November temperatures in Chicago typically start out in the 50s and dip into the low 40s by the end of the month. This week, however, was extremely chilly with temperatures in the teens and even colder wind chills. According to the farmers at Nichols Farm, this unseasonable cold will bring a premature ending to some of the crops in the field, but their coolers are packed with storage crops, so there will be plenty of delicious things to come.
I made a couple more recipes from my new Brown Sugar Kitchen cookbook. Both were fantastic. I received sweet potatoes and spinach in the week 24 share, and I used both in a hash, which I served with bourbon and chili glazed salmon.
Sweet potato and spinach hash
I got lucky this week at my local Whole Foods. I wanted to purchase pork chops to make a recipe with the kabocha squash, and the butcher had just cut some thick chops with the tenderloin. This recipe was easy—just roast the squash and cook the pork in a skillet and drizzle with an extremely flavorful pumpkin seed vinaigrette.
Kabocha squash with pumpkin seed vinaigrette
In addition to the sweet potatoes, spinach, and kabocha squash, the share contained mixed lettuce, leeks, arugula, turnips, and broccoli.
I love garlicky roasted tomatoes, and they were delicious on top of an arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I picked up a dry-rubbed strip steak at Whole Foods, and it was tasty with the salad and some glazed turnips. The steak was even better cold the next day on top of leftover salad and tomatoes.
Roasted tomatoes and arugula
I've been using the same apple pie recipe for years. It's from the Joy of Cooking, and my mom taught me how to make it. It has a double crust and apples seasoned with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
However, I decided I wanted to try something different and settled on a pie that had a thick layer of crumble on top instead of crust. As I was patting the crumble on top of a large pile of apples and trying to keep it from sliding off, I was a little unsure of how the finished pie was going to turn out. It was delicious, and I will definitely make it again in the near future.