Saturday, October 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Dorie: Brown Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en Papillote

It's possible that Dorie Greenspan has taken over my life. She certainly has a choke-hold on this blog...or her recipes do. (I do cook other things, I swear. I really have to post more variations)
Just the other day Matt very solemnly explained to Liana, that yes, we do what Dorie says to do here in this house. It makes for very good eating.

Today, October 24th, is Ms. Dorie Greenspan's birthday, and because she's given us so much baking and eating pleasure, and because she seems like a lovely person, though I've never met her, I thought I would join a little project that Holly of Phe/MOM/enon put together, a kind of progressive birthday dinner, made entirely of recipes from Around My French Table.
I chose a recipe from the vegetable section, Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en Papillote.  This simple preparation is chunks of winter squash (I used a potimarron, or red kuri) and Brussels sprouts (and apples, the sleeper ingredient) tossed with some brown sugar and oil and sage and roasted in a tinfoil wrapper until tender. It was sweet and gentle and very well liked in this house, where brussels sprouts are definitely all that.

I was extremely excited about the potimarron, a squash that is supposed to have a flavor like that of chestnuts. (Ok, I was so excited that Matt caught me cradling it in my arms when I realized what it was). The farm stand at the market that I bought it from had it identified, interestingly, as 'Baby's Favorite,' meaning, I think, actual infants, as opposed to one's sweetie. I thought the texture might have done better for soup, but the flavor of the almost translucent squash cubes was excellent. Known for having skin so delicate it can be eaten after roasting, it was also a weeper, and poured copious amounts of liquid when cut, which can just barely be seen in the photo below.
Happy birthday, Dorie. Enjoy the feast.

14 comments:

natalia said...

Ciao ! I love your wonderful potimarron ! I've ever seen it here ! Those vegetables must be delish !

The Food Librarian said...

Awesome! Happy birthday to Dorie! What a great veggie dish. - mary

Di said...

Lol! I admit, I was tempted to title my post "All Dorie, all the time." =) Between Tuesdays and Fridays, and this week Sunday, there doesn't seem to be much else on my blog. I need to post more other stuff, too.

I'll have to look at Central Market to see if I can find that sort of squash.

Vicki said...

What a beautiful squash. Dorie is simply amazing.

Unknown said...

K! I did not know you were participating too... jejeje, we did keep our secret eh? Love your dish and I have it marked in the book to try, your post just send it to the top of the list.

Cristine said...

Looks like a delicious dish!

Cristine said...

Looks like a delicious dish!

Marthe said...

Wasn't this top secret virtual dinner fun? Like you I did a 'papilotte'-dish, it's so easy to make! Your veggies look yummy!

Anonymous said...

Looks to be a fab thanksgiving side? Thanks for joining in on the birthday fun! xo

Leslie said...

You squash dish sounds so good I think I might be able to overlook the brussels sprouts (yes, they aren't a favorite with me). Wasn't it fun doing this all together?

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I love papillote dishes (no actual dishes to clean!!! and they turn out so tender). Thanks so much for all of the tips on Kuri squash; I've been curious about it for so long. This was a fun virtual party, and yes, my blog has been devoted almost exclusively to Dorie for months...

Mary said...

Great post....I love that you were cradling the squash...true TWD and FFwD dedication!

Dorie said...

Such a funny post and such a sweet one, too. Merci so much for my birthday dinner -- it was delicious in every way.

Joan said...

Katya - Mom recreated this and it was great!
dad