Butternut Squash Burritos

I absolutely love Mexican food. Of all the ethnic cuisines we have available to us in this amazing city of ours, few have the ravenous loyalty and array of choices that Mexican has. Second maybe only to Chinese cuisine, there are more Mexican restaurants, taquerias, pupuserias, and taco trucks than any other one ethnic food in the city. Everyone has their favorite spot and their favorite dish, and will defend their favorite with rabid dedication.

Of all my favorite dishes on the classic Mexican food menu, the burrito stands atop the heap as a perfect mixture of all the best flavors of mexican cuisine rolled neatly into a tidy little bundle. Beans, rice, crispy vegetables, cool guacamole, slow-cooked meat, and spicy sauce all layered together in a perfect (and portable) roll of delciousness.

One of my new favorites in the exciting world of burrito-ology is of the vegetarian variety. Now, usually when you order a vegetarian burrito, what arrives is pretty uninspired.  A lukewarm heap of rice and beans, occasionally dressed up with an extra-large helping of guacamole and cheese.  Pretty boring, to say the least. But I recently stumbled upon a rather brilliant take on the vegetarian burrito, one chalk full of butternut squash, onions, avacado and the ubiquitous beans and rice.  After discovering this brilliant new rendition at Picante Taqueria in San Rafael, I knew it was something I had to try and re-create at home.  I gave it a go despite my wife's reservations, and here is what we came up with:

Butternut Squash Burritos


Ingredients:
3-4 soft avacados (for the guacamole)
1 lime
A pinch or two of salt
1 medium red onion
1 medium butternut squash, seeds and outer skin removed, chopped into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped into tiny bits
1 can of black beans, drained
1 cup of white rice
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
2-3 Tablespoons of Mexican seasoning paste (usually found in the cooler next to the bags of pre-washed salad.)
Cumin, paprika, chili powder to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
Your favorite melty cheese, shredded or grated.  No measurement here, use as much as your hear desires.

4 burrito-sized tortillas (we liked the spinach & herb variety)

Make the guacamole first to allow time for the flavors to combine.  Chop 1/2 of the red onion fine, add to a medium mixing bowl.  Add your avacado, broken up to allow for easier mashing.  Using a pastry cutter, mash up the avacado, combining it with the chopped onion until it has the consistency of, well guacamole.  Chunky or smooth is your choice, I prefer mine a little chunky.

Add half of the chopped cilantro and squeeze the juice of the lime into the guacamole, stirring to combine.  Set this aside while you get everything else ready to go.

Prepare the rice, boiling in 1 1/2 cups of water or vegetable broth until liquid is gone and rice is cooked through.  Add the Mexican spice paste and stir together, add more or less to taste.  In a separate pot or a bowl in the microwave, warm the black beans.  If you like it spicy, add a few dashes of hot sauce to the beans.

While the rice cooks, sautee the butternut squash and red onion.  Slice the other half of the onion into 1/4 inch ribbons and add to a hot sautee pan with a little canola oil.  As the onion becomes translucent, add the butternut squash and cover.  Allow the squash to cook until it is soft, and add a few squeezes of your Mexican seasoning paste.  About half way through the squash cooking, toss in your chopped jalapeño. Stir in a few dashes of cumin, paprika and chili powder, or any of your favorite spices or hot sauce, and taste as you go.  There really is no science to this, just season until it tastes right to you.

Now it's time to assemble.  I have a bad habit of over stuffing, but the basic idea is to layer your ingredients on top of one another.  When I see it done in taquerias, they usually pile the goods just off the center of the tortilla, probably so there is enough room to wrap all the way around.  Start with the beans, add the rice and then your butternut squash and onions.  Top with melty cheese (we used Monterey Jack), guacamole, and a little fresh cilantro.  Roll this beast up to the best of your abilities, and start enjoying your new favorite burrito.

This should make about 4 good sized burritos, but you might have some goodies left over for lunch the next day.  While the missus was skeptical this would work, I managed to win her over in the end.  Now we have a new recipe in our arsenal whenever butternut squash arrives in our CSA box, or for when I get a hankering for something different.  I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did.

