Amaro Daiquiri

Taking quality pictures of food and cocktails is very difficult. I think I am getting better at snapping a food photo that is decent, but my cocktail pictures are still not worthy of posting anywhere. I still do it, though, just to keep a record of things. Much of the challenge comes with the lighting. I can get many of my food shots in natural lighting, but most of my cocktail making happens after the sun has set, especially this time of year. The other challenge is the setting. I have no place within my house that's a good backdrop for a photo. I'll keep taking note of good photos I find on Instagram and see if I can't improve on this somewhat. 

This is an especially bad photo. It's particularly frustrating because it's in glassware that was recently gifted to me as an out-of-the blue surprised by one of my closest friends. It lifted my spirits to get them in the mail and I looked forward to my first cocktail using them. I cannot for the life of me get a picture that captures the pretty etchings on these glasses. I will keep trying. I'm thinking an Aviation in outdoor lighting might do the trick.

Despite the very bad photo, I wanted to log this anyway. I think of this as a sophisticated take on a daiquiri and I think it will come in handy when I have my previously mentioned tiki bar. I got this from @goatandrabbitkc on Instagram. It caught my eye because it included Falernum which I bought to try something many months ago and needed another use for it.

Also, I'm taking requests for what to name my backyard libation respite. 

Amaro Daiquiri

1 oz rum

1 oz Amaro (the original used Montenegro; I used Nonino)

1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 oz Falernum (you could use simple syrup if you don't have this)

1. Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until very cold.

2. Pour into a coupe or other glass of your choice. Garnish with a thinly slice lime wheel. 

Saint Benedictine Sour

 I've been trying lots of cocktails over the last many months and not doing a great job of keeping track of them to remember what I've made, what I've liked, what I haven't and if I do like a cocktail, what might be a good occasion for it. Given that we are likely in for another summer of not being able to sit at a bar to order a cocktail from a very skilled bartender, it looks like I'm going to need to both fend for myself and offer others an outdoor cocktail experience. I have to replace my fence this spring and along with that will come some landscaping and a backyard re-design. If everything goes as planned and budget allows, I will also be getting my own backyard tiki bar. I've been talking about this for a while, even in the Beforetimes and I'm hopeful it will happen. I'm already talking with my trusted woodworker and friend, and he has some ideas. Here's one possible take on it.

So, before then I need to get my bartending skills in order. If I have more than a few people over, I'd need to come up with a signature drink for the evening and pre-make a batch so I don't spend my whole evening shaking up cocktails. I want to be able to sit back around the fire and relax with my guests. But with 1-3 people, I'd like to be able to cater to their needs and come up with just the right cocktail based on their mood and tastes. Right now I only know a handful of cocktails off the top of my head. I'm not sure what the right approach is here. Target a dozen cocktails that I know well which include a mix of base liquors? 

Personally I like sours. It's not all I want to drink, but if I want something a little on the sweeter side, playful and not as liquor forward, it tends to be the right thing. I am also in favor of using fresh herbs and I like strong herbal liqueurs like Chartreuse and I've now added Benedictine to the mix. This was a drink I enjoyed and will want to make again.

Saint Benedictine Sour

2 ounces Bourbon

1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 ounce Benedictine

1/4 ounce simple syrup

1. Put all contents into a shaker with ice and shake until very cold.

2. Pour into a coupe or sour glass and garnish with a thinly slice lemon wheel.

Spinach and Feta Frittata

Yesterday was a dreary, rainy winter morning and breakfast needed something more than a bowl of oatmeal to liven up the mood. I had come across a frittata recipe on Instagram earlier in the week and it reminded me of having dinner at a friend's house in the Beforetimes when she made frittatas in cast iron pans. I thought it was delicious and lends itself well to breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, pair it with a piece of sourdough toast, lunch with some greens and a lemon vinaigrette, and dinner with some roasted potatoes and sautéed Brussel sprouts or kale. It comes together quickly and is a nice comfort food.

