Savory Sunday: Butternut Squash

Guest post by Shelby Smith

    Want a recipe that’s flavorful, can be paired with anything, and gets you in the mood for the fall season? Anything with Butternut Squash is the way to go. Butternut Squash is one of the most versatile foods to prepare. Squash can be made into both savory meals and used in desserts. It can be used in stews, soups, baked, sautéed, or steamed. It is great as a main course, side dish or an addition to another recipe.

    I used a small butternut squash from the Fenton Community Garden in Silver Spring, MD,  to make Parmesan and Rosemary-Butternut Squash Gratin. This recipe is crunchy, buttery, and can stand on its own. This recipe is inspired by Betty Crocker.

Cooking prep: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 Butternut squash (2 lbs)

¼ cup butter or margarine

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary

¼ cup Progresso™ panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Peel, halve lengthwise and deseed squash. Cut into ½-inch-thick slices and arrange with slices overlapping slightly in a greased/oiled 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Season the slices with salt and pepper.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter/margarine over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add garlic and rosemary; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft and butter is infused with garlic and rosemary flavor. Do not let the butter brown.
3. In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs, cheese and 1 tablespoon of the garlic rosemary butter mixture.
4. Brush squash slices with remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the squash slices.
5. Bake uncovered 30 to 40 minutes or until the squash is tender when pierced with fork. Increase oven temperature to 425 F; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Sprinkle parsley and more cheese, if needed, over top before serving.

The end product should come out crunchy and golden brown. The squash gets infused with the garlic and rosemary making the taste rich and flavorful. This meal is also versatile because you could pair it with any meat or mix it with pasta.

Also you could add some sliced zucchini and mushrooms to make it a hardier dish. You can substitute the dairy with olive oil to make this a vegetarian option. If you cut the squash into slices you could eat these like fries.

This is just one of the many dishes made with butternut squash. Squash is a good source of vitamins, has little to no fat when raw, and can stay fresh for a couple of weeks before using. This recipe can be your next side dish at Thanksgiving or just a quick meal on a Sunday evening.

"Savory Sunday" is a new weekly blog series with seasonal recipes from the garden.

About the Author:

Shelby Smith is a senior double major in multi-platform journalism and film studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She was a sports copy-editor for a campus publication called Unwind Magazine and a writer at The Campus Current newspaper at Anne Arundel Community College.  

 

   

Fenton Friday: New Seeds In

Picking lots of beans from my community garden plot - even in this relentless heat. Looks like cooler temps are coming (though no rain predicted), so the interns and I went ahead and put in some cool weather crops.

We planted Arugula, Lettuce, Radish, and Carrots. I am deciding on whether a fall crop of peas is worth it. I also plan on picking up some Broccoli starts, though I have not had such luck with then in past years.

How is your edible garden growing?

About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Discuss "Paradise Under Glass" with Washington Gardener Book Club

For our Garden Book Club Fall 2016 Meeting we will be discussing Paradise Under Glass: An Amateur Creates a Conservatory Garden by Ruth Kassinger. Please join us on Thursday, November 3 from 6:30-8pm at Soupergirl, located right next to the Takoma metro stop.

"Paradise Under Glass is a witty and absorbing memoir about one woman’s unlikely desire to build, stock, and tend a small conservatory in her suburban Maryland home. Ruth Kassinger’s wonderful story of the unique way she chose to cope with the profound changes in her life—a book that will delight readers of Eat, Pray, Love and I Feel Bad About My Neck—is interwoven with the fascinating history of conservatories from the Renaissance orangeries to the glass palaces of Kew."

Please RSVP to washingtongardener (at) rcn.com or at the book club event page at facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine by October 25, so we know how many chairs to reserve for our group.

At this meeting we will also be deciding the 2017 Washington Gardener Magazine's Garden Book Club selections, so please bring your suggestions.

Soupergirl offers soups for sale that are incredibly healthy. They are 100% plant-based, low salt, low fat, and most importantly, absolutely delicious, so plan to come a bit early to purchase and eat your dinner with the garden book club.

