This cauliflower is wildly flavorful and also is spicy. I’ve been told a number of times that I cook cauliflower really well. People always ask me how I make cauliflower. My secret to delicious tasting cauliflower is to cook it at 350 degrees F and drizzle the cauliflower with extra virgin olive oil. I leave the cauliflower in till it looks browned. When you cook cauliflower this way it turns sweet. This dish is easy to prepare. Feel free to substitute a different hot pepper of your liking if you don’t keep hatch peppers in your freezer.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 med-large head cauliflower – broke down to florets

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons caraway

2 teaspoons coriander

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large garlic clove – ground to paste

1 fire roasted hatch pepper (not canned…never use the canned hatch peppers) – seeds and stem removed and chopped well

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup pistachios (I went a little heavy with pistachios you can go down to a half cup)

1 cup seedless grapes – cut in half

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

Directions

Turn oven on the 350 degrees F.

Spread out the cauliflower florets on a baking sheet(s) and drizzle the cauliflower with the olive oil and place in oven for about 45 minutes or until the cauliflower is golden brown on the edges.

While the cauliflower is roasting get out a small fry pan and add turmeric, cumin, caraway, coriander, salt and butter. Turn the pan on medium high heat and use a spoon and move the spices around on the heat to wake them up a little.

After the butter melts into the spices lower the heat to low and add the garlic and the hot pepper.

Add vinegar and pistachios. You can shut the heat off and leave on burner to keep warm.

Pull out the cauliflower when it is done and add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Put the cauliflower in a large bowl with the grapes. Pour the fry pan contents over the cauliflower and mix gently. Lastly add the cilantro and serve.

If you enjoy spicy flavorful food you should love this cauliflower.

 

 

 

Kobocha squash is very low in calories and high in nutrition and fiber. It is also naturally very creamy and sweet with a rich almost chestnutty taste. I thought it might be a perfect ingredient to add to ice cream. I also used fat free sweetened condensed milk instead of full fat to help lower the fat content some. Feel free to use either fat free or full fat…I picked up the fat free but had trouble finding it again so you might have that trouble too….I think the full fat will turn out even creamier and better…This ice cream came out delicate tasting.  It tasted just like the squash…..It’s slightly chestnutty. It would be yummy to candy some chestnuts with this flavor ice-cream or add yummy toasted coconut or a white chocolate drizzle. I think the flavoring and sweetness is just right if you want it to taste like Kobocha Squash…. But feel free to adjust to your preference….If you want sweeter add 10x sugar…..If you want more spice…add more spice…I wanted to taste the squash…so here it is….

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 1/2 cup kobocha squash (cooked till soft and mashed)

2 cups whipping cream

14 oz can of sweetened condensed fat free milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I used a good quality Vietnamese)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch sea salt

Directions

In a large bowl whip the whipping cream till whipped and then put to the side.

In a medium bowl whip the remaining ingredients.

Add medium bowl contents to large bowl and whip till incorporated.

Place in a plastic tub with a top and place in the freezer for over night freezing.

Got some Happy Yappy ones that are fascinated with the Kobochca Squash Ice-Cream.

This flavor strongly attracts my dogs….(I note not all dogs can digest milk…only some can)

If you like Kobocha Squash then you should enjoy this Ice-Cream……While it’s not my top favorite flavor of ice cream I do think it’s much better than many of the lighter or healthier ones I tried from the store…….It’s far better than the popular packaged…something like 350 calories a pint ice cream that’s very popular…….My husband is waiting for me to do a chocolate flavor.

 

I saw a few beautiful green tomatoes at the supermarket so I got the idea to prepare oven fried tomatoes and I thought they’d be special if I topped them with a pimento cheese flavored potato so here it is. The potato topping is extremely tasty, fluffy, flavorful and a little spicy. The coating comes out crispy and delicious. The mustard in the eggs adds flavor and helps the crumbs stay on the tomato. Also the whole wheat panko is so much crispier than regular panko so it’s super great for oven fried things.

Ingredients for about 9 servings

2 lb potatoes (peeled cut in half in a pot of water)

1/2 sweet onion (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

1 hot pepper (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

1 garlic clove (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

2 Tablespoons kosher salt (for boiling the potatoes)

2 oz sweet butter – room temperature (for potatoes)

1/8 cup heavy cream (for potatoes)

2 1/2 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese – shredded – (for potatoes)

3 oz cream cheese (for potatoes)

6 hot and sweet jarred cherry peppers – chopped fine – (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard  (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper (for potatoes)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon course sea salt (for potatoes)

2 large eggs beaten (for potatoes)

3 medium sized green tomatoes – cored and sliced in thirds across

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs – beaten

1 Tablespoon (heaping) dijon mustard

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

non stick spray – canola or vegetable

Directions

Put the potatoes, onion, hot pepper, garlic and salt in a pot to bring to a boil (medium high so it doesn’t boil over) Let it go till potatoes are fork tender. (about 15 minutes) Then drain and discard the onion, hot pepper and garlic clove.

If you have a good masher mash the potatoes and go on. If your masher isn’t so great you need to rice the potatoes and then do next step.

In the bowl with the potatoes add butter, cheddar, cream cheese, cherry peppers, sweet paprika, dry mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper, course sea salt, beaten eggs and mix. Set to the side.

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F. Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray and set to the side.

Core the tomatoes. Trip bottom if needed.

If they are medium sized tomatoes cut in thirds across.

Make a dipping station of three pans.

First pan is flour, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, black pepper.

Second pan is eggs and dijon mixed well.

3rd pan is panko.

Take a tomato slice dip well in the flour mixture. Then dip in the egg mixture. Lastly coat with panko and placed on baking sheet(s) sprayed with non stick spray. (some people do prefer a rack instead of a baking sheet but I find everything turned out great on a pan for me.) Repeat till the tomatoes are done.

After 45 minutes flip the tomatoes and let them go 15 minutes more. The coating should look nice like it was fried.

Let the tomatoes cool for at least 15 minutes. Place on a fresh non-stick sprayed sheet pan(s) and then either pipe or spoon on the pimento potato topping. I do note the piping can be a little tricky with a star tip on a pastry bag and got slightly clogged a few times. If I were doing this again…..Instead of a star tip I would just use no tip on my pastry bag to avoid any clogging.

Pop them in the oven at 350 degrees F till they have crisp brown edges. (I forgot to time this…SORRY) It was 15 – 30 minutes….

Leftovers heat up very easy in a covered pan.

These came out really delicious. When I made the potato filling my husband just kept eating it (before I added the raw eggs) saying this is really tasty….and I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough for the recipe. This came out Forking Delicious just about everyone will love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got a bunch of yellow squash that I have to use so I’m pickling. The yellow squash isn’t crunchy like a pickling pickle but it comes out pretty good and you can certainly pickle yellow squash when you have too many. I don’t do the formal canning because I expect to use what I made with-in a few months. This will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least three months.

Ingredients for about 8 large servings

8 small/medium yellow squash – ends removed and cut in halves

1/2 onion sliced

3 oz fresh dill

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups rice wine vinegar

4 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 Bayleaves

34 garlic cloves – chopped

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

Start with sterilized containers or bottles and fill them with the dill, squash and onions and set to the side.

In a sauce pot add the rest of the ingredients and put on medium high heat and slowly bring to a slow boil. Let it boil a few minutes.

Pour the hot liquid over the containers of squash and let it sit on the counter to it cools some.

After it’s cool cover and place in the refrigerator and enjoy in about a week.

These Yellow Squash Garlic Dill Pickles are Crazy Good paired with Carla Hall Inspired Hot Fried Cauliflower.