National Garden Month

April is National Garden Month and time to 'gear up' for the growing season.  Americans are gardening in greater numbers than ever.  In 1971, 25 million households or 39% of American families raised a portion of their vegetables.  According to a recent report, 49% of Americans gardened in the past 12 months. 

Most Americans (30%) garden for access to fresh vegetables and second (25%) most popular reason for gardening is better-tasting, higher quality food.  Gardening for fun (22%) beat saving money (15%) as a reason for gardening. 

The most popular vegetable for the home gardener is by far, the tomato.  It is followed by, in order, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, summer squash, carrots, radishes and in tenth place, sweet corn. 

If you would like to begin gardening this year, check out your local county extension office.  Gardening centers also offer a wealth of information, as do seed companies. 

In honor of National Garden Month, I am pulling out something from last year's garden - winter squash.  After all, gardeners can not throw anything away. 


Spiced Butternut Squash Puree

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, about 3 to 4 pounds
¼ cup butter
⅓ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Pierce squash with a knife or fork.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about one hour.  If squash is soft enough, cut in half to allow steam to escape.  Continue cooking until squash can be easily pierced with a knife or fork.



2. Scrape seeds from cavity.  Remove squash from the skin.  Mash squash and add butter, brown sugar, and seasonings.  Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. 

Healthy Holiday Sides

This is my second year of doing healthy holiday side dishes.  It's been fun doing these dishes to help you keep your holiday table a little healthier.  Most of these dishes are simple and easy to prepare.  After all, it's the holidays and something in your life should be simple. 

Since you don't have a lot of time, I'll get right to the recipe.

Braised Winter Squash

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

2 pounds winter squash, peeled and cubed
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon rosemary or sage, optional
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups apple cider or apple juice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add rosemary or sage and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

2.  Add apple cider, salt and black pepper.  Bring to a simmer.

3.  Add squash.  Cover and cook until tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  At this point, the squash should have a glazed appearance.  If not, remove the lid and continue to cook for a few minutes.

This recipe will work with any type of winter squash or sweet potatoes.  Winter squash include butternut, acorn, sweet dumpling, and delicata.  Check with your supermarket or farmer's market for selections available in your area.

Barley - Again?

In March, 2010, I wrote about barley.  Well, once you discover a good thing, you stick with it.  And I have discovered barley.  Barley can be purchased hulled, pearled and rolled (quick) cook. 

Hulled barley is similar to brown rice.  It retains the bran and therefore, takes longer to cook than pearled or rolled barley.

Pearled barley is similar to white rice.  The bran has been removed.

Rolled barley is flatter and requires the least amount of time to cook.

Although this recipe is included in my holiday collection, this is a great fall recipe and would be a great accompaniment to pork or chicken.  If this dish does not make an appearance at your holiday table, you can still give it a try.

Butternut and Barley Pilaf

Winter squash contributes a rich, full flavor to a simple barley pilaf.  Gremolada, an Italian mixture of parsley, lemon zest and garlic, gives the dish a lively finish.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (14 ounce) reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1¾ cups water
1 cup pearled barley
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
⅓ cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes.

2.  Add broth, water and barley; bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the barley is just beginning to soften.  Add squash and cook until squash and barley are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.

3.  Add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper; mix gently.

Mama Still Rocks

I am a fan of Cook's Illustrated books and magazine. I like to know the science of food and how to make the ‘best’.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I decided to try and make the ‘best’ pumpkin pie. Since I did not grow up with pumpkin, I enlisted the help of a few friends. I started by asking around to see how people make pumpkin pie. One friend says, they always used butternut squash because they grew so much of it that why should they use a canned product. Yet, another friend says, I just use the recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin.

I started with the recipe from Cook's Illustrated (Nov/Dec, 2008), since it was the ‘best’. I also found recipes from a couple of Midwestern cookbooks. After all, a Midwesterner should know how to make pumpkin pie. I gathered my ingredients and began making pies. And here are my results.

The Cooks Illustrated recipe made the pie with the mildest flavor. It was deemed as being ‘good’. One pie was made with condensed milk and fresh pumpkin or squash. It was deemed as ‘gummy’ and good but not the ‘best’. The last was made with canned pumpkin and evaporated milk. A friend summed up his thoughts on this pie in this manner. “It tastes like Mom’s. “ He didn’t say anything about the best, but it tastes like Mom’s.

This little experiment reminded me that sometimes it’s not the best that we seek. We seek the comfort of the familiar, tradition, home and Mom. And I think that’s just fine. In this day of instant messaging and all other ‘instant’ stuff, it’s nice to hold on to tradition.

To all those folks at Cook's Illustrated, thanks for giving us the ‘best pie’. But apparently Mom still rocks.

Finally, I came up with my version of Mom’s and Cook’s Illustrated pumpkin pie recipe. I made it for my same friend. He liked it, but wished it was more orange, aka, the canned stuff. If you like, you can substitute one can of pumpkin and one cup of sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
Crust for 1-9” pie
3 cups pumpkin or butternut squash
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1½ cups half and half or 1 can (12 ounce) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together and pour into pie crust. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in a 425°F oven. Center will be slightly soft, but will set upon cooling.

Note: If desired the filling can be made in a food processor.