Butternut squash with cannellini beans, rosemary and Swiss chard

The chard in this recipe gets treated like kale chips rather than as a green you mix in. All sorts of goodness going on with this one. And it let me use up most of the remaining chard that’s (still!) growing in the garden (in November! In Minnesota!).

White beans and butternut squash with crispy chard

Adapted from “Smitten With Squash” by Amanda Kay Paa, whose book I'm clearly smitten with lately. Fourteen squash on the orchard rack will have that effect.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon salt, divided

2 cups cooked cannellini beans

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped

6-7 large Swiss chard leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and a generous grind of black pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss chard leaves with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper on another baking sheet. Put both pans in the oven. Roast chard until crisp, about 10 minutes. Roast squash for another 20 minutes.

In a large pan, combine beans, rosemary and squash. Mix together 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, honey, ¼ teaspoon salt and some pepper. Toss with bean mixture in pot. Serve topped with crispy chard leaves.

Rating: Very tasty. Perhaps not quite Company Rated due to its looks, but very tasty home comfort food. 

Note: I used beans I cooked myself, which I'm sure made things tastier. I use the slow cooker method described on kitchn.com, only I find they need no more than four hours or they're mushy.

Slow cooker squash soup

I wasn't in the market for another squash soup recipe, but this one flashed past on my Pinterest feed, and since it had the magic words "slow cooker," I stopped for a second look and then pinned it for later consumption in my "Make that slow cooker do something" board. The timing works out so that if you do all the chopping the day before, you can assemble it in the slow cooker first thing in the morning and then it's ready at lunch time. Magic.

Slow cooker butternut squash soup

Source: GimmeSomeOven.com

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped small

1 white onion, chopped small

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Granny Smith or tart cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped small

2 sprigs fresh sage, plus more for optional garnish

2 cups vegetable broth

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

½ cup coconut milk

Method

Combine everything except for coconut milk and sage garnish in a slow cooker. Cook for 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 on high. Stir in coconut milk. Remove sage sprigs. Whirr with a stick blender until smooth, or transfer to a food processor or blender. Adjust seasonings as desired. Serve topped with additional sage and a sprinkling of cayenne if desired.

Rating: I’ve got a lot of squash soup recipes, many of which I adore, so the bar is pretty high to admit a new recipe into the ranks of the keepers. But this one made the cut, partly because, hello, it comes out of a slow cooker like it was magic, and because it’s very creamy and tasty. Nice balance of a bit of heat to go with the sweet.

Philly chicken sandwiches

My fall weekends tend to start the same way: making broth. Either I let it simmer in the crockpot all day Friday or set it to start overnight Friday and deal with it Saturday morning. All those fall veggies cry out to be used up in soups, and the sooner I turn them into soups stowed in the freezer, the sooner some sense of sanity can return to my refrigerator space. (Of course this sets up a collision course in the freezer section of my home, where Christmas cookies will war with kale soups, but that's another food dilemma for another day. Remember, I schedule my panics.)

So before soup comes broth. But then, if I'm making chicken broth, I have the side benefit/obligation of cooked chicken to use. Overall this is a good thing, but I'm starting to notice packages of cooked chicken eating into the freezer space I need for soups, so random acts of chicken recipes ensue.

This one barely counts as a recipe. It's ludicrously easy, but ridiculously tasty, so I thought I'd share:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced peppers, a mix of red and yellow is pretty and tasty, but any bell peppers will do
3 cups cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken would be a fine source, too)
3 tablespoons sliced pickled jalapenos
3 slices provolone
Mayo
3 Kaiser rolls or sub rolls of your choice

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and cook about a minute until it's starting to sizzle and has flavored the oil. Add red onion and cook for a few minutes, then add red peppers and cook until they're almost softened but still have just a bit of bite to them. Stir in chicken and cook until heated through.

