The Other Woman Cooks: Eat your squash, it's good for you.

The Other Woman Cooks: Eat your squash, it's good for you.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

The rocky economy of contract negotiations and lay offs at the factory where my dad worked sent my mom back to the job market when I was a toddler. The truth is that my mother's feminism was borne more of necessity than her desire to be independent.

One dish dinners were the way to go and one of my favorites was chicken and rice. Okay, so I am guilty of being a little snobby about recipes that start with a can of soup. But I loved that casserole and so came up with an alternative that has a little more sophisticated flavor but still satisfies the comfort food zone.

There's a song lyric Farmer Paul and I sang to our sons when they were young, "Chicken is nice with palm butter and rice." It's a fun song, one of those catchy tunes kids like and laugh at. There's no butter in my recipe. I tend to substitute olive oil every chance I get.  I'm willing to bet folk singer Dave Van Ronk would have enjoyed this casserole just the same!

CHICKEN & RICE
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 small onion, grated
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup half and half
1 cup raw, medium or long grain, white rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning 
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil using a large oven proof sauté pan on stovetop burner set to medium high heat. Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper. Lightly brown the chicken pieces. Remove chicken pieces and set aside in a bowl. Chicken should not be cooked through, only browned.

In the same sauté pan add another tablespoon of olive oil, lower the heat to medium, add the onion, and cook about 3 minutes. Add wine to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let wine cook down a bit, then add the chicken stock, and remove from heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt, the cream, and the sour cream. Add the poultry seasoning, paprika and raw rice to the pan. Stir the rice mixture so that ingredients are evenly distributed.

Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice mixture (in a single layer if you can, they will be crowded). Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in a 375°F oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil. If the casserole is still too liquidy, let it cook a few minutes more, uncovered until enough liquid has been absorbed to have the appearance of rice in a creamy sauce topped with tender chicken. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serves 4.

Making the best of it...

The lights flickered but never went out at our house but lots of friends and family were left powerless from Saturday's Halloween Blizzard. My nearly 80 year old mother held out stubbornly for two nights wrapped in a sweater and a comforter flipping through magazines by candlelight. It took promises of hot cocoa, Captain America on DVD and the recliner. She's camping out here until her power is restored so we're making the best of it. And enjoying every bite!

MOM'S APPLE CRANBERRY GINGER CAKE

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Dash salt
1/4 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch round (or square) pan using baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and oil. Beat in eggs, molasses, applesauce and cranberry sauce. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Blend into the creamed mixture with a wooden spoon. Once mixed well, stir in the hot water. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake 50-55 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes before serving with honey caramel sauce and whipped cream or with a dollop of sweetened chevre.

HONEY CARAMEL SAUCE
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
1/4 cup butter

Cook in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Continue to boil, continue stirring constantly until thick and caramel colored. Should take about 8-10 minutes in total. Serve warm. Pour into a sterile jar and store in the refrigerator up to a month. Reheat in microwave for 30 seconds on high.

It's Apple Harvest Time!

One of America's fondest stories tells about Johnny Appleseed. John Chapman was born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774. His family moved to Pennsylvania where he left his father's carpentry shop to travel barefoot, using a saucepan for a hat. He preached a simple philosphy of life and lived as a vegetarian. He made it as far as Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he died in 1845 at the age of 71. John Chapman planted about 10,000 square miles of orchards.

From the Garden of Eden to Greek Mythology to the discovery of the health benefits of apples, everything you ever wanted to know about apples can be found here.  Fun reading while this delicious apple cake bakes!

APPLE CAKE
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup white sugar
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups peeled cored sliced apples


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one round 8 inch cake pan.

Beat oil and eggs with an electric mixer in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well. In another bowl combine baking mix, zest, salt and ground cinnamon. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cake cool on a wire rack. Once cake is cool serve with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.

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First Butternut Pie of the New Harvest

Our butternut squash is local as local gets, right out of our backyard. My friend June says, "You sustainable people you!" and I laugh every time. But the truth is that home farmers contribute to a sustainable world with every bite of food grown. Negative environmental impacts are reduced in several ways. We don't use nitrogen based fertilizers the way industrial agricultural operations do. That means less nitrous oxide released in the air and less toxic runoff to damage the water table.

