Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving is one day of the year when a group of friends gets together to celebrate each other...in case you were wondering.  At least, that's how I think my two friends C & L would define it!  This past Saturday they hosted Friendsgiving at their house, which, happily, included singing around the bonfire and loads of food.  You see, C, L, and company are the sort of people who think all good gatherings begin with potluck food and music.  C, marvel that she is, made her famous cream biscuits (from the Smitten Kitchen recipe), roasted a chicken, made vegan red velvet cupcakes, and mulled hot apple cider.  Others brought kale stuffing balls (tastes more delicious than it sounds), mashed potatoes, and vegan cherry brownies.  I wish I had taken a picture of the plates and platters of food that overflowed from their table!

I took the opportunity to try out a couple of seasonal recipes from my long list of candidates.  The first, a butternut squash pudding, was a savory, buttery 9x13" pan of deliciousness.  The butternut squash part was almost arbitrary when pureed and baked with copious amounts of eggs, butter, and milk.  It reminded me quite a bit of the corn pudding that I make around this time of year, too.  I wonder if the vegetable/starch ingredient mightn't be interchangeable.  Turnip pudding?  Sweet potato pudding? Heads up, though: No matter what you put in it, you'll use pretty much every bowl and saucepan that you own and your housemate will have to be bribed with pudding so as to avoid any confrontation over the sad state of your kitchen.

Butternut Squash Pudding

for the squash:

1 large butternut squash (3 1/2 lb), halved and seeded

EVOO

salt and pepper

for the béchamel:

1 qt whole milk

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 c all-purpose flour

salt and pepper

for the pudding:

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for dish

fine plain breadcrumbs, for dish

4 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1/2 c finely grated Parmesan cheese (2 oz)

pinch of ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

1.  Make the squash:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat squash with oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to a baking sheet, cut sides down, and cover with parchment-lined foil.  Roast until tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 50 minutes.  Let cool.

2.  Scoop flesh from squash using a large spoon; discard skin.  Puree flesh in a food processor until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Make the béchamel:  Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbles form around the edge.  Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is incorporated.  Continue to cook until golden, with a nutty scent, about 3 minutes more.  Whisk in milk in a slow, steady stream.  Cook, whisking, until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour or overnight.  Whisk béchamel until smooth before using.

4.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Make the pudding:  Butter a 9x13" baking dish, and coat with breadcrumbs.  Beat 3 c pureed squash, the melted butter, eggs, yolks, Parmesan, and nutmeg with mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Fold in béchamel.  Season with salt and pepper.

5.  Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.  Cover with parchment-lined foil, and place in a larger baking dish.  Fill with enough warm water to come halfway up sides of smaller dish.  Bake until center is firm, about 40 minutes.  Remove foil, and bake until top browns, about 35 minutes more.  Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

Serves 8 to 10.

Source:  Martha Stewart Living magazine, December 2009.

Because I like to live large, I also made a sweet dish for Friendsgiving, Apple Quick Bread with Oatmeal-Walnut Crumble and Caramel Sauce.  It's a mouthful, name and all.  I ended up adapting this Martha Stewart recipe because I (inconceivably) ran out of all-purpose flour part way through, and had to use half whole wheat flour instead.  I like to think that this made the bread healthy...if only you can forget all the butter and oil in there, too.  In any case, it came out well, dense and slightly nutty from the whole wheat flour addition.  I thought it suited the sweetness of apples and cider.  The only other change I made was to sub the Calvados (apple brandy) with additional cider.  I like to go traditional, but it gets expensive--and cluttered--to purchase bottles of specialty liqueurs that I'll only use once in a recipe, and then let collect dust for years.  Here's the original recipe:

Apple Quick Bread with Oatmeal-Walnut Crumble and Caramel Sauce

unsalted butter, for pan

2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

2 t baking powder

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c packed dark-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 to 3/4 c fresh cider

1/4 c apple brandy, preferably Calvados (optional)

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

2 small apples, preferably MacIntosh, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" cubes (2 c)

Oatmeal-Walnut Crumble (see recipe below)

Caramel Sauce (see recipe below)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 5x9" loaf pan.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix together oil and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until combined.  With machine running, add eggs, 1 at a time.  Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 1/2 c cider and the brandy (if not using brandy, use an additional 1/4 c cider), beginning and ending with flour.  Add vanilla, and fold in apples.  Pour mixture into pan, and top with oatmeal-walnut crumble.

2.  Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes.  Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cool for 15 minutes.  Invert pan to remove bread.  Let cool completely on a wire rack, crumble side up.  (Bread can be stored, wrapped, at room temperature overnight or refrigerated for up to 5 days.)  Drizzle with caramel sauce just before serving.

Oatmeal-Walnut Crumble

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c packed dark-brown sugar

1 1/2 oz walnuts, broken into pieces (1/2 c)

1/4 c old-fashioned oats

1/4 t salt

2 1/2 oz (5 T) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Combine flour, sugar, walnuts, oats, and salt in the bowl of a mixer.  Add butter, and beat on medium speed until mixture forms small clumps.  Crumble can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Caramel Sauce

1/2 c packed dark-brown sugar

1/4 c heavy cream

1 1/2 oz (3 T) unsalted butter

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 t salt

Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook for 5 minutes.  Let cool slightly.  Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 5 days; reheat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, before using.

Makes 2/3 cup.

Makes 1 5x9" loaf.

Source:  Martha Stewart Living magazine, November 2009.