Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Bleu Cheese Risotto

Autumn is here - hoorah, hoorah! Time for soups and roasts, baked goods and casseroles, root vegetables and squash. Time for nostalgia, walks in the woods, mulled cider, apple picking and donuts. Perhaps this poem by Bliss Carman (1861-1929) can express it better:

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood -- 

Touch of manner, hint of mood; 
And my heart is like a rhyme, 

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. 

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry 

Of bugles going by. 

And my lonely spirit thrills 

To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills. 

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir; 

We must rise and follow her, 

When from every hill of flame 

She calls and calls each vagabond by name. 

Yes, for two native New Englanders, autumn is a special time, "native to our blood," and this wonderfully creamy and flavorful risotto, made with butternut squash, rosemary and bleu cheese, seemed like the perfect way to celebrate its arrival. 

This particular recipe, one from Bon Appetit (February 2005) was just sitting in our Epicurious recipe box waiting to be discovered on this fine first full day of fall. And how perfect it is for Meatless Monday as well! Just taste it, and you will understand. 

Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Bleu Cheese Risotto

adapted from this recipe on Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

5-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, diced (about 3 cups)
1/2 tablespoon butternut squash seed oil
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (divided)
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese

Bring chicken broth to a low simmer over medium heat. In a large bowl, toss diced squash, butternut squash seed oil and olive oil. Spread squash over a cookie sheet and roast at 425 for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add squash and 1/2 amount of rosemary, and stir until coated with butter; cook another 2-3 minutes. Add rice and stir 2-3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add 4 cups warm broth and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until rice starts to become tender. Add remaining broth by 1/4 cupfuls, stirring often, until rice is to desired tenderness. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in spinach and half and half, and again, season to taste. Remove from heat and stir in bleu cheese and remaining rosemary. Serve hot.

Guest Post: Baked Chicken with Apricot Glaze, Sage and Lemon Zest

One thing 2012 seemed to be was the year everyone we knew read the  Fifty Shades trilogy. Amy and her BFF Karen read it at the same time and chatted about it on the phone, in texts, and finally, over their 40th birthday girls' weekend in Vermont, even going so far as to add a vanilla ice cream cone charm on their bestie charm bracelet! In honor of 2012, we've asked Karen to do a guest post inspired by the books. Thanks, Karen! And to everyone, Happy New Year and thanks for reading!

Karen writes:

After spending my summer reading the popular Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy I laughed hysterically when I received for Christmas Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook.  I have to say it has been the perfect gift for a foodie/Christian Grey groupie!  It is told through the eyes of Miss Hen who is being “cooked” by her chef Blades.  The recipes, and stories which accompany them, mirror the steamy books from the first meeting (to the first of many other things) all the way to the happy ending  presented in dishes such as “Plain Vanilla Chicken” and “Popped-Cherry Pullet” to “Roast Me All Night Long Chicken” and “Chicken with Hearts and Flowers.”  No cookbook would be complete without side dishes and this one wouldn’t be complete without “Taters, Baby”!!  So, I now find myself on a quest to cook all 50 chicken recipes (and maybe even some sides)! 

I have chosen to begin with “Baked chicken with apricot glaze, sage and lemon zest.”  As Miss Hen says in describing the dish, “I’m in warm pieces all over the plate.  My own juices mingle with the sticky sweet jam he’s spread all over me.  My skin feels melting and soft.  He ignores the fine silver flatware and picks up a thigh with both hands.  Wow.”  You can see why I chose to start there!

Here is the recipe (serving for 2) with a few minor changes made by me….

Mix 3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil with 1 ¼ tsp sea salt and ¾ tsp pepper

Place 4 chicken thighs in a plastic storage bag and pour in the oil mixture

Massage the thighs with the mixture then place sprigs of sage on the chicken

Tighten the bag and place it in the refrigerator “until the chicken is begging you for it, about 6 hours or overnight”

Preheat the oven to 400

In a bowl, grate the zest from one lemon, squeeze the juice and add 1/3 of a cup of apricot spread, 1tsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 large clove of garlic minced

Remove the sage from the chicken and spread the sticky jam all over the chicken

Lay the thighs in a 9x13 baking dish “leaving plenty of breathing room between each succulent morsel”

Bake 45-55 minutes “until the skin is alluringly golden and the juices run clear when pricked” 

Enjoy a sweet and juicy dish!

