I had a bunch of Butternut Squash and it was a nice flavorful sweet one so I thought it would be great baked into a dessert. Hard Squash is a food that is difficult to cut threw. You need strength and a good heavy sharp knife.  Many people don’t have a good enough knife and many people also don’t have the strength to prepare hard squash. There was some sort of article published that hard squash is the one food that sends the most people to the emergency room with kitchen cut injuries. When I cook a hard squash I usually cook it the safest way. I just remove any stickers and wash the squash well. I give it a couple of fork pierces and set the squash in a pan with a little water and then cover it with foil and cook it in a 350 degree F oven until the squash is for tender. Depending on the size of the squash that will take between 45 minutes to one hour and one half. When the squash is cool enough to handle split the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then scoop out the flesh. The Butternut Squash Cinnamon Rolls are delicious! The butternut Squash doesn’t add much flavor but makes the dough seem much richer than it is. Don’t get the wrong idea this still isn’t dieter food but if I didn’t add the squash I would have used more butter, sugar and eggs in this recipe. The Cinnamon Rolls are sweet but not too sweet because my husband isn”t someone who really likes sweets and he even he thinks these are just delicious. I think they are the just right sweetness for Cinnamon Rolls and the spice gives them the right kick and makes them sassy. These Cinnamon rolls are hard to stop eating. If you like Cinnamon Rolls you will like these.

Ingredients for 24 servings recipe makes 12 large rolls but I feel 1/2 a roll is a serving.

4 cups bread flour – dough ingredient (plus extra to rest the dough ball in)

1 Tablespoon salt – kosher or sea salt – dough ingredient

1 3/4 cup cooked butternut squash – heated up – dough ingredient

1 packet yeast – dough ingredient

1/4 cup sugar – dough ingredient

1 Tablespoon cinnamon – dough ingredient

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg – fresh – dough ingredient

2 oz unsalted butter – melted – dough ingredient

1 XL egg – beaten – dough ingredient

4 oz unsalted butter – for the filling

1/2 cup sugar – for the filling

1/2 cup dark brown sugar – for the filling

3 Tablespoons cinnamon – I used Vietnamese, this is for the filling

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg – fresh – for the filling

1/4 teaspoon salt – kosher or sea salt – for the filling

non-stick neutral – canola or vegetable – for the pan

2 oz unsalted butter – room temperature – for the frosting

1/2 teaspoon vanilla – for the frosting

pinch nutmeg – fresh – for the frosting

pinch sea salt

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Put all your dry dough ingredients in to your mixing bowl from your stand mixer. Stir in squash, melted butter and then mix till just mixed in. Now slowly add your beaten egg and mix on medium/high for about five minutes or until the dough cleans it’s self off the bowl and is like elastic. Make the dough into a ball shape and put in a large floured bowl. Cover the dough with a little flour and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place till doubled in size.

Make the filling – combine ingredients in a small bowl and set to the side.

Punch the dough down and knead it a bit and then roll the dough out thinly. You might want to use a little of the flour from the bowl for dusting your rolling surfaces.

Spread out your filling on the dough.

Roll up the dough.

Move the dough to a surface that you can cut on and cut the roll in half and then each half into thirds and then cut each third in half. You will end up with twelve rolls.

Spray your pan (s) with nonstick spray. Place your four biggest rolls in the corners of the pan if you are using a square pan and the smallest pieces in the center.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place till the dough doubles.

At this time you can put your pan in a preheated 350 degree F oven. The rolls will be done in 20-25 minutes. Mine looked perfect at 23 minutes.

While your Cinnamon Rolls are baking prepare the frosting. Just mix all the frosting ingredients together and put in a disposable pastry bag. Cut the tip off and squirt on however you like.

Have a piece. They are moist sweet and full of cinnamon and are really delicious. I think everyone will love them.

 

I thought I’d do something different to make spaghetti squash tasty.  The patties are made of seasonings, dill, egg, feta cheese and flour.  I pan fried the patties with non-stick spray so they wouldn’t be too heavy or absorb grease. This recipe makes about 20 patties.

Ingredients for about six servings

2 lb spaghetti squash

1 cup scallions – chopped

2 garlic cloves – minced well or mashed

1/4 cup parsley – fresh chopped

5 oz feta cheese – preferably a creamy less tangy type – broken up in small pieces

1 XL egg – beaten

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon dill – I used dried

1 teaspoon salt – kosher or sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

non-stick spray – neutral variety like canola or vegetable

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Put your washed whole squash in a pan with about 1/2 cup of water and cover with foil. Cook till slightly soft when your finger can dent the squash and a fork can just pierce it. The time will differ depending on the size of your squash. For me the squash was perfect in one hour.  When the squash is done let it rest about an hour so the squash is cool enough so you can handle it. When cool enough to handle cut in half long ways and pull out the stringy seeds. Then scoop out the spaghetti with a fork.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Put a fry pan on medium heat with non-stick spray.

