Kabocha Squash is often compared to pumpkin but really has a natural sweet chestnut-tee taste. It almost like creamy chestnut mixed with sweet potato. Kobocha Squash is high in nutrition and is ONLY 40 calories a cup and is fat free before you add things to it. I try to think up ways to use it all the time. One of the best ways to use it is to make delicious desserts a little healthier and a little lighter. I’ve come up with a cake recipe this time and used my bundt pan (that I never use) for the second time. This is a one bowl easy recipe. You just stir the ingredients in the order given with a Fork. Just add a little drizzle and some crushed chestnuts if desired. Something special that’s delicious, quick and easy to prepare. I should note that I cooked the Kacocha Squash very well and past fork tender…..I also used brown turbinado sugar in this recipe. Turbinado sugar is minimally refined sugar and also has a different moisture content than regular and brown sugar. Your results WILL DIFFER if you use a different sugar.

Ingredients for about 15 servings

4 oz sweet butter – room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown turbinado sugar

3 eggs – lightly beaten

2 cups kabocha squash – cooked VERY WELL and slightly past fork tender and then mashed (PLEASE ROAST THE SQUASH! all you do is stab the squash about 4x and put on a pan in a 350 degree F oven for at least an hour and 15 minutes you want it very well done (******(or a little more if it’s a big one, cut in half scoop out seeds and scoop flesh from skin))

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch course sea salt

non stick spray – canola or vegetable

2 teaspoons turbinado sugar – for dusting the pan

1/2 cup – 1 cup chocolate chips or another flavor for drizzle (The Bittersweet Chips are …Forking CRAZY Good here) ((I used 1/2 cup caramel chips that I had to doctor up with some spices because they didn’t taste much different than white chips and I also used 1/2 cup bittersweet chips…each 1/2 cup was melted with 2 Tablespoons of HOT butter)

2 Tablespoons – 4 Tablespoons melted butter for drizzle

3 oz roasted chestnuts – crushed for cake topping

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray bundt pan with non stick spray.

Dust pan with 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar and set to the side.

Get a large bowl. Hand mix everything in with a fork. Mix the butter. Add white sugar and mix that into the butter. Add brown sugar mix in.  Mix in eggs till it looks creamy. Mix in squash. Dump the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix till combined.

Batter goes in bunt pan.

Put bunt pan in the 350 degree F. oven for about 30 minutes or until the cake feels done. It should spring back lightly when you touch it.

Let it cool on the counter some and when it’s almost cool invert the cake on a plate.

I tried a 1/2 cup of those new caramel chips. I melted 2 Tablespoons butter in the microwave and then stirred in the chips and put them in the microwave for 20 seconds…..They didn’t taste the way I wanted and were not much different than white chocolate so I added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to the drizzle and just put it in a ziplock bag.

Squirted with ziplock bag with corner cut off.

Then I did a drizzle of chocolate the same way but in a circular motion. Afterwards I poured the crushed chestnuts over the cake.

It came out REALLY FORKING GREAT!……… SUPER Great tender moist crumb and really GREAT FLAVORS. It’s not too sweet it’s just full of delicious flavors. The sugar that dusted the pan created a pleasing crunch on the surface and all the toppings are delicious but not too much because you only eat thin slices. I am SHOCKED my husband LOVES IT. He’s not into sweets and he is not a fan of  kabocha squash either and he ALSO isn’t found of chestnuts but even he says this cake is delicious and can’t stop eating it. He can’t stop talking about how perfect tasting, moist and delicious this cake is. It really is!

This one is a FORKING GREAT ORIGINAL by me.

