Butternut Squash Risotto with Maple Bacon and Cranberry Cheese

Today, as I type, I'm listening to the holiday classics.  Nothing soothes my soul like the velvet voices of Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis singing traditional Christmas songs.  Next to Halloween, this is my second favorite time of year, when the air is crisp and cold, and we can huddle indoors beside a blazing fire.

Thanksgiving is behind us, thank goodness, because in our case, it was a bit of a fiasco.  We spent the holiday at the lake with our family and friends.  The weather was beautiful, albeit a bit windy, but the fish were biting...

A half hour before our our gang was due at the home of our friend with the only dining table large enough to accommodate all of us, I spotted my husband on our deck, binoculars in hand, peering out over the water.  Before I could open my mouth, he enthusiastically blurted one word, "Birds!", grabbed his fishing poles and took off running.

Now, on Thanksgiving, I handle the side dishes and Ian handles the turkey.  In this case with in excess of twenty people, two turkeys.  He'd taken off, leaving one turkey in the oven and one on the smoker!  On this day, I was more than busy juggling cheesy scalloped potatoes, cornbread stuffing with chicken apple sausages and caramelized sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts with pancetta and maple vinaigrette.

I don't carve turkeys, that's his job!

By this time golf carts are arriving  in droves to pick up us up, and still, no husband.  A friend who lives in town and had just driven across the bridge delivered the news.  He was out on a boat, across the lake fishing. 

In a collaborative effort, we got the turkeys carved and headed to dinner minus one husband.  

He arrived about an hour later, tail between his legs and a huge smile on his face.  You see, for the past five years the fish have been scarce.  He'd just caught 30+ striped bass in the course of an hour.  It was the best fishing he could remember, and he was elated! 

On the bright side, the skies exploded with color on Thanksgiving night in one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen, I finally learned how to carve a turkey, and, best of all, it looks like a fish fry is in our very near future. 

 

 
On to the task at hand, risotto has always been one of my favorite autumn side dishes, and this particular combination of add-ins, which includes cranberries and maple bacon, creates the perfect flavor profile for celebrating this beautiful season.

One Butternut squash is generally more than necessary for any given recipe.  I freeze the extra cubed squash in a gallon baggie for later use.

 
The key to risotto is layering flavors and constant stirring to achieve that coveted creaminess.  Starting with truffle infused olive oil and butter lends an underlying richness that sets the foundation for a memorable flavor.

Once the rice is nicely toasted and you've added the wine, prepare to give it your undivided attention until the very end.  Keep pushing it around the pan to help with evaporation. The result is well worth the extra effort.

 

Butternut Squash Risotto with Cranberry Cheese and Maple Bacon

Ingredients

 

32 oz chicken broth
1 T butter
1 T Cucuina Valentina White Truffle Olive Oil 
1 C Arborio rice
1 C Chardonnay
3 shallots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1t dried thyme or 1 T fresh
1/4 t rubbed sage
1 C butternut squash, 1/2 " cubed
4 slices cooked maple bacon, crumbled
4 oz Wensleydale cranberry cheese, crumbled
splash heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

In a stock pot, bring broth to a simmer on a back burner.  Turn flame to low and keep covered.

Heat butter and olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide skillet until butter just starts to brown.  Add shallots, garlic and a few grinds of pepper and saute until just starting to soften.  

Add butternut squash and risotto and stir until rice starts to turn golden brown.  

Add Chardonnay, thyme and sage and continue to stir until liquid is absorbed.  Continue to add 1 C of broth add a time, stirring all the while and waiting until liquid is absorbed before adding next cup.  This can take up to 45 minutes or so.

When rice achieves the desired texture, turn heat to medium-low.  Stir in cheese and bacon.  Once cheese is melted and incorporated, stir in a splash of heavy cream.

I usually do not add much salt to this dish, as the reduced broth ends up salty enough, and with the addition of the bacon and cheese, you may not need any, but give it a taste at the end to check the seasoning and make sure the grains are soft, yet still a bit al dente.  You don't want a mushy texture.

