My favorite thing to do with a winter squash is to stuff it.
Sautéeing the cabbage ahead, even a day ahead, works well, but finish it with the butter and mustard just before serving.
So much easier than apple pie and so much lighter, this tart will not be overkill after a celebration meal. It’s not the same-old, same-old apple pie. The tart’s rosemary leaves and lemon sugar (the trick of rubbing shredded rind into sugar) flavoring the apple slices, then a finish of cinnamon and olive oil sets it far apart from the usual. The best part is that because the tart’s so thin and crisp-crusted, you can bake it a day ahead and lightly warm the tart in the oven before serving.
This big half-moon-shaped turnover is bursting with chunks of apples, raisins and tiny pieces of citron. When you taste what candied citron does for the apple filling, you may want to try some in your next apple pie. High quality candied citron, the kind that comes in big chunks, always makes me think of a lemon that's been dipped in allspice and sugar. Even supermarket citron is good in this tart. Hill farmers make it in the Versilla area of northern Tuscany on January 6, the Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and in Italy, the Day of the Befana when everyone gets presents.
A scattering of ruby-colored pomegranate seeds makes a memorable finish to this dish.
This is a fall version of the French Vieux Garcon, or Bachelor's Brandied Fruit. For that classic preparation, layers of fruit, starting in June with cherries, are put into a crock, masked with sugar, and then covered with brandy or other spirits. As other fruits ripen throughout the summer, they are added to the crock, along with more sugar and brandy, and so on throughout the fall. Then, throughout the winter, the brandied fruits are eaten. I have never learned whether the name comes from the idea that Vieux Garcon is easy enough for a bachelor to make, or because it contains enough brandy for a lonely bachelor to drown his sorrows.
Adapted from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider (Artisan, 2001). Copyright 2001, Sally Schneider.