Kids Dish

After four days in a row of Thanksgiving dinner it was time for a change. I still had a few winter vegetables left from the CSA so I decided to make one of my favorite soups- Roasted Vegetable with Kale and White beans. Most of the ingredients were local. I used homemade chicken stock (from organic, pastured chickens), butternut squash, carrots, onions, garlic, cabbage and kale from my CSA, and a can of beans. I roasted the vegetables in the morning while the baby took his first nap and finished the soup in the half hour for dinner. With the prep done in the morning - you could also do it the night before- it was a very easy, healthy, tasty dinner. The soup smelled so good Bob excitedly asked, “Are you making bacon?!” Sadly, the answer was no but the soup was good anyway. Even the toddler ate some.

The recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit

* Nonstick vegetable oil spray
* 6 medium carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise
* 4 large tomatoes, quartered
* 2 large onions, each cut into 8 wedges
* 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
* 1 head of garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
* 1 tablespoon olive oil

* 12 cups (or more) chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
* 1 bunch finely chopped kale
* 1/4 cabbage, shredded (optional- it doesn’t make or break the recipe)
* 6 large fresh thyme sprigs
* 2 bay leaf

* 1 15-ounce can Great Northern or cannelini beans, rinsed and drained

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with oil spray. Arrange carrots, tomatoes, onion, squash and garlic on sheet. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake until vegetables are brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Transfer carrots and squash to work surface. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside. Peel garlic cloves; place in processor. Add tomatoes and onion; puree until almost smooth. Pour 1/2 cup broth onto baking sheet; scrape up any browned bits. Transfer broth and vegetable puree to large pot. Add 10 1/2 cups broth, kale,thyme and bay leaf to pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.

Add cabbage, beans and reserved carrots and squash to soup. Simmer 8 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to simmer before serving.) Like most soups and stews this is better the next day.

I bought a flat iron steak on a whim from my meat buying club because it was relatively inexpensive and I somehow confused it with flank steak. When I saw it I realized that it was pretty small, not the type of steak I could split with Bob and serve with potatoes so it’s been in the freezer for a few months. Today I decided that even though it’s supposed to be grilled, and it’s not traditionally the right cut of meat for a stir, it was destined for a stir fry anyway.

I mixed up a quick Asian marinade and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two. Then I threw it in a big, wok-like pan with some bok choy, broccoli and garlic while I cooked some brown minute rice. It took less than half an hour to get it on the table. Everybody liked it, including my mother who claims to hate vegetables and the unpredictable two-year-old.

1 flat iron steak cut into half-inch strips
2 heads of bok choy
1 head of broccoli
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger, grated
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

For the marinade mix together:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Let the meat marinate, covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to 24. Cut the broccoli into florets of similar size. If your broccoli has them, reserve the leaves. Separate the leaves from the stems of the bok choy. Cut the stems lengthwise, then cut into one inch pieces. Stack the leaves and cut into ribbons (with the broccoli leaves if you have them). Stir the sugar into the soy sauce until dissolved.

Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a 12 inch skillet with high sides. Drain the meat and add when the oil is almost smoking. Cook until brown on one side, then flip. When the meat is almost cooked through add the boy choy stems and the broccoli florets. Cook for about three minutes, until the broccoli is bright green. Add the soy sauce mixture and leaves to the wok and stir. When the greens are wilted add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds more. Serve over rice.

Early in the day I roasted an acorn squash* with the idea that I’d make squash enchiladas for dinner. I had ripe tomatoes in the garden for salsa and a bowl of leftover rice to serve on the side. But as it got closer to dinner time Sam grew inexplicably sad and needed my undivided attention leaving me unable to cook. So in a hurry to get the cranky toddler and the fussy baby fed and in bed I gave up on my elaborate plans for acorn squash enchiladas and started a batch of acorn squash quesadillas that were so easy my husband was able to finish them.

For three quesadillas that can serve two adults and a child you’ll need:

About a cup of cubed, cooked acorn squash
about a cup of shredded, cooked chicken
half a cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 flour tortillas
salsa and sour cream

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Mix the first seven ingredients in a medium bowl until the squash and chicken are well coated with the spices. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings if necessary. Heat a large, nonstick or cast iron pan to medium. I like to put a pinch of coarse salt in the pan. Place a tortilla in the pan and generous spoonful of the squash mixture in the center. Spread the mixture out towards, but not reaching the edges of the tortilla. You don’t want to lay it on to thick or it won’t heat through. Put another tortilla on top. Cook for about two to three minutes or until you can smell the tortilla starting to brown. Flip and cook the second side for about two to three minutes more. Put the cooked quesadillas in the oven to stay warm while you cook the rest. If you put them directly on the rack or on a rack positioned on a baking sheet they’ll stay warm and crisp.

