I made this soup up for Thanksgiving, 2007. Curried Butternut Squash Soup w/apricots & coconut milk 1 c onion 1" x 1 ½" piece ginger, peeled & minced 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, but not deveined 3 or 4 cloves garlic, smashed 1 T curry powder 1 t ground cumin 1 can chicken broth 2 cans water 1 knorr chicken bouillon cube 2 lbs peeled, seeded, butternut squash, thinly sliced 4-6 oz. Dried California apricots (not Turkish style)depending on how tart you want the soup. 1 can coconut milk 1 t cayenne (opt.) 1 t salt 1 T sugar Saute onions over a medium-high heat with ginger, jalapeno & garlic until onions are translucent. Add curry powder & cumin, saute for a few minutes until the spices are pungent. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the squash is tender. Puree soup with an emulsifier wand or blender. Add coconut milk, adjust seasonings, and bring back to serving heat. This soup is good served hot or cold. Garnishes might be toasted, chopped nuts, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced green onions, toasted, grated coconut or raisin bread croutons. And this was something I came up with when booking catering jobs. A client wanted a "fall" theme to the foods, and had some vegetarian guests coming to her event. She was concerned that they have some interesting dishes to choose from, and would leave feeling like they had an actual meal rather than just "making do" with whatever side dishes they were able to eat. Our chef wasn't exactly familiar with vegetarian foods, but was open to suggestions. Mixed grain salad with roasted butternut squash A mixture of grainstry to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous. Onions, celery, carrots-chopped Green peas (frozen are fineif you have fresh, blanch them first) Roasted butternut squash cubes** Cranberry vinaigrette*** Chopped parsley & green onions Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts) Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked. Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in. *Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion. **Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesnt brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit. ***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night. Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldnt be too tart or too sweet. Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.

I like mine just cut into cubes, tossed with a little olive oil and roasted with just salt and pepper. I like mine more savory than sweet and so I like this soup: Classic Butternut Squash Soup 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 carrot, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 1 onion, diced 4 cups cubed butternut squash, fresh or frozen 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in butternut squash, thyme, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to purée soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully purée in batches in an upright blender. Three Twists Apple, Gorgonzola and Almond Butternut Soup Stir 1 cup unsweetened applesauce into puréed soup. Garnish each serving with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, toasted almonds, a few slices of thinly sliced apple and a small sprig of fresh thyme. Thai-style Butternut Soup Stir a tablespoon of red curry paste and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger into carrot, celery and onion mixture. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk with broth. Purée soup and garnish each serving with toasted coconut flakes and chopped fresh cilantro. Southwestern-style Butternut Soup Add a tablespoon chopped chipotles in adobo sauce to carrot, celery and onion mixture. Garnish soup with crumbled queso fresco, toasted pumpkin seeds and chopped fresh cilantro. Per Serving:140 calories (50 from fat), 6g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 280mg sodium, 20g carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 6g protein I make these dinner rolls too, everyone likes them. I cut the recipe in half and knead the dough in my bread machine, then shape and bake in the oven. Butternut Squash Dinner Rolls 60 Servings 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 3/4 teaspoon plus 1 cup sugar, divided 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°) 2 cups warm milk (110° to 115°) 1/4 cup butter, softened 2 cups mashed cooked butternut squash 2 teaspoons salt 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ 10 to 11-1/2 cups all-purpose flour Additional butter In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 3/4 teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter, squash, salt and remaining sugar; mix until smooth. Add wheat germ and 4 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and divide into thirds; divide each portion into 20 pieces. Shape into balls. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter. Remove to wire racks. Yield: 5 dozen. What a wonderful bounty, I have a great harvest of them myself, I'd better be getting them out of the garden before frost! Annie

There a lot of good recipes featured on Mary Ann Esposito's PBS cooking show Ciao Italia. Here are some of my favorites. Mushroom Ravioli with Garlic, Cream and Fontina Sauce MAKES 7 DOZEN RAVIOLI - SERVES 8 TO 10 Portobello mushrooms can be as large as dinner plates. They are exquisite when simply grilled, with a brushing of olive oil. Creating more elaborate recipes with them is fun too. I developed this mushroom-stuffed ravioli dish when a crate of the brown beauties arrived at my door. To complement rather than overpower the woodsy taste of the filling, I teamed the ravioli with a cream and Italian Fontina cheese sauce. I knew my efforts had paid off when I took the first bite. If you cannot find Portobello mushrooms, use cremini (smaller versions of portobellos) or shiitake mushrooms. This dish makes an elegant first course for a bridal luncheon. Ingredients FILLING 6 tablespoons butter 1 small hot red pepper, diced 1 pound Portobello mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned, and diced Fine sea salt to taste 1/3 cup dry red wine DOUGH 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 3 large eggs 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt SAUCE 3 tablespoons butter 3 large cloves garlic, cut lengthwise in half 1 cup heavy cream 1/3 pound Italian Fontina cheese, diced 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, preferably Tellichery, crushed Fine sea salt to taste Directions In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chili pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, pressing on the pieces and swirling them in the butter with a wooden spoon. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the salt over the mushrooms and raise the heat to high. Add the wine and let it evaporate. Transfer the mushrooms to a blender or food processor and process to a paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Mound the flour on a work surface. Make a well in the center and crack the eggs into the well. Sprinkle the salt over the eggs and beat with a fork until blended. Pushing the flour from the inside of the well into the center with your hands, gradually incorporate enough flour into the eggs to make a soft dough. Push any excess flour aside, and knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until it is smooth. Cover the dough with a bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. To make the ravioli using a ravioli form, roll each piece out through a pasta machine set to the next-to-the-last-setting. Cut the pasta into 13-inch lengths. Place one sheet of dough over the bottom part of a ravioli form, and make impressions with the top piece of the form. Fill each cavity with about 1/2 teaspoon of the mushroom filling. Place a second sheet of dough over the top and roll over the dough with a rolling pin to create the ravioli. Shake the ravioli out onto a clean towel, trim any excess dough from around the form and save to reroll. Arrange them in a single layer. Continue with the remaining dough and filling. To make the ravioli by hand, roll each piece out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Space 1/2 teaspoon of the filling about 1 1/2 inches apart on one sheet of dough. Cover with another sheet of dough, press down around the mounds of filling with your fingers to seal, and cut into ravioli with a ravioli wheel. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, pressing on the cloves with a wooden spoon, until the garlic just begins to brown. Add the Fontina, peppercorns and cream, and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened. Season the sauce with salt, cover and set aside. Bring 8 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add half the ravioli at a time and cook until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well, and put them on a warm serving platter. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce, stirring until smooth. Pour the sauce over the ravioli and gently toss to coat them evenly. Serve immediately. Note: The filling and sauce can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. The uncooked ravioli can be frozen; place on cookie sheets in a single layer and freeze until hard. Transfer to plastic bags and freeze. Cook the ravioli unthawed. This recipe is from CELEBRATIONS ITALIAN STYLE by Mary Ann Esposito, published by William Morrow and Company, Inc., in 1995. Ravioli Piedmont Style Agnolotti alla Piemontese These Piedmont style ravioli have many fillings including the classic three-meat filling. Here we use a potato and spinach filling. It is not unusual to be served 30 small ravioli as an individual portion! Serves 6 to 8 For the Pasta Dough 4 cups all purpose flour 5 to 6 large eggs Pinch of salt Make a well with the flour on a work surface; crack the eggs into the center and mix to break them up. Add a pinch of salt. Work the eggs into the flour to create a smooth dough. You may not need all the flour. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and work with one piece at a time. Roll out thin sheets of dough either by hand or with a pasta machine. You should be able to see your hand behind the rolled out dough and each sheet should be about 5 inches wide, if using a pasta machine, and about 2 1/2 feet long. It is best to cut the rolled out sheets crosswise to make them shorter in length. Space a teaspoon of filling in a row about 1 inch apart slightly off center on each sheet of dough. Fold the side of the dough over the filling and gently press the edges closed with your fingers to seal around the filling. Use a pastry wheel to cut 1 inch square agnolotti. As you form them, place them in single rows on baking sheets covered with towels that have been sprinkled with flour. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add about a dozen agnolotti at a time and cook them about 2-3 minutes. Remove them with a strainer or slotted spoon to a serving dish. Continue cooking all the agnolotti. Add the warmed butter and toss gently. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. For The Filling 2 pounds baking potatoes, steamed or microwaved and riced 2 pounds fresh spinach or 1 package frozen, thawed (Swiss chard may be substituted.) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 tablespoon rosemary needles, minced 1 large egg 6 - 7 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese plus extra for sprinkling on top of ravioli Salt and ground black pepper If using fresh spinach, clean and stem it. Cook it in a pot without water until the leaves wilt. Drain and squeeze dry. Chop finely. For frozen spinach, squeeze it dry and finely chop. Heat the oil in a sauté pan, add the onion, garlic, rosemary and cook until the mixture softens. Do not let the garlic burn. Stir in the spinach and stir to evenly mix the ingredients and the mixture is fairly dry, not overly soupy. Transfer to a bowl and allow the mixture to cool to room temp. Add the potatoes, egg, cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and set aside until ready to fill the pasta sheets. This recipe is featured on show 1920 - More Piedmont Cooking. Lobster Ravioli Ravioli con Aragosta MAKES 150 TO 200 It is interesting to conjecture as to how ravioli came to be. These plump little pillows of pasta hold a variety of traditional savory fillings, depending on where in Italy you are. My Grandmother Galasso used to make ravioli out of leftover pasta dough that was too small to do anything else with. She filled them with a mixture of bits and pieces of meats, cheeses, and herbs. Then they were gently placed on a clean blanket until the cooking water was boiling. When I make ravioli and I really want to splurge, I fill them with lobster. I like to serve them with Salsa di Peperoni Rossi. This recipe makes a lot: Cook what you need and freeze the rest. LOBSTER FILLING 2 cups cooked lobster meat (about 12 ounces) 1 large egg, beaten 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon white pepper 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley 1 recipe Basic Egg Pasta DIRECTIONS To make the filling, with a knife, mince the lobster meat fine. Put it in a bowl, add all the remaining filling ingredients, and mix well. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. To make the ravioli using a form, first roll the dough through a pasta machine to the finest setting and cut into 13-inch lengths, or roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface as thin as possible and cut into strips approximately 5 inches by 13 inches. Place one strip of dough over the bottom section of the ravioli form, making sure that the dough overlaps all the edges of the form by about 1/2 inch. Use the top part of the form to make slight impressions in the dough. Put 1 teaspoon of filling in each impression and cover with another sheet of dough. Roll over the form with a rolling pin several times to seal the edges. Trim the excess dough from around the form and save to reroll. Shake the ravioli out through the holes in the form and place them in a single layer on a floured baking sheet or a clean towel. If you prefer to make the ravioli without a form, roll each piece of dough through a pasta machine to the finest setting and cut each strip of dough in half; or roll the dough out on a floured surface as thin as possible and cut in 5-inch-wide strips. Place teaspoons of the filling about 2 inches apart on one strip of dough, and cover with another strip of dough. Press down around the mounds of filling to seal the dough, and cut in ravioli squares with a pasta wheel or sharp knife. Place the ravioli in a single layer on a floured baking sheet or clean towels as you make them. To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the ravioli, about 2 dozen at a time, just until they bob to the top, about 3 minutes. Drain and serve with a sauce of your choice. To freeze, arrange the ravioli on baking sheets in a single layer, cover with foil, and freeze until solid. Place them in plastic bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Do not defrost before boiling. Sweet Fried Ravioli Ravioli Dolci Fritti MAKES 5 1/2 TO 6 DOZEN Made from a spice-flavored dough, filled with ricotta cheese, cut like ravioli, fried, and showered with confectioners' sugar, these are the favorite Christmas cookies of my good friend Louis Terramagra. His Sicilian grandmother, Stella La Marca, was from Caltinasetta, and this cookie was her hallmark. The dough is very soft, so chilling it is recommended for easier handling. To make the job even easier, use a ravioli form, which yields a dozen squares at a time. DOUGH 1/2 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/2 cup milk 1 tablespoon lard or solid vegetable shortening, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached, All-Purpose Flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt FILLING 1 pound skim-milk ricotta cheese, well drained 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached, All-Purpose Flour 1 tablespoon grated orange zest Vegetable oil for deep-frying Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling DIRECTIONS In a bowl, mix together the sugar, egg, milk, lard or shortening, and vanilla. Sift together 2 1/4 cups flour, the baking powder, spices, and salt in another bowl. Add the egg mixture and mix with your hands until a ball of dough is formed, adding additional flour if the dough seems very sticky; this is a soft dough. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for at least several hours, or overnight. In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, confectioners' sugar, flour, and orange zest. Refrigerate, covered until ready to use. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered and refrigerated. To make the ravioli using a ravioli form, divide each piece of dough in half. On a floured surface, roll out each piece into a 12 by 5-inch strip. Place one strip over the bottom section of the form. Make slight impressions in the dough with the top part of the form. Place a scant teaspoonful of the filling in the center of each impression, and cover with a second strip of dough. Roll over the top of the form with a rolling pin until the teeth of the form show through the dough. Turn the form over and shake out the ravioli. Place the ravioli on kitchen towel-lined cookie sheets and refrigerate for 15 minutes before frying. To shape the ravioli by hand, on a floured surface, roll each piece of dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pastry wheel, cut into squares of the desired size. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of half the squares and top each one with a second square. Seal the edges of the ravioli with a fork dipped in flour, place on towel-lined cookie sheets and refrigerate as above. In a deep-fryer or deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to 375 F. Fry the ravioli, a few at a time, until golden brown. Drain on brown paper and let cool slightly, then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Sorry folks, I wasn't recommending any specific recipes other than the zuni café chicken which has had cult-love for the technique (salt brining + high heat cooking) and the bread salad with pine nuts and currants. I only posted the other photos for examples of "rustic elegant" plating of the simple chicken. That said, BFelton, I learned to make lemon roasted chicken when I was 14 and had an after school job preparing dinner recipes for a neighbor. Love roasted lemon. I just can't imagine how that recipe could go wrong. I love halibut-- in fact, we were just talking about it on Christmas Eve. My nephew was in from his NOAA ship in Alaska (currently ported for the winter in Oregon). He'd shipped in Dungeness crab for the family but we also talked of our shared love of halibut. It is sooo expensive here-- more so now because it's out of season until the spring-- but such a wonderful and versatile fish. Your dinner sounds wonderful, Mtn.. the platter of lentil salad is just so beautiful. With the wonderfully earthy flavors of roasted beets and carrots and the butternut ravioli, you've conceived a great, healthy twist on "surf and turf"!