Stuffed Delicata Squash

Community Supported Agriculture - We have been thrilled with the variety from our organic farmers this season.

 One of our new delights is Delicata Squash (see previous posts - Cooking With Delicata Squash, Delicata Squash Bechamel and Eggplant Pasta Bake, and Delicata Squash Muffins with Toasted Pine Nuts).

We've been using butternut squash and spaghetti squash for years, but we had never cooked with Delicata Squash before. It is so nice and mild. We diced some the other day - stir fired with asparagus, and added it to scrambled eggs. It actually tasted like a very flavorful potato.

Stuffed Delicata Squash

4 Delicata Squash

1/2 lb. ground beef, no hormones/no antibiotics from Dodge City Beef  http://www.dodgecitybeef.com/ 

1/2 onion, chopped

2 c. cooked brown and wild rice

2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

slivered almonds

Cut Delicata Squash in half lengthwise  Scoop out seeds and pulp. Discard. Bake the squash in a 350 degree oven on a baking sheet, cut side up for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile,  cook onion and beef in a skillet. Add the mushrooms at the last minute - don't over cook. Stir in the cooked rice. Remove from heat.

When squash is done baking, remove from oven, fill each cut half with the beef and rice mixture. Top with slivered almonds and return to the oven to bake for about 5 minutes to toast the almonds.

Andy Warhol Stuffed Pepper Soup

Community Supported Agriculture - I posted a classic '70's recipe for stuffed peppers a few weeks ago. We had a few leftover, so I made Stuffed Pepper Soup. There's really no recipe for this - it's so easy!

I had the limited edition Andy Warhol inspired Campbell's Soup cans waiting in the pantry for inspiration. I really wanted to make them into pencil cups for my desk, and this recipe was a quick way to use up the soup inside the cans. The hardest part of this recipe was getting the soup out of the cans without ruining the labels. We decided to cut the labels off, set the labels aside, use the ingredients, clean and dry the cans and then glue the labels back on.

Andy Warhol Stuffed Pepper Soup 

4 to 6 leftover stuffed peppers

2 - 3 cans Campbell's condensed tomato soup

Chop up the green peppers and all the ingredients they are stuffed with into small pieces. Mix this and the condensed soup into a pot. Add some water. Heat and enjoy! (Easiest "recipe" ever!)

Forum Stuffed Peppers

Community Supported Agriculture - What should we do with a bunch of beautiful organically grown green peppers? We made stuffed peppers - yum! This is an old fashioned recipe - one bite and you are back at your parents' dinner table in the 70's wearing the polyester pantsuit your mom sewed for you eating off of avocado green and goldenrod colored dishes.

The recipe we tried is an old Kansas City favorite from the Forum Cafeteria. I might have gone to the Forum Cafeteria  with my grandmother, but I really can't remember it. I do remember the  Colonial Cafeteria at the Wyandotte mall though!

Read a great retrospective article about cafeterias published in the Pitch entitled "Trays of Our Lives." Here is the link: http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/trays-of-our-lives/Content?oid=2189356

We only made a few changes to the original recipe. We used hormone-free ground beef from Dodge City Beef. Also, instead of white rice, we used Bob's Red Mill Wild and Brown Rice. Also, I couldn't follow the directions to "melt shortening" to cook the veggies in. Just. couldn't. do. it. So, olive oil instead.

Forum Stuffed Peppers

By: Forum Cafeteria - originally published in the Kansas City Star

Creole sauce

1 t. shortening

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 t. minced green pepper

¼ t. minced garlic

¼ t. chili powder

1 (16 oz.) can whole tomatoes

3 ¼ c. beef broth, divided

½ t. salt

1/8 t. sugar

1 t. cornstarch

Stuffed Peppers

2 lb. cooked, boneless roast beef*

1 small or medium onion

1/3 c. chopped green pepper

½ c. cubed, cooked, peeled potatoes

½ t. chili powder

1/8 t. salt

1 (16 oz.) can whole tomatoes

1 c. cooked rice

6 whole green peppers

Paprika

For Creole sauce: Melt shortening in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, minced green pepper, garlic and chili powder and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes, 3 cups beef broth, salt and sugar; simmer 1 hour. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining ¼ cup beef broth, then blend into sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile; prepare stuffed peppers: Cube beef and onion. Coarsely grind beef, onions, chopped green peppers and potatoes. (If desired, chop ingredients in a food processor.) Place ground meat and vegetables in a large mixing bowl. Add chili powder, salt, tomatoes and cooked rice and mix well.

