Stuffed Acorn Squash

A stuffed squash makes for a beautiful, and economical, dish. As with bread bowls and ice cream cones, it's just plain fun to nibble at the vessel AND its contents. I usually make my stuffed squashes an omnivore's delight, but feel free to saute shiitakes instead of sausage, should you desire a vegetarian main. Bonus is that depending on the size of your squash, you'll have a little extra stuffing to pop into tomorrow's omelet or over some bitter greens. 

Stuffed Acorn Squash
Makes 2 servings 

*1 acorn squash
*1 tablespoon EVOO
*2 teaspoons maple syrup
*1 cup cooked brown rice
*2 tablespoons toasted pepitas
*2 links Italian hot sausage, casings removed

*1 small shallot, sliced thinly

*3 cloves garlic, minced
*2 leaves kale, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces

*1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
*Pinch of crumbled dried sage leaves
*S&P

Preheat the oven to 400. Whisk together the oil and syrup with pinches of salt and pepper. Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the guts. Cut a sliver of the rounded bottoms off too, so that they'll stay in place on the baking sheet. Place the halves facing up on a rimmed baking sheet, and brush the syrup-oil mixture all over the squash halves and into the hollows (pro-tip: I drizzle a little of the maple-y oil over the pepitas and toss before toasting them briefly in the oven). Bake the squash for 45-60 minutes, or until perfectly tender.

Meanwhile, cook the rice, if not already on hand. Near the end of the baking time, saute the sausage in a wide skillet, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Once it has browned and cooked, remove from the skillet and throw the shallots in for a couple minutes with a little extra oil if needed before adding the garlic. Then, add the kale and continue to saute for a few minutes more until the kale is wilted. Turn off the heat and add the pepitas, sausage, sage, thyme and rice. Mix well and season to taste with S&P. Remove squash from oven. Fill both halves with the stuffing and serve.

Dapper Owl Plate, Rachel Kozlowski for West Elm

Wild Mushroom, Caramelized Shallot & Brie Panini

This is a perfect winter vegetarian sandwich, earthy, warming, flavorful but mellow, and incredibly filling. Out of all the paninis I've pressed in the maker I got for Christmas, I think this is my favorite. Perhaps not the most appealing to take a picture of, but I swear there is one delicious bite after another in that green and brown tangle!

Wild Mushroom, Brie & Caramelized Shallot Panini
Makes 1 sandwich

*2 tablespoons butter, divided
*EVOO (I used a garlic-infused variety)

*2-3 shallots, sliced thinly

*2 cups mixed wild mushrooms, stemmed, wiped & sliced 

*Scant 1/2 teaspoon minced thyme leaves

*S&P
*Balsamic vinegar

*2 slices hearty bakery bread

*3-4 slices of Brie

*Palmful of baby arugula
*Your favorite fancy mustard (chablis Dijon, for me)

In a wide cast-iron skillet, melt a tablespoon of butter with a drizzle of garlic infused oil and add the shallots. Sprinkle with a healthy pinch of salt (and a little pinch of sugar too, to speed things along) and caramelize for a good 30 minutes. If you don't have garlic infused oil and want a hint of the beautiful stinking rose, feel free to mince a clove up and throw it in with the shallots for the last few minutes of caramelizing. Remove the shallots from the pan and add the mushrooms and another drizzle of oil (regular evoo used this time), then saute for 4 minutes before adding the thyme and seasoning with salt & pepper. Cook another minute, splash with a touch of balsamic, and toss well.

Brush one side of each of the bread slices with a bit of the other tablespoon of butter (melted or room temp), then assemble the sandwich by smoothing a thin layer of mustard on one slice, then top with the shallots, mushrooms, arugula and finally, the Brie. Press the sandwich in a preheated panini maker for 4 minutes or so, until the sandwich is toasty. Cut 'n eat!

Mushroom Toasts

One of my favorite brunchy, lunchy dishes to make, the Mushroom Toast, came to me by way of inspiration from a restaurant called Sycamore. A few years back, I ordered mushroom toasts off the menu and was absolutely taken with the earthy umami savoriness of the simple appetizer, and immediately decided to include it in my own repertoire. After some tinkering, I've got it right where I want it - walnuts were the magical ingredient that lifted it to perfection. Use whatever mushrooms you like, but I've found that the trinity of shiitake, hen-of-the-woods and oyster is my favorite.

Mushroom Toasts
Makes 2 servings

*EVOO
*1 small shallot, minced
*5-6 oz melange of wild mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean and chopped
*3 cloves of garlic – 2 minced, 1 thinly sliced
*1/4 cup chopped walnuts
*1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
*1 pinch chili flakes
*1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
*Small knob butter (about 1/2 tablespoon)
*S&P
*2 slices of toasted bread (ideally from a nice rustic loaf, but I've been known to use sandwich bread)
*Truffle oil (optional)
*Freshly grated Parm-Reg
*2 fried eggs (optional)

In a wide pan, heat a glug of oil over medium and add the minced shallot. Sprinkle with some salt and saute for a few minutes before adding in the garlic. Saute for another minute and then toss in the mushrooms. Cook for 4-5 minutes as they start to release their juices, then add the walnuts, thyme and chili flakes, season with S&P. Continue to cook a couple more minutes until the mushrooms are tender and have browned nicely. To finish, stir in the knob of butter, squeeze a lemon half gently over the mix and toss well. I usually spritz a fine mist of Trader Joe's Truffle Oil over the mix at that point, but there's plenty of flavor without it. Assemble the toasts by heaping the mushrooms over the bread (for extra tastiness, rub a cut garlic clove on top of the bread right after it has been toasted), then grate a little Parm-Reg over the mound and top each portion with a fried egg.

