Christmas Cookie Love

Two thumbs plus two fingers up from the kiddies

After a disastrous lebkuchen incident a few weeks ago which resulted in two trays of dry inedible fruitcake-like garbage getting dumped in the trash, I decided to give the Christmas cookie baking another go. The husband had several colleagues that could use a little thank you treat, and I figured between the neighbors, mailman and UPS delivery guy, I'd be able to offload most of them before gaining too much weight.

Baked goods never last long in this house because no member of my family has any willpower when it comes to things containing sugar, butter, and flour, so having an exit strategy was important.

There's just something so Norman Rockwell and perfectly wonderful about a kitchen covered in powdered sugar dust and the smell of cookies baking in the oven...Christmas music playing in the background (a combination of Michael Buble's Christmas album - my choice - and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - the boys' choice)...sticks upon sticks of butter sitting out on the counter in preparation for getting whipped together with cups upon cups of sugar...piles of Hershey's kisses separated from their silver wrappers...and a huge bowl of green frosting with tiny finger swipes along the edge (he was just making sure it tasted good).

The best part of Christmas cookie baking these days, though, is the joy of sharing something I love with the kids and watching them love it too. Merry Christmas to all!

The Best Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Cooking for my kids is, um, a challenge. I've spent a lot of time and effort trying to hide pureed butternut squash, carrots, and spinach in a variety of sweet and savory dishes in an attempt to get more vegetables in their diet. And mostly it's been a big fat failure. So when I am fed up with the wrinkling of noses, "how many bites do i need to eat?" questions, and other terrorist negotiations, this is the recipe I make that is guaranteed to please everyone - these banana chocolate chip muffins. Yes, I know what you'll say. There are chocolate chips in these muffins. And sugar. Of course they will eat them. But sometimes you just need the satisfaction and smiles (not to mention the smells) that come with a big batch of banana chocolate chip muffins fresh out of the oven.

The Best Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (use whole wheat if you want them healthier)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or substitute apple sauce)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas, depending on size)

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients through salt.

2. In a medium bowl, combine egg, vegetable oil, yogurt and vanilla extract.

3. Add wet to dry and fold to combine.

4. In bowl used for wet ingredients, mash banana. Add banana and chocolate chips to large bowl. Fold again to combine. The mixture will be very hard to mix, but the moisture from the banana will help once that's combined a bit.

5. Fill paper lined muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 22-25 minutes until done (toothpick comes out clean). Muffins will be lightly browned on top.

6. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Store in airtight container on counter for up to 3 days. (These freeze great too!)

Roasted Carrot Soup Rocks the House

Roasted Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice
and Yogurt

These days with email, facebook, and blogs, there is not much reason to get excited about picking up the actual US Postal Service mail - except for the magazines. Even though I spend a certifiably crazy amount of time reading food blogs and recipe sites online, there is just something about getting that Bon Appetit magazine in the mail that I still look forward to every month.

There are always at least a half dozen recipes I mark to try and make, but last month's picture of this Roasted Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice and Yogurt was so gorgeous and simple that my mom and I ran out to the grocery store within hours to try and replicate it - and it was as good as it looks!

We made the spice mixture a few days in advance and the recipe made plenty - enough for another pot of soup, which I just might make again today, now that I'm looking at this picture and remembering how delicious it was. Yum. Toasting the spices first in a dry skillet helps bring out the flavors, so don't skip that step. The recipe calls for either using a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind the spices and I'd have to recommend the food processor. We used a mortar and pestle and I did end up with a rather unpleasant chunk of black peppercorn that I could have lived without. Just add the roughly chopped pistachios afterwards for textural contrast.

Roasting the carrots was as easy as could be - just peel, roughly chop, toss with butter and throw them in the oven until they lightly caramelize. Puree with a carton of vegetable broth (or use homemade if you have more time on your hands than I do). Top the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt (I like Fage 2% the best) and a few pinches of the spice mixture and enjoy! The soup is warm and comforting on it's own, but the addition of the yogurt and spices really adds something special. Serve it with a crusty baguette for an easy weeknight meal or the beginning of an elegant dinner party. Leave me a comment if you try it and let me know how you like it! You can find the recipe here.

Channeling a Little Italian Grandma

A few weeks ago I assisted in a Gnocchi 101 class at the cooking school and ever since then I've been dying to try and make the little potato dumplings myself. The chef made it seem so easy, but having eaten my weight in chewy, disappointing gnocchi over the years, I had serious doubts that I could produce anything edible on my first try.