A Box of Plenty

With San Francisco still trying to decide if it's Winter or Spring, I'm feeling pretty grateful to be able to pickup fresh seasonal veggie deliveries from Eatwell Farm. The box of goodies that we picked up just over a week ago has provided us with a refrigerator full of fresh, crisp and delicious fruits and vegetables that never had to see the inside of a supermarket.

In the spirit of our little city apartment receiving the bounty of the season directly from the farm, I want to share the dishes we made over the last week trying to use as many ingredients from the box in each meal as possible. Some days, like Monday, are busy and the missus and I get home at different times, so it's usually leftovers or a quick and easy pasta. Last Monday, Mrs. Rosewater got crafty and threw together a tasty little pesto with spinach, walnuts, and a generous dose of olive oil. It's all about what you have in your cupboard.



Luckily, the rest of the week is a little more consistent, so we have plenty of time to put together a proper dinner for two. Mid-week, we borrowed a recipe from the Eatwell Farm Newsletter for a vegetable risotto. My relationship with risotto has been pretty hit and miss in the past, and it has often turned into a marginally edible rice-paste with vegetables. This time? Not a problem. The rice was just right, and the addition of tarragon made it wonderfully fragrant and richly flavored.



Radish & Leek Risotto

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 large or 2 small leeks, with tops removed and diced
1 bunch of radishes (about 8) chopped into small cubes
1 bunch of green garlic (4 - 5), cleaned, trimmed and chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 Small handful of tarragon, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Saute the leeks, garlic and radishes in the oil until the radishes begin to become translucent and the leeks begin to shrink, about 5 - 10 minutes. Add rice and stir for a couple of minutes, until the oil has been absorbed by the rice. Slowly add heated broth one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, until absorbed and the rice is cooked completely. Taste the rice frequently to test it's doneness. When rice is fully cooked, remove from heat and add tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. No risotto is complete without cheese, so grate about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (or more, if you like) into the risotto before you serve and stir it in. Serve in a bowl topped with more parmesan cheese. (Yes, I like cheese.)



And since San Francisco and the Bay Area seem to be suffering from juvenile fits of cold wind and rain this month instead of a proper grown-up storm, it felt like a good time to make a thick, tasty soup to keep us warm. Plus, it's pretty much the only thing I know how to make with butternut squash. The recipe changes each time because I always have different ingredients in the refrigerator, sometimes things that need to be cooked and eaten before they go bad.


Photo note: The picture above was not taken by my talented photographer wife, but instead by me. Notice the chipped bowl? I didn't. This is why I leave the visual stuff to the missus, and I stick to the words.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 2 1/2 lb butternut squash (or 2 small squashes) peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 Sweet red onion, chopped
4 - 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 large or 2 small leeks, tops removed and chopped
Small handful of tarragon, chopped
5 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup white wine
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large stockpot. Saute the onion, leek and garlic until they become fragrant and the onion begins to turn translucent. Add squash, and saute for a couple of minutes and stir in salt and pepper. Add white wine, and allow the alcohol to cook off and liquid to reduce, stirring occasionally. Add 5 cups of broth; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cook until squash is tender, about 40 min. Remove from heat and add tarragon.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth and thick. If soup is too thin, return to heat and allow to reduce slightly. Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil or heavy cream, and with a plate of crusty, toasted bread nearby.



This soup wasn't the best I've ever made, but it did the trick. I think it needed to be a little thicker, and some cream would have added to the flavor. I love the sweetness of the squash paired with the tart bite of onion and leek. The tarragon just added that little something extra.

Having this huge box of farm fresh veggies thrust at us all at once was a little intimidating, so it's going to be an adventure making sure we get the most out of each delivery and nothing goes to waste. If you haven't already, look into finding a local CSA in your area, and keep your kitchen stocked with the freshest seasonal produce around.

Enjoy!

Eat Local Challenge, Weeks 3 & 4

I'm lumping the third and fourth weeks of this Eat Local month because quite frankly I don't have enough to talk about. Whether it is just a lack of motivation over the stretch, or just an inability to make this eating local thing to happen in a practical way, the food entering our bodies has been just shy of "local". Ok, way shy.

