Charred Autumn Squash Mash with Bacon

A few years ago I made twice-baked butternut squash potatoes. I adapted a recipe and it didn't turn out great. Looking back on it, I can see that I did things by choice I wouldn't do the same way today. Then sometimes I just get excited and go astray by accident because I didn't read the ingredients list thoroughly and it's still good.

Originally written for a buttercup squash, I used a butternut in this recipe. And honestly, I didn't realize that until right now. I didn't know that if a squash name started with "b" it'd be anything but a butternut. Did you? Not only was I supposed to use a buttercup, but the squash wasn't supposed to be peeled. I just looked at how long that squash line was on the ingredients list and assumed "peeled" was in there.

Charred Autumn Squash Mash with Bacon
adapted from Cooking Club, Fall 2013
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6 slices apple-wood smoked bacon, coarsely chopped
3 (6-inch) sprigs fresh thyme
3 (6-inch) sprigs fresh sage
3 lb. buttercup squash, halved lengthwise, seeded, cut into wedges (2-2.5")
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c sliced shallots
3/4 - 1 c hot whole milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 400°F.

Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes or until brown and slightly crisp; drain on paper towels. Reserve bacon drippings in skillet.


Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil, lightly coat foil with cooking spray. Arrange thyme and sage on baking sheet. Lightly brush cut edges of squash with 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon drippings; place cut-side-down over herbs.

The hot bacon grease cooled quickly when brushed onto the squash pieces. The solidified grease made the squash look like candles.

Bake 20 minutes; turn squash. Bake until browned and tender, 10-40 minutes.

The second baking time was supposed to be 10-15 minutes according to the original recipe.

Transfer squash to large bowl; reserve herb sprigs. Using potato masher, mash squash until smooth.


Discard all but 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in skillet. Add butter to skillet and heat over medium until hot.


Add shallots; cook 1 minute or until softened, stirring frequently.


Reduce heat to low; stir in mashed squash.


Slowly stir in 3/4 cup milk, adding additional milk to desired consistency.


Crumble roasted herb leaves over squash, discarding stems.


Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon for garnish; stir in remaining bacon, salt and pepper.


Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until hot, stirring constantly. Serve garnished with reserved 2 tablespoons bacon.


As I said above, the recipe turned out well even though I didn't follow the directions to a T. I thought the milk in the squash mash would be weird, but nope, not at all. The roasted herbs looked crazy since they were so dark and crispy but what a pleasant little trick! With the bacon there was nice variation in texture and little flavor explosions. Yep, this was a good one.

When I do this next time, I'll plan for 60 minutes of roasting time and will flip the squash after 30 minutes.

Cost:

• apple-wood smoked bacon: $1.56
• fresh thyme: $1
• fresh sage: $0.56
• butternut squash: $2.76
• unsalted butter: $0.05
• shallots: $0.72
• whole milk: $0.25

Total: $6.90 or about $1.15 for each of six servings.

Summer Herb-Stuffed Pork Chops

Mixing and matching mains and sides from the selections in the latest magazine, I figured I'd go with these chops. Enough for two, this means I'll have chops for dinner twice. The magazine recommends roasted potatoes and steamed green beans for sides, which would've been colorfully eye-pleasing, but I'm glad I rocked the cauliflower.

Summer Herb-Stuffed Pork Chops
adapted from Cooking Club
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2 boneless center-cut loin pork chops (3/4 inch thick)
3 tbsp chopped mixed fresh herbs (basil, dill, parsley and/or chives)
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c minced shallots
1/3 c chicken stock
1/3 c white wine or additional chicken broth

With small sharp knife, make horizontal slice in each pork chop to create a pocket, being careful not to cut all the way through.


Spoon herbs into pocket; sprinkle pork with salt and pepper.


Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot.


Add pork; cook 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.


Add shallots; cook over medium heat 30 seconds, stirring frequently.


Add stock; bring to a boil.


Cover; reduce heat to low, simmer 15 minutes or until pork chops are tender and pale pink in center. Remove pork; cover loosely with foil.

I stopped cooking the chops after 8 minutes. I hate overdone chops and overdone is my tendency.

Add wine to skillet; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.

Oops, I turned my back longer than the 3 minutes but not so long that it was ruined.

Spoon sauce over pork.



