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Hello, and welcome back to Hi Arbor. Thank you for the ideas and information that helped make this issue of the Hi Arbor News possible. Today's newsletter features butternut squash and pumpkin along with two more apple recipes. Please send any information, ideas or recipes to hiarbornews@aol.com. The next issue will be sent on November 17, 2005. Happy Autumn to all of you. Take care. Roxanne WINTER SQUASH: Here is a web address with good general information about winter squash. There is a link there for "recipes with Winter Squash" http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/2001002.html#Varieties BUTTERNUT SQUASH: "Butternut squash is an edible type of winter squash with a vase-like shape. It has a sweet, nutty taste that is similar to sweet potato. It has yellow skin and orange flesh. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. It grows on a vine. "Butternut squash can be roasted or baked. It can also be pureed or mashed into soup, casseroles, breads and muffins. "A common vegetable in South Africa it makes a very tasty soup and can be cooked on a barbeque wrapped in foil with spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. "It is a source of fibre, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium." Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butternut_squash Here is a wonderful recipe from the Hi Arbor Cookbook, "Take This Veggie And Stuff It". I tested this recipe for the cookbook. Though it calls for buttercup squash, I used butternut squash, and it worked out well. I cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. See the information below about Carolina Gold rice to add a special touch to the rice and peanuts stuffing.
STUFFED SQUASH
SOUTHERN STYLE
1 large buttercup
squash Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Wash squash. Cut off top at a bevel (slant) and set aside. Scoop out seeds and fibers. Rinse and drain. Mix rice, peanuts, peas, spices and oil in a bowl. Loosely stuff squash with mixture. Replace top of squash. Lightly grease a pan and put whole stuffed squash in it. Loosely cover with foil. Bake for 3 to 6 hours. Flavor is best when cooked long and slowly. The bottom will be soft so be careful when lifting. Serve in the baking pan if possible. Serve with hot sauce on the table. I am not strong enough to slice a raw butternut squash so I put cuts in the skin of the squash for steam vents, wrapped it in foil and baked it at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. For the recipe below I added no seasonings to the squash or rice except salt in the water I cooked the rice in.
LENTIL AND RICE
BURRITOS WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH
1/2 pound lentils Rinse and drain the lentils and set aside. Saute' onion in the oil until soft then add enough water to cook the lentils but not make them soupy. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Lentils cook quickly. They may be ready in 30-45 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking time add the tomatoes and seasonings. When I made these burritos, the lentils, rice and squash were all cold from being in the refrigerator. To make the burritos, warm a tortilla in the microwave oven then place it on a piece of plastic wrap. Add rice, lentils, corn and squash, fold the tortilla around the filling then fold the plastic wrap around the burrito. When all of them are ready, put the burritos in the freezer to eat as desired. The burritos can be warmed in the microwave oven with or without the plastic wrap. Campbell's Select Gold Label soups are in 18.3 ounce cartons. I tried the butternut squash. It has seasonings and milk products. I used it as a base to make the following soup, which was very good.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
SOUP WITH APPLE
1 18.3 ounce carton
Campbell's Golden Butternut Squash soup Sauté' onion in oil until soft. Add apple, soup, water and rice drink. Bring. to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer five minutes. Add seasonings. Stir to combine then cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until onion and apple are tender PUMPKIN: "Summer squashes, like pumpkin, are mostly varieties of Cucurbita pepo; if picked while immature they are eaten as summer squash or marrow, but if left to mature on the vine will form a hard fruit like winter squash. Winter squashes are either C. maxima or C. moschata, and are not eaten in immature form. The varieties of pumpkins and squashes are numerous and [there is a] great variety in size and shape; it is difficult to keep them pure if various kinds are grown together, but the true squashes (C. maxina) do not hybridize with the true pumpkin (C. pepo) species... "...Pumpkins have been historically pollinated by the native squash bee...but this bee has declined, probably due to pesticide sensitivity, and most commercial plantings are pollinated by honeybees today." Ripe pumpkin can be boiled, baked or roasted and the pulp used in many recipes such as pies, breads and soups. Nutritionwise, pumpkins are a good source of lutein, alpha- and beta-carotene, which turn into vitamin A in the body. And on a side note, "one of the typical pumpkin products of Austria is pumpkin seed oil." Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Pumpkin PUMPKIN RECIPES: The next two recipes come from Cooks.com and there are many more pumpkin soup recipes at the web address below. Most or all use some form of chicken broth, which can be easily substituted, but many are otherwise vegetarian or vegan. http://www.cooks.com/rec/search?q=pumpkin+soup CREAM OF PUMPKIN OR SQUASH SOUP