Pan of uncooked gnocchi

Now I'm not saying that Mario Batali would be impressed with the results, but they got a thumbs up from the husband and I thought they were pretty darn good. Not even a little bit chewy. I pan seared half the batch and boiled the other half and served both with a basil pesto. The boiled batch didn't hold it's shape as well as the pan seared, and I think that may have been due to not using enough flour, though I'm not sure. I'll have to let you know after the next attempt.

The key to gnocchi that is light and fluffy, says Chef Tom, is two-fold. First, prep the potatoes in the food mill as soon as you can handle them out of the oven. The more time the potato has to cool down, the more the texture will change. Second, handle the dough as little as possible - just until it comes together and not a second longer. The recipe is below in case you want to try this simple, delicious, and very rewarding meal. Buon Appetito!

Potato Gnocchi (from Chef Tom Hughes)
1 lb. russet or yukon gold potatoes
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, etc.)
1/4 cup olive oil
Tools: food mill or potato ricer, bench scraper, fork for rolling gnocchi

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for one hour or until soft.
2. Cut potatoes and scoop out the insides and then push the inside of the potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer.
3. On a floured cutting board, pour the potato, eggs, salt, and pepper and 1/2 cup of the flour.
4. Using a bench scraper, cut the pile of ingredients until the mixture begins to come together. Add more flour as needed so you can easily handle the ball of dough.
5. Roll the dough into a snake and using the bench scraper, cut the snake into 1-inch nuggets. Roll them lengthwise off the end of the fork to give them proper shape.
6. At this point you can freeze your gnocchi for up to a month, or cook them in boiling water until they just begin to float. Remove from water and toss with sauce.
7. If you wish to pan saute them, add olive oil to medium high pan, add gnocchi and cook for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned. Then toss with sauce.

Absolute Thai is Absolutely Wonderful

Last night on a whim, and with an intense desire for Thai food, the husband and I decided to venture away from Vienna and try out a highly rated restaurant in McLean called Absolute Thai. When the craving for basil, chili peppers, and lime juice strikes, we never have far to go since we live close to Natta Thai in Vienna, which until last night was my favorite Thai restaurant of all time. Their permanent "special" of chicken with crispy kale with that sweet and spicy sauce is so good, I want to take a bath in it...but I digress.

From the outside, the restaurant is not much. The flashing neon "open" sign on the window belies the warm and inviting gem inside. Rushing in from the cold we were greeted by a pastry display case full of the most beautiful, artistic, and precious little pastries. There was a rectangle of chocolate cake topped with a bruleed salted caramel mousse, a round devils chocolate cake topped with toffee crunch and coffee cream, a perfectly molded mound of mango cream covered in a rich dark chocolate shell, plus an assortment of cupcakes, macaroons, and more temptations. It was clear we were going to need to save room. This was no usual Thai dessert choice of mango sticky rice or fried bananas (though they had those on the menu as well).

We were greeted by a lovely little Thai woman who seated us promptly. Looking around the dining room it was clear that the artistry displayed in the pastry case extended to the interior of the restaurant as well. The room was lit by flickering tea lights on each table. Textural, three-dimensional modern art graced the walls, and a softly shimmering curtain of beads separated the dining room from the long colorful bar.

The menu is a mix of old and new - traditional Thai dishes like pad thai, curries, and satay plus more inventive modern dishes like the appetizer we shared of roasted duck wrapped in a crispy yet soft and chewy roti with tamarind sauce. I ordered the chicken panang curry because it's one of my favorite Thai dishes of all time and I was hopeful that Absolute Thai would do it justice. My husband ordered the whole crispy flounder with two sauces after the waitress excitedly told us that the flounder had just come in that morning and was delicious. The panang curry was wonderful. Spicy, but not too much, simply steamed broccoli with some crunch, and just enough sauce to accent the dish, but not so much the chicken was swimming in it. The dish was served with jasmine rice, but I asked for red and brown rice instead after seeing it in the "healthy dishes" section of the menu which was stocked full of interesting sounding vegetarian dishes like tofu and eggplant in a spicy basil sauce. It was a perfect compliment to soak up the remaining panang curry.

But the flounder was definitely worth the waitress' enthusiasm - especially the three flavor sauce served on the side that I will be trying to replicate for months. Sweet, spicy, and savory. I would swear fish sauce and sweet chili sauce, but the other flavor? Maybe some tamarind? Lime juice? Crushed red pepper? Garlic? Whatever was in it, there was none left by the end of the meal. The fish itself was lightly fried and beautifully served on top of the fried fish carcass which one member of our party may or may not have been picking apart for any extra bits of fish by the end of the meal.

