New Fall Favorites

Story & Photos By LAURA GROSS-HIGGINS

There is something about the fall that speaks to me of new beginnings. Maybe it’s because school always started then, or the cool nights and warm days always sparked more energy in me. Maybe it’s because the change of season signals the need to get ready for winter. Whatever…since I have lived on the Cape, it also signals a return to quieter days, less-busy roads, with a steadier schedule ahead.

And in the fall, I look forward to more cooking and baking. What I would like to do in this article is talk about some new ways to use carrots, cabbage and butternut squash—all vegetables that are available in the fall and all that have various ways of preparation. In the past decade, I have branched out from more traditional recipe sources.

Growing up we had carrot sticks and used carrots in cole slaw, stews and salads; occasionally my mother boiled them. They are often part of soups. As an adult, I have made carrot cake (yum) and a spicy carrot dip. But about two years ago I found a recipe online for Carrot Halwa. I was more familiar with sesame seed halvah, which I loved. Although their names sound similar, they are not the same thing. Halvah is made with nut and seed butter and is Middle Eastern. Halwa is South Asian and is also a dessert, but it’s more like a paste. After realizing they were different, I still decided to try the recipe. And I fell in love with it. What it makes is more like a hermit in texture, and the warmth of the cardamom in it makes it special to me. I swapped pistachios for the almonds in the original recipe, and that was a plus. That recipe came from www.food52.com.

And what of cabbage, something that I hated as a kid. It was tasteless and smelled funny. Thankfully, as an adult I have come to love it and use it, of course, in cole slaw or with ricotta as a pasta topping; someone even gave me a recipe once for pizza with a cabbage topping. But the recipe I am including here is for cabbage cooked in an Indonesian style from a Madhur Jaffrey book, “Step-By-Step Cooking.” It requires making a paste of red pepper and other ingredients, cooking that paste and then cooking the cabbage in that. I really like it, and it has stretched my cabbage cuisine. Although it has some hot ingredients, the finished taste is not super-hot. Just savory.

The last fall veggie I am mentioning is butternut squash, something I don’t remember having very often when I was growing up. We had acorn squash more. For about the last 10 years, I have been using butternut squash to make soups. All those recipes can be lumped together taste-wise. Then last year I found a recipe in the At Home section of the Sunday New York Times. It was for a Thai green curry butternut squash soup. It is in a league of its own. I would include that recipe, but many people have their favorite butternut squash soup already.

What I would like to share here is a recipe for butternut squash muffins that I love. I got it online from www.theroastedroot.net. And it’s perfect for when you have leftover pureed squash (about 1 cup). They are not big muffins; that’s okay with me. But they are moist and flavorful. And because they are paleo, they have no wheat flour in them, so if you know anyone with a gluten allergy, these are perfect for them. I don’t follow a paleo diet, but if a recipe is good, then I am willing to make it.

Even if you don’t try these, use the fall to renew your recipe collection. Take cookbooks out of the library, try something new from Gail Blakely’s weekly food column in the Enterprise, or go online. Make this fall a renewal in cooking and baking.

Carrot-Halwa Blondie Bars

(Adapted from www.food52.com)
25 bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp double-acting baking powder (leveled)

2 cups shredded carrots

½ cup whole milk

5 TBSP sugar

½ cup raisins (I use currants instead)

One 14-ounce can condensed milk

8 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

5 to 7 pods cardamom seeds, crushed

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup slivered almonds (I used roasted salted pistachios)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, sieve together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. Combine the shredded carrots, whole milk, sugar and currants in an oven-proof bowl. Pour the condensed milk over the top.

Mix well and microwave for 5 to 8 minutes, until the carrots are soft and have lost their raw taste.

Add the melted butter, cardamom and nutmeg. Combine well. (I prefer to add the spices after the carrots are cooked to ensure that the essential oils in the spices do not dissipate.)

Pour the carrot mixture into the center of the mixing bowl containing the flour. Fold it in gently from the sides toward the center. Take care not to over-mix, as this can cause the gluten to bind together, resulting in a tough and leathery texture.

Spread evenly onto a greased (jellyroll pan) half-sheet tray, and sprinkle with slivered almonds. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden-brown.

Allow to cool, cut into squares and serve. These bars freeze well and will keep for up to a month in the freezer.

Cabbage Stir-Fried With Red Pepper Paste

(From Madhur Jaffrey’s
“Step-By-Step Cooking”)

1 lb cabbage leaves, mixed with some of the inside leaves

1 red bell pepper

2 shallots, or half an onion

2 large garlic cloves

½ tsp shrimp or anchovy paste (optional, I used fish powder and a dash of fish sauce)

¼ tsp chili powder (or more)

6 TBSP vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

Wash cabbage leaves and drain. Stacking several of them together, cut them crosswise into long, fine, 1/2-inch-wide shreds.

Core and deseed the red pepper, then chop coarsely. Peel and coarsely chop the shallots and garlic. Put the red pepper, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste chili powder and 3 TBSP water in a blender. Blend until a coarse paste results. Don’t make it too smooth.

Set a wok over high heat. When hot, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the spice paste. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes or until the oil separates (on the surface) and the mixture is dark red in color (mine never got dark red).

Add the cabbage and salt and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Cover tightly, turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cabbage is just cooked. (No water should be needed, but check after 5 to 6 minutes. Add a little if the mixture seems dry.)

Turn into a warmed dish and serve at once.

(The fish flavor deepens a little after a few days.)

Paleo Butternut
Squash Muffins

(From www.roastedroot.net)

2 large eggs

1 cup butternut squash, roasted and mashed

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

3 TBSP pure maple syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups super-fine almond flour

¼ cup coconut sugar (I use brown sugar)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp sea salt (I use kosher salt)

¼ cup raw walnuts, chopped, for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a muffin tray with nine papers (I usually make 11).

Add all ingredients (except the walnuts or whatever nut you use) to a blender and blend until combined. (I also have used a food processor.)

Fill the muffin papers three-quarters of the way full with batter. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops have set up and turned golden-brown.

Allow muffins to cool at least 30 minutes before peeling off the muffin paper.