Conquering the slimy squash

I'm not a picky eater, but there are some vegetables I don't normally buy. So, my resolution for the next few months is to pay attention to those vegetables I normally ignore, walk past, and turn my nose up at. This week had two contenders: summer squash and radishes.The former...I've had too many slimy, bland experiences, the latter is just too spicy for me. Here's this week's attempt at conquering the unloved vegetables.

Roasted Patty Pan Squash

A tasty, caramelized way of conquering the summer squash.

5 or 6 patty pans

2 green onions, cut in 1 in. chunks.

olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh herbs (I used basil and oregano)

Cut the squash in 1/2 in. slices. Toss with onions, oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 for 20-30 min, until brown and crispy. Toss with herbs and eat.

Roasted Radishes

roasting radishes totally changes their flavour. The spicy bite mellows, and they become sweet and delicious.

Radishes.

Oil.

S + p.

(is this really a recipe?)

Thats it - just slice them as thin as possible, toss them in oil and season, and roast at 400 for 20-30 min. So good!

Pizza Sauce

There's one hundred and one recipes that start with a plain old can of tomatoes. Here's a delicious one I saw on Jamie at Home yesterday.

Simple Pizza Sauce

Olive Oil

Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

A few garlic cloves, sliced

One can of whole tomatoes

One can of tomato paste

salt, pepper

1 tsp sugar

Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Add garlic and basil, saute for a few seconds. Add the can of tomatoes, break them up with the back of a spoon. Simmer for 5 minutes. Over a bowl, strain the sauce through a mesh sieve - use a spoon to push as much liquid out of the tomatoes. Discard the solids. Return the strained sauce to the pan, add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and sugar, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

truffles and caramels

Candy and chocolate for your winter blues, although yesterday it certainly didn't feel like winter. Faux spring weather is trying to trick us into forgetting there's still one more month of winter to get through. These recipes are both from Not Without Salt.

Vanilla Spice Caramels

Chocolate Truffles

Banana bread pudding and crosswords

The perfect saturday afternoon - baking and crosswords. Sometimes dry, stale leftovers are a good thing - like in this banana bread pudding I made up this afternoon! It's just stale chocolate chip banana bread, sliced bananas, and a bread pudding custard (milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon). Who knew leftovers could be this luxurious?

Just look up some bread pudding recipes, and start experimenting with all sorts of fruit-bread combinations, maybe with some special appearances by nuts, chocolate or spices.

(Also, Wordplay is an excellent documentary, all about the NYT crossword).

raspberry pancakes

Lemon zest + raspberries = some top notch pancakes. Who knew?

There's no photos, because the pancakes were hideously misshapen, however, they were delicious. I used a vegan pancake recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook... not my favourite, because they refused to separate from the pan. But the lemon brings out an amazing flavour in the berries. I'm sure a little lemon zest might be equally delicious with blueberries or strawberries. It'll take your pancakes from normal to a-MAY-zing. (And if you are looking for a delicious, non-vegan pancake recipe, there's one in that old classic, the dog-eared Joy of Cooking - it involves cornmeal and honey, and it's quite spectacular.)

Springtime! Only two months away...

It's -30 out today, so what better pastime than to stay in bed and peruse online seed catalogues? I had some inspiration from a recent visit to The Stop's greenhouse at Wychwood Barns. That compost smell, the tiny green leaves ... I could make a list of the sites I'm going to be looking through, or I could direct you to these lovely ladies, who have already done a much better job than I could:

Seasonal Ontario's extensive list of seed companies,

and You Grow Girl's info about how to steer clear of Monsanto.

winter blues

I spent tonight curled up in an armchair, sipping peppermint tea and catching up on some cookbook reading. It had me dreaming about summer: homemade peach bellinis, berry tarts with a toasted nut crust, tangy marinated vegetables and sweet corn and heirloom tomato pizzas.

Will winter never end? Is it too late to start planning next year's garden? Time to start perusing the seed catalogues...

apples at the farm

Pictures from Hart House Farm in October, on the Niagra Escarpment. It happened a while ago, but I finally had some free time on my hands to look through my photos. It's nice to think about the farm while in the middle of this cold, cloudy weather (without any snow to brighten things up... *sigh*).

butternut squash... again

I never knew butternuts last so long, but two of these ones, seen here in September, are still happily hanging out under my kitchen table waiting for this kind of delicious winter recipe:

Squash and Pear Soup

1 butternut squash, halved and de-seeded

olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 or 5 sprigs of thyme

4 or 5 sage leaves

3 pears, peeled, cored and diced

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup soy milk/milk/cream

Preheat oven to 375. Rub squash flesh with olive oil, and put facedown on a cookie sheet. Cook squash for 45 min to 1 hour, until tender. Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add herbs and pear and saute for another minute. Add vegetable stock and squash, and simmer for 10- 15 minutes, until pear is tender. Process the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender. Add the milk or cream and gently simmer until hot again. Serve!