Serve with sour cream and salsa and rice on the side.

If you don’t have any cooked chicken, a can of drained, rinsed beans slightly mashed make a great protein substitute.

*to roast acorn squash cut it lengthwise down the center, scoop out the seeds, and cook on an oiled baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes face down until tender.

I had about 3 quarts of tomatoes from my garden and the CSA that I needed to use. With Bob back at work and only one child napping I don’t really have the time or energy to peel and seed tomatoes for sauce. Oven roasting tomatoes takes a while, but it’s low prep, low energy and all around low impact, a quality I appreciate in food prep these days.

I preheated the oven to 225, cut and chopped a few stems of rosemary and a handful of time from the garden out back, and cut all of the tomatoes (mostly plum with a few heirloom Mr Stripy thrown in) in half. I put the tomatoes skin side down on two baking sheets, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt, fresh ground pepper and the herbs. I threw a few unpeeled cloves of garlic on the trays for good measure. Then I put them in the oven and ignored them.

After three and a half hours I checked the tomatoes. They weren’t quite as shriveled or brown at the edges as I was hoping for so I left them for a few hours longer. After they’d been in for about six hours total the house smelled divine. Planning on using them for dinner the next night I peeled the garlic and put them and the tomatoes in two jars, pouring in the oil and herbs remaining on the trays.

The tomatoes, slow roasted, are sweet and tangy. They make an amazing sauce or are delicious right out of the jar. They’ll keep, covered in oil, in the fridge for a few weeks or you can freeze them and save them for the cold months ahead- if you can stop yourself from eating them.

The other night I planned on making baba ganoush, an eggplant spread to serve with falafel and tahini sauce. I thought that maybe I’d buy some bulghur and make tabbouleh to go with it. I even planned on making my own pita bread. But then I realized the box of falafel mix I thought I had in the pantry was nowhere to be seen and I didn’t feel like soaking dried garbanzo beans to make my own. Since I had no falafel it seemed silly to go to the trouble of baking pita, so I didn’t buy the bulghur either. I did, however, have an already cooked eggplant that needed to be dealt with. I made the baba ganoush anyway and served it with bread. The next night I rolled it in a tortilla (yes, I’m mixing cuisines) with sauteed chard and fresh tomato.

You can make it in a food processor if you like a smoother consistency. I just mash it by hand to avoid dirtying another dish. You can also skip the garlic paste and just stir in minced garlic, but it will make your baba ganoush a lot more potent- you’ll taste it the next day. Since it’s dip your kids will probably eat it. Cut up some veggies or serve with crackers or pita triangles.

1 large eggplant (about 1 pound)
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Prick eggplant with a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake the eggplant until it is soft inside, about 20 minutes. Alternatively, grill the eggplant over a gas grill, rotating it around until the skin is completely charred, about 10 minutes. Let the eggplant cool. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, drain off the liquid, and scoop the pulp into a medium bowl.

On a cutting board, work garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt together with the flat side of a knife, until it forms a paste. Add the garlic-salt mixture to the eggplant. Stir in the parsley, tahini, and lemon juice. Season with more salt, to taste. Garnish with additional parsley.

A recent comment reminded me of my failed, but delicious, leek and swiss chard tart a few months ago. Earlier this week I decided to give it another go and I picked up a box of puff pastry at the store. The next day I went to work. I didn’t have any leeks so I sliced two onions into half moons and put them over a low flame with a tablespoon of butter to caramelize. Once they softened a bit I stirred in salt and pepper. I went into the crisper drawer to get the chard only to realize I had a head of lettuce in the space where the chard should have been.

Lettuce is a lousy chard substitute so I grabbed a yellow squash, a cubanelle pepper, some cherry tomatoes, and a handful of fresh basil from the garden. I quartered the squash lengthwise and cut it into ¼ inch slices and quartered the tomatoes. I chopped the pepper and added it to the onions in the pan. When they were lightly browned I stirred the squash into the pan and let it cook a few minutes to soften.