The only transportation homegrown foods require is to walk out back and pick the fruits and veggies we grow. The small scale of home farming makes using sustainable practices like composting, crop rotation, and mulching easy to accomplish. Not to mention the benefits of preserving homegrown foods. Jars of applesauce and stewed tomatoes are delicious reminders that once next spring arrives so will another season of fresh wholesome homegrown food! I think everyone should grow at least a small amount of their own food: a friend from NOLA now living in DC grows okra on her patio. When she cooks it, she's reminded of home. Sustainability fuels progress one bite at a time!

BUTTERNUT PIE
1 unbaked and chilled 8-inch pie shell
1 large butternut squash, cooked and pureed, about 1 1/2 cups pureed squash
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place the whole squash, stem removed, on a oiled foil-lined baking pan; add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350° F for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the squash is tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let cool completely then cut in half, scoop out seeds and scoop the squash out of its skin. Mash or puree the squash or put it through a food mill. Measure 1 1/2 cups of the squash for the pie filling and set the rest aside for other use.

Increase oven to 400° F and position an oven rack in the center of the oven.

In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat the squash with the sugars. Add eggs, half-and-half, spices, salt and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell and place on the center oven rack. Bake 15 minutes at 400° F then lower heat to 350° F for another 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Check after about 35 minutes and loosely set a ring of foil or a pie crust protector over crust so it won't get too dark.

When the filling is set, transfer the pie to a rack to cool at least two hours before serving. Serve just warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped topping or whipped cream. Refrigerate any remaining pie. Best eaten within 24 hours of baking.

The. Best. Cocoa. Brownies. Ever.

Ever wonder where and by whom the first brownie was baked? It's a good question on National Milk Chocolate Day, which happens to be today! Culinary historians have traced the first “brownie” cake recipe to Fanny Farmer in The Boston Cooking School Cook Book circa 1906.  According to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, the recipe is similar an earlier Fanny Farmer chocolate cookie recipe, but with less flour and baked in a “7-inch square pan.” 


The next adaptation came along a year later when another Bostonian named Maria Willet Howard added an extra egg and an extra square of chocolate to the Boston Cooking-School recipe and called it Lowney’s Brownies. But we all know there's no such thing as too many brownie recipes. For her next batch, Maria added yet another square of chocolate and named the recipe Bangor Brownies. Hence came the falsehood that brownies were invented by a housewife in Bangor, Maine. 


Not so. Just like the American Revolution and that shot heard 'round the world, rich chocolatey brownies were born in Massachusetts. Take that, Michele Bachmann!


CHEWY COCOA BROWNIES
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Reese’s Pieces candies or chopped nuts (optional)


Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.  Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Set aside.


Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide frying pan or skillet of simmering water. Stir until the butter is melted and the cocoa mixture is smooth. Do not overheat. Remove the bowl from the simmering skillet to cool until the mixture is barely warm, not hot.


Using a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla and chili powder, then add eggs one at a time, stir vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add flour a little at a time, stirring until you cannot see it any longer, then beat for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon. Spread batter evenly in the lined pan. Sprinkle candies or nuts on top.


Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out slightly moist with crumbs when inserted into the center. Place pan on a rack and let cool to room temperature before lifting up the ends of the parchment or foil liner to transfer the brownies onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into 16 two-inch brownie squares. 

Uniquely American: Blueberry Buckle

From strawberries to raspberries to blueberries and then that second harvest of raspberries, fresh local berries are the belle of the summer season ball here in western Massachusetts. Cobblers, crisps, buckles, crumbles ... no matter what variation of simple fruit filled dessert you make, it is uniquely American. 


Early American cooks were extremely talented at improvising. When the ingredients for their favorite recipes were unavailable, they made do with what they had at hand.  Berries grew wild and bountifully in many regions. Fussy English puddings were turned in for slumps, pies, buckles and cobblers filled with fresh-picked juicy fruits of the season. Homemade simplicity reliant on taste not European pastry techniques...just another example of American ingenuity!


BLUEBERRY BUCKLE 
Cake Batter:
1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup 1% milk
1 cup fresh blueberries 
Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray an 8 inch square cake pan with a nonstick vegetable spray. Make streusel first.  In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugars, and ground cinnamon.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Refrigerate while you make the cake batter.


In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
In separate bowl beat butter until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, and beat only until combined.  The batter will be thick. Spread batter onto the bottom of the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spoon or a spatula. Arrange the blueberries on top of the cake batter, then evenly sprinkle with the streusel topping.


Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 9 servings.