I followed this particular recipe from Flavor the Moments, and as I was cooking decided it's begging for some mushrooms. I will try that next time and then add it to the recipe if it turns out well. The recipe called for dill, but I used thyme since it's what I had on hand. Parsley would be good too. Having some fresh herbs is not necessary, but does bring it up a notch in flavor. The original recipe also used half and half. I used whole milk since that's what I had. It suggests a leek, but I think shallots would be great, and you could use a regular yellow onion if that's all you had. I'd also like to experiment with different cheeses. I'm guessing this is a good base recipe that you can mess around with. It was meant to have a Mediterranean flare, but if you wanted to go with more of a French style, maybe some Brie and tarragon with mushrooms and spinach. Update 2/2024 - The original recipe called for a leek, I prefer shallot, so changed the recipe to reflect that and also to add mushrooms, which isn't necessary, but a nice addition if you have some on hand. 

Also, I love my new enamel cast iron skillet - 3.6 quart. I use it so much that I'm not sure what I was doing without it. I had planned on buying the Le Creuset version of this piece, but then discovered Lodge. It is seemingly the same quality, but much less expensive and made in the US. So far it seems to work just as well as my Le Creuset cookware. 

Spinach and Feta Frittata

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 shallot, minced

4-5 oz fresh baby spinach, chopped

4-6 mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

8 eggs

1/2 cup milk or half and half

1/2 cup crumbled feta

2 tablespoons fresh herbs (dill, thyme or parsley)

paprika for sprinkling

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl whisk eggs with dairy, then add feta, herbs, salt and pepper.

2. Heat the skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. 

3. Add shallots and let cook, stirring frequently for a few minutes until soft. Then add garlic and let that cook for another minute.

4. Add mushrooms, if using, and sauté until lightly browned.

5. Add spinach and let that cook down for a few minutes. Then blend with onion mixture. 

6. Brush some of the oil from the bottom up onto the side of the pan to make sure it is greased. Pour the egg mixture over the spinach mixture. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until the sides start to set.

7. Sprinkle paprika over the top (this is just for some color, and not necessary.) Grind some pepper on top and a little more salt if you choose. Put skillet into the oven and cook 8-10 minutes until it's puffed up and the top starts to look a little golden. 

Sugo

Tiny Italian open air restaurant, sitting by the window on a warm summer's evening, the aroma of garlic wafting out of the kitchen, a glass of chianti and a bowl of spaghetti with red sauce, sprinkled with Parmesan. Someday we will be able to do this again. In the meantime, there's me and my kitchen and my tiny kitchen table.

I recall myself saying at the start of many winter seasons, "this is the year that I'll perfect a red sauce!" Somehow I don't seem to get around to this, and I'm not sure why. I'm not looking to make a complex sauce, just a simple sugo with minimal ingredients to be able to throw together a nice plate of pasta for dinner on a moment's notice. So, as with all things pandemic, this is the year. 

I browsed a few recipes before landing on this one, and I think this is really solid. The key is using good ingredients - mostly everything should be fresh. It's ok to used canned tomatoes, but make sure there's nothing funky in the can with the tomatoes on the ingredients list. Having a list that reads "Ingredients: tomatoes" is best. You can use either diced or pureed, based on your preference. I like pureed. Tonight I used the brand Cento. I may try a couple others to see if I can taste a difference. Another important element is adding the cooked pasta to the sauce once it's done. In American style, we would heap pasta onto a plate and then top it with red sauce. It does make a difference to let the pasta simmer in the sauce for a bit. Much tastier. 

Sugo

4 tablespoons olive oil

couple shakes chili flakes (optional)

4-5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped a bit

1 small bunch parsley, chopped finely

1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond crystal salt

1 28 oz can tomatoes, diced or pureed

A few leaves of fresh basil, whole

pepper to taste

parmesan to taste

1. Put on a pot of water to bring to a boil for the pasta. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Try to time it so the pasta is done around the same time as the sauce. Otherwise, drain the pasta and reserve some pasta water in case you need it at the end to moisten the pasta/sauce combo.

2. Heat a skillet (not a pot) to medium high heat. Add the olive oil.

3. Add the chili flakes and garlic, cook until garlic is just starting to brown.

4. Turn the heat to high and add the parsley, salt and tomatoes. Put the cover on to contain any splatter, about 30 seconds.

