The current selection in my reading group, Cook the Books, is for a book titled “A Place at the Table” written by Susan Rebecca White. This book concerns three very different characters who come to build relationships based on cooking and companionship. I truly enjoyed the African-American chef character, Alice Stone, from North Carolina who wrote a cookbook based on cooking from her farm childhood called “Homegrown.”. Another character, Gus Andres, her partner in the restaurant they both ran, said “ She was the first person I ever met who simply refused to serve raw tomatoes anytime but in the dead of summer” And she would only prepare other dishes when the season was right, like Boeuf Bourguignon that she would only serve in the dead of winter.
I agree with this philosophy about cooking and indeed try to only serve seasonal dishes unless my longing for strawberries outweighs my aversion to getting them from the grocery store imported from Florida or California.
In tribute to the seasonal cooking from this book, I am offering a dish made with a variety of winter squash called Kabocha, which has an exceptional naturally sweet flavor, even sweeter in taste than butternut squash. It is similar in texture and flavor to a pumpkin and a sweet potato combined. This is not so much a recipe as a method of preparation, as suggested by my friend, chef Neftalí Duran.
Roasted Kabocha Squash
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. With a sharp knife, cut the squash into wedges and take out the seeds. Leave the skin on. Sprinkle the wedges with olive oil, adding rosemary and other savory herbs plus salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 30-40 minutes. Cut off the skin and serve as a side dish while still warm.
This is my contribution to the current Cook the Books selection being hosted by the lovely Deb of Elioteats.com. Please plan to join us for the February/March book selection, The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life by Angelo Pellegrini (1948), hosted by Simona of Briciole.
