Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fall Foods

Fall is the best time of the year for cooking up some great meals. Shorter days bring you inside earlier. The cooler weather makes it OK heat up your kitchen again. Sure, summer has dynamite fresh produce and is a great time to create cool salads and other less cooked fare. Maybe fire up the grill outdoors for the meat. But fall has the apple harvest and tailgating, the beers and sausages of Octoberfest, festivals and hot cider, and that huge turkey dinner. It is the time that we welcome hearty meals and comfort food. I start to crave substantial eats -- with roasted root veggies, cold weather crops, savory sausages and meats, sauces and gravies, mashed potato, and hot soup. It is a perfect time to cook up something spicy, or maybe a touch exotic, with strong flavors. There are still fresh herbs in the garden, just waiting for that last harvest before the first frost. We have basil, sage, thyme, chives and rosemary that need to be used before they go dormant for the season.

As I type, I am roasting a butternut squash and shallots in oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground peppercorns. I'm trying a new recipe: southwestern butternut squash soup. After the roasting, the squash mixture will be pureed with chicken broth and cooked with cumin, lime juice, honey, minced chipotle in adobo sauce, and heavy cream. I'll throw in fresh chopped cilantro just before serving. I hope it is as yummy as it sounds.

I still miss the butternut crab bisque that I used to get at Margaux's Deli in Southbridge, Massachusetts. That would be a recipe worth searching for. Maybe I'll do that soon, because Fall is a great time for cooking, and what's not to love* about crab bisque?


* For the record, PDM is not crazy about cream sauces and bisque. Or crab. But he eats it if I cook it, which makes him a good sport, don't you think?

16 comments:

Dave said...

Leave the leftovers in a red plastic bag at the corner of Clairmont and Druid, the closed gas station on your way to the office. I'll pick them up. And, my thanks in advance.

fermicat said...

It was super yum!

LL said...

Butternut squash soup? Ooook...

fermicat said...

I'm telling you, it was GOOD!

NYPinTA said...

Can I come over for dinner?

fermicat said...

Sure! You might want to stay over. It's a bit of a long commute.

dr sardonicus said...

What nypinta said. I'm coming down for dinner someday. And I don't have near as long of a drive...

Jenn said...

I miss the lobster bisque I used to get in Conneticut. There are just some foods you cna't get down here and I am not a grand enough cook to recreate. LOL. I am a great cook... look at my hips... but I am not grand and flamboyant enough to make a bisque. your dinner sounds yummy. it is 11:11 now... how did it turn out?

Jeni said...

Shellfish stuff won't make it to my dinner table here mainly because the SIL won't eat it and it's bad enough having to fix two entres as it is now -one for adults, one for two autistic kids. LOL But man, that bisque sounds super good. (I'm about the only one in the house who likes shrimp, clams, crab.)
But squash -the SIL is the ONLY one who doesn't care for that so today, we had baked acorn squash with our dinner and Mandy, my son, Clate and I thoroughly enjoyed that, even got Maya to taste a little bit of it and agree with us how yummy it is!

Debo Blue said...

What Dave said only can you ship mine to Phoenix?

I'll take your word that it's good but I'm gonna agree a little w/LL. It's squash....

fermicat said...

dr s - come on down!

jenny - it isn't quite as good, but you can find a tub of frozen lobster bisque at the grocery store - usually near the frozen seafood. Heat it up and pour a little sherry into it, and it is almost like the New England variety.

jeni - shrimp is the only shellfish that PDM likes. I'm not a huge squash fan, but once in a while it hits the spot.

debo - it is the roasting step that made it so good. The shallots carmelized nicely and the butternut tasted great that way. The end result didn't taste "squashy", just good.

Beth said...

I just caught up on what I've missed. Poor Silvio. He looks pitiful. (I'm still thinking you two are saints.) I mean, I don't know what I would do if Scully was peeing all over and costing thousands. I probably would have him euthanized. Isn't that terrible? I am terrible!

I loved Ron Howard's service announcement. Go Obama!

And fall foods are fantastic. I get so into baking now too -- now that the kitchen isn't a zillion degrees.

ctheokas said...

I think I'll get some sausages and beer, and cook the sausages in the beer. With some onions. I'm just sayin'. THis post made me hungry for real food, and all I've got at the office here are SnackWells.

Sigh.

I'll have to wait until I get home for the Pear Cider.

Beth said...

Hidey ho (Swedish prostitute greeting). I saw a question from you where you were checking on me in blog. I have been sick. Really sick. First I was just busy, then I got the freaking flu, and it laid me right out for a few days ... and right when I was on an upswing, Mr. Red visited. So, I've been trampled for a bit, but today am finally feeling like my old self. Just wanted to let you know since you were so sweet to ask. TMI? Haha.

Jenn said...

mmmmm yummy, thanks, I will look on Wed's when I go shopping.

fermicat said...

beth - sorry you were sick. Hope things are better soon!

ctheokas - mmmm, sausages cooked in beer.

jenny - it was very good soup.