Squash Chutney

I made something last night that sort of stank up the entire apartment. Megs and I were vegging on the couch, having a laugh riot about the Daily Show. I took a whiff. I think potent would be a good word. I don't know that it necessarily smelled bad. Megan described it as Easter eggs, which makes sense because there was a whole lot of vinegar going on.

Alright, so what is chutney and why did I decide to spend three hours making it? When I think chutney, I think India (though I do not recall having anything similar to it while there). It does typically have Indian spices and ingredients (i.e. mango chutney flavored sometimes with cumin/coriander/etc). There's a lot of room for variation, which makes me excited to give it another go. In briefer terms, I'd call it the Indian version of salsa.

When I saw the recipe on a blog, I realized it would be a good way for me to use up the rest of my squash. And I actually had all of the ingredients necessary to make it, except that I used balsamic vinegar instead of white wine. (Thus the crazy black color of the sauce.)

Unfortunately, this hors d'ouevre is not about instant gratification. The chutney will be sitting in my fridge for a couple weeks while the vinegar ferments. I'll give you an update in March, but so far it looks delicious even if it doesn't smell so. Squash Chutney: 1/2 butternut squash

4 medium cooking apples (OK, all I had were Galas, whatever)

1/2 large onion

1 1/2 cups raisins (red or white, currants or sultanas)

2 cups combination of brown and white sugar (the recipe I followed used more white than brown, I just happend to measure out more brown than white, I'll let you know in a couple weeks if that was a bad thing)

2 cups vinegar (using different vinegars will lend a different flavor, I predict that balsamic will be very overpowering of the rest of the spices, I think the choice would depend on what other ingredients were in the chutney and what vinegar you had on hand, probably don't use whatever you've got under your kitchen sink, unless it's a last resort)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon coriander

1/2 tablespoon sage

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Peel and finely chop squash, apples and onion. This may take a while, so turn on some music. I recommend cooking to Jamie Cullum or the new Andrew Bird.

Toss the fruit and vegetables into a big ol' pot. Pour in your vinegar, sugar, herbs and spices. Bring it all to a boil then reduce to a simmer. It may appear that you don't have enough liquid to boil and properly cook everything. Don't worry, the fruit and vegs will cook down almost immediately. So simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring periodically. Warning: Do not stick your nose straight above the pot, the vinegar will burn. It's done when the sauce is thickened about to the consistency of molasses.

Matt Wright served this with a baguette and soft cheese, and it makes me want to eat it through the computer screen. Variations will be the best part of this dish. Tomatoes, mangos, apparently coconut is popular, citrus, I nearly added garlic to this one. And then there's the herbs and spices. I think a citrus chutney would be good with some jalapeno. I mused for a moment about putting in some mushrooms but decided against it.

Autumn Risotto

Here's another Italian dish from my repetoire. Risotto is one of my favorites, probably because of the abundance of parmasan cheese (ask any of my roommates--I'm obsessed with it). And I make a kick-ass risotto. However, this batch was one hitch kick shy of amazing. My theories on the less-than-stellar performance: 1) no meat, sausage or pancetta adds another element of savory, but I didn't have any, 2) I accidentally grabbed vegetable stock instead of chicken stock at the store, and 3) I totally spaced out on adding the sage, so the only seasoning was parmasan cheese, not necessarily a bad thing, just not all it could be. I also made a rookie mistake of confusing butterCUP squash for butterNUT squash. Who named these? (Butternut squash is yellow, buttercup squash like a small, green pumpkin).

Even so-so risotto couldn't ruin my Monday night. My Monday-night ritual involves coming home from work dragging myself outside for a jog (made significantly better by the addition of Coldplay's Viva La Vida to my music collection), after which I cook a something new and then sit down to watch Gossip Girl. It's beautiful.

Squash and Apple Risotto: (adapted from Food & Wine and Giada di Laurentiis)

4 cups chicken stock

3 tablespoons butter

2 ounces pancetta

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 butternut (or buttercup) squash

1 1/2 cups arborio or short-grain white rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used marsala, which is not at all dry, it was alright since a lot of the other ingredients are a bit sweet)

1/2 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup grated parmasan cheese

1 teaspoon dried sage (you could experiment here with other fall-ish herbs/spices, thyme for example)

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan, bring the stock to a boil, reduce heat to low while sauteing the vegetables and rice. In another sauce pan, melt the butter and saute the pancetta, onion and squash until the onion is translucent. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oils. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated. Ladle in 1/2 cup of chicken stock to the rice mixture and stir until stock is almost absorbed. Repeat with remaining stock. I added the apple about halfway through. The rice should be creamy and tender to the bite. Take off heat and add cheese, sage (or other herbs), and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.