Slice open rolls and spread with mayonnaise, if desired. Place on baking sheet. Divide mixture evenly among rolls. Top with jalapenos and then provolone slices. Replace roll tops. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Source: Somehow the idea of a chicken version of a Philly sandwich occurred to me, so I went wandering around the Internet looking at a bunch of recipes, taking the parts I liked from various versions, since lots of people had thought of this before me. I'd say the final product owes the most to the variation on SimplyScratch.com.

Oh, and that pickle? That's from Hazelwood Creek Farm. If you ever run across them at the Midtown Farmers Market, treat yourself.

Butternut squash risotto with bacon

Last weekend we bid our wistful fond fall farewells to the fine folks of the Midtown Farmers Market who feed us all summer. And thanks to a stock-up buying frenzy worthy of a crazed squirrel or prepper, we'll be eating much of the winter off the contents of our orchard rack: butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, yams, sweet potatoes, red onions, yellow onions, red potatoes, yellow potatoes, shallots and garlic. They'll keep quite some time on the basement rack, but not forever, so I got right to work on trying out another new squash recipe.

Autumn risotto with roasted squash and crispy bacon

Adapted from “Smitten With Squash” by Amanda Kay Paa

Ingredients

½ a medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

4 bacon slices

1 cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green bits

2 garlic cloves, minced

Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme

½ cups Arborio rice

¾ cup white wine

5 cups broth, warmed

½ teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1½ tablespoons butter

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

2 tablespoon minced fresh sage

Balsamic vinegar for garnish

Method

Toss squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil, maple syrup, ½ teaspoon salt and a generous sprinkling of pepper. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet for 30 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven, stirring once or twice. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, cook bacon slices until crisp. Drain on paper towels. When cool enough to handle, cut into small pieces and set aside.

Cook leeks in bacon fat over medium low heat until softened. Add garlic and thyme leaves and cook for 1 minute. Add rice and stir and cook until well coated, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until absorbed. Add a ladle or two of broth to just cover rice mixture. Keep stirring frequently and adding broth until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender and creamy. Stir in squash, butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan, sage and half the bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with remaining Parmesan, bacon and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Rating: Damn fine risotto if I do say so. But really, with that ingredient list, how could it not be? Even that tiny amount of cinnamon comes through with its own note to a symphony of flavors. That's fall captured all in one bowl.

Slow cooker paella

My time-honored paella recipe is one I copied out of a book in Spanish in high school. It’s kind of a pain, but like many signature ethnic dishes like coq au vin, it’s worth a certain amount of fuss now and again, and it helps me brush up on my Spanish.

But it’s not something you serve on Halloween night when attempts at cooking – and eating – are interrupted frequently by insistent storm troopers and princesses. That’s when the crockpot version of anything seems called for.

Easy “Paella”

Adapted from “The Healthy Slow Cooker” by Judith Finlayson. She doesn’t profess it’s authentic paella, by any means, just the lazy person’s adaptation.

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, bone-in (skin off if you want to be all healthy about it)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 ounces fresh chorizo (about 1 link for the kind that comes in links)

1 onion, finely chopped

2 celery stalks or Swiss chard stems, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon saffron threads

1 cup long grain brown rice

½ cup white wine

1 can diced tomatoes and juice

1½ cup chicken stock

2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika

1 cup frozen peas

1 red bell pepper, chopped

¼ chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Method

Arrange chicken across bottom of crock.

In skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook until just starting to brown. Reduce heat to medium low and add onion and celery, cooking until vegetables start to soften and sausage is browned. Add garlic, oregano, pepper and saffron. Stir in brown rice until well coated, about a minute. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes, stock and bring to a boil. Pour mixture over chicken in slow cooker insert. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, or 2½ on high.

Sprinkle with paprika. Stir in peas and red peppers. Cover and let cook for another 30 minutes. Season to taste. Garnish with parsley. Serves 4 to 6.

Rating: It’s not paella, but it doesn’t claim to be. It’s a reasonable one-pot chicken rice casserole aided by chorizo and saffron. The chicken is moist and fallen off the bone, and it makes a hearty fall supper.