Serve with:

Sage and Marcona Almonds with Rosemary Pesto Pasta

(not in cookbook – just something special for my Bestie!!!)

Pulse in food processor:

10 sage leaves

2 cloves of garlic

½ lemon zest

1tsp lemon juice

1/8 cup Marcona Almonds with Rosemary

2 tblsp Pecan Oil then add Extra Virgin Olive Oil until desired consistency

Toss with pasta

Countdown to Christmas: Rosemary Almond Butter Toffee

Severe abdominal pain caused Amy to go to the doctor on Friday morning and that seemingly quick doctor's visit turned into a 9-hour event complete with lab tests, cat scans and all kinds of nonsense in the E.R. They "think" it's some sort of intestinal infection, but all she could think was, "I don't have time for this! When is our Christmas baking going to get done?!?"

Saturday morning, after an anti-inflammatory injection and a couple of prescriptions began to work their magic, we got to some light work in the kitchen. We're not even half way done, but it was a good start. And while that annoying abdominal pain isn't quite gone, Amy is starting to feel a little better. Kitchen therapy. Works every time.

Anyway... We knew we wanted to do a toffee to include in our friends-and-neighbors Christmas treat boxes. Who doesn't love the crunchy sweetness of a good toffee? And Amy loves to mix salty and sweet, so we knew it would be a nut toffee. But it wasn't until she spied Rosemary Marcona Almonds during a recent visit to Trader Joe's that this particular recipe was born. That rosemary really gives this toffee a uniquely delicious hint of herbacious fabulousness. And it looks cool, too. So very Christmas-y! Enjoy!

Heat butter, salt, sugar, and corn syrup to 300 degrees

Sprinkle chopped almonds over wax paper-lined baking sheet

Pour toffee over chopped nuts

Top with chopped Trader Joe's Roasted and Salted Marcona Almonds with Rosemary

Rosemary Almond Butter Toffee

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1/2 cup chopped plain roasted, salted almonds

1/2 cup chopped Trader Joe's Roasted and Salted Marcona Almonds with Rosemary

Melt butter over low heat. Add the salt, sugar and corn syrup and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil until mixture becomes foamy and reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. In the meantime, line a baking sheet with wax paper and sprinkle the plain chopped almonds all over it. Pour the caramel over the nuts on the baking sheet, spreading with a spatula to cover. Sprinkle the chopped rosemary marcona almonds over the toffee mixture. Chill in refrigerator (or outside if it's cold enough!) until hardened, about one hour. Peel wax paper away and break into pieces.  Store in an air-tight container until ready to serve/share/eat.

Lemon Rosemary Cornish Game Hens

We don't know if you heard, but it was a pretty bad winter this year. Yet somehow, the rosemary bush in our garden survived. Since it's the only green thing we've seen in months, we felt it was just begging to be used in tonight's dinner. The best thing about this dinner is how easy it is to prepare. About five minutes of hands-on work and 45 minutes in the oven is all it takes to make this elegant-looking, herbacious, tasty meal. When we finished eating, we threw the bones into a pot with some old vegetables (a couple of rubbery carrots, an onion, and a leek), covered them with water, and proceeded to make our own chicken stock that is destined for some culinary creation that is in our near future.

Ingredients:

2 Cornish game hens

2 lemons, quartered

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon herbs de Provence

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 450. Stuff each game hen with four lemon quarters and one sprig of rosemary and place them in a baking pan. Melt the butter in a small bowl. Finely chop the remaining rosemary and stir it into the melted butter along with salt and pepper to taste. Cover each game hen all over with the butter mixture, then sprinkle each game hen with half of the herbs de Provence. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the white wine into the bottom of the roasting pan and swirl it around. Continue to cook the game hens for another 15 minutes, basting the hens with this wine 2-3 times during those 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

It's not easy being green. In CT. After the winter we had!

About to be placed into the hot oven

A second plating style

The remains become homemade chicken stock

Meatless Monday: Scarborough Fair Pasta, or A Pasta for Your Valentine

Amy writes:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

Remember me to one who lives there,

She once was a true love of mine.

