easy gourmet cooking: stuffed pattypan squash

Always be careful what you ask for. When I recently relocated to Westview, I hoped that I’d be able to find a nearby community garden or small-scale farmer to get fresh produce from. I had no idea my request would be so thoroughly fulfilled.

The beau’s job hosts a weekly farmer’s market throughout summer, where local farmers and community gardeners bring out their wares to sell. Since he helps out with setting up their stands and assisting customers carry their purchases to their cars, the grateful farmers give him some of their excess to take home. Which means that, at least once a week, I get a nice delivery of local fruits and veggies right into my kitchen.

This also means that I am positively swimming in summer produce. Melons, tomatoes, okra, peaches, nectarines, corn, red potatoes, onions, and cabbages come in the door faster than I can think of ways to uniquely prepare them. So I’ve had to scramble around the interwebs in search of recipes to provide additional inspiration. One of the bumper crops that I’ve enjoyed finding new ways to prepare is squash. In addition to the standard crookneck yellow squash and zucchini that I’m used to working with, I got a delivery of pattypan squash. I’d never laid eyes on one in real life before, and was so struck with the elegant scalloped edges and blanched-white skin that I had to find a recipe worthy of the ingredient.

Fresh local ingredients call for a fresh local recipe, so I was pleased when I saw a recipe for Farm-Stand Stuffed Zucchini Squash over at Running With Tweezers. A couple of quick modifications based on the ingredients I had on hand, and… voila! A recipe that was fit for a pattypan squash.

Stuffed PattyPan Squash

Ingredients:

• 2 pattypan squash
• 1-2 fresh Italian sausage (I use turkey sausage, with removable casing)
• 1 cup couscous (I prefer whole wheat)
• 1/2 bell pepper (red, green, or yellow)
• 1 small onion (red or white)
• grated Parmesan cheese
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• minced garlic
• fresh or dried herbs: thyme, rosemary, marjoram
• 1-3/4 cup chicken broth or bouillon

Cooking Instructions:

Preparing the Squash: Preheat oven to 375. With a small knife (serrated works best), cut a circle around the top of the squash. As you cut, angle your knife diagonally from the outer edge of the squash towards the center. Remove the top of the squash and set aside – this will serve as your lid. Hollow out the insides of the squash with a small spoon, being careful not to pierce through the squash. Set the removed squash aside. Drizzle the inside of the squash and the bottoms of the lids with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then set on a baking sheet or pan in the oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes, then set aside to cool.

For the Couscous: In a small pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, until all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.

For the Sausage and Veggies: Chop the bell pepper and onion and add to the squash flesh you removed earlier. Add a little olive oil to a large skillet and heat on medium-high. Remove the sausage from casing, and add in small pieces to the heated skillet. Cook and crumble the sausage until brown. Add the garlic, onion, and pepper to the skillet and sautee for 4-5 minutes, or until onion is slightly translucent. Add herbs to taste, then add squash and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste. Add couscous to skillet and stir to combine with other ingredients. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over everything and stir to incorporate.

Stuff each squash with the couscous mixture, and sprinkle a little more Parm on top. Place the stuffed squash back in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately.

cheers,

k

what’s next – tips for overcoming stagnation

Making your own money – and by that I mean, not from a typical 9 to 5, but from something you created and you own – is like a drug. Once you’ve had even the littlest taste of it, you’ll always want it again. Be careful what you wish for when you wish to be your own boss. You might get hooked for life.

I say be careful because it’s not an easy path. It’s a #@$&! scary ride. But… it’s a ride that changes you for the better. You learn to become bigger than yourself, if that makes any sense. You learn to use your strengths and your weaknesses to your advantage. As master of your own work domain, you have to know yourself well and still continually try to outsmart yourself, to outdo your last move. That’s innovation. That’s growth. That’s ultimately sustainability. Because if you’re always thinking about where you’ll get your next entrepreneurial fix; if you’re constantly asking yourself, ‘what next?’ you’ll have an answer when someone else comes asking the same thing of you.