5. Remove the cover. Keep at a healthy simmer until the sauce thickens about 7 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, add the basil leaves. 

6. When the pasta is done, transfer with thongs or slotted spoon into the sauce and blend. Let the pasta and sauce meld for a minute or two. 

7. Serve with Parmesan and more fresh parsley. 

Gremolata

 My first real attempt at growing my own herbs last summer was only minimally successful. I got a decent amount of basil and some parsley. The cilantro never took and my mint withered. This is partially due to me having no idea what I was doing and the rest I will blame on an extremely hot July. Parsley and basil are the two herbs I use most often in the summer with cilantro a close third, so having those easily accessed in my backyard was very convenient. I can use large amounts of parsley at a time though and my crop was never that abundant. 

I didn't discover this Italian condiment until after summer was over. I used it as a garnish on a new minestrone recipe I tried (and loved -will post soon). Other ideas mentioned for using gremolata were on eggs or on avocado toast. I can imagine both would work extremely well. I'd also like to try it on baked tofu or fish. It's like having summer in a jar. You can add a few spoonfuls to a winter dish and brighten it right up. I know that I will have this recipe in mind next summer when deciding how much parsley to plant.

Gremolata

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped finely (should be about one cup packed) discard stems

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons lemon juice (at least; you may want to add more)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

pinch chili flakes

1. Put all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl and mix well. I mixed by hand. You could also do this in a food processor.

2. Transfer to a jar with a tight lid and store in the fridge.

The Rational Thought

After buying a bottle of cognac for the French Manhattan, I needed to find some other uses for it. Here is one from @cnh.photo's Instagram feed. I highly recommend it as a Fall or Winter drink. It also has a cool name. I did end up buying the curaçao for this, even though I originally intended to replace that with cointreau or grand mariner. I'm not sure if they'd be interchangeable in this. If I do a test using both side by side I will let you know. 

You need to plan ahead a little for this one because the cinnamon needs to steep into the water sugar mixture for a while to make the cinnamon syrup, so you don't want to be making this just before you are planning to put together a cocktail. 

The Rational Thought

1 oz VSOP cognac (he used Pierre Ferrand Ambre. I used whatever is on my shelf.)

.5 oz pear brandy (pear eau de vie)

1 oz dry curacao    

.75 oz fresh lemon juice 

1 teaspoon cinnamon simple syrup

1. Put all contents in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into coupe or Nick & Nora glass. 

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

5 oz cane sugar

5 oz water

2 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces

1. Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a few minutes.

2. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 6 hours.

3. Strain out solids and put liquid into a jar that has a lid. Cover and store in the fridge. 

 

The Fallback Cocktail

Typically when I make a cocktail recipe that calls for rye whiskey, I simply replace it with bourbon. It's too much to keep so many different liquors on hand, and I like bourbon. Well, I got curious and did a side by side experiment to taste the difference of rye vs whiskey in one of my go-to cocktails. At first, I was partial to the bourbon. Then, the more I sipped I started to shift. I am no expert here, but the way I would describe it is that the rye is drier and doesn't fill up your whole mouth with it's flavor, so allows the other ingredients to come through a bit better. The bourbon isn't bad, but I am convinced that rye can be the better choice for certain cocktails. Since then, I have tried a couple more with the rye and it's working for me. 

This is another one from @cnh.photo on Instagram. He provides the history and description of each drink and I highly recommend following him. I merely post here so I can find it quickly when I need it in a font size that I don't need reading glasses for.

The Fallback Cocktail

1 oz rye whiskey

1 oz aged apple brandy 

.5 oz Amaro Nonino

.5 oz sweet vermouth

2-3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

1. Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and serve in a rocks glass or glass of your choice.

Stir Fried Broccoli

When I first became vegetarian over 30 years ago, I didn't cook at all really. I just ate around whatever was being presented to me. When I did start to cook, stir fry seemed like the obvious thing, and if my memory serves me correctly there was a stir fry craze happening at the time. Today's instant pot was the wok of that time as far as cooking trends go. I never got very good at stir fries. Over-cooked or not cooked enough. The sauce not quite right. I don't remember that well, but I largely just gave up on them. Plus, back then the vegetarian offerings on menus were very limited. As I've mentioned before, one can only eat so much mediocre stir fry, veggie burgers or pasta primavera in a lifetime. They are all dishes I grew extremely tired of and have largely avoided for many years now.