Pumpkin muffins with crystallized ginger streusel

Last night between gaps in trick or treat traffic, I warned my husband he was on door duty because I was going to take advantage of the lull and “sneak downstairs to get the brandy we need for breakfast.” For some reason he found that exquisitely humorous. What? Doesn’t brandy improve every Sunday breakfast?

The brandy was to soak the crystallized ginger and currants for pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin spice is everywhere this time of year, but I really only want to hear about it if it’s in baked form. (Well, or a really good mixed drink.) I had some canned pumpkin left over from making mini pumpkin cheesecakes and some crystallized ginger on hand, so I went looking for some combination to use them. I modified the recipe slightly based on the conflicting reviews (too much molasses, can’t even taste the molasses, etc.) and what I had on hand (no molasses).

Ginger-Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 1995

Ingredients

5½ tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger, divided

½ cup dried currants or golden raisins

2 tablespoons brandy

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon cloves

1½ teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons brown sugar, divided

¼ cup dark corn syrup

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup vegetable oil

Method

Preheat oven to 357 degrees. Line 22 standard muffin cups with paper liners or grease liberally.

Mix 2½ tablespoons crystallized ginger, currants and brandy in a small bowl. Set aside. Mix 1 tablespoon brown sugar with remaining crystallized ginger in another small bowl and set aside.

Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla. In yet another large bowl, beat egg until light and fluffy. Beat in ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Beat in corn syrup, maple syrup and oil. Add pumpkin mixture and dry ingredients, alternating in three additions. Mix in brandied ginger and currants.

Divide batter among muffin cups; I found a ¼ cup spoon worked out about right. Top with crystallized ginger brown sugar mixture; about a scant teaspoon in the center of each.

Bake about 25 minutes until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Rating: Fine. Nice pumpkin and spice flavors. Gotta love crystallized ginger, which is what makes these muffins a cut above just ordinary. These muffins did seem more intent than most on sticking to the muffin tin liners, which I view as a drawback for company presentation. And if you really want a lot of streusel rather than a garnish, I suggest tripling the amount of streusel ingredients.

Dishes alert: There was a lot of whining in the comments sections on epicurious about how much work these were. Having chopped my crystallized ginger the night before, I didn’t find them particularly time consuming, but you are looking at five bowls and two muffin tins to wash by the time you’re done. But what better use of the extra hour from the daylight savings time switch than something that involves brandy for breakfast?

Pesto scones and pesto pinwheels

 In order to make room for this year's last-minute fall pestos in the freezer, I'm having to use up last year's. I found a jelly jar's worth of pineapple sage pesto, made using pineapple sage, walnuts and Gruyere in place of the basil, pine nuts and Parmesan. It works really well on pork or chicken, and I thought it might adapt well to baking. Here are two options:

Pesto scones

Adapted from RachelSchultz.com

Ingredients

3¼ cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¾ cup butter, cut into chunks

1 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed

½ cup pesto

2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk, pesto and cheese. Stir until dough comes together in a ball. (I had to add about a tablespoon more than the recipe originally called for.) Knead briefly and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Flatten into a disk about a half-inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Rating: Nice texture, with flaky-biscuit like top to the scones. While I’m sure they would have been tasty enough with any pesto, the pineapple sage variety worked really well here.

Note: I opted for 8 good-size wedges since I was serving these as a side along with a hearty beef stew and green salad for supper. But if you wanted to serve this as a savory at tea, I’d cut them into 12 wedges and cut down the baking time.

Pesto pinwheels

Adapted from The Guardian

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry (half a package), thawed until workable

2 to 3 tablespoons pesto

Toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Roll puff pastry out on a lightly floured board. Spread pesto on top, leaving a half-inch border. Scatter pine nuts over the top as desired and then sprinkle on cheese. Roll up pastry, starting at the long edge. Chill for 30 minutes (this helps make slicing easier).

Cut into 3/8-inch thick rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes until puffed and light brown.

Rating: Nice enough, and fairly fast to fix. Stuff you're likely to have on hand if guests show up with short notice. I'd show you pictures, but my camera chip took a dive that day and is unrecoverable.