Chickpea, Butternut Squash, & Sausage Saute (City Girl Stew)

So I'm sure you're thinking that a post about stew in the middle of summer seems strange. Especially when the above pictured "stew" resembles nothing of what it's namesake traditionally suggests. But you know, this is city girl food, so I can call it stew if I want to. Besides, I assure you the strangest thing about this recipe is that I willingly and purposefully cooked with and ate butternut squash. Which as a notoriously picky eater and self proclaimed hater of all things squash, is a pretty big deal.

But when I get an idea in my head and am craving something different, crazy things happen. Honestly, I've been curious about butternut squash for a while. Restaurants seem to love putting it in ravioli with yummy sounding sauces like browned butter with crispy sage leaves, and on more than one occasion I've felt like I might be missing out because of my wanton disdain for an entire vegetable family. I mean, we all know that zucchini and summer squash are utterly disgusting and not to be eaten unless absolutely necessary. But butternut is clearly different with it's firm texture and gorgeous orange hue. I figured it was time I start acting like a foodie, and at least give it a try.

Meatless Monday: City Girl Coleslaw

¡Sin mayonesa, por favor! In addition to, "Si, soy Americana, y yo no voté por George Bush" and "¿Donde está el baño?" I am absolutely certain that these will be the most important words of my Spanish lexicon to ensure both a smooth and happy transition transition to my future life in Spain. You see, the Spanish are really into mayonnaise, and for as long as I've been alive,  I have harbored a pure and unadulterated hatred toward mayonnaise that was the cause of many b!tch fits/food tantrums in my childhood. In an outright defiance of the expectations of the maturation of the palate from infancy to adulthood, it seems that my disdain for this condiment has actually gotten worse. No longer can my taste buds ignore the presence and rancid taste of mayonnaise in classic dishes like coleslaw and potato salad. No more will I subject myself to forcibly ingesting portabello sandwiches that would otherwise be perfect had they not been smeared with "garlic aoli" because the owners of Soup's On refuse to make a yogurt based garlic spread per my telepathically demanded, though never verbally submitted requests. NO MORE! Today this city girl takes a stand! Today, I declare my war on mayonnaise! Whose with me?!

Now that I've amassed an army formidable enough to take on the evil mayonnaise empire, the first matter of business is this 1000% awesome, though hardly original, mayonnaise-free coleslaw, fit for city girls and mayonnaise haters alike. 

Meatless Monday: City Girl Pasta Bowl

So I've decided to trademark the term "City Girl", and use it as the descriptor for my "original" recipes that I post on the blog when I can't think of anything else to call them. And by trademark, I mean, I'm going to use that term egregiously, claim it as my own, having done no prerequisite google search in order to avoid having my bubble burst upon discovering that some skank has already trademarked the term and is making a boat load of money by selling nasty food marketed to weight conscious women in our weight obsessed society. ::End mini-rant:: But actually now that I mention it, I probably should look into it, right? I mean, it's a pretty good idea--the trademarking thing--not the marketing of nasty low cal products, right? Hmm, that's something I can mull over before I pass out from a benedryl and white wine induced coma on my flight to Spain tomorrow! ¡Mañana a la feria!

Meatless Monday: The City Girl Sandwich

"I'm what you call a bona fide city girl"-Carrie Bradshaw, Sex & the City.

I love city life. I love the noise, the fast pace, the diversity, and the general sense that in the event I'm attacked on the street, even if people are too callous to help me, they they will at least be there to hear me scream. Ok, so I don't love that last part, but as far as I'm concerned, the opportunities and excitement of city living  makes dodging reckless drivers, overpaying for drinks, and looking over my shoulder on the walk home from work everyday totally worth it. With that said, however, I also appreciate country life, and have recently found myself enamored with the Pioneer Woman, her life on a dairy farm, and the culinary masterpieces she churns out of her kitchen. I couldn't help but be inspired by her Marlboro Man Sandwich, named for her cattle wrangling (though hopefully not cigarette smoking) husband. But I wrangle a poodle, not cattle, so I did what I do best, and made this sandwich my own, in a very city girl type of way.

I knew immediately I wanted to make my version of this sandwich vegetarian, largely because I can't afford grass fed beef, and don't eat much red meat in general. I used portabello mushrooms specifically because of their rich, meaty texture. I also didn't use butter, but you'll see what I did use instead later...

Oh chopped garlic, how I love thee.

The PW's recipe uses provolone, but I really wanted the sharpness of gorgonzola, because I'm a city girl and I don't have patience for mild cheeses.

So I didn't use an ounce of butter to saute the vegetables--a sharp contrast to the almost whole stick of butter used in the PW's original recipe--because I used rendered bacon fat and olive oil instead. I really wanted a deeper flavor base for this dish, that olive oil on its own just could not provide. I had pan fried some bacon with rosemary for breakfast that morning, and saved the fat in the pan specifically for making this dish (see pan in background). But I also keep a jar of bacon grease in my fridge just for cooking purposes (yes, I save all bacon grease). But because I do so love olive oil, for its flavor, and life prolonging qualities, I also used a generous amount of rosemary infused olive oil in which to saute the vegetables. No regrets.

The PW's recipe also called for sherry, but I've never even tasted sherry, let alone have it stocked in my pantry. But I did have bourbon, because I always have bourbon in my pantry. Always.

The most important part of this processes was letting the vegetables simmer to let the flavors really develop.

And the best part of the flavor developing process is the taste test. During the taste testing/flavor developing process, I realized two things: More bourbon is better and using bacon fat was the best idea ever!

I toasted my baguette in a little bit of pan jus and olive oil

And nothing says love on a sandwich like a bit of cheese and a few minutes under the broiler

 

This city girl could eat this sandwich everyday. I must say, this is one of the best things I've ever created in my kitchen. The vegetables had this complex flavor from the worcestershire and the bourbon, with a slight bacon finish that paired so well with the blue cheese. I literally patted myself on the back for this one, but the credit really goes to the Pioneer Woman. She's a freakin genius!

The City Girl Sandwich

Print this Recipe!

Olive oil

Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

Rendered Bacon Fat

Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 lb portabello mushrooms, sliced lengthwise

3 Whole Bell Peppers, red, orange, and yellow; sliced into rings

2 small onions, thickly sliced

1 tbsp chopped garlic

4 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 cup Bourbon

2 tbsp Sriracha 

1 French Baguette

Gorgonzola Cheese

Slice mushrooms lengthwise, generously season with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat on medium-high heat, melt 2 tbsp of bacon fat and 3 tbsp of rosemary infused olive in heavy skillet. Saute mushrooms in 3 batches, about 2 minutes each side. Remove from heat, and cover with foil.

Add more rosemary infused olive oil and bacon fat to pan, and add onions, peppers, and garlic to pan. Saute about 5 minutes, until tender but not flimsy. Remove from heat, cover with foil and set aside.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to pan, and return mushrooms to pan. Add bourbon, worcestershire, and sriracha. Allow to simmer for about 3 minutes, then add peppers and onions. Simmer vegetables another 2-3 minutes. Add more salt, worceshtire and/or bourbon as needed. And an extra squeeze of sriracha for good measure. Remove from from pan, cover with foil, and set aside. In the same pan, keep just a very small bit of jus and add olive oil. Toast a halved baguette in olive oil until browned and crisp. Top bread with vegetable mixture, and sliced gorgonzola. Put under the broiler for about two minutes, until cheese is melted.

Serve immediately, and enjoy.