Herbed Butternut Squash & Apple Mash

November 12, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

Herbed Butternut Squash and Apple Mash | Image: Laura Messersmith — **Herbed Butternut Squash and Apple Mash** | Image: *Laura Messersmith*

It’s fall, early November to be exact, when thoughts of Thanksgiving are in the air, and that means the number of squash, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice recipes have reached a critical mass. No one could possibly make them all without turning into a gourd of some kind, so does the world really need another? Normally, I’d say no and move on to something else banking on our mutual pumpkin fatigue, but in this case I just have to share this recipe because to horde it all to myself would be depriving you of something awesome.

Some recipes are the result of careful planning – an idea, some tests, and then a final version that corresponds with the initial light bulb concept – while others are a happy accident. This is one of the latter. Remember the Cider Braised Chicken & Apples from a few weeks ago? Notice the butternut squash in the photo? That was what I would consider a classic mash – squash roasted in the oven until soft, then stirred together with butter, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Solidly tasty, but nothing earth shattering there.

The magic moment was when that earthy, slightly sweet puree met the tangy mustard-cider sauce and tart apples. It nearly stole the show from the chicken and I realized that I had to come up with a way to combine those flavors intentionally. This is that recipe. See, I’m a humanitarian, not just some shill for the squash lobby.

Herbed Butternut Squash & Apple Mash (serves 8-10)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup (1 large) minced shallot
4 pounds (2 large) butternut squash
1 1/2 pounds (2-3 medium) tart, firm apples
1 cup dry hard apple cider (I used Angry Orchard Stone Dry)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:
Peel, de-seed and cut the butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes. Mince the shallots, and peel, core and dice the apples in 1/2 inch pieces.

In a large pot or dutch oven, melt together the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and cook for 3-4 minutes until they begin to turn translucent, watch them to be sure they don’t burn. Add the butternut squash pieces and stir to coat with the shallots and butter. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes until the squash is just beginning to soften, stirring occasionally to prevent the squash from burning.

Whisk together the hard cider, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt and black pepper. Add the mixture to the pot along with the diced apples and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the squash and apples are very tender. Stir periodically. Uncover and cook 5-7 minutes more until most of the liquid has evaporated. Finally, add the minced thyme to the pot and mash the squash and apples into a thick puree or process in a food processor, according to your preference. Check the seasoning and serve hot.

Recipe written with reference to Martha Stewart’s Butternut Squash Mash and Fine Cooking’s Braised Chicken Legs with Cider, Apples, and Mustard.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Totally. I used my 5.5 qt French oven, which has taken up residence on the stovetop for the winter, a large cutting board, Y-shaped vegetable peeler, chef’s knife, a liquid measuring cup and spoons, and wooden spatula. I used a regular potato masher which gives the mash a chunkier, rustic texture, if you’d like more of a puree then a potato ricer or food processor is recommended.

The Verdict:
Can you tell I'm excited about this recipe? It’s the perfect blend of comfort food flavors with the peace of mind that it’s actually pretty healthy. It’s also incredibly easy to make and can be made in advance, which means it’s the perfect thing to whip up and have on hand as an awesome side through the week. For example, I found this recipe for “Vermont” Roast Pork Loin on Food52 the other day, and I think they’d be heavenly together. The slightly sharp edge from the cider and mustard keep the apples and squash from being too heavy – an excellent compliment to all your wintery dishes.

Cider Braised Chicken & Apples

October 19, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

In my mind apples and apple cider are practically synonymous with fall, an arrival to eagerly anticipate as the leaves turn and the autumn crop of MacIntoshes and Cortlands appear. After a childhood spend going to the annual apple festival it’s probably woven into my DNA.

We’d take the backroads, avoiding the line of cars snaking over the hill, to make sure Dad made his shift running the antique cider press on time, then scatter to meet our friends, snoop through the crafts (raffia terror-level: high), and see who was working which food tent. If you were lucky someone you knew would slip an extra fritter - generously sanded with cinnamon sugar, best eaten piping hot - in your paper bag. The two churches in town competed semi-seriously to see who would sell the most pies and the tally at the end of the weekend was a news item of note.

Pie is a classic, but savory dishes like this one that uses both the whole fruit and hard cider put a new spin on apples and take them into new territory. This recipe is simple and thanks to the low and slow method the chicken develops great flavor braising in mustard, thyme, with hard apple cider standing in for white wine.

Cider Braised Chicken & Apples (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 (2 pounds) bone-in, skin-on medium chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium firm apples such as Rome, Spy, or Mutsu
2 cups (1 1/2 bottles) dry hard apple cider (I used Angry Orchard Stone Dry)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
5-6 fresh thyme sprigs, plus 2 teaspoons minced thyme leaves
1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season both sides generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until very hot in a straight-sided 10 or 11 inch oven-safe sauté pan with a lid.

