As the temperamental November weather blows in, the Green City Market moves inside this month to the Nature Museum and it's a great time to consider winter squash. Beautifully ornamental, sweet, rich, dense, small or large: take your pick of the many, many attributes. The variety available should satisfy everyone's particular interests.

For me, the tender and delicious single-portion sized delicata, the moist and densely creamy kabocha family of squash, and the versatile and flavorful old stand-by butternut are three of the best. Equally well-suited to comforting meal-in-a- bowl soups or roasted to accompany braised autumn meats, squash pairs exceedingly well with the other traditional fall flavors.

One of these traditional fall crops has also just recently been harvested for the year: cranberries. These tart bush berries are unfortunately much under-appreciated and forever tied to the Thanksgiving holiday. Their flavor profile and cooking ease make them natural and excellent partners for a vast array of fall favorites - other than turkey! Consider slipping them in to warm maple syrup on your pancakes or French toast. They team wonderfully with caramelized apples, toasted pecans and (surprise!) squash or oven-roasted poultry. And have a look at this month's cocktail to find a tasty liquid application.

Many don't know that just over the Illinois border, the state of Wisconsin produces more than half of this country's cranberries! A short trip north and one can easily visit some of the farms and bogs to view and learn about the growing and flooding process.

November's a great time to consider pheasant. While perhaps the prospect of procuring, cooking and serving pheasant used to strike many as a bit intimidating, it needn't any longer. Much pheasant available in this country is commercially farmed in Wisconsin, making it both more accessible in local specialty stores and to you as a cook, due to its much milder nature. Some used to associate a beautiful but assertively-flavored bird with the weekend hunter, but raising pheasants commercially has rendered them much more tame in flavor and more approachable.

One of the most important rules to respect in properly cooking the bird is using a lower heat than one might with a similarly-sized chicken. Here at the restaurant, we cook the breasts slowly and lowly, exclusively on the stovetop, never in the dry heat of the hot oven. This keeps the meat moist and flavorful. Come in and try ours with pears, chestnuts and Brussels sprouts!

Ingredients

2 1/2 oz cranberry vodka
1/2 oz Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)

Cranberry Syrup:
1 c whole cranberries
1 c water
1/2 c sugar

3 toasted hazelnuts
3 whole cranberries

Preparation

• Heat water and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
• Add cranberries, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a very low simmer for 30 minutes. Strain immediately and discard solids; cool and reserve syrup.
• Chill cranberry vodka and Frangelico over ice and strain into a martini or cocktail glass.
• Slowly pour one tablespoon cranberry syrup into glass and garnish with three each toasted hazelnuts and whole cranberries.

On November 15th, along with with many of the city's best chefs, I'll be offering tastings at the annual Food & Wine Entertaining Showcase, taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Consider attending what's always one of the best-of-its-class feeding frenzy multi-chef charity events. For more information, visit the website below or call 212.827.6418 -- and don't forget to stop by and say hello!

Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell moved from Madison (WI) to Champaign in 2003 to begin farming seven acres of lush prairie soil in their spare time while working "real jobs" full-time at the University of Illinois. Some three+ years later, they produce some of the best goat cheese around, from their herd of Nubian and LaMancha goats, and the farm has the distinction of being the first farmstead cheese facility in Illinois.

Leslie and Wes also sustainably grow a great cross-section of tree fruits and berries and are transitioning to become USDA certified organic growers, something they hope to attain next year. For now, they serve as a model for others interested in growing in a small- scale diversified farm system. Leslie sells her delicious products at the Green City Market.

Heifer International alleviates poverty and hunger in the United States and abroad by providing a source of food as a long-term sustainable means of support. Heifer provides livestock and the training to use land productively, restoring and preserving the environment and improving the economic prospects of recipients. Consider sending a gift of livestock in honor of those on your holiday list! Heifer International 877-474-8224