I don't want to embark on a long diatribe about how tough the Eat Local Challenge was this year, or how much or how little effort I ended up putting into it. I did what I could, and managed to come out ok, Challenge wise. I certainly earned a new level of respect for those who are diligent and creative enough to source each of their meals from local producers. I didn't believe it would be as difficult as I found it to find locally produced foods for each meal, or even a majority of meals, for each day.

We did manage to end the month on a high note. Thanks to fellow foodie Stacey Snacks, we put together this delicious Autumn Pasta with Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage. I borrowed this recipe from Stacey, and I am sure glad I did. Thanks, Stacey! Here is the recipe, as I found it. All of the ingredients, save the pasta, were locally produced and purchased either at Andronico's Market or were already in my kitchen. Here we go.



Autumn Pasta With Italian Sausage and Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Italian Sausages, casings removed
2 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
3 tbsp of chopped, fresh Sage
1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine
8 oz. penne pasta (about 1/2 box)

Coat a large, heavy skillet with olive oil. Cook the butternut squash on high, not moving around too much, until edges begin to caramelize, about 5 min. Remove from pan. Now, add your sausage, and break it up in the pan. After that has browned, about 5 mins, add garlic, sage, and white wine and simmer for 3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.

Add chicken stock and butternut squash and simmer for 10 minutes, until squash is tender. While the squash is simmering, boil your pasta in salted water and drain. Add squash to pasta and serve. For a nice finish, add some shredded Parmesan cheese over the top.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food

Sometimes you get in a rut. Sometimes you feel uninspired. Sometimes, you just don't feel like cooking. For those times, when your creativity seems to have run dry and you feel no desire to deal with the challenges of having an incredibly small kitchen, you need the right recipe. And the right woman.

The woman, in my case, was my lovely wife, who's constant prodding finally got us back into the kitchen with a new recipe to try. The recipe we found after looking for something to excite our palettes and warm our bellies. I must admit, though, that while I am writing the blog about this dish, my wife did most of the cooking. I helped with chopping and prep, but she really did the bulk of the work. This is because, well, risotto scares me. Yep, that's right. I've tried it before, and it tends to come out like a salty rice pudding rather than the delicate, comforting dish we are all used to.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe that just might help get me back in the game and my head back into the kitchen. Oh, and by the way...it is frickin DELICIOUS!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH BACON AND SAGE

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups homemade or canned chicken broth, may need a small amount more
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon crushed sage leaves, adjust to taste
4 slices turkey bacon, cut into thirds - regular bacon can be used as well
2 medium shallots, minced or 1 small onion, chopped (approximately 1/4 cup)
2 cups diced butternut squash
1 1/2 cups arborio rice or risotto rice
1/2 cup fresh grated parmigiano reggiano cheese - more if desired
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the broth in a saucepan under medium heat, keep warm. In another saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the sage and bacon. Saute for about 5 minutes until it becomes fragrant. Transfer the bacon and sage to a paper towel. Add shallots to the pan, stirring for 3-5 minutes, until softened. Add the squash and rice to cook, for about one minute. Ladle enough broth into squash and rice mixture to just cover the rice.




Here is where risotto gets tricky: Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until the broth is mostly absorbed. Add more broth and continue the process, adding and stirring, for about 25 minutes, until the rice is just tender. Now, be careful, if you add too much broth, the rice will keep absorbing it and it will become mush. As the broth gets absorbed by the rice, continue to taste the rice to check flavor and consistency. If you use all of the broth before the rice is cooked, add a little more at a time until the rice is done and the liquid is absorbed.

Once the rice is just this side of al dente, stir in the bacon, sage and cheese. For a tasty garnish, add some roasted garlic. Take a full head of garlic and chop off the top so you have removed the tips of each garlic clove. Place the head of garlic on a sheet of foil, and drizzle olive oil over it. Wrap tightly, and cook in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until it is light brown and fragrant. The garlic will be soft and very hot, so once it has cooled down a bit squeeze the cloves out of their skins into a small bowl. Mash the garlic into a thick paste, and spoon on top of your risotto.

Thank you to our friends at Recipetips.com for the great recipe. Enjoy!