Butternut Squash Risotto is easy to prepare. I like to roast up the squash in small cubes and half I mash up when I add it to the risotto so it’s creamy butternut in every spoonful. I usually don’t use heavy cream when I make a risotto because I don’t need the cream taste. Unless it’s a truffle risotto I usually pass on cream.  I think this risotto is usually creamy enough. Feel free to substitute a cup of cream for a cup of stock if you care to. The risotto comes out creamy and flavorful with sweet chunks of butternut squash. The Butternut Squash Risotto holds up better than regular risotto for re-heating.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 small butternut squash (mine weighed 1 lb. 10 oz before removing skin and seeds)

1/2 large sweet onion – chopped close to fine

1 cup arborio rice

2 Tablespoons sweet butter

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

5 cups hot vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

big pinch saffron

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup parmesan cheese – shredded

1/4 fresh nutmeg – grated (mine was a smaller nutmeg)

1 Tablespoon fresh marjoram – chopped fine

2 Tablespoons fresh sage – chopped fine

fresh ground sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees

Peel butternut squash and chop into small cubes….(around frozen peas and carrot size) put in a medium size bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons olive oil to coat squash. Put squash on a baking sheet(s) in a single layer on top rack. Roast till tender about 25 minutes. When squash is done mash 1/2 with a potato masher. Set to the side till your ready to add it to the risotto.

In your sauce pot on medium high heat add the butter and remaining olive oil. when the butter is melted add the onions and rice and fry it for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and stir it around a little till you smell it. Now add the wine and keep stirring till it absorbs. Add a cup of stock and stir till it absorbs. Repeat 3 times till you only have one cup left. Now all the remaining ingredients and and squash except for the fresh herbs. Add the last cup of stock and the fresh herbs last. Stir it a few times and taste it. Adjust with fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to your liking.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to come up with a delicious and DIFFERENT way to serve Acorn Squash. I happened to have a bunch of crazy hot jalapeño peppers in the house that I cooked with sugar, carrot, apples and some seasonings. I discovered that I made the painfully hot jalapeño peppers edible but sweet and I thought they’d be delicious with the squash and they are! I do note that acorn squash are very hard and might be too difficult or dangerous to cut for some people. The Acorn Squash and the Jalapeño Peppers can both cause injury. You need a decent sharp knife and some strength to cut Acorn Squash. I do find that the acorn squash that turn slightly orange are slightly softer. You should wear gloves and maybe eye googles to protect your hands and eyes when you work with a large amount of Jalapeño Peppers. The heat from the peppers can actually burn your hands and be painful.

Ingredients for 6 generous servings or 12 small servings depending on the sizes of your squash.

3 acorn squash – washed well, cut in quarters with seeds and membranes removed

12 oz. jalapeños – washed well, stems and seeds removed, chopped

1/2 sweet onion – chopped

1 carrot – peeled and shredded

1 apple – peeled, cored, chopped

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1 1/2 cup sugar

pinch sea salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

non stick spray

4 oz. stick unsalted butter

Directions

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F

Set Squash and baking sheet(s) and set to the side.

To a sauce pot on medium high heat add a little non stick spray and add the jalapeños and onion and cook till the onion is transparent.

Then add the rest of the ingredients except for the butter.

Bring to boil and then reduce to a medium heat. Stir occasionally and you need to keep your eye on the pot to prevent boiling over or burning and let it go about an hour.

Take the stick of butter and cut in half and then cut each half in thirds and cut each third in half like this.

Put a pat of butter into each squash.

Stuff the squash with the sweet jalapeños.

Bake 35 – 45 minutes till baked, caramelized and slightly browned.

You will be left some some delicious sauce at the bottom of the pan that you should serve over the squash.

This is a unique but delicious way to serve Acorn Squash!

 

 

There are a few places that make first rate bread in Metro Phoenix AZ but the majority of breads I tried here are very disappointing particularly Challah Bread.  It seems that people here don’t add eggs or add almost no eggs to the bread. Challah bread that I’ve tried here looks white and shouldn’t look and taste white. Challah is an egg bread that’s similar to brioche and it is suppose to be an eggy bread. The main difference between Challah and Brioche is that Challah must be braided. The secondary difference is that Brioche is very rich and contains butter and challah isn’t suppose to contain dairy. I don’t mean to brag but these challah breads came out FORKING AWSOME! The breads came out moist and flavorful with a nice texture. I thought adding the hatch chili and roasted red pepper would add a nice taste to the bread and would make tasty sandwiches. The only thing I didn’t expect was that while I was formulating this recipe it got to be a big batch and makes two loaves that are very large. After I got my ingredients together I needed to use my stand mixer (kitchen aid) and it just barely was able to hold all the dough. You might want to consider cutting the recipe in half if your mixer bowl is smaller than 5 quarts. I do note that different brands of flour, different ovens and different climates do produce slightly different results but it should be very close.