I rolled out the puff pastry and put in an 8 inch square pan instead of a pie dish to make room for the extra veggies. In a bowl I whisked together a cup of evaporated milk, 4 eggs, 1 egg yolk, salt, pepper, a dash of cayenne and a couple of ounces of grated cheese. I stirred in the vegetables and chopped basil and poured it into the prepared pastry crust. I put the square pan on a rimmed baking sheet and baked it in a preheated 425-degree oven for 25 minutes, then I lowered the heat to 350 and let it cook through for an additional 15.

This time the tart was not a soupy mess. It was firm to the touch and nicely browned on top. I let it sit for a few minutes to settle and cut it into squares. Bob ate more than half of the tart that night and took the rest to work the next day for breakfast. Sam took a few bites before saying, “I don’t like tomamoes,” and wandered upstairs to play with trains. I thought it was pretty good.

The prep time is quick and the recipe is easy to adjust for the vegetables you have on hand. It’s similar to a quiche or frittata with a puff pastry crust.

leek and swiss chard tart without leeks or chard

How can it be August already? The summer is flying by and all I have to show for it are two cups of frozen shredded zucchini. Half a CSA share does not provide enough food for us to preserve for the winter, but with the new baby it’s a good thing we didn’t go for a full share since most of it would have ended up in the compost bin anyway. I’m a bit behind since we were out of the city most of last week, so here’s a photo of the share from two weeks ago:

3 medium eggplants, 3 red onions, a big bunch of carrots, a bunch of swiss chard, a pint of mixed tomatoes, a big bag of green beans and cheddar cheese and yogurt from the buying club.

Last week’s unphotographed share included a quart of Yukon Gold potatoes, close to a pound of green beans, a 1/2 pint of mixed grape and cherry tomatoes, a 1.5 lb bag of red potatoes, 2 summer squash and 3 pattypan squash, 3 huge green peppers and a quart each of raspberry and peach yogurt.

This week’s share had 1.5 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, about a pound of green beans, a quart of mixed tomatoes, half a dozen yellow squash, a pint of jalapeño peppers, and 5 yellow onions.

This summer I find that the half share is enough for us and I haven’t had to supplement with any additional vegetables from the market. Unfortunately the buying club through the CSA hasn’t offered any fruit at all this season, so I’ve had to buy fruit each week. If I don’t make it to the farmer’s market up the street on Fridays I get stuck buying it at the supermarket so it’s not local and frankly not that great.

This time of year there’s always too much zucchini. Here are a two delicious ways to use it. Both recipes come together pretty quickly and don’t heat up the kitchen too much.

Zucchini-Bacon Fritters
1 medium zucchini, grated
2 spring onions, chopped, including 1-inch of the green parts
Six slices thick cut natural bacon or 10-12 slices regular bacon
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 and 1/2 tbs. maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in the microwave between paper towels to soak up grease, for about five minutes or until crisp.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Crumble the bacon into the mixing bowl adding the other ingredients. Mix to combine. Mixture will not seem like it would hold together, but it will.

Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat, sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon batter into the skillet about a tablespoon at a time for small fritters. Flatten slightly to cook. Cook each batch about 2 minutes per side, til golden and cooked through. Makes about 10 small fritters, 6-8 medium, or four if you just like them that much. Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt.

Zucchini Feta fritters
2 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (from about 3 medium)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup (or more) all purpose flour
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup (about) olive oil
1/2 cup (about) corn oil

Toss zucchini and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer to sieve. Press out excess liquid; place zucchini in dry bowl. Mix in egg, yolk, 1/2 cup flour, cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in parsley, onions, and dill. If batter is very wet, add more flour by spoonfuls.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons corn oil in large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into skillet. Fry patties until golden, 5 minutes per side, adding more olive oil and corn oil as needed. Transfer to paper towels.

Can be made 1 day ahead. Place on baking sheet, cover, and chill. Rewarm uncovered in 350°F oven 12 minutes. Serve with sour cream or yogurt.

Thursday’s box contained two quarts of shelling peas, a bunch of beets, a bunch of baby pak choi, a bunch of lacinato kale, and a bunch of shard. I still had some green onions, the entire bunch of turnips, some of the lettuce and a head of regular sized pak choi left from the week before when I was sick and couldn’t bring my feverish self to the kitchen.

To make sure I’m using all of the vegetables in a timely manner I’ve been making a list on the fridge and crossing the vegetables I use off as I go. We didn’t do too badly last summer and so far we’ve only lost a bit of lettuce to the compost bin. Two heads of lettuce is more than we can eat in a week, but since that box was farmer’s choice I don’t blame myself.

