Butternut Apple Enchiladas

 I've just finished a wonderful book by Kathleen Flinn, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks, which is the second of her books I've read.  We at Cook the Books, featured  Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good last year, and I did enjoy it, and posted about my  Perfect Pizza, but this one I'm way fonder of.  Great sense of humor right from the first paragraph, where she explains what got her started on the project that led to this book.  She says: "Normally, I do not stalk people in grocery stores.  I confess to the occasional practice of supermarket voyeurism."

Following a woman and her daughter through the supermarket aisles, amazed at what they were putting in their cart, how she found herself convincing the woman to make better choices, without preaching or haranguing. Flinn gives down-to-earth information on changing eating habits whilst being entertaining at the same time. All that and with recipes thrown in.

Lamb in Pomegranate-Cardamom Sauce

Our latest project at Cook the Books Club was Funny in Farsi, A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, by Firoozeh Dumas.  It was indeed funny, lively and insightful as well. 

Moving to America at the age of 7, back in 1972, and popped right into public school, was an eye-opening experience for a small girl, especially for one who did not speak English.   What she remembers from that first day - "The bathrooms were clean and the people were very, very kind."  But you have to read the whole story to appreciate.

Dumas sprinkles mentions of delicious sounding Persian foods throughout her memoir, and I was tempted by many.  However the lamb roast in my freezer did the final selection.  That and my copy of an earlier Cook the Books Club selection: The Silk Road Gourmet by Laura Kelley.  The section on Iran to be exact, with a fabulous sounding recipe for Lamb in a Pomegranate-Cardamom Sauce (Fesenjan).  Oh boy.  That sounded like something I'd like to try.

Butternut Ginger Muffins with Macadamia Nuts

        HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Yet another recipe that involves BUTTERNUT SQUASH or PUMPKIN??  Yes, guilty as charged.  But, you can always use a wonderful muffin, right?  These are not only wonderful, but the best.  Seriously.  Plus they use up some of that extra, cooked squash you have in your fridge, and make a super addition to your New Year's Breakfast.

I did post the recipe for the Queen's Surf Banana Muffins a few years ago, and this is a riff off that.  A superior riff, if I do say so.  There were no bananas, but I wanted to use some roasted butternut squash in my muffins, and thought hey, mashed up squash could easily sub in for those bananas, right??  Add some fresh ginger, nutmeg and cardamom, top everything off with chopped mac nuts and crystallized ginger, and you get a winner, lovely tender crumb and quite delicious.

The old Queen's Surf Waikiki nightclub and restaurant burned down years ago, but I managed to get their secret Banana Muffin recipe.  Wrote it down on a 3x5 card and neglected to note who gave it to me.  Sigh.  But, trust me, the chef won't roll in his grave over this variation.

Butternut Soup with Pears, Cider and Vanilla

This slightly unusual soup was thanks to Molly Wizenberg's delightful book, A Homemade Life,  which we are currently reading for Cook the Books Club.  I have been trying various of her recipes, this soup being the latest.  What a fantastic concoction of flavors -  golden butternut with pears, cream and vanilla, a hint of apple cider and my duck stock backing everything nicely.

For Daring Cooks this month our goal was to make stock and then a soup.  Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!

I made a flavorful stock from Sunday dinner's roasted duck carcass, with added aromatics, carrots, celery and onion.  After chilling the broth and removing all fat, I reduced it by quite a bit, then went on, days later after numerous attempts at gathering together the various ingredients, to this soup.  Finally.  But, well worth the effort.  Since I do make stock on a regular basis, I should have done the clear Consommé thing with an egg white raft and all.  But, truthfully it just did not call out to me.