Ingredients for two large Challah Breads at least 20 servings.

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 oz + 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (one 1/4 oz pack + 1 teaspoon)

2 cups water (100 – 110 degrees F or to follow active dry year instructions)

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon 100% pure honey (1 Tablespoon is for egg wash)

7 1/2 cups bread flour (plus extra for handling)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons course sea salt

7 XL eggs (3 for bread, 4 for egg wash)

3 XL egg yolks

3 oz hatch chili – fire roasted with stem, seeds and most of skin removed – chopped

1 roasted red bell pepper – stem, seeds and skin removed – chopped

3 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions

In a large bowl add the sugar, yeast and water and place in a warm place. Wait for the yeast to grow. (15-30 minutes)

Mix in 1/2 cup honey. Add about half the flour and mix. Add olive oil, 3 eggs, yolks, salt, all the peppers and rest of flour. Place dough in stand mixer and start low and turn up to medium speed and let it go till the dough pulls away clean from bowl.

Add a little flour to a bowl and form a dough ball the best you can and add a little flour to the top and place in a warm place till at least doubled in size. Take your time.

About 2 hours latter the dough looked like this.

Punch the dough down and knead. Then cut the dough in half for two loaves.

With one half of the dough make three long pieces that you will braid on a slightly floured surface.

Got a visitor in the kitchen.

Place braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Don’t worry if the braids don’t look so great. They need to sit in a warm place till they double and will get better. Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

Now they doubled. Mix the 4 eggs with the one Tablespoon of honey and brush it on the loaves twice. Apply sesame seeds.

Place one loaf in the oven. After 15 minutes brush the loaf with egg wash again put aluminum foil loosely over the bread so it doesn’t get too dark and put back in for about 10 minutes or until done.

Repeat with second loaf.

I found that both loaves took 25 minutes in my oven on the middle rack. I baked the breads one at a time because my oven seems to work more efficient that way.

This bread truly came out FORKING DELICIOUS…..My husband couldn’t stop eating it and kept saying this is really good. Even the dogs wanted to eat it.

Latter I started to prepare Toasted Cheese Sandwiches.

In this moment this little one reminds me of my dear departed Louie.

And here comes the well behaved lady of the house.

“HEY you Forking PIP-squeek..your not getting all that food.”

“I’m cool…..with that….” “I’m happy to eat after you like I should…..” “I’ll do whatever you say…you Amazon Queen”

Forking Delicious Hatch Chili and Roasted Red Pepper Challah Bread. It’s dog-gone good and Forking Delicious!

 

 

Tuna cucumber and Bean salad is in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. I used a drained $2.00 pouch of wild light tuna instead of wasting $24.00 on fresh tuna that I’d rather eat as an entree. Most people will like the salad. It has a lot of the usual flavors of an Italian style salad but with a few surprises of sweet tangerines and raisins. I think the salad actually taste better if you let it sit a day because the raisins soak up the dressing and get interesting. It’s a pretty easy salad to prepare, it’s healthy and it cost very little to put together.

Ingredients for 4 servings

6.4 oz chunk light tuna drained

1 cucumber diced

1 16oz can large white beans (either butter or gigante) – rinsed well three times

1 celery rib – diced

1/4 large sweet onion – diced

9 katamata olives – cut in quarters

1 XL lemon – zest and juice

1 tangerine – peeled – cut sideways in four slices and separate each quartered segment

2 garlic cloves ground to paste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic

1/4 cup raisins (I prefer the jumbo fancy mix)

1 Tablespoon capers

1 teaspoon anis seeds

1/4 cup parsley – chopped

fresh ground sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

Directions

In a big bowl combine the tuna, cucumber, beans, celery, onion, olives, zest, tangerine, raisins and capers. Mix gently.

In a small bowl whisk the remaining Ingredients.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! Serve with a small chunk of crusty bread.

 

 

Here’s something just a little different. Rosemary goes really well with chicken so I made rosemary flavored meatballs. They came out juicy and flavorful. I think most people will like them.

