Hello!  Wow, it's been awhile since I have tapped out one of these little posts.  Something special has inspired me to write again.  A friend (technically, a husband of a friend...but he's a nice enough guy so we'll go ahead and call him a friend) has recently started a cool blog called Feed the Animal. On the site he tells little stories and anecdotes through recipes - I know there is a parallel to be drawn here but it escapes me at the moment.  In any event, check it out.

So this weekend Rafa and I packed up our bags and headed to Flourtown, PA to dog sit for the Goodmans (of the aforementioned Feed the Animal) fame.  Inspired by Dave's cooking and not wanting to miss an opportunity to cook in their AMAZING new kitchen (a considerable upgrade from what passes for a kitchen in my apt) I headed out to the Whole Foods and procured the makings for a fall feast.

Grilled Halibut with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts and Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage and Shallots.

Over on FTA, Dave is pretty good with setting out recipes and measurements...carly pumpkin...not so much.

The brussel sprouts are a variation on a dish served at Audrey Claire and they are delicious.  If had bad brussel sprout experiences as a child or have avoided the food all together because you just assumed it would be vile; this dish will change you.  It's REAL good - and very easy to make.  Just halve the brussel sprouts, put a healthy amount of butter and olive oil in a pan, salt, pepper, and away we go.  It's important to get the sprouts to brown, the more brown the better.  Equally important to cook them thoroughly, you want them to be very tender.  Tough sprouts are no good.  Here are the sprouts in action:

Next up we have the butternut squash.  This is a little more labor intensive than the sprouts but very tasty.  First, you have to peel and cube the squash:

Helpers:

So after you have peeled and cubed, slice a shallot and some sage leaves.  Toss all together with olive oil and place in 400 degree oven.  Ideally, after 25 minutes you have have nicely browned little squash bites, this didn't really happen for me so I threw them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish and that worked pretty well.

There was also halibut which a) does not photograph well raw and b) was so easy it's hardly worth mentioning.  Cover halibut with olive oil, salt, pepper place on well heated grill pan.  Sear each side and finish in oven with the squash.  Served with a shallot butter (minced shallots, butter, salt).

Delish.  The finished product:

If only our movie selection had been as good as our meal.  For future reference, Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher do not make convincing CIA operatives.  I know, I was as surprised as anyone and had to discover this the hard way.

Stacy, judging from the clues left around the house, was this the meal you would have guessed?

Cooking Sountrack: Bruce Springsteen.

Served with Malbec.