Tis Another Season To Be Cooking

I popped into my kosher butcher shop yesterday and guess what song was playing on the radio?

White Christmas.

At least we can chalk up that one to a nice Jewish boy. The holiday, too, for that matter.

Anyway, the post-CSA cooking has run the gamut from roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic to rum-tinged cranberry sauce to homemade Pop-Tarts. And I've been on a squash kick of late. Here are a couple of good choices for cold winter evenings.

Squash, Cauliflower,and Chickpea Curry

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

These are really before-and-after pictures, as the cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice and leftovers from the squash curry. The recipes and idea are from The Boston Globe. (For a meaty "stuffed cabbage" with a lot less work, check out my Stuffed Cabbage Casserole.)

Another recent hit was this stuffed squash recipe, also via The Boston Globe.

Mushroom and Barley Stuffed Delicata Squash

(adapted, barely, from The Boston Globe Magazine. Mostly, I cut back on the salt and oil, and made minor ingredient substitutions based on what I had at home.)

2.75 cups water

1 cup pearled barley

3 delicata squash, about 1.25 pounds each, halved lengthwise and seeded

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

10 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add barley and 1/4 teaspoon salt, lower heat and simmer, covered, about 35 minutes or until the barley is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove cover and set aside.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brush squash halves with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet for 30 minutes. Turn squash halves over, brush each half with orange juice concentrate, and bake cut side up for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and saute the celery and onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the celery mixture to the barley along with the porcini mushrooms. Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and saute the sliced button mushrooms until brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs to the skillet and cook another minute more. Add this to the barley mixture, and stir in the vinegar. Taste the barley mixture and adjust the seasoning as desired.

Fill the squash cavities with the barley mixture and bake until the filling is heated through, about 20 minutes.

Week 16: Stuffed Cabbage Casserole; Turkey Corn Soup

We started off the week with a load of vegetables: leftovers from Week 15 (green cabbage, butternut squash), the current share (red cabbage, broccoli, corn, red and green tomatoes), and our own crops (more tomatoes, both red and green). Here at week's end, I'm not completely caught up -- the squash, for one, remains untouched -- but I've made a sizeable dent.

So what's come out of the kitchen? Salsa verde, served with chips. Corn and green tomato pancakes, eaten as a side dish to tuna. Red cabbage slaw with peanut dressing. Cabbage casserole and turkey soup (detailed below). Still to come: Fresh pasta sauce, pickled green tomatoes, maybe a stir fry with the remaining cabbage. And something with squash.

  
Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
(Adapted recipe. The original uses a can of tomato soup and a can of soup water instead of tomato sauce. The flavor of this dish is reminiscent of stuffed cabbage, but with much less work.)

1 medium green cabbage (about 2 pounds), cut up
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

Grease a large baking dish (9 by 13 inches) and place cabbage inside. Brown beef and onion in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Stir in rice. Place meat mixture over the cabbage. Pour tomato sauce over all. Cover dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until the cabbage is tender and the rice is cooked. (Check after 30 minutes and add a little water to the dish if it seems dry.)

Turkey Corn Soup

(Adapted recipe; similar to this one.)

6 cups turkey stock

5 ears corn

2 cups diced, cooked turkey (about 9 ounces)

1 cup sliced celery (about 2 stalks)

3 ounces broad or “homestyle” egg noodles

Black pepper and salt

Place the stock in a large (4 quart) soup pan. Slice whole kernels from two ears of corn and add to stock. Over a bowl, to catch the pulp and liquid, grate the kernels from the remaining three ears of corn, using the large holes of a box grater. Add to the stock mixture, along with the diced turkey and celery. Bring the stock to a gentle boil. Add the noodles and simmer until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust the seasoning as desired and serve hot.

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch

After weeks of soupy, stewy foods (recently: beef goulash, curried lentils, Asian vegetable soup, veggie chili), I had a craving for something crunchy. And green. And -- dare I say it -- springlike.

Celery Salad fit the criteria. You can find all manner of recipes for celery-based salads on the Internet, but one I like pairs sliced celery with shallots, Parmesan cheese, and a lemony vinaigrette. It has a nice bite along with the crunch.

Celery Salad
(from The Boston Globe)

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1.5 pounds celery (about 9 large stalks), trimmed and thinly sliced; leaves reserved and finely chopped
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (divided use)
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

In a large bowl, mix lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot, salt, and black pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.

Add the celery slices and leaves, half of the cheese, and the parsley. Toss gently to coat.

Taste the salad and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Garnish with the remaining cheese and serve. Serves 6.