Recipe: Falafel Hot Dish

Whoever said "Always walk with your head up. Don't look at the ground." never lived in Minnesota during the winter. Those sidewalks are skating rinks! Try not only walking on the sidewalk, but while carrying 40 pounds of groceries. Downhill. I'm proud that I didn't fall.

Anyway, those groceries are being put to use right away. I was craving falafel, but falafel is a little too fussy for me, plus the fresh veggies that go along with it tend to not last as long as I need it to. So, I did what any smart Minnesotan would do: made hot dish.

The rest of the country may call it casserole, but they're silly. It's a hot dish. Casserole doesn't even mean anything. Hot dish is pretty self-explanatory. And this one is healthy and simple!


Ingredients:
20+ ounces of spinach/kale/dandelions/some sort of leafy green.
1 block of soft tofu
2+ cups of feta (or another kind of cheese. I like feta)
2 T fennel seeds
1 box of falafel mix (or your own falafel recipe, just don't make it into balls yet)
2 large tomatoes, diced.
1/2 cup of tzatziki sauce

(NOTE: Don't add any salt. There is enough in the falafel mix. You don't need it.)
(Note 2: You could, however, add some other things. This is just the starting point for my first time making this dish. I would think tabbouli, or chopped onion, garlic or cucumber would add to it. Some basil/parlsey/cilantro would probably taste good too. Lemon juice would give it a nice zing. Maybe some chicken or lamb if you eat meat. I added about a 1/2 cup of quinoa tabbouli, but I imagine it would taste just fine without it)



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare the falafel mix according to box (just add water!)
In a large kettle, steam the spinach down until it's really sad looking.
In a large mixing bowl, mix tomatoes, tofu, fennel, tzatziki and half of the feta.
Add the spinach, and mix well to make sure the spinach isn't clumpy.
Pour spinach mixture into a hot dish pan (13x9ish size) or casserole dish, if you're not from around here.
Spread the falafel mix over the top, and cover with the rest of the feta.
Bake for 30 minutes, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with toasted pita, crudite and hummus. And tea!



Nutrition info (including the tabbouli) per serving (8 servings total):
Calories - 285
Fat - 15 grams (8 saturated)
Cholesterol - 41 mg
Sodium - 955 mg
Potassium - 596 mg
Carbs - 22g
Fiber - 7g
Sugar - 6g
Protein - 22g
Vitamin A - 160%
Vitamin C - 52%
Calcium - 40%
Iron - 28%
Taste - 1 million yums.
Filling - full but not bloated.

Cherry Blossoms, an original recipe.

So, I've been trying to be more creative in my cooking by inventing something different yet recreatable. Result? Unique Christmas cookies. My best idea (at least according to my super sweet tooth) is cherry blossoms.

For 2 dozen,
1/2c butter
3/4c sugar
1t vanilla extract
1 egg
1T cherry juice (from a jar of maraschino cherries)
1c flour
1/4t salt
1/4c cocoa
2 dozen maraschino cherries

Cream butter and sugar, with mix wet ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except cherries). Add butter mix.
Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls, and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
When you remove them from oven, push 1 cherry into each cookie.

Enjoy. A lot.

Why am I such a good cook? Spinach Quiche Recipe

I amaze myself sometimes. My experiments do not always turn out. In fact, most people would probably not like it as much as I do, but tonight was a winner.

Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

~1 9inch pie crust

~4 eggs

~3/4 cup heavy cream (alternatives could be half and half, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc)

~2 cups fresh spinach, torn

~1/2 onion, chopped

~2 cloves garlic, chopped

~A spot of oil to saute onion, garlic, spinach

~1 t garlic salt

~1 t pepper

~1 t paprika

~1 t nutmeg

~1 c feta

~1 c shredded Parmesan

Directions

1) Pre-bake pie crust (generously poke lots of holes in the crust, bake at 450 f for 10 minutes, allow to cool)

2) Saute onion and garlic. Add spinach until wilted. Remove from heat, allow to cool

3) Mix eggs, cream, spices in a bowl. Add spinach mixture and cheese.

4) Stir into pre-baked crust. Foil the edges to prevent the crust from burning

5) Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Very easy. I don't know how authentic to a typical recipe this quiche is, but it is tasty!

Sweet Potato Apple Pie

Omg, yum! Not the most healthy, but yum!

