Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash

What is tagine? I really have no idea. Any thoughts? I'm 26 years old - with a busy schedule and a passion for cooking. I'd like to think I'm a good cook, but really, most of my cooking involves hoping for the best, and half the time I skip recipes or ingredients because I don't know where to find the ingredients or what they are (don't lie, you know you've done this).

So, here I am, dedicated to pull recipes from the best cookbooks and magazines around and make them right here in my kitchen for the everyday working girl. With a commute of about 45 minutes each way, getting home after 6 every night (or later when I decide to hit the gym) doesn't give me much time to cook gourmet meals. I don't know how many times I have called my mother at the store because I cannot find an ingredient and all I hear her say is "You haven't even started making dinner yet?"

Yet, I'm confident that being a busy 20-something with a passion for her career, health, friends and family, doesn't mean you have to eat Ramen noodles at night. I'm going to make my posts short enough to give you the down and dirty of each recipe, because, as a working girl, I know you don't have time to read a novel worth of blogging on each meal. I also encourage anyone to suggest great meals you've tried, and I will go ahead and see how it plays out in my kitchen.

My first recipe for this blog is called Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash, pulled from one of my FAVORITE cooking magazines - Cooking Light. Here's the link - just click to find a picture and the recipe is linked to it. http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/quick-easy-beef-recipes-00400000057018/page6.html.

After going to two grocery stores to find fresh butternut squash, I was able to pull the ingredients together for this pretty simple meal. The majority of the ingredients are staples around the house - paprika, cinnamon, salt, ginger, crushed red pepper, black pepper, chicken broth, etc - so all in all, it was fairly simple :) Now, the recipe calls for cooking in a dutch oven (which I don't own) so I just used a pan with a lid and it seemed to all simmer and work just fine. However, Goal #1: Save for a Dutch oven. Many recipes I have looked at lately call for this trusty item in the kitchen, so that's that - I need to save for one.

Note: I added a little extra crushed red pepper (since I tend to like spicy dishes) however, it made it almost a little too spicy. So, don't get too excited with the crushed red pepper.

However, I was pleasantly surprised with how this entire dish turned out, and I still have leftovers for the next day! I rate this dish an 8 out of 10 - go ahead and try it!