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Meatless Monday:Roasted Squash with Mushrooms

18 Nov

I am back posting after being a little away from my blog for about a month while I was going through some health and personal issues far away in Brazil.

I am happy to share that I am slowly recovering from my rib separation thanks to homeopathy, healing clay bandages followed by rock salt bandages, and a healthy anti-inflammatory diet. I tried the Allopathic Medicine route and it wasn’t working for me. I will be posting some more on this topic.

And my grandma, my dear Piccola Nona, is doing much better, out of the hospital, and excited about the release of her book. She is so awesome! Eighty six years old, two music cds recorded, and now a book. And all the profit for the sales of them go to the Children’s Cancer Hospital. I want to be just like her when I grow up…what an inspiration!

Now, to celebrate my return I decided to share a recipe for Meatless Monday that I love. Enjoy.

Roasted Squash with Mushrooms+Herbs+Gruyere

Roasted Squash with Mushrooms+Herbs+Gruyere

Ingredients:

1 Medium acorn squash or any squash of your preference
1 stick (1/2 cup of butter)
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
1 tablespoon finely chopped sage
1 small red onion, or 2 shallots, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 teaspoon shoyu (soy sauce)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups porcini mushrooms(or any other mushroom you like)
1/2 cup gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon bread crumbs

Method:

1. Cut the squash open in half, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Sprinkle some sea salt, black pepper and half of the butter. Wrap top of the squash in foil and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for about 45 minutes to an hour (until soft and cooked , it will depend on the size of your squash- check the inside). Let it rest
2. While the squash is in the oven, chop the mushrooms, onions, garlic and herbs.
3. In a medium frying pan melt the remaining butter, and add the onions and herbs. When the onions look translucent add the minced garlic. Sautee the garlic for about two minutes and add the white wine. Cook until the wine evaporates, and add the mushroom. Cook the mushrooms for about three minutes, and when they are cooked, add soy sauce.
4. Take it off the heat. Mix with gruyere cheese and breadcrumbs.
5. Check if squash is cooked and fill it with the mushroom mix. Take it back to the oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese melts.
6. Serve and enjoy.
* You can also add cooked wild rice to the mushroom mix.

An Ode to the Jabuticaba

4 Nov

Jabuticaba is one of my favorite fruits, the crunchy sound it makes when you bite into it, and its sweet pulp are incomparable to any other fruit I tasted before.

Jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) is pronounced [ʒabutʃiˈkabɐ]. It is also called Brazilian Grape Tree, Jaboticaba, Jabotica, Guaperu, Guapuru, Hivapuru, Sabará and Ybapuru. The fruits stick out on the trunk and branches of the Jabuticabeira (jabuticaba tree), and belongs to the Myrtaceae family.

It is native to Brazil and its fruits flourish usually once a year.

The name jabuticaba, derives from the indigenous tribe Tupi word Jabuti – which means tortoise + Caba – which means place, due to the fruit’s resemblance to tortoises.

Jabuticaba is usually eaten raw, and it has a sweet pulp. Its seeds can be swallowed, but some people like to suck its pulp and remove the seeds. It is usually used to make jams, sauces, liquor and wine.

Jabuticaba has many nutritional properties such as iron, vitamin C, phosphorus, niacin, pectin and anthocyanin. It has also been used as astringent, in skins treatment for hemoptysis, asthma, diarrhea, and gargled for chronic inflammation of the tonsils and throat.

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Here is a picture of the Jabuticabeira – the Jabuticaba tree – that I found on Wikipedia, the photographer is Bruno.karklis

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