Place the chicken pieces skin side down and cook until deeply browned, about 5 or 6 minutes. Resist the urge to move the pieces around. When the skin comes away easily from the pan, they’re ready to turn. Use tongs and cook on the other side for 3 to 5 minutes more until browned. Transfer the chicken to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Set the pan aside to cool for a few minutes.

While the chicken is browning, peel, cored, and cut the apples into sixths. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the apple pieces, and cook, turning once, until both cut sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a different plate.

Carefully pour the hard cider into the pan and bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Whisk the Dijon mustard into the cider until well combined, then add the thyme sprigs, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Return the chicken to the pan skin side up, along with any juices that have accumulated and cover. Transfer the pan to the oven and braise for 20 minutes. Nestle the apples in among the chicken pieces and continue to braise 25 to 30 minutes more or until the chicken reaches 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and apples to a large serving dish and cover loosely with foil. Discard the thyme sprigs and skim off as much fat as possible from the remaining sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and whisk in the cream. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with the minced thyme leaves, and serve with butternut squash puree or mashed potatoes.

Re-written and lightly adapted from Fine Cooking’s Braised Chicken Legs with Cider, Apples & Mustard by Jennifer McLagan.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
100%. I used a large, deep stainless steel sauté pan with a lid, tongs, a slotted spoon, wooden spatula, a whisk, a liquid measuring cup. A small cutting board, chef’s knife, two plates, paper towels and aluminum foil will do it.

The Verdict:
Unlike other braised dishes, which can sometimes be heavy, this one balances comforting cold-weather food with tangy cider and mustard. I particularly liked the combination of the tart, sweet apples with butternut squash puree – all the flavors of harvest-time on one plate. This meal doesn’t take a lot of time or hands-on effort and still feels special enough for company. I can’t wait to make this again and again in the coming months!

Apple Cake Tatin

March 04, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Each week I follow along with Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and attempt to recreate one of her dishes in my tiny New York City kitchen. The catch? This is my version of cooking school and I’m making these recipes for the first time. I’ll share both my successes and um, challenges, along the way and we’ll see if I can keep up with the Contessa!

Episode: “Housewarming Party”

The Set-up: Ina’s friend Valerie moved into the neighborhood, so Ina is bringing her an entire dinner to celebrate the new house.

The Menu: Cheese Puffs, Herbed New Potatoes, Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns, Roasted Asparagus, Apple Cake “Tatin”

0:29 – Before we even start with the cooking can I be the first to say: this is major dinner – five (!) recipes all for a housewarming party? Whoa.

1:10 – Now that I have that out of my system we can get on with the Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns.

2:34 – In keeping with our theme of making a Major Dinner, Ina is using a bone-in pork rib roast, frenched and all. Not sure that my local grocery store stocks such a thing….

3:27 – Now for the rub/marinade which involves whole grain and Dijon mustard along with freshly ground fennel seed. Yum!

4:15 – The appetizer for this Major Dinner are Cheese Puffs - involves pâte au choux, the type of pastry dough that is used for éclairs, beignets, and profiteroles.

5:44 – I loooove all the delicate little pastries I mentioned above, so trust that I am watching this process like a hawk.

6:06 – After making croissants I (unfairly) assumed that pâte au choux would also involve 5,000 steps, but it actually doesn’t seem that hard! I’m starting to dream of beignets…

7:32 – Dang. I knew there had to be a catch: piping bag and accompanying skills required!

10:45 – Now for dessert: Apple Cake “Tatin” which involves making caramel – yikes!

11:20 – I notice that Ina cut the apple slices in really thick wedges – I assume that pouring hot caramel over them does a lot of the cooking?

12:53 – Cakes that incorporate sour cream (or in my case, greek yogurt) are the best – so moist!

13:29 – Valerie has arrived to collect the Cheese Puffs and get instructions on re-heating. She seems to live directly next door to Ina – guess who I’d borrow a cup of sugar from…

14:21 – The Herbed New Potatoes go into a dutch oven to cook themselves with just a little butter – this is a technique I need to try.

19:14 – Time to turn the Apple Cake Tatin out of its pan and I swear this is one of the most stressful things about baking. Bundt cakes half stuck in the pan is my nightmare.

19:22 – Spoiler alert: Ina’s comes out just fine. We also check-in with Valerie talking to herself about the good fortune of having Ina next-door, but do I detect a dash of haterade in her words?

20:47 – Our main course - Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns – is out of the oven and on cue registers exactly 140 degrees. Good job, pork.

21:03 – Now to make the sauce with the green peppercorns. A little research tells me that they are unripe version of what becomes black peppercorns preserved in a brine.

22:35 – Ina is putting the final touches on dinner – prepping the Roasted Asparagus and adding herbs to the Herbed New Potatoes.

23:18 – Back over to Valerie and the Cheese Puffs and she’s using her best scheming villain voice, and plotting how many she can eat before the guests arrive. “Divine, just diviiiine” like they’re stolen jewels. Not that I can relate or anything.

24:46 – Ina’s friend Frank arrives to cart dutch ovens around. I never noticed how tall he is before, but next to Ina he looks like a giant.