 

 

 

 

I come up with some of my recipes when I get sort of gifted with a lot of something. I had a bunch of green beans so one of the best ways of using LOTS of green beans is to put them in a casserole. I’m not a fan of the traditional American Green Bean casserole. I haven’t tasted one that I liked so far. I thought maybe if the green beans taste like a pizza or cheese lasagna they might be delicious. Anyway a baked lasagna is very heavy.  I lightened up this casserole a bunch by using the minimal amounts of cheese as filler and by using extra soft tofu instead of some ricotta cheese. It might still seem that there is tins of cheese in this casserole but when you divide it into 16 portions it really isn’t so much. There are a lot of steps to make this casserole but it’s not as hard as it seems. It’s just like making a lasagna……but maybe easier because I only used one pot to cook up one thing after another and then I used the dirty pot as a mixing bowl. Almost everything get mixed together so why should you scrub the food out? This looks like a heavy brick but actually it isn’t so heavy. It’s  maybe 1/2 green beans, some pasta and a lot less cheese than I put in a cheese lasagna that was thinned down slightly with tofu.

Ingredients for about 16 servings

1 lb 10 oz. green beans – cleaned and string removed – cut on diagonal in small like bite size pieces

2 Tablespoons vegetable base (to boil with green beans)

8 oz dry curly pasta (I used tri-vegetable spumoni shaped)

I Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (to coat pasta)

4 oz sharp provolone -shredded with 1/4 cup in a reserved bowl on the side – for topping

4.5 oz parmesan – shredded with 1/4 cup in the same cheese reserved bowl on the side – for topping

1 lb fresh mozzarella – shredded with 1/4 cup in the reserved cheese bowl on the side for topping

1/2 large sweet onion – chopped

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 hot/sweet jarred cherry peppers – chopped fine- you can find hot/sweet cherry peppers at Trader Joes and Sprouts. This particular pepper taste AMAZING with many Italian foods and other foods.

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves shredded

13.5 oz extra soft tofu

3 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup panko bread crumbs

pinch granulated garlic

pinch ground black pepper

pinch oregano

pinch basil

1 cup water (about if looks dry it will come out dryer)

non stick spray

3 cups a very good marinara sauce plus extra for serving

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a half buffet pan or very large casserole dish with non stick spray. Also spray a sheet of aluminum foil. (The wet sprayed part covers the food) Put to the side.

Put a pot on to boil and add the vegetable base. Add green beans and let them boil about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider. Put green beans in an ice bath and set to the side. A few minutes later when cool put the green beans in a colander to drain.

To the boiling water add the pasta and cook two minutes less than suggested. Squirt the pasta with about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix pasta so they don’t stick together. Set pasta to the side.

Put a pot on to medium high heat with two tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil seems hot add the onions and cherry peppers.Add two teaspoons of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Wait till it looks almost cooked to add the grated garlic. Mix well. Take off the heat when cooked and the onions are clear. You can add this mixture to the green beans when they are well drained. Keep that mixture to the side.

Either in a blender or your pot with a blending wand…Blend the tofu with the eggs. All your cheeses (NOT THE RESERVED 1/4 cups of each) get hand mixed into the tofu egg mixture with 1/8th teaspoon of white pepper, nutmeg, black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano.

In a small bowl add the panko, reserved cheeses, a pinch of granulated garlic, fresh ground black pepper, oregano, and basil and mix. set on side. (but not for long)

Get out your marinara sauce. One cup gets added to the pasta. and mixed in. One cup gets added to the green beans and mixed in. (you need a remaining cup to top with and extra for serving later).

At this pot your counter should look like this.

Add the pasta bowl to the green beans and mix. Add the tofu/cheese egg mixture to the big bowl with pasta. I thought the mixture looked too dry so I added one liquid cup of water. Once mixed pour mixture in sprayed large pan.

Cover with cup of marinara.

Cover with reserved cheese/panko mixture.

Pan gets covered tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed well with non stick spray. (the sprayed side goes against the food so it doesn’t stick to the foil).

This pan goes in a 350 degree F oven for one and one half hours. (90 minutes).

Serve with extra sauce and some grated cheese.

It you enjoy lasagnas or pizza kind of flavored foods you will enjoy!