Ingredients:

-2 cups of sliced apples

-1 pie crust

-1 very large sweet potato (the kind that make you blush a little when you hold it!), mashed

-1 1/4 c cream

-2 eggs

-2/3 c brown sugar

1 t cinnamon (I like cinnamon, so I just dumped a few teaspoons in)

1/4 t salt

1/4 t nutmeg (again, probably dumped in closer to 1 T, because nutmeg is nummy)

Directions:

-Preheat to 375

-Line the pie crust in the plate, lay the apple slices along the bottom.

-Mix the other ingredients together (it's best to do this right after the potato has been mashed), stir until smooth.

-Pour sweet potato mix over apples

-Cover the edges with tinfoil

-Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a knife poked into the center comes out clean.

I also added about a tablespoon of powdered corn starch between the crust and apples to keep it from getting soggy.

Nutrition info (including the corn starch):

Calories: 405 (eek!)

Fat: 19.5 g

Cholesterol: 107mg

Sodium: 274mg

Potassium: 307mg

Total carbs: 51g

Fiber: 3g

Sugar: 26.5g

Protein: 3.5g

Vitamin A: 269.5% (!!!)

Vitamin C: 20%

Calcium: 5.5%

Iron: 8.5%

Recipe: Quinoa Fruit Salad

Yum yum! Another recipe score!

Ingredients:

1 c rinsed, uncooked quinoa (or ~2.5-3 c cooked)

1 c vanilla yogurt

1/4 c honey

1 T fresh mint, chopped

1 pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces

1 pint strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces

4 peaches, cut into bite-size pieces

1) Cook the quinoa

2) While it's cooking, mix together yogurt, honey and mint for the dressing.

3) Mix the quinoa into the yogurt. Add in fruits and toss.

4) Chill, then serve.

Simple, fast delicious! I made up this recipe because I imagined it would taste good. I looked for other recipes like it, but I couldn't find any. Now I just need a name for it. Quinoa reminds me of fish eggs, but that's a disgusting name for a fruit salad. Any suggestions?

Tofu Pineapple Fried Rice

It's been a while since I posted a recipe, but this one turned out so goshdarn well I had to share it. It's my first successful fried rice, so I'm pretty happy.

Ingredients:

~1 cup pineapple chunks, preferably fresh, but you could use canned for convenience. I just ask that you reserve the juice to make a smoothie or something.

~3 T cooking oil

~3-4 c leftover rice. If making new rice, be sure to put it in the fridge for an hour or so first.

~1 package of firm tofu, cubed into 1-inch pieces

~1/4 c chopped onion (the original recipe called for 3 spring onions, but I used what onion I had)

~3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

~1 chili, finely chopped

~1 T cilantro, finely chopped

~1 egg

~1/4 c vegetable/chicken stock

~1/2 c frozen peas (can add more for healthier fried rice. I used about a cup)

~1/2 c raisins (or craisins in my case, because I didn't have raisins in the house)

~1/2 c cashews (I finally used some of those cashews, mom!)

Sauce:

~3 T soy sauce

~2 t curry powder

~1 T lime juice

~1/2 t sugar

Directions:

~Fry the tofu in 1 T oil at some point. I multi-tasked and made the tofu while making the fried rice.

~Mix the sauce together.

1) Mix 1 T oil in with the rice, making sure it's all coated and the clumps of rice are separated.

2) Stir-fry the Onion, garlic and chili in 1 T oil for about a minute in a large frying pan/wok.

3) Push everything to the side, and scramble the egg in the empty space. Mix with the rest after it's cooked.

4) Add the peas, and add the veggie stock bit by bit as needed-may not need it all. Just when it starts to dry out, add some more.

5) Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Do not add any more stock after this. Stir-fry everything together for 5-10 minutes, until it's reached a consistency you think you will enjoy. :)

6) Put the tofu in with it, and serve/eat!

I should have taken a picture.... Then it'd be like a real blog. Maybe I should make a video of myself cooking.

I do have nutrition facts for you, though. That's above and beyond! I'm doing B-level work, here, folks! (FYI, not the healthiest, but better than most restaurants, probably.) Disclaimer: This is with the ingredients I used. The ingredients you use will make a difference.