28:24 – Valerie is put in charge of passing the cheese puffs around while Ina plates dinner and we know she’s not to be trusted! An unusual misstep for Ina.

29:50 – Everyone sits down to eat and as Ina reveals the Apple Cake “Tatin” for dessert. Valerie gets to keep the leftovers, so I’m guessing those will be some small slices passed around…

Final Thoughts:
I’m seriously tempted to try making choux pastry. Am I crazy?

Starting to feel like my lack of piping skills needs to be addressed. This is getting ridiculous.

I gave poor Valerie a hard time for coveting those cheese puffs, but who hasn’t been tempted to eat half of something before guests even arrive and pretend that's all you made?

Lessons Learned:

I pretty much can’t believe that I’ve never attempted anything like an Apple Tart Tatin or in this case Apple Cake “Tatin”. This oversight can probably be blamed on the “caramel-factor” which loosely translates to my fear of anything that requires molten sugar and/or a candy thermometer.

Caramel – This was nerve-racking, but ultimately not too hard. If you’re nervous like I was use a big pot – it’s less intimidating some how. DON’T stir, just veeery gently swirl the water and sugar together. Lastly, this takes longer than you might think – about 5 minutes by my count. Once the caramel begins change from semi-opaque white to light gold keep a close watch – you’re shooting for something the color of honey.

Apple Placement – This probably sounds silly, but it took me a few tries to figure out how to fit the right number of apple slices in my pie dish, so I’d wait on buttering until you have a plan of attack. In my 9” pie plate 9 thick slices scalloped around the perimeter with the remaining 3 slices in the middle was just right.

Butter – A note on butter. The recipe says “generously” and I can’t emphasize enough: don’t skimp! I found that smearing a healthy 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons with the empty butter wrapper was just about right. The cake, apples, and the accompanying caramel were released from the pie plate without too much trouble.

Releasing the Cake – Again, the recipe calls for the baked cake to cool for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a plate. I used the cover and flip technique and then let gravity do the rest. Here’s the thing: don’t wait too much past that 15 minute mark or the caramel will cool too much and you’ll be chipping it from the bottom.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Kinda. I used a medium sauce pan, medium and small mixing bowls, hand-held electric mixer, and 9 inch pie plate. I also used a rubber spatula, medium cutting board, chef’s knife, peeler, microplane grater, measuring cups and spoons.

The Verdict:
I made Apple Cake “Tatin” as dessert for a dinner party with friends and it seemed to be a hit, or at least they were too polite to say otherwise! Personally, I loooved it – the apples and caramel are the star, but the cake itself is really delicious too. It kind of reminds me of angelfood cake – totally different textures of course - there’s just enough lemon zest and vanilla to make it flavorful on it’s own, but still let the fruit shine. I will be making this again, for sure.

Cranberry Apple Steel-cut Oatmeal

February 17, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

This recipe is my new favorite way to start the day, especially when it’s a horrifyingly cold one like today. My love of breakfast cereal is well documented, but in an effort to eat more healthfully and reduce some of the sugar in my diet I’ve been eating a lot more oatmeal. When I was growing up my parents would often make oatmeal on cold weekend mornings. Periodically I’d try it, but even covered in raisins, and brown sugar I never liked the texture or the flavor. Even when I made the switch to steel cut oats, which have a firmer texture than old-fashioned oatmeal I still wasn’t thrilled with how they tasted.

Fast forward to this past fall and a conversation with my sister-in-law, Megan, who mentioned that she often cooks oatmeal in apple cider. Cue light bulb moment. I can’t believe I didn’t realize that what my oatmeal needed was to infuse the water with flavor so that the grain itself would absorb it too.

After lots of experimentation with ratios and amounts I’ve come up with a combination that I absolutely love and truly look forward to eating every morning. It takes a little more effort than just pouring a bowl of cold cereal, but there’s something about the ritual that feels indulgent and worthwhile, like I’m starting the day right.

Apple Cranberry Steel-cut Oatmeal (yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:
2 cups 100% apple juice
1 cup water
1 cup McCann's Quick & Easy Steel Cut Irish oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 cup (1 medium) diced apples, prefer Macintosh or Granny Smith

Instructions:
Heat the apple juice and water in a medium sauce pan over high heat and bring to a simmer. Add the ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and kosher salt to the hot apple juice mixture.

Next, sprinkle the Irish steel cut oats into the spiced apple juice and swirl the pan to gently stir. Reduce the heat to low.

Meanwhile, core, quarter, and dice the apple into 1/2" pieces. After the oats have cooked for 1 minute, add the dried cranberries and diced apples to the pan.

Simmer the oats, cranberries, and apples for another 3-4 minutes until the oats are al dente, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula to prevent the oatmeal from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serve immediately with an additional sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
This is super simple and definitely small kitchen friendly. I used a small sauce pan, a small cutting board, utility knife, dry and liquid measuring cups and measuring spoons. A rubber spatula will also be your best friend when it’s time to stir and serve!