Ingredients for about 5 servings

1 lb ground chicken

2 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup sweet onion – chopped fine

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 carrot – grated fine

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary – chopped fine

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped fine

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

pinch crushed red pepper

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Non stick cooking spray – (or oil if you prefer)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray or oil your baking sheet(s)

In a large mixing bowl add everything except the ground chicken. Mix well. Now add chicken and mix well again.

Pinch off a small marble size piece and zap in the microwave in paper towels for about 10 seconds or pop in the oven for about 5 minutes in some oiled aluminum foil and test for seasoning and adjust if you care too. (The taste will be close from the microwave but not exact).

Scoop out balls with a small scooper on to your sprayed baking sheet(s). I made 28 balls.

Cook till done on middle rack. In my oven the meatballs were ready in 15 minutes.

Forking Tasty!

 

 

These pickles come out light but with a really yummy flavor. They are not too sweet or too salty. I think everyone will enjoy them. It’s usually best to use pickling cucumbers but I used seedless because that’s what I had. Sometimes I substitute yellow squash for cucumbers and sometimes the yellow squash taste better as a pickle than the cucumber. The onions came out tasty and delicious too. You might enjoy them in a sandwich. Let these pickles sit about three days for the best flavors.

Ingredients for about 15 servings

2 1/2 lbs cucumbers cut in thick coin shapes

1/2 sweet onion – quartered and cut in slices

3/4 oz fresh dill

1 cup white vinegar

3 cups water

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

8 garlic cloves – smashed

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 Tablespoon white peppercorns

Directions

In sterilized containers or jars add the cucumber, onions and dill.

Add remaining ingredients to a sauce pot on near to high heat and bring to a boil. Let it medium boil (a tad more than a simmer) for about five minutes. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and let it sit on the counter till it cools a little. Refrigerate when it’s around room temperature. It’s not necessary to can because they will stay good for several months.

Enjoy!

 

I had a butternut squash and Israeli Couscous to use up and this is what I came up with. I have to say it really did come out Forking Amazing! I did use a bunch of ingredients that most people don’t use or have such as zahtar, Aleppo pepper, sumac and urfa pepper. The only ingredient that’s hard to find here is urfa pepper (one of my new favorites). The urfa pepper is more intense than Aleppo and a Spanish pepper called Nora. It’s really delicious. It’s fruity, raisin like,lightly smoky and mild heat. It’s worth your time and money to find the urfa pepper for your own creations because it will make anything you make delicious. The recipe is easy to prepare and is sure to be a #crowdpleaser. Sorry now that I didn’t make a bigger batch. This one is really special.

Ingredients for 4 servings

1 small butternut squash – peeled, seeds removed and cut in bite size pieces

1 15.5 oz can 50% less sodium garbanzo beans – drained and rinsed three times

5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (1T on garbanzo beans, 2T for butternut squash and 2T for couscous)

1/2 teaspoon urfa pepper

1 Tablespoon zahtar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sumac

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup Israeli Couscous

1/3 medium onion – chopped

1 medium tomato – core removed – chopped

3 garlic cloves – sliced razor thin

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons cilantro – chopped

2 Tablespoons parsley – chopped

4 oz goat cheese – crumble it

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Place the butternut squash pieces in a medium/large bowl and drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle the urfa pepper, and zahtar. Mix well. Place in one layer on a baking sheet(s) and sprinkle  very lightly with a little bit of fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place the garbanzo beans in a medium bowl. Add one Tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle the Aleppo pepper,seasame seeds and sumac. Mix well and place on a baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle very lightly with a little fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place squash pan(s) on the middle rack and the garbanzo pan on the top rack in oven.

Keep the pans in the oven till the beans have a light crisp and the squash is fork tender. In my oven this took thirty minutes.

In your sauce pot on medium high heat add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and when hot add the couscous. Fry the couscous for about five minutes. Add the onions and cook till transparent. Next add the tomato followed by the garlic. You will smell the garlic soon and then add the stock. Simmer till couscous is done. About ten minutes.

Add fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper to taste.

By now the squash and garbanzo beans are done and carefully stir them into the sauce pan. Mix in the herbs. Serve and sprinkle the cheese on last.