Calories: 400

Fat: 16g

Cholesterol: 43mg

Sodium: 756mg (could replace with low-sodium soy sauce)

Potassium: 170 mg

Carbs: 50g

Dietary Fiber: 6g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 16.5g

Vitamin A: 10.5%

Vitamin C: 21.2%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 15%

Pad Thai, by request

I just noticed that my Mom asked for the Pad Thai recipe a couple of days ago, so here it is!

Ingredients:

1/2 package of Thai rice noodles

1 pound of protein (chicken, tofu, or mock duck would go best. I supposed tempeh would go as well, but it's really gross and you should not eat it because it is disgusting)

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce (or less. At least 3T, in any case. I know, it's a lot. Get low-sodium soy sauce)

2 T vinegar

1 T peanuts

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cup green onion (I just used onion, because I didn't have any green onion on hand, and it tasted fine)

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 t ground chili powder

2 T sugar

1 egg

Vegetable oil. The more you add, the better it tastes! (but remember that your daily recommended serving is as little as possible. But you know, canola oil and olive oil are healthier than most oils, so use those and you can add more with less guilt)

Soak the noodles in warm water for 10 minutes or so while you prepare the other ingredients. The nice thing about these noodles is that they only need to be soaked before you toss them in the pan/wok. No other cooking is necessary. Cool.

Anyway, cut your tofu into matchstick-like pieces, (or if using mock duck or chicken, make sure it's in bite size pieces. Also any meat needs to be pre-cooked). Then julienne the green onion so its the same size as the tofu (and the bean sprouts). Reserve half the bean sprouts and onion. Mince some of the onion with the garlic.

Anyway, heat up some oil in a wok (I don't have a wok, so I used a large pot, but a 12" pan would also work, but I don't have one of those, either). Fry the peanuts until toasty-looking, then remove them and set them aside for now.

Add the minced onion, garlic, and tofu to the pan. Stir fry until brown. Drain and add the noodles when they are soft and flexible, but don't soak them too long. Stir and mix quickly to coat the noodles with the oil and everything, otherwise they will stick.

Add vinegar, soy sauce, chili powder and sugar. Stir some more until evenly coated. The dish should not be very wet, so if you have a lot of juices at the bottom, turn up the heat a bit. Push everything to one side of the pan, and scramble the egg in the empty space (or if your pot is too small to do that, cook your egg in a separate pot), and fold it into everything else.

Add some of the bean sprouts and green onion and mix it in. While that's cooking, take those roasted peanuts and crush them. I used a bowl and glass as a mortar and pestle, but if you have a mortar and pestle, use that.

Anyway, the Pad Thai is finished, so serve it up in bowls, and sprinkle the rest of the bean sprouts, onion, and crushed peanuts. Voila! It takes only around 20 minutes of intense cooking and it's super delicious. You can also add squirt some fresh lime juice on there, and it'll taste nummy.

Coconut Curry!

To make a delightful coconut curry, you will need:

1 can coconut milk

3 T soy sauce

1 1/2 t curry powder

1 1/2 t ginger

1 t chili powder (you could use chili paste/more of it for a spicier curry)

1 finely diced medium onion

1 large can diced tomato (or a few diced tomatoes if you have fresh ones around)

1 lb protien (I used seitan, but tofu or chicken would go good, as well)

2 cups chopped celery (or bok choy, or something along those lines)

1/4 cup chopped basil

Optional add-ins are: mushrooms, snow peas, etc

Serve with rice.

Okay, so. You mix the coconut milk, soy sauce, curry, ginger and chili powders in a large pan until boiling. Then add the tomatoes, onion and protein. Cover for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the celery and basil, and cover for an additional five minutes. Uncover, and cook for a little longer to thicken it up a bit, but it will end up fairly runny. You could add corn starch to thicken it more if you wanted. Serve over rice.

Very simple, and super delicious! It's really creamy with a little kick to it. Be sure not to eat it all at once, because curry is always better as leftovers.

Chocolate Strawberry Crepes

Hello all.

This morning for breakfast, I decided to make crepes (pronounced crep not crape or creep). I figured what better way to finish off my carton of strawberries before they went bad?

