Day Two Sixty Two - Butternut Squash GCF

The leaves are starting to change and the air is crisper, although those seventy degree days this past week were pretty fantastic, it's finally feeling like Fall, just in time for Halloween. So I thought, lets do something orange for this week's GCF, autumnal and festive!!!

I got inspired by a homemade dinner at a friend's house last night and thought, it was time to pull out the butternut squash this week.

Butternut squash is considered a winter squash and with its orange-y interior, many liken it to a pumpkin, although technically it is not. This fruit is sweet and nutty -- great roasted, pureed, steamed, grilled -- it is a very versatile ingredient. The great thing about butternut squash is that it can easily lend itself to a savory or even a sweet preparation and it is high in fiber, potassium, magnesium and vitamins A and C.

For today's GCF, I'd like to suggest a roasted preparation for the butternut squash. How to roast the butternut?

Cut into thick round slices then let it marinate. Marinate in a mixture of EVOO, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, black pepper, and a little bit of clove (you just want a hint of the spice here, nothing overpowering as cloves can be). Once the slices have been sitting in the marinade for about ten minutes, you can pop them in the oven at 250 degrees and cook low and slow till each side gets golden brown or for about ten minutes. While the butternut is cooking, you can get to preparing everything else, which is pretty simple.

Now on top of the stove, slice some oyster mushrooms thinly and saute with some shallots, sage, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, red wine, salt and pepper. Saute just till the mushrooms have a nice goldenness to them. Next grab a whole wheat baguette and slice into two slices. Top each side with a generous slathering of Ardith Mae's fresh chevre, it's to die for! Creamy, grassy, tangy, lactic and utterly decadent, you'll want to just start eating it with a spoon. On top of the chevre add the finished butternut squash and then some mushrooms and lastly a few leaves of arugula and toast away!!!

Enjoy this with a nice glass of Cotes de Rhone.
Happy Friday!