When Squash Goes Sploosh
Plus: Buttermilk Pie, A Pretty Salad, and Dinner at Field Guide.
Hey everyone,
Craig’s in L.A. right now. It’s actually a funny story: many of you probably know that he directed and co-wrote the movie The Skeleton Twins. He received a Google alert the other day that the Vulture Festival was doing a ten-year Skeleton Twins reunion with Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig… only nobody told him! Lol. That’s Hollywood for you. So he’s there to attend and if you live in L.A. and get tickets, be sure to say hi.
Flying solo, I’ve been keeping busy meeting up with friends and cooking lots and lots. After breakfast with my friend Diana on Friday at Café Chelsea (tres chic), we went to the farmer’s market and I bought a beautiful Kuri squash that weighed more than a bowling bowl.
On Saturday, I had some friends over (two who are vegetarians) so I decided to make this Twice-Cooked Squash Recipe from Bon Appetit. The cool technique, and one that I’ll probably use again, is that you just stab the squash all over, put it on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and bake in the oven for three hours.
The rest of the recipe involves cutting it open, pulling out the seeds, then scooping the flesh into a bowl and mixing it with butter and Parmesan. Only: instead of using softened butter, like the recipe tells you, I used melted butter. Let’s go to the tape:
As you can see, I put the filling into the torn squash skin and baked it and it all went splat in the oven.
Frankly, when it came out it looked like a tray of orange barf. And people were coming over within minutes! So I did the only thing I could think to do: I sprinkled on a bunch of chopped parsley and some pickled red chilies. And if it weren’t for me profusely apologizing and talking about how much it looked like throw-up, I think everyone would’ve actually enjoyed it! It’s a lesson I’m always telling other people but didn’t follow myself: don’t talk badly about your food at a dinner party or it ruins it for everyone….
The barley salad I served along side (also part of the same recipe) was in fact a winner, with scallions, dried cherries (my touch), and toasted pepitas.
For dessert, I made a buttermilk pie using Samantha Seneviratne’s recipe.
Isn’t she pretty?
Fact is, I had some issues here too. (Maybe I’m still shaky after the election.) I blind-baked the crust only I took the pie weights out too soon and the crust shrank a bit too much…
Being the pre-med person that I was in college (yes I took biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics), I did some surgery and lifted the most sunken part and it was high enough to hold the filling. Let’s look at the video:
I also screwed up the filling, using 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks instead of 3 egg yolks and 2 eggs. I’m really off my game! Though it’s really good for my brand as the “amateur” gourmet.
Anyway, the buttermilk pie was delicious. Simple and custardy and beautifully caramelized.
On that same trip to the farmer’s market with Diana, I bought some salad at Campo Rosso — the stand with “greens chefs go crazy for.”
To turn it into lunch yesterday, I made a quick dressing with Dijon, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and Parmesan. I tossed the lettuces with it, plus a sliced pear and some toasted walnuts. As a final gesture, I added some leftover barley salad from the dinner party.
Look how pretty it looks on my peacock plate.
Finally, I went last night with my friends John (of New Bake City) and Glenn to Field Guide in Williamsburg, a new restaurant from a chef at Eleven Madison Park.
All of the food was lovely. We started with a paté, a little gem salad with duck prosciutto, and butternut squash medallions in a clam sauce.
For our entrees, John and I both had the chicken with a sourdough stuffing and Glenn had the steak.
Everything was expertly presented, though my chicken came with yogurt, granola, and cherry jam and felt more like a breakfast parfait with a chicken next to it than a cohesive dish? Wow, look at me, I’m just like Gail Simmons on Top Chef!
That’s all for today, folks.
[Sadly I didn’t collect many links last week… I was reading too much news.]
Until next time….
Your pal,
Adam
I laughed out loud many times during reading this - at the right bits. Such joy you bring!!