now i’m not much of a cupcake fan — frosting squicks me out on principle & it’s just not my thing. i like cookies. but the idea took root that maybe i’d just only had gross store-bought cupcakes or ones made from a mix (never good), so i didn’t want to give the cupcake family short shrift in toto without trying it for myself.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs

METHOD
preheat oven to 350 degrees.

measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl. mix on low speed just until incorporated. beat on high speed for 2 minutes. add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.

measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. a 2″ ice cream scoop works great for this. bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoa
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
~1/4 cup milk

METHOD
beat butter on high for about 30 seconds until soft. add cocoa & 1 cup of sugar & beat until incorporated. add half of the milk & the remainder of sugar & beat until incorporated. continue to add milk until you get to the consistency you want.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
well, if you ignore the part where i got chocolate cupcake batter all over my shirt, the toaster, the counter, the floor, & my neck, i’d say this went pretty smoothly. (stupid handmixer. if i’d been at home we could’ve used my kitchenaid!) i forgot to get liners when i went to the store so that was a little bit annoying, but the cupcakes came out fine for the most part. the first batch was filled a little full, so they overflowed, but the second batch came out beautifully round & pillowy.

the buttercream was a little stiff — we actually added a little more milk than the recipe called for in an attempt to make it squishier, but ultimately i think it came down to a combination of thick frosting & poor tools — we used ziploc baggies with the tips cut off to “pipe” the frosting onto the cupcakes, but this was uneven & overly thick, resulting in cupcakes with entirely too much frosting on top.

also, & maybe this is just a function of cupcakes, i thought they were a little dry. dave agreed with me, though val & sarah & daniel thought they were just fine. i guess what i’m saying is that i’d be willing to try cupcakes again, but maybe not this recipe. i think something denser would make my mouth happier.

“Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream” from cupcake bake shop by chockylit.

luckily, i’m totally over it — & just in time for a return to some hardcore recipe experimentation, for i’ve transferred to a new job which means NO MORE EVENING OVERTIME, & that, my friends, is a surefire way to get me back into the non-pasta-with-broccoli-for-dinner routine (uh, not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

so tonight i made these sweet potato wonton-esque things with my new partner-in-crime (kitchen-stylee!), sarah, who was indispensible & without whom there’s no way i would’ve gotten all this chopping of vegetables & stuffing of dumplings finished at a reasonable hour. (as it was, it took THREE HOURS.)

so these are technically called shiao mai, but sarah & i have decided that we’re going to call them dumples. an ugly word for a delicious snack.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup mushroom mince (see below)
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 green onions
2 tablespoons fresh mint
1 package (12 ounces) wonton wrappers
soy sauce, seasoned to taste with white vinegar, sugar, & green onions, for dipping

METHOD
in a bowl, combine the mushroom mince, sweet potato, bread crumbs, egg, soy sauce, sugar, salt, green onions, & mint. mix very well. set up a work space with a clean, dry cutting board, a baking sheet, a small bowl of water, the wonton wrappers, & the sweet potato filling.

divide the stack of wonton wrappers into thirds & trim away the four corners of each stack, reserving the little pasta triangles to toss into your next pot of boiling soup. place 3 of the now octagonal wrappers before you on the cutting board. place about 2 teaspoons filling in the center of each wrapper. now, your job is to coax each wrapper into a tiny, slender version of a paper baking cup filled with cupcake batter. begin by using a table knife to spread out the filling on each wrapper as if it were peanut butter on bread. stop just short of the edge, leaving a thin border of pasta all the way around. then, place one wrapper in your palm &, using the fingers of your other hand, pinch its sides up into a cup. tap its base on the cutting board to firm it up. next, work your way around the exterior, pressing the dull side of the table knife into the sides to even up the little folds & give the dumpling an upright shape, like a column holding up a roof. tap the base again & set the tall but diminutive “cupcake” aside on the baking sheet. fill & shape the remaining dumplings in the same way. place them without touching on the baking sheet. at this point, you can seal the dumplings airtight & refrigerate them for 1 to 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. they can be steamed directly from the refrigerator or freezer.

to steam the dumplings, fill the bottom of a steamer or a heavy saucepan with serveral inches of water and bring it to a rolling boil over medium heat. meanwhile, place a batch of the dumplings on a steamer basket or tray. when the steam is steady & strong, place the dumplings over the steam, cover, & adjust the heat to maintain a steady head of steam. cook until the filling firms up & the wrappers are tender & cooked, about 15 minutes. transfer carefully to a serving platter. serve warm with seasoned soy sauce.