Cut 6 whole peppers in half horizontally and remove seeds. Place peppers in rapidly boiling water and cook just until peppers are tender but still firm. Spoon stuffing into each pepper half, molding about 4 ounces stuffing into an oval shape. Place stuffed peppers in a single layer in a large, shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until browned. Spoon hot Creole sauce over peppers and serve.

*Cooked roast beef from a deli can be used instead of leftover roast. Browned and drained ground beef can also be substituted for diced roast beef. 

Zucchini Muffins with Candy Pecan Topping

Community Supported Agriculture - It's cooled off enough that it's time to bake now. What should we do with all of that great zucchini? Zucchini muffins of course! We've put a healthy spin on the muffin, and then balanced it out with a great topping! Girl math - you "up" the nutritional value of the muffin = you can have a great topping!

For the topping we used broken up pieces of candied pecans. I've given directions for the candied pecans back in June. Look for the recipe Cranberry, Feta, and Pecan Salad-Ann's Salad. 

We used ground whole wheat from our wheat farmers at ACME farms. To loosen up the course flour and make it soft, we added a ripe banana into our recipe. The banana combined with the zucchini and Agave Nectar really add the right amount of moisture that works with the whole wheat flour.

Eggs from our farmer, and whole grated fresh nutmeg are important too!

Baking with Agave Nectar is super easy. It is a liquid so if you are simply substituting Agave nectar for granulated sugar, reduce the Agave Nectar slightly. But, for recipes like this where we are using whole wheat flour instead of white flour, use the equivalent amount of Agave for sugar.
Spray the inside of the measuring cup with cooking spray so the Agave Nectar slides right out of the cup.

Zucchini Muffins with Candy Pecan Topping

3 cups grated farm fresh organic zucchini

2/3 cup melted butter

1 1/3 cup Agave Nectar

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 farm fresh eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

Pinch salt

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

Candied pecans for topping

Melt butter in the microwave. Grate zucchini. Combine zucchini, butter, Agave Nectar, and mashed banana. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Let them sit together and bubble. The moisture softens the dry ingredients and activates the baking soda so that the mixture forms bubbles. This will help the muffins be fluffier, and lighter. 

Divide into muffin tins that have been sprayed with cooking spray and top with broken pieces of candied pecans. Make sure that you center the candy. If it gets too close to the edge, the candy will melt and run onto the muffin tin, and it will be messy (we found this out the hard way!). 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Kentucky Wonder Beans "Magnum" (aka giant green beans) Super Fast Meal

Community Supported Agriculture - These beans are beautiful!  As they grow they are purple and green, but once you cook them, they all turn green. Interesting!

We concocted a simple recipe with almost all the ingredients from our farmers. 

Kentucky Wonder Bean Super Fast Meal 

6 c. (approximately) Kentucky Wonder Beans*

1/2 onion, chopped*

3 fresh tomatoes*

dried summer savory to taste*

Shoyu (low salt soy sauce - very light!) to taste 

Steamed brown rice

*From our farmers at Fruitful Hills

Snap the ends off of the beans. Boil with 1/2 chopped onion for about 15 minutes or just until done (not mushy). Cube fresh tomatoes. Drain beans and onion. Add tomatoes, dried summer savory, and Shoyu to taste. Serve over brown rice. 

I've been drying herbs that we receive from our farmers. Super easy and a cool decorative addition to our kitchen.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Community Supported Agriculture -I love the movie Fried Green Tomatoes and pretty much any film or book based on Southern culture. But, I've never prepared fried green tomatoes and I wasn't even sure that I would like them - boy was I wrong! These babies are fantastic!
When our farmers sent us fried green tomatoes along with recipes I thought, "Now's my chance!"

