Savory Butternut Squash Crumble

23 Nov

“I’m wary of health faddists. When they’re done talking, you can’t eat anything. We need a nutritionist who loves good food.”  -Julia Child

Julia, I completely agree. I believe that a lot of what people produce inside of their heads deters them from tasting new foods. After making this savory squash crumble, a fellow housemate of mine exclaimed, “Wait, there is squash in this? Wow, I don’t even like squash and this is good!”

Lately I have been reading Irena Chalmers’ Food Jobs, a book about the variety of professions available for culinary students, career changers, and FOOD lovers. She is helping me translate my “zest for flavor into a satisfying profession.” Everyday I scour the Internet as well as my library of cookbooks and circle of food-loving friends for new and exciting places to eat, concoctions to create, and finger-licking food finds. Working in the food industry is an ever-changing and on-going process that keeps us all on our toes and constantly having to play and finesse, and finesse, and finesse…

Butternut squash is a beautiful vegetable, with that bright orange color and that bulbous yet elongated shape. Roasted, butternut squash turns soft and caramel-like. Today I took a different approach: I stewed the squash with tomatoes, onions, and spices and then topped it with a crumb topping.

Just a word of advice for all you food photographers out there: I have a slight problem…I tend to make something and either immediately want to eat it or someone else immediately wants to eat it. Understandable. As a result, I present to you some scraps of photos that definitely could have been better—better lighting, better styling, better everything. I’m working on my problem. For now, if you want to see the real deal, check out La Tartine Gourmande’s photos. Yes, she rocks.

Ok, it’s time to get stewing and crumbling!

*NOTE: I made this vegan, but you could add Parmesan cheese and use butter instead of oil in the topping.

**NOTE #2: Feel free to experiment with different herbs (thyme, oregano…), squash varieties (acorn, kabocha…), and cheeses (gruyere, sharp cheddar…).

Savory Butternut Squash Crumble
Recipe adapted from LaTartineGourmande
Serves 6-8

TOPPING

1 cup flour
½ cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I omitted the cheese this time to make it vegan)
Pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons butter, diced and at room temperature (I used oil to make it vegan)
optional: 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1.In a bowl, combine the flour, walnuts, parsley, Parmesan, brown sugar, and a generous sprinkle of pepper.

2. Add the butter (or oil) and work with your fingertips until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

SQUASH

Butter or oil (for the dish)
2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter (or 3 tablespoons oil)
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 bay leaf
½ cup canned tomatoes
1 peeled butternut squash, cut into 1-inch dice
5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
optional: 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
optional: 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1. Generously butter a 10-inch baking dish.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter (or just oil) and when the butter melts, and the onion, coriander, and bay leaf and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until softened.

3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the butternut squash, sage, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Turn down the heat. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the vegetables soften.

4. Set the oven at 350.

5. Discard the bay leaf from the squash mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan; stir gently. Transfer the vegetables to the baking dish. Spoon the crumble mixture on top.

6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden (My top did not get super golden due to my using oil instead of butter. Oh well, it was still mighty good!).

How to Poach an Egg

20 Nov


“When food is poached, it cooks delicately over the gentlest heat; not a bubble breaks the surface of the liquid in the pan”

–Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

The first time I ever ate a poached egg was two years ago at Café Fanny, one of my favorite breakfast spots in Berkeley.

In lieu of attempting to emulate Café Fanny’s picture perfect poached eggs, I purchased an egg poacher. I found, however, that simply pouring an egg into a low-sided sauté pan works best.

Now be warned. The whole egg poaching thing takes a bit of practice to master. I am still in the process of tweaking and refining my technique.

Ok here we go.

Poached Eggs a la Alice Waters and Julia Child
[Oeufs pochés]

Ingredients:
Egg (or eggs)
Water
Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Step one. Crack an egg into an individual cup or bowl. Be careful not to break the yolk.


Step two. Fill a pan with water about 2 to 3 inches deep; add a large splash of vinegar. Let it come to just below a simmer: very hot, but without any bubbles breaking the surface (as you can see some of my bubbles broke the surface—c’est la vie).


Step three. Hold the cup right at the level of the water and carefully slide the egg in. This gentle entry into the water will help the egg keep its shape. Immediately and gently push the white over the yolk with a wooden spoon for 2-3 seconds (I omitted this part…just decided to have my yolk exposed this time around). After a minute you can gently stir the water to discourage the egg from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat if the water starts to simmer.


Step four: The egg will take about 3-5 minutes to cook, depending on your egg. The white will be set but the yolk still soft. Test for doneness by gently lifting the egg with a slotted spoon and pressing it gently with your finger to feel how set the white and the yolk are.

Step five: Carefully remove the cooked egg with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

*I chose to drizzle with balsamic vinegar and place my egg over a nice green salad for a quaint lunch. A delicately poached egg atop a hearty slice of lightly buttered toast is also a favorite of mine! Yum!