INGREDIENTS: MUSHROOM MINCE
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro root, or cilanro stems & leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grond pepper
8 ounces fresh button mushrooms, chopped
4 ounces firm tofu
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

METHOD: MUSHROOM MINCE
in a mini processor, combine the garlic, cilantro, & pepper & grind to a fairly smooth paste. set aside.

chop the mushrooms until they are reduced to a crumbly pile & set aside. chop the tofu into tiny cubes & set aside as well.

in a skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil until a bit of mushroom added to the pan sizzles at once, about 1 minute. add the garlic-cilantro paste & toss until fragrant & shiny, 2 to 3 minutes.

add the mushrooms & cook, tossing often, for 5 to 7 minutes. the mushrooms will soften, release their liquid, & brown as they cook. when the liquid has cooked away & mushrooms are shiny & tender, scrape them to the sides of the pan & add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the center. add the tofu & toss until thoroughly combined with the mushrooms & heated through, about 1 minute. add the sugar, water, both soy sauces, & salt & cook, tossing often, until the mixture is moist, evenly colored, & well combined, 2 to 3 minutes. remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature, & refrigerate in a tightly covered container until needed.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
okay, i finally made something with mushrooms — LOTS of mushrooms. are you happy now??? god.

that being said, it, well, wasn’t that bad. at all. in fact, it was really REALLY incredibly good. now maybe that’s b/c the mushrooms weren’t those slimy gross ones that look like smurf houses, or maybe it’s b/c the mince contained enough garlic to kill a horse, but the fact of the matter is that, while i may not be a mushroom convert, i’ve come to the conclusion over the last few months that i can tolerate them as long as they’re not the predominant flavor or texture.

COMPROMISE, KIDS. that’s how we do it in the 314.

now you may have noticed that the directions for the mushroom mince leave off the shallots — no worries, i just added them with the tofu (given where they were in the list of ingredients, that seemed about right), & it all came out just fine. in fact, we weren’t even able to get the cilantro & garlic into a paste at all — sarah smushed everything around in the blender for a bit, & i figured it’d taste good either way (can’t go wrong with garlic!), so it was really more of a fine mince than a paste.

you’d think that 8 ounces of button mushrooms would be overkill — that all this would result in WAY more than 1 cup of the mince. sarah & i thought so, & we flipped through the book to pick out another mushroom mince recipe to make during the week to use the leftovers … but the truth is that it made maybe a cup & a quarter of mince all told, so no big deal. we did use the leftover mashed sweet potato for nefarious purposes (see below), but it really all worked out.

the dumples themselves were a breeze to make — a little time consuming, sure, but that three hours included a lot of chopping and stirfrying and sweet potato boiling time as well as dumple formation. (note: i did substitute cilantro in the filling for mint, as i’m suspicious of fresh mint as a rule, not to mention i already had the cilantro.) now, sarah & i had a problem figuring out how to actually form the shiao mai according to the directions — i mean, i had a good mental picture, but they really wouldn’t do what i thought they should be doing, so instead we made dumplings of various shapes — sarah’s had sort of a star shape, while i mimicked my aunt donna’s crab rangoons & folded them first into triangles & from there, brought two points together into a sort of, um, hug. they stand up & look like little crowns.

once i saw that shape, i was reminded of the goons & decided that i should fry some of these puppies up in addition to steaming them — i’d actually been looking for a good veg goon substitute anyway, b/c what’s not to love about tiny fried appetizers? my aunt fries them in a stockpot full of oil, but i just pan fried them in a little vegetable oil & it worked fine.

taste-wise, they were AMAZING. I AM NOT MESSING AROUND. the soy sauce was wicked salty, but who cares? the dumples didn’t even need it! so freaking good. i would eat these all the time, & i would definitely make them again.

as for the leftover mashed sweet potato, i added some cinnamon sugar & filled a few leftover wonton skins (we didn’t have quite enough savory filling for all 48 skins) — i fried them up & sprinkled more cinnamon sugar on top, & while i didn’t taste any of them personally, sarah, sue, &, of course, daniel said that they were delicious.

i should note that the sweet dumples were all daniel’s idea — well, actually, he suggested that i make some sweet (as he strenuously objects to sweet potatoes made savory), & i hammered out the details.

