Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash

Continuing on the squash theme from the last post, my other foray into squash today used acorn squash...

Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash (2-4 servings)
1 medium acorn squash (~ 1.5 lbs.)
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T. butter or margarine (melted)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place squash cut side down in a large baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

3. While squash is baking, mix maple syrup, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

4. Remove squash from oven and turn cut side up in the dish. Brush maple syrup mixture over cut side of squash and spoon remaining mixture into center of squash. Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until squash is soft.

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

The weather in DC has started to cool off (although the forecast is to go back up to the 80s for at least a day or two this coming week) and the fruits of the autumn harvest are beginning to appear at the farmers markets and grocery stores. This week, I dug into the squash harvest...

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash (~ 6 servings)
1 medium spaghetti squash (~ 3 -4 lbs)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. butter or margarine, cut into several pieces
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place squash cut side down in a large baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes (until squash is tender).

3. Remove squash from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then use a fork to rake squash pulp out of shell so that it forms spaghetti-like strands.

4. Toss squash, cheese, butter, and pepper until well mixed.

Caramel Crispy Squares

A few weeks ago, I picked up a box of Caramel Delight Fiber One cereal, thinking that it sounded good. While the flavor was decent, it wasn't quite sweet enough to offset the extra-fibery taste of the cereal (35% of your daily recommended fiber intake!). At about the same time, I got a bag of marshmallows that turned out to be a bit stickier than I would have liked. And so the caramel crisy squares were born!

Caramel Crispy Squares
2 T. butter or margarine
3 cups miniature marshmallows
4 cups Fiber One Caramel Delight cereal
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Microwave the butter in a large bowl until melted (about 45 seconds).

2. Add marshmallows and toss, microwave 1 minute, stir, and microwave 1 more minute or until marshmallows are melted.

3. Stir in cereal and butterscotch chips.

4. Turn out onto a large sheet of waxed paper and press out until layer is about 1.5 inch thick. It will be very sticky, so do you best. (Alternative - press into greased, foil lined 8 x 8 pan.)

5. Allow to cool, then cut into about 12 squares.

Peach Pie

I'm still working through the peaches from a few weeks ago - I'm now on to the fruit that I put up in the freezer. This time around, inspired by a great deal on pastry cut-out tools at Williams-Sonoma ($1.99!), I decided to try peach pie.

Peach Pie (8 servings)
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. quick-cooking tapioca
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh chopped ginger (or ginger paste)
6 cups fresh or frozen peaches (thawed), peeled and diced
a few pinches of flour

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, tapioca, and cinnamon. Add peaches and ginger and stir together. Allow to sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Place one pie crust in bottom of 9-inch pie plate and trim to edge of pie plate. Sprinkle with a few pinches of flour.

4. Unroll second pie crust and use leaf-shaped pastry cutter to cut out three pieces near center of crust. Dot crust with water and affix leaves to alternate with cut out areas (see photo above). [If you are not using pastry cutters, cut three to five slits in crust after placing it on pie and sealing edges.]

5. Pour peach mixture into pie crust, place second crust, fold edges under bottom crust and seal edge of pie.

6. Bake 50 minutes. If desired, place foil around edge of pie to protect crust during the first 25 minutes of baking. Cool pie on a wire rack after removing from oven.

7. Slice and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Sangria

Last weekend brought with it a Gipsy Kings concert out at Wolf Trap and the need to use up the last of the fresh peaches, nectarines, and blackberries that I picked the previous weekend. So I thought...What better way to spend a night under the stars listening to flamenco than with a lovely batch of sangria to sip?

The wine that I used is from a Michigan winery (Tabor Hill) and is not available outside of the state. So if you're in Michigan, I encourage you to get some - and if you aren't in Michigan, call on your friends who live or visit and ask them to bring you some.

Sangria (serves 4-6, depending on how much you all drink!)
1 bottle Tabor Hill demi-red or other semi-sweet red wine of your choosing
1-2 fresh peaches, peeled / pitted / diced
1-2 fresh nectarines, pitted / diced (you can leave the skin on or remove it)
1 handful fresh blackberries
1 20 oz. bottle Sprite / 7-Up (regular or diet)

Mix wine and fruit together in a large pitcher, cover, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Add Sprite / 7-Up just prior to serving. Serve with a ladle or long-handled spoon so that folks can get the fruit!

Sunday Brunch - Bombay Club

If Washingtonians know how to do one weekend activity really well, it is brunch. This weekend, I found a new favorite Sunday brunch spot - The Bombay Club in downtown DC. I'd been to Bombay Club for dinner before (excellent!), and was quite excited to find that the restaurant also offered a Sunday brunch buffet.

The buffet includes a sumptuous selection of Indian cuisine - appetizers, lamb, chicken, egg, vegetables, lentils, rice, naan, salad, fresh cut fruit, and dessert. The main dishes were hot enough for those in the group who like their food spicy, but those in the group who don't like their food as spicy were also able to find plenty to like. This week's selection included one of my favorite Indian desserts, gajjar ka halwa, a sweet made from carrots. Perhaps I'll try making it myself one day!

The set price for the buffet is very reasonable for brunch in the city - $20/person, or $25/person for the champagne brunch (including champagne or mimosas throughout the meal). In addition, this is one of the nicest settings for brunch in town - a piano player providing light background music, attentive wait staff, and a beautiful dining room.

Peach - Ginger Crisp

My other baking adventure after returning from the farm today was peach - ginger crisp. It's getting late, so I'll skip the commentary and just post the recipe...

Peach - Ginger Crisp (10-12 servings)
6-8 cups sliced / cubed, peeled peaches*
3 T. sugar (or equivalent amount of Splenda)
1 cup oats
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 T. fresh ginger (or ginger paste)

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Mix peaches and 3 T. sugar. Spread in bottom on 13 x 9 baking pan.

3. Combine oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter and ginger until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

5. Serve warm, top with ice cream or whipped topping if desired.

* This is also great with apples, apples + cranberries, blackberries, etc.