**You can poach a few eggs at a time. The same recipe applies. When cooking for a crowd, freshly poached eggs can be kept for a few minutes in a bowl of cool water while another batch is being cooked.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

16 Nov

I could eat bowl after bowl after bowl of this orzo salad. It’s got a salty yet creamy flavor, a nice balance of texture: crunchy, slippery, chewy, crumbled, and a beautiful color scheme.

You know those specialty markets that sell prepared “gourmet food?” Yeah, any little market or deli like Whole Foods (or the Bay Area’s Pasta Shop, Market Hall, Mill Valley Market)…Most of these markets sell some version of an orzo salad, and I will almost always buy some; I simply can’t resist!

What is orzo anyway? Orzo literally translates to “barley” in Italian. It looks like rice but is actually a pasta made of hard wheat semolina.

I love to make salads and throw practically anything and everything I possibly can into them. This orzo salad is indeed very versatile, throw in what you have on-hand in the fridge or pantry! Experiment and get creative!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad
adapted from me eating this salad at any and every specialty market

Ingredients:
  • 8 oz dry orzo
  • handful garbanzo beans
  • handful sun-dried tomatoes
  • handful chopped olives
  • handful chopped artichoke hearts
  • handful fresh spinach
  • handful cherry tomatoes (if in season)
  • handful fresh basil, either whole or cut into a chiffonade
  • handful feta cheese (omit if you want this salad to be vegan)
  • handful chopped or slivered almonds
Directions:

1. Boil water. Once it starts to boil, salt it. Salt it like an ocean. Pour in the orzo and cook until it is done. Drain. (Optional: reserve some of the pasta water in case you want to add it back later if the orzo sticks together).
2. Combine orzo, and rest of the ingredients. Stir it all up and eat! Simple as that.

>Stranger than Fiction: "Flour" Scene

15 Nov

>

Stranger than Fiction. Will Ferrell. Maggie Gyllenhaal. She owns a bakery. He likes her. He brings her flours, like flowers, but flours. Perfect.


Watch it. Love it.





Browned Butter Banana Nut Muffins

1 Nov

Browned Butter. You are my hero. You are the apple of my eye, the sunshine in my sky, the secret to my magic!

Yes, magic, I create magic. Magic in the kitchen. Seriously. You know when you walk into a café or a bakery and see a gorgeous display of pastries and you think, “Wow, whoever makes these is a genius, literally a holy person?” Well, that person is now officially me.


Every week I look forward to waking up at 6 am (on Friday and Saturday mornings, mind you) to spend my day amongst my good friends Butter, Flour, and Sugar to create pastries and desserts just for you! The smile on your face when you ask for a nibble of that cookie or a taste of that little donut hole, glazed and sprinkled, just makes my day! Really, you should see yourself—when you take that first bite your eyes light up like you were a kid again! It’s great. Really, really great.


Anyway, back to browned butter. And muffins. And Sunday morning breakfast. And sunshine, on November 1st!


I made these muffins a few months ago with fresh summer blueberries and boy oh boy were they addicting! I ate 3 in just one day! Muffin overdose (but totally worth it, mmm).

This morning I needed to make muffins. It was just one of those days—a muffin day. Since fresh blueberries were not around today, I decided to use chopped bananas and toasted walnuts instead.

So now after making both a blueberry and banana nut version, tons of add-in ideas are flying around inside my head, etching to get out:

  • Lemon rosemary muffins (inspired by a lemon rosemary pound cake; any herb/flavor of choice will do…lavender, lemon verbena, fresh ginger, basil?)
  • Fresh and dried cranberry combo (Dried cherries sound yummers, too! Maybe some slivered almonds and white chocolate chips?)
  • Persimmon pulp muffins
  • Roasty butternut squash muffins
  • Chunks of avocado…and…raspberry? (I don’t even know if this would really work but it sounds so good in my head…)

Ok Stephanie, enough. Focus. Browned Butter. Bananas. Toasted Walnuts. Fresh vanilla beans. Crumb topping. Enough said. Go make these muffins.



Browned Butter Banana Nut Muffins (Infinitely adaptable)

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk (I used 2 % this time)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used the seeds of half a vanilla bean…I love those bean flecks!)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped bananas (I used 3 large bananas)

about a cup of toasted walnuts

For the Topping:
3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into little cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease a muffin tin or line it with paper or foil liners.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on the butter. Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan. Once the butter stops crackling or “singing,” it will begin to brown fairly quickly. Keep a close eye. Remove from heat.

3. Toast the walnuts.

4. Whisk milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla bean seeds until combined. Slowly add the brown butter and stir to combine (careful not to cook the eggs).

5. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.

6. Gently but thoroughly fold in the bananas and walnuts and the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly. (You can use an ice cream scoop to plop the batter in the muffin cups!)

7. To make the topping: combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

8. Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.


Oh yah, and here is a picture of browned butter. It is a really ugly picture but trust me, this stuff is GOLDEN! Those little brown bits are where all the flavor is at!

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