December 2007

’Tis the Season for Cooking

What would the holidays be without home-cooked meals, cookies right out of the oven, and steaming hot drinks? Below are some GW staff holiday favorites, excerpted from What’s Cooking GW?

Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger
Leah Rosen, executive director of communication and creative services, Student and Academic Support Services
Adapted from Bon Appétit
Serves 6 people

Ingredients:
2 butternut squash (about 4 3/4 lbs total), halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cinnamon stick
5 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
Chopped fresh parsley

Directions: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease baking sheet. Place squash cut side down on baking sheet. Bake until squash is very soft, about 50 minutes. Using paring knife, remove peel from squash; discard peel. Cut squash into two-inch pieces. Heat oil in heavy, large pot over medium-low heat. Mix in onion, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and cinnamon. Cover pot and cook until onion is tender, about 15 minutes. Add squash and 5 cups chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard cinnamon.

Working in batches, purée soup in blender. (Can be prepared one day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate.) Return soup to pot. Season soup with salt and pepper. Bring to simmer, thinning soup with more broth if necessary. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Tita’s Embotido (Holiday Meatloaf)
Mary Jane J. Labre, compensation specialist, Human Resource Services
Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground pork
2 carrots, minced
1 medium onion, minced
5 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1 can Vienna sausage, chopped
3 ounces raisins
3 tablespoons pickle relish
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
3 eggs
1/2 stick of butter
Foil for molding

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a bowl except for the butter. Cover and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Mold the mixture into a log about a foot long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut the butter into thin slices and place on top of the molded mixture. Wrap the molded mixture with foil, making sure that both ends are closed as well. Bake for one hour. Open the foil wrap to expose the meat and broil for 5 minutes or until golden brown. When cooked, slice the embotido into 1/2 inch thick pieces before serving. Best served with ketchup on the side and white rice.

Note: You can replace the ground pork with ground chicken.

Snowdrop Sugar Cookies
Melissa de Beer, director of alumni relations, Law School

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 1/4 cups flour

Directions: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream butter, oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add other ingredients and mix well. Form into 1-inch balls, roll in granulated sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet roughly two inches apart. Flatten each cookie with a glass dipped in granulated sugar. Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes until golden edged. Cookies will be white. Let cool for 10 minutes on wire rack and enjoy!

Note: Other names for cookies include Amish sugar cookies or high white cookies. They originate from Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Holiday Fudge
Cyndy Donnell, executive coordinator, Office of the Registrar

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/4 lb)
4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
1 small can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon light corn syrup (Karo)
1 tablespoon water
Chopped nuts, to taste (optional)

Directions: Place all ingredients in saucepan. Cook over low heat until everything is melted and smooth. Turn up heat to medium and cook while stirring constantly. Continue to cook until a drop of the mixture forms a soft ball when dropped into a glass of water. Remove from heat and beat with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to thicken noticeably. Pour into a buttered pan (9 inch round works well) and cool. (Optional chopped nuts may be added at this point.) When the mixture has cooled slightly, score the top with a knife in the size/pattern of pieces you want to cut from it when it’s completely set. Refrigerate to hasten setting.

Note: Be patient when waiting for mixture to form a soft ball. Fudge may not set if this step is rushed. With beating step, make sure to beat until thickened.

Spiced Hot Chocolate
Kathleen Tindle, research scientist, Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients:
6 cups whole milk
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
15 whole cardamom pods, crushed
12 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
2 whole star anise (brown star-shaped seedpods sold at Asian markets or supermarkets)
3/4 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Bring the first nine ingredients to a simmer in large, heavy saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 20 minutes. Add cocoa powder and vanilla. Bring to a simmer, whisking until blended. Strain hot chocolate into 8-cup measuring cup and discard spices. Divide hot chocolate into six mugs.

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