Roasted Butternut Squash Puree

Welcome to Butternut Squash 101. While the days are still in the high 80s/low 90s, the nighttime chill is enough to tell me that fall is almost here. And the arrival of butternut squash in the markets is another telltale sign of autumn.

We get a lot of mileage out of winter squash here. In addition to being a nutritional powerhouse, its versatility is almost endless. Not to mention that the girls love the sweet taste and the bright color. And it's pretty cool to eat pumpkin!

Here's a good way to stock your freezer with some pureed butternut squash. It'll come in handy later in the season when you want to make pumpkin pies (sorry Libby's - this is so much more tasty), pasta sauces and soups.

Carefully cut the neck of the squash from the bulbous base. Does that read as weird as it does to write? Seriously though, watch your fingers. In our part of the world buttnernuts are huge. Their mini American counterparts are so....cute and dainty. If you're using the smaller version, you might want to roast 2 or 3 at a time.

Once lopped off, save the upper portion for later in the week, like me. I'll post a recipe using it. Again, carefully cut straight through from top to bottom.

Deseed with a spoon. In a post a while back on bean sprouts, I wrote that almost any seed can be sprouted. Apparently even pumpkin seeds while still in utero.

Here are your two halves, deseeded and depulped.

Next, line a roasting pan with foil. You'll be very glad you did because as the squash cooks, it caramelizes and the caramelized bits, when cooked for too long will get black, puffy and smoky. Let's just say I'll sleep better now that I know that my smoke alarm works as it should.

Coat the inside of each half lightly with olive oil.

Flip them outside up.

And pop them in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour until they look like this but before you set your smoke alarm off. It's a fine line. Not really, I just got sidetracked.

Let them cool for a bit and once you can handle them, turn them over and scoop out the flesh. The smell is out of this world good.

Scoop the flesh into a food processor and whiz until smooth.

When the puree is fully cooled, put it in a ziploc bag and toss in the deep freeze until you are ready to whip up something delicious and healthy.

Veggie Cream Cheese

I have yet to tackle bagels. I have an irrational fear when it comes to making them. One day I'll muster up the guts to expand my personal comfort zone and make me some bagels. But until then, I did the almost (see NB below) next best thing. I bought a few at a local expat hangout, the Morning Star Cafe.

NB: The MSC bagels pale in comparison to Brandy's and Crowley's bagels!

But on this perfect Saturday morning, with the windows wide open and a cool breeze coming in, I realized I was missing two things to accompany my bagel and cup(s) of coffee: my favorite veggie cream cheese and a hard copy of the New York Times. And only one of which I could actually do something about.

I coarsely diced a bit of veggies I had in the house. I had half a green pepper, one very small and cute onion, a small carrot and a few cauliflower florets. Oh, and half a jalapeno from my garden. [I should learn how to do the tilda above the "n" in jalapeno on my keyboard].

Then I put it in the small whizzer attachment of my food processor.

Once chopped very finely, I placed the mixture on some cheese cloth and squeezed all the liquid out. No one wants runny cream cheese now do they? I was surprised at how much liquid came out. And all over my window ledge where I get the best natural light for photos, no less!

Next I grabbed a cute little 3 oz tub of cream cheese I bought yesterday at the Iranian store in town. Actually, I bought 8 little tubs of them since I parked illegally and didn't want to have to do that again any time soon.

Mix the cream cheese and the finely chopped veggies and then top it off with some s&p and some dried chili flakes.

Toast your bagel. And be sure to be generous with the cream cheese. Because, after all, it's about half veggies now. And hit it with some hot sauce to boot.

Now, grab your coffee and your bagel and go sit outside on your top chan and enjoy. Even if you don't have a real copy of the New York Times. Or a top chan.

Freezing Raspberries and Seasonal Produce

I was told recently by a friend that the third round of berries were in season right now at the Green Bazaar. We just bought a freezer chest off a couple leaving Dushanbe so first the first time in ten years of living in the Former Soviet Union I have more than 2 ft. sq. of freezer space! Trust me when I tell you that this is exciting news!

When only old root veggies are available in February and not a single piece of local fruit is in sight, we are going to enjoy these. Seasonal eating is a movement in the U.S. right now, but it's a part of everyday life in Tajikistan. When produce is affordable (read: cheap) and abundant, it's time to can, jar, pickle and freeze.

We bought four plastic bins.

They were huge and juicy.

Very little were mushed beyond freezability. I washed them gently in small batches of bottled water. Then I lined them up obediently in rows on a roasting tray and placed them in said freezer for about an hour.

This way you don't end up with a giant clump of mushy raspberries when you defrost a batch in the depths of a Tajik winter. You can actually take a handful out at a time, as cravings dictate.

Then I froze them in quart-size freezer bags.

Lemon raspberry muffins? Raspberry cake? Or how about something savory like Pastry Wrapped Brie with Raspberries? February almost can't come fast enough. Actually, considering we'll have about six hours of electricity per day and no heat or gas, I changed my mind. I can wait.