In business, that ‘someone else’ is your customers, your employees, your partners, your teachers and mentors. When those people come asking, ‘what next?’ you’d better have an answer. If you don’t, you’ll be cheating yourself and them. Or worse…. you’ll become stagnant, and ultimately irrelevant.

“What next?” is a question that I’ve been continually pondering for the last few months. I’ve been an independent freelancer for almost a year now, and have had plenty of ups and downs, direction changes and lots of opportunities to test different approaches in marketing, selling and delivering my services. I finally feel like I’ve reached a level of comfort with the ambiguity and the sometimes unpredictable nature of self-employment, and I’m preparing to kick off some new projects and partnerships that will continue to propel me down paths I want to travel. I recently shared one of those projects with you, and I’m looking forward to sharing the others as they progress.

In the meantime, I’d like to pass along some highlights from a blog post entitled ‘How to Overcome Stagnation’ by Dean L. Forbes. Work – whether done for yourself or for someone else – is one of those areas that it’s extremely easy to become stagnant in, and Dean has provided some excellent insights for recognizing the symptoms of stagnation and developing strategies to deal with it.

Symptoms of Stagnation:

• Lack of focus – feeling scattered and unsure of the goals you’ve set
• Indecisiveness – unable to make a decision because every option is too risky and/or impossible
• Doubt – feelings of self-doubt, lack of confidence in your skills and abilities
• Hopelessness – inability to see the silver lining, the upside, the light at the end of the tunnel
• Cynicism –feeling like the cards are stacked against you, that everyone (especially the ones who ‘don’t deserve it’) is getting ahead except you
• Depression – lack of energy or will to do anything positive, productive, or progressive

Like any emotional or mental state, stagnation is temporary. The amount of time spent in a state of stagnation depends on your willingness to take the right actions to move beyond that state. Forbes recommends the following right actions to overcome stagnation.

5 Ways to Overcome Stagnation:

1. Re-evaluate your core values – Make sure that the principles you wish to live by – your own personal definition of ‘the good life’ – are intact. Make a list of the things in life that really matter to you and be sure that your daily activities and decisions reflect that.
2. Redefine your mission – What is your purpose? What are you here for? What do you feel that you were uniquely created to do? You may already have an idea in your head. Take some time to reflect on and re-envision this mission.
3. Change your mission – Does the mission you previously envisioned for yourself no longer make sense? Maybe it’s time to find a new mission.
4. Change your circle – If you’re on a journey to somewhere, your travelling companions can make or break the trip for you. It can be difficult to change or sever associations, but if you find out that people in your circle aren’t interested in going where you’re headed, you’ll all be much better off going your separate ways.
5. Take a different route – There’s more than one way to reach a given goal. Maybe the path you’re on isn’t the one that’s going to work for you. There’s no shame in changing directions or scrapping what you thought was a well-planned route. What matters is that you keep moving towards your ultimate destination.

If you’re looking for more help dealing with stagnation, here are a few of my favorite stagnation-killing books:

photo by: Crystl

cheers,
k

movies to watch: putney swope

“Our job is to manipulate the consumer by arousing his desires. And then we satisfy those desires for a fixed price.”

~from “Putney Swope” (1969)

 

It’s a rare treat when you stumble across a film that’s so groundbreaking and before its time that it leaves an indelible impression on your brain. I was treated to such a stumbling a few months ago when a grey-movie-loving friend of mine introduced me to Putney Swope. Radical, thought-provoking, and absolutely hilarious… this one is now on my ‘favorite movies of all time’ list.

Synopsis: By a total fluke, Putney Swope – the lone black member on the board of a corporate advertising agency, is elected President when the owner dies. Determined to change the way things are done, Putney changes the name of the agency to ‘Truth and Soul’ and brings in a staff of pseudo-militant soul sistas and brothas to help him run the organization… into the ground.