Full and happy, we still could not pass up dessert, so we opted for something called La Petite Antoine, a confection of chocolate hazelnut crunch with coffee cream that was light and airy and tasted as good as it looked. Just the right amount of sweetness to cut the spice of the flavorful meal we just enjoyed.

Absolute Thai is no takeout Thai restaurant. Make a trip to McLean and prepare to enjoy yourself. Order a cocktail, read the menu, and then sit back and enjoy the journey of your senses. Don't forget to save room for dessert!

Martinis for Dinner

Cucumber Basil and Lime Martini - crisp, fresh, green, and fragrant. Plus, it's almost like having a salad, so it's healthy, right?

Just muddle a few slices of cucumber, juice of 1/2 a fresh lime, and a few leaves of chopped basil with some sugar. Add vodka of your choice and a few splashes of tonic and voila!

An Inspired Weeknight Dinner

When it comes to easy weeknight meals that require no planning, I usually fall back on the American staples of pasta, pizza, stir-fry, and of course, taco night. But last night I was feeling inspired by a recent class I worked at Culinaria Cooking School (where I work as an occasional class Assistant as well as help out with their marketing). The class was a Wine Bites-Piedmonte class where each delicious dish was paired with a wine from the famed region in Italy.

Chicken with Olives and Rosemary served with Quinoa

Though the original recipe made by Chef Stephen Sands used lamb shanks, and was braised for hours, my pared down version cooked up much quicker with chicken and used many ingredients I already had hanging out in the cabinet - tomato sauce, black olives, crushed red pepper, chicken broth, and a box of quinoa that I can't remember buying. Toss in some rosemary from the overgrown bush out front, and it was really something special to warm up a chilly November night. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts

2 tbsp. olive oil

salt/pepper

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup white wine

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup black olives (like kalamata)

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for decoration

1 cup quinoa

Directions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into 3 rough pieces. Salt and pepper. Saute over medium high heat until browned on both sides. Remove to plate and set aside.

2. In same pan used to brown chicken, saute carrots, onion, and celery until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for one more minute.

3. Add wine to pan and stir with whisk, getting browned bits off bottom. Add 1 cup chicken broth, tomato sauce, crushed red pepper, olives and rosemary to pan and stir. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for 10 minutes. 

4. Add chicken back to pan and simmer over low heat, covered, for 30-40 minutes until chicken is tender.

5. Meanwhile, mix quinoa and 2 cups of chicken broth in sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve with chicken and sauce. Enjoy!

Crepe Amour or Crepe Eh?

After months of driving by the recently opened Crepe Amour on Maple Avenue West in Vienna, I finally stopped in today to give it a try. By all accounts, it should have been a wonderful experience. First, I was with my husband and youngest son - a rare weekday treat. Second, they serve nothing but crepes and coffee. How can you go wrong with that? And third, Nutella makes several appearances on the menu. But still, instead of walking away with a full stomach and a smile on my face, I left thinking...eh.

Crepe Amour does some things right, and some things just not quite. To start, there is virtually no space to sit down (or even stand) in the "restaurant" - maybe 9 seats total, 4 of which are bar seats at the window. On the streets of Paris, or even Georgetown, where the restaurant first opened, this works. Grab a crepe wrapped in foil and dripping with butter and sugar and take a leisurely stroll down the Champs Elysee, or even M street. But in Vienna, VA, land of 1960's strip malls, mattress stores, and traffic lights, a leisurely stroll is not quite as appealing. There aren't any benches outside yet, but I was told they are working on a permit for those, which should help the grab and go style a bit.

In addition to the very tiny space to sit, there is room enough for about 3 people to stand in line before you're on the other side of the door. As long as it doesn't get too popular, that's fine, but if things start to pick up, you can expect a nice appetizer of car fumes from the parking lot before you get your hands on a crepe.

On the bright side, the decor is modern and cute and almost makes you feel like you've found a gem in the city. The menu is quirky and varied, offering many choices of both sweet and savory crepes. I had a spicy tandoori chicken crepe with red peppers, cilantro, and spicy mayo. The filling was good and flavorful, but the crepe was lacking that traditional texture - soft and slightly chewy. The Crepe Amour version appears to be whole grain and a bit crispy. If there is a next time, I think I'll go for the tried and true Nutella and banana crepe. You can't go wrong with Nutella, right?

