As
Halloween swiftly approaches us, and we are getting deeper into fall we are
embracing fall flavors. My mother around this time of year likes to make
compound butters, so we are creating a delicious acorn squash compound butter,
to be accompanied by light and fluffy rosemary biscuits. Both of these are so
incredibly easy to make and in a short amount of time, and will forever be
party favorites.
You can
also make the butter ahead of time, and keep in the freezer for a rainy day.
Enjoy!
*Make
butter ahead, you will have a lot of it. You will also need tinfoil or cling
wrap.
Butter:
1
Tablespoon olive oil
1
small-medium acorn squash
½ cup
unsalted butter
1 teaspoon
sea salt
Biscuit:
1 ¾ cups
flour
3
teaspoon baking powder
6 Tablespoons
unsalted butter + some for baking sheet
1
teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup
milk
3 large
sprigs fresh rosemary
Start by
making your compound butter. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut your acorn
squash in half so it is almost through the stem. Scoop out all of the seeds,
rub olive oil on both halves and put on a baking sheet cut side down. Bake for
25 minutes, or until soft. Once the acorn squash is baked, let cool.
While
squash is cooling, let your butter soften at room temperature. Put half of the
acorn squash and salt into the butter and mash together.
Cut two 9
inch square of cling wrap or tinfoil, and pour half of the butter onto each.
Start to roll the cling wrap or tinfoil, twisting it at the corners, so that
you are starting to make something that looks like a sausage. Place both in the
freezer.
Now for
the glorious biscuits! In a large bowl measure out your flour, baking powder,
and salt.
After
removing all the leaves from the rosemary twigs, finely chop. Add to dry mix.
Next
cube the 6 Tablespoons of butter and add to the dry mix. Using two forks or two
knives, break up the butter into the dry mix until creating a mealy like
texture. Add milk a little at a time while mixing with a fork.
Butter
baking sheet, and spoon out about 9-12 biscuits. We also used our hands to pat
little balls, but it gets pretty messy!
Bake 20
minutes, or until golden brown.
Pop
those babies out of the oven and smother in some acorn butter! Yum!
October is our favorite month, not just because it
is my (Francesca’s) birthday month, but it is when the holiday season starts,
when food starts to become more comforting, and when you can start wearing more
than just shorts.
In honor of everyone’s obsession with pumpkin spice
everything, we have made a simple twist on a homemade classic in the form of
pumpkin spic oatmeal cookies. Enjoy!
Ingredients: makes about 2-3 dozen
½ cup butter (softened)
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar plus 5 Tablespoons
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup pumpkin purée
3 cups rolled oats
2 Tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat
together ½ cup butter and sugar until nice and creamy. Add in your eggs one at
a time, with vanilla, and then beat well.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda,
cinnamon, clove, and salt. Mix together well.
In small batches, pour the dry mix into the sugar
and butter mix.
One cup at a time, mix in rolled oats using a flat
spatula of a large spoon.
On an ungreased and unlined baking sheet, form
cookies. Make them by using a heaping tablespoon.
Bake for 15 minutes, turning half way through to
achieve an even bake.
Now to make the chocolate drizzle: while the cookies
are cooling, heat remaining 5 Tablespoons of sugar on medium low heat until
completely melted, once melted add chocolate and completely mix together. You
are going to want to make this pretty quickly because sugar can burn very
quickly, and it gets very bitter. Trust us we have burnt sugar more times than
we like to admit.
Now immediately drizzle the chocolate over the
cookies and enjoy!!!
Happy Fall !!!! We have
created a wonderful and easy weeknight recipe that any busy
student/mom/dad/babysitter/tired person can make. Remember that good ‘old
instant ramen that we all loved because it is so easy and fast to make. Well we
have appropriated that with a home made broth and fresh ingredients to make a
superb vegetarian weeknight ramen.
The reason we are using
instant ramen is because Momofuku Ando invented cup of noodle in 1971 by
creating a noodle which has already been cooked and can just be re-cooked! The
noodles are so fabulously starchy and absorb so much flavor!!
Enjoy!
Ingredients: serves 2-4
2 packs instant ramen (doesn’t
matter which flavor!)
2 eggs
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
½ cup bean sprouts
4 cloves garlic
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 dehydrated shitake mushrooms
1 cup button mushrooms
¼ cup enoki mushrooms
1 bunch green onions
1 serrano pepper
1 oz can chestnuts (only need
½ of the can)
1 oz canned bamboo shoots
This wonderful dish is mostly
just creating your prep work, letting a broth cook for about 30 minutes, and
soft boiling two eggs.
Start by rehydrating your
shitake mushrooms in a small bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes.
Next create your mise en
place by mincing your garlic, and by slicing your button mushrooms, shitake
mushrooms, Serrano pepper, chestnuts, and on a bias slicing your green onion
only up until the green turns white. Set aside half of the onions, and half of
the Serrano pepper.
Start making your broth by
combining your vegetable broth, water, and soy sauce and bring to a hard boil.
Once you boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and add half the onions, half the
Serrano pepper, half the bean sprouts, all the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, garlic,
and water chestnuts. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
At about 20 minutes in, boil
water in a small pot. Once the water starts to boil, add to eggs. Put heat to
low, cover the pot with a lid, and let cook for 6 minutes.
This is about the time when
you can add the noodles to the broth. It doesn’t matter which instant ramen you
get, because we won’t be using the flavor packet that comes with it. Add the
noodles in and let absorb the broth.
Once the timer for the eggs
goes off, take eggs from water, and run under cool water.
While the eggs are cooling,
we may now plate our noodles. In two (or four) bowls, place noodles and broth
in bowl. Top with raw bean sprouts, green onions, and Serrano pepper. Lightly
crack the egg shell, peel it off, and slice in half. Put your gorgeous egg on
your ramen, serve with chopsticks and enjoy!
Dear Fall,
Please show yourself! It is far too hot in Los Angeles right now. We will buy fake leaves and throw them on the floor if we need to (I may have in the apartment already)!
Aside from that, we look forward to all the delicious wonders you will present us!
xoxo
F+M
