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Butternut Squash Fries
Fries, anyone?
I think it was Carrie, who mentioned squash fries in a post as something she wanted to try. They immediately caught my interest, as they seemed such a fun way to eat squash. It was a huge hit here. They are softer, and not firm like a potato fry would be. But they really have a beautiful taste, and my husband and daughter just love them. In fact, I never seem to have made enough!
So for my addition to the Nourishing Fall Recipe Carnival, I thought I would share with you Butternut Squash Fries. I think it fits the bill quite nicely. They are a frugal side dish to boot!
I am sure you can use other squash, but I like butternut because it has the right shape for cutting fries out of, and it is nice and firm. I am sure that there are many variations to be had for this recipe. You could try sprinkling some warming spices on, like cinnamon and nutmeg. Or you could spice it up with some curry powder. And these are fries after all, so it’s nice to have a dipping sauce. I made a simple one by adding a few tablespoons of grade B maple syrup to homemade mayonnaise. Rich and Delish! My sister suggested curried mayonnaise, another great idea.
I struggled for a long time in figuring out how to cut up and peel a butternut squash in a timely fashion. I have finally worked out a system that has worked well for me, so I am including step by step instructions for you all.
Butternut Squash Fries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1 butternut squash
4 tablespoons oil (I have used coconut oil or a mixture of coconut oil and olive oil)
Sea salt and pepper
With a sharp chef’s knife, cut the ends of your squash off and cut in half.
Now cut each of your halves, in half again.
Using a spoon, remove all of the seeds from each quarter.
The squash should now be the perfect size to hold in your hand and peel. Peel each quarter, making sure that you remove all of the peel (you may have to go over every surface more than once). A sharp peeler makes this job much easier!
Now that they are peeled, you are ready to cut some more. Cut each quarter in small strips. One of the secrets to getting nice squash fries, is to get it the right size. Think of a real French Fry, that is your size goal.
Turn your strips onto their sides, and cut in half.
Cut these strips in half, to reduce length.
And you are done!
Place the cut squash in a bowl, and, if needed, melt coconut oil gently. Toss the oil with the squash and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
The other secret to getting not overly soft squash fries is to very widely space them on your sheet pan. The ones below really were a little too close. It works best to have them far apart from each other. I would use two sheet pans for one squash, if possible.
Place in your hot oven for about 45 minutes, switching the sheet pans, half way through. This will depend on your oven and how small you cut them, so check early, and leave a time cushion if they take a little longer then you expect.
You want them to get not only well cooked, but slightly browned as well.
Enjoy!
Posted by Kimi Harris
http://cherrapeno.blogspot.com/2008/12/winter-cranberry-cupcakes.html Winter Cranberry Cupcakes
My mum must get so fed up with me. Whenever I pop over to see her, I always take a peek through her cookery books. She has quite a few that I don't have, and some are very old. Just after Christmas last year, I noticed that she had an old Sainsbury’s magazine on the coffee table. It had some really good ideas in it and I thought these little snowmen cupcakes were quite cute.
The cupcake mixture was not from the magazine. Instead I used a standard Victoria sponge recipe and added dried cranberries and Clementine zest to the mixture. You can substitute your favourite cupcake.
Cranberry Cupcakes
Makes approx 7-8 medium sized cupcakes
100g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
100g/ 4oz vanilla caster sugar (or use ordinary granulated sugar)
2 large eggs
100g/4oz self raising flour
100g dried sweetened cranberries
Finely grated zest of 1 Clementine
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - I use an electric hand whisk.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little flour with each egg.
Gently fold in the rest of the flour, followed by the dried cranberries and the Clementine zest. Spoon into well greased muffin cups or paper cupcake cases.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until springy to the touch. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.
When cool, top with white icing and decorate.
Snowman Decoration
There have been a lot of questions about the icings I used for the snowmen.
I used two different types, a ready made one (fondant in the US) and some runny icing that was made with icing sugar (powdered sugar in the US) and water.
You will need:
Some ready-to-roll icing or fondant - I used Regalice
Orange food colouring paste to colour some of the ready-to-roll icing orange for the noses
A tube of black icing for the eyes and buttons
Some red Smarties or M&M's for the hat
A couple of cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar) for the bit directly on top of the cupcake
For the head, roll bits of ready-to-roll icing/fondant (I used Regalice) into small balls which are roughly the size of a cherry tomato. Make some smaller balls for the hats.
Using orange food colouring paste, colour some ready-to-roll icing for the carrot noses and score them with a sharp knife to make them look like carrots. You also want a tube of black icing for the eyes/buttons, and some red Smarties or M & M's for the hat.
Pour a couple of cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar) into a bowl and stir in some cold water, a little at a time until you have a spreadable icing - don't make it too runny. Spread or spoon this onto the cupcake.
Pop on the head and use a little of the icing (the one you made up) to glue on the Smartie, hat and nose. Use the black icing tube for the eyes and buttons.