You’d Like this Movie if You’re a Fan of: Black Dynamite, The Watermelon Man, Bamboozled

Why You Should Watch: 

• Makes equal mockery of the blatant money-grubbing and mind-manipulation of corporate advertising machines and the flexible morality of revolutionary organizations that often makes it difficult to distinguish them from the money-grubbing manipulators.
• The commercials in the movie are as funny (ha-ha) as they are funny (strange)!

Interesting Tidbits:

• The guy who plays the lead character looks amazingly like Dick Gregory
• Robert Downey Sr. (yes, Sherlock Holmes’ dad) wrote and directed the film and also did the voiceover for the lead actor because he kept flubbing his lines
• Downey came up with the idea for the film during when he was making ‘experimental commercials for an ad agency – some of those commercials actually appear in the film
• Antonio Fargas (aka, Huggy Bear) figures prominently in the film, providing lots of comic relief

Watch Putney Swope on Amazon

cheers,

k 

i’m listening to: skin, is my by andrew bird

I hate Pandora. Ok maybe hate is too strong of a word. Really, it’s a sort of missplaced hate. Who I really hate is MySpace, since it is the reason behind the demise of the online music service, Imeem, that I was such a loyal fan of. Listening to music on Pandora is much more restricted, so it’s taken me a while to get adjusted to it.

The one ‘sunny upside’ though, is that I get exposed to all kind of music I might not normally find otherwise. Like this track, “Skin, Is My” by Andrew Bird. Found this one while listening to my Zero 7 station on Pandora. It’s groovy, funky, and cheerful all at the same time. What a lovely sound!

 

Purchase Track on Amazon

Purchase Track on iTunes

cheers,

k

atlanta’s national black arts festival kicks off next week

Only a few more days before the 22nd National Black Arts Festival begins! Well, technically, the festival never ends since it’s a year-round celebration of arts and culture across the African Diaspora. But from July 14-18, we’ll be treated to a concentrated dose of all that the NBAF has to offer.

The NBAF is always a highlight of Atlanta’s summer festival season with a myriad of music and theater performances, workshops, films, and educational programs that allow Atlantans and visitors from all around the globe to see, taste, hear, and feel the work of artists and artisans that have shaped and continue to influence Black culture.

Centennial Olympic Park will once again be the summer festival’s home base of operations, with Main Stage performances by Afro-Brazilian percussion group, Olodum,  Atlanta’s own DJ Kemit, and Roy Ayers with the Common Ground Collective. Several other events – film screenings, dance and theater performances, visual arts displays, and more - will occur at locations around the city. Many of the events are absolutely free to the public, while others offer some very affordable options if you’re looking for things to do on a sweltering Atlanta weekend.

Visit the NBAF’s website for a complete schedule of events or download this handy Excel schedule of 2010 NBAF events that you can sort by date, event type, and price (alternate link for those without Excel).

see you at the festival,

k

before and after: golden brown by the stranglers and omar lye-fook

I first heard the song ‘Golden Brown’ in Guy Ritchie’s iconic caper flick, Snatch. Ritchie has a way of sneaking obscure musical classics into his films that leaves me scrambling for a copy of the soundtrack. This particular obscure classic was originally recorded by English rock band, The Stranglers. The song – when it was first released in 1981 – had a little bit of controversy attached to it because it was said that the lyrics referred to heroin usage. While there’s nothing in the Stranglers’ original video to suggest that, English soul singer Omar Lye-Fook’s 1997 version of Golden Brown – well at least the video – makes heavy visual references to ’chasing the dragon’.

In my opinion, the song’s lilting melodies and day-dreamy lyrics are enough of a drug. Have a look and a listen for yourself. I promise, you will get addicted.

The Stranglers – Golden Brown Video

Omar Lye-Fook – Golden Brown Video

cheers,

k