Greetings and welcome to another Rootabaga week!
For each week this December, the Rootabaga orders are themed around seasonal holiday recipes and meal ideas. This week is inspired by a delicious recipe for Hasselback Butternut Squash with Brown Butter Sage. I’d never tried this cooking method for squash, or making a brown butter sauce and I must say I was quite impressed! But before we get into the recipe, let’s see what’s in the bags this week.
The small share has:
Butternut Squash – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally grown
Fresh Sage – Snowy River Farms, spray-free
White Mushrooms – Valley Mushrooms, PEI, spray free
Napa Cabbage – Taproot Farms, certified organic
Pear – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally grown
Yellow Onions – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally grown
Red Potatoes – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
The large share has everything included in the small as well as:
Cucumber – den Haan Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
Pea Shoots – Bramble Hill Farm, spray free
And a larger share of napa cabbage and sage
If you’re looking to spice up your usual roasted or mashed squash for the holidays, I highly recommend trying out this recipe for Hasselback Butternut Squash with Brown Butter Sage! I made hasselback potatoes once, but I found them underwhelming. This squash turned out fantastic though. And the hasselback slicing method for one, makes for a rather striking side dish, and for two, it greatly increases the surface area for all of the yummy brown butter sauce to soak in. Lastly, while looking quite impressive it was actually fairly easy to do.
- 1 butternut squash (similar sizes)
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- ⅛ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove all the seeds and peel the outside skin from squash.
- Rub the squash with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on baking sheet.
- Place in oven for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the squash is tender enough to slice.
- While the squash is baking, in a large frying pan over medium/low heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped walnuts and saute for 5 minutes. Stir constantly and make sure not to burn. Add brown sugar and sage to the pan, stir and let cook for 2 more minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Make small slices in each half of squash, about ⅛" apart almost all the way through, making sure not to cut through the skin of the squash.
- Evenly brush on ½ the brown butter mixture on the squash. Sprinkle each half with cinnamon and nutmeg. Roast the squash for anther 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the squash. Evenly brush on remaining brown butter mixture. Return to the oven and roast for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the squash are fork tender.
- Serve immediately.
Here is the original recipe, however I made a few changes which you can see above. I cut the recipe in half to use 1 squash instead of 2. And I used dairy butter instead of a vegan alternative, though I’m sure that would work just as well if you’re dairy free. Lastly, I used walnuts instead of pecans because it was what I had on hand. It turned out great, and I would definitely make it again as an addition to a holiday meal.
Fresh sage is a great flavour to have around this time of year, it’s delicious in soup stocks, as a spice rub for poultry, and a great addition to stuffing mix. But if you think you’re not going to use it all before it wilts and goes bad, dry the rest of the sage instead! Just tie your remaining sprigs in a bunch and hang them upside down in a dry area of your house, forget about them for a week or 2, until they’re dry and crisp to the touch, then pick the leaves off and put them in a jar for later use. Use the leaves whole, dice them, or I often stick them in the mortar and pestle and crush them that way for use in whatever dish.
Whenever I think of mushrooms and a festive dish I think vegetarian mushroom gravy (a great way to make a flavourful gravy if you’re serving a vegetarian family member or opting out of turkey this year) or stuffed mushrooms. I had the best stuffed mushrooms once upon a time. I’ve never been able to make them as good, nor do I seem to find the time when already making a more labour intensive holiday meal. But I found this recipe (https://momsdish.com/recipe/579/sauteed-mushroom-appetizer) for “Crazy Easy” Sauteed Mushroom Appetizer, that piqued my interest. Juicy whole mushrooms, garlic, and cheese. What more do you need? To stick to a local product I’d try it with the Herb & Garlic Goat Cheese from Ran-Cher Acres.
I might not make this for a holiday meal since we eat it so regularly, but fried cabbage is so good that you certainly could! Napa or savoy cabbage are my favourite varieties for this, but green and red work well too. Simply heat a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, add a sliced onion and a bunch of thinly sliced cabbage, salt, pepper, and fry until soft and beginning to brown. It’s quick, tasty, budget friendly, and available all winter long.
Lastly, I have Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal with Pears on the breakfast menu. I often throw this together if I have overnight guests as it makes a big portion and is a bit more special than your standard bowl of oatmeal. The recipe is easily customized for seasonal fruit and caters to different dietary restrictions. Here is the recipe (https://alexandracooks.com/2013/08/09/baked-steel-cut-oatmeal/).
Thank you for joining us for another week of Rootabaga folks! I hope this gave you some ideas for how to enjoy your subscription and maybe even gave you some holiday meal inspiration.
Until next week,
Robin