 

 

 

I had about 2 1/2 pounds of beets and a half opened bottle of red wine. So I thought of Red Wine Poached Pickled Beets. The wine gives the beets a better flavor than just being pickled and I didn’t use the best wine either. I just threw my pan of beets in the oven with all the liquid but if you prefer you can do the beets on the stove top. The beets came out with subtle complex flavors this way. Far better than a standard beet pickling. They didn’t really come out winey just more complex with subtle flavors. I presented the beets with toasted pistachios and a cream cheese rose that I piped. I’m thinking that if I did this again maybe toasted spiced walnuts and basil flavored cream cheese would be a really good choice too. OH and don’t use yellow beets….they react with aluminum.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

2 1/2 lbs beets – scrubbed

1 3/4 cup white vinegar

1 3/4 cup red wine

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Directions

Set the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the beets in a large pan. Cut the beets in half or quarters if needed….

Add all the ingredients and cover the pan tightly with foil. After two hours remove the pan from the oven.

When the beets are cool enough to handle the skins should slip off.

Put the beets in some sort of storage dish and add back the beet liquid. If you desire some onions you can add very thinly sliced onions too. Chill over night and serve.

With extra beet liquid you can make winey pickled eggs too…They really only a need a day but I left mine in for a week before I used them in a salmon salad lavash wrap with saffron pickles.

This was very easy and these beets are better than plain pickled beets. They have a little more going on with them….

 

 

I was reading about a Michelin Stared Chinese Restaurant Chain called Da Dong. One of the dishes on the menu is Braised Cabbage in Saffron with Chestnuts. I’ve never tasted the dish but I did get inspired to make my version of it so here it is. It’s much more delicate than what I normally do. It’s not spicy or very strongly seasoned. Saffron is the star and the cabbage is absolutely perfect. I made the cabbage like I do for slaw and let the salt and sugar cook the slaw for me. Then I made the sauce and poured it over the slaw and it really is delicious. BTW leftover re-heat just as well so there are no worries. I had no idea that saffron and roasted chestnuts are so great with cabbage. The earthy chestnut also goes surprisingly well with these flavors and the sweetness…..I would not have thought of these flavors together. I do note that I didn’t actually roast chestnuts and I used prepackaged roasted chestnuts. The window for fresh chestnuts is maybe one week a year here so if you want to prepare this dish you must use packaged roasted chestnuts.

Ingredients for about 6-8  servings

2 lbs cabbage – thinly shredded

1 carrot – fine shredded

1/4 large sweet onion – fine shredded

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 oz sliced ginger

3 red dried chili peppers – crushed

2 star anise

3 garlic cloves – smashed well

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1/3 teaspoon saffron

2 cups vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons sweet butter

5 oz roasted chestnuts

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

Directions

In a large bowl add the cabbage, carrot, onion, salt and sugar. Mix well and let set it off to the side. Take your time….it needs maybe 45 minutes to cook itself. Make the sauce next.

In a pan add the ginger, dried chilies, star anise, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, saffron, vegetable stock, 2 tablespoons corn starch (mixed into cold vegetable stock) and butter.

Heat it up to medium high. Let it bubble a few minutes  and reduce to simmer……let it reduce to half and then remove all the big pieces of stuff in it. (garlic, ginger, star anise, chili pods) Heat it up briefly with the chestnuts. Pour over cabbage mixture and mix and serve.

What an interesting and different way to prepare cabbage! I don’t know if my inspiration from the Michelin Stared Da Dong Restaurant is even close but this what what I came up with.

 

 

 

 

Making a delicious juicy boneless chicken breast couldn’t be easier when you Sous Vide it. All you do is to set your Sous Vide with water to 146 degrees F. Bring the chicken out of the refrigerator to warm up for about thirty minutes. Then pound the breast out some and try to make them a similar width.

Apply fresh ground Sea Salt and quality Fresh Ground Black Pepper to both sides.

I always have some frozen garlic confit in my freezer. You can make it by either slicing a fresh garlic head in half and a heavy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. In the oven covered at 350 degrees F for about an hour. Or you can do a large amount like I did below and prepare it the same way. Freeze it in smaller portions.

 

I add about 2 teaspoons of FROZEN garlic confit to each bag and then vacuum seal.

I make sure that I get the bags under the water.

The lid goes back on.

It’s recommend to keep the chicken in the water between one to four hours. I find it usually is best around three hours.

If you are not using the chicken right away you should put the chicken pouches in a water bath so you can cool them down and then refrigerate.

