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All Hail The Dark: Butternut Squash And Caramelized Onion Galette

It’s decorative gourd season, motherfucker.

I hate making gluten-free crust, but a galette is a little different. It’s meant to look rustic, and a patch here or there won’t affect anything.

Add a no-stress crust with a luscious butternut squash filling, and you have a big slice of perfection, even when it’s not perfect.

Non-gluten-free people? Just make a regular pie crust (or roll out a store-bought one. Nobody is judging you in this season of dark and quiet).

Butternut Squash And Caramelized Onion Galette

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (regular flour works, too)

pinch of salt

1 stick of very cold butter, cut into bits (or frozen and grated)

1/4 cup Greek yogurt (or sour cream, or regular yogurt)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup ice water (seriously. Ice water. Don’t skimp. Cold tap doesn’t work.)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon of salt

pinch of sugar (OPTIONAL)

Filling

1 medium onion, sliced in half moons

cayenne to taste

2 cups butternut squash in 1/2″ dice (about one medium squash, peeled, seeded, and diced)

2 teaspoons dried sage

1 cup shredded provolone cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Make pastry first, as it needs to chill. You can even make it the day before.

Method one: Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. In a small bowl, combine Greel yogurt/sour cream and lemon juice. Add butter to flour and salt in food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add sour cream mixture and pulse to combine. Slowly add ice water until dough comes together.

Method two: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and lemon juice. Using a pastry cutter or fingers, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add sour cream mixture and mix well. Add ice water and mix until dough comes together.

Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press together into a ball. Wrap tightly and chill for an hour.

Melt butter in a hot pan and add onions, salt, and sugar (if using). Turn heat down and slowly cook onions until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Once caramelized, sprinkle with cayenne and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil (for easier clean-up. #Trust).

Toss butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread in a  single layer on the baking sheet. Roast squash in oven until soft, stirring once. This will take about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine squash, onions, cheese, and sage. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside while you roll out the crust.

I use a piece of parchment paper to roll out my crust, as this makes for super easy transfer to a baking sheet.

Place chilled dough on parchment. Place plastic wrap on top of the dough (this keeps pastry from sticking to the rolling pin without adding extra flour, which can dry pastry out) and roll out into a circle roughly 12″ in diameter and no more than a 1/4″ thick.

Pile butternut squash mixture in the center, leaving about 1 1/2″ around the edge without filling. Fold the edges of the pastry over and pinch to seal any gaps. I use a bench scraper to pick up the dough so that I am not warming it up by touching it more than I have to.

Keeping galette on the parchment, transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes (check at 20) until the edges are golden brown.

Remove from oven and let stand for at least five minutes before serving.

Recipe notes

  • This pastry works for sweet fillings as well. Apple galette is in our future. Brush the crust with milk or cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar before baking.
  • If your edges rip (as mine did), just make a patch with some of the other pastry.
  • If you happen to be in the grocery store and happen to buy those pre-cut butternut squash cubes and decide to use those instead of peeling and dicing a whole squash, consider that a win. Butternut squash can be a bitch.
  • An alternate method of roasting a squash is to cut it in half and remove the seeds. Brush flesh with oil and place flesh-side-down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast in oven at 350 until skin is easily pierced with a fork. Scoop flesh out of the skin and proceed with onions and cheese.

Fall Breakfast: Spicy Ginger Pumpkin Pancakes

Spices and crystallized ginger mean no syrup needed for these fall pancakes.

I am no big fan of pumpkin. Mostly it tastes like the spices that flavor it, IMVHO — it doesn’t have a specific taste, really, especially if it comes out of the can (and is likely to be butternut squash anyway).

But these fall pancakes manage to balance the more subtle flavors of pumpkin with a fiery kick of ginger. I add a ton of chopped crystallized ginger, so I get a crunchy piece in every bite. It’s the perfect fall breakfast or late-night snack or mid-day snack or dinner or…you get the idea.

Spicy Ginger Pumpkin Pancakes

These pancakes could not have been more delicious if they tried. Faintly spicy, studded with crispy candied ginger and tasting of pumpkin. Light and fluffy. Delicious with or without maple syrup. Delicious with homemade apple butter. You will want to keep this recipe and make it often, especially my gluten-free friends. They freeze beautifully, and you can even freeze the batter (although the resulting pancakes are less fluffy. Still delicious.). Add more or less spice, use the ginger or don’t, fry bacon until it’s super crispy, and then crumble it into the batter before you fry them up: go crazy.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar (use less if you like)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Minced crystallized ginger (as much as you like; I ended up with about 4 tablespoons).

