Butternut Squash Cheddar Galette

This was my first galette, and it was savory! I kind of associate galettes with sweetness, because I see so many recipes for sweet fruit ones, but this savory one was great. Perfect for packing lunches, and since the pie crust is rolled so thinly, you get more filling per pie crust (and therefore less butter per serving : ) ) This was also the first real think I've cooked since I started my new job (!!!). I'm not used to cooking so little, but I'm surprisingly drained after getting home from a whole day of training (after busy weekends of helping my parents out). Definitely hoping that I get some more energy to cook after work, and I think I will once I've completed training and the weather gets nicer/brighter.

I used about 1/4 the original recipe's measure of olive oil, so if you want to use the full 1/4th cup, feel free, I just feel it would be too greasy like that, but as you can see, my butternut squash was a little wrinkly (but still delicious). Up to you!

Butternut Squash Chedder Galette
slightly adapted from Domestic Deborah

Ingredients:
1 recipe pate brisee/pie crust (I used Martha Stewart's recipe)
1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup aged white cheddar, grated
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. fresh sage, minced
1 tsp. salt
black pepper to taste
1 large egg yolk + 1 Tbs. cold water


Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
2. Roll out pastry into a 12" circle. Place on a large baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and refridgerate until ready to use.
3. Combine butternut squash, onion, cheddar, olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl and fold together until mixture is reasonably consistent and lightly coated in olive oil.
4.  Mound filling onto the pie crust and spread out evenly, leaving 2" of pie crust all around the edges. Fold edge of crust over the filling.
5. Whisk together egg yolk and water, and brush onto crust.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes (or more) until crust is golden brown and butternut squash is cooked (it may not completely soften and that's fine).
7. Let galette cool for 30 minutes, then serve

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Empanadas

These things are additively delicious. Please be careful!

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Empanadas
from Sandy Hoopes

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup butter, cold and diced
3/4 cup ice water

2.5 cups butternut squash, diced very small
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs oregano or rosemary, diced
1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper
2 eggs, divided
1.5 cups ricotta (recipe here)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbs parsely, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs milk

Instructions:
1. In a food processor combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter and process until just incorporated. Slowly drizzle in water while processing until water dough mostly comes together. Dump onto a surface, shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refridgerate for at least an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Peel, seed, and dice butternut squash (very small-ly). In a large bowl, combine the squash, oil, herbs, and chili pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes, until fork tender. Then remove from oven and chill.
4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat an egg. Then add ricotta, parmesan, parsely, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill.
5. Roll out the dough into 1/8" thick circles. Cut into 4" circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter.
6. Place a spoonful of chilled squash and a spoonful of ricotta onto the center of each circle. Fold one half over the filling to form a half-moon, then seal the edges by pressing with your fingers (or a fork). Then fold the edge back to create a ridge around the seam. Place onto a baking pan lined with foil or parchment paper.
7. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the milk. Brush over the empanadas, cut 3 small holes into the top of each, and bake for 16 minutes (or deep fry)

Butternut Squash and Tahini Dip

I've become rather addicted to tahini, ever since my excursion into middle eastern food with the falafel expedition (lightly explained in my falafel post). This dip is great, and my friend and I ate the whole thing up in just a few days x.x Serve with traditional pita bread or on crackers. Don't over process like I did! I've gotten to used to making pumpkin purée which takes a good 5 minutes to process and after that it STILL isn't completely smooth, but this processes super quickly.

Butternut Squash and Tahini Dip
from Playin with my Food

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and diced (7 cups)
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
5 Tbs. tahini
6 oz. Greek yogurt
2 small cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. sesame seeds
1.5 tsp. maple syrup (or date syrup)
salt
Optional: 2 tsp. cilantro, chopped (to garnish)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Toss squash with olive oil on a roasting pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Cover the pan with foil and roast for 40 mins (or until soft)
3. Set squash aside and let cool.
4. Transfer cooled squash to a food processor, add tahini, yogurt, and garlic. Pules until a coarse paste is formed. Salt to taste.
5. Spread onto a flat plate in a wavy pattern, sprinkle with sesame seeds, drizzle over syrup, and garnish with cilantro (if using).

Butternut Squash Chili

As sad as I am to see the beautiful good weather go, that means the cold-weather cooking begins! I've been waiting for a week to make this chilli, but the weather kept being... nice. I did get to take a wonder afternoon picnic yesterday, with hummus and olive tapenade from the Chicago Diner cookbook, one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants, and soon becoming one of my favorite cook books. Unfortunately, the copyright declares re-posting (without written permission) of their recipes to be banned, so I'm not doing that. But if you're looking for a solid vegetarian cookbook with all sorts of time-tested restaurant recipes that require very few ingredients, this is the book for you. I'm even thinking of doing a food-blog challenge for all of you readers out there, with a series of 4-5 recipes and the first one to make and post about their experiences gets a mandolin and a copy of this book. : D More to come on that...

