Acorn Squash

Baked acorn squash was my breakthrough vegetable, the first one I voluntarily dared to put in my mouth. Until then I was your basic potatoes and sweet corn kid. I camouflaged peas in my mashed potatoes and held my nose when I ate green beans. Beets, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers - wouldn't touch 'em, even if we'd grown them in our garden. But I doctored up the already-sweet flesh of acorn squash with brown sugar and butter and mmm, a veggie almost as good as a piece of pumpkin pie. As luck would have it, I grew up - and grew to love all those vegetables I used to turn up my nose at, especially roasted beets.

Fuji San is an agreeable, little, 10-table Thai restaurant. It doesn't give much in the way of ambience and, in return, it doesn't ask much of its customers. It's a good option for a hot summer night when you feel like getting out of the house but don't want to invest too much energy into dressing up or feel like performing the role of Mr. and Mrs. Restaurant Patron. It completes the sentence, "You know what, babe, let's just go to _____." Open now for about 2 1/2 years, Fuji San is the fourth and newest restaurant in the Sesum family's modest empire, which includes Thai One On/San Sushi Too in Towson and a similarly named and themed hybrid restaurant in Canton.

Simple though it is, this autumnal menu lends an lovely exotic flair to a quick meal. The squash dish is a replica of flavors found in authentic Afghan restaurants and is nourishing as well as tasty.Lamb chops grilled or broiled are a great accompaniment, even better when splashed with a little balsamic or red wine vinegar to lend some character to the meat.Round out the menu with an herbed rice mix and toss on some toasted pine nuts or almonds to finish.Serve fresh red and green grapes along with tangerines for a delicious dessert.

Veganomicon The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Skinny Bitch in the Kitch By Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin Running Press / 2007 / $14.95 In contrast to Veganomicon, this title says it all. This cookbook follow-up to the hot-selling 2005 vegan manifesto Skinny Bitch, a foul-mouthed screed on the horrors of the food industry, offers recipes that are supposed to help you "keep to your SB standards and eat like a whale." But we found this book a bit, well, skinny in comparison to Veganomicon.

Although I love summer's glorious produce, I can be equally rhapsodic about the fruits and vegetables that arrive in our markets during the cold-weather months. Once the temperature starts to drop, I put away recipes for eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes and focus instead on delectable winter choices, such as squashes and parsnips, rutabagas and other root vegetables. Carrots, shallots and baby red skins drizzled with olive oil and roasted until golden-brown are always a winning trio. And a rich satisfying soup made with diced sweet potatoes and chopped leeks simmered in chicken stock, then pureed and enriched with cream, proves irresistible.

Acorn Squash with Red Onion and Currants Serves 8 2 medium acorn squash 1/4 cup vegetable oil salt and freshly ground pepper 4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter 5 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon paprika 2 pinches cayenne pepper 1/2 cup dried currants 1/3 cup honey 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar Heat oven to 325 degrees. Wash the squash. Using a serrated knife, cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

Along with the usual deep-forest green, acorn squash comes in hues of yellow and creamy white. The deeply fluted squash is an American native, which makes it "more American than apple pie," according to Amy Goldman in The Compleat Squash. (She points out that apples were brought here from the Old World.) If you cut a squash open to reveal the dense flesh, you will find the white variety with the palest color (pale yellow), the green a little darker inside with yellow-orange interior, and the orange most deeply colored, a vivid orange.

Recently I came down with a bad case of laryngitis and a chest cold. The doctor told me to take it easy - he doesn't know me very well! - so for a few days I attempted to rest, read and recline. Gradually my voice returned, and I felt better. But when I looked at the calendar I noticed that we had out-of-town friends coming soon for dinner and to spend the night. Not feeling up to a big meal, I was worried about the menu. But then I remembered a delicious fall soup I had recently prepared for a Saturday lunch.

Connie Page of Holland, Mich., requested a recipe for acorn squash stuffed with sausage. She wrote: "I found the recipe on the back of a local grocery store's calendar in the mid-1990s. The sausage was seasoned with sage and I'm not sure what else. It was soooooo yummy and now I've lost it." Karl Wagner of Sharon, Wis., responded with a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine from 1996. The magazine said: "The German settlers in Philadelphia were known for their sausage-making talents. "In this side dish, sausage teams up with molasses and squash, two classic Colonial ingredients.

Marty Hyson knows his oysters. A self-proclaimed "oyster cookin' " fool, he not only won the People's Choice Award for his Creamed Oysters in Acorn Squash at this year's oyster-cooking contest in St. Mary's County, but he also presented a dish that captured the fall and holiday season. Hyson, 38, a mortgage banker who lives in Baltimore, loves his Ravens, Maryland seafood and puttering around the kitchen. His addiction to cooking shows helped spark the idea for his succulent winter-squash-based oyster dish.