The two year old has become quite the picky eater as of late, subsisting mainly on fruit and noodles. I’m not too concerned. I know that this will pass and until it does I’ll just keep offering. I don’t cook him a separate meal (though we do cook more pasta then we need so we’ll have leftovers at the ready) so he gets what we eat on his plate and if he doesn’t eat it I’ll bring out something from the fridge or cabinet so he won’t go to bed hungry.

So what do you do as an adult if you’re stuck with something in the CSA box you don’t like? I don’t like radishes and last summer our radishes (I ordered them once on a whim) ended up in the compost after a month or two in the fridge. This time I did a search and found a recipe for radish sandwiches. It sounded pretty awful- just baguettes, butter and thinly sliced radishes, but the reviews said they worked. And sure enough they did.

Here’s the recipe from epicurious.com

2 1/2 bunches radishes, trimmed
Unsalted butter, room temperature
20 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices baguette
Maldon sea salt or coarse kosher salt

Place radishes in medium bowl of ice water and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Drain radishes and slice thinly. (use a mandoline or v-slicer if you have one)
Spread butter generously over baguette slices and sprinkle lightly with sea salt or coarse kosher salt. Arrange radish slices atop buttered baguette slices and serve.

I skipped the chilling, used 3 large radishes and salted butter. I also toasted the baguette. If you have radishes to use up this is a palatable way to do it.

Disinterested as I’ve been, I’ve still got to get dinner on the table most nights. Dinner has primarily consisted of boxed pasta and jarred sauce with a boring, steamed vegetable, but that’s about all I can take these days. Last night Bob said he’d make dinner. I’d bought feta cheese last week so I could make zucchini and feta patties with the last of the zucchini from last summer but I figured that would be too complicated for him with the draining, mixing and frying. I had a package of organic spinach so I decided to have him make a quiche with spinach and feta instead. I had him pull a package of puff pastry out of the freezer to defrost before he went to scrape paint in one of the third floor bedrooms.

Close to two hours later I realized that if I wanted dinner on the table before 9 I’d have to make it myself. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees, the temperature on the puff pastry package directions for a fruit dessert, and rolled out the puff pastry a little bit. I knew it was too late to make a quiche, so I wasn’t really sure of what to do with it once I rolled it. I decided to just cut it into squares and make little turnovers. I chopped an onion and sauteed it in a knob of butter. When the onion was soft and slightly browned I added a few cloves of garlic. About 30 seconds later I added the fresh spinach and stirred until wilted. I added about 4 ounces of crumbled feta, some fresh ground pepper, a few shakes of dried basil and oregano,and a pinch of nutmeg to the pan and stirred well. I put a spoonful of the spinach filling in each square of puff pastry and sealed the edges. I thought an egg wash would be nice, but didn’t feel like making the effort so I took out the Misto and sprayed each turnover with a little olive oil and stuck them on an ungreased baking sheet and baked for about 20 minutes, until the puff pastry was golden brown.

Aside from defrosting, the whole thing took about 30 minutes start to finish. The turnovers were delicious. Easier than spanakopita and much quicker.

Double posted from Farm to Philly

One of the unfortunate side effects of pregnancy for me is an aversion to most vegetable matter. Ordinarily I cook several vegetable heavy meatless meals a week, but since learning I was pregnant in September we’ve mostly eaten take out pizza, meals involving ground beef, and cheesy pasta dishes. This does not bother my husband at all. My taste for vegetables eventually returned, but my desire to buy and prepare food other than pizza and cookies has been lackluster at best. I used to go out of my way to shop at the farmer’s market in Ardmore every week. Now I’m feeling ambitious if I manage to stop in to the Marketplace at East Falls on our way to the zoo or Smith Playhouse. Our refrigerator has never been so bare. One week we even forgot to get our Meadow Run Farm monthly meat order from the pick up site and sheepishly found it still on the porch the next day. It’s a good thing it’s cold outside.

Yesterday, after eating a cupcake and Utz (local!) pretzels with Bobbi’s (local!) hummus for lunch I figured it was time to cook something that wouldn’t be found on a school cafeteria menu. I knew I had a butternut squash still in the dark cabinet beneath the pantry and decided to use it. I found a recipe for Butternut Squash, Bacon, Rosemary and Phyllo Pizza on Epicurious and scoured the kitchen and freezer in the garage for the rest of the ingredients.

