“Just when we need these vegetables most, in the bleakest part of the winter, they give us the sustenance to carry on until spring. Their texture and sweetness come from a combination of starches and sugars. To the plant, starches represent food that has been stored for future use, while sugars can be immediately converted to energy. Starches are chemical compounds that resemble tough little pellets when raw. After they are heated in combination with a liquid, they soften.
Sugars are closely related to starches. In fact, enzymes produced by the plant can convert starches (stored food) to sugars (usable food) when doing so is necessary for the plant’s survival. This is why parsnips are almost always sweeter when harvested after a hard frost: the plant, feeling threatened by cold weather, has started converting its stored food to food that can be used immediately.
Cut squash in half through stem end. Scoop out seeds and place cut side down in baking pan with 1/2″ water.
Bake for 45-75 minutes, depending on size, until tender. If pan dries out, add a little more water. Squash are done when you can press an indentation into the rind. Or flip over and test with a fork for tenderness.
Remove from oven. Allow to cool until safe enough to handle without burning yourself.
Scoop out flesh. Skin can be composted.
Peel and thinly slice onion while squash is baking.
3lb chicken (pastured or organic) cut into small serving pieces (whole breast into four pieces, thighs in two pieces)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped Spanish cured ham (prosciutto fine)
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1/2 pound tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped (If canned, use just the tomatoes none of the liquid)
4-5 pimentos (Spanish piquillos are best), cut into 1/2-inch strips
1-inch piece, or to taste, dried red chili pepper, seeded
1/3 cup chicken broth
salt
freshly ground pepper
Preparation
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt.
Heat oil in a shallow casserole and brown chicken on all sides. Browning the chicken adds flavor and visual appeal.
Add onion and garlic. Cook until onion is wilted.
Add ham, cook a minute, then add paprika, tomatoes and chicken broth.
Mix in pimentos, chile pepper, salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer 45 minutes.
Works great for a large group of people or a dinner party. Make in advance and then just heat it up.This dish pairs well with saffron rice.
Some foodies and food editors seem obsessed by large-animal butchery, and have spread the word. Classes are sold out, even when priced at $10,000 a pop. Butchers are rock stars.
But I wonder: How many people can even carve up a simple chicken? I made a total hash of it the other night when I brought home a beautiful organic chicken. Not the kind with breasts the size of tissue boxes, but a sleeker bird altogether.
Eventually the job was done and the chicken pieces were browning in some lovely Indian spices. But getting there wasn’t pretty.
That’s why I was relieved to see that Moon in the Pond Farm of Sheffield Massachusetts recently provided step-by-step guidelines to cutting up a whole chicken. As they note
“the most important reason to learn how to cut up a whole chicken is that it will save you money. Buying a whole chicken is cheaper than buying pieces, and the leftover parts are perfect for soup stocks.” Any chef would agree.
When you’ve worked hard cutting up a whole chicken you want to use every bit of the bird. Leftovers get eaten. Stocks made. It’s definitely cheaper, but there’s another benefit too: it changes how you think about meat. The chicken is no longer a package of protein in a cellophane-wrapped family 12-pack. You appreciate that the animal was once walking and pecking at grubs and grain in a barnyard. And that it is feeding your family.
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