All it does in Boston lately is rain every single day so this spicy and hearty recipe felt very fall and yet still appropriate when we made it. In his new cookbook, Food 2.0, the brilliant Charlie Ayers, former executive chef at Google, proclaimed that this dish was “slamming.” And oh how it lived up to its reputation…

CK and I have been obsessively watching Supernatural on DVD in the evenings so our nightly routines goes something like this: get home, I whine about not wanting to go on a run, CK makes me, shower, make dinner, watch silly boys battle ghosties, beasties, and ghoulies until I fall asleep on the couch. What’s missing? Oh yeah! That whole clean-up the kitchen thing.

So on Butternut Chilijack night, we were both very lazy and left the kitchen a complete mess. Honestly I didn’t even give it another thought. After all, CK is a fabulous kitchen picker-upper, but than I got a phone call and an odd question was posed to me, “Which towels don’t you like?”

It would seem that while trying to dispose of the butternut squash peelings in the garbage disposal something awful happened. The sink plugged, a leak sprung, and when poor CK bent over to investigate under the cupboard the pipe exploded stringy squash all over CK and the kitchen.

Just because you’ve always successfully stuffed everything from banana peels to limes down the disposal doesn’t mean it wont get back at you in some malicious way when you least expect it. In the end, I came home from work, the lovely maintenance man fixed the disposal, the kitchen was cleaned, and Chef Ayers Chilijack will live on in kitchen infamy.

Butternut Chilijack
Originally published in Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers
Serves 4

2 butternut squashes, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 red onions, diced (Note: I only used one as I’m not a super fan of red onion).
1/4 cup sliced jalapeno chillies (from a can or jar)
1 tbsp mild chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tomatoes, diced, or 1 cup drained, canned crushed tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed (Note: I left this out. CK wanted it, but I wasn’t feeling very corn friendly that night)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
A handful of fresh cilantro leaves torn into pieces

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Combine the squash, onions, and chilies in a roasting pan and season with chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Drizzle the grapeseed oil over and toss well. Roast until just tender but still with some texture, 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and tip into a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, corn, Monterey Jack cheese, and cilantro. Mix gently until the cheese begins to melt. Serve warm

Confession time: until I made this creamy risotto dish I’d never purchased or even used a vanilla bean before. I know — total baking blasphemy! Last month, after I read Amanda Hesser’s book, Cooking for Mr. Latte, I really wanted to bake the Vanilla Bean Loaves. Especially since they were based on a recipe from the High-Rise Bread Company right here in Cambridge. Unfortunately, the sticker shock of purchasing all of the vanilla beans needed to make something that I might not even like bordered on the ridiculous. So back on the shelf went those little dainty Whole Foods bottles, and off I went to find cheaper treasures, like Maple Wallaby Yogurts.

Inevitably though, as chance would have it, I became mesmerized with a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that called for the simple addition of a vanilla bean. This caused me to completely cave to my inner need for gourmet greed. A quick stop by Williams-Sonoma on my way home was all it took. Afterwards, I felt strangely satisfied knowing that my tiny vial containing two skinny black pods would soon become a “secret ingredient” in that evening’s dinner. The bean didn’t let me down. The hint of vanilla played off the sweetness of the squash nicely. I was a little worried that it might taste too much like rice pudding, but that definitely wasn’t the case. In the end I actually cooked some spicy turkey sausage and crumbled it into the risotto for a little extra protein, and I absolutely loved being able to see the small dots of fragrant vanilla decorating the squash and rice.

Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto (Originally published by Giada De Laurentiis)

4 cups vegetable broth (Note: I used low sodium chicken broth)
1 large vanilla bean
3 cups peeled cubed (1-inch wide) butternut squash, about 12 ounces
2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cups finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives (Note: I used thyme)

In a medium saucepan, warm the broth over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and add them, and the bean, to the broth. When the broth comes to a simmer reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. (Note: I actually cooked my squash cubes for about 15 minutes. It took quite a while for them to become tender.) Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Discard the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash, Parmesan, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and salt. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chives (Note: or thyme). Serve immediately.

Whole Foods meats are the ultimate in food porn. When I opened up my bag of stew beef I almost swooned. No wonder everything costs $200 a pound there. It’s gorgeous! The ruby red cubes were almost too pretty to put into a messy stew, but let’s be realistic people — a girl has to eat. This simple recipe was a big hit when our friends joined us to watch the Patriots beat The Chargers. In fact, my anti-vegetable cousin was totally duped into eating squash. She was shocked when I told her it wasn’t a potato that she was happily munching away on. So keep the lights dim and trick your kids the old fashioned way, without any of that ridiculous pureed carrot brownie junk. You might just get away with it. PS: if you live near a Whole Foods pick up a loaf of their phenomenal “Seeduction” bread to go along with your secret squash stew. It’s my favorite.

Herb Line-Up	Beef is Beautiful
Peel	Butternut Bites
Dust	Sun-Dried Bits
Saute	Brown
Add to the Pot	Pour, Cover & Simmer

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew (Originally published by Giada De Laurentiis)
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 pounds stew beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup Marsala wine (Note: I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
3 to 4 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley (which I forgot to add)
Crusty bread, for serving

In a large soup pot heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and saute until the onions are tender, about 2 minutes. Toss the beef cubes in salt and pepper and flour. Turn up the heat to med-high and add the beef to the pot. Cook until the beef is browned and golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the wine. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the butternut squash and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Add enough beef broth to just cover the beef and squash. Bring the stew to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Season the stew with additional salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread alongside.