The Washington Gardener Magazine's Garden Book Club is free and open to all. We meet quarterly on a weekday evening near a metro-accessible location in the DC-area. We will announce the details of each upcoming meeting about two months in advance. Please check back on this blog for schedule updates and announcements.

PIN THIS FOR LATER:

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a Row for the Hungry is People Helping People Since 1995, over 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape -- just people helping people. 

Plant A Row is a public service program of the Garden Writers Association and the GWA Foundation. Garden writers are asked to encourage their readers/listeners to plant an extra row of produce each year and donate their surplus to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry.

There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.

Support Plant A Row and help make a difference in your community.

PAR Hotline 1-877-492-2727 or go to  http://www.gardenwriters.org/GWA-Foundation-Projects-Plant-a-Row-for-the-Hungry-Start-a-PAR-Campaign

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

Meet the Fall Interns

This fall, I have taken on two editorial interns. If you attend any of our upcoming events, like the Trees Matter Symposium, you are bound to run into one of them. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers...

 Stephen Barber is a country boy from Keedysville, MD, who moved to Washington DC, to become a farmer. A lifelong gardener, he found his love of the craft from growing cannabis in the woods and fields around his rural Maryland childhood home. He has taken his gardening indoors, and works as a video journalist in the legal cannabis industry sprouting up in the nation’s capital.  Check him out every Wednesday on the Washington Gardener’s blog where he will be providing tips on indoor gardening. He is a senior at the University of Maryland where he is majoring in broadcast journalist.

Shelby Smith is a senior double major in multi-platform journalism and film studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She says that she is, "excited to be interning for the fun and informative magazine, the Washington Gardener, this fall. This will be my first internship, but I have recent experience as a sports copy-editor for a campus publication called Unwind Magazine. I also have two years of writing experience with The Campus Current newspaper at Anne Arundel Community College. I love to sing, read and go on long relaxing walks. I am excited to be learning about gardening along with the readers and hope to showcase my skills in this magazine."

Beautyberry: You Can Grow That

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a shrub that is native to our Mid-Atlantic area and throughout the southeastern United States, Beautyberry adapts well to various growing conditions from part shade to full sun, from moist soil to dry. It reaches 4-6 feet in height and width.

It is a show-stopper in late summer/early fall when the brilliant purple berries adorn the branches. Birds and other wildlife are also fond of the berries as a food source so you may find your berry display stripped sooner than you would like.

The shrub itself is a bit awkward in growth habit -- throwing out a long branch here, than there. Careful placement is a must so that you can both enjoy the berries and not be constantly fighting its wayward limbs. I planted mine to the back corner of a garden bench near a fence and that allows me to drape and arrange it as needed. In early spring, you should do a rejuvenation pruning -- meaning cut it all back to about 6".

Beautyberry in flower

The crushed leaves are said to be an excellent mosquito repellent and scientists are currently testing that Beautyberry benefit with promising results. I tried it out myself and did not find it effective, but your mileage may vary.

The shrub is famous for its amethyst-purple berries. Recent introductions also include white and pink berry versions. There is a small trial garden at the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC, that is worth visiting this time of year to view the different cultivars and to decide which ones you'd like to add to your home garden.

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

Fenton Friday: Beans, at last

This week started off with more hot, dry days. It was difficult to get motivated to get over to the garden plot to even water for a few minutes in the scorching sun, so I did neglect it a bit. Thankfully, the heat broke and we had some decent rain in the last couple of days. That means I now have beans! I should be able to harvest a very nice amount over the holiday weekend and I am now contemplating also digging up the few potatoes I had put in and pulling out some of the worn out herbs as well.

It is transition time and I'm a bit late getting some of my fall crops in, but I see still more 90+ degee days forecast for next week, so I'm not going to rush into things.

How is your edible garden growing?