Back to food.... I loved this chili, truly one of the best I've ever had. It's so fresh while being so healthily-heavy and satisfying.

Butternut Squash Chili
adapted from Cookie and Katie
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. oil
1 onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 small (< 1.5 lbs) butternut squash, peeled, 1/2" cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin, ground
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. cinnamon, ground
14-oz. canned diced tomatoes, including liquid
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
(optional) garnish: avocado, cheddar, tortilla, cilantro, sour cream, etc.

Instructions:
1. Add oil to stock pot over medium heat. Then add onion, peppers, squash, and garlic and sautee until onions are translucent (~5 minutes).
2. Turn heat to medium-low, and add chili powder, cumin, jalapeno, bay leaf, cinnamon, tomatoes, beans, and broth. Stir to combine, then cover and cook for 1 hour.
3. The butternut squash should be tender and the liquid should be reduced. Ladle into bowls, garnish, and serve. 

Butternut Squash Soup with Fried Sage

If you make this soup, it will turn out way more bright and beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't think to decrease the vegetable broth content, since I used some of my left over butternut squash puree, so mine is quite dark, but this is a great soup and I'm definitely going to make it again and update the pic!

Butternut Squash Soup with Fried Sage
from Divine Cuisine

Ingredients:
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 medium carrot, peeled and cubbed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup cream (I substituted whole milk)
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

for fried sage:
7 - 10 fresh sage leaves
1.5 Tbs. self rising flour
2 Tbs. white wine
pinch of salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions:
1.  Pre-heat the 2 Tbs. olive oil in a medium sauce pan and sauté onion, carrot, squash, and ginger 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned.
2. Pour in just enough vegetable stock to cover vegetables, and reduce heat to low. Cover pot and simmer for 30-40 mins or until all vegetables are tender.
3. Transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in cream and remining stock to desired consistency.

for fried sage:
1. Pre-heat oil in a small sauce pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, wine, and salt. Cover each leaf in batter and fry until JUST golden. Transfer to a paper towel.
Caution: These little guys cook really fast, so be very careful!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Walnuts

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Walnuts
adapted from Pinch of Yum
makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup toasted walnuts + more for garnish
salt and pepper
1 lb. whole wheat rotini
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 Tbs. butter
3 oz. cream cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded + more for garnish
1-2 cups. vegetable broth (as needed)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds, then cut into large chunks. Place the chunks in a baking pan, fill pan half way up with boiling water, and bake for 1 hour, or until fork-tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a bit.
3. Scrape out the flesh and purée with the milk. When squash is smooth, add the walnuts and purée until walnuts are coarsely chopped throughout. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook pasta according to directions.
5. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for several minutes until onions are golden and translucent. Stir in squash purée and cream cheese, and combine. Turn the heat off, and stir in the cheddar cheese until combined.
6. Combine pasta and squash/cheese mixture, adding vegetable broth as needed for getting the right consistency. Serve with extra cheese and toasted walnuts to garnish.

Black Bean Chocolate Cake

My grain-free friend linked me this black bean cake, and it looked so easy and tasty, I made it! The texture was impeccable. Better than regular cake, in fact. It did taste a little odd with the black beans, and wasn't as sweet as I would have liked. But when i generously dusted with powdered sugar, it was perfect on sweetness. As far as the black bean taste, I would love to experiment with this recipe using Japanese red bean paste instead of black beans and sugar. I think it would work out well. And that could be like a sudo-red velvet cake! Exciting things to come.


Black Bean Chocolate Cake
adapted from the food faffer

Ingredients:
1 - 15 oz. can black beans, thoroughly rinsed
5 large eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
6 Tbs. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs water
powdered sugar for dusting (heavily)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease a 9" cake pan.
2. Mix together cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add 2 of the eggs, and beat well one after the other.
4. Put beans, remaining 3 eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt into food processor and process until completely smooth. Add butter/egg mixture, and mix well.
5. Stir in bowl of dry ingredients and water, and process on high for 1 minute.
6. Pour into cake pan, and bake for 30 mins.

Butternut squash pie

So for a dinner with a made a butternut squash pie to bring for desert. This is a traditional pumpkin-pie recipe, substituting squash puree for pumpkin puree. These recipes cover the blogs during Thanksgiving time, as a healthier substitute to the traditional pumpkin pie (usually using less butter, sugar, etc). I'm just starting the movement early with the last of my Columbia, MO farmer's market mega-squash.



Butternut Squash Pie
adapted from Cooking for Seven

Ingredients:
1 cup packet brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 cup cooked butternut squash puree, with a little whipping cream
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
1 unbaked pastry shell
Optional: whipped cream to garnish

Instructions:
1. Set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine sugar, puree, whipping cream, eggs, flour, and spices (+salt) into a large mixing bowl, and mix for 2 minutes on medium-high speed with electric mixer.
3. Pour mixture into pie pan. Set into oven, and bake for 45 minutes.
4. Let cool fully before serving. Top slices with whipped cream