Christmas Feast

For Christmas this year, unlike with Thanksgiving, I did try not go overboard. Not sure if I succeeded, but either way, we ate very well. After a few nibbles of chocolate from our stockings, we had brunch with my Mom's Famous Christmas Bread (aka stollen), scrambled eggs, fresh berry salad, cheese, oven-baked bacon, and grapefruit.


For dinner we had shrimp scampi, roasted potato stacks, green beans, roasted butternut squash, and challah rolls.








And the vegetarians had roast beast:


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Thanksgiving Catch-Up

I've now recovered sufficiently from Thanksgiving to say a little about the non-dessert foods we had. The thing with Thanksgiving foods, though, is that the menu is fairly predictable--which is both good and bad. I always have a long list of things to try, but I don't want to (or can't) take out one of the regulars, and there's already a lot of food. I'm not sure how people do different themes every year, though I appreciate the creativity. The turkey was about 14 lbs--more than enough for our group of 11, which included vegetarians. It's resting on a bed of cilantro, well, because why not? Plus, three of us each bought big bunches of it. Everything else is vegetarian-friendly, save for the gravy.




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Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna

This recipe has become one of my favorite versions of lasagna. Butternut squash is roasted til slightly crispy and caramelized. It's then layered between sheets of fresh pasta with béchamel and tomato sauces and lots of Parmesan cheese. When baked, the cheese on top melts, the exposed edges of the pasta toast, and the lasagna puffs up so it's big and beautiful and delicious, with bits of bright orange squash peeking through.




Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna

1 med. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
6 sheets fresh lasagna (or 1 box dried)
Bechamel sauce (1 stick of butter, 1/2-3/4 c flour, 5-6 c warm milk, salt and pepper)
Tomato sauce (I cheated this time and used one large jar of WF brand organic tomato-basil sauce)
1 - 1.5 c Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and olive oil

1. Put the cubed squash onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Toss with salt, pepper and a little olive oil and roast at 400 degrees (425 if you're impatient) til the squash is tender and the edges are lightly browned/caramelized. Remove from the oven and let cool.
2. Cook the pasta according to the box or, if using fresh, parboil and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking.
3. To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a med. saucepan. Then add the flour and whisk well. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, and then slowly whisk in the milk. Keep stirring til thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Assembling it all:
a. Spoon about 1/2 c of tomato sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and spread it around. This will help keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom.
b. Put down a layer of pasta, trimming it to fit, if nec. (with the sheets of pasta I use, I get about 3/4 of a sheet per layer, and then I combine the shorter pieces for middle layers.)
c. Then spoon in 1/2-3/4 c of the bechamel and spread it around. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the butternut squash cubes (or use 1/2 if you don't want to make as many layers.) Sprinkle with a little parmesan
d. Add another layer of pasta. Cover with 1/2 c or so of tomato sauce and then more bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan.
e. Repeat the layers of bechamel/squash and tomato/bechamel twice more (or once each if you're just doing two layers of squash)
f. Top with a last layer of pasta and spread a little more bechamel and parmesan on top.
5. Bake at 350 for 45 min. or so til hot and bubbling. Let sit for 10 min. or so before serving, so you can slice it a bit more easily.

Coriander-Crusted Pork Loin with Rice Pilaf and Sweet n' Spicy Roast Vegetables

I saw this meal featured in the current issue of Fine Cooking and decided to try it. Week night? Why not? -- and for all that this sounds involved, it can be done during the week, though it would be great for entertaining, too. I've liked Ellie Krieger's recipes in the past, and these were no exception. As usual, I made a few changes to the recipes -- some out of necessity and some just because. I didn't have any red peppers, so I left them out of the roasted vegetables, which I actually think I wouldn't have liked as much if I had put the peppers in (for all that I love red peppers.) I also used maple syrup instead of honey. The rice pilaf was pretty straightforward, though I used white rice instead of brown, but the overall result was very, very flavorful. Definitely let the rice get nice and toasty in the pan before you add the water; it tasted nutty even before I added the walnuts at the end. For the pork, I used a loin vs. a tenderloin, so the cooking times were a little different, but the end result was super flavorful--and it even converted a declared non-lover of pork to the other (white meat) side.

Dinner With Friends

Thanksgiving is tomorrow night, but last night we had 14 at our table. Because there's such a huge meal just around the corner, dinner was fairly simple: two lasagnas--butternut squash and plain, with a bolognese sauce on the side--salad, and French bread. The kids had pasta: with cheese, with tomato sauce, with meat sauce, and only with butter. For dessert we had KAF's Guaranteed Fudge Brownies

Butternut Squash Lasagna

The pictures don't really do this dish justice. From the outside it just looks like random lasagna. But inside, there were seven layers of fresh lasagna noodles interspersed with layers of roasted butternut squash, bechamel sauce, and tomato sauce, all sprinkled with parmigiano-reggiano. Just a piece ...

Roast Pork Loin with Apples and Balsamic-Glazed Acorn Squash

The rain has been falling steadily--and hard--since last night, with more expected through the next day. I'm thinking of starting an ark. In the meantime, I decided we needed something hearty and warm that would remind us that it's fall. Pork and apples are a classic combination, and this recipe used both apple cider and several honey crisp apples to keep the meat sweet and moist. I also used fresh rosemary, garlic, and onions to boost the flavor. The real star of the meal, however, was the glazed acorn squash. The recipe, from Lidia Bastianich, is one that I'd seen on her show a while ago. Balsamic vinegar is reduced with honey, a bay leaf, and rosemary, and then the syrup is drizzled over slices of warm roasted acorn squash.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad With Apple Cider Vinaigrette

This is the perfect fall salad. Cubes of butternut squash are roasted with dried cranberries, maple syrup, olive oil, and salt and pepper, and then the squash is piled on top a mound of arugula, toasted walnuts and parmesan, and the whole salad is drizzled with a warm apple cider vinaigrette. The recipe is from Ina Garten.

Greek Meze

It's cold and icy outside, but inside we're sitting at a little cafe in Greek islands. The sun is out, the glasses are full, and we're nibbling on meze all afternoon. To start with there are three kinds of phyllos pastries, hot and flaky just out of the oven.


There's tiropita, a combination of feta, ricotta, and onions; spanikopita, with spinach and feta; and a squash, feta, and ricotta mixture, too.

There is also marinated artichoke hearts with red peppers and garlic, sweet and salty walnuts, a variety of olives, slow cooked beef with honey and bay leaves, and hummos with pita triangles.

Butternut Squash Risotto With Bacon and Sage

The recipe is from Fine Cooking. Simple, flavorful ... delicious.

ETA: Note to self ... don't eat this as leftovers. The sage gets bitter and overwhelms the dish.