Big Sur Bakery Cookbook - Michelle Wojtowicz [59]
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INGREDIENTS
FOR THE STUFFED ACORN SQUASH:
1/3 cup walnut halves
2 small acorn squash
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and cubed
2 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil
3 cups white button mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 cup stewed leeks (opposite)
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 whole scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 small shallot, minced
FOR THE SAGE BROWN BUTTER:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 fresh sage leaves, minced
Serves 4
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Scatter the walnuts on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven until they’re golden through the center, 10 to 12 minutes. (To check if they’re done, cut one open and inspect the color inside.) Set the walnuts aside. (Leave the oven on.)
Cut each squash in half through its equator and trim off just enough of the top and root ends so that the squash halves can sit flat. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cavity side up. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter, and brush it over the flesh of the squash halves. Combine the brown sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl, and sprinkle this mixture over the squash. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until the squash are soft, about 45 minutes.
While the squash are cooking, heat a sauté pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the apples, season them very lightly with salt and pepper, and sauté until they are soft but still hold their shape, about 5 minutes. Set the apples aside.
Sauté the mushrooms next: Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, drizzle the oil into it, and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Let the butter melt. Then add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until they’re soft, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the sauté pan with the white wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Set the sauté pan aside.
Prepare the filling by combining the walnuts, apples, mushrooms, leeks, parsley, chives, scallions, and shallots in a medium bowl. Season the filling with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the squash from the oven, and raise the oven temperature to 400ºF.
Stuff each squash half with a heaping ½ cup of the filling, and roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is warmed through. Transfer the squash to a platter.
While the squash is roasting, make the sage brown butter. Melt the butter over medium-high heat, and cook until the butter separates and the white solids start to brown and smell nutty, about 7 minutes. Add the minced sage, and drizzle the warm brown butter over the stuffed squash. Serve immediately.
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Stewed Leeks
Stewing leeks gives them a sweet onion flavor and a velvety texture. They’re especially good with the yam and sweet potato pie. They’re also one of the building blocks for stuffed acorn squash (opposite). You can make them a day ahead. (The photograph on Part 8 shows the leeks.)
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INGREDIENTS
3 medium leeks
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup chicken stock
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Serves 4
Cut off the dark green end of the leeks, leaving behind the white bulb and the beginnings of the green stem. Slice the leeks into ¼-inch-thick coins. Thoroughly wash the leeks in a bowl of cold water, separating the rings to get out any residual dirt. Drain off the water and wash them again—no one likes gritty leeks.
Once they’re clean, place the leeks in a saucepan and add the butter and stock. Season them lightly with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-low heat until they are tender,