Butternut Squash Chili

After so many amazing months of getting great veggies from my CSA, I am so sad it has finally come to an end.  Mondays now come and go with no boxes of fresh produce.  However, I get to relive some of the last great pick-ups by writing them up here.  When I had a couple squashes to use, I turned to trusty Gojee and plugged in acorn and butternut squash (delicata squash is an easy substitute for butternut) and found a recipe for Cincinnati Chili from the Judicial Peach.  This recipe was for a regular chili, but had some squash, avocado and chocolate - how could I resist!

Dinner!

To begin, I started the long process of preparing the squash.  Luckily, delicata squash does not need to be peeled, so it cuts down on a lot of the prep, but stilled needed to be cubed.  The acorn squash, however, not only had to be cubed but also peeled.  Peeling a ribbed vegetable is not easy to say the least.

Squash

Finally, I got all the squash cubed and tossed it into a bowl.

Loads of squash

I then added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.

Once it was all mixed in, I put the squash on a baking sheet and sprinkled it with some brown sugar - because I am obsessed!  I allowed the squash to bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  About half way through I did toss it up to make sure it all cooked evenly.

Ready for the oven

While the squash was cooking and then cooling I started to get the rest of the chili going, which required quite a few spices:

• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice

Spicy!

Other ingredients included:

• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound ground veal, pork and beef mix
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup low-sodium broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 heaping tablespoons semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• Avocado 

Best of the Rest

To get started I chopped up the red onion.  In the meantime I added the some vegetable oil to the dutch oven and brought it to a medium high heat and added the ground meat.

Red Onion

Once the meat was almost browned and crumbled (about 3 minutes) I added the chopped onion and minced garlic.

I allowed all of these flavors to cook together for another three minutes.  I then added the tomato paste and all of the spices and cooked it for another minute or so.

Once all the spices and other smaller items were fully mixed, I added the broth, beans and tomatoes, stirred it all together and brought it to a boil, where I then turned the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Almost there...

The squash had finally cooled down a bit...

and the chili was done simmering.

To keep busy while the chili was simmering, I shredded the cheese, grated the chocolate and chopped up the avocado.  Our box grater broke, so I had to use a microplane - the cheese was definitely a lot finer than I normally would have liked!

Finally, the dish was ready to assemble!  I added the squash and the chocolate and gave it a big stir.

Ready to Serve!

To serve, I spooned a bunch of the chili into a bowl and topped it off with some chopped avocado and grated cheese.

Dinner is served!

I loved this chili!  The flavors all just worked.  I won't lie - I was totally suspect of adding the squash, and then to add the avocado and chocolate I was not sure what to expect.  In the end it really came together.  The squash added a lovely fall flavor, while the avocado added a freshness to the dish.  Both ingredients had such a fun texture.

This meal was such a great version of chili, I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially it you have some squash hanging around!

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The Joys of June

Where on earth did the month of June go?! I feel like I blinked and it was over! Despite its fleeting presence, I somehow managed to pack a lot in. Here's a round up of the things I ate / saw / made / did this month to kick off summer in the city that didn't get a post all their own.

Not that they each didn't deserve one.

Ice Cream Sundae @ Emack & Bolio's

Nothing embraces hot summer evenings (hey, there has been a select few) like a trip for ice cream sundaes. It's always all about gelato where I live in Little Italy, but when I crave actual ice cream I head just outside the neighborhood confines to Emack & Bolio's at Long Wharf. A scoop of ice cream or three hits the spot. Their batches are fresh made weekly with the highest quality ingredients and extracts. My go-to flavor is the Grasshopper Pie which contains creme de menthe liquor with Oreo chunks and chocolate flakes. Top it with warm gooey hot fudge, fresh whipped cream and thick chunks of peanuts and pecans and you've got a treat that says summer like nothing else.

Paul Simon Concert at The House of Blues.

Located on Lansdowne Street across from Fenway Park, The House of Blues is always a fun venue for live music and dancing. My whole life I've been wanting to see Paul Simon in concert. I grew up to the tunes of Graceland, it still ranks up there as one of my favorite albums of all time. He played a number of songs off that album and many more of the classic tunes I know and love him for. It was a truly memorable evening and I hope he comes back to Boston soon!

Layered Taco Salad - recipe courtesy of Chelsee @ We Are Not Martha.

See, I do cook sometimes. If you consider browning beef and prepping ingredients for a salad cooking. Actually, I should give myself a little more credit since the recipe calls for making your own taco seasoning and mixing dressing from scratch.
This salad was so good and yielded an insane amount of leftovers. I ate it every day for lunch the entire week after I made it. Thanks so much to Chelsee for the recipe inspiration.

Boating in Essex, MA

My sister's boyfriend grew up nearby, and some of his friends were nice enough to invite us out on their boats for the day. This picturesque coastal New England town on the North Shore of Massachusetts is home to beaches and waterways perfect for boating, relaxing, drinking, grilling, swimming and fishing.Which is just what we did on Saturday, June 18th. Gorgeous and sunny, with no rain in sight until the final boatride home, where we experienced a heavy downpour followed by a rainbow spanning its full arch across the marsh. It was a rare breathtaking sight - my camera was packed safely away from the rain. Hopefully the rest of the landscape views suffice. We drank vodka raspberry lemonades and grilled some marinated shrimp, along with burgers and chicken. This is what summer days are made for! I felt incredibly blessed for this day since I am usually mulling about the city.

