A wonderful weekend and Butternut Squash Curry

This weekend, Zack and I went away. His work has been intense for months and promises to be more so in the coming weeks. I decided an overnight outside of our normal habitat was needed. My friend and neighbor, Dana, writes often on her blog about Lopez Island. Over the past six months I have grown more and more convinced I needed to experience it for myself. As you might expect, it was her talk of the food sealed the deal. Honestly, its a beautiful island and I knew that, but if it didn't offer good eating, I wouldn't be tempted to go there. But, it does - a wonderful little bakery called Holly B's and a waterside restaurant called the Bay Cafe. In 24 hours on the island Zack and I arrived at the bakery for sustenance three different times (2 lunches and a breakfast) and were never disappointed - almond butterhorns, cinnamon rolls, unique pizza, cookies and more! Saturday evening we had a wonderful meal at the Bay Cafe. This isn't fancy food, but it is truly tasty and generous. We had dinner at 5:30pm and enjoyed the 3 course meal for $30 while sitting in one of the most beautiful settings I have ever eaten dinner. Al fresco, right on the edge of the water, 70 degrees, warm breeze, delicious unpretentious food and THIS view!


So, how does Butternut Squash Curry fit in? The thing is, that after a weekend like that, I feel relaxed and satisfied, but also a little roly-poly and post-vacation eating is in order. Enter this curry. I saw it in Martha Stewart's current issue of Living and it called to me. So healthy, full of favorite spices and butternut squash cooked until soft and soaked in flavor. 2 cups is extremely filling, packed with nutrients and fiber and only about 250 calories! And that's dinner! It could also be blended into a smooth soup if you prefer. Definitely top it with Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream, a squeeze of lime and a shower of cilantro.


Butternut Squash Curry
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, October 2009

2 lbs butternut squash, peeled halved and seeded
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
4 garlic cloves
2.5 cups chicken stock, plus 2 tablespoons
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel sedds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 two-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbl tomato paste
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp crushed red-pepper flakes

Optional toppings: Cilantro, yogurt and lime

METHOD

Cut squash into large chunks, about 1 inch.

Puree onion, garlic, 2 tbl stock and ginger in a blender until smooth

Heat oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and coriander and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in onion paste. cook, stirring often, until caramelized lightly, about 12 minutes.

Add tomato paste, scraping bottom of pot if needed. Stir in 2.5 cups of chicken stock, the salt and crushed red-pepper flakes. Add squash, (liquid should cover 90% of squash at least) cover partially and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, uncover and simmer gently until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Serve over rice if you want, but for lighter version, just eat as is with yogurt, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Birthday cookies for Matthew

My husband works with the most amazing group of people. They are dedicated, funny, talented and tireless, and that is just to start. One of those people is Matthew. He runs the business side of The City - a community networking site for churches. My husband runs the technology side. Matthew is an immense gift. He is talented and experienced in a wonderfully complimentary way to my husband. When it comes to The City, Matthew and Zack are peanut butter and chocolate, salt and pepper, fish and chips, beer and brats. Essentially, excellent on their own, but together - more than the sum of their parts.

So, Matthew's birthday is on Saturday and I wanted to bake in his honor. A reliable source cited a few possible favorite foods as Mexican coke, chocolate, ham sandwiches and a constant supply of trail mix. Inspiration - look no further! Trail mix cookies! I search my favorite blogs for a recipe and found none. Then I Bing'd it and found a number of options on allrecipes.com, epicurious.com, etc. I didn't like any one as written, so this is my own, with inspiration taken from many. Now, baking is of course, a science and I am notorious for changing things up when I probably shouldn't, but this recipe worked perfectly. The cookies taste like trail mix, are crispy on the edges but chewy and tender inside, really a great cookie, which I have to admit was a very pleasant surprise! So, Matthew, this recipe is dedicated to you. Saying thank you really doesn't go far enough, but hopefully these cookies do.


Matthew's Trail Mix Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted roughly chopped peanuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
2/3 cup quick oats

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 2 racks in as close to the center of the oven as possible with 4 inches between them at least.

In a bowl (Kitchenaid or hand-held mixer) cream the butter and shortening with the sugars for 3 minutes. Add egg and extract and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Wisk together and then add to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Add coconut, chocolate chips, peanuts, raisins and quick oats and mix until just blended.

Roll a heaping tablespoons of the dough into balls the size of silver dollars. Place on cookie sheet with 4 inches between them. With a fork, flatten them one way and then the other, like when you are making peanut butter cookies. I added a chocolate chip to the top of each at this point.

