Brussels Sprouts and Butternuts
Our Indian summer lingered so long this fall that I'm struggling to comprehend how it could be time for late season crops like Brussels sprouts. Usually it's been rainy and cold for a few weeks before we dive into the Dr. Seussian forest and start logging stalks with the machete, but somehow the calendar is turning a page into November this week and the Brussels sprouts are ready!
I always hope for a frost before the first Brussels sprouts harvest because it sweetens them up and helps convince otherwise skeptical CSA members of their merits. Many of you need no convincing, but since we haven't had a frost yet and and some of you have inevitably suffered childhood Brussels sprouts trauma, here's a recipe that I love (I go easier on the garlic than they do and they still turn out yummy): Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic
There are also Butternut squash in your share this week, which somehow always makes me feel happy and worry-free about the Harvest Basket. They don't test your belief system (Spaghetti squash), endanger your digits (Acorn squash), or instill fear of the giant unknown (uh, check out the photo of the dry-farmed North Georgia Candy Roaster I just baked in my very large oven this morning, because it was so scary and seemed a fitting meal for a Halloween mob). Don't worry, you will not be receiving any North Georgia Candy Roasters in your tote this year because:
- we only have 13 of them (from our OSU dry-farming trial this summer), and
- they weigh about 12 pounds apiece, and
- they are too long to even fit in a tote.
You can, however, buy one at the farmstand if you're brave and love super-sweet squash, or want to play a gag on someone, or need practice carrying a baby around before your large newborn arrives.
But I digress....Butternuts! Pretty much everyone knows what to do with a Butternut squash - soup! They are silky-smooth-oh-so-easy to peel with solid orange meat within, which also means this: don't be blinkered by the notion of soup alone! You can put a Butternut to work for you in any recipe that uses winter squash, period.
And now for some frightening Halloween pics of the 13-pounder that I slayed this morning. My largest chef knife wasn't up to the job, and the chainsaw was out of gas, so I baked it whole. The scene was made all the more gory when I accidentally decapitated it upon removal from the hot oven:
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