Spaghetti Squash with Pomegranate Jewels

Makes 8 servings






INGREDIENTS:
1 3 to 3 ½ pound spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick
1/2 cup dried jumbo raisins or tart cherries (I like a mix of jumbo raisin varieties)
1/3 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons minced, fresh sage
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small pomegranate, seeded (about 1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds)
1/3 cup hard sheep’s cheese such as Manchego or Iberico, crumbled or chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

DIRECTIONS:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375. Halve squash lengthwise; discard seeds. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place squash halves, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 75 to 80 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in saucepan bring orange juice, broth, cinnamon stick, and garlic to boiling. Lower heat and let simmer for 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon stick and add cherries; let stand 10 minutes
3. Using a fork, scrape squash pulp from shells into a large serving bowl – the cooked squash can be cooled first, otherwise use oven mitts.
4. Add raisins or cherries with juice, toasted walnuts, sage, and salt, and pepper to squash pulp. Toss to coat and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Serve warm. Makes 8 (about 2/3-cup) servings.
Make-Ahead Tip: Up to a day ahead, cook spaghetti squash; scrape cooked spaghetti squash into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate squash. Thirty minutes ahead, warm cooked squash in microwave, covered and vented, 3 to 4 minutes, gently stirring twice. Finish recipe as directed in Step 2.

***True spaghetti squash is actually pale ivory to pale yellow in color. However, in the early 1990's, an orange spaghetti squash, known as "Orangetti" was developed and this is what is commonly found in today's supermarkets. Higher in beta carotene, the orange variety is also bit sweeter than its paler counterpart. Both have a mild flavor that is complemented and enhanced by the food served with or on it. This squash is a dieter's dream; a four-ounce serving of spaghetti squash only has 37 calories!

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Riveted

It is possible that things will not get better
than they are now, or have been known to be.
It is possible that we are past the middle now.
It is possible that we have crossed the great water
without knowing it, and stand now on the other side.
Yes: I think that we have crossed it. Now
we are being given tickets, and they are not
tickets to the show we had been thinking of,
but to a different show, clearly inferior.

Check again: it is our own name on the envelope.
The tickets are to that other show.

It is possible that we will walk out of the darkened hall
without waiting for the last act: people do.
Some people do. But it is probable
that we will stay seated in our narrow seats
all through the tedious dénouement
to the unsurprising end — riveted, as it were;
spellbound by our own imperfect lives
because they are lives,
and because they are ours.

by Robyn Sarah from A Day's Grace: Poems 1997-2002

Fall Chicken with Feta

Serves 4

This dish is especially nice served over couscous




INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 pounds total)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped (into 1/2 inch cubes) winter squash
8 ounces of chanterelles, shiitake, or morel mushrooms, sliced with tough part of stems discarded
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)
1 teaspoon fresh minced marjoram, savory, or thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried herb)


DIRECTIONS:
1. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Season chicken with salt and black pepper. In a 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook chicken for 12 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 170F on an instant-read thermometer, turning once. Place chicken on a plate and tent with foil.
2. Turn heat up to medium high. Add squash, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, and peppers to the skillet. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken broth. Cover and cook for 6 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pumpkin and place chicken breasts in skillet. Cover and simmer for 4 minutes more, stirring once.
3. Place chicken on plates and spoon vegetable mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with feta cheese and fresh marjoram and serve.
*** According to many surveys, chicken consumption has nearly doubled in the last 50 years, going from about 50 pounds of chicken annually per person to nearly 100 pounds.

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

-T.S. Eliot

To No Thing

I am stingy in forever
but I apologize well, sincerely
with nothing to show but slippered-feet and clean sheets
If I knew that this is all there ever was
What comfort!
A lesson cannot be talked
We can say to a child the oven is hot
we only know when we get burned

I will say it is raining when actually it sprinkles
I will say it is false when it truly is true
I will say the ornaments are a waste when, really, they are a joy
I will say I am blinded when I have seen
This all depends on my side of the road
When I visit the other, then maybe I will know
the gravel from the dirt
the smog from the clouds
appreciate a sunset for all it’s literary filth
and know that I can never, ever have seen
then I can open my mouth to the rain, my hands to your palm, my eyes to no thing

by Cristina Paul

Coffee Mint Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen cookies














INGREDIENTS FOR THE COOKIES:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons shortening
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon coffee liqueur
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon mint extract (peppermint is the preferred)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FROSTING:

3 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
pinch of salt
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, instant espresso, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar, and beat on medium low speed for one minute. On medium low speed, beat in egg, coffee liqueur, vanilla, and peppermint extract until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally.
3. Beat in the flour mixture, scraping sides of bowl to insure all of the flour is incorporated into the dough.
4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies are puffy. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
6. Dot each cookie with Coffee Mint Frosting.
7. For the frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, coffee liqueur, peppermint extract, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until combined. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in whipping cream to make a frosting of spreading consistency. You may wish to use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to pipe the frosting onto the cookies.
To Store: Layer unfrosted cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Refrigerate frosting and frost before serving. The frosting will quickly soften up to spread easily if you use a pastry bag.


** Coffee farming used to be done under the shade of trees, which provided a habitat for animals and insects. This method is called the traditional shaded method. Many farmers have modernized their production methods and switched to a sun cultivation method in which coffee is grown in rows under full sun with little or no forest canopy. This causes coffee berries to ripen more quickly and bushes to produce higher yields. However, trees must be cleared and fertilizer as well as pesticides are increased when using this method. Alternatively, traditional coffee production caused berries to ripen more slowly and produced lower yields of higher quality coffee.
* Coffee production also uses tons of water - over 100 liters to grow the coffee beans needed to produce one cup of coffee. Moreover, the coffee is often grown in countries with extreme water shortages, like Ethiopia. So I guess the moral of this story is: drink these coffee cookies with a cup of tea.

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

I do love the word loo. And while in the loo, sometimes I contemplate all the other words and idiomatic phrases I fancy. Today, I began a short list:

*put the kabosh on (coming from the Gaelic phrase cie báis meaning “cap of death”. The word báis is apparently pronounced “bawsh” and cie is presumably pronounced with a hard initial consonant, rather like “kai”. Alternately, Webster’s Dictionary attributes its existence to Middle High German kiebe, meaning “carrion”. Others argue it comes from the Yiddish word Kabas or Kabbasten, “to suppress”)

*videlicet (pointless AND weird word)

*won't cut mustard (alludes to the difficulty of cutting mustard in its various forms; for example: mustard seed, the plant, and, of course, French's)

*jerkwater (we the existence of this word to the invention of the steam engine — However, the boilers of early locomotives needed to be refilled with water ALL the damned time, and water tanks were few and far between. Thus, small trains that ran on rural lines often had to stop to take on water from local supplies. These trains were commonly called “jerkwaters” from the jerking of water up into buckets from the supply to the engine. The derogatory use of “jerkwater” for all things trivial reflects the fact that these jerkwater trains ran on lines connecting podunk towns (BTW podunk is of Algonquin origin)

*bellyaching (it's just a good and underused word. Plus, bellyaching can be very cathartic around the holidays while eating mass quantities of heartburn-inducing foods with the people you love most - even if they are mouth-breathers, close-talkers, or far too chipper sweater/pancho-wearing fools)


That's as far as I got with my etymological dorkdom... To be continued