Autumn Harvest Salad with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

This past weekend, right on cue for the start of October, our scorching Southern California weather cooled down beautifully, perfect for spending the day in the yard. All was going well until my husband, beaming like a proud Papa as he counted and admired the season's pomegranate crop, discovered a problem.  

I'll give you some background. Ian, originally from Scotland, is obsessed with growing food. Nothing makes him happier that plucking a lime off our sad little tree and popping it into his beer. I'll tell you; they are tiny and ridiculously bitter, but he will squeeze it in there and choke it down because HE grew it.

25 years ago we bought our home here in the foothills and he eagerly set about planting every variety of citrus, avocado, apple, zucchini, peppers, pumpkin, we could find. We soon learned that the decomposed granite we sit on is not conducive to growing any living thing.

If I counted up all the money spent on Miracle Grow, fancy soil amendments, organic pest sprays, etc., the two minuscule heirloom tomatoes we managed to yield this year would be worth their weight in gold!

The only thing that actually thrives in our soil is the pomegranate tree. (I recently learned that pomegranates originated in the Persian desert, so that makes perfect sense).

Hearing the alarm in his voice, I ran over to see what was amiss. One after another he handed me breached fruits. "Something's eating my pomegranates!", he bellowed. "I bet it's the damn birds!"  

You'll see the irony in this once you are aware that we have multiple bird feeders hanging from our backyard trees and we spend about as much money on suet, bells, blocks, socks, sunflower and assorted seeds, as we do on the garden. The back deck is where we unwind and enjoy watching the colorful Grosbeaks, Blue Jays and Orioles that come in for the evening feeding.


Just like that, our beloved and well-fed birds became the enemy. That evening my husband planted himself on the deck, binoculars in one hand and pellet gun in the other, ready to make short work of whatever was destroying his pomegranates.

After an hour or so I was finally able to lure him inside with the aroma of braised chicken curry, and while I set about seeding the salvageable pomegranates for my coconut rice, our Woogie leaped up and shot out the door like a bolt into the night. His sharp, incessant barks indicating one thing; he had something treed.  

The grin on Ian's face - I've never seen him move so fast! Flashlight in one hand and gun in the other, he charged out into the dark in his pajamas, and I inevitably followed with my camera.  

We found Woogie on his hind legs, barking up into the pomegranate tree with his tail wagging 90 mph. From underneath the umbrella-like canopy we scanned the branches with the flashlight until...

There was the furry culprit, clinging to a branch, either frozen in fear or playing possum, a sweet-faced little rat. Well, not so little, but undeniably cute, with big eyes and long whiskers - still tinted red from pomegranate juice.

Ian didn't shoot it, or course. He loves animals as much as he loves his garden.   

Autumn Salad

3 C chopped romaine lettuce
3 C baby kale/spinach blend
1 butternut squash, cubed and roasted 
1 persimmon or pear, peeled and chopped 
1/4 C red onion, chopped,
1/4 C rough chopped walnuts, toasted
Blue cheese    
pomegranate seeds

Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash
1 T fresh chopped rosemary
1 T fresh thyme
1 T chipotle chili powder
1 T brown sugar 
Tuscan Orange Olive Oil
Kosher salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to 350. Slice ends off butternut squash to make it more stable. Peel squash. Cut in half horizontally, separating the neck from the bulb. Dice neck into 1/2 cubes. Cut bulb in half. Scoop out seeds and pulp, then dice. * See note. 

Place cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with kosher salt, spices and herbs. Drizzle with enough Tuscan Orange Olive Oil to coat and toss. Spread out on non-stick foil covered sheet pan and roast at 350, turning with spatula halfway, until sugar is caramelized and squash are golden brown and tender in the center.

* note: Only season and roast as much squash as you need. Seal the rest of the raw cubes in a freezer bag, squeeze out air and lay in a single layer in the freezer so you can break off as many as you like in the future.  Let cool to room temperature.

Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

 1 T fresh crushed garlic
1 T finely chopped shallot
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 C maple balsamic vinegar
1 T cider vinegar  
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 C olive oil (or more to your taste)
salt and pepper 

Seal everything in a mason jar and shake vigorously.