Brussel Sprouts and Butternut Squash

[tammylc]

I'm having a dinner party tonight, and decided to cook seasonally - hit the market, see what I could get, and come home and cook it. I ended up with two fresh grass fed Amish chickens (bought directly from some Amish folks) and some brussel sprouts, butternut squash and leeks. I'll be using the leeks to attempt to recreate Lady T's fabulous scallopped potatoes from the Heartland Gathering, but I'm looking for inspiration on the other two veggies. Anybody got any good ideas? All the side dishes need to be vegetarian.

Thanks!

[SobaAddict70]

Roast the sprouts with EVOO and kosher salt. (Do a search for brussel sprouts on this board and you'll come up with several threads, believe me. )

Squash: roast. Scoop out pulp, saute with onion and garlic in unsalted butter. Add a dash of curry powder. Add chopped apple or pear. Saute a bit more. Add vegetable stock. Simmer. Adjust seasoning. Puree in blender or food processor, return to pot. Simmer a bit more, add splash of light cream. Adjust seasoning. Plate. Garnish with chopped squash and a bit of cilantro.

Soba

[Alex]

Roast the sprouts with EVOO and kosher salt.  (Do a search for brussel sprouts on this board and you'll come up with several threads, believe me. )

Squash:  roast.  Scoop out pulp, saute with onion and garlic in unsalted butter.  Add a dash of curry powder.  Add chopped apple or pear.  Saute a bit more.  Add vegetable stock.  Simmer.  Adjust seasoning.  Puree in blender or food processor, return to pot.  Simmer a bit more, add splash of light cream.  Adjust seasoning.  Plate.  Garnish with chopped squash and a bit of cilantro.

Soba

Alternative garnish for soup: Cook fresh cranberries with fresh orange juice and sugar. Press through a sieve. Dilute as necessary with the cooking liquid. Drizzle over the soup. I also do an additional drizzle of heavy cream mixed with maple syrup.

Or you can try this recipe from the Heartland Gathering, using butter and a chipotle instead of bacon.

[marie-louise]

Any chance you have Michael Chiarello's second book-I think it's called Casual Cooking? He has a great winter Panzanella recipe in there that uses butternut squash and Brussels sprouts together. The squash is roasted w/ a little sage, the sprouts are thinly sliced, then boiled, and it is also has sliced red onion. He makes his panzanella w/ croutons that are toasted in the oven w/ butter and Parmesan. It is a wonderful side for a plain roast chicken or pork tenderloin.

[adoxograph]

The only way to guarantee complete brussel sprout consumption in my house is to make fritters.

It's a great way to serve them, particularly if your guests are less than open minded where they are concerned.

[bloviatrix]

Throw the brussel sprouts into a pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes. After they cool, shred them (not through the stem the end). In a saute pan, sweat some onion and garlic in olive oil until they start tuning golden. Then add the shredded sprouts and saute they start to brown. Then add some balsamic vinegar and cook all the liquid out. Add some toasted pine nuts to the cooked sprouts.

For the butternut squash, you can dice it and toss with a bit of olive oil and a mixture of cinnamon, corriander, salt and pepper and then roast.