January 9

Mushroom Polenta

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• Mushroom Polenta [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 6 2-inch squares polenta
  • 3 teaspoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1/3 ounce mushrooms (soaked in 1/2 cup boiling water for 15 minutes)
  • 1/4 cup wine
  • 1/2 cup stock
  • thyme
  • romano cheese (grated)
  • parsley (minced)

  Instructions

  We pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.

  We begin by sauteeing the mushrooms in a teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat. After about 5 minutes, when they are browned and tender, we add the garlic and lower the heat to low. We take the porcini mushrooms out of the water, rinse and chop them. We add these to the saute pan. We add the wine and raise the heat to medium heat. When the wine is reduced by half, we add the chicken stock. We strain the porcini soaking liquid through a paper-towel lined strainer, and add this to the pan. We add a sprinkling of dried thyme and lower the heat to keep warm while we prepare the polenta cakes.

  In our non-stick pan, we heat a teaspoon of olive oil. When hot, we add 3 of the polenta squares and brown on both sides. This takes a few minutes to get browned and heated through. We keep these warm in a 300 degree oven while we brown the rest of the polenta in the remaining olive oil.

  We serve 2 polenta cakes per person, and top with the mushrooms, sprinkle of parsley and a sprinkle of cheese.

• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 1 large butternut squash
  • salt & pepper
  • sprinkle thyme
  • sprinkle sage
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1.5 cups stock
  • olive oil
  • parsley (chopped)

  Instructions

  We begin by pre-heating the oven to 425 degrees.

  We rinse and dry the butternut squash. With a sharp knife on a cutting board, we carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise. We scoop out the seeds, reserving them on a paper towel. We sprinkle the cut-side with salt, pepper, thyme, and sage and lay them flat on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (although it would have been better to use a pan with sides since we soon will see that the "squash juice" will make a mess of the oven!). We tuck the garlic cloves in the cavities of the squash and put in the oven. We roast until tender, about 40 minutes.

  Meanwhile, we clean the seeds, picking out the squash bits, and laying them flat to dry on a plate.

  When the butternut squash is tender, we take it out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes on the cutting board. We reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees to roast the squash seeds. We put a clean sheet of parchment on the cookie sheet, toss the seeds with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them on the parchment. We roast them in the oven until browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

  While the seeds are in the oven, we peel the squash halves with a knife and put the pieces in our food processor. We take the skins off the cloves of garlic, and add them to the processor with a half cup of chicken stock (water or vegetable stock could be substituted for a vegetarian soup). We puree the squash until smooth, and then gradually add the rest of the stock.

  We pour the mixture into a pot, and bring it to a simmer. We add some more salt and pepper to taste and lower the heat. We take the roasted seeds out of the oven, spread them on a clean plate to cool, and we are ready for the soup!

  We serve the hot soup sprinkled with parsley and the squash seeds.

• Caesar Salad