Acorn Squash with a Teeny Sombrero & Tasty Tacos

* September 14 * Dinner

As I noted in the last post, I generally find large squash suspect. This really traces back to one previous attempt to eat some kind of stuffed squash. I'm sure it wasn't the squash's fault. Despite the distance I have come since being dubbed "the carnivore" in college, I still have residual twitchiness regarding some veg. So, I fully admit that I feared the acorn squash. It was too big. In short, it was creepy. Well, wrong again Kessler. Although our dinner did not end up being what we had initially planned (pork chops with fennel orange marmalade), dude it was delicious and has forced me to give over-sized squash a fair shake.

So, as usual I was searching online to find some fool thing to do with CSA acorn squash (something Liz never buys because of my general disdain for said veg). I found this recipe for roasted acorn squash with chile vinaigrette. Because I had already defrosted the pork, but we wanted to fully capitalize on the veg, we ended up making a Southwestern extravaganza: the aforementioned acorn quash, glamorous pork, onion, jalapeño, pablano, red pepper, and green bean fajitas, and black beans and onions. It was truly amazing. I have to fully admit that I ate all of my squash. The vinaigrette was a lovely addition. We worked from the aforementioned recipe but made it lower in fat by using much less olive oil and increasing the citrus factore. We each ate half a squash, a mess of beans, and 2 tacos worth of pork and veg and we still have 2 dinners or 4 lunches of pork, veg, and beans left over. It was a mound of food that did not turn us into a mound of humanity. In my opinion, this is a win and a win. All it needed was a margarita (but I settled for an Old Style Light - don't you judge me!).

Anyway, it went a little something like this:

Roast one 1 sizable acorn squash (cut in half, emptied and brushed with olive oil and dressed with salt and pepper) at 450 for about 45 minutes.

Chili Citrus Vinaigrette:

Whisk together:

• 1 garlic clove (crushed)
• 1/4t salt
• 2t olive oil
• 1/4c juice from an orange and lemon (we didn't have lime so we just squeezed a bit of each)
• a splash of apple cider vinegar
• 1 small red hot pepper (diced)
• 1T chopped cilantro

Spoon onto the squash when it comes out of the oven.

Freaking Amazing Tacos

• 3/4lb of pork chops (trim fat and cut into strips)
• 1 red pepper (cut into strips)
• 1 poblano (cut into strips)
• 1 jalapeño (diced)
• 1 onion (slices)
• 1lb green beans

Sauté 3 types of peppers and onion. Place that in a bowl to the side.

Cook pork in skillet (after coating in chili mix - some mix from once we made chili) and then put in bowl to the side.

Cook green beans in skillet (with remnants of chili mix) and then warm all three parts of the pork and veg together.

We served them in the Tortilla Factory corn tortillas we've discussed in the past. In short, yum and yum.

Yes, it's true that I like almost anything with a Mexican or Southwestern flair. Yes, I have forgiven acorn squash for its previous offenses. Yes, Liz has a 99% success rate (and she made this on the fly while starving and managed not to eat everything in the kitchen while cooking).

On a final note, Liz has been working hard of an evening, so I have been blogging solo (with final Flauto approval). I think it lacks for the absence of her voice. I only fancy myself a baking direction-follower and a skilled eater. Flauto is culinary artist. So please forgive my lack of flair in describing the process.

Liz's Note: Kelly's lack of culinary flair is more due to lack of courage than skill, but she eats boldly and describes with panache. It is a pleasure to cook for and with her. While she does not wing it in cooking, she often comes up with fresh and excellent suggestions for things I should make (ie chili citrus vinaigrette) and is the most receptive of diners. I appreciate her. That is all.

Fall is Nipping At Our Heels - It's Sausage, Veg, and Potato Soup Time

* September 12 * Dinner

So, we're in week 13 of our 20 week CSA share. We're starting to get a little anxious about not having the boxes anymore. As it turns out, we're better at not letting produce go to waste when we have the pressure of next week's box.