It was a good thing I didn't cook the chops the entire 15 minutes. They would definitely have been overcooked. These turned out essentially perfect after resting for about 10 minutes. As for flavor, the chops were pretty good but I wouldn't call them stellar. I might do these again with a variety of herbs as suggested. I only used basil out of laziness. If additional herbs were added, there might be a fresh kapow happening.

Cost:

• boneless center-cut loin pork chops: $6.59
• fresh basil: $1
• olive oil: $0.06
• shallots: $1
• chicken stock: $0.06
• white wine: $1.50

Total: $10.21 or about $5.11 for each of two servings.

Orange and Ginger Caramelized Chicken Wings

Here we go, my first attempt at a Gordon Ramsay recipe. It was hard deciding which one to start with as he has so many available on the internet that look so good and really simple to prepare. The pile of wings I had in the freezer helped me decide.

Orange and Ginger Caramelized Chicken Wings
adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape found at channel4.com
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3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
6–8 shallots, peeled and sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and bashed
2 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
zest and juice of 2 oranges
3/4 c granulated sugar
2/3 c water
2 tbsp fish sauce
2.2 lbs chicken wings
sea salt
crushed black pepper
green onion, optional for garnish


That there's most everything, ready to rock and roll. Look at that bowl of sugar!

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the oil in a pan.


Add the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and orange zest and cook for 2–3 minutes, until the ingredients have softened.

Once the ingredients were added to the oil and stirred, I realized the lemongrass was just going to continue sitting on top of everything else instead of mingling. Fishing them out immediately, I quickly cut them to stirrable lengths (1.5-2 inches) and returned them to the pan. 

Add the sugar, water, orange juice, and fish sauce and stir to dissolve.


Cook until the mixture has reduced and thickened. This should take 3–4 minutes and the sauce should start turning syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside.

I let it continue simmering as it didn't appear to reduce at all.

Meanwhile, place a large frying pan over a high heat and add 3–4 tablespoons of vegetable oil.


Season the chicken with salt and pepper.


In batches, sear the pieces for 3 minutes, until browned.


You'll want to get the splatter screen out if you have one. Don't wait until the second batch of chicken, find it before you start. 

Transfer the chicken wings to an ovenproof dish and pour over the caramel sauce, mixing well to coat.


Bake wings in the oven 40–45 minutes until golden brown and sticky. Halfway through cooking, baste the chicken wings.

Twenty minutes in, I realized that my wings weren't going to have the texture I was looking for if they continued to steam in this pile of juice. They were transferred to a baking sheet and the sauce poured over before returning to the oven.

Remove the chicken wings from the oven.


Season with sea salt and crushed black pepper and serve with the sauce spooned over if you like.


This is excellent chicken! I can definitely see doing this with drums and/or thighs too. The orange is a nice prominent flavor with just a mild hint of lemon from the lemongrass, which I'm glad I finally tried. Caramelized, the lemongrass, orange zest, and ginger pieces were like bits of candy accentuating the sticky wings.

Now the nuts and bolts. The sauce wasn't reduced a whole lot after a few minutes. I let it continue simmering for 30 minutes, right up until I poured it over the chicken which I had dragged my feet to brown, and it still hadn't reduced much at all. I think the pan shouldn't have been a saucepan but a skillet. I'm glad I switched from the baking dish to a baking sheet. That really allowed the sauce to thicken and become more caramelized. Some of the skin was even crispy which was a surprise considering how saucy the dish was.

It is a really sweet sauce and I'd probably cut back on the sugar a bit to allow the citrus to have more of a bang. When measuring the sugar, 150 grams, my eyes got bigger and bigger as I kept spooning it into the tared prep bowl. Instead of 3/4 cups, I'd maybe do 2/3 or even as low as 1/2 a cup.

I'm not really thrilled with the fish sauce I used. It wasn't very pungent and didn't give the big salty boost in flavor as I'd expected.

Overall, a win. I look forward to doing this again and trying additional Ramsay recipes.

Cost:

• vegetable oil: $0.24
• shallots: $2.15
• garlic cloves: $0.32
• lemongrass: $0.90
• fresh ginger: $1.61
• oranges: $1.14
• sugar: $0.30
• fish sauce: $0.50
• chicken wings: $5.48

Total: $12.64 or about $3.16 for each of four servings.