In the same vein, I've never perfected sauted or stir-fried broccoli. It seems like it should be a staple and something I can do in my sleep. When I have a side of broccoli cooked to just the right shade of green and crispness, it's noticeable to me. It seems it's the type of food that is too easily over or undercooked. And, raw? No thank you. Raw broccoli or cauliflower on a crudite plate is just not enjoyable. I eat it here or there, but only if there is nothing else available.

I've tried blanching the broccoli before stir-frying it but that is a) a pain. You need to use a pot, a steamer and a pan just to make a simple side dish. b) I rarely get it right and end up over-cooking it. With just stir-frying it often seems to be a bit undercooked. I admit I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be, but it is something I'd like to get just right because it does make a nice dish or even the main part of a meal. I was having a strong craving for broccoli yesterday, so tried this and think it might be just the thing. If I didn't want the asian flavoring, I think doing it with just the garlic and broth would also work just fine. 

Ginger stir-fried broccoli

1 large broccoli crown or 2 smaller ones

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup veggie broth (for this I use a half tspn of the jarred kind and boiling water)

1 tablespoon tamari or Bragg's liquid aminos

1 tablespoon sesame oil 

canola or peanut oil

chili flakes or toasted sesame seeds for garnish

1. Mix the broth, tamari and sesame oil in a small prep bowl and place in easy reach to the stove.

2. Heat the canola or peanut oil over medium high heat in a sauté pan that has a cover. 

3. Add the broccoli and toss in the oil for about a minute.

4. Clear a spot in the center of the pan and add the garlic, ginger, and a little more oil Stir and saute for under a minute, just so it becomes fragrant.

5. Add the broth mixture to the pan, bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cover. Steam for about 2 minutes. 

6. Remove with a slotted spoon. If you want, you could put in a serving bowl and add the remaining liquid from the pan. This would be good if serving it with rice. I didn't find it necessary eating it on it's own. Garnish with chili flakes for sesame seeds if you want.

Sage Sour

The holidays have been weird and a bit sad. Mostly I'm just pretending it's just any other day and going about my business. On Christmas Eve, I got together for Zoom cocktails with a longtime friend and her husband. We had a lot of laughs and tried a cocktail she suggested that she had seen on TV the night before. Thankfully she caught me while I was at the grocery store and told me to buy sage. That's not a fresh herb I usually keep on hand and I would not have wanted to miss out on this. I love a good sour and this inspires me to explore more simple syrups infused with herbs. My friend Catherine has made one with mint that was very nice. I think that would work well in this cocktail. I'm going to try some different variations on that and report back. This is a more sugary concoction than I usually go for with both the simple syrup and the maple syrup, but the sour aspect tempers it enough that it doesn't taste overly sweet to me. I did cut back a little on the maple syrup, but I'm going to post the original recipe.

First make the sage simple syrup 

Use a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water. I can never get through a whole cup before the syrup goes bad, so have started using only a half cup. 

    1/2 cup water 

    1/2 cup cane sugar 

    1/4 cup firmly packed sage leave

1. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. 

2. Remove from the heat and let it all sit for about 30 minutes. 

3. Strain the liquids using a mesh strainer into a mason jar or another type of glass container with a tight fitting lid. Use the back of a spoon to press the liquid contents from the leaves. Discard the leaves. 

4. Cover the jar and put in the fridge to chill. 

 Shake the cocktail 

    1 1/2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey 

    1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice 

    1/2 oz sage simple syrup 

    1/2 oz good quality maple syrup 

1. Put all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake until cold. 

2. Pour into Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a leaf of sage.

French Manahattan

 I hadn't ever had cognac before, so purchased a bottle of it to try a cocktail I came across. Since then, I've tasted a few different drinks with it and it will become one of my winter base liquors. It's warming and tasty on it's own or mixed with other ingredients. I believe the most common cocktail you'll find cognac in is a Sidecar. We tried one in our Covid Cocktail Club the other night. It's certainly a good standard to know how to make. I took the French Manhattan recipe from Drinking French (of course). I'm starting to lose track of the drinks I've tried, so you may see more posted. That way I can remember which ones I want to make again. I still have to look at recipes for most cocktails. I hope soon to at least have a handful I can make from memory. (I'm going to test myself and type the ingredients first before checking Drinking French for the recipe.) ((That didn't go well.))