“Sweet Potato Shiao Mai” from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott, © 1997.

i only noticed later that the recipe i selected is known as paht si-yu (or pad see euw), which happens to be my friend megatron’s favorite thai dish!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce, or 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce & 1 tablespoon molasses or brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic (4 to 6 cloves)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 cups bite-sized broccoli florets
1 pound soft, fresh flat rice noodles, or 8 ounces dried rice noodles soaked in warm water for about 20 minutes until pliable
2 eggs, lightly beaten

METHOD
in a small bowl, combine the dark sweet soy sauce or dark soy sauce mixture, vegetable stock, regular soy sauce, salt, & pepper. stir well & place near the stove along with a serving platter.

heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. add 1 tablespoon of the oil & swirl to coat the pan. add the garlic & toss until fragrant & just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. add the mushrooms & cook, tossing often, until they are dark, softened, & shiny, about 3 minutes. add the broccoli & cook, tossing often, until shiny & bright green, about 2 minutes. scoop out the mushrooms & broccoli & place on the serving platter; set aside.

add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan & heat for about 30 seconds. add the noodles & toss until they are separated & heated through. push the noodles to one side of the wok & add the eggs. swirl to spread out the eggs & let cook for about 30 seconds. then scoop & toss everything together gently, scrambling the eggs & mixing well.

quickly stir the soy sauce mixture to combine & then pour it over the noodles. add the reserved broccoli & mushrooms & their juices & toss until the noodles are handsomely colored & evenly coated with the sauce, about 1 minute. transfer to the serving platter & serve at once, offering the condiments — chili-vinegar sauce, sugar, red chili pepper flakes — in small bowls on the side.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i of course omitted the mushrooms — maybe 2007 will be the year i cave & try to figure out a non-gross way of cooking them — but followed the rest pretty closely. despite my best efforts, i did wind up having to go to the asian market (jay’s on south grand) to get the flat rice noodles, as the grocery stores i visited only had udon noodles (buckwheat), rice sticks (too thin), or mein. i felt a little intimidated by the store & so didn’t bother looking for dark sweet soy sauce (having already read that i could throw together my own), but i might consider giving jay’s another shot.

i washed the wok from the previous evening’s fried rice while sarah cut up the broccoli, & then we worked on separating the noodles while the garlic & broccoli cooked. the whole dish took virtually no time to make once everything was chopped, & i’m not kidding when i tell you that the flavor was AMAZING. i would absolutely make this again — it was incredible! i couldn’t believe it. i undercooked the broccoli a tiny bit, but DANG y’all.

“Rice Noodles with Eggs, Broccoli, & Dark Sweet Soy Sauce” from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott (a Thai name if ever i’ve heard one!), © 1997.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken vegetable stock
plain yogurt, to serve

METHOD
preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. place the diced sweet potatoes & onions on a baking sheet. drizzle with the olive oil & then season with the cumin, salt, & pepper. toss the vegetables to coat evenly & then spread into one even layer.

place the pan in the oven & roast, stirring every so often, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the onions have caramelized a little & the sweet potatoes have gotten tender. the roasting time will depend on how small the sweet potatoes have been diced.

meanwhile, place the stock in a medium saucepan & bring to a simmer. when the onions & sweet potatoes have finished roasting, scrape them into a blender & then pour in the stock. purée until smooth & then pour back into the the saucepan.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
(still working out the photo kinks, honest. i’ve been meaning to start up again but have had battery issues recently.)

so i didn’t realize till after i made the soup (& consumed three bowls) that this is not only lowfat (perfect for my health-conscious mother), but also vegan (perfect for those of us who strive to be socially conscious in our eating habits)! i will admit to being a little apprehensive about the cumin, which i think drowns out the sweet potatoeyness of sweet potatoes, but it actually didn’t overwhelm at all in this instance.

notwithstanding almost losing a hand while cutting the obscenely huge sweet potato, to which i say THANK GOD FOR DANIEL’S DULL KNIVES, although my grandpa the butcher tells me that you’re more likely to cut yourself on a dull blade than a sharp one (as a sharp one will cut what you want it to cut & a dull one will, oh, i don’t know, slip around & make your job much more difficult) — NOTWITHSTANDING a near miss on a hospital visit! — i followed these directions slavishly & was rewarded with a sniffariffic & savory soup. (if a tiny bit thinner than i like. but really that’s just splitting hairs.)

