Tag Archives: squash

Poutine In My Mouth, She Said Poutine In Her Mouth

I am so pleased with myself. Today, I made something absolutely amazing.

My friend recently visited Toronto, and seeing his food pictures reminded me of when I went to Toronto a few years ago for a race. There was a poutine food truck at the venue, and I had at least one order of poutine each day. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, poutine is a heaping pile of french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Unfortunately, poutine is rarely found on menus around these parts. And even if I did find poutine, a plate of fried potatoes is a big no-no for a low(er) carb diet.

I really wanted poutine. Being a genius at making shit up in the kitchen, I thought about the stuffed kabocha squash I tried a few weeks ago. It had a sweet flavor and starchy texture that reminded me of a sweet potato. I decided to deep fry a kabocha and make kabocha poutine. It was a win. My husband doesn’t even like squash or gravy, and he shoveled a big plateful of poutine into his face. Now, if you are expecting this to taste exactly like the traditional poutine using french fries…well, HELLO?! It’s a squash poutine. It will not taste like potato. But it will taste amazingly good, and satisfy that deep hungry craving for crispy fries drowned in gravy and cheese curds. Oh, and bacon. Of course I added bacon. You can also try a whole myriad of meats and seafood with your poutine such as sausage, duck, lobster, shrimp, a combination of it all…

First up is the gravy. Sure, you can buy a jar of pre-made gravy….but, come on. You know me. I found a beef gravy recipe of Emeril’s that I adapted for my poutine. I first made a roux out of bacon fat, butter, and flour. You heat up the fats on medium heat, then add the flour and keep stirring. Cook and stir for a few minutes until it turns into a nice golden brown/dark brown color.

Once the roux was ready, I added some shallots, garlic, dried parsley and dried thyme. I stirred that for a minute or so until it became really fragrant. Then I added a little Worchestershire sauce and cooked for another minute or so.

I added store bought beef stock, let it boil, then lowered the heat. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it reduced and thickened. I gave it a stir every now and then. Give it a taste to see if you want any additional salt and pepper. I thought it was fine without, but up to you.

My rich and savory gravy is ready for dousing!

Here is my cute little green pumpkin looking kabocha squash. I gave it a good scrub because the skin is edible, and a pain in the ass to peel off, so obviously, just leave it on.

I sliced the squash into 1/4 inch pieces. Be careful, for the squash is a bit hard to cut. With my crappy knife skills, I am amazed I did not slice a finger up.

I dusted the squash pieces with a light coating of corn starch. Just a very light dusting.

I wanted a squash fry that is crispy outside and fluffy inside. I’ve double fried chicken before, so I wanted to try double frying my squash. I didn’t find too much on deep frying kabocha squash, other than as tempura, which would have been awesome too, but…low carb and tempura batter… I looked up double fried french fries, and there were many tutorials.

I poured enough corn oil to fill the bottom inch or so of my French oven. It was a little less than a quart of oil. I don’t have a candy thermometer to read the temperature of the oil, but I do have meat thermometers. It probably wasn’t very accurate, but it was better than nothing. So I heated the oil to about 300°F and put a layer of squash in. Don’t overcrowd the pot, or your squash will not fry properly. I let the squash cook for about 4-5 minutes, and flipped the squash halfway. Then I fished them out and let them drain on a wire cooling rack. Notice how the squash are not really golden brown and crisp looking yet. The first fry is just to cook and soften them up.

After I finished giving all my squash the first fry treatment. I cranked the heat up so the oil was between 350°F and 400°F. Then all the squash got their second fry on for that golden brown and delicious crunchy coat. Once you fish the pieces out, hit them with a liberal sprinkling of salt while the oil is still glistening and hot. I used sea salt.

You should have seen the damage done to this plate of poutine the second I finished plating it and taking pictures. This is kabocha poutine. Crispy and fluffy kabocha fries, coated with a rich beef gravy, with a generous sprinkling of thick cut bacon, cheese curds, and green onion.

