When you think of fall foods I think of a cornucopia. Overflowing with a bounty of squash, pumpkin and gourds. It looks like the world is covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash

2 Tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon sage

1 lb. ground Italian sausage

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, grated or jarred, about 1 teaspoon

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, plus more for serving

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese (or whatever you can get, such as Swiss)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Carefully cut the squash in half, through the stem. Scoop out the seeds and fibrous center. Place on a baking sheet cut side up. Brush with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes. Flip each half over, placing them cut side down, and continue to roast for 15 minutes or until very tender. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350F.

For the filling: While the squash is roasting, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the sage and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sausage to the skillet. Cook until fully browned, breaking up the sausage with the back of a spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausage-sage mixture to a bowl.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened, about 7 minutes.

Stir in the cooked rice and heavy cream. Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese until well combined. Stir the sausage back into the mixture. Let simmer for a couple of minutes, then remove from the heat.

Flip the squash cut side up and divide the filling among each squash half. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is warm throughout. Serve with a hearty salad.

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Apple cider doughnuts are everywhere this time of year. But they are all deep fried. Here is a recipe for baked doughnuts. It is healthier and easy to make.

Nonstick cooking spray

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature

¾ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup apple cider

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two doughnut pans (or a 12-cup muffin tin) with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk to combine. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream 10 tablespoons butter, brown sugar and ¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated after each addition, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until it’s mixed together. With the mixer running, add the apple cider in a slow, steady stream and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl well to make sure the batter is homogeneous.

Spoon the batter into prepared doughnut pans, filling them about 2/3 of the way. Bake until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. (If you are making muffins, divide batter evenly between the prepared cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.)

While the doughnuts bake, whisk the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl to combine. In a separate small bowl, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in the microwave. Let the doughnuts cool for 5 minutes after baking, then unmold them from the pans, brush with the melted butter and dredge them in the cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature.

This past summer at the Borscht Belt Museum we had a kugel bake-off. Karen Blumfeld didn’t win 1st place, but she had a great recipe. I made it and it was delicious. This week and next week are Sukkot and Simchat Torah. This is a perfect recipe for these holidays

DAY BEFORE BAKING THE KUGEL:

Reconstitute the dried currants in hot water: put currants in a jar or plastic container with a lid, pour hot water to cover the currants, seal lid and refrigerate. Make handmade candied lemon peel. (You can buy candied lemon peel) or see recipe below.

Toast the pine nuts to release the oils and flavor: Set oven to 350 degrees F. Put pine nuts on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast in oven for 7 minutes. Open oven, shake the sheet so pine nuts turn over. Check in 3 minutes, then shake again. Repeat until all are medium brown, not burnt. Set aside to cool, and then place in a container with a lid, or a zip lock bag.

THE NEXT DAY…

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Measure and prep all ingredients for baking. Let butter and cream cheese sit on counter to get soft (at least 30 minutes). Have sour cream, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese sit on the counter as well. Line the bottom of a 9x12 rectangular glass baking pan with parchment paper (use glass so you can see the kugel cook and turn light brown on sides). Butter the top of the parchment paper and sides of the pan.

Boil water for the noodle and cook for 6 minutes until they are al dente, not mushy. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again quickly. Shake out excess water in colander, so noodles are not wet. Off the heat, put noodles back into pot with 2 tbsp butter and gently fold butter in with a big spoon to coat the noodles. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, 6 tbsp (= 6 oz.) butter, sugar, lemon juice, 1/3 cup lemon curd, zest from 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon salt and vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Taste the cheese batter to see if there’s enough lemon juice, cinnamon, salt. Adjust to taste by adding more. For instance, if it’s too sweet, add more lemon juice by 1/2 teaspoon.

Add eggs to cheese batter one at a time. Slowly fold in cooked noodles to the cheese batter. It will be very wet. Pour 1/2 noodle batter into buttered pie pan/casserole dish. Drain 1/2 cup of currants (save the currant liquid) and evenly spread currants onto noodle cheese batter. Pour rest of batter on top. It should almost touch top of the sides of the glass pan.

Bake in 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. A knife inserted into the kugel should come out clean to tell you that it is done.

CANDIED LEMON PEEL:

Wash 3 lemons, then peel off the rind with a vegetable peeler, peeling close to the rind and ensuring no white pith. Cut the rind peels lengthwise in very skinny long strips with a sharp knife. In a saucepan, blanch the rinds: boil water enough to cover rinds, throw in rinds for 1 minute, drain water. Repeat a second time.

Make a simple syrup: boil 2 cups of water and add in 2 cups white granular sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon peel and slowly simmer for 20 minutes until looks shiny. Do not let water evaporate completely, or sugar will burn. Quickly remove from stove, then immediately drain off sugar water into a metal bowl. Drain immediately, the sugar will harden place the lemon peel on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Separate the peels using tweezers or a fork. Before they crystallize, wrap some of the peels around a chopstick to get them in a curl shape. Do one at a time. Leave them alone for several hours to crystallize. Place the parchment paper with the lemon peels into a large zip lock bag or container and lay flat. This will help keep their shape prior to decorating, an keep them separated.