Have I mentioned I love fall? I think I have. One of my favorite factors about fall is the cooking. Cooking in the summer is pretty lame. Especially if you lack air conditioning. Who wants to slave over a hot stove and create a hot meal when it's hot outside? I, for one, do not. But, as soon as the weather cools (and the pregnancy nausea subsides, in our case this year), it's back to the kitchen for me. I'm not terribly domestic and HATE most housework with a passion, but I love to cook. And I like to think I'm quite good at it.
One of the greatest foods of fall is the butternut squash. I don't think I ever ate butternut squash until I was married. Maybe when I was single and in college, but why did my mother never utilize this versatile and wonderfully delicious vegetable?! Mmmm... butternut squash soup, butternut squash ravioli, and last night was Maren's recipe for butternut squash mac and cheese. Served alongside pumpkin chocolate muffins.... and grilled chicken and peas.
I also have to share my mom's Brunswick Stew recipe. Guys, seriously, make this. It is absolutely to die for. Maybe I just think so because it's my mom's recipe. I don't know. To me, it is heaven in a bowl.
Step 1: Boil chicken breasts (1-2, depending on how much chicken you like) in chicken broth and some water until cooked, tender, and falling apart. I actually used leftover crockpot rotisserie chicken from the days before and boiled the carcass for a few hours to make broth. It worked well. My mom thinks cooking whole chickens is gross. So yeah, proportions for chicken broth to water I don't know exactly, but maybe 2 cups of broth to 1 cup of water?
Step 2: Next, add -
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can condensed tomato soup
About 2 medium potatoes, diced into good-sized chunks
About 3 carrots, cut into chunks
Step 3: Cook for.... 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Just simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender-like. Then add about 1/2-3/4 bag of frozen baby lima beans and a good bit of frozen corn (2 cups). Cook for 10-ish more minutes.
Step 4: Add one whole stick of real butter (if you are watching your figure, 1/2 stick would probably do, but don't skip it entirely!). Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy with a large hunk of homemade bread. This is crucial.
Yum.
One of the greatest foods of fall is the butternut squash. I don't think I ever ate butternut squash until I was married. Maybe when I was single and in college, but why did my mother never utilize this versatile and wonderfully delicious vegetable?! Mmmm... butternut squash soup, butternut squash ravioli, and last night was Maren's recipe for butternut squash mac and cheese. Served alongside pumpkin chocolate muffins.... and grilled chicken and peas.
I also have to share my mom's Brunswick Stew recipe. Guys, seriously, make this. It is absolutely to die for. Maybe I just think so because it's my mom's recipe. I don't know. To me, it is heaven in a bowl.
Step 1: Boil chicken breasts (1-2, depending on how much chicken you like) in chicken broth and some water until cooked, tender, and falling apart. I actually used leftover crockpot rotisserie chicken from the days before and boiled the carcass for a few hours to make broth. It worked well. My mom thinks cooking whole chickens is gross. So yeah, proportions for chicken broth to water I don't know exactly, but maybe 2 cups of broth to 1 cup of water?
Step 2: Next, add -
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can condensed tomato soup
About 2 medium potatoes, diced into good-sized chunks
About 3 carrots, cut into chunks
Step 3: Cook for.... 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Just simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender-like. Then add about 1/2-3/4 bag of frozen baby lima beans and a good bit of frozen corn (2 cups). Cook for 10-ish more minutes.
Step 4: Add one whole stick of real butter (if you are watching your figure, 1/2 stick would probably do, but don't skip it entirely!). Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy with a large hunk of homemade bread. This is crucial.
Yum.
I've been curious about "brunswick stew" for a long time since Lauren posts about it occasionally, I think that's what we're having tonight, yum!
ReplyDeleteMom and I decided it's not really brunswick stew. We should just called it "Grandma's chicken and veggie stew" or something. Also, my recipe calls for it to be cooked for 2-3 hours. Butter/lima beans, at any rate, should be cooked for like 45 minutes to get starchy and delicious. And I don't think mine has carrots, but I should totally add them next time. I LOVE carrots. I love butternut squash, too. I made it in risotto once but risotto is a pain to make. I'll have to try it in soup or mac & cheese.
ReplyDelete