the downside: it looks like baby food. & after spending more time than is normal smelling tiny pouches of baby food over the weekend (daniel’s step-brother’s girlfriend is having a baby, so there were naturally some odd games taking place at her shower), i have to say that looking like baby food isn’t a way to win over the hearts & minds of the people.

that being said, it tasted divine, & my only thought is that perhaps i’d leave a portion of the sweet potatoes in as chunks. i happened to be using an old worn-out blender so this happened naturally anyway — i suspect an immersion blender is really the best way to get a good creamy purée here — but next time, i’d leave more & do it intentionally.

& there WILL be a next time. although sadly neither daniel nor bart even stooped to tasting the soup, i will persevere.

sweet potato soup: a delicious (if unpopular) selection.

“Roasted Sweet Potato & Red Onion Soup” from cooking blog Well Fed.

this was for our weekly sunday night dinner at daniel’s house, which was attended this week by the two of us, bart, sarah, val, & ian. bart felt sorry for daniel in his squash-hating state & brought along some chicken to prepare as well, but i think this recipe can stand on its own.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups diced (1/2-inch) butternut squash (from a 1 1/2 pound squash)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
6 sage leaves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon powdered sage
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked penne
grated parmesan

METHOD
bring a large quantity of water to a boil in a stockpot. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. toss in the squash & sauté 5 minutes, or until it begins to get golden. sprinkle in the garlic & sauté 2 minutes. pour in the quarter cup of water. cook the squash until tender, about 5 minutes more.

cook the penne until al dente, about 10 minutes. drain thoroughly in a colander & return to the pot. spoon on the squash mixture & toss gently. serve with a sprinkling of parmesan & pass more at the table.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
so as i’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s a step missing from the directions — no indication as to when the seasoning should be added. common sense says it should be added before the squash is covered & cooked, but honestly: proofreading!!

as usual, there was recipe doubling involved, which meant much dicing of squash, & i know i tend to shout it from the rooftops, but i’d definitely like to reiterate that without pre-peeled & cubed squash from trader joe’s, i’d be SOL on this venture. it still took nearly fifteen minutes to take the cut squash & dice it, after all, & i’m nothing if not lazy. (plus the dish i made to go along with this was a sweet potato/russett potato/onion home fries medley that involved a fair amount of dicing itself!)

this recipe was easy to follow to the letter — although i used a rennet-less cheese instead of parmesan (as i always do) — & i thought it was mighty fine. i know my propensity for butternut squash knows no bounds, & i know the time is nigh to investigate other vegetable options, but it’s just so damn delicious.

verdict: the pasta was too al dente, daniel still hates squash, & yes, it was quite garlicky. but still: would make again.

“Penne with Garlicky Butternut Squash” from Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential Recipes for Every Course and Every Meal by Jeanne Lemlin, © 2001.

i saw the rice bowl post on kim o’donnel’s blog in the washington post & realized that i hadn’t made fried rice in some time, so i was quite excited to give this new recipe a try!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons minced, mild fresh chilies
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup diced carrots (substitute: chopped fresh green beans)
4 cups cold cooked rice (about 1 1/3 cups uncooked rice)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (substitute: chopped bok choy)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

METHOD
heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact.

swirl in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, & the eggs. cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, tilting wok so that the eggs cover the surface as thinly as possible to make a pancake. when bottom is just beginning to brown & egg is just set, flip & allow to set on other side, about 5 seconds. transfer to a cutting board & cut into shreds.

add remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, followed by shallots, chiles, & garlic, & stir-fry for about 10 seconds. add carrots (or substitute), reduce to medium heat & stir-fry 2-3 minutes until shallots soften. add rice, bell pepper, celery (or substitute), soy sauce, salt, & pepper. increase heat to medium-high & cook 2-3 minutes more, breaking up rice with a metal spatula until heated through. add egg & stir to combine.

remove wok from heat. stir in cilantro & drizzle remaining sesame oil.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i doubled the recipe since there were six of us eating, & that worked out just about right & was still manageable in the wok. more & more, i’ve noticed how difficult it is to properly use a wok on an electric range (especially one as shoddy as mine!). i blame alton brown for raising my awareness here — but it still seems to get the job done, so not too many complaints.

