Food Challenge: Butternut Squash Pie

It is that time of year again; the time of year when everyone [on the planet] becomes obsessed with pumpkin. I like pumpkin just fine, but my obsession lies with a different squash, the butternut. In fact, I love butternut squash so much, that my obsession rubs off on those around me. Daniel is starting to like butternut squash so much, that he asked me to make a pie out of it.

This pie is very similar to pumpkin pie. It has a slight different flavor, but if you don't tell anyone, they probably won't know the difference. So, if there isn't much difference, why should you make butternut squash pie? Well, butternut squash is naturally sweeter than pumpkin, therefore, you don't need to add as much sugar. That seems like a pretty good reason to me.

Ingredients:
2 cups pureed butternut squash
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
Prepared (but not baked) pie crust

This recipe calls for pureed butternut squash. Since this is going to be a pie akin to pumpkin pie, you are going to want the consistency to be about that of canned pumpkin. I had to add a little water when I blended my squash, but it turned out looking like this:

Squash Puree

The prep work(making crust, pureeing squash) before making this pie can be a pain, but actually making the pie is a cinch.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients (other than the pie crust) together until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Pie Filling.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pie crust (store bought is fine, I used a modified version of a Betty Crocker recipe. I added whole wheat, because I can't help myself.)

Prepared Crust.

Ready to Bake.

Carefully place your pie in your pre-heated oven. The middle rack is probably the most appropriate. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. At this point, lower the temperture of the oven to 350 degrees and bake an additional 35-45 minutes. When it is ready, a toothpick will come out mostly clean, and the pie will no longer jiggle.

Baked Pie.

Let the pie cool for at least an hour, more if you are able, and serve the same way you would serve pumpkin pie.

Ready to Eat.

Frankly, I love this pie. Butternut squash in a dessert, heck to the yes. It's a goo pie to give a try this Thanksgiving. If you have picky eaters, just don't let them know it is butternut squash, and they will be none the wiser.

I labeled this one as an easy recipe, because the recipe itself is easy as pie (pun definitely intended), but if you count cooking and pureeing the squash, and making the crust, this is probably an intermediate recipe.

Mustard Cheese Sauce

Last time I wanted to have burgers for dinner, I was thinking about ways in which I could make them different than the usual. I decided that I would serve them on pretzel buns, but I wanted something else to be different too. I wanted to stick to the pretzel theme, so I thought about what went well with pretzels. Both mustard and cheese came to mind. Instead of simply putting them on the burgers, I decided to make an awesome sauce that utilized both ingredients. Mustard Cheese sauce may sound a little strange, but let me tell you, it is awesome smothered on a pretzel burger.

Ingredients:
1 TBS butter
1 TBS flour
1 cup milk
4 oz grated cheddar cheese (That's right, I'm giving it to you in ounces.)
2 TBS yellow mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp pepper (fresh ground is recommended)
salt to taste

We are going to start out with a standard white sauce procedure. Melt your butter in pan, medium-high heat should do, and stir in the flour, until it gets a little bubbly.

Bubbly flour and butter.

Next we are going to whisk in the milk. It may be helpful to heat the milk a little bit. This helps it to combine a little more easily.

Pouring in the milk.

Milk whisked in.

Once the milk is whisked in nicely, let the mixture boil until thickened, stirring occasionally. After it is thick and bubbly, add the cheese.

Adding the cheese.

Stir the mixture until the cheese is completely melted and everything is nice and smooth.

Smooth Sauce.

Stir in the the remaining ingredients until they are mixed in well. At this point you may decide the sauce isn't thick enough, if that is the case, just let it boil down a little until you reach your desired consistency. After the sauce reaches the consistency you wish, slather the warm sauce all over your burger (pretzel or otherwise).

I designed this sauce for the pretzel burgers I was having, but it can be used in other ways as well. Simply dipping pretzels in it would be scrumptious. It can go on a regular burger, a hot dot, anything thing where both cheese and mustard would taste good. Make the sauce, put it something crazy, and let me know about it in the comments!

Pumpernickel Bread

A few weeks ago, while I was shopping at Winco (Amazing place, by the way. If you have one even within 50 miles of your house, you should check it out.), I bought some rye flour. I was just planning on making some rye bread, but Daniel mentioned he liked pumpernickel, so I thought I would give it a shot. I looked up a highly rated recipe online, and attempted to make a loaf of pumpernickel. I say attempted, because it ended up a complete disaster. It didn't rise, it tasted weird, the color was off, anything that could go wrong, did. When I decided to take another shot at making pumpernickel, I thought it would be best to create my own recipe. That way, if it turned out completely horrible again, I would have no one to blame but myself. The recipe I created turned out beautifully! It looked great, it tasted great, and the texture was perfect! In fact, I would say this is the prettiest loaf of bread I have ever baked. Let's get started, so you can make pretty bread too.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 3/4 tsp (dry active) yeast
1 TBS sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus a bit extra for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
3 TBS vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
2 TBS cocoa powder
2 tsp salt

I am aware that a good amount of rye and pumpernickel recipes call for caraway. This recipe does not. I like caraway alright, but if I bite into it just right, I tend to gag, so I kept it out of my bread. Let me tell you, I don't think you will miss it.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you should know the drill. Combine the water, yeast and sugar together and let sit until it gets nice and foamy. In the meantime, put all of your dry ingredients in a bowl. One the yeast mixture looks nice and foamy, add it, the molasses, and the oil to the dry ingredients.

Mix the ingredients together using a dough hook (or bread maker if you don't have a dough hook, or a spoon if you don't have either) until everything is well combined. The dough will be a little sticky. This step is so much easier now that I have my Kitchenaid! Bread making is where I love it the most...alright I love it for everything, but still. (Thanks again to my Kitchenaid purchasers, you rock).

Take the dough and place it on a slightly floured surface. Knead in a small amount of all purpose flour until a soft smooth dough is formed. Form the dough into a ball and place in a slightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough in a warm to let rise until it is about double the original size.

Before the Rise.

After the Rise.

Punch the dough down and form it into a loaf. Place your loaf in a greased loaf pan. At this point, you may also want to start preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pan in a warm place and again let it rise until it had doubled in size.

Ready to Bake!

Place your bread into your 350 degree oven and bake for 30 min, or until you hear that nice hollow sound when you tap on the top of the loaf.

Upon removing your bread from the oven. Remove it from it's pan, and allow it cool on a wire rack.

Letting it Cool.

I know it is super tempting, but you really should not cut the bread until it is cool. Bread (of all forms) has a tendency to not cut well and be more likely to fall apart if you do not wait. When the bread is nice and cool, go ahead and slice.

It's pretty right? Well, at least I think it is pretty, and it's tasty too! Use your pumpernickel for sandwiches or any other application you desire. I think it would great dipped in cheese fondue. Speaking of which, I think I will have a fondue party soon. Now that I am completely off subject, Enjoy!