Mini Crustless Quiches

Quiches & frittatas are my go-to fridge cleanout receptacles. They're fast and utilitarian and tasty, and eminently adaptable.. especially mini-quiches. Example: other household half hates onions, so I can make two batches of filling, and divide my muffin tin into non-onion and suuuper-oniony sections. This recipe specifically pertains to what I made today, but feel free to riff. And double - I only had 5 eggs in the fridge.

Mini Quiches
Makes 6

*Olive oil
*1/4 cup finely diced onion
*4 baby zucchinis, thinly sliced and then roughly chopped
*A couple shittake mushroom caps, sliced 'n diced
*5 eggs
*S&P
*1 tablespoon slivered basil (or minced chives, or herb(s) of your choice)
*1 glug of milk, about a tablespoon
*About 1/3 cup grated cheese (I used a chive & garlic white cheddar from a local farm)


Preheat the oven to 375. Saute the onion in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes over moderate heat, and then add the mushrooms. After a few more minutes, add the zucchini and continue sauteing for a few minutes longer before removing the veg mix from the heat. Whisk the eggs, the basil, and a bit of the grated cheese in a bowl with a glug of milk and season with salt & pepper. Grease half of a 12-count muffin tin and sprinkle a teensy layer of the grated cheese in the bottom of 6 muffin cups (which will form a little crust while baking), then spoon out the veg mix. Ladle the eggy goo into each of the muffin cups, making sure not to overfill, and then bake for about 16-18 minutes. Leftovers reheat well; I pop 'em in a toaster oven at 400 until warm.

Other ideas: Bacon + leek+thyme; smoked salmon+scallions; sausage+parm+sage; asparagus+gruyere; ham+cheddar+spinach...the variations are endless.

Buckwheat-Bock Crêpes with Mushrooms

I've made a gazillion different crêpe batter variations in my lifetime, but I keep returning to this buckwheat-bock recipe that I adapted from the cooking section in a BeerAdvocate magazine a number of years ago, because it makes such a damn good tender and flavorful crêpe. I stuffed these particular ones with a mushroom mix, but there is no end to what you can stuff yours with.

Buckwheat-Bock Crêpes
Makes a lot. 12-15? 
 

*2 eggs, whisked
*3/4 cup bock beer (Troegs' doppelbock, Troegenator, or Victory's St Victorious are excellent. Yuengling's bock isn't too shabby either)
*1/2 cup milk
*1/3 cup buckwheat flour

*2/3 cup all-purpose flour
*3 tbsp melted butter
*A pinch salt

Combine the crêpe batter ingredients and blitz in a blender for 10 seconds or so. Pop it in the fridge for at least an hour or two to settle. To make the crêpes, heat a shallow non-stick skillet with sloping sides over medium, and as the pan grows hotter, give it a quick sheen of butter (I take a stick, unwrap it slightly, and gloss the pan all over with the butt of the butterlog). Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop a scant 1/4 cup of batter and with one hand on the panhandle, gently pour it into the middle of the pan, rotating the pan as you pour to evenly coat the bottom with the batter. Let it sit untouched for about a minute. You'll start to see the sides of the crêpe begin to pull away from the pan. Take a very flexible rubber spatula around the sides and under to ensure better flipping. Flipping can be done in different ways: If you're special, you'll manage the wrist-flick method. My preferred method for flipping is to carefully grab one of the edges that is pulling away from the pan and curling in slightly, and flip it over with my fingers. You can use a spatula, but these are delicate discs and prone to tearing!

Let it cook another oh, 30 seconds or so before removing it from the pan. Fair warning, your first crêpe will be a disaster, and serves only to set the stage for the rest to come. For some reason, the pan is -perfectly- prepped the second that first one comes off. Stack 'em and cover with aluminum foil as you go along, or recruit someone else to doctor them for you as you keep flipping 'em out.

Mushroom filling

*Olive oil
*1 small shallot, minced
*1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (I used shiitake and hen-of-the-woods [awww])
*2 cloves of garlic, somewhere between chopped and minced
*A handful of walnuts, chopped into small pieces
*S&P
*A dash of red pepper flakes
*Herb butter (Smash a tablespoon of minced herbs (thyme, rosemary & parsley, I did) into a couple tablespoons of softened butter with a fork)
*A slice of lemon

Remove the stems and wipe your mushrooms off with a damp paper towel; slice. In a wide pan, heat a bit of oil over medium and then add the shallots. Sprinkle with salt and saute a couple minutes before adding the mushrooms, making sure that they are not too crowded in the pan. Cook for a couple minutes, then add the garlic, chile pepper flakes, and some shakes of salt and pepper. Saute gently another 3 or 4 minutes. Add a knob of the herb butter, a spritz of lemon juice and the walnuts, and toss well.




Not a full 1/2 lb. If I cook mushrooms in this house, I eat them alone.

To assemble the crêpes, I take a pat of the herb butter and melt it on the crepe when its cooking in its final stage in the pan, take it out, and then fill it with a couple spoonfuls of the mushroom mix. Feel free to grate some cheese over top (gruyère is a great choice) and add anything else you'd like. Fold and gobble it down.