Enjoy your butternuts! And you definitely will with this Butternut Asiago Squash.
Its fall and we are dreaming of brightly colored leaves, cooler temperatures, our favorite scarves, and trips to the pumpkin patch. All the gourds and squashes in different shapes and colors delight me. And I have made it my mission in the past to let everyone know that they aren’t just for decoration. Each and everyone can be eaten and enjoyed. You just have to know how to attack it.
Butternut squashes have gained a great deal of popularity in the past few years. I admit to jumping for joy when I see that the Autumn Squash soup is back on the menu at Panera or when I find my beloved butternut squash ravioli in the pasta section at the grocers.
But how do I cook it at home? You might be asking yourself. This funny shaped pale orange squash need not be a mystery any longer. This recipe will have you enjoying the sweet and nutty flavor of fall in less than 10 minutes.
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scrap out the seeds. (You can easily save the seeds to plant in your garden next year or roast them on a baking sheet in a little olive oil.)
Rub the edges with and inside with the butter and place the halves flesh side down on a plate or in a baking dish.
Microwave on high for 5-8 minutes or until you can easily push a fork through the shell.
Allow the squash to cool then scrap out the insides into a serving dish.
Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the cheese.
What food reminds you of childhood?
Rice crispie treats
What is your favorite international cuisine? I love it all; why pick?
What is always in your refrigerator at home? Beer
What is your most used cookbook? Better Homes & Gardens red checkered cookbook
What is your favorite kitchen gadget? My canner.
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Not really because I don’t deny myself much. Everything in moderation.
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again? .Onions
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home? Fried egg sandwich
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks? Just try it. If it flops throw it out or feed it the chickens and try again.
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes? Art
What else would you like us to know about you? I’m honest. I usually only bite my food. I love Jesus but I drink a little.
Jeanetta is a crocheter & coffee addict, chicken keeper & goat wrangler, a farmer girl & maker of drunk jellies. You can find her online at So I Was Sayin’ or on twitter, pinterest & instagram . You can also follow her on Periscope (Jeanetta) and join with her for #Arkanscopes.
When my son Wylie was younger he had a bit of an obsession with Garfield, the lazy, fat cat with a lasagna habit, which in turn led Wylie to develop his own lasagna habit. A few years ago, while working on my book, A Homemade Year: The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting, and Coming Together, I needed an Italian pasta recipe for the chapter on St. Joseph, so I turned to Wylie for inspiration. Together he and Sweet Man (my husband Nathan,) developed the following recipe which calls for three cheeses, three meats, and three sauces – a triple threat of deliciousness that will please a crowd!
1 pound bacon cut into bite size pieces cooked crisp and drained
1 pound ground beef chuck browned and drained
1 pound ground pork browned and drained
1 cup grated Parmesan
3 cup shredded Mozzarella
1 15oz tub Ricotta cheese
1 24-ounce jar of your favorite prepared marinara sauce
1 15- ounce jar of your favorite prepared Alfredo sauce
1 6-7 oz jar of prepared pesto sauce
One egg
Prepared Italian or Panko bread crumbs
2 boxes lasagna noodles (We prefer the smaller square pasta sheets that have no ruffles. You probably will not use all of both boxes, but you will likely need more than one.)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400
The best way to build a pan of lasagna is to first create a buffet of the various ingredients.
Mix the cooked meats together in a large bowl.
Mix the Parmesan and mozzarella in another large bowl.
Put the ricotta in a third bowl and mix in the egg.
Pour the marinara sauce into a fourth bowl (fairly good sized) and then refill your sauce jar with tap water, and mix this into your marinara sauce. (The extra water will be absorbed by the lasagna noodles, which will enter the baking pan uncooked)
In a large lasagna pan, spread a layer of the thin red sauce, completely covering the bottom of your pan.
Next place a layer of uncooked pasta on top of the sauce, followed by layers of Alfredo, meat, mozzarella/Parmesan, pesto, and ricotta/egg.
Continue building layers in this fashion until you reach the top of the pan, always starting with the thin sauce
The top and final layer should be composted in this way red sauce, pasta, red sauce, mozzarella/ Parmesan.
Cover dish tightly with foil and place on the center rack of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until it has thoroughly cooked through.
Remove foil, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and return to oven until cheese and bread crumbs are browned.
Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing into portions (if you do not let it stand and cool the whole dish will fall apart into a slippery mess when you try to cut it.)
Enjoy!