In the freezer I unearthed some bacon from Meadow Run and my rosemary plant is still thriving out back. I didn’t have scallions or red onion, but I had a regular onion that I sautéed in reserved bacon drippings with a clove of garlic from my CSA I found hiding behind the squash. There was half of a package of phyllo dough in the freezer, and to add some greens to the dish (since I had no intention of making anything other than the pizza for dinner) I pulled out some Swiss Chard I’d frozen early in the fall when I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

I’m pretty good with phyllo so the whole thing took about an hour from start to finish. I wasn’t sure at first, but after my second slice I decided the pizza was delicious. It could have used a bit more rosemary, and the squash puree needed some seasoning other than salt and pepper, but on the whole it was good. Really, I’m a sucker for just about anything made with phyllo dough. (And it was a lot easier to make than the butternut squash and caramelized onion that filled my house with smoke last month.) I would definitely make it again as party appetizer using phyllo cups instead of sheets.

The local ingredients were bacon from Meadow Run Farm, butternut squash, garlic and Swiss chard from Red Earth Farm CSA and rosemary from my backyard.

We were away for the long President’s weekend in New Hampshire with two other couples. My plan was to make some sort of casserole or easily frozen dish to reheat for dinner one night. Bob, however, felt that my suggestions (spanakopita, lasagna) weren’t meaty enough- never mind that my favorite lasagna to make is lasagna Bolognese- so I scrapped the idea and brought nothing but a batch of cranberry muffins, a dozen bagels and cream cheese, fruit and Sam’s favorite snacks.

The two nights we cooked (the third night we had pizza) I ended up making the vegetable dishes and garlic bread to serve along with the pasta and salad. I can’t help but mention that all of the meals prepared over the weekend were most decidedly not meaty, but that’s neither here nor there. We had fettuccine carbonara the first night and baked ziti the second night.

Sam, in typical toddler fashion, preferred to snack on crackers instead of eating dinner. He did eat a ton of bacon on the carbonara night, something he’s never shown interest in before. But in typical Sam fashion he did eat the veggies and lots of them. One night I cooked asparagus, a vegetable we haven’t really eaten since spring. Sam LOVED it.

Asparagus is pretty versatile, but it’s really only in season for a short period of time. The rest of the year it can taste woody and stringy, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to eat it in season. While I learned to prepare it quickly and simply in spring to showcase its flavor, in the winter it benefits from roasting to bring out its sweetness.

Roasted Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil. Shake the baking sheet back and forth so the asparagus is coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 10 minutes, or until fork tender. You want the asparagus to still have a bit of crunch. Thicker stalks may take a bit longer, thinner stalks will take less time.

Sam and I are both suffering through a virus right now. Our symptoms include runny noses, hurty coughs, and low (but high enough make us feel like crap fevers. The other day, after not eating much of anything for more than 24 hours I decided to suck it up and make some chicken soup.

I used to save every last bit of vegetable I didn’t feel like eating. That half of an onion I’d forgotten in the fridge, the sprouting garlic cloves, the wrinkled carrots long past their prime, the broccoli stalks Bob turns his nose up at, and the tips of green beans all made their way into freezer bags which I’d save to make stock with. Depending on the other contents of the freezer- if I’d been saving chicken parts as well- I’d use the bags to make either veggie stock or chicken stock.

Since I started composting over the summer the contents of my freezer have reduced accordingly. There are far fewer veggies making their way into the freezer, which sadly results in less flavorful stock. To make up the difference, I decided to give the bouquet garni a bit of an Asian twist. I threw in a hunk of ginger, a hot pepper, some whole cloves, allspice and mustard seed.
I used the general recipe I posted a while ago, only instead of a whole chicken I used chicken carcasses, backs, necks and wings I’ve been saving the past few months and threw in a whole chicken breast in the last forty minutes of cooking. I thought about adding rice noodles, but thinking of my sick little boy I threw in some regular noodles that he’s more used to instead. Honestly, I couldn’t taste a thing. But Sam loved it and Bob seemed to enjoy it too.

If you don’t already and you like to reduce, reuse and recycle, give the stock bag a try. You’ll use vegetables and/or chicken parts that would otherwise go to waste, and you’ll always have something on hand to make a big pot of soup with when you just don’t feel like eating anything else.

