Cozy Cooking

It's yet another Monday where the weather has conspired against me. Instead of a crisp, cool fall day, it's one more gray, rainy 'blah' of a day where all you want to do is hunker down on the couch with a warm blanket and mug of hot cocoa.

While I don't necessarily have that luxury, I do have potluck to look forward to later this evening, and it will have to be my surrogate blanket and cocoa. I do find that the weather tends to dictate how I cook. When it's hot and muggy I veer towards raw or barely cooked dishes, and winter time is usually rife with filling casseroles, soups and stews.

So...what does one make on a day that just lends itself to lazying around and keeping cozy?

Cozy food.

In my mind cozy food is something that isn't too difficult to make and warms up both your home and your body. In that spirit, I decided to make a baked rice dish...one that I've been making variations of for a while now.

It's super easy and basically cooks itself. I chop up a bunch of carrots, onions, celery and garlic and saute in a large dutch oven. Add 3/4 cup of lentils, 1 cup of rice and 3.5 cups of broth and seasonings of your choice.

Rice, lentil & veggies before broth is added

Pop it into the oven at 350 for an hour. Then, add a a few handfuls of some chopped greens (we went with dino kale) and your favorite shredded cheese, stir and bake for another 10 minutes.

Steamy casserole, right out of the oven

In addition to the casserole, my friend Rachel - who stayed the weekend - decided to prolong her trip and stay for potluck. We decided to bring an extra dish to feast on. There's something energizing about cooking with a friend and this was no exception. We tossed ideas back and forth before settling on roasted butternut squash and leek puff pastries.

We didn't have a recipe, and neither of us had made this before - but it came out perfectly. We roasted a butternut squash and mashed it, adding it to a bowl of sauteed leeks, cumin, salt and chili powder. After rolling out some store bought pastry dough, we made little pockets of awesomeness and brushed them with and egg wash before baking them at 400 for twenty minutes.

Both dishes fit in with everything else that showed up tonight. We dined on ribs, garlicky potatoes, a squash/walnut/lentil dish and to top it all off a delicious chocolate cake in celebration of a birthday that just occurred. I'm currently sitting here stuffed, satiated and already looking forward to next Monday night!

Yum.

Butternut Squash Pie

One of the highlights of this past Monday's potluck for me was my friend Katie's butternut squash pie. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that I'll most likely be bringing a version of it to Thanksgiving this year. I asked her if she would share the recipe, and she was kind enough to do so.

so there really is no official recipe, i just wing it.  the finished result is always slightly different depending on the little tweaks and how good your squash is.  but here it goes.

this makes enough filling for two pies.  

halve two butternut squash.  roast, along with 2 whole pears, until soft.

in a blender or food processor, combine:

roasted squash (not the skin, of course)

baked pears (not the stem or seeds, of course)

2 eggs

hearty splash of milk (or cream if you are feeling rich)

dash of cinnamon

splash of maple syrup

touch of salt

BLEND! until smooth.  this mixture should be fairly liquid.  think babyfood.  adjust flavors to suit your taste.  if the squash are particularly mealy or tasteless, i usually add more maple.  if the squash is nice and sweet, you won't need much extra sweetener.  

pour into two pie shells. i prefer to prebake mine for a little while.

bake for 10 minutes at 425.  then turn down the heat to 350 and bake for another 10-15, or until pie has set.

i prefer this pie after it has chilled in the fridge.  it's a little too much like babyfood when it is warm, but perfect cold.  and while it's not savory, it doesn't have much sugar and can be served to the kiddos for any meal.   mine love it.