The chicken is done now but you might or might not want to take it one step further.

You might want to sear the breast.

Get a fry pan on high heat with about two or three tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the pan is hot sear the breast for about one minute on each side.

You now have the most delicious, moist flavorful, and crusted chicken!

 

 

 

Someone here read that one of the most favored purchases from Costco was the Canned Wild Alaskan Salmon so we purchased some to try. I will say it really is better than any canned salmon I’ve tasted. Of course it’s not as great as really great fresh salmon. Sadly in my part of Phoenix I very rarely find fresh salmon. I haven’t even tried to purchase any nearby because it’s a 50/50 chance if it’s fresh enough and I often return fish to store after I purchase it. Today I thought this canned salmon would be great in a potato cake so that’s what I did with it. I felt there wasn’t a need to fry these Salmon Cakes. By just using whole wheat panko crumbs you can get a very crispy crust SUPER FORKING EASY without an egg wash or flour dredge… easily. These Salmon Cakes came out very tasty and I think just about everyone would like them. I didn’t try but I don’t recommend freezing leftover Salmon Cakes. After eating one of these Salmon Cakes I have to say they really are tasty. I think they are flavored well but not too much. But it is very surprising how Forking Crispy they are……They came out much better than many fried things I’ve tried. No oil and a big crispy crunch. YOU MUST make the Jean Georges Vonericten’s Saffron Cucumber Pickles to go with these Salmon Potato Cakes. They go together like magic….

Ingredients for 5 servings

1 oz celery – fine chopped (about 1/2 a rib)

1 oz sweet onion – fine chopped

2 garlic cloves – very fine chopped

1/2 oz red pepper – fine chopped (I used a hot/sweet cherry pepper – a fresno would be my 2nd choice.)

non stick spray – canola or vegetable

1 lb potatoes

1 Tablespoon kosher salt (for boiling the potatoes)

sea salt – fresh ground to taste

black pepper – fresh ground to taste

1 oz whipped cream cheese

1 egg – lightly beaten

1- 6 oz can wild salmon – drained

1/2 cup regular panko

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley

1 cup whole wheat panko (****you really only use 1/2 cup but it’s hard to coat using only 1/2 cup)

Directions

Set the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cover potatoes with water in a pot. Add the kosher salt and bring to a medium boil and cook till fork tender. (should be about 15-20 minutes) Remove potatoes from the water and put to the side. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle peel them.

In a fry pan add non stick spray. Add the celery, onion, garlic, red pepper and cook on medium high heat till vegetables are soft. Take off heat and put to the side.

Potatoes should be cool enough to handle so peel them.

Mash the potatoes and add the fry pan of vegetables. Mash well. Add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Mix in cream cheese. Mix well. Mix in beaten egg. Mix well. Add drained salmon and 1/2 cup panko, parsley and mix well.

Divide and make into five cakes. If you weigh them they should be about 5 oz. each.

In a small bowl add 1 cup whole wheat panko (secret to crisp breading that usually comes out better than frying) Add a small amount of fresh ground sea salt and a small amount of ground ground black pepper.

Pick up a cake and gently roll it all around in the crumbs. Repeat the next four cakes.

Repeat and do a double coat.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Place the salmon cakes down with a little space in-between them. Very LIGHTLY spray the tops of the salmon cakes with spray. Put in the 425 degree F oven for 20 minutes on the first side, then gently turn each cake over and very LIGHTLY spray them again and they go in the oven for another 20 minutes . They should look sort of like this.

After about a total of 40 minutes they are ready to serve. Or you can chill them and reheat latter. If the cakes are coming chilled from the refrigerator I’d say to reheat put them on a pan for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Serve with either lemon aioli, tarter or cocktail sauce. A lemon wedge would go nice too. We really enjoyed the Salmon Cakes with Jean Georges Vongericten’s Saffron Cucumber Pickles. That recipe you can find in the search or just page back two days.

(salmon cake was cut in 1/2 here) They came out really crisp too!

I think these Salmon Potato Cakes would pair with the Brûlée Pineapple Sriracha Slaw above! (recipe soon to be published)

Enjoy!