The Perfect Soup for the Perfect Storm

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

After enjoying several weeks of Indian Summer, I guess we were due for some nasty weather. With Hurricane Sandy coming our way, this weekend looks like it may be a good one for staying indoors and brewing a batch of your favorite one pot meal. Today I made a big pot of one of my favorite cold weather soups - a lighter version of a rich and creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup that I first became obsessed with at Panera a few years ago. I use much less butter, substitute skim milk for whole, and stock it full of veggies so it's still rich and satisfying, but also healthy enough that I can eat it for days on end without the guilt. And as long as the electricity stays on through this storm, we'll be warming up with this soup all weekend long.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. skinless chicken breasts
1 quart chicken stock
1 quart water
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup flour
1 box wild rice with seasoning packet
2 cups skim milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Simmer chicken breasts in large pot with chicken stock and water for 25 minutes or until cooked through.  Set aside and dice into bite-sized pieces. Save broth in pot.
2. While chicken is cooking, saute carrots, celery, and onion in olive oil in large skillet until slightly soft. Set aside.
3. Add diced chicken and wild rice to broth and simmer for 20-25 minutes until rice is cooked.
4. Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in skillet used to cook veggies. Add seasoning packet from wild rice and flour and continue to whisk to form roux.
5. Add milk in slow stream, continuing to whisk until mixture is well incorporate, thick and bubbly, about 5 minutes.
6. Add mixture to chicken/broth pot along with veggies. Simmer for 10 minutes. Soup should be slightly thickened and creamy.

Food is Love

Okay, I know food is not supposed to be love. I'm sure it says way too much about my deep dark issues to admit that for me, there is no more personal way I can think of to show how much I care about my family and friends than by cooking them a favorite dish, dropping off extra baked goods, or planning an elaborate meal. This past weekend was my husband's birthday, and since no one is more deserving of a thoughtfully planned and lovingly made meal than he is, I cooked some of his favorites.

Birthday dinner of Cajun Ribeye, Apple
Rutabaga Soup, and Grilled Zucchini Salad

To start, I made a creamy Apple Rutabaga soup from Patrick O'Connell's cookbook "Refined American Cuisine". The soup is the color of "liquid Autumn" according to the famous chef from the Inn at Little Washington. We first tasted it on my 30th birthday when my dear husband took us to the Inn to celebrate and I've made it once a year since then. It takes some time because of all the chopping involved, but it's actually simple to make. The combination of flavors is complex and sweet, with a hint of cayenne at the finish. Just saute 1 cup each of onion, granny smith apple, rutabaga, sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrots in a stick of butter. Then add a quart of good chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes or so. Strain this delicious mixture through a fine mesh sieve, add 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1 cup (he calls for 2) of heavy cream plus salt and a few dashes of cayenne pepper to taste.

Next was the main course - a grass-fed Cajun Ribeye steak, his favorite cut of meat. The first time we had a Cajun Ribeye was at Ray's the Steaks in Arlington, and though my version is no Ray's, it's pretty darn close. I'm a filet girl myself. I just prefer the soft texture and not having to fight with any fat. But I do understand that there's something primal and manly about eating a Ribeye once in awhile. Add some Cajun seasoning and plenty of salt, and you'll have hair on your chest in no time.

To balance out all this rich and filling food, I grilled some zucchini and served it with a salad of arugula, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese dressed simply in a little lemon and olive oil. It's one of his favorite combinations and always reminds us of summer.

Banana chocolate chip cake
with peanut butter frosting

Deciding on what to make for dessert was more difficult. If you ask him what he wants for dessert, you'll get a list a mile long. Tarte tatin, flourless chocolate cake, mille feuille, tres leches cake, anything chocolate, anything banana...the man does not discriminate against dessert. So this time I decided to combine a variety of his loves and make a banana chocolate chip cake with peanut butter frosting from the most recent issue of Bon Appetit magazine - Fall Comfort Foods. The cake was dense, moist, and not overly sweet. And the frosting. Oh, the frosting. What's not to love about peanut butter whipped with butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing at all.

The meal was delicious, but the best part of all was watching my darling husband's eyes light up with that first spoon of soup, that first bite of steak, that first taste of cake. It may not be healthy to think of food as love all the time, but I think it's okay to indulge every once in awhile. Especially if it's in the form of peanut butter frosting.

