Eat Local: Buternut Squash From Brownstone Brooklyn

Eat local. We hear the challenge, but here in the land of skyscrapers and all night diners, there isn't much food growing inside the New York City limits. For example, the apples I buy at the farmer's market come from Treelicious in Port Murray, NJ, 62.5 miles from Brooklyn. That's not super local, but I thought it was about as close as we could get.

But look what I found on my block in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn on Saturday! I met my neighboor Diane. She was selling home-grown butternut squash and gourds, tucked between the pink Steve Madden pumps and out-grown toddler clothes, at her stoop sale. She said that people walking by were "fascinated like children" that food could grow in Brooklyn backyards.

Diane told me that she didn't deliberately set out to grow the squash in her brownstone garden. She'd dumped the seeds from a FreshDirect butternut into her compost pile. The seeds grew from there, so she stuck with it and allowed the squash to join her vegetable patch. She said the squash did well in her sunny garden, despite the extreme heat that hurt pumpkin farmers.

While squash grown on the block you call home is a novelty, it has me thinking more about eating local. Here's ten tips. How local can we eat?

And does anyone have a special butternut squash recipe I can try? I'm looking for something special since this might be the only time I get to eat squash from the block.

Comments (10)

Here's a winter squash soup I wrote up for ChronicBabe.com - I used boxed frozen squash (for ease of preparation for those of us with certain health issues), but you can certainly use an equivalent amount of fresh squash, as I do whenever possible.

http://www.chronicbabe.com/articles/2006/03/chronic_in_the_6.php

Our sage plant is threatening to take over the garden - maybe I should take some out to the stoop and give it away!

posted by jenblossom on 2006-10-11 10:35:04

I'm making this today - sounds good!
Butternut Squash Fries
http://www.recipezaar.com/149120

posted by Kelly on 2006-10-11 11:08:04

Chris, i bet you could adapt this recipe from Deb
http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/10/unflinchingly-good-things#more-54

btw, that is so cool, finding squash from your hood!
jenblossom, can i have some of your sage?? ;-)

posted by ann on 2006-10-11 11:24:53

Either tonight or tomorrow I'm making a salad of cranberry beans, roasted winter squash and either broccoli rabe or kale. I'm also interested in a winter squash and chicken recipe with "Indian Spices" on Epicurious (click on my name).

This weekend I volunteered to do a cooking demo at Added Value (their harvest fair is next weekend, FYI) and made spicy winter squash and winter veggies with coconut milk and ginger beer. It was quite tasty.

posted by cara on 2006-10-11 11:26:13

Ann, I'd be happy to send you a whole mess of sage, plus some thyme, oregano, curry, basil... :)

posted by jenblossom on 2006-10-11 11:40:41

Jen -- Are you growing all these herbs in NYC?!? Your squash pictures are so beautiful -- great idea to adapt that to my Brooklyn-born butternut squash.

Someone at work recommended this Butternut Squash Pizza from this month's Real Simple. http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1537535

The recipe title sounds a little gross, but the picture looks great.

So many good ideas to pick from now!

posted by Chris on 2006-10-11 11:51:57

Chris, thank you! I am very lucky to live in a duplex in Brooklyn with a small backyard we share with our upstairs neighbors. In the two years we've been there, we've grown all of the aforementioned herbs, plus chives, tarragon, rosemary, parsley, cilantro and mint, Kirby cucumbers, string beans, rainbow chard, arugula, endive, small red chiles and a variety of heirloom tomatoes. We also have tiny wild strawberries which have grown and flourished each year - not enough to do much with, but they sure make for a wonderful little treat if you can get to them before the birds do!

posted by jenblossom on 2006-10-11 12:00:09

As a completely non-food-related aside:
How cool are stoop sales? I saw a few the last time I visited NYC and found it surprising that people in THE big city would trust that no one would just swipe the stuff.

posted by Michelle of Montreal on 2006-10-11 13:23:30

this post reminded me of the edible estate project here in LA

www.edibleestates.org

posted by sparky on 2006-10-11 18:05:30

My favorite butternut squash recipe from Mark Bittman:
1 lb peeled & seeded butternut squash (start with a whole squash weighing abt 1.5 lbs)
2 T butter or olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 lb penne or other cut pasts
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg or to taste
1 t sugar optional (depending on sweetness of squash, taste while cooking)
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. cut squash into chunks & place in food processor. Pulse machine on & off until squash appears grated. Set lg pot salted water to boil for pasta.

2. Place lg skillet over med heat & add butter/oil. A minute later add squash, salt, peppe, & abt 1/2 c. water. Cook over med heat stirring occasionally. Add water, abt 1/4 c at a time as mixture dries out, but be careful not to make it soupy. When squash begins to disintegrate after abt 10 or 15 min, begin cooking pasta. While it cooks, season with nutmeg, sugar if nec, & additional salt & pepper if needed.

3. When pasta is tender, scoop out abt 1/2 c. cooking liquid & reserve it. Then drain pasts. Toss pasta in skillet w/ squash, adding reserved pasta-cooking water if mixture seems dry. Taste & add any more of seasonings you like, then toss w/ Parm & serve.

Variations:
substitute 1 t. minced garlic or 2 T minced shallot or onion for nutmeg

garnish w/ handful of chopped fresh herbs-parsley, basil or chervil. Or add a few leaves of miced sage in step 2 (omit nutmeg)

finish dish w/ 1/2 c. sweet cream, sour cream, or creme fraiche in place of pasta water

cook about 1/2 lb crumbled ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey) along w/ squash