-Simon and Garfunkel

The ancients strongly believed in the power of herbs: for hurting or healing, for enchanting or repelling, for life or death. While listening to the Simon and Garfunkel song Scarborough Fair on the radio, I started thinking about the power of the four herbs parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Then I started to do some research. I used the internet at first, and then I remembered a book I have (yes! an actual book! with paper pages!) called Leaves in Myth, Magic and Medicine by Alice Thomas Vitale. This is what I learned.

The Greeks and Romans both believed parsley (Petroselinum crispum) to be an aphrodisiac, and its stalk was used for creating love potions. Sage (Salvia officinalis) was such an important herb to the ancients that they believed it could conquer death and proffer wisdom (hence the English definition of sage: a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom - from dictionary.com). According to Vitale, "In the ancient world rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) was considered an aid to memory," its rejuvenating properties caused it to be used in beauty potions, and, "...small sprigs inserted into a bridal bouquet ensured a happy marriage." Finally, the scent of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) was deemed so irresistible that a line from a fifth-century B.C. Greek drama referring to the herb reads, "Who could forbear to kiss / A girl who's wearing this?"

Hmmm...lust, wisdom, memory and irresistibility...sounds like a love potion in the making, and Valentine's Day is drawing near. Unable to pick these herbs from our covered-in-80-inches-of-snow-garden, I bought them at the market with the intent of making a meatless (it's Meatless Monday!) dish that would be perfect for my Valentine, my husband Chris. Thus we bring you "Scarborough Fair Pasta," or "A Pasta for Your Valentine." Fragrant. Spicy. Garlicky. Herby. It would be a great primi piatti (first course) for any romantic Italian dinner, we think (wink, wink).

Ingredients:

1 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 cup panko-style breadcrumbs

1/2 pound bucatini, spaghetti rigati, or other thicker, longer pasta shape

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Fill a large pasta pot with water, salt it, and set it over high heat to boil. In a large skillet, melt the butter with one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and stir for one minute, taking care not to burn it. Add the panko and cook, stirring often, about five minutes, until toasted. Transfer the breadcrumb mixture to a separate bowl and set aside, keeping skillet out. Prepare pasta in boiling water according to package directions. When ready to drain, reserve a cup of the pasta water for later. Return the skillet to medium-low heat and add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in the chopped sage, rosemary and thyme, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for a minute, then add the pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. Add enough of the pasta water to moisten the pasta, then and the last tablespoon of olive oil and toss until coated. Add the chopped parsley, lemon juice, and parmesan and give it a final toss until well combined. Top with the garlic breadcrumbs and enjoy it with your Valentine, anytime. 

Meatless Monday: Rosemary Root Veggie Pot Pie

We've been hearing a lot lately about Meatless Monday, a non-profit movement that has as its main goal a 15% reduction in meat consumption. While Amy is a proud carnivore, and Chris (while claiming to have "vegetarian tendencies") happily devours the occastional good medium-rare ribeye, we are facing the New Year with our own goal: to eat a healthier and more balanced diet. And, well, vegetables are a part of that, like it or not. Thus, we've decided to get on board the Meatless Monday bandwagon, late to the party as we may be. What we hope to deliver is healthy, tasty recipes that are so satisfying, you'll hardly notice what's missing.

All that said, here is our first Meatless Monday recipe, Rosemary Root Veggie Pot Pie. A nice variety of root vegetables are roasted, then combined with a savory gravy and topped with flaky puff pastry. A delicious, hearty, filling meal that left us with no cravings other than for leftovers.  

Our veggie variety

Ingredients:

Note: For our vegetable variety, we used 3 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1 yam, 3 russet potatoes and the green part of one scallion

8 cups of chopped root vegetables

3 sprigs fresh rosemary, with leaves removed from the stems

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup finely chopped onion (we used the root part of the scallion)

1 celery stalk, diced

1/4 cup flour

1 cup vegetable stock

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 package Puff Pastry Shells

Roast the vegetables first

To roast the vegetables:

In a large bowl, toss the chopped vegetables with the olive oil and rosemary. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

To prepare the gravy:

Melt the butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat. Saute the chopped onion and celery until softened, then add the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes until it starts to brown. Slowly stir in the vegetable stock and milk, and cook, stirring often, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Vegetables mixed with gravy

To assemble:

Remove the vegetables from the oven and add them to the gravy; mix well. Reduce the heat to low to keep warm while pastry shells bake. Prepare the puff pastry shells according to package directions. When shells are ready, remove the tops with a fork and spoon the vegetable mixture into the shells.