The Smell of Homemade Bread in the House

We ran out of bread yesterday. Since school started, we've been going through a lot of bread around here and it's hard to keep up. The first few weeks I was buying the organic, preservative free, whole grain bread from Whole Foods. The sandwiches would come back half-eaten and the bread was always stale after two days. Next I started getting soft potato bread from Giant, which was gobbled up in it's entirety, until I read the ingredients which listed several scary-sounding "dough conditioners". I don't think bread should be made with the same thing I use to keep my hair soft and shiny, even if it does make it delicious. So today I decided that rather than try and find a store-bought replacement for my bread dilemma, I would make my own. I'm a pretty decent cook, so how hard could it be, right?

There is a big difference between being a cook and a baker. You can be a good cook without being precise. If you have a basic knowledge of how things go together, the rest is just instinct and taste. A little too much salt? No big deal. With baking, it's a whole different story. Baking is a science - and I've never been very good at science. The recipe I used is one my mom used to make when I was a kid, so I was expecting it to taste a certain way. It did not taste that way, but it did make the whole house smell amazing for several hours today and both kids did gobble it up (grape jelly for one and nutella for the other). Next time I'll try sticking a little closer to the recipe and not trying to improvise because I don't have the exact ingredients. That smell was pretty incredible - and it was also pretty awesome to watch my kids enjoying a slice of bread I made with love for them. Here's the recipe:

Perfect White Bread
Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups milk (whole or 2%, not skim)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. In saucepan, combine milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Heat over low heat until butter is melted and sugar is just dissolved, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.
2. In good stand mixer, combine yeast mixture, milk mixture, and 2 cups of flour. Beat well with dough hook, scraping down sides, until smooth. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until moderately stiff. Let machine kneed dough over low speed until smooth and elastic, 4-5 minutes.
3. Place in lightly greased bowl, flipping dough over to get the whole thing greased before covering and letting it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
4. Punch dough down and turn it out onto lightly floured surface. Divide it in two and shape it into loaves. Put in two greased 8 1/4" standard loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled again, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Brush top with melted butter and continue baking for 15 more minutes or until browned on top and hollow sounding when tapped. Remove from pans and let cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Eating for A Good Cause. As If I Needed One.

I was "this" close! (plus or minus a little zoom lens action)

Last night I got to (not meet) be in the same room with Anthony Bourdain! Padma Lakshmi! Andrew Zimmern! Carla Hall! plus Jose Andres, Mike Isabella, and lots of other great local chefs at the Capital Food Fight which benefited DC Central Kitchen. On top of the food geek eye candy that was everywhere, add in a weeknight date with my hubby, 60 DC area chefs passing out samples of their signature dishes, an open bar with no lines, and an Iron Chef style competition, and you can imagine what an amazing night it was for me.

Gorgeous desserts on a stick

Mini spicy pork tacos

The food was as beautiful as it was delicious. It was a night for showing off and the chefs did not disappoint. Highlights included savory braised short ribs on a potato puree, hamachi in a spicy Thai chili broth, celery waffles with duck confit and cotton candy (I loved it and it's weirdness, but the husband didn't), carmelized figs with ricotta and honey and gorgonzola panna cotta served in hollowed out egg shells with candied celery and bacon on top.

On top of the over-the-top food, 4 local chefs competed in an Iron Chef battle (won by Jeff Buban from Vidalia) which we somehow snagged ringside seats for. The secret ingredients were honeycrisp apples for the first battle and oyster mushrooms for the second. In a surprise battle, Anthony Bourdain went up against Andrew Zimmern with the unbelievable secret ingredient - iguana! If you have ever wondered what a dead, skinned iguana looks like, well, it looks like a bright pink iguana-shaped raw chicken. Disgusting.

After the iguana competition was over, we headed back out for a final round of drinks and food sampling before the glutenous evening came to an end. One last shredded pork taco. One last mushroom and goat cheese panini. One last lemon cardamom ice cream cone and that oughtta do it.

Comfort Food for Almost Fall

Last Night's Dinner - Shepherd's Pie

I'm a warm-weather girl in almost every way, but I do love the cooler weather for one reason - comfort food. Summer's great for throwing some meat and veggies on the grill, but as soon as the temp starts dropping, nothing makes me happier than dusting off my best comfort food recipes.  This simple and delicious one makes a frequent appearance - Rachael Ray's 30-minute Shepherd's Pie. I follow the recipe as written, for the most part, just throw in some extra carrots and peas and use low fat or skim milk for a slightly healthier, but still rich and comforting, version of this British classic. Try it out and let me know if you agree!