I had every intention of making Spanakopita for dinner last night. I remembered to defrost the filo at room temperature and remembered to buy all of the ingredients I don’t usually have on hand. Bob and I planned on walking to our favorite bakery for coffee and pastries when he got home from work and I figured we’d be home before five, giving me plenty of time to get dinner on the table by seven. But then, when we were on the front porch with our coats on and Sam in his wagon anxiously awaiting the cookies to come, I realized I’d completely forgotten to pick up our meat order the day before.

After filling up my kitchen with great clouds of acrid black smoke, this was my second major case of pregnancy brain in a week. So we packed the unhappy toddler into the car and drove to the house where the meat is delivered, hoping it would still be there and still be frozen. The temperature was on our side and even though someone had removed our order from the cooler it was still there. We drove straight to the bakery and enjoyed cookies (Sam and I) and eclairs (Bob) with our coffee.

By the time we finished our snack it was after five and I still wanted to stop at the library to pick up a book that had come in from my reserve list. It was way too late to make Spanakopita. So we had grilled Delmonico steaks from the meat order, steamed green beans and baked potatoes instead. Dinner was on the table in under an hour, and it would have been on the table sooner if Bob hadn’t lost track of time and forgotten to light the grill.

The part that surprises me most about dinner being ready so quickly is the part about the baked potato. Believe it or not, it’s possible to have a perfect baked potato in half an hour. The amazing people from America’s Test Kitchen have found the perfect recipe for a potato with a crispy skin (my favorite part) and a soft, flaky middle.

30-minute Baked Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prick the top of the potatoes several times with a fork. Microwave for 8 to 12 minutes, or until soft to the touch, rotating halfway through the cooking time. Bake the potatoes for twenty minutes. Using the tines of a fork, make an x on the top of each potato immediately after removing from the oven. Squeeze the potatoes open, allowing the steam to escape. Serve immediately with butter, salt and pepper or your favorite baked potato toppings.

I cooked an amazing Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onion Galette the other night. It took longer than I anticipated because I somehow managed not to read the part of the directions that specified the bowls used for the dough ingredients needed to be chilled for an hour in the freezer. Combined with the hour needed to chill dough, I was about an hour behind schedule, which wasn’t too bad since I’d planned to eat dinner at six, but it was still late considering we have an almost-two year old who should be getting to bed earlier than he is.

Because I was trying to rush I cut the dough refrigeration to 40 minutes instead of the full hour leaving me with a sticky, wet dough that was tough to roll out. I managed to roll the dough into a 12 inch circle, get the cooked filling in the center, and wrap the dough around it. The problem was when I went to transfer the dough to the baking sheet. The bottom stuck to the floured counter and started to rip. In a hurry to get the galette into the oven I grabbed a cookie sheet and slid it under the pastry, rather than sliding the pastry onto the sheet. It ripped a little, but I was able to patch it and slide it in the oven.

I’m going to fast forward an hour and half now then fill in the blanks.

We sat down to dinner. A hungry Sam came into the dining room and sat down next to me instead of his booster seat. Rather than argue with a hungry toddler I put some of the butternut squash pastry on his Thomas plate and put it in front of him. He grabbed his fork, and without even testing the temperature he stabbed a piece and started to eat. I was so proud of my little boy. He doesn’t usually react so well to unknown foods. The fact that he just started eating without hesitation thrilled me to my core.

Now I’ll get to the part I omitted. After the galette had been in the oven for about 15 minutes the oven filled with smoke and the smoke began to fill the room. A quick look inside showed the oven was not on fire, I’d just made a tactical error. The butter from the dough and the liquid from the filling was pooling on the unlined baking sheet and dripping to the oven floor where it smoked and burned. I shouted for Bob to pull the batteries from the smoke alarm and help. We turned on the fans and he dug an industrial strength fan in the window backwards to suck out the smoke. I didn’t know what to do. I turned off the oven and removed the galette. Bob told me it would be fine and I should just put it back in. So I put the un-rimmed cookie sheet onto a rimmed baking sheet and put it back it the oven to finish cooking.

Smoky kitchen panic aside, dinner was delicious. Because Sam ate it and liked it I will share the recipe with you.

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
from Smitten Kitchen

For the pastry:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
¼ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup ice water

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (if you have only non-stick, the smaller amount will do)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
¾ cup fontina cheese (about 2½ ounces), grated or cut into small bits
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a ½-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for neatness sake) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Assemble galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. (note: Make sure it is rimmed!!) Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open.

6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

I took a picture of my own efforts, but Bob has the camera so I’ll upload later. Until then I’ll leave you with the photo of Deb’s from Smitten Kitchen. Her picture is prettier than mine anyway.