Butternut Squash Soup

I’m wearing a sweater. My new Uggs are getting major mileage already. And last night, I think I slept in a sweatshirt (well, I feel asleep with it on. Who knows what time I peeled it off).

With cold weather dangling its cute little self right over our heads, I’d say it’s high time to make some soup. This week I ventured into butternut squash. Here’s a simple puree that will leave you feeling toasty and satisfied.

6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons margarine
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups water
4 cubes vegetable bouillon (low salt)
1 (8 ounce) package low fat cream cheese
Salt to taste
Powdered ginger to taste

In a saucepan, sauté onions in margarine until they’re tender and turning golden. (Don’t let them get brown). Add the squash, water and bouillon. Bring to boil; cook about 20 minutes or until the squash is tender.
Puree the squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Add salt and ginger to taste. Do not allow to boil.

Burgers- Ole!

I made a great burger last night, so I thought I’d share. I served my burgers with fresh corn, sautéed till toasty brown with a little butter and salt…these awesome pyramid shaped salt crystals I got last week at Williams Sonoma (and I really have been meaning to blog about that trip, because I learned a few handy knife tricks in a complimentary knife skills class…this Sunday’s class is cookie making). But enough about that! The burger recipe is an adaptation on one that I found on the Food Network site. I made some changes, including no jalepeno chiles (hubby don’t like peppers. Bad fraternity incident). And toasted a ciabatta loaf (in the pan that I made the burgers in) for make shift buns. Yum.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 (2-ounce) piece Monterey Jack, cut into 10 pieces
salt & pepper
For the guacamole:
1 large avocado
¼ cup sour cream
salt

Directions
Divide it into five pieces, shaping each into a ball, and with your thumb make a depression in the center. Fill each depression with 2 pieces of the cheese and form the meat around the cheese mixture into a patty. Season the hamburgers with salt and black pepper and grill them on oiled hot grill pan for 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare meat. If you don’t have a grill pan, a sauté pan will do just fine.
Make the guacamole while the hamburgers are grilling: Halve, pit, and peel the avocado. Put pieces in a food processor, and add sour cream and salt.
Transfer the hamburgers to the buns and top them with the guacamole.

Columbia Heights Day

If you’re in my 'hood this Saturday, you’ll be happy to know that area restaurants are helping to celebrate Columbia Heights day. Here’s a list of the specials:

Wonderland Ballroom: Happy Hour all day
Red Rocks Pizzeria: Happy Hour all day
The Heights: Special Menu
Commonwealth Gastropub: Columbia Heights Cocktail
Tonic: $4 Yeungling and 50 cent chicken wings (minimum 6)
Pete's Apizza: $5 Pint and Slice

Here’s my perfect excuse to check out Commonwealth! Check out this review on DC Foodies. A schedule of events is available on this web site. See you there!

Carba-licious

I'm like Fergie- they be lining down the block just to watch what I got (in the oven).
Dunno what it is, but I've been in a doughy sorta mood lately. Check out my recent posts on DC Foodies for gnocchi and soft pretzels...mmmmmm.....flour.

Thirsty for politics?

Look no further. Check out this article I wrote for the Staten Island Advance about DC's affinity for the red, white and blue...cocktails, that is.

Do You Like Your Politics Straight Up, or With a Twist?

Free classes at Williams-Sonoma

Getting mail (as in, real, paper, snail mail) is one of life’s little pleasures. This week has been full of those- Food and Wine and the new Williams-Sonoma catalogue hit my mailbox and have my taste buds watering.

Did you know Williams-Sonoma holds free cooking classes? Our friends at the Mazza Gallerie store have a variety of classes this fall, including Knife Skills (October 5 at noon) and Cookies and More (October 12 at noon). I’ll be at both. I wonder if the other participants will find me dorky if I bring the new apron my mom just made me. It's covered in cherries and have a ruffly bottom. And pockets. Seriously, I'm very cute in this thing.

If you’d like to sign up for these classes or inquire about the other free classes available (which include Comfort Foods, Cocktail Mixology and Make-Ahead Meals), you can reach the helpful people at the Mazza store at 202-237-1602. Other stores are participating, as well. This month’s catalogue has a complete listing of classes.

Hope to see you there!

R is for Oysters

“Obviously, if you don’t love life you can’t enjoy an oyster.”
-Eleanor Clark, The Oysters of Locmariaquer

I saw this quote in an ad a few weeks ago, and it prompted me to learn about Clark's book, which is now on my "to do" list. It also made me hungry for oysters (and yes, I do love life) but I found myself looking for an “r” in August, to no avail.

You’ve heard that old saying, right? Don’t eat oysters in a month that doesn’t have an “r” in it. I’m not saying it’s true, but I am saying that in general, when it comes to advice, folklore and general wisdom about seafood, I take heed. One bad experience with mussels in Belgium (and the week following that ordeal) where enough to teach me a lesson.

In case you’re wondering, I found this article, from the Seattle Post, which explains that in May, June, July and August, Oysters are spawning, which takes a lot of energy. “During reproduction, an oyster consumes the energy stored in its plump little body to aid in its heroic and taxing effort. The result is a tired, flaccid, mushy oyster with a milky appearance.”

The author writes that it’s really okay to eat oysters in the summer, and you’re not going to die from eating one. “It's that they're, er, busy and, as such, not at their prime for eating.”

Well, September is here, and friends, I found my “r”. So oysters it is. As if those slippery little suckers weren’t well enough alone, or with a little Tabasco (or vodka! Yum!) here’s a recipe I found on epicurious.com for Oysters Rockefeller, a dish so rich that it was named after one of the wealthiest men in the US, John D. Rockefeller.

Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed watercress sprigs (2 oz before discarding coarse stems), finely chopped
1 1/3 cups firmly packed baby spinach (1 1/3 oz), finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped scallion greens
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons minced celery
3 tablespoons coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a day-old baguette)
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Pernod or other anise-flavored liquor
Pinch of cayenne
3 bacon slices
About 10 cups kosher salt for baking and serving (3 lb)
20 small oysters on the half shell, oysters picked over for shell fragments and shells scrubbed well

Directions
Toss together watercress, spinach, scallion greens, parsley, celery, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon bread crumbs in a bowl. Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then add watercress mixture and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in Pernod, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer mixture to a bowl and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

While watercress mixture chills, cook bacon in cleaned skillet over moderate heat, turning, until crisp, then drain on paper towels and finely crumble.

Spread 5 cups kosher salt in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and nestle oysters (in shells) in it. Spoon watercress mixture evenly over oysters, then top with bacon and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons bread crumbs. Bake oysters until edges of oysters begin to curl and bread crumbs are golden, about 10 minutes.

Serve warm oysters in shells, nestled in kosher salt (about 5 cups), on a platter.