1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (freeze the leftover puree in ice cube trays and pop them in soup as a thickener)

1 1/2 to 2 cups of milk (dairy or non-dairy works — I usually use oat milk; use less if you prefer waffles, but aim for thick-ish cake batter)

4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly

2 eggs

Method

In a large bowl, mix together flour sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and ginger, adjusting the spices as you see fit.

In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, and eggs.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. You don’t have to be gentle here, but it’s also okay if there are still lumps in the pancakes. I gave the batter a good thrashing with a whisk because lumps drive me crazy, and the pancakes seemed to like it (and gluten-free flour doesn’t mind it, but maybe be a little more gentle for regular AP flour).

Heat a skillet, and add a little butter if it’s not non-stick. Use a little less than 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, and cook on one side until the edges are dry and little bubbles form and pop (about 2 minutes, depending on the heat). Figure that your first pancake is going to look awful, and resign yourself to eating that steamy mound of deliciousness right away. It’s a sacrifice I am sure you are willing to make. Flip, cook for another minute or two, then serve with syrup, apple butter, wrapped around a sausage, or plain.

This makes about two dozen pancakes. I can’t actually remember. I eat them plain hot off the griddle, and I lose count. But it makes a bunch.

If you have leftovers, cool them all the way then pack them in single serving sizes and freeze. YUM.

Recipe notes

  • You can also use ground ginger, but I like the texture of the crystallized ginger in the pancake. For ground ginger, try 1 teaspoon.
  • Freeze the leftover pumpkin puree in ice cube trays and pop them in soup as a thickener. You can also use fresh-roasted pumpkin, pureed, when it’s in season.
  • Add more clove or cinnamon (or less) as you prefer it.
  • Freeze in sealed baggies in appropriate portion sizes, reheating from frozen or thawing in the ‘fridge.

Ruby Chocolate Ice Cream With Coconut And Walnuts Sandwiched By Ruby Chocolate World Peace Cookies

Fall is one of the best times for an ice cream sammie.

Technically, I am not supposed to have a blog post title that long.

It should be short and sweet, intriguing.

But if you are not intrigued by the title above, you’re a dead person in a flesh suit.

Start here. Watch the video, make the cookies.

I swapped out my gluten-free flour blend and an equal amount of ruby chocolate for the chopped chocolate at the end.

And a word to the wise: weighing the ingredients for this recipe is important. I measured by volume the first time around and was totally unimpressed. Measuring by weight changed the whole experience. This recipe makes 36 cookies, and they can be frozen, baked, or frozen unbaked and sliced/baked when ready.

You could also skip the ruby chocolate if you like and make them as written, and you wouldn’t be sad, but this is a theme. 10/10 recommend finding some ruby chocolate for the cookies — you need it for the ice cream anyway, so why not?

Next, make the ice cream. This ruby chocolate ice cream is velvety smooth and rich, studded with unsweetened coconut and chopped walnuts. It’s not the same flamboyant pink of other recipes on the interwebs because I opted not to add food coloring or beet powder, but it you want that shock of pink in your mouth, add a 1/2 teaspoon of powder or as many drops of food color as you like.

New to ruby chocolate, which is a relative newcomer to food? Read more about ruby chocolate here from the company that discovered it.

Ruby Chocolate Ice Cream With Coconut And Walnuts

Ingredients

1 ½ cups heavy cream

½ cup coconut milk

⅓ cup sugar

3 egg yolks

6 ounces ruby chocolate

Optional: Beet powder or red food coloring

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Method

Heat cream, coconut milk, and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear at the edges.

While the milk heats, place the egg yolks in one bowl and the ruby chocolate in a slightly larger bowl and prepare an ice bath for the slightly larger bowl.

Once the bubbles appear, turn off the heat and very, very slowly drizzle the heated cream and coconut milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. If you go too fast or don’t whisk you’ll end up with sweet scrambled eggs. Go slow.

