This week's Resolution Recipe

[madbaker]

Calabacitas

2 lbs summer squash
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 poblano chiles, charred, peeled, and cut in strips
salt
1 lb mushrooms, quartered
1 cup chopped cilantro
6 oz feta cheese
1 cup creme fraiche

Rinse, trim, and dice squash. Heat about 2 T oil, add onion and chiles with a dash of salt, and cook for 1 minute. Add squash, cover pan, and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the squash is tender. (My time was closer to 5 minutes - but I abhor overcooked squash more than... well... squash) Toss mushrooms in about 1 T oil and cook in a separate pan for about 5 minutes, until they exude nearly gelatinous oil. Add mushrooms to squash. Sprinkle with cilantro, cover with cheese and creme fraiche. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.

What worked: Eh, it was edible. Of course, for me and squash that's saying a lot.

What didn't: The creme fraiche didn't combine - it turned into cream soup. Likewise the feta added a ton of liquid. We ended up using bowls and spoons.

Will I make it again? Doubtful. The only squash recipe I've bothered to repeat is a squash risotto, and that involves disguising it more thoroughly.

[If you hadn't guessed, no, I don't particularly care for squash. We get it seasonally in our CSA box, so I'm forced to find (semi-)tolerable recipes. This was far better than the last one, which involved breading and sauteing with a tomato sauce. I literally had to choke that one down with lots of water.]

Comments

[wingedcorset.livejournal.com]

Squash!=food.
Zucchini, doubly so.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

You know, you can make a sweet pie from squashes, much like a pumpkin pie....

I didn't like squash when I was a kid, because the "recipe" was too boil it in water until it was soft and then serve it, but as an adult I've discovered there are more pleasing recipes. (That's not an admonition, by the way, just a comment.)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I'm enough of an adult to realize that much of my dislike for squash is rooted in the way that my mother prepared it - saute in oil until overcooked, brown and slimy.

I'm not forced to eat it anymore (mostly), so I don't.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Oh, we had that version, too, and Okra done that way. Both coated with cornmeal in advance, too.

[wingedcorset.livejournal.com]

I'm enough of an adult to realize that much of my dislike for squash is rooted in the way that my mother prepared it - saute in oil until overcooked, brown and slimy.

I'm not. *grin*

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

There are various vegetables that I have never gotten a taste for, for similar reasons. I have, however, tried many of them over the years, and decided I still didn't like 'em. Squash ... depends on what's done with it. I can usually stomach it, but if I don't have to, I won't. <g> (And don't get me started on canned spinach ... bleh!)