Hometown Clinton - Winter 2015

Cayenne Pepper
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
1 8-ounce block sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1 heaping cup all-purpose flour.
1 stick cold butter (not margarine)
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, more or less depending on how spicy
you want your cheese straws
3/4 teaspoon Jane’s Crazy Mixed-Up Salt (located in gourmet salts at
grocery store)
Directions
Place all ingredients in a medium bowl except butter. Cut the butter into
small pats or chunks and add to mixture. Knead all ingredients together
until it makes an evenly orange dough.
Very lightly spray the biggest cookie sheet you have. Place dough into a
cookie press using the star-shaped insert. Use a metal or aluminum cookie
press; a plastic one won’t hold up under the dough.
Squeeze out finger-length straws and place in rows, about a third inch
apart. Bake at 350 for about seven or eight minutes -- but you must
watch them like a hawk and figure out about how long it’s going to take
each time you cook them, depending on the heat of your oven. You should
remove them from the oven when their undersides are a light golden
brown. If you take them out before the bottom of the straw is golden
brown, they’re not going to be crunchy. This might take some trial and
error for you to be able to recognize by sight when they’re done, although
I often pull the tray out of the oven and flip a straw over to see how
brown the undersides are.
Remove from tray and cool completely on a cookie rack, then store in
Ziploc freezer bags. They can be frozen for a week or so at a time if you
double-Ziploc bag them. Don’t push your luck on freezing them for more
than about a week or so. It’s best to cook them fresh before serving or
taking to a party or event. And depending on the size of your cookie sheet,
one recipe might spill over onto a second cookie sheet.
By: Ruth Cumins
Butternut Squash
Fettuccini Alfredo
Ingredients
3 cups diced butternut squash (about half a squash)
1 cup of vegetable stock.
4 Tbsp. butter
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp. rosemary
1 Tbsp. sage
4 cups low-fat milk
1 cup parmesan—plus more for topping
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 cups water
1 16oz box Fettuccini noodles
Directions
Melt 4 Tbsp. of butter. Add 1 cup of diced onion, 1 Tbsp. of rosemary and
1 Tbsp. of sage. Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat until onions soften.
Then cook on medium-high heat until the butter begins to brown (be
careful not to burn it). Add in 3 cups of diced butternut squash and
1 cup of vegetable stock, stir, then cover and cook for 15 minutes (until
butternut squash is softened).
Uncover and mash with a potato masher until you’ve squished all the
squash. Add 2 cups of milk and stir. Then, add 1 cup of parmesan and stir.
Add 2 Tbsp. of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to
taste and stir until well blended.
You can either cook your pasta beforehand in the pot and set it aside,
or cook it in the sauce. Break fettuccini noodles in half and place in the
sauce. Carefully cover the noodles with sauce. Then, pour in 2 more cups
of milk and 2 cups of water and stir. (Add more water, if needed, to smooth
out the sauce.) Stir the pasta continuously (to make sure it doesn’t burn
on the bottom of the pot) and cook for 15-20 minutes (or until pasta has
reached desired texture).
Top off with salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, rosemary garnish, and
cayenne pepper (if you’d like a little extra spice). Enjoy!
By: Katy Goff
30 • Winter 2015 Hometown Clinton • 31