Ariella snagged this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on
Food Network. It was excellent!

1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish and set aside. Fill a large pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Set a steamer rack in the pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the squash and steam over medium heat until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season the squash to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the squash evenly over the prepared baking dish. Dollop half of the pesto all over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the squash. Repeat layering with the remaining squash, pesto, and cheese. Using a skewer, swirl the pesto decoratively into the squash. Dot the top with butter and bake until the gratin is heated through and golden brown around the edges, about 40 minutes.

Not only did Heidi host our potluck, she also whipped up a fantastic colcannon. This is a traditional Irish/Scottish dish, with the addition of milk and cheese. Here’s the recipe from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book:

1 lb all-purpose potatoes, washed but not peeled
1 lb green cabbage (about 4 cups), shredded
1-2 large onions, chopped
¼ c milk
1 T butter
3 oz (or more) sharp Cheddar, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the potatoes until tender, not mushy. Spoon them out of the boiling water, set aside to cool.

2. Boil the onions and cabbage for 5 minutes, and drain well.

3. Mash potatoes with milk and butter.

4. Mix in cabbage and potatoes.

5. Mix in cheddar, reserving some for the top

6. Bake in a Dutch oven or casserole dish until it’s heated through and cheese on top has melted. Temperature not critical depending on what else you may have in the oven.

Options
Peel potatoes after step 1 if you wish; I don’t.
Use a ricer to mash potatoes if you have one.

Yum, these were good! Here’s Jamie’s muffin recipe…

Makes 1 dozen
Active time: 15 min.
Start to finish: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole-wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1 - 2 cups canned pumpkin - depending on your desired pumpkin flavor (1 can is typically 15 oz.) (I used fresh pumpkin, by cutting the pumpkin in half, taking out seeds, & baking it at 350 for 45 min)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture (or honey at the end).

Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Here’s Barbara’s recipe for the tasty soup she brought to our potluck:

Sauté garlic, onions and leeks in olive oil. (How much? How much soup do you want?)

While preparing the veggies for sautéing, steam carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, leftover squash, turnips, beets — anything that can be mashed to thicken the soup. (Veggies and proportions depending on what you have and on your tastes.)

When everything is soft and the sauté is sautéed, put the steamed veggies into the blender a little at a time with enough water to make it work. As each blenderload is pureed, pour it into the sauté pot. Keep at it until all the steamed veggies are pureed and everything is in the same pot.

Mix it all together, heat it up some more — and there it is. If you want to go to hell with yourself and want to call it a Cream of Autumn Soup, add a carton of heavy cream at the end. But we don’t.

Oh, yeah: salt and pepper to taste.

Rebecca brought a delicious pate to the potluck. Here’s her recipe:

French (mushroom) Pate
[vegan, contains nuts]

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I like baby ‘bellas or crimini)
2 cups diced onions
2 cups (one can) navy or garbanzo beans
4 teaspoons pate seasoning blend (see below)
1.5 teaspoons salt
Olive oil

Pate Seasoning Blend
1 tablespoon each of:
white pepper
black pepper
paprika
nutmeg
ginger powder
dried basil
whole dried thyme
marjoram
allspice
garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon clove powder
(This will make ~ 8 batches of pate)

Toast the chopped walnuts in the oven on a dry cookie sheet until browned (don’t burn!). Remove and let cool.

Saute onions until translucent. Add mushrooms, garbanzo beans and spices. Saute until mushrooms are cooked.

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add some water if needed to smooth the blend.

Refrigerate or leave out until room temperature. Serve with bread or crackers.

Here’s my recipe from the potluck…

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole or lowfat buttermilk
pie crust (store bought, or use your favorite recipe)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the sweet potatoes into a pot, cover with water, and boil until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Strain and cool to room temperature. Puree in a food processor until smooth, and transfer to a large bowl. Add butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolks lightly with a wisk. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add this into the sweet potato mixture and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Add the flour and stir. Add the buttermilk and stir.

Rinse and dry the wisk. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the sweet potato mixture using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. (Separating the eggs like this is kind of a pain, but it does make the pie nice and fluffy, so it’s worth it.)

Pour the filling into a pie crust. Bake on the middle rack until the center is firm and set, about 35-40 minutes. Cool thoroughly before serving.

adapted from The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook

This is really easy and delicious. Slice the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, and place the pieces cut side up in a baking dish. Put a small pat of butter inside each one, and sprinkle with brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup. Bake for about an hour at 450, until the squash is very soft and the top is nicely browned. Eat with a spoon right out of the shell. Yum!

You don’t really need a recipe for this, but there are lots of them out there, like this version of classic baked acorn squash from Simply Recipes.

Turnips taste great roasted, either on their own or combined with other vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, squash, and kohlrabi (mix and match whatever you have on hand this week from the farm). Just chop everything into 1 inch chunks, and toss into a pan with with a some olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary or thyme. Cook in the oven at 450 for about an hour, shaking the pan every 15 minutes or so, until the veggies are browned and tender.

Here are a few other recipes: roasted root vegetables, turnip gratin, turnip mashed potatoes, and turnip potato soup.

If that last ravioli recipe was just a bit too complicated for you, or if you don’t have a pasta roller, you might want to try making gnocchi instead. Here’s a pretty simple recipe for butternut squash gnocchi from Local Fork.

1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Melted butter, for serving
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving

The night before you intend to serve the gnocchi, preheat the oven to 350° F. Wrap the squash in foil and roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 35 minutes.

Scoop the pulp from the skin directly into a fine sieve. Set the sieve over a bowl to catch the liquids, cover, and allow the squash to drain overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, puree the squash and sage together in a food processor, then transfer the puree to a bowl. Mix in the eggs and salt; stir in the flour and blend thoroughly. The dough should be soft and sticky.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. With a spoon, scoop up walnut-size pieces of dough and use a finger to slide it into the water. Cook the gnocchi in batches of 10 to 15, poaching them for 2 minutes (they will rise to the surface). Remove with a slotted spoon to drain. Repeat the process until the remaining dough is used up. Toss with warm melted butter and grated cheese. Serve hot.

Adapted from La Cucina di Lidia by Lidia Bastianich

Barbara shared this lovely still life she painted for David of our gorgeous CSA peppers. After they were captured on canvas, these beauties were stuffed with brown rice, sauteed garlic, vegetarian sausage, and spaghetti sauce. The stuffing was then topped off with mozzarella cheese, the ‘lids’ were replaced, and they were popped into the oven.

More photos below… Read the rest of this entry »