i do think the trick of using cold rice is probably helpful for it to be more fried & less sticky (i didn’t plan ahead & spent most of the day with my cousins, so i had to make the rice while i was chopping vegetables), & i have a hunch that long-grained rice would go a long way to that goal, too, but the taste was still fine & i don’t have a problem with sticky rice anyway.

the only real substitution i made was using peanut oil instead of vegetable oil. i considered adding broccoli (everything’s better with broccoli!), but it makes val sick so i refrained.

honestly, i’m not sure if i can say how it compared to the other fried rice. i’ve made it on several different occasions, & i do appreciate the addition of the tofu (which isn’t very popular among many of the people who eat my cooking), but i think that taste-wise, this version was maybe a little bit better by virtue of being less complicated. i definitely enjoyed the inclusion of the fried egg in this one!

“Aromatic Vegetarian Fried Rice” from The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young, via Kim O’Donnel.

when my sister was little, we tricked her into eating manicotti by telling her it was stuffed with cheese & parsley — no spinach to be found. she was really mad when she discovered our lie, but it worked!

INGREDIENTS
1 package frozen spinach
2 eggs
4 cloves minced garlic
1 15-oz package ricotta cheese
12 manicotti noodles
1 jar tomato sauce

METHOD
thaw spinach under hot running water & press to remove excess moisture. combine with ricotta cheese, garlic, & eggs & set aside.

parboil manicotti noodles (about 4 minutes).

stuff noodles with cheese/spinach mixture & place in 9″x13″ baking pan. top with a generous amount of tomato sauce. bake at 350, covered, for 30 minutes.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
lordy, at this point, any deviations have become scripture! this is an incredibly simple dish, & the only thing to watch for is that there’s a danger that the parboiled manicotti noodles may split. i’ve solved that problem for the most part by draining them & then removing them immediately from the colander to a plate or two so that they can lay flat without other noodles pressing on them.

fresh spinach can be used as well, but i’m not very good at estimating how much it’ll cook down.

for the record, daniel doesn’t like cooked spinach & yet has enjoyed this for dinner on several occasions, so that ought to tell you something!

“Manicotti” from my mama!

she posted them as Oreo Truffles, but when i told my mom about the recipe, she said that it sounded like a white trash dip one of her co-workers made for a holiday party & i thought that maybe i’d appropriate the name for this dessert as well.

INGREDIENTS
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese
1 pkg oreos
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
in a blender, grind up 9 oreos & set aside.

grind remaining oreos. combine with softened cream cheese. roll into bite-sized balls, dip into chocolate, sprinkle with reserved oreo crumbs, & drizzle with white chocolate.

refrigerate.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
here’s how to combine the oreos & cream cheese: use a pastry blender! so much easier. other options, in descending order of preference: potato masher, large serving fork, fingers, spoon.

this makes about fifty two-bite truffles — any smaller & they’d get lost in the chocolate. which, speaking of, i still haven’t figured out a good way to dip them in the melted chocolate without burning my fingers in some way, b/c they’re too soft to stay on a fork (even a customized “dipping fork,” aka a plastic fork with the center tines broken out) — but here’s a tip about melting chocolate: use a double boiler. either that, or melt VERY SLOWLY on low heat, b/c the trouble with melting chocolate is that you can make it angry by heating it too much or too quickly & it’ll clump up instead of staying smooth. the double boiler is really best, though — you can just bring the water to a boil in the bottom pot & then remove it from the heat once the chocolate is melted & it should stay exactly how you want it.

i wound up dipping the truffles by hand into the chocolate, then spooning more over the tops to cover up — i just couldn’t come up with an effective enrobing technique. it was a little bit frustrating, but so totally worth it.

the white chocolate drizzling part was my favorite — just melt the white chocolate using the same method, then spoon it into a ziploc bag. make a tiny cut on one of the corner of the bag, & pipe it through over the top of the truffles. very festive!

the best part about this was that i thought enough ahead to line the cookie sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up — then i just refrigerated the truffles on the cookie sheet for a couple hours till they were set. they were really easy to pull off the parchment paper once the chocolate had hardened, & there was very little mess!

as far as how they tasted: i’ll admit i was a little wary (cream cheese + oreos = ???) but they were SO GOOD. val said that they tasted like love.