If anyone has a favorite brand of cognac, do tell. I had no idea what I was doing so just picked a nice looking bottle.

French Manhattan

1 1/2 oz cognac

1  1/2 oz sweet vermouth

1/4 oz Grand Marnier or Cointreau 

1 dash orange or Angostura bitters

Cherry or orange peel to garnish

1. Put all contents except for garnish in a shaker full of ice. Shake and pour into a coupe glass. Add garnish.

Baked Mashed Potato Nests

 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, without contest. Go do a running race or group ride in the morning, then hang out with family and eat a lot of vegetables. Perfect. This year was obviously different. I'm not tied to many traditions, so changing up the holidays doesn't upset me the way it does some people. The one lost tradition that did make me sad was not having 17 sides for my Thanksgiving meal. My cousin, Lori, and I pride ourselves in having ALL the vegetables, including white potatoes cooked at least two different ways. I did make mashed potatoes and to make myself feel better, I made quite a lot of them. I had planned to make mashed potato pancakes with the leftovers and top them with a mushroom gravy as I have in the past. But I was feeling a bit lazy and never made it to the grocery store to get mushrooms. So, instead, I baked the mashed potatoes which, surprisingly, I've never done in the past and then had some fun with the presentation. I turned them into nests! I am definitely making food nests again. (This is cute, right? Every once in a while I need to do a pandemic sanity check.)

There are lots of variations on baked mashed. I think it's a fairly flexible dish. This is the one I used. While they were baking, I sauteed some peas with shallots, thyme, white wine and a little veggie broth. Then, I lined the rim with some arugula and cherry tomatoes.

Baked Mashed

3 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 egg

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

butter

Salt 

Pepper

1/2 tspn onion powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a casserole dish with butter.

2. Mix all ingredients, except butter in a mixing bowl and then spoon into buttered casserole dish. If you want, put small pats of butter on top and sprinkle with a little more cheese.

3. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, letting it brown on top a bit.

Oatmeal with a Protein Boost

 In the past I've mentioned how I've tried to give my breakfast a nutrition boost by replacing my usual granola and yogurt or oatmeal options with a green smoothie. That didn't end up working for me since I have a strong preference for chewing my meals. I would find myself wanting to eat a second breakfast and since I'm not a Hobbit, I need to limit the amount of meals I'm having before noon. Last winter I tried overnight oats. I enjoyed them and could pack lots of stuff in there, but was adding a decent amount of maple syrup to sweeten it up. After doing my cleanse this Fall, I decided to take a hard look at the amount of sugar in my diet. I don't crave dessert type foods very often, and tend to lean towards salty and savory foods, with the exception of breakfast. Growing up eating breakfast cereal most every day left a lasting imprint on my habits. Even though I mostly eat plain yogurt with my granola, I drizzle it with maple syrup and then add either golden raisins, banana or blueberries, depending on the season. I also took a look at the sugar content of the granola I eat, and was surprised to find it was 10g per serving. Compared to other granolas, I found it to be much less sweet tasting, but that's a pretty big dollop of sugar in the morning. My oatmeal may be a bit less, but I'm guessing it's still up there. So I'm searching for alternatives. I think I can change up the overnight oats mixture to provide a lower sugar, yet tasty option. This week, I tried this recipe and found it tasty and satisfying with the only sugar coming from the banana.

Mainly I'm trying to reduce my sugar because as I age I find my metabolism changing. Also, the creator of the cleanse I did has a firm belief that if you start the day with sugar, you end the day with sugar. I figure reducing sugar can't hurt and I can find an equally as enjoyable breakfast, so it's not a sacrifice, but a shift in habit. 