So, to make Chocolate Strawberry Crepes, you will need a mixing bowl, a whisk, a spatula or pancake turner, a skillet or 8+" frying pan, and a small saucepan.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients for the crepes:

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

dash of salt

2 T melted butter

1 T sugar (optional)

Ingredients for the sauce:

1/2 carton or so of strawberries, washed, cored and sliced

1/4 cup of chocolate chips

1 T sugar

1/2 cup water

To make crepes, you mix the eggs, salt and butter with the whisk in the mixing bowl. Then, add small amounts of the flour and milk alternately. If you throw it all in at once, it gets lumpy. Then add the water and sugar, and mix until smooth. Cover, and refrigerate for an hour.

In the meantime, put the strawberries, sugar and water in the saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for an hour. Mash it up pretty good, too! Stir and mash more from time to time as its cooking. When you're about to start cooking the crepe, add the chocolate chips, mix well. Once they're all melted in to the strawberry sauce, remove from heat.

Anyway, to finish crepes, heat up a lightly greased skillet on the stove. Then put 1/4-1/3 cup (depending on how big you want the crepes, and how big your pan is. I had a 10-inch skillet, so I used 1/3) of batter on the skillet. Pick it up and swirl it around so the batter spreads out in a largish circle.

When bubbles appear, and the edges darken a bit, gently loosen the edges and skillfully turn over the crepe. (Note: skillfully happens eventually. My first one was a disaster) I used whole wheat flour, so they were a bit easier to turn than white flour, but they probably won't splatter all over the place, either. Cook for a while longer, than transfer to another plate. Repeat until batter is gone.

Now, on a separate plate from your stack of crepes, put one crepe. On 1/4 of the crepe, put a filling of your choice (I used chocolate pudding, but you can put the sauce inside as well, or ice cream, or PB or nutella or etc). Fold it in half, and in half again. Repeat until all the crepes are filled and folded. Then spread the strawberry chocolate sauce over them.

Serve and enjoy!

FOOD!

I had some awesome friends come visit me yesterday. So, I decided to make them dinner!

I made Cheesy Green Casserole and Chocolate Strawberry Pie.

To make Cheesy Green Casserole, you need to have:

3 cups of brown rice, uncooked

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic (or more!)

1 bunch of greens (I used spinach and dandelion)

4 oz of Cream Cheese

1/2 cup of Cottage Cheese

3 eggs

1 cup packed shredded cheese

Oil

Splash of lemon juice

Your choice of herbs (I used a little oregano, but really go with what you like. It's a versatile dish)

Step 1: Cook the brown rice. Preheat oven to 350.

Step 2: While the rice is cooking, remove the stems from the greens, wash thoroughly, and chop into teeny tiny pieces.

Step 3: Chop the onion and garlic, cook in oiled pan on the stove. Add the greens, and cook until the greens are wilted, but not dry.

Step 4: Add cream cheese to greens pan, stir until melted.

Step 5: In a separate bowl, mix cottage cheese with eggs.

Step 6: Mix rice with greens and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl, then add the eggs and cottage cheese and mix. Add lemon juice and herbs here as well.

Step 7: Put in 13x9 pan, cover with shredded cheese. Cover with tinfoil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serves 6 hungry college students.

As for the pie, you'll need:

1 graham cracker crust

24 oz of cream cheese

1 cup of chocolate chips

Strawberries (the recipe I used called for 4 cups, but I did not use that many. Personal preference)

Step one: Bake the crust for 7 minutes, let cool.

Step 2: Melt chocolate chips, and allow to cool a bit

Step 3: Whip room temperature cream cheese.

Step 4: Whip chocolate into cream cheese until thoroughly mixed. Any cream cheese lumps will make it taste funny.

Step 5: Put cream cheese mix into crust. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Step 6: core strawberries, and cut to bite size. Put on top of pie in a pretty design.

Simple, non?

Mousse Au Chocolat

Last night at 8pm, I really wanted chocolate mousse. I looked up a good recipe that used ingredients that I had already. Luckily, Julia Childs recipe had ingredients that I had on hand.

I just had one bowl of it. Take it from me, it is amazing! Not super rich or super bitter like many mousse recipes. It was light, fluffy and sweet. I would even make it again, and I hate making things that are ridiculously fussy. Mousse is the fussiest of the fussy.

So, in order to make this delicious mousse that serves 3-4, you will need:

3 oz of semi-sweet baking chocolate

3 oz butter (yes, use butter! no margarine! no oil! butter! lots of it!)

