Seasonal flavors abound in spicy winter squash, cranberry chicken roulade

It’s mid-November, yet I still have homegrown tomatoes, peppers and summer squash on the counter. Now that the temperature has dipped, they hold little appeal. Instead, I reach for the winter squash.

This year, I grew butternut, red kuri, delicata and honeynut. Red kuri was new this year, as I was gifted a packet of seeds. It’s a Japanese cousin of the Hubbard squash, but it’s smaller, thinner-skinned and more flavorful. It was also my first time growing honeynut, as I was inspired by a funny social media exchange with Jamila Robinson, editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit magazine.

Delicata has long been my favorite. When Robinson proclaimed her love of honeynut, I noted that delicata has been described as the Ryan Gosling of the cucurbits. Her response? Honeynut is the Idris Elba of the squashes. I duly planted a few hills and they became my new favorite. (Sorry, Mr. Gosling.)

Whichever you prefer, winter squash are interchangeable in recipes. You can even use different varieties in a single dish. Doing so adds visual interest, and lets you conduct a taste test at your own table. In a recent class, we used a combination of delicata and honeynut, prepared hasselback-style. The glaze, made with chili, sage, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar, is like candied jalapeños. It will be familiar to you if you’ve ever made sweet-and-spicy Cowboy Candy. If you don’t like heat, don’t worry. You control it with the time you let the chili hang out in the glaze. You could even swap in a milder pepper like jalapeño.

Another dish full of seasonal flavors is this chicken roulade. Cranberries, rosemary and walnuts give it holiday flair and the presentation feels fancy. I have created the same dish using pork tenderloin, and turkey breasts would be the traditional swap for Thanksgiving.

The recipe calls for toasting and chopping the walnuts. The easiest way to do this is to give them a quick toast in a dry skillet, stirring often and removing from the heat as soon as they begin to release their aroma. Once they’re cool enough to handle, put them in a sandwich bag and tap with a rolling pin or other heavy object. Trying to chop with a knife invariably leads to ricocheting nut fragments, but not with this method. Whacking them is also a fun way to vent holiday stress.

When preparing the chicken breasts, make sure you have two cutting boards. I use a plastic one for the raw meat and a wooden one for the cooked chicken. I also swap out cooking utensils so that the ones used with uncooked chicken don’t touch the finished dish.

Brining the chicken is one way to ensure a tender and more flavorful result. The other is to avoid overcooking. The USDA advises cooking poultry to 165 F, but doing so yields a dry, stringy bird. Food scientist and recipe developer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt explains that killing bacteria depends on both temperature and time. He recommends cooking chicken to 150 F and allowing it to rest, where it will continue cooking. Pasteurization at 150 F, according to the USDA, takes 3.7 minutes. Resting the chicken (or turkey) at least five minutes — and preferably longer — yields a perfectly safe and juicier bird.

• Leslie Meredith is the winner of the 2019 Cook of the Week Challenge and teaches people how to grow and cook “real” food. She runs Farmhouse School on a historic homestead in Campton Hills. See the school’s Facebook or Instagram pages @FarmhouseSchool or contact Leslie at food@dailyherald.com.

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Holiday Chicken Roulade

6 cups water

6 tablespoons kosher salt

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise

12-ounce cream cheese, softened

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

6 cloves garlic, pressed

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prosciutto slices

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Dissolve the salt in water in a large bowl. Add the chicken and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F. Mince the rosemary. Toast then “chop” the walnuts. Pulse the cream cheese, cranberries and rosemary in a food processor until the berries are thoroughly chopped. In a small bowl, mix the garlic with the mustard. Set aside.

Place the chicken into a resealable plastic bag. Pound the chicken to an even ½-inch thickness. Work from the center out and try for a rough rectangle. Transfer to a plastic cutting board and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Spread the cheese mixture evenly on the chicken, leaving 1/2 inch at the end. Cover with a single layer of overlapping prosciutto slices. Gently, but tightly, roll the long edge, tucking as you go. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down.

Spread the Dijon mixture on top of the chicken. Sprinkle the walnuts on top, pressing in to keep them from rolling off. Bake for 20-25 minutes (150 F on the thermometer). Transfer to a cutting board and rest for 10 minutes before slicing into rounds for serving.

Serves 8

Hasselback Winter Squash with Sage and Chili

1 small winter squash (2¼ pounds), halved vertically and seeded, then peeled.

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and ground pepper

1 red serrano or Fresno chili, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped, plus 6 whole leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Rub oil all over the squash; season with salt and pepper. Roast, face down in a baking dish, about 15 minutes or until it begins to soften.

Bring chili, brown sugar, nutmeg, butter, vinegar and chopped sage to a simmer over medium high, stirring occasionally and removing chili when desired (reserve for serving). After 6 minutes, do a spoon test to check on the consistency. Once it becomes viscous, reduce the heat to low to keep warm.

Transfer the cooked squash to a cutting board, cut side down. Make ¼-inch cuts crosswise, without going all the way through. Return to the baking dish and brush on some of the glaze, making sure to get between the slices. Slide in a few whole sage leaves. Season again with salt and pepper and return to the oven. Baste with the glaze every 10-15 minutes, until tender, about 45 minutes total.

Transfer to a serving platter, brush with any remaining glaze, and top with reserved chili.

Serves 6