Acorn squash suggestions?

Two questions.

1) Does anybody else get a funny message when they try to use the search function in the top left of the screen? O webmaster, is there a setting that can be toggled so that we could search by keyword?

2) Does anybody have any suggestions for acorn squash? I usually smear it with butter, sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon on it, and bake it, which seems to be the most basic recipe, but I was wondering if anybody had anything unusual they did with it.

Cauliflower Cheese

We saw this on nami-nami and had some extra cauliflower this week so we tried it and really liked it.

1 large head of cauliflower
salted water, for boiling

butter, for greasing

Topping:
200 ml whipping cream or double cream
2 Tbsp grainy mustard (I like Maille's Moutarde à l'Ancienne)
150 g grated cheese (Cheddar, Havarti, Eesti juust - it's your call)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
some fresh herbs (I like dill here)

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets into lightly salted boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked. Drain thoroughly, then place into a lightly buttered medium-sized shallow oven dish.
Mix cream, mustard and most of the cheese in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Spoon the cheese mixture over the cauliflower florets and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the topping is lovely golden.
Serve.

We did it pretty much as written with a super mild havarti and a little smoked gouda, with dill and Inglehoffer mustard. It was really easy to make and pretty darn tasty. I could hardly taste the havarti, though. I think next time I'll stick with the more flavorful cheeses, because the gouda was great in it and I bet a nice cheddar with some Italian herbs would be great.

Cheese reviews

We tried a couple of new cheese today, and here's what they were and what we thought.

1. Maidservant of the Monster was in the mood for some brie, and we found some called Coulommiers that looked good. It turns out it's a "cousin of brie" and I don't know exactly what that means, whether it's just a geographical distinction or if there's something about the way it's made. And I'd want to sample this side by side with some brie in order to tell the difference. Anyway, it's good: a good basic brie, nuthin' fancy (if brie can be described that way), creamy and salty.

2. Black Mountain. This is a Welsh cheddar; it looks like they sell it in small packs, but we got a wedge, complete with the black wax rind. It's flavored with garlic and herbs and white wine, and it's really good. Quite soft for a cheddar - almost creamy - and very, very flavorful. We just had it plain with crackers; I'd love to try it in other ways. Highly recommended if you're into cheddars.

Hard Rock Munchies

On our way home from a California vacation, we stopped at a Hard Rock Cafe, partly because the one closest to our home has now been closed. I wasn't feeling up to a full meal, so I ordered a couple of sides, and am glad I did.

Fruitapalooza

I have a soft spot for fruit, particularly real fruit juices. This one promised strawberry puree, bananas, and enough other fruits to tempt me. As good as it sounded? Absolutely, particularly with the slice of pineapple on the rim. Worth the price? Perhaps not, but at least the hurricane glass gives us a matched set.

White Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

The menu listing reminded me of other mashed potato variants I've tried and enjoyed. This scoop was tasty and filling, but lacked the real punch that I was expecting; perhaps I should have tried some pepper on it. It was also interesting to feel the texture change as it cooled; the cheese makes it set harder than potatoes do on their own.

Santa Fe Spring Rolls

The absolute star of the show. From their menu:

Stuffed with spinach, black beans, cilantro, corn, jalapeños, diced red peppers and Jack cheese. Served with fresh homemade Hard Rock Salsa and guacamole Chipotle Ranch dressing.

The best of southwestern flavors, but in a smaller wrapper. Of the five spring rolls, I finished all but about two bites before my stomach couldn't take any more, most of them taken with a forkful of the shredded lettuce, olives, and dressing.

Compared with the burger and fries across the table, this meal was light, but it was still more than enough for a lunch. I'll have to consider the sides and appetizers more often in the future.

Pictures!!!

SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Spaghetti Squash!! :)

Lorien, Mike, and I went apple picking yesterday at a farm. It was my first time picking apples and it was a lot of fun! I also picked beets and spinach. I did not, however, pick my own spaghetti squash. Rather, I picked out my own spaghetti squash from among the ones pre-cut in the barn store thing.

Out of all the new things I have tried in the last few months (drangonfruit etc) THIS IS THE BEST!!!! Seriously, I think spaghetti squash is one of my new favorite foods. K, eat it like this:

Cut your squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Poke the skin with a fork or knife in a few places
Place face down in a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 min.

When it is done (pokeable) scoop out the flesh with a fork. It actually comes out stringy like spaghetti!! I threw it in a bowl with a little olive oil, some parmesan, a touch of garlic and salt, and about a tablespoon of tomato paste. AWESOME AND DELICIOUS! I really haven't felt this enthusiastic about a vegetable in a long time :) Enjoy!

Chanterelle bruschetta

So I tried out the chanterelle bruschetta recipe that Lemon Verbena-san pointed me to. Here's the link, in link format. I'll go ahead and run it down here, with apologies to Nami Nami from Estonia, because this place has already become my go-to recipe box.

Ingredients:
Chanterelle mushrooms, the more the better (I used golden chanterelles; I see white ones at the market, but I haven't tried them yet)
1 red onion
garlic (I used the minced garlic you get in a jar, maybe a couple of teaspoons)
butter
olive oil
fresh dill (how much? the original recipe doesn't say; I used maybe a half cup, loosely packed, and I think I'll use maybe twice that next time)
good bread (I used a potato rustica, and it was a good choice, if I do say so myself: the potato-flour was a perfect match for the chanterelles and the dill)

1. Cut up the mushrooms into bite-size pieces.

2. Chop the onion. I chopped it in the food processor, thinking the finer the better, but it came out too fine and sort of turned into a glop when I put it in to sautee it. It was still awesome, but I think I should have chopped it by hand, and just tried to get it as small as I could that way.

3. Chop the dill. I also found that the dill tended to clump together when sauteeing, and maybe dried dill wouldn't have done that, but the flavor of the fresh dill was so good that I'd hesitate to substitute. Maybe chop finer?

4. Melt a little butter in a frying pan with a little olive oil (possibly the clumping of the onion and dill came from too much butter and oil: try it with just a little).

5. Sautee the mushrooms with the garlic, then add the onion and dill in that order.

6. Toast the bread in the oven as per normal bruschetta (the original recipe asks you to pan-fry it in butter, which sounded like just too much butter for me). I.e., brush one side with olive oil, put the bread oil side down on a foil-lined baking sheet, bake at 350 until it gets nice and toasty.

7. Spoon on the mushroom mixture, grind a little salt over everything, and you're done.

As you can tell, I did a lot of things wrong when I made it, but it still came out amazingly good. This shows off the true flavor of a chanterelle.

We paired the bruschetta with steamed asparagus topped with shavings of aged gouda. Yummy.