Sweet and savory winter squash recipes

Sweet and savory winter squash recipes

Winter squash are in abundance in several varieties at farmers markets and grocery stores. Look for Spaghetti, Butternut, Ambercup, and Hubbard squashes from Black Horse Farms at Hudson Valley Hannaford locations. The Chatham Co-op continues to offer organic winter squash from Blue Star Farms in Stuyvesant. Many varieties of winter squash, like Hubbard and Butternut, will store for several months in a cool dark place. You may choose to roast a large batch of winter squash and store the cooked pulp in ziplock bags in the freezer. Defrosting is easy and with the addition of butter, maple or honey, and a few spices, you can have a hearty vegetable dish that goes well with almost any meal. The pulp also makes a great addition in winter soups and stews.

Here are two recipes from Story Cooking chef and Consortium member Ellie Markovitch. For the Compota de Abóbora recipe Ellie uses a pressure cooker to cook her winter squash, but has also included a stove top variation.

I took “compota de abóbora” using butternut squash from Denison Farm to From Scratch Club’s Food Swap at the Oakwood Community Center in Troy, NY.

I was there working with ASA. FSC invited Teri Ptacek, ASA Executive Director, Luke Deikis and Cara Fraver of Quincy Farm (ASA conserved in 2011) to talk about local farmland protection efforts. It was a great evening of inspiring guests and amazing food prepared by super creative swappers. – Ellie Markovitch

Compota de Abóbora

• 10 cups of pumpkin cut into small cubes (I use butternut squash)
• 3 cups of sugar
• 7-8 whole cloves
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• shredded fresh coconut to serve or coconut milk or fresh whipping cream

Cooking winter squash in a Pressure Cooker

Place the pumpkin pieces in a pressure cooker with the sugar, cloves, cinnamon (no water) . (Follow instructions about attaching the lid, reducing steam pressure, and opening the pot when cooking is completed) Turn the pot on high until pressure starts. Time 4 minutes and turn it off. Remove pot from heat and do not open the cooker until the next day (or 8 hours). Open the pot, refrigerate pumpkin and serve with fresh coconut.

Stove top

In a large saucepan, mix 2 cups of water with 3 cups of sugar and cook on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, without stirring.  Continue cooking until a light syrup has formed and the temperature registers 212 degrees on a candy thermometer.
 Add the butternut squash with 2 sticks of cinnamon and 8 whole cloves. Simmer on low heat with the lid on until the squash is cooked, tender, but still holds its shape. Check every 5 minutes, stirring gently if necessary.
 Let cool and refrigerate. Serve with coconut or farmer’s cheese.

And save that spiced pumpkin syrup goodness for your coffee, to moisten cake…yum the possibilities!

Feijão con Abóbora

By Noah Published: November 17, 2013

• Yield: 10 Servings
• Prep: 20 mins
• Cook: 20 mins
• Ready In: 40 mins

Brazilian style beans with winter squash from Story Cooking chef Ellie Markovitch

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked beans
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 pound butternut sqaush cut into cubes
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 pound sausage cut into slices (optional)
• salt and pepper
• chopped parsley

Instructions

1. In a pressure cooker, cook the beans for 20 minutes.
   
2. Remove beans. In the same pan, heat oil, fry the onion and saute the pumpkin.
   
3. Add the vegetable broth and cook for three minutes in the pressure cooker.
   
4. Release the pressure and add the reserved beans, bay leaf, sausage, salt and pepper and cook for ten minutes without pressure.
   
5. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.