Butternut Squash Casserole

Recipe by my good friend, Emily McFarlane.

This is one of my favorite winter time foods. There's butternut squash, sharp cheese, and caramelized onions, what else could you ask for?

Ingredients:

One medium butternut squash peeled and cut into one inch cubes (if they sell fresh pre-peeled and cubed squash at your grocery story (they do at Trader Joe's), go for it! about 2 lbs)

Olive oil

One small onion or two shallots chopped

Three cloves of garlic minced

12 oz. of spinach (I like fresh, but you can use frozen, thawed and drained if you prefer)

One cup sliced mushrooms (shittake are good in this, but cremini- aka baby bella, or white button mushrooms work fine)

For the cheese sauce:

1.5 tablespoons of butter

1.5 tablespoons of flour

1-1.5 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheese (I like to use something sharp like gruyere or sharp white cheddar, but something smokey like gouda works too. Anything that melts well and is, preferably, white so you can see all the delicious contents of your baked casserole)

1. Preheat oven to 400. 
2. Put peeled and cubed squash into your casserole dish, toss with oil and bake while you are completing the other components of your dish. It's important to start baking it before you add the sauce otherwise the whole thing will take FOREVER! Remember to stir ever 5-10 minutes so it cooks evenly. Do not cook longer than 20 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft and the garlic is a little browned. 
4. Add mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes. 
5. Add the spinach, after it has wilted, remove from heat and set aside.

To make the cheese sauce:
 6. Start a "roux" using equal parts butter and flour. 
7. Stir together over medium heat until butter melts and a paste forms. The roux is done when it goes from smelling like play-doh to pie crust (or after 2-3 minutes). 
8. Alternate adding milk and shredded cheese, whisking constantly to melt. 
9. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste. You can also include herbs if you like, rosemary is excellent with this flavor combo.  

10. Pull the butternut out of the oven. 
11. Spread the spinach-mushroom mixture evenly over the cooked butternut and mix together with a large spoon or spatula. 
12. Pour the cheese sauce across the pan and use your spatula to make sure it covers all the areas of the pan.

13. Cover casserole dish with aluminum foul and return to the oven for 15 minutes. 
14. Remove the foil and cook for 10 more to allow the cheese sauce to brown (mmm the best part).

It's done when heated through an the squash thoroughly cooked (test by making sure squash is easily pierced with a butter knife)

Allow to cool a few minutes and enjoy! Great with brown rice, whole wheat pasta or egg noodles.

Vegetable Stock Made from Scratch

Recipe by my good friend, Emily Mcfarlane.

Stock makes everything more delicious and adds layers of flavor to your homemade dishes. Use it in place of water when cooking rice or pasta, as a base for soups and sauces, and to simmer veggies, fish, or chicken on the stove top. Buying it can get expensive especially if you want the stuff without a lot of extra sodium or other crap. The solution is to make your own on the cheap. Don’t worry, it takes very little time or effort and can be made out of things you would normally throw away.

Keep a gallon-size bag in your freezer and as you chop veggies, put the leftover peels, odds and ends in the bag.

What to include:

Celery that’s gone rubbery

Carrot peels and ends

Mushroom stems

Outer layers of onions and papers

Garlic bits- papers, the knob on the bottom of the head, cloves that are too tiny to chop up otherwise

Herbs that you forgot about and have dried out

Beet scraps- peels, bottoms and tails (but not too much or you will have bright pink stock!)

What not to include:

Anything with high water content- lettuce, cucumber etc

Anything that is very starchy- potato, butternut squash

Any veggies that are too far gone- celery and carrots that have gotten a little limp are ok, but if they're brown and rotting then don't include them- the flavor will permeate your stock.

Make sure you’ve cleaned everything BEFORE you put it in your freezer bag, it’ll make things easier when it comes time to make stock. When the bag is full, you’re ready! Make sure you have at least the equivalent of 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery and one onion (the aromatics). In addition make sure you have plenty of herbs to flavor your stock: garlic, basil and thyme work well; tying them up in some cheese cloth will make them easier to fish out later. Put all of your veggies (no need to thaw), herbs, and a pinch of salt in the bottom of a large pot and cover with water (about 12 cups). Bring water to a boil then turn down and allow to simmer for an hour or so. Your kitchen will smell awesome and in the end you will have delicious stock. Wait for it to cool down a bit, then using a slotted spoon remove all of the vegetable bits and the bunch of herbs.

To store your stock, I would recommend pouring it into a few different containers for your freezer so you don't have to thaw the entire batch to use it in a recipe. Even better, use a liquid measuring cup to parcel out one cup measurements so it will be ready for recipes (risotto, I'm looking at you). I also like to freeze some in an ice cube tray covered with plastic, in case I only need a little bit.