Kabocha Poutine
Ingredients
– kabocha fries
– beef gravy
– cheese curds
– thick cut bacon pieces
– green onion

Beef Gravy
Ingredients
– 2 tbs butter
– 2 tbs bacon fat
– 4 tbs flour
– 1-2 tbs finely minced shallot
– 1-1.5 tbs finely minced garlic
– 1 tsp dried parsley
– 1/2 tsp dried thyme
– 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
– 3 cups beef stock
– salt and pepper to taste

Directions
– Melt the bacon fat and butter on medium heat. Add the flour and stir continuously for a few minutes until the roux turns into a golden dark brown.
– Add the shallots, garlic, dried parsley, and dried thyme. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cook for another minute.
– Add the beef stock and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the gravy reduces and thickens. Add salt and pepper if you want.

Kabocha Fries
Ingredients
– 1 kabocha squash
– 3 tbs corn starch
– 1 quart of corn oil or other oil suitable for deep frying
– salt

Directions
– Scrub and de-seed the kabocha. Slice the squash into 1/4 inch slices.
– Lightly coat the squash with corn starch and brush off the excess.
– Heat the oil in a heavy pot to 300°F. Fry the squash for 4-5 minutes and flip them half way. Fry in batches if necessary. Let the squash drain on a wire rack.
– Once the first fry is done, turn the heat up so the oil is between 350°F-400°F. Fry the squash for 2-3 minutes and flip them half way. Let the squash drain on a wire rack.

To Assemble
Sprinkle bacon pieces and cheese curds on top of a pile of kabocha fries. Pour gravy over everything. Top with green onion, and more cheese curds and bacon.

Ooh Aah, Squash It To Me

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I was again suckered by the pretty display of squash at Wegmans. Here is my delicata squash and acorn squash. These little guys are about 1 lb each, and of course baby vegetables are so much cuter than adult vegetables. I’m going to take such good care of you cutie pies!!

I am still in my squash stuffing craze, and I wanted to make a lighter filling this time. I first gave the squash a good scrub because their skins are thin and edible. I cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, and seasoned them with an onion and garlic spice mix. Put them flesh side down on a pan into the 400ºF oven. These two squash are small, so it only took about 30 minutes to roast. The smell of the pungent, savory spices and the sweet, nutty squash was really good.

While the squash roasted, I got the filling ready. Here are a little over 2 dozen medium shrimp. I happened to have frozen raw shrimp, but obviously precooked shrimp will cut down on prep and cooking time. I dropped the shrimp into boiling water for a little over a minute, and pulled them out once they turned pink.

I put them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Tough and rubbery shrimp are no good.

Here are the chopped up shrimp, 8 oz of lump crab meat, and about 8 oz of diced up ham. I wanted to use bacon, but I already had ham that needed to be eaten. If you want only seafood, try cooked scallops and fish with the crab and shrimp.

I mixed the seafood and ham with mayo and a blend of 4 cheeses. I seasoned with more of the onion garlic spice mix, and added salt, pepper, dried onion, garlic powder, dried dill, dried parsley. I didn’t measure the amount of spices and herbs, but start with a little, and add more if needed.

Here are the squash ready for stuffing.

I filled the squash up with a nice big heaping pile of the filling, and then topped them with more cheese. Put it back into the 400°F oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese melted.

I had some extra filling left, so I put it in a little ramekin, topped with cheese, and put it in the oven with the squash.

Ready for my mouth!

Seafood Stuffed Squash
Ingredients
– 1 small acorn squash (around 1 lb)
– 1 small delicata squash (around 1 lb)
– 8 oz ham
– 8 oz lump crab meat
– around 2 dozen medium shrimp (raw or cooked)
– 1/2 cup mayo
– 1 cup shredded cheese
– more cheese for topping
– seasoning (I used an onion garlic spice mix, along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried onion, dried dill, and dried parsley)

Directions
– Scrub, halve, and deseed the squash. Drizzle with oil, season and put flesh side down on a pan. Roast at 400°F for about 30 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
– If the shrimp is raw, cook it in boiling water for about a minute until it turns pink. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Chop the shrimp up.
– Chop up the ham.
– Mix the shrimp, crab meat, ham, mayo, cheese, and seasoning.
– When the squash is done roasting, fill them up with the mixture and top with more cheese. Put them back into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Ah, Squash It, Squash It Real Good

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I’ve pretty much faceplanted onto the bandwagon full of fall squash. Get ready for squash experiments galore!

