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| The gorgeous colors of fall. Golden Delicata squash sautéed to perfection. |
Delicata is the perfect name for this lovely squash. It’s typically smaller than most robust fall squash, around 5-6″ in length, and it has a beautiful yellow color contrasted with dark green stripes. A fashion maven as well as a delight.
And it gets better- the skin is so fine that there is no need to peel! Taking a knife to a tough skinned fall squash can be a wrestling match sometimes, and that alone can be enough of a deterrent for me to just skip it altogether. The sweet delicata is my new best squash friend. Easy to slice, no need to peel, no need to lug some monster squash home from the market- and is just as bit delicious and healthy.
I tossed mine into a pan and they were done in just a few minutes. No need to pull out a baking sheet and roast, just a simple sautee and they are ready to serve. Delicata is also more delicate in taste too. I like my squash with a little bit of sweetness to it, so I added just a small touch of honey into the pan and finished with a few sprigs of fresh thyme.
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| Steak grilled to perfection is splashed with some espresso vinegar. |
To accompany my squash I pan grilled off some sirloin steaks. The seasoning I kept to the classic, simply lots of salt and fresh ground black pepper. For the finish I splashed on some yummy espresso balsamic vinegar that I purchased last weekend when I was visiting my Mother in Greenport. There is a new store out there right on Main St. called Vines and Branches. It’s a gorgeous store stocked with rows and rows of flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Both regular dark and white balsamic vinegars are infused with some amazing flavors such as cranberry pear, tangerine and juniper berry. Mother, daughter Olivia, and I circled around the shop and taste tested tiny sips of vinegar. Sounds like an odd thing to do to take vinegar straight, but they were all pretty delicious just like that! Needless to say, I walked out with a small armload that I just couldn’t resist.
The dark espresso vinegar I used on the steak has a deeply intense coffee flavor. Startling and fantastic! The little bit of the sweetness from the vinegar mellows the bitter edge of the espresso and the acidity adds the right touch of zing for the beef. They do ship, so be sure to check out their site.
It doesn’t take much to add a little something extra to a standard dish and elevate it to a place that you wouldn’t have imagined. However, if you’re not inclined to try the espresso vinegar- try a splash of traditional dark balsamic vinegar- or just leave it out altogether. A good steak is a good steak, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