So, this box was kind of glorious (and we had things from last week to take care of). We still have to figure out what do to with acorn squash (which honestly freak me out a little). So, for tonight we were trying to take advantage of (a) produce, (b) the cool weather, and (c) some amazing so-called "breakfast" sausage that we bought at the Glenwood Sunday Market a few weeks ago (the pork sausage with rosemary, sage, black pepper, garlic, and tarragon was not necessarily breakfasty, but we used some for a lovely red onion, egg, sausage, tiny hot pepper, spinach, basil, and tomato scramble this morning). Anyway, Liz created a bit of fall soupy tastiness.

The taste well complemented the creepy guy outside the sunroom who kept trying to get passersby to give him change and the guy yelling across the street. Ah, the peaceful sounds of fall on W. Fargo.

Anyway, it was truly lovely, despite my overall aversion to carrots (which I support pureed but do not approve of in chunks. I think this is a holdover from my first 20 years of veggie hatred. The crunch still gets to me.). That said, I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this soup. It was warm, fresh, and not soggy. It also combined some of my favorite things: potatoes, sausage, and beans. (I fully believe that the majority of people do not take full advantage of beans.)

Anyway, it went a little something like this:

10oz white potatoes, cubed

5oz chopped of collards (CSA)

1/2 large red onion, diced

7 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 small leeks

4 small carrots cut into little discs (CSA)

2oz of seasoned pork sausage (Glenwood Sunday Market)

1 can of Bush's canellini beans

1 T olive oil

6c chicken broth (Costco Organic)

Herbes de Provence

Black Pepper

2T chopped parsley (fresh, CSA)

1t chopped sage (fresh, CSA)

1/4c Chardonnay

Okay, Flauto just rattled off to me how to do it. I'm going to take a shot. You know I'm just a mouthpiece and she's the brains behind this kitchen operation. So, it went as follows (those of you who make soups can likely just turn off right now).

1. Sauté the garlic, onions, and leeks in olive oil

2. Add sausage, potatoes, and carrots and sauté for a bit longer.

3. Add broth, Herbes de Provence, and pepper and bring soup to a boil

4. Add beans and collards and boil until the potatoes are ready

5. Right at the end add fresh herbs and wine

6. Enjoy tasty goodness while watching the tv show that goes on outside your window

Go, fight, win, soup!!!! I'm not sure what we're going to do when the boxes stop coming. Will we get lazy? We're just heading into prime soup time. Only time will tell.

Rosemary-Walnut-Oat-Dried Cherry Cookies - Um, Yes.

Okay, so sometimes Liz comes home from work like this, "So, I have a cookie I need you to bake. I had this cookie at work but yours would be better." It was her belief that the idea behind the cookie (a cherry-rosemary cookie) was brilliance, but that the execution was lacking. I forget the name of the schmancy bakery from which it came. I think maybe it was Flourish. Anyway, she thought it would be good if I could combine the idea of this cookie with a chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie I often make. This is all I have to say, SHE WAS NOT WRONG!!! I can't really impress upon you enough how amazingly good this cookie was. The thing that I like about baking is following directions. Improvising makes me a little nervous (as I'm never sure how well it's going to turn out). In this case, we added the same amount of dried rosemary as I had lavender in a past lavender cookie. So, here is what I did.

Preheat the oven to 350

1 c flour

1/2t baking soda

1/4t baking powder

pinch of salt

1T dried rosemary

1 stick butter

1/2c sugar

1/2c brown sugar

1 egg

1/2t vanilla

1c rolled oats

1c walnuts

1c dried cherries

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in dried rosemary (which I had crushed with a tiny mortar and pestle).

Beat butter and sugars together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat (on low) dried ingredients into the wet mixture. Add (with fork) oats, walnuts, and dried cherries.

I have a tendency to make teeny, tiny cookies. I like them that way. I use a small melon baller to scoop my cookies. I guess they are about rounded teaspoons. Place those on a waxed cookie sheet. (I prefer waxed paper to spray, but again, that's just how I roll.)

Bake each batch for about 12 minutes, until slightly brown around the edges.

The smell is amazing. My fear that the rosemary would be too weak was immediately assuaged. The smell during the baking is amazing and the cookies were seriously no let down. I think they're going to have to make their way into the cookie rotation. So, if you feel like trying a somewhat savory cookie (that is totally bad-ass), go for these!