Chef Eric Ripert recently launched a “Dinner Social” project on his blog, Avec Eric, to encourage fans to cook with friends and family. You have to love a chef who is willing to share recipes and techniques to encourage you to enjoy their food at home. As the theme for the first challenge was “Market Table,” I naturally was intrigued. When April, of The Food Scribe, suggested a collaborative effort with fellow DC food bloggers, I was definitely on board. Together with April, Tiffany of The Garden Apartment and Alison of The Humble Gourmand, we spent Sunday afternoon cooking and enjoying good wine and conversation. We bought as many of our ingredients as possible at our local farmers markets, with my squash from the Del Ray market, Tiffany’s root vegetables from the Dupont Circle market, and April’s pears from the Takoma Park market. With cameras in hand, we took over April’s lovely kitchen and set to work.

My assignment was the Pumpkin Soup with Herbed Creme Fraiche & Spiced Pumpkin Seeds. Chef Ripert suggested serving it in a large roasted pumpkin, but I discovered that it’s hard to find full-size pumpkins after Halloween. The pumpkin for the soup was actually Japanese Kabocha squash, with a rich, orange pulp. My only complaint was that the Kabocha was very hard to peel; next time I would probably roast it a little to make it easier. I hollowed out and roasted lovely orange and green Celebration squash to use as individual serving bowls. (Roasted at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.)

The local ingredients in my soup came from Potomac Vegetable Farms, Va. (thyme), Three Way Farm, Va. (squash, onion and elephant garlic), and Trickling Springs Creamery, Pa. (heavy cream). The rest were organic products from Alexandria’s My Organic Market.

Each course incorporated seasonal ingredients with unexpected flavor combinations. I never would have thought to add brussel sprouts to a roasted root vegetable platter, for example, but the bright green added a lovely visual component as well as a crisp bite among softer turnips, beets and carrots. While it would have been a lot of work for one cook, Ripert provided a several day preparation guide that would have lessened the work load the day of the dinner party. With multiple chefs, it came together easily. All together it was a fabulous meal, made better with great company and good wine! This was the perfect way to spend a chilly November afternoon. Thank you, Chef Ripert, for the inspiration!

(Pictured, clockwise from left, Tiffany, April, yours truly, Alison.)

Be sure to surf around to see Tiffany’s roasted lamb and root vegetable, Alison’s endives with prosciutto, blue cheese and pomegranate seeds - and perfect wine picks, and April‘s carmelized onion and olive croustade and roasted pears with chocolate bourbon sauce and homemade chestnut ice cream. And you can drool over all our pictures over on Flickr.

There’s no reason to pack up the grill just because the calendar says summer is over - fall is a great time to grill, particularly here in DC where summer humidity (and mosquitoes!) drives us indoors too much of the time. Char-marked root vegetables are a fun way to blend summer flavors and seasonal produce.

Recipe: Grilled Butternut Spears

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 t cumin
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• sea salt

Ingredients: Whisk seasonings into olive oil and toss half of the mixture with butternut spears. Let sit for 20 minutes. Wrap spears tightly in foil and place on upper rack in grill over medium high heat for 20 minutes. Remove from foil and place on grill rack, sear for 2-3 minutes more per side. Brush with remaining oil mixture and enjoy.

Farm of Origin: Butternut squash from Norma’s Farm, Alexandria West End Market.

This week in the market bag: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pears (Asian, bosc & Bartlett), broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, quince, eggs, sweet potato ravioli, pumpkin butter, mozzarella and seven-cheese macaroni. (That’s right, seven!) We were busy pumpkin picking and farm visiting this weekend, so the prepared pastas came in handy.

Saturday supper: sweet potato ravioli with mascarpone pumpkin sauce*, heirloom tomato, mozzarella & arugula salad. This is not exactly a health-conscious main dish, but we compensate by eating a big helping of salad.

Sunday supper: seven-cheese macaroni with tomato & broccoli salad.

*Recipe: Sweet Potato Ravioli with Mascarpone Pumpkin Sauce

This is a really quick and simple no-cook sauce. While the ravioli boils, stir together 2 T mascarpone and 2 T pumpkin butter in a serving bowl. Scoop the ravioli out and straight into the bowl and toss gently to coat. (Add pepper & fresh parsley to taste.) If you don’t have pumpkin butter on hand, you could also quickly brown 1-2 T butter, and stir in 2 T pumpkin puree, a pinch of brown sugar and cinnamon, and 2 T mascarpone.

(Makes 2.5 servings - double these quantities for larger batch of ravioli.)

Toddler Verdict: Unfortunately the boy was battling a stomach bug and didn’t have much appetite this weekend, but he’s never turned down ravioli otherwise. And he did enjoy the macaroni.

On the menu this week: I’ve never used a fresh quince before, but am thinking of making this quince & cranberry sauce to serve on pork chops. The butternut will go in soup with something pear-related on the side.

I created this recipe earlier this summer with our CSA veggies, but squash and swiss chard are still in season at our local markets. I roasted the veggies the night before to make this quicker to prepare the night of.

• 2 zucchini
• 2 yellow squash
• 1 eggplant
• several swiss chard stems (optional - I had cooked the leaves separately and thought I’d throw the stems in here.)
• 1/2 c half & half
• 1 c shredded mozzarella & parmesan cheeses
• chopped fresh oregano

Slice zucchini, squash and eggplant thinly length-wise. Chop chard stems into 2″ long pieces. Toss all with olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Roast at 400* for 20 minutes, until soft and lightly browned.

Arrange sliced veggies and chard pieces in single layer in a small casserole dish. Sprinkle with oregano and cheeses, add another layer of veggies, oregano, cheese. Pour half & half over and top with additional cheese if desired. Bake at 350* for 35 minutes.

Serve as a main dish with green salad and bread, or as a side dish with grilled fish.

Toddler verdict: Gobbled it up, swiss chard and all!