2 tbsp. butter Melt the butter in a 4 quart pot. Add the leeks and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add the pumpkin, broth and rice. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until the rice and pumpkin are done. It takes about 20 minutes, but be sure the rice is done, or it won't puree smoothly. Puree in small batches in a blender or food processor. Return to the pan and stir in the cream. Season to taste. Heat gently (do not boil) before serving. NOTE: For a variation, flavor the soup with a small amount of sugar and a dash of cinnamon or add 1/2 teaspoon or more of curry powder to serve Curried Pumpkin Soup. http://www.cooks.com/ (C) 2005 - The FOURnet Information Network (TM) - All Rights Reserved BEAN AND PUMPKIN SOUP
6 oz. dried
black-eyed peas Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Simmer 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender and soup is thick. Makes 1 serving. http://www.cooks.com/ (C) 2005 - The FOURnet Information Network (TM) - All Rights Reserved SOUTH CAROLINA LOW COUNTRY "CAROLINA GOLD" RICE: Anytime I see low country cuisine mentioned, it catches my attention, as happened recently with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on Carolina Gold rice. As I've come to understand it, "low country" means the low lying, swampy areas along South Carolina's coast. A distinct cuisine has come out of this region. For example, low country barbeque sauce does not use tomatoes. And now there is also the distinctive Carolina Gold rice. The reason the low country cuisine stories catch my attention is because my maternal grandmother was born on a farm in Spooler swamp near Charleston, South Carolina. My mother told me that when walking to school as a girl my grandmother would carry a stick to scare off snakes and discourage any alligators. She would travel to Charleston with her father using the horse or mule and wagon to sell produce and buy necessities. It'll be interesting to see if low country cuisine becomes as popular as Cajun cuisine, another dining experience to come from the swamps along another coastal area of the United States. Historical information: Carolina Gold rice arrived in colonial South Carolina around 1685 by way of the Island of Madagascar. "During the colonial period, coastal South Carolina was the largest producer of rice in America... "...Rice remained a dominant commodity on the coastal rivers of South Carolina until the end of the Civial War, when production started a long decline due to loss of labor and working capital, and aided by several severe storms." Ironically, it was also severe weather that brought a ship in need of repairs and Carolina Gold rice to Charleston Harbor and South Carolina. Right now the rice is considered an heirloom variety and gourmet, but there are people working to get Carolina Gold a more regular place at the supermarket. The above historical information was found at: www.carolinaplantationrice.com The information about people working to make Carolina Gold easier to get at the supermarket came from a story on the rice in the October 13, 2005, edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper's food section. A recipe accompanied the story. It is for "Butternut Squash and Dried Fig Risotto". It calls for "1 cup arborio or Carolina Gold rice". The recipe should be online at www.ajc.com in the newspaper's recipe archive. www.ajc.com CAROLINA GOLD RICE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 13, 2005 These sources are quoted directly from the AJC. I made no changes.
Sources: Carolina Plantation's Carolina Gold, white and brown, will be available after Nov. 1 at Viking Culinary Arts Center, 1745 Peachtree Road in Midtown. 404-745-9064. Online: www.carolinaplantationrice.com. Pricing hasn't been set. [The web address has recipes in small pop-up windows]. Lowcountry Foods' Carolina Gold: $4.99 for a 1-pound bag. 1-800-538-0003 or www.charlestonfavorites.com. Turnbridge Plantation Carolina Gold: Richard and Dick Schulze are trying direct sales this year; pricing hasn't been set. For information, write: Turnbridge Plantation, Route 1, Box 165, Hardeeville, SC 29927. Check the label: Rice giant Riviana Foods, with labels that include Mahatma and Carolina, brands its parboiled, or converted, rice as "Gold" for it's amber color. Its Carolina Gold rice is a parboiled long-grain white rice, not the historical Carolina Gold. A friend gave me a Granny Smith apple from an orchard in north Georgia. I think I've put this recipe in the newsletter before, but the biscuits make a nice snack and apples are in season. APPLE-RAISIN BISCUITS
1 can of ten
refrigerator biscuits Mix apple, raisins, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside. Preheat oven according to directions on the biscuit canister. Place a biscuit on a sheet of wax paper with another sheet on top and flatten biscuit with a rolling pin. Put the dough on a plate and spread margarine on it unless using butter-flavored biscuits. Then add a spoonful of the apple mixture. Fold the dough around the mixture and squeeze the ends together. Place the biscuit on a cookie sheet and bake according to directions and until browned. Hi Arbor Cookbook: The Hi Arbor cookbook, "Take This Veggie And Stuff It", has recipes for stuffing 21 vegetables from artichokes to zucchini, and if you don't know how to stuff an artichoke, the book explains. There are 87 recipes, some of which have seafood but most are vegetarian. It has lists of substitutions and measurements and equivalents. Herbs and seasonings are defined and there is a glossary of cooking terms in addition to a list of how much of a fresh spice is needed versus the same spice in a dry form. "Take This Veggie And Stuff It" costs $12.50 per copy plus $2.50 for shipping and handling, and it can be ordered from
Hi Arbor, Inc. Or from the web address below. http://www.hiarbor.org/ X X X The End |