About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens

The Wings of Fancy live butterfly exhibit in Wheaton, MD, runs daily through September 25, from 10am to 4pm, Brookside Gardens South Conservatory features live butterflies. Come witness the butterfly life cycle as tiny eggs hatch into crawling, chewing caterpillars, which then encase themselves in jewel-like chrysalides and emerge as sipping, flying adult butterflies. Learn about the best annual and tropical plants, and hardy shrubs that are used as nectar sources, to attract butterflies to your own garden. 

See more details at http://www.montgomeryparks.org/brookside/wings_of_fancy.shtm. 

Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine blog, we feature a current advertiser from our quarterly print magazine or monthly online enewsletter. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

Video Wednesday: The Takoma Horticultural Club Commemorates their First 100 Years

The Takoma Horticultural Club commemorated the first 100 years of their existence with an afternoon reception with live music and light refreshments in the afternoon of Sunday, August 27, 2016, in the great room inside the EF Language School at 6896 Laurel St. NW, Washington, DC.

The video was taken by Carole Galati.

Additional photos and videos are posted to the club's Facebook page at -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/48402553606/

Tomato Taste 2016 Results: The Favorite Wins, But Second Place is a Hotly Contested Race

We had almost 300 people come to yesterday's Washington Gardener Magazine 9th Annual Tomato Taste at the FreshFarm Silver Spring Market last Saturday. Here are the results of the more than 200 ballots submitted.

1. Sun Gold from Chicano Sol
   
2. Green Zebra from Three Springs Fruit Farm
3. Chocolate Cherry from Mock's Greenhouse
4. Yellow Pepper from Quaker Valley Orchards
5. Cherokee Purple from Spiral Path Farm 
6. Valencia from The Farm at Our House 
7. Beefsteak from Spring Valley Farm and Orchard

Last year  'Black Cherry' upset both perennial favorites 'Sun Gold' and 'Sun Sugar,' but this year the sweeter tomatoes came roaring back. The second place spot was very close, with just a couple votes separating them. I was personally surprised by 'Green Zebra' pulling it out in the end.

If we had excluded the cherry varieties from our contest, then the 'Green Zebra' and 'Cherokee Purple' would have been at the top as the slicing tomatoes with the most votes.

Do take a minute to click on the photo link here to view the Facebook album of photos from the event. I think you will agree that the market tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous and very photogenic. Also, many people stopped by to create colorful tomato art and to pick up the free tomato seeds, growing tips, and recipes that we gave out.

Ethan of College Park, MD, (pictured here with his younger brother) won the prize drawing of a market bag full of gardening goodies and $25 worth of market tokens!

Most of the taste attendees were local, though we also had many who came quite a distance. About half live in Silver Spring. Another third live close by in Washington, DC or the neighboring towns of Takoma Park, Chevy Chase, Kensington, and Bethesda. From farther away in Maryland, folks came from Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Ellicott City, College Park, Owings Mills, Baltimore, and Annapolis. From across the river in Virginia, attendees came from Crystal City. From out of the area, we had attendees from Portland, ME, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Boston, MA, Tucson, AZ, and Arcadia, CA. And we even had one taster this year from New Brunswick, Canada!

Thank you to all who came and participated. Thanks to the farmers for growing great tomatoes and to FreshFarm Markets staff for hosting us. Special thanks also to Ronit and Shely for helping with all the tomato sample cutting and helping greet all the tasters in the short two-hour event. See you next August!

Fenton Friday: Peppers Popping

I am only growing two kind of peppers at my community garden plot this year - 'Fish' peppers and 'Black Pearl..' The latter are really just ornamental and they are just gorgeous right now -- as shiny and dark as a Black Widow spider. I hope they last this way through Halloween.

The Fish peppers are for culinary use. Truthfully though, they are merely ornamental for me as well. In the garden they are quite pretty plants with their mottled foliage and small, bright fruits.I plan to cut and hang them to dry in the kitchen -- and on the wall they shall hang until they grow dusty or the cats knock them down. I am not much of a cook nor am I a fan of hot sauces.

Are you a pepper person?

About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)