1/4 cup water

2 eggs, separated

1 T rum

1/3 cup of sugar, for the egg yolks

1 T sugar, for the egg whites

1 pinch of salt

1 t of vanilla extract

Stuff you need:

At least 1 double boiler, I used 2. Well, 2 pots with metal mixing bowls over it, because I don't own a double boiler. :)

A whisk (or hand mixer. A hand mixer makes this go 100 billion times faster)

A spatula.

Many bowls.

Prep work: get a large bowl and put ice water in it. Sounds weird, I know, but it is important.

Step 1: Melt chocolate, butter in a double boiler on a low simmer (or, if you don't own a double boiler, like me, a pot with water covered with a metal mixing bowl), and add water. When mixed thoroughly, remove from heat and make it wait patiently until you use it again.

Step 2: In another double boiler (or a different metal bowl over a pot of water), barely simmering, whisk the egg yolks, rum, and sugar until thick and almost mayonnaise-y. I strongly suggest using a hand mixer. I whisked by hand for about 10 minutes before I lost patience and whipped out the hand mixer. 3 minutes later, I had thick, almost mayonnaise-y egg yolk mixture.

Step 3: Put the yolk bowl in the bowl of ice water (make sure the water doesn't get in), and keep whisking/mixing until its even thicker and more mayonnaise-y. Fold the chocolate in with the egg yolk mix. It looks really cool. Seriously, I spent a good minute or two admiring the brown chocolate and yellow eggs mix together.

Anyway, Step 4: In yet another bowl, use a different whisk, clean your whisk, or clean your mixer attachments, to attack the shit out of the egg whites with the pinch of salt in it. Make sure your whisks are clean, or else your egg whites won't fluff. Oils and fat in the egg whites will make the egg whites from foamy awesomeness. Anyway, when its mostly fluffed (but not stiff), add the other tablespoon of sugar. Mix it in a bit more, than add the vanilla. Mix it moar! MOAR!

Step 5: Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolaty egg yolks. Then fold the rest in, but not too much otherwise the egg whites will be less fluffy.

Step 6: Put in 3-4 bowls or cups or whatever you want to serve it in, and chill in the fridge for 4 hours at least. They can stay chilled for 4 days.

There is raw egg in it, so you are at risk for salmonella, but the risk is fairly low. I mean, how much freakin' cookie dough have you eaten? How many bowls of cake batter have you licked clean? We've all eaten a ton of raw eggs and we're all alive.

Anyway, it was a little on the sweet side, so I had it with a cup of instant coffee thing from Starbucks. It was gross. Don't drink it. I added 2 T of sugar and it was still pretty gross. There's better coffee than that. Or even tea works. Something bitter to even out the sweetness. I love sweet desserts, and I love sweet desserts and bitter drinks together.

Also, eggs are weird. They get take on so many forms and are just really weird. I mean, they super slimy in the shell. If you whip them, they turn into really foamy. If you fry them, they turn rubbery. If you pour water over them, they bubble. They're so versatile and creepy.

Anyway, enjoy your mousse. I hope you have a hand mixer or immersion blender.

My best Chana Masala yet!

Hokso. I LOVE Indian food. However, both of the Indian restaurants in town here sell their cheapest entrees at $7-15, and of course I have to buy samosas and naan, which add another $8. And I enjoy buying two entrees, to diversify my meal and to get as much deliciousness as I can.

So... I've been trying to learn to cook my own Indian food, so I can control what goes into it, and to save money. So far, they haven't been very successful. Mostly kind of watery and while I put a lot of spices in, I can't really taste them.

But! This time I tried a new recipe, with a bit more work involved.

You need:

1 cup uncooked rice (I made brown, but basmati would probably be more authentic)

1 onion

2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained

4 cloves of garlic

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Plenty of Canola Oil

some of the following spices: curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, chili powder (I just put in a few to several dashes if I wanted that spice to be more present)(also, why do they all start with C?)

Anyway, make the rice at some point. I made brown rice, so I did that first because it takes forever.

Then, finely finely chop the onion and garlic (or chop not so fine and just put it in the blender or food processor)(I need a blender if you want to buy me something). Then, drain the tomatoes, and actually, squeeze them out too. You're going to want a rather thick paste. Mix your squeezed out tomatoes with your super fine onion and garlic. Like, really mix it. I smooshed it together in my makeshift mortar and pestle (aka a bowl and a glass) to mash the tomatoes in a bit more.