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans after the first 6 minutes for even baking. (switch their positions).

Dessert Inspiration

A lot of my inspiration for special occasion baking comes from a few key places, kind of an 80/20 rule for Julie's culinary inspiration. 80% of what I bake comes from Bon Appetit magazine, Gourmet magazine and the blogs of Smitten Kitchen, Dana Treat and Not Without Salt and 20% from everywhere else. The magazines are nationally recognized and always filled with great ideas and beautiful photos. The blogs are written by women whose taste can be trusted, something I have come to be certain of after trying many of each of their recipes and reading dozens more. They are true flavor enthusiasts and they post recipes they have adapted, tried and tasted.

Recently, I was a part of another Supper Thyme, a bi-monthly supper club I started with friends. The guests and theme rotate and this month was Farmer's Market, for obvious reasons! My course was dessert and as usual, I looked to my favorite blogs for inspiration and most certainly found it. Instead of re-posting the recipes, I'll just link you right to the ones I made and tell you that they were AMAZING and I made very tiny adaptations. I opted for the more seasonal blackberries instead of cherries in the Brown Butter Bars and actually made them into individual tarts. I used heavy cream instead of half and half in the Brown Sugar Sour Cream Ice Cream. Other than that, I followed the recipes to a T.

The response to the dessert was just what any baker would hope for - total delight all around. I'm not saying that lightly either. They really, really liked it. Definitely a great base recipe on the tart especially - brown butter is just such a luscious flavor and one we don't experience often enough. Use it with plums, blueberries or apricots and it would be wonderful as well. I'll make it with pears for a Thanksgiving dessert. And then, as if that combination wasn't enough, I decided to make a little candy to go with coffee and Bacon Caramels seemed just the ticket. Honestly, it was overkill after the dessert, but there were very nice just the same.

Poulet aux Julia Child

Julia Child has been getting a lot of notice these days and for good reason. By all accounts she was an incredible inspiration to cooking in America. I read her autobiography, My Life in France, about two years ago and was completely mezmorized by her journey - falling in love with a city, a country and a cuisine and allowing to to shape her destiny - meanwhile being a wonderful wife, loving friend and eventually a master of the craft I so dearly love as well.

I immediately bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking, her first and most famous cookbook and began to read it, filled with grand dreams of cooking from it regularly. But then I realized something. Most of her recipes just didn't appeal to me. I wasn't drawn to them at all. Aspics, meats in gravies and buttery creamy sauces, and cold desserts using gelatin galore. I am sad to say I was very put off and this epic piece of cookbookery (as she often called it) was placed on the shelf and left there to age.

Then, I received my August 2009 Bon Apetit magazine. Julia's birthday is on August 15th (or would have been - she passed away in 2004) and they had suggested a birthday dinner party in her honor, using recipes from Mastering. Each of the recipes looked delicious and I decided I needed to finally give her a chance. So, last week, I did. Let me just say that her Poulet saute aux herbes de provence (chicken with Provencal herbs) was so wonderful, so herbaceous, rich, and tangy that every drop of the sauce had to be sopped off the plate. If you are looking for an inexpensive and totally palette pleasing, soul satisfying dish to entertain friends or delight your family, look NO further. It seemed so simple, yet the result was far more than the sum of the parts. I adapted it only slightly. I note my adaptations in line. Oh, and I mean it, you must serve warm bread with this, unless you'd prefer to lick the serving platter.

Poulet Saute aux herbes de provence
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julie - my adaptations listed like this in line)

Chicken:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry
1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory (Julie - I used 3 tsps fresh thyme)
1 teaspoon dried basil (Julie - I ommitted this, I really don't like dried basil)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill/morter&pestle (Julie - I used 3/4 tsp)
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
2/3 cup dry white wine or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth


Sauce: (Julie - oh this sauce is amazing! You MUST use the fresh fennel fronds.)

2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (Julie - I used 2 tbls chopped fresh basil and 2 tbls chopped fresh fennel fronds)

METHOD

For chicken:
Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken pieces and cook only until golden (Julie - I recommend you cook them for the most part skin side down, thus rendering the skin fat and making it crispy), turning occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken breast pieces to plate. Sprinkle remaining chicken pieces in pot with half each of thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Add garlic to pot. Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 to 9 minutes. Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper. Return breast pieces to pot; baste chicken with butter in pot. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes. Transfer to hot platter; cover.

Remove peel from garlic cloves; mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot (Julie - I used my garlic press). Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.

For sauce:
Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken. Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine. Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time. Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. (Julie - I used 2 tbls butter here) Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, if desired. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.