I was browsing at Wegmans, and saw a pretty assortment of fall squash. I impulsively plopped a kabocha squash in my cart. I’ve never tasted kabocha before, but it looked like a cute green pumpkin, and I just had to get it.

I was excited to try kabocha, so I started cutting it before I really thought things through. I had plans to stuff the squash, so in hind sight, I should have just cut the top off and hollowed out the middle, as if I were carving a jack-o-lantern. In my haste, I cut it into quarters. It still worked out, but leaving it whole would have allowed for more meaty filling, and a nicer presentation.

So anyways, I quartered the squash, scooped out the seeds, and hit it with some oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

I turned the squash flesh side down, and popped the tray in a 400°F oven for about 40 minutes until the flesh was easily pierced by a fork. By the way, that nice green skin is edible, and softens after cooking. Be sure to scrub it well so you can get that extra fiber in you.

While the squash roasted, I got the filling ready. I had a tray of Italian sausage, and I used kitchen shears to cut off the sausage casings.

I browned the sausage on medium heat.

I added a chopped up onion, several garlic cloves, about 4 oz of tomato basil feta crumbles, and chopped up the leftover roasted tomatoes I saved from my spaghetti squash dish from a few days ago. If you don’t have roast tomatoes, you can chop up some fresh tomato or use canned tomato. I did not add salt since the sausage, feta, and tomatoes were already seasoned.

I filled the squash quarters with the sausage mixture. Then I topped them with a slice of provolone cheese.

I popped it back into the 400°F oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese melted and browned. YEAH, easy to make, hearty fall meal. The kabocha reminded me of sweet potato. It had that same slightly sweet taste and starchy texture. Mmm, I bet it would taste really good roasted or deep fried into crispy golden wedges. Idea for next time!

Stuffed Kabocha Squash
Ingredients
– 1 kabocha squash
– 6 Italian sausages
– 1 onion
– 6 cloves of garlic
– leftover roasted tomato (or use 4-5 medium fresh tomatoes, or a can of tomatoes, drained)
– about 4 oz of tomato basil feta crumbles
– slices of provolone cheese
– salt
-pepper
– garlic powder

Directions
– Wash, cut, and de-seed the squash. Cut it in quarters, or leave it whole, up to you.
– Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
– Chop the onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
– Cut the sausage casings off and brown the sausage meat.
– Add the onion and garlic to the sausage. After the onion becomes translucent, add the tomatoes. Note: the longer you cook the tomatoes, the more soupy the mixture will get. Mix the feta in after you take the mixture off the heat.
– Fill the squash with the meat mixture, top with the provolone cheese. Put the squash back into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts and browns.

What The Fall?!

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Now that it is officially fall, the weather decided to abruptly switch from upper 80’s to a chilly lower 70’s. I decided to make a celebratory changing of the seasons dish. That and I happened to impulsively buy a spaghetti squash last week when I didn’t even remember that fall was starting. No wonder there were only a couple of squash rejects left in the bin. Everyone else wanted to suddenly make fall food. I bet the shelves of canned pumpkin and pumpkin spice were cleaned out too.

My husband and I have been eating low carb for over a year now. He’s been very dedicated with this change in lifestyle and has lost 40 pounds. My willpower has not been as strong, but I have not given up. My cooking for the most part has been low carb, and it isn’t as difficult as people think. Obviously it takes sacrifice and strength if you love your sweets, fruit, pasta, rice, and breads. But in the end, we’re eating healthier and more wholesome foods, and our bodies will thank us in the long run.

Caprese salad is one of our low carb summer staples. I have not met anyone who does not like the refreshing and satisfying combination of creamy mozzarella, fragrant basil, and sweet and tart tomatoes. Since I was making a good bye summer and hello fall dish, I had a vision of a super cheesy spaghetti squash caprese. It turned out really freaking good. I’m actually salivating thinking about the dinner I had hours ago. Reminds me of Pavlov’s dog.

This dish has several components that require their own preparation, but they are pretty simple. Most of the time required for this dish is baking time. You can also make the different components ahead of time and pre-assemble it. Just pop the casserole into the oven to heat it up.

