Butternut Squash Waffles

Putting up packages of fruits and vegetables when they are ripe from the farm share means that I can pull them out in the middle of winter and feed my family from the farm share all year 'round.

Like the other morning.

I had buttermilk and was in a waffle mood.

A long time ago, while watching the Food Network, I'd written down Alton Brown's waffle recipe.  I love his Wet Team and Dry Team talk.  When I got to the "just walk away--walk away" part of the recipe (let the batter rest) I decided to take him literally.

We took the dog for a walk!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Alfredo Sauce with Fried Sage

I am always looking to my fridge, to the leftover bits of this and that, for inspiration for the next meal.  This quick side dish is no exception.  I had leftover prepared Alfredo sauce from this pizza, and leftover roasted butternut squash from these enchiladas.  And I needed a side dish for this casserole.  I also had lovely fresh sage from the farm share, and have been reading about sage cooked in butter added to all sorts of butternut squash dishes.  It's not hard to see how inspiration struck. Easy cleanup-too!  I cooked this all in one pot, doing first the noodles, then the sage, then finally the sauce before combining it all back in the pot to heat through.

I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas on what to do with your butternut squash, click here.

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Enchilada Casserole

Could have called it enchilada-lasagna, or enchi-sanga, but in the end I went with a straightforward name. This dish takes all the ingredients of enchiladas, but instead of rolling each tortilla up individually, I stacked them in the dish and spread the stuffing over the whole mess.

I know, food porn, right?  This was a particularly photogenic dish, if you're into melty-cheesy goodness.  It ought to be-I made it twice before I was happy with it, so there are photos from each preparation.  My fault, not the recipe--my homemade salsa-not-quite-verde wasn't the right sauce. I repeated it with canned enchilada sauce and it was just right.

My first time trying real, homemade, enchiladas was at a baby shower of all places.  Our hostess made cheese and onion enchiladas and I was amazed how soft and flexible the corn tortilla became in the warm sauce.  Up until that point, I'd assumed that corn tortillas were good for tortilla chips and that's about it.  Not anymore!  I loved the combination of cheese and onion then, and it's still my favorite kind of enchiladas by far.

Because I eat seasonally, I've got butternut squash from my farm share.  The farmers at the weekly pick up said there'd been some insect damage to the squash, and to eat them up this week.  Normally I'd be holding off on the squash until later in the fall and focusing on the greens now, but needs must.  I decided to roast the squash because I've been roasting anything I haven't pickled lately (and pickling anything that hasn't moved). I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas on what to do with your butternut squash, click here.

The pig is very concerned he's going to get pickled too.