Do a tester patty with a slightly heaping tablespoon portion cooking it for about two minutes covered lightly with foil on one side and up to two minutes on the other side uncovered. To make sure you got the timing right and more importantly to make sure you don’t have to make any last minute adjustments for flavor or to make sure your mixture holds together well.

If the tester comes out the way you like it continue with making a few patties at a time not crowding the pan. About two minutes on medium heat loosely covered and another up to two minutes uncovered on the other side.

Let the patties drain on paper towels.

If desired serve with non-fat Greek Yogurt.

These are tasty and that’s The Forking Truth!

 

 

These Forking Delicious Baked Potato Fries come out a little crisp on the outside and fluffy and flavorful on the inside. Part of the secret in all the flavor is infusing the boiling potatoes with onion, garlic and a jalapeño.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 lbs Idaho Potatoes (about 5 medium sized potatoes)

5 red jalapeno peppers (one gets cut in half and boiled with potatoes the other 4 peppers get stem & seeds removed and chop them fine) (you can use green peppers I just thought red looked more appetizing)

1/2 onion peeled

1 garlic clove

1 Tablespoon salt (kosher or sea salt)

water to cover potatoes well

5 oz extra sharp aged cheddar cheese -shredded

2 oz unsalted butter

i XL egg – beaten

salt – fresh ground to taste

pepper – fresh ground to taste

Directions

Peel your potatoes, cut them in halves and add to your sauce pot that is already halfway filled with cold water. Make sure your potatoes are well covered with water. Add your onion, garlic and 1 Tablespoon salt to your sauce pot. Place pot on medium high heat. Boil for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and throw out the onion, garlic and pepper that was used to flavor the potatoes.

Put the potatoes back into your pot you just used and mash them with the butter. Now add the cheese and continue mashing. Add the jalapeño mix and and taste to decide on salt and pepper. (at this point the potatoes will taste spicier and less cheesy than after baked) Lastly add the beaten egg.

Get a disposable pastry bag and your sheet pan(s) lined with parchment paper.

Cut the end off your pastry bag and slide in your #6 star tip.

Fill the bag half way with potato mixture and twist the end to hold in the potato mixture.

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Squeeze out potato mixture in about thumb sizes with a shaky hand so you get the ruffled edges on your potato fries.

When you fill your pan place it in the oven for 20-23 minutes till the ruffled ends are brownish. Sprinkle with fresh ground salt and pepper if desired.

These are delicious as is.

I caught my husband eating the potato mixture in-between batches and came out with 42 fries. Not sure how many more this might have made. He said it was really good that way too and had to eat it. He also ate the plate of them I photoed and then came back to eat more because I didn’t give him enough.

Yup, these are another crowd pleaser. Mine didn’t come out too spicy and were just nicely flavored. I don’t think they need a dip but if I did serve a dip with them it would be a thin guacamole kind of cream.

Did it again these are FORKING GOOD!

 

 

 

 

Eddie’s House Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ serves up complimentary Blue Cheese Butter topped with Pistou with a bread basket that includes flat breads. It’s very indulgent and delicious! I used an Epicurious Recipe for the flat bread. It was very easy and quick to prepare. The blue cheese butter and pistou are also easy to prepare. You can whip this up for a crowd and they will be impressed.

Ingredients for Flat Breads about 6 servings

1 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + extra for brushing breads

flake salt

Optional seasonings like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, zar’tar, rosemary, onion flakes, garlic flakes can also be delicious on flat bread.

Directions

Set your oven to 450 degrees F

In a medium size bowl add all your dry ingredients and make a well in the center. In the well add your water and oil and mix well.

Divide the dough into three balls.

Put your dough ball on top of  parchment paper that fits your baking sheet and top the dough with plastic wrap and roll thin with a rolling pin.

Now remove the plastic wrap and brush with oil. Top with flaked sea salt and what ever other herb or spices you want.

In about 10 minutes in your 450 degree F oven your flat bread should look like this.

Let cool and break up to serve.

You might want to serve with blue cheese butter.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

4 oz unsalted butter – room temperature

4 oz blue cheese – room temperature

2 oz whipped cream cheese

Directions

Mix well and serve.

For the Pistou – You might want to read the more detailed Pistou Recipe I published last week but it’s very easy and I made a big batch to use with other things. Extra Pistou can be frozen in an ice cube tray for latter uses.

12 oz. basil leaves – cleaned and rough chopped

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves smashed

1 Tablespoon salt – kosher or sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Just blend till smooth. I note you might want to use more oil. I try to use as little oil as I can so my batch is slightly thick.

It’s just delicious and is another crowd pleaser.