By Jerusalem Greer
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Jerusalem Jackson Greer is a writer, speaker, nest-fluffer, recent farm-gal, and author of A Homemade Year: The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting and Coming Together. She is the Minister to Children, Youth, and Families at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway, Arkansas. Jerusalem lives with her husband and two sons on a little farm in Shady Grove, Arkansas. As a family, they are attempting to live a slower version of modern life. She blogs about all of this and more at http://jerusalemgreer.com
In the early 1980s, I loaded all my belongings in my yellow corvette (for realz) and headed to Texas. Moving was simple when my belongings consisted of clothes and a bulky stereo.
Today? Not so much. Moving back to Arkansas thirty-three years later is a tad more challenging. There are certain things that can’t be transported by a moving company across state lines. Obvious things like hazardous chemicals, but bourbon and wine? Hmmm. And my plants! Huh? Yeah, I’ll be the crazy person driving a carload of ferns and herbs to Arkansas.
What about food, you ask? Although pantry foods can be moved, I’d rather fill the expensive moving truck with other things. So in light of this food issue, for the past month I’ve been on a mission to cook only from our freezer and pantry. Thus, every night is a pantry raid at our house. I create whatever I can, using what’s on hand. And what’s on hand often includes rice.
Seriously.
Apparently I have been stockpiling rice. Arkansas rice to be specific. My family farms rice in Northeast Arkansas, so when I eat Riceland Foods rice milled in Stuttgart, Arkansas, I am buying local. That makes me happy deep in the heart of Texas.
This cheddar rice soufflé (tweaked from my grits soufflé recipe) served as our main supper course one night last week. The soufflé part of the equation combined with rice made the dish light and fluffy. Although this is not a difficult recipe, there is planning involved so set aside two hours for prep, stovetop cooking, cooling and baking. The final result is well worth the effort. I’ll be making this cheddar rice soufflé again soon.
Melt butter on low heat in a heavy saucepan. Add flour. Stir until smooth. Gradually add milk. Heat until thick and bubbly like gravy.
Add rice and all remaining ingredients except eggs. Stir over low heat until mixed well. Mixture will be thick.
Remove pan from heat and let cool for at least thirty minutes.
Beat egg yolks on high speed until lemony yellow color.
Add egg yolks to cooled rice mixture and mix well.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
(When beating egg whites, make sure there is no water, oil or yolk residue inside your mixer. Even a drop will affect your whites. Egg whites should be at room temperature before beating.)
Gently fold egg whites into rice mixture.
Pour into 1 ½ quart ungreased casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 50 minutes (ovens vary) until knife in center comes out clean and top has a nice golden color. (During baking, resist opening the oven to peek at your dish.)
Serve immediately.
Notes
This is a great way to use leftover rice too!
By Grace Grits and Gardening -- Talya Boerner
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
As the daughter of an Arkansas cotton farmer, Talya grew up making mud pies and does her best thinking wearing gardening gloves. Although she has lived in Dallas since college, she has a continued passion for the Mississippi Delta and returns home to the family farm often. Talya freelances for Front Porch, Bourbon and Boots, East Dallas Advocate and Only in Arkansas. She is working on several writing projects including her first novel. Follow her heartfelt stories about food, farm, garden and life at Grace Grits and Gardening.
The winner of our Giveaway for two Bacon Bowl tickets from Petit Jean Meats is Keisha P. Congrats. Petit Jean Meats will be in touch.
One of my favorites for summer dining is a simple cheese and fruit plate, such as this Feta with Peppered Honey and Toasted Almonds served along with locally grown Arkansas peaches. This plus a fresh-from-the-garden salad (or local farmers’ market) and probably some crunchy bread might easily be a meal at our house. If needed, a simple protein, perhaps a chicken breast, thrown on the grill could round it out.
The fruit and cheese plate serves two roles: as an appetizer or as a dessert. It’s summer in the south, ya’ll and that means it’s hot! While most Southern belles “glisten,” I sweat, especially when the oven comes on. Fortunately, Hubby’s great with the grill and the smoker, and he really doesn’t mind a light meal at all.
The man has will power. He does so well with his weight. I wish that trait passed on to me by osmosis. Or something that doesn’t involve dieting and exercise (aka work). But he does have a weakness for desserts, nuts and cheeses.
Ta – dah! This Feta With Peppered Honey and Toasted Almonds works perfectly to satisfy his cravings (and mine), and it borders on healthy when served alongside fresh, locally grown summer fruits. I think peaches , such as those we get from our Arkansas Grown friends at Peach Pickin’ Paradise (Twitter) in Clarksville or Barnhill Orchards in Lonoke, are perfect but you can use whatever fruit you like. I usually use slivered almonds, but here again, you can use toasted walnuts or pecans if that’s what you have and what you prefer. I prefer the honey I get from P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm hives. If you’re lucky enough to have your own hives, or have a neighbor who does, then definitely use that.