Belgian Poutine ($8) @ Saus

One of my favorite spots to open this year is Belgian street food haven turned city household name, Saus. If you're local, you've probably been. Or should I say, hopefully you've been. If you haven't you'll definitely want to check it out, stat! The team at Saus perfects the art of fusing traditional Belgian frites into this infamous dish native to Canada and the very Northern parts of Maine and New Hampshire. Hand cut potatoes are deep fried and piled with heaping helpings of dense haphazardly shaped cheddar cheese curds, then slathered with rich, made-from-scratch savory brown gravy. The cheese curds are mildly salty with a unique springy texture that makes them rather fun to eat. Thick and silky, the gravy coats the crispy fries without overwhelming their texture.

I crave this dish on a fairly regular basis!

Chicken Stir Fry w/ Edamame Slaw

This ones all my own. It combines frozen edamame, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage and cilantro with chicken in a ginger-soy-terriyaki sauce. It was a delicious quick and easy creation. Did the month of June fly by for anyone else?! What are you looking forward to in July?

Wagamama Wants to Feed You

The first Wagamama opened its doors in London in 1992 and in the twelve years since has expanded to open over 70 restaurants in the UK and 36 more in Europe, USA, Australia and The Middle East. Their reasonably priced fresh food in a sleek yet informal environment lends a diverse appeal. They are arguably the most popular chain of award-winning noodle restaurants in the UK. This worldwide chain offers a full menu of pan-Asian inspired dishes, but at its core wagamama is a noodle bar specializing in ramen noodle soups, cold noodle salads and hot noodle entrees.
Boston is the lucky recipient of three wagamamas with locations Fanueil Hall, Harvard Square and the most recently opened location in the Back Bay's Prudential Center. It was here where Boston Food Bloggers were invited to partake in a menu tasting featuring new kitchen creations and fun new cocktails! The meal tonight was free, however prices are noted to reflect the overall value. (Artsy photos expressing my new obsession with instagram are inserted just because.)Seated in long booths adorned with swag in the form of bright red wagamama tee shirts (wearing mine as I type this!) we were welcomed by the Director of Marketing Nancy Barrett who was on hand to briefly explain the new dishes and answer any questions we had. The reasonably priced and inventive cocktails - most of which are rum based, with a sake and a bourbon option thrown in the mix, served to impress. I started with a Mango Sekkai ($8.95) boasting sweet chunks of fresh mango muddled with bright notes of basil and lime blended with rum and soda water. I finished the evening with a Ringo Martini ($8.95) combining sour apple and honey bourbon liqueurs with fresh squeezed apple and lime, garnished with a slice of golden delicious apple.In between there were many appetizers including bowls of the addicting tender green soybeans known as Edamame ($3.95) and plates of both the Chicken Dumplings ($6.50) and Yasai Dumplings ($5.95) which are steamed, grilled and served alongside a chili garlic and soy dipping sauce. Fun Fact: 1,500 portions of edamame are eaten at wagamamas worldwide everyday.
Tempura battered and lightly fried, the squid in the Chili Calamari ($6.95) remains delightfully chewy seasoned with sea salt and shichimi (japanese chilli pepper). It was served with a sweet chili, garlic and cilantro dipping sauce that embodied a unique spice.Succulent Suribachi Chicken Wings ($7.95) are tossed in a gently spicy sauce and dusted with red chili peppers and crunchy scallions.
Fall off the bone tender Pork Ribs ($8.95) are glazed with a sweet chili hoi sin sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Our first entree (everything was shared family style) was the new Lemongrass Shrimp Soba ($13.95) where perfectly grilled shrimp sat over a bed of soba noodles stir fried with minced cilantro, chiles, garlic and fresh beansprouts. The Beef Cha Han ($10.95) is shichimi-marinated beef in a bowl of stir fried rice with snow peas, carrots and leeks. Nancy told us wagamama's most popular entree is the Chicken Katsu Curry ($11.25). Chicken breasts are coated in panko breadcrumbs, deep fried, then sliced and plated under sticky rice and bathed in their famous light curry sauce. This entree comes with a side salad tossed in house dressing. Speaking of salads, the Marinated Yasai Noodle Salad ($8.75) is loaded with vegetables including marinated grilled eggplant, mushroom and zucchini combined with carmelized red onion, roasted sweet potato, asparagus, diced tomato and mixed greens. Whole wheat noodles serve as the base and pickled red ginger and sesame seeds the garnish.
The Seafood Ramen ($12.75) bathes noodles in a wakame and spinach filled vegetable broth. The soup is then topped with grilled shrimp, salmon, swordfish and marinated calamari, garnished with menma and scallions.Fun Fact: Twelve tons of noodles are served at wagamamas worldwide each week! After feeling sufficiently stuffed from a serious round of entrees, we were offered dessert. The options ranged from good, to great, to knock your socks off amazing. The Creme Brulee Cheesecake ($5.95) was good with a rich vanilla flavor and biscuit base, but a little to heavy for me after such a filling meal! The moist Chocolate Cake ($5.95) with a chocolate fudge frosting and vanilla ice cream was a pretty great slice of cake. But nothing could top the unexpectedly amazing Coconut Reika ($4.95) which was a refreshing three scoops of coconut ice cream drizzled in a tangy mango sauce and topped with toasted coconut. Wagamama's success is greatly attributed to their mission which is to combine great, fresh and nutritious food in an elegant yet simple setting with helpful friendly service and value for money. Welcoming another "positive living + positive eating" chain in the heart of Boston, the Wagamama located at 800 Boylston Street inside the Prudential Center is sure to please old fans and newcomers alike!