A little extra time on my hands...

*Reality Alert:  Soooo...I must confess to some changes in my "real/non-blog" life. Due to "organizational restructuring," I actually was laid off from my job about a week & a half ago.  You know the saying:  when one door closes, another one opens.  I'm a bigggggg believer in that and for now am enjoying the time to relax and get ready before starting a HUGE new chapter in our lives that I couldn't be happier for!

So, the reason for my confession?  Because there is no way in HELL I wanted you to believe that the dinner I whipped up yesterday was one I would EVER attempt on a random TuesdayJ hahahahhahaha  In fact, I spent almost the ENTIRE day in the kitchen yesterday prepping a bunch of stuff and working on our 'fancy' dinner for the evening:  Squash & Cheese Souffle! 

November's Cooking Light magazine had a whole section devoted to ways to cook up different winter squash and I was hooked!  Mainly because, before reading the article, I had kinda thought these squash were purely for decorative purposesJ...

Who  knew that not only was this "Sweet Dumpling Squash" not just for your Fall centerpiece, but actually had edible flesh AND skin!  No need to peel or scoop out the flesh...just slice, 'de-seed' and you're ready to go! 

To make the souffle:  First, you place a small roasting pan in a 450 degree oven.  Once the oven is preheated, you remove the pan and add 1 tablespoon of butter to melt...

Next to the pan you add:

• 4 cups of diced sweet dumpling squash (or 2 medium sized squash)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons diced fresh thyme
• 1 shallot, diced into 6 pieces

 Stir around and roast for 20 minutes until the squash is tender (flipping once).  Set squash aside to cool.

Once the squash is cool, toss everything into a food processor and pulse until smooth... 

Meanwhile, add 1/3 cup of flour & a dash of salt to a saucepan placed over medium heat.  Whisk in about 1 & 1/4 cups of milk and stir constantly.  Bring to boil and let cook for 1 minute or until thick and bubbly... 

Let the milk/flour mixture cool for 5 minutes before adding in the cheese (I used 3/4 cups of shredded Gouda...but try any FLAVORFUL cheese you have on hand)... 

Next to the milk, add the pureed squash along with 3 egg yolks.  I wish I had some sort of tip to make separating eggs easier, but I just did it the old fashioned way:  with 2 egg shell halves and 2 bowls to catch everythingJ 

While the squash/milk/egg yolk mixture sits, toss the 3 whites along with 2 MORE egg whites (those cartons of JUST egg whites are awesome for these types of things!) to a mixer and whip on high speed until medium peaks form.  You can tell they're ready when the eggs have doubled in volume... 

Next comes the part where you'll need a little finesse:  Carefully fold in 1/4 of the egg yolks and allow them to mix with the squash/milk completely.  After the 1/4 is blended completely, add the remaining eggs and fold.

Warm a cookie sheet in the oven at 425 degrees.  While the pan is warming, spray 3-4 ramekins with non-stick spray and coat with bread crumbs....

Divide the squash mixture among the ramekins and sharply tap the dishes on your counter 2-3 times to level out the mixture.  Place the ramekins on the preheated pan and pop in the oven... 

Immediately lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes until the souffles are puffed & golden brown.

How bout these beauties???   (ps-and how funny is Penny's silhouette in the background?? J)

This souffle is actually REALLY easy....it's just time consuming.  You need time to roast the squash and bake the dish, but tossing everything together takes about 20 minutes! If you prep the squash on the weekends, you probably COULD make an easy weeknight souffle any dayJ

OH...and you MUST serve these immediately!  In the time it took us to add dressing to our side salads, our beautiful, poofy souffles had already 'deflated' a bitJ   

But that didn't take away from the flavor.  The roasted squash, fresh herbs & cheese made for a smooth and creamy souffle.  This was SUCH a nice & light dinner!  And I loved that it TASTED really decadent but without hardly any butter, olive oil or cream in the mix.  Plus who doesn't love to say they had 'souffle' for dinner??  It feels so 'oh-la-la!'J hahahhahahaha

The rest of my day was spent boiling up & bagging some more of my farmer's market veggies that looked like they were just about to 'turn' and I knew I wasn't going to get around to using them this week... 

Leeks were an easy 'save.'  I just diced them up, washed them THOROUGHLY (leeks hide a LOT of dirt within the stems!!) and dried them completely before bagging em up and tossing em in the freezer... 

Our freezer is now STOCKED!  I'm trying to base all of our meals for next week around all of the gems we have hiding out in thereJ

I also spent the day whipping up my holiday dessert...here's a previewJ 

...as well as our special *I have a little extra time on my hands* Thanksgiving morning breakfastJ  And here's a surprise:  It ALSO involves a recipe from the Cooking Light "Squash section" J   Any guesses??

I shall reveal all in timeJ  Mwahahaha!

Hope you guys have a GREAT WEDNESDAY!  I have a fun day planned with some good eats!  I should be back tonight to share before our Thanksgiving feast beginsJ 

Enjoy your pre-holiday day!