Anyway, heat your oil on med-low into a pan (I put a lot in. Just because I like it that way. You could go crazy and use clarified butter too if'n you want). Then put your tomato mixture in the pan, and let it cook for a while. I added the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom here, but really, I have no reason why I did that.

After letting that fry for about 5-10 minutes (stirring it occasionally), I added the other spices, and let that sit for about 10 more minutes (this is a good time to do some dishes). Add the chickpeas, mix it together. Put the cover on, and let it stew for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice. Maybe a dollop of yogurt on it. I thought it was pretty good, but the leftovers were a little dry.

Little House on the Prairie

I turned on the TV when I sat down to dinner today. Last night, I watched Sarah, Plain and Tall before bed on the Hallmark Channel. So, when I turned it on today, and a 5 part miniseries of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books is on, and I came into it 20 minutes into the first part.

Well, I won't be getting much done tonight. It's pretty hokey, but I loved those books when I was a little Half Pint. Plus, I must be having some hormone swings or something because every now and then I just get all choked up. Even for commercials, or when Jack was swept downstream, or when the big scary Indians cornered Ma in the house. I know Jack comes back that night, and the Indians just want some food, but still. A big lump in my throat forms up and I just get all teary-eyed.

In any case, I made Pasty Pie for dinner.

Ingredients:
2 9" pie crusts
1 lb beef, uncooked and cubed
4 rutabagas, diced
4 carrots, diced
2 small/medium potatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
4 pats of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut all ingredients so they're approximately they same size. Mix with salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Place one crust in a pie plate, and fill with mixed ingredients. Place pats of butter on top, then cover with second crust. Seal crusts together, and trim any remaining crust off. Bake for 1 hour.

I tried not to nap.

So, to start, I had a party at my apartment last night for SANRA (St. Olaf Society for Atheism, Non-Religion and Agnosticism). Ergo, this morning, I was slightly hung over, really tired (about 6 hours of sleep) and had a living room full of sleeping people. So, I read the paper and chatted til they left around 11, then I make some chocolate chip pancakes and played farmville.

Then, I woke up at 4pm. What happened? Food coma + lack of sleep + warm sunshine + feelin' crummy = uncontrollable sleep.

So now it's 1:30am. I can't sleep. Good times. lol.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes (serves 3)
1 cup all-purpose wheat flour
2 T sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1 egg
3/4 cups soy milk
2 T canola oil
A few T of chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Heat up skillet on low. Put 1/4 cup of batter on skillet, and sprinkle some chocolate chips on it. When bubble start to appear in the center, flip over and cook til golden brown. Serve with Organic Maple Syrup and black tea.

Apple Cider Glazed Squash

I recently joined a cooking club. The magazine they sent me was timely, as I had been looking around for a good squash recipe and lo and behold, they had several recipes for baked squash as a side dish.

So I tried the apple cider recipe (below) with an acorn squash. It was delicious. I think next time I will thicken the glaze a bit more, and add brown sugar to make the flavor stronger, but it was really good. I also left a couple dashes of salt and a dash of pepper out, but that's because I don't really like salt and pepper. And, as in almost all of my cooking, I added a dash of ground ginger to the glaze. They didn't look as fancy as in the picture, but they didn't look too different either, so I think I did something right.



Need:
13x9 pan
Tinfoil
Small skillet
Brush

1 squash
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups apple cider
2 tbsp butter
1/4 t. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut the squash into quarters with the large knife, scooping out the goop. Cut 1/4 inch deep scores in a crisscross pattern in the flesh.

2.Place in baking pan skin side down. Pour water in the pan (this is where you could add a dash of salt and pepper). Cover with tinfoil. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.

3. While that's cooking, bring cider to a boil in the small skillet over medium heat. Cook 15-25 minutes. Adjust temp to avoid scorching. When there is about 1/4 cup of cider syrup, remove from heat. Add butter and cinnamon (and ginger and another dash of salt).

4. Blot any liquid collected in the cavaties from squash. Brush half of the syrup on the squash. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Brush the rest of the squash.

5. Slice in half so there are 8 pieces. Serve in shells or mashed.