Return the mixture back to the heat, turn the flame to medium low, and get ready to stir until it thickens. This can take a minute (up to ten), but don’t get impatient and turn up the heat or you will end up with — you guessed it — sweet scrambled eggs.

When the milk mixture coats the back of the spatula and is thick (like a custardy sauce, not quite pudding), it’s done. Place a strainer over the bowl with the ruby chocolate and pour the milk into it. This catches any stray bits of egg (it happens).

Stir until the ruby chocolate is completely melted and incorporated. If adding beet powder or food coloring, do it at this step.

Place the bowl of what is now delicious, delicious ruby chocolate custard into the ice bath and stir until cooled. Wrap the bowl in plastic and chill until totally cold (at least four hours, but overnight is good, too).

When the custard is cool, process according to your ice cream maker’s directions. I add the coconut and walnuts in at the last five minutes, and it works like a charm.

Sandwich between two cookies, eat out of the ice cream maker, or freeze and serve later.

Note: 

This recipe doubles easily.

You can also substitute milks (non-dairy, no heavy cream, etc), but you will not get the same richness.

That Beef Stew Thing

A white ceramic bowl holds a stew of beef with white chunks of potato, bright orange carrots, and fresh chopped green chives. It's sitting on a wooden cutting board in front of a brick wall.
A steamy bowl of unconditional love.

So The Child is coming home for the holidays, and she has requested a few things for food. Salad (shocking), spice cake (not as shocking), and That Beef Stew Thing.

“That Beef Stew Thing” is what she has asked for since I casually tossed it together back in 2014, whenever she wants something hot and flavorful and slightly spicy but just generally warming.

It’s probably not the most traditional type of curry recipe, as it calls for a powdered mix, which seems like maybe sacrilegious, except I don’t know from curry, and when I made it was just trying to get my child to eat during a really tough year. I found the recipe on The Kitchn, linked above, and have made precious few adjustments or changes, mostly to the amount of beef, spice, or vegetables (sometimes I’ll only use sweet potatoes). Also, in my original post on this subject, I noted the conspicuous lack of salt. For God’s sake, salt your food.

Choose any curry you like. This also makes killer leftovers.

Finally, this is the posh version of That Beef Stew Thing because there was no stew beef or beef short ribs to be had in these COVID times. So I grabbed a pricey grass-fed steak and cut it into chunks, and ZOWIE. It’s good. If you’ve got the ducats for that, yay, you. Otherwise, this is equally delicious (if not more, honestly) with a lean cut of beef that needs a little time to get tender.

That Beef Stew Thing (originally called Korean Curry Rice)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 pound boneless beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch cubes (or any kind of stew beef in cubes)
1 medium onion, diced
Curry powder (honestly, to taste, any kind you like)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
2 small red or yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3 cups stock (veg or chicken)
Salt and pepper (season properly or it won’t taste great)
Steamed rice for serving
Optional: Kimchi for serving


Method
Heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the boneless beef short rib and diced onions, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Add curry powder and cook, stirring, until the spices begin to open up.


Add the carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and stock and mix well. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer, really a lazy slow one, until the beef is tender and the veg is cooked through (this is a good one for a tagine, perhaps, with enough stock, or a clay bean pot? Not sure but will definitely try the bean pot, as I have one.). If you like a thicker stew or want something more like a curry with sauce, make a slurry with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of the stew liquid. Mix completely, then add into the stew and stir through. This will thicken up nicely without any off flavor.

Serve over steamed rice with some kimchi on the side.

Oh, WordPress

My sweet horsie, Lark. Here for interest only, and completely unrelated to the rest of this post.

All I want to do is get off of WordPress and onto some other easy-to-use site. And yet here I am, languishing on a platform I hate for the sake of occasionally posting here. It’s a placeholder.

This feels like where we are in the pandemic though, yes? Languishing. Waiting. We aren’t really holed up tight (but we will be again, I predict), but many of us (hello) are not ready to emerge fully.

It’s too people-y out there for me right now.

So here I sit, stuck on WordPress (although go visit me on Medium, where I hope to focus my other writing, poetry and non-food-related musings) if I ever start writing those things again. It’s also ok to click the “follow” button there, and I sure would appreciate it. Nothing will come to your inbox unless I publish, which, if I’m honest, is unlikely for the moment.

Happiest of Sundays to you. Take care of yourselves.