I got this here spaghetti squash. It is not the prettiest specimen, but don’t be superficial. Every squash needs a loving stomach.

They are very tough to cut, so please please please be careful. I ended up getting my chef’s knife stuck, and using it as a wedge for another knife to cut through the middle.

Scoop the seeds out. By the way, you can roast them like pumpkin seeds. I drizzled some olive oil on the halves, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then I turned them flesh side down on the cookie sheet and baked them at 400°F for about 40 minutes until it was easy for a fork to slide into the flesh. Your cooking time may vary based on the size of your squash.

This is what the squash looked like after I shredded it up with a fork.

I had a gorgeous assortment of little tomatoes which I washed and halved.

I put them in a 9×13 baking dish and drizzled on olive oil and strawberry vinegar, and sprinkled on salt and pepper. I put the tomatoes into the oven with the squash. The tomatoes took about 20 minutes to roast, and I stirred them halfway.

These are the roasted tomatoes. I roasted 2 lbs of tomatoes, but I didn’t use all of it for this dish. I reserved about a quarter of it for future use. I also drained most of the tomato juice because it was way too soupy.

After the oven cleared out, I baked a package of bacon. You can cook your bacon however you want, but I like using the oven. Just put them in at 400°F for about 12-14 minutes. There’s a lot less mess and smoke compared to using the stove.

Yeeeah, sizzling bacon straight out of the oven. Most of it made it into the casserole…

This is a cup of homemade pesto. I made a large batch over the summer and froze little containers of it. Go ahead and use store bought pesto if you want a mediocre tasting dish. Just kidding, use whatever you want. By the way, if anyone can recommend a really good store bought pesto, let me know! I have yet to find one that I like.

This mess is the spaghetti squash, roasted tomatoes, torn up bacon (I used my hands to tear them up), cup of pesto, and 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella.

Top the mess with sliced mozzarella, and fill in those crevices with more shredded mozzarella and shredded parmesan.

I put the dish back into the 400°F oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese bubbled and browned.

If you make this casserole ahead of time, and use a glass baking dish like Pyrex, I would let it sit out first to warm up. I’ve heard of Pyrex shattering when the temperature changes too suddenly. Heat the casserole at 375°F for about 30-40 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, look for signs of bubbling sauce and cheese. If you want to brown the cheese even more, use the broiler for a couple of minutes.

Sooo freaking good. The spaghetti squash was sweet and savory mixed with the pesto and gooey cheese, and I really liked the sweet and tangy roasted tomatoes, and smoky bacon chunks. This dish is a keeper. The juice from the roasted tomatoes made the squash very soft, so if you are looking for more bite, then perhaps try sun dried tomatoes instead. Also, note that the sliced mozzarella does not brown as well as shredded mozzarella, and the texture after baking is more rubbery. So if you prefer a crustier and stringy cheese topping like on pizza, then forget the sliced mozzarella and stick with shredded mozzarella.

Spaghetti Squash Caprese
Ingredients
– 1 spaghetti squash
– 1-1.5 lb small tomatoes
– 1 pack bacon
– 1 cup pesto sauce
– 2 cups of shredded mozzarella (or more if you want)
– Mozzarella ball, sliced
– 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
– olive oil
– strawberry vinegar (balsamic vinegar will also work)
– salt
– pepper
– garlic powder

Directions
– Wash, cut in half, and de-seed the squash. Be careful of your fingers when cutting. Keep the seeds for roasting. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Turn the squash flesh side down on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced. Shred the squash flesh so it resembles spaghetti.
– Wash and cut the tomatoes in half. Put in a 9×13 baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, strawberry vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Drain the tomato juice from the baking dish.
– Bake the bacon at 400°F for 12-14 minutes. Chop into pieces. (I used my hands and tore them into pieces)
– Mix the squash, tomatoes, pesto, bacon, and 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella in the baking dish.
– Top the mixture with the sliced mozarella, 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes until the cheese bubbles and browns.

Sew Sweet and Salty

Tag Archives: squash

Poutine In My Mouth, She Said Poutine In Her Mouth

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Ooh Aah, Squash It To Me

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Ah, Squash It, Squash It Real Good

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What The Fall?!

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