20 October 07Green Tomatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Pumpkin Soup, Butternut Squash Fettuccini

Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

From Cheri Sicard, editor of FabulousFoods.com

Here's an elegant side dish that puts all those extra green tomatoes you have to use. Greek style feta or French style chevres (both goat cheeses) work equally well here. Serves 4.

• 4 medium green tomatoes
• A tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves
  
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese (feta or chevre)
  
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
  
• salt and coarsely ground fresh ground black pepper

Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat a shallow baking dish with oil. Place tomato slices, in a single, overlapping layer, in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle tomatoes with vinegar and scatter minced oregano over tomatoes. Top with crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with olive oil. Broil 5-8 inches below a preheated broiler and broil until tomatoes are hot and cheese is just starting to brown, about 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Traditional Fried Green Tomatoes

From Cheri Sicard, editor of FabulousFoods.com

Here is a good basic version of the classic Southern side dish. Of course you can get creative by adding different seasonings to the coating mixture.

• 4 large or 6 medium green tomatoes, thickly sliced
• 1 Cup flour
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
  
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• oil for frying

Serves 6-8

Soak tomatoes in a mixture of about 2 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt for about 1/2 hour.

In a large plastic food bag, mix flour, salt, pepper and cayenne. Drain tomatoes and drop a few slices at a time into the bag and shake to coat completely. Heat oil in a large skillet and fry coated tomato slices until browned on each side, about 2 minute per side. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic

From Kitchen Gardeners International

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts
• 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan
• 3-5 cloves garlic depending on your garlic tolerance
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Trim bottom of Brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 1/2 hour. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and serve hot or warm. Makes 4 servings.

Braised Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Butter

Braising is an excellent method for cooking Brussels sprouts. Braising refers to cooking food with a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan.

• 1 pound small, firm, bright green Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter or margarine
• 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Check each head, peel off any loose or discolored leaves. Using a paring knife, cut an X through the core end of each head. Bring sprouts, water and salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Lower heat, cover and simmer. Shake pan once or twice during braising to redistribute sprouts.

Cook until just tender 8 to 10 minutes. Test by piercing with a knife tip. Drain well.

Melt butter in a large skillet of medium heat. Whisk in mustard until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy, about 30 second.
Add sprouts to skillet, coating well with the butter mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. Serves 3 to 4.

La Soup au Potiron (Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin)

From Saveur, November 1998, page 136

• 1 7-lb. Rouge vif d’Etampes (also called Cinderella Pumpkin)
• 7 Tablespoons butter
• Salt
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs, toasted
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 4 cup vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a 4" lid out of the pumpkin. Remove and discard seeds and string. Rub inside of pumpkin with 1 Tbsp. salted butter, season with salt, and place on a baking pan.

Melt remaining butter in a skillet over low heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs and cook for 2 minutes. Add nutmeg and sage, and season generously with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, and spoon mixture into pumpkin. Add enough stock to fill pumpkin to within 1/2" of the rim. Put bay leaves on top, and then replace pumpkin lid.

Bake until pumpkin begins to soften and brown on the outside and the stock bubbles inside, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter. Scrape flesh from bottom and sides of pumpkin with a spoon. Just before serving, stir in heavy cream if desire.

Butternut Squash Fettuccini

• Butternut squash
• 8 shallots or more
• Salt, pepper
• Olive oil
• Fettuccini
• Sage (you can use dried if you have it but you can also use the fresh sage that we gave you)
• Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Peel and cut butternut into 1/2" squares. Put in 13x9 pan. Peel and cut shallots and place in pan. Coat the butternut and shallots with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees until soft (around 20-30 minutes). Halfway through baking, pull out and rub/sprinkle sage on top and then continue baking.

Mix with pasta and Parmesan cheese.