“White Trash Truffles” from thaumata

i first found this recipe when trying to figure out what i’d bring for myself on thanksgiving, since normally all i eat is the vegetarian dressing my grandma makes for me & maybe some rolls. (everything else is a bust — either meaty or gross.) i wound up making an artichoke spread — one of my family’s favorite hot appetizers — but bookmarked this recipe for a later date, & as it turns out, the later date was to be the first night of chanukah.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, & cut into 1-inch cubes
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
3 amaretti cookies, crumbled
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan

METHOD
cook’s note: the no-boil lasagna noodles can be substituted with fresh spinach lasagna sheets. look for fresh lasagna sheets in the refrigerated section of specialty markets.

heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. add the squash & toss to coat. sprinkle with salt & pepper. pour the water into the skillet & then cover & simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. cool slightly & then transfer the squash to a food processor. add the amaretti cookies & blend until smooth. season the squash purée, to taste, with more salt & pepper.

melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. add the flour & whisk for 1 minute. gradually whisk in the milk. bring to a boil over medium-high heat. reduce the heat to medium & simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. whisk in the nutmeg. cool slightly. transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. add the basil & blend until smooth. return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan & stir to blend. season the sauce with salt & pepper, to taste.

position the rack in the center of the oven & preheat to 375 degrees F.

lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. spread 1/3 of the squash purée over the noodles. sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. repeat layering 3 more times.

tightly cover the baking dish with foil & bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. sprinkle the remaining mozzarella & parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles & the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

*when blending hot liquids: remove liquid from the heat & allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. transfer liquid to a blender or food processor & fill it no more than halfway. if using a blender, release one corner of the lid. this prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i couldn’t find those amaretti cookies to save my life! i considered adding a little almond extract to the squash but ultimately decided against it. i also wound up using apple pie spice instead of nutmeg, b/c i couldn’t find my mom’s nutmeg (it was hidden in a small container on a really high shelf!) & i couldn’t raise her on the phone in time — the apple pie spice was nothing more than cinnamon, nutmeg, & allspice, anyway, so no big change there.

also, am i the only one who has a really tough time with lasagna recipes? how do you divide the squash purée into thirds but have enough for four layers? does “repeat three times” include the first layer? & if so, what of the 12 lasagna noodles? i wouldn’t read it that way, anyway, but DAMN. spell it out for us, b/c that really made no sense to me! i wound up making four full layers, & i had a ton of the basil cream sauce left over b/c i think i mis-interpreted the directions, so i just poured it over the top & crossed my fingers. believe me, it worked out just fine.

in fact, it tasted even better than i’d hoped it would. the cream sauce looked thin but cooked up a-ok, & it really didn’t overwhelm the squash at all the way i’d thought it would given how much basil was in there. i also felt a little dubious that basil would even go well with butternut squash — i see it mostly with sage — but it was FANTASTIC. i’ll make it again & again & again!!

“Butternut Squash Lasagna” from Everyday Italian

my grandma used to make upwards of a dozen different varieties of christmas cookies when i was younger, packing them in decorative tins for friends & relatives alike. she turned ninety this year & has scaled back production somewhat, but my sister & i are now in on the game, & spent this afternoon assisting with the butternuts — which happen to be my mom’s favorite.

INGREDIENTS
4 sticks (YES) butter, softened
4 cups flour
3 cups finely chopped pecans
10 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

METHOD
using a pastry blender or a large fork, combine all ingredients in a large bowl. divide dough into eighths, & from each second roll twelve to sixteen small cylinder-shaped cookies (rather than balls). bake at 350 for 20 minutes. immediately after removing from the oven, roll the cookies in more powdered sugar.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
deviations? HA! my grandma’s been making these for approximately one billion years at this point, so i hardly think deviations are in order. if you’re looking for some tricks of the trade, well, there’s not much to say about these cookies: they are ridiculously easy to make, so easy it’s almost embarrassing. five ingredients, one bowl, no mess — the cookies don’t even spread so you can fit close to 50 on a single cookie sheet! this recipe will yield close to 120 cookies if you play your cards right, which most people seem to think is a good thing. (i guess i should probably mention that i don’t usually enjoy powdered sugar OR pecans, so these cookies aren’t really my cup of tea; my sister, however, tried them this year for the first time since we were little kids & seemed to find them inoffensive enough — i mean, she DID eat about three of them while we were boxing them up!)

“Butternuts” from a really old recipe card in my grandma’s kitchen.