Don’t limit yourself to feta for this dish either. Goat cheese or homemade ricotta (check that out next week on Dining With Debbie) work very well. I like feta because of its sharpness which contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the honey. And you just won’t believe what the cracked pepper does until you give it a try! Not a pepper fan? Leave it off. There’s nothing hard and fast about the cheese plate — always suit the tastes of yourself and your family. Be brave. Experiment. Some of my best dishes, okay and some of my worst, have been through experimentation.
If you have edible flowers available, such as nasturtiums, use those as garnish. The peppery flavor of the nasturtiums goes quite nicely with this dish. Or, garnish with basil or mint for a different palate pleaser.
Summer is all about relaxing, and this dish definitely fits that bill. Take it easy, ya’ll.
What are some of your go-to summer dishes? I hope you’ll share.
When ready to serve, pour honey mixture over feta and arrange fruit around the cheese.
Garnish
Serve with crackers, if desired.
By Dining With Debbie
Adapted from Gourmet's Casual Entertaining
Adapted from Gourmet's Casual Entertaining
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Debbie Arnold serves as a co-administrator for Arkansas Women Bloggers and pontificates and eats at Dining With Debbie. She and her Hubby split their time between Central and Northwest Arkansas. She loves to cook, develop recipes and have play dates with her two perfect grands. Mostly, she has play dates with the Perfect Ones. If you’re interested in writing for Foodie Friday, she’s the one to contact.
A little well known fact about me is that hosting is not one of my strong points.
Yes, it’s true. I am many things, but being hostess with the mostess is just not one of them.
Which is why I am a big fan of easy-peasy throw together appetizers that scream, “I’m DELICIOUS eat me now!” without having to break your back in the kitchen. (I also abhor dish cleaning, and this recipe pays favors in that regards as well. You can thank me later.). These Mexican Wontons are the perfect blend of melt in your mouth salty yum with a crisp wonton holding it altogether to give you that crunch. It’s perfection… trust me.
A friend of mine actually introduced me to this recipe several years ago during a little shindig where we all were asked to bring an appetizer and/or drink. This pairs nicely with your favorite daiquiri or margarita (lime, frozen, salted rim – thank you), and is brought to you just in time for you to try it out for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Or just for your friends coming over to have a little picnic on the back porch. That works too.
Without further ado, I give you…. Mexican Wontons.
1 package of wonton wrappers (typically found in the refrigerator section of the produce department) I‘ve always found mine near the Tofu in the produce section at Walmart)
1 pound pork sausage
3 stalks green onions, chopped
1 can Rotel, drained (any variety is fine, but I like the Mexican variety best).
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1.5 Tablespoons ranch dressing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a regular sized cupcake pan with the wonton wrappers, using your fingers to evenly form them to the pan.
Bake for about 4-5 minutes.
This is where I tell you that cooking wontons is like broiling your bread for dinner. DO NOT STEP AWAY. Otherwise you may end up with black wontons, which tends to deter the crowd away from actually eating your masterpiece.
Once your wontons are evenly toasted to a slightly golden appearance, remove from the oven and set out to cool.
Once cool, these can be stored in a large Ziploc bag until ready to be used (I would make these the day that you plan on eating them, as they taste best when freshly toasted).
In a large skillet, brown the pork sausage until completely cooked. Drain well, and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Combine the sausage with the green onions, Rotel, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing. (Sidenote: I tend to go a little overboard on the cheese and put more than 1 cup, because… CHEESE. If you tend to not like things extra super cheesy, then you’ll probably just want to stick with the recommended 1 cup. But I promise you, you’re missing out on life.)
Once everything is well mixed, simply scoop and place evenly into the toasted wonton wrappers, serving warm.
Notes
The sausage mixture can be set aside and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the wontons, which makes it a perfect make-ahead dish to bring to a party. If you refrigerate the mixture, simply reheat in a microwave set on high, for several minutes. Enjoy
By Lindsey March: A Dollop of My Life
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Lindsey is a self-professed Sonic Happy Hour addict and lover of all things Southern (though far from a Southern Belle). Lindsey is the writer behind A Dollop of My Life, where she chronicles life as a wife to Drew and a mama to the three sweetest, most ornery boys that God has ever created. Lindsey has a pension for putting her foot in her mouth, coming across too blunt and not being afraid to be honestly truthful about the hard parts of life. You can find Lindsey on various social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest).
