photo.

aceite de achiote or annatto oil.

i have probably mentioned aceite de achiote in a few of my recipes by now.  so i've finally gotten around to actually explaining what that means!  i'd never heard of it until i went to ecuador.  but perhaps you have heard of annatto seed?  so, what i have been calling "achiote oil" is spanglish.  it would be aceite de achiote in spanish, or annatto oil in english.  i also see how this might be confusing...i'm not talking about oil from the annatto seed, but rather vegetable oil that has been infused with the annatto color and flavor.

in ecuador i was surprised to see that a lot of the cooking oil in peoples homes was bright red.  after some research (read the label and translated it) i discovered that people were using annatto oil.  interestingly enough, annatto seed doesn't have a very strong flavor (it definitely has its own smell that i can recognize by now though) but does give a glorious bright red color to everything.  also, my host mom told me it helps counteract the unmentionable intestinal side effects of eating beans.  yay!  but yes, why are llapingachos bright orange?  the answer would be this oil!

when i got back to boston i was dismayed to discover that aceite de achiote is basically impossible to buy even though annatto seed isn't ("ethnic" aisle).  after communicating this to my mother she made me my first batch!  its actually really easy and now i will teach you how to do it!


aceite de achiote.


ingredients.
2 c vegetable oil
1 c annatto seeds
(want to make more?  want to make less?  thats a 2:1 ratio kids!)

directions.
1.  place oil in a heavy saucepan and heat to about 350F.
2.  add annatto seeds and remove pan from heat.
3.  allow to cool and strain oil into a glass jar.
4.  store in the fridge.


i would show you guys a photo but my jar is pretty gross looking at the moment (had some renegade oil cover the outside forever).  next time i make it i'll try to remember to put a photo on here!