The firm green tomatoes (or partially green) really hold up well to the cooking process. I have not used that much oil in a skillet for anything in a long time, but they fried quickly and we drained them well. They were lightly coated and simply delicious - it really enhanced the tomato flavor. You've got to try it.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Slice green tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dip slices in the mix to coat both sides. Fry in hot oil on one side and then the other. Serve hot. (This couldn't be any easier.) 

Delicata Squash Muffins with Toasted Pine Nuts

Community Supported Agriculture - The versatile, easy-to-use Delicata Squash keeps surprising us with its light flavor. This recipe uses  Delicata Squash  brushed with a little butter, sprinkled with brown sugar, and baked. The Delicata Squash came in our CSA weekly delivery from our farmers at Fruitful Hills. We incorporated other local ingredients too! 

I use my cell phone as I cook - not a professional photographer as you can see - yep, that's my thumb in the picture!

Delicata Squash Muffins with Toasted Pine Nuts

By Heather McA

Makes 12 muffins

1 c. white flour

2/3 c. whole wheat flour (from our local farmers at Acme Grain - http://acmegrain.com/)

1 t. baking soda

¼ t. baking powder

½ c. butter, melted

1 c. honey (local Missouri honey from LeRoy Bowerman – Spickard, MO – our farmers at Fruitful Hills purchased his honey crop and passed it onto their CSA clients! Lucky for us!)

2 t. vanilla

1 c. Delicata Squash puree – sweet version  baked with brown sugar (this must be prepared ahead of time – see my prior blog Cooking With Delicata Squash – squash from our farmers at Fruitful Hill)

2 farm fresh eggs (from our farmers at Fruitful Hills)

Zest from 1 lemon

1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted

Sanding sugar

In a large bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a medium bowl whisk together melted butter, honey, vanilla, Delicata Squash puree, eggs, and lemon zest.  Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Combine well but don’t over-mix. 

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray, divide muffin mix evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with toasted pine nuts and sanding sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Delicata Squash Bechamel and Eggplant Pasta Bake

Community Supported Agriculture - Delicata squash meet baby eggplants!

Our first year of having a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture share) has been a great adventure. We've never been veggie shy, and we thought we had tried everything, but, we've met a few new varieties of veggies this summer. Two of those varieties are Delicata Squash and baby eggplant pictured below. We put these two veggies together into one mild yet tasty dish - Delicata Squash Bechamel and Eggplant Pasta Bake. 

This recipe is a morphing and altering of two of our favorite family recipes. 

Delicata Squash Bechamel and Eggplant Pasta Bake

1/4 c. butter + 3 T. butter, divided

4 eggs, beaten

1 lb. small shell pasta

2 c. Italian blend grated cheese, divided

 1 lb. ground, mild pork

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

12 – 15 baby eggplant, diced

3 T. flour

3 c. milk

2 c. delicata squash puree (must be prepared in advance – see my prior post about Cooking with Delicata Squash)

A small dash fresh ground nutmeg

Cook macaroni; drain. In a large bowl combine macaroni, ¼ c. butter, ½ c. grated Italian cheese blend, and eggs. Combine. Spray cooking spray on the bottom of a 9X13 glass pan. Layer the macaroni mixture in the bottom of the pan.

While the water is boiling for the pasta and the pasta is cooking - Sauté ground pork, onion, and garlic in large skillet.  Once the pork is cooked and no longer pink -  but not browned, push the pork to the edges of the skillet. (Don’t overcook the pork, you want soft and mild flavors for this dish.) Add the diced baby eggplant to the center of the skillet, and cook just until it starts to turn soft. Layer the pork and eggplant mixture on top of the macaroni mixture.

Prepare the Delicata Squash Bechamel - melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the 3 tablespoons of flour and cook the mixture for 1 minute whisking while cooking. Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture whisking the entire time; whisk until smooth. Bring the mixture to a bubble; add the cooked Delicata Squash and the nutmeg. It’s important to not use too much nutmeg – you don’t want to overpower the delicate flavor of the squash. Whisk until smooth. The béchamel will turn a beautiful golden color! Season the sauce with salt and pepper, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.

Pour the Delicata Squash Bechamel over the pork and eggplant mixture. Top with the remaining grated Italian cheese blend. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.