Beige Food Gone Bad

Some days I relish cooking meals for my family. Some days. But most days I dread coming up with something that all four of us will eat and enjoy. I love to cook spicy, flavorful food with whatever's in season at the Farmer's Market. I love to experiment with interesting whole grains and hard-to-find proteins. My husband is happy to come along with me on whatever culinary adventure I am on. My oldest kid, not so much. I don't know how I could have raised a child who only eats beige food, but somehow I managed it. Oh, he does eat the occasional strawberry or slice of watermelon, and he'll choke down a steamed carrot or piece of broccoli with the lure of dessert on the other side (especially if chocolate is involved). But generally, he's the chicken nugget, pasta no sauce, grilled cheese kind of kid. So...when I started looking up recipes for Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna, I realized that this was my big chance to get my beige food-eating kid on board for the family meal.

The creamy bechamel sauce infused with sage and roasted butternut squash filled the house with a warm, sweet smell. The recipe was easy to follow, but somewhat time consuming because of the time involved with roasting the squash, boiling the noodles, and making the bechamel. 

It was a true labor of love, and it was delicious. Until I took the first bite and I felt the crunch of a tiny shard of glass between my teeth. Did I mention that the Pyrex dish I baked the squash in shattered into a thousand pieces because I accidentally set it down straight on my cold kitchen counter and not onto the range or a kitchen towel to cool? Oh, I didn't? If I hadn't been so giddy with the anticipation of my oldest son actually eating the same thing that the rest of us humans were about to enjoy, I might have abandoned the project when I should have. When a sane person would have. But instead I just moved the beautifully roasted squash out of the way, cleaned up the mess of glass, and powered on.

After the first crunchy bite, I dove across the table to swipe the other offending plates out of the way before someone else got a taste (but not before briefly - very briefly! - considering whether ingesting a tiny shard of glass would outweigh the benefits of my son eating a vegetable). So if you want to try out this delicious fall recipe, and you know how to correctly handle Pyrex glassware, here it is!

Recipe: Butternut Squash Lasagna (without glass shards)

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 medium butternut squash

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed (optional)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups milk (I used skim, but use whatever's on hand)

15 oz. part-skim ricotta

16 oz. shredded mozzarella

12 cooked lasagna noodles (or use no-cook noodles if you like)

1 tsp. grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half and brush with oil and salt. Bake for 40 minutes or until soft and cooked through. Set aside to cool. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.

2. Boil lasagna noodles according to package directions. Set aside in cold water until ready to assemble.

3. Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat and cook onion until translucent. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add flour and stir constantly until very light brown.

4. Add milk to pan and stir with whisk until thickened - about 5-7 minutes. Add ricotta to mixture and stir until well incorporated.

5. Scoop cooled squash into bechamel mixture and puree until smooth with hand blender. Add grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

6. In 9x13 baking dish, layer sauce, noodles, sauce, mozzarella cheese, noodles, sauce, spinach, cheese, noodles, sauce, and a final layer of cheese.

7. Bake covered tightly with foil at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly. Cool for 15 minutes.

My Salt Addiction

I've had low blood pressure my whole life which can sometimes be a blessing and sometimes a curse. On the curse side, I can never stand up too quickly without feeling like I'm going to pass out, or at the very least seeing stars. On the blessing side, I can eat as much salt as I want with relatively little guilt about it causing high blood pressure. When I was in my early twenties, a doctor once told me at my annual physical that I should put salt in my orange juice in the morning to keep my blood pressure up. Though I think that pretty much all food can be improved with a little shake of salt, orange juice is not one of them. If you want to see what I mean, give it a try. You'll only do it once.

There are many, many foods that I do love with a little extra salt. Oatmeal cookies, for example. Especially the Salted Oat Cookies from Teaism in DC. I dream about these soft, sweet, salty and cake-like cookies regularly and am thankful that I live in the 'burbs and am therefore not tempted on a daily basis to pick some up. 

Popcorn has always been best with butter and salt, but after tasting the popcorn with truffle oil from Chef Geoff's, I've been on a quest to come up with more interesting, crave-able toppings to this afternoon snack. My latest favorite is a combination of olive oil, truffle salt (from a trip to France), and grated Parmegiano Reggiano. Earthy, salty, crunchy deliciousness. Get your hands off my popcorn!

A friend recently introduced me to Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. This salt comes in flakes, rather than crystals and has no bitter aftertaste. Top a good piece of bread with ripe summer tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, and some Maldon salt and you'll have a very happy mouth!