Adding eggs to oatmeal doesn't add flavor, in my opinion, but it does add sustenance. It keeps me full longer. The original recipe called for a whole banana, but I used half since that's all I had and I think that was enough, but go for a whole one if you prefer getting more banana into your diet.

The mug-bowl in this picture is a special one. It was given to me as a gift by my friend Kathy. She bought it for me from a local potter during a girls weekend I wasn't able to attend at the last minute. I don't have anything else like it and think it's very pretty. I save it for days when I feel like I need a boost, so I can start my day with something that makes me smile. 

Oatmeal with eggs

3/4 cup uncooked rolled oats

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk (start with this amount and add more if necessary I used oat milk and more of a 1:1 ratio with the oats by the time I was done)

1/2 - a whole ripe banana, mashed (amount based on preference)

1 tspn cinnamon

1. Put all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. 

2.  Cook until all liquid is absorbed, the eggs are cooked and it's reached oatmeal consistency. Add more milk if necessary. 

3. Top with slivered almonds or anything you like on top your oatmeal. 

Tangy Braised Chickpeas in Acorn Squash Bowl

First Snow was a bit unexpected and odd this year. The unexpected part was it sounded like it was going to be a dusting that would melt within several hours, as if it had never arrived. Instead, many inches fell and I ended up shoveling IN OCTOBER. The odd part was the leaves have lingered on the trees this year and it's pretty unusual to see snow and gold or red leaves sharing space on a tree limb. It was also quite beautiful. Then, one week later it was in the 70s for several days in a row and it has felt amazing.

Anyway, enough weather talk. My point in all this is to tell you that I totally rocked First Snow in Autumn dinner. There's a dish I've been meaning to make from Smitten Kitchen (of course), and it's been a while since I've used an acorn squash as a bowl. It seemed like these could make a nice pairing and they really did. The flavors worked well together and paired with a nice glass of red wine, you've got yourself a cozy and soul satisfying meal. I bought a couple more acorn squashes and am going to experiment with using them as a bowl for a different bean based meal. There's a black bean spinach chili I haven't made in a long time and that might be just the thing.

Here's the link to the Smitten Kitchen recipe:

Tangy Braised Chickpeas

Tangy Braised Chickpeas in Acorn Squash

Tangy Braised Chickpea Stew

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 large thick carrots, cut into 1/4" thick slices

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

1/4 tspn chili flakes

at least 8 oz of thickly sliced mushrooms - crimini or portabella

4 tblspn tomato paste

1 1/2 tblspn brown sugar

3-4 cups broth - mushroom or other veg broth

1/3 cup sherry vinegar (red wine vinegar can also be used)

2 tspns worcestershire sauce (tamari could be used in its place)

2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained

1 bay leaf

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Use a pot that can go from stove to oven (like a Le Creuset dutch oven). Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Cook for a few minutes until softened and then add garlic, cook for another 2 minutes.

3.  Add carrots, salt and both peppers. Cook for 2 minutes until the carrots begin to glisten.

4.  Add tomato paste and brown sugar. Cook for a few minutes until well incorporated. 

5.  Add chickpeas, worcestershire, broth, bay leaf and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, adding another teaspoon of salt and some pepper.

6. Once simmering cover tightly with a lid. Put in oven, arranging racks so there is also room for the squash pan to fit in there with it later.

Acorn Squash

1/2 an acorn squash per person

olive oil

salt and pepper

chopped parsley for garnish

1. Cut acorn squash in half. You can do it in either direction, based on your preference, but I did it crosswise rather than lengthwise because then you can get a better base for it to sit flat as a bowl. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

2. Put a little olive oil in the cavity, and then using your hands, rub it all around the inside and the top edge. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Put on a baking dish, cavity side facing upwards.

4. Place in oven. Test for doneness after about 30 minutes. I let mine stay in the most of the remaining time I cooked the chickpeas (a little over an hour by the time I put them in) and the flesh got very soft and caramelized, which I liked. It made it easy (and tasty) to mix the squash with bites of the stew. 

To serve, place squash into a wide soup bowl or plate. Ladle stew into the acorn squash and then some more around it in the plate. Garnish with parsley.