Stuffed Summer Squash

My favorite thing about spring and summer is the farmer’s markets. I’ve loved them ever since I was a little kid, begging my mother to take me the waterfront market in my hometown.

I was enamored with the flowers – dinnerplate Dahlias that were easily the size of my head, the crafts – beads and bits and bobs and amazing wood carvings from the local tribes, and the food, oh lordy the food – vegetables in every shape and size and color, more than the mind could process at once.

I still have that sense of giddy excitement when I walk through a market, myriad possibilities running through my brain, challenging me to create and experiment. The opportunity to talk with the people who are growing my food, to interact with the people in my community – it’s bliss. Pure and simple bliss.

While walking through a farmer’s market recently (or possibly three…) I spotted these gorgeous globular summer squash that were just begging to be stuffed. They make a beautiful side dish or, if you get them just a bit bigger than this, a lovely main course along with a salad.

Stuffed Summer Squash

4 globe summer squash

8 oz. Shitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups cooked brown rice

4 oz Taleggio cheese, cubed

Preheat the oven to 425⁰

Slice off the tops of the squash and scoop out the center of the squash. Rub them down inside and out with a little olive oil and season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed skillet sauté the shitake mushrooms and garlic in a little olive oil until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the brown rice and cook just long enough to warm through. Remove the mixture from the skillet into a heat proof mixing bowl and toss with the cubed Taleggio cheese (you can do this in the skillet, but it might get a little messy). Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Divide evenly between the 4 squash. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet (or in a casserole dish) for about 30-35 minutes, or until squash is tender.

Cajun Jambalaya

Fat Tuesday is fast approaching and with it the requirement to enjoy true N’awlins style cuisine. Years and years ago I worked at a casino and made friends with a nice guy who’d just moved to the Seattle area from Louisiana. One of his hobbies was sharing his Southern food with us “Yanks.” He’d set up a booth at local festivals and dish out dirty rice, red beans, and jambalaya in Styrofoam clamshells with a healthy sprinkling of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning – the only true Creole seasoning according to that Southern boy.

His jambalaya recipe was my first foray into the intriguing world of Cajun and Creole cooking, a style of cooking so rich in history and tradition you can’t help but be sucked into it. I’ve never looked back.

This is a Cajun style jambalaya, that is sans tomatoes. It relies on the browned sausage and chicken to deepen the flavor and a precise ratio of liquid to rice to get the final dish perfectly fluffy instead of soupy like its Creole cousin.

When you’re browning the sausage and chicken, really give it a chance to let the Maillard reaction take place – this is where you get that nice brown crust and those lovely little browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pot, also known as “the fond.” It’s this browning reaction that creates the nice deep flavor we crave in so many Southern dishes. Use a little oil in the pan, and try not to use a nonstick pan if you can. It will still work with nonstick pan, just not quite as well in my experience.

Really give the meat a few minutes to cook – don’t go fiddling around with it, pushing it around. If you give it a little nudge with your cooking utensil and it doesn’t want to move, listen. Leave it alone for a little while longer and it will be ready to give way – that’s when you know the browning reaction has taken place.

Also, make sure you don’t crowd the pan too much. If there isn’t enough room around each piece of meat for the water to evaporate, you’re going to end up with steamed sausage and chicken – not browned.

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mexican rice

I've always been a big fan of traditional mexican cuisine. I also tend to find that whenever I visit a Mexican restaurant my two favorite foods on the menu are the rice and beans. Too often I'll order a large platter and when the server returns to collect it the main course is largely untouched - but save a few straggling grains the rice and beans are long gone.

After struggling to find a recipe that replicated that fluffy, flavorful rice I've finally settled on this version. It isn't gummy like many of the recipes I've tried and because the majority of the cooking takes place in the oven it's one of the easiest side dishes one can make.

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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Rice Bites

Only fascists don't like chocolate and peanut butter together.

I was just at my sister's house for a week, mooching off their awesomeness while TA is away for work. My sister happens to make some pretty damn delicious cookies - but this time she seriously surpassed herself.

I don't know how she did it (I'm pretty sure her secret ingredient is crack), but she made the best damn chocolated-chocolate-peanut butter cookies in the entire universe. They were chocolate cookie with chocolate and Reese's peanut butter chips in them. These cookies, disseminated around the world, are so awesome they could stop global warming.

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Homemade Sushi - A Pictorial

TA is the best husband ever and just bought me the Canon Rebel XSI 12.2 megapixel DSLR.

And yes, he does buy the best gifts ever. Last time a Kitchenaid Professional, this time the most awesome camera known to mankind. I love him very much.

TA and I also spent much of Labor Day weekend with MiL and sFiL in Maryland.

We ate lots of tasty fudz.

I took lots of pictures.

Enjoy.

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