Along with the usual deep-forest green, acorn squash comes in hues of yellow and creamy white. The deeply fluted squash is an American native, which makes it "more American than apple pie," according to Amy Goldman in The Compleat Squash. (She points out that apples were brought here from the Old World.) If you cut a squash open to reveal the dense flesh, you will find the white variety with the palest color (pale yellow), the green a little darker inside with yellow-orange interior, and the orange most deeply colored, a vivid orange.

Baked acorn squash was my breakthrough vegetable, the first one I voluntarily dared to put in my mouth. Until then I was your basic potatoes and sweet corn kid. I camouflaged peas in my mashed potatoes and held my nose when I ate green beans. Beets, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers - wouldn't touch 'em, even if we'd grown them in our garden. But I doctored up the already-sweet flesh of acorn squash with brown sugar and butter and mmm, a veggie almost as good as a piece of pumpkin pie. As luck would have it, I grew up - and grew to love all those vegetables I used to turn up my nose at, especially roasted beets.

Recently I came down with a bad case of laryngitis and a chest cold. The doctor told me to take it easy - he doesn't know me very well! - so for a few days I attempted to rest, read and recline. Gradually my voice returned, and I felt better. But when I looked at the calendar I noticed that we had out-of-town friends coming soon for dinner and to spend the night. Not feeling up to a big meal, I was worried about the menu. But then I remembered a delicious fall soup I had recently prepared for a Saturday lunch.

Acorn Squash with Red Onion and Currants Serves 8 2 medium acorn squash 1/4 cup vegetable oil salt and freshly ground pepper 4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter 5 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon paprika 2 pinches cayenne pepper 1/2 cup dried currants 1/3 cup honey 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar Heat oven to 325 degrees. Wash the squash. Using a serrated knife, cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

This recipe, adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, by Christopher Kimball and his staff at Cook's Illustrated, calls for delicata or acorn squash but will work with any winter squash. Cooking times will vary depending on the squash's size. "Make sure that you cook the squash until it is very tender," the authors note. "It is one of the few vegetables whose texture improves as it cooks." ROASTED WINTER SQUASH WITH SOY-MAPLE GLAZE Makes 4 servings 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 / 2 teaspoon grated gingerroot 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 acorn or delicata squash, halved, seeded 1 / 2 teaspoon salt, optional Freshly ground pepper Move oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees.

Although I love summer's glorious produce, I can be equally rhapsodic about the fruits and vegetables that arrive in our markets during the cold-weather months. Once the temperature starts to drop, I put away recipes for eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes and focus instead on delectable winter choices, such as squashes and parsnips, rutabagas and other root vegetables. Carrots, shallots and baby red skins drizzled with olive oil and roasted until golden-brown are always a winning trio. And a rich satisfying soup made with diced sweet potatoes and chopped leeks simmered in chicken stock, then pureed and enriched with cream, proves irresistible.

When my cooking students ask me how I determine whether a restaurant is good or not, I often reply, "It's all in the vegetables." I explain that if a chef pays attention to these side dishes, you can be certain the rest of the menu will also be carefully prepared. The same adage applies to home chefs. Show me the cook who presents beautifully cooked vegetables, and I know the other dishes will be just as tempting. In the fall, a new crop of vegetables appears: squashes in all colors and shapes, huge cabbages, tightly coiled Brussels sprouts, and fresh rutabagas and sweet potatoes.

Chicken is nearly always a sure bet, whether your dinner companions are kids, company or finicky eaters. We can never have enough recipes for the most convenient cut -- the low-cal boneless, skinless breast. This rendition yields a deep-flavored glazed sauce dotted with sweet raisins, crunchy almonds and fresh scallion tops.This dish is one of those that improves as it ages for a day. You may want to make it ahead for a dinner during the week or even double the batch and enjoy the savory leftovers.

Sweet dumpling, buttercup, butternut, delicata - even the names of winter squash are tempting. And, these winter squash live up to their names. From appetizer to dessert, winter squash fit in anywhere. Their sweet flesh ranges from deep-golden to darkest orange and adds welcome color to winter dishes. They are low in calories, rich in fiber, and those golden-orange colors signal that they are a good source of beta carotene and vitamin A. Winter squash keep for months and are easy on the budget.

Connie Page of Holland, Mich., requested a recipe for acorn squash stuffed with sausage. She wrote: "I found the recipe on the back of a local grocery store's calendar in the mid-1990s. The sausage was seasoned with sage and I'm not sure what else. It was soooooo yummy and now I've lost it." Karl Wagner of Sharon, Wis., responded with a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine from 1996. The magazine said: "The German settlers in Philadelphia were known for their sausage-making talents. "In this side dish, sausage teams up with molasses and squash, two classic Colonial ingredients.