Everyone will FORKING Enjoy this one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a couple of extra eggplants so I decided to make an Italian type seasoned healthy dip. I made this dip with minimal amounts of oil. I used just enough to make the dip taste good. Besides Olive oil this dip is fat free. This dip is healthy and delicious.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 eggplants

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 very large lemon or 2 regular lemons – (just the fresh squeezed juice)

15 oz can 50% less sodium white beans – drained and rinsed three times. (50% less sodium beans don’t taste as canned as regular beans)

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

3 Calabrian chili peppers – chopped fine (or substitute a hot red jarred chili that you enjoy to taste but the Calabrian chili is recommended)

1 teaspoon fresh chopped fine rosemary

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

fresh crushed black pepper to taste

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

about 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil per portion to finish

about 1/2 teaspoon reduced balsamic vinegar per portion to finish

Directions

Set oven at 350 degrees F.

Wash the eggplants and slice them in half long ways. Place the eggplants in a baking dish. Score the eggplants on a diagonal in both directions like in the photo below.

Pour the lemon juice over the eggplants and then pour the olive oil over the eggplants. Roast until the tops are very dark brown (but not hard black) and the eggplants are squishy. (about one hour to one hour 15 minutes) like in picture below.

The eggplant then gets scraped out like the same way you do avocados, mangos and dragon fruit.

Blend up the eggplant. Add the rest of ingredients except finishing ingredients and blend. I prefer the dip slightly chunky so I don’t blend completely smooth.

Place in dish. Make well and fill with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with vegetables and or crusty bread.

It’s delicious and healthy!

 

 

I was reading about Portuguese Cuisine and read that common flavors in Portuguese Cuisine are Piri Piri, Cinnamon, Paprika and Bayleaf. I thought that would be easy to put in a meatloaf so that’s what I did. The Piri Piri Pepper is hard to come by so I used Nando’s Brand Piri Piri Sauce that contains real Piri Piri Peppers. For the sauce I used slow roasted tomatoes that I cooked at 200 degrees F for most of a day that are very concentrated and sweet. You can use canned or roasted but your tomatoes might not be as sweet so you might have to adjust and add sugar. I served the meatloaf with black rice cooked in vegetable broth with black beans.

Ingredients for 8 servings

1/2 medium sweet onion – chopped fine

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

2 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon vegetarian soup base (This is instead of salt as it’s salt with flavor)

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons Hot Piri Piri sauce (I used Nando’s Brand)

1/3 cup lager

1 cup panko bread crumbs (I used whole wheat)

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 cup parsley

non stick spray

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (for sauce)

14 oz cooked tomatoes (mine were slow roasted and concentrated, you might need sugar) (for sauce)

1 red bell pepper – chopped fine (for sauce)

1/2 medium sweet onion – chopped fine (for sauce)

1 celery rib – chopped fine (for sauce)

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste (for sauce)

1 Tablespoon – course sea salt (for sauce)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (for sauce)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (for sauce)

5 bay leaves (for sauce)

8 black olives – quartered (for sauce)

Directions set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine 1/2 onion, 3 ground garlic cloves, eggs, soup base, 3/4 black pepper, 1 teaspoon thyme, both paprikas, cinnamon, piri piri sauce, lager and panko. Mix well.

Mix in the turkey and parsley. The mixture will be extremely moist. Measure out  the individual meatloaf in 4 ounce portions and place on sprayed baking sheet(s) like this.

Place them in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked and then remove from oven.

To make the sauce

Put a sauce pot on medium high heat with the olive oil. When hot add the bell pepper, onions and celery and salt. Cook till tender. Add garlic till mixture seems fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients. The sauce might be ready in a few minutes depending on how your tomatoes are…Cook till you think your tomatoes are ready and do a taste test for seasoning. You might need a small amount of sugar if your tomatoes aren’t sweet enough. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE BAY LEAVES).

Enjoy!

Delicious!

 

I got this idea for Buffalo Blue Cheese Potato Pancakes. Well……..The pancakes came out good but not infused with much buffalo blue cheese flavor…so I came up with a topping for the pancakes. Potato pancakes are pretty easy to prepare and you don’t really need a recipe for them. Basically for about 35 pancakes that freeze well you need about 3 lbs potatoes shredded mixed with a whole grated onion mix in with potatoes (doesn’t turn brown) squeeze out liquid and mix with about two eggs, 1/2 cup of some kind of starch and season. Potato pancakes normally get served with sour cream and chives or sometimes apple sauce. But like I said earlier I got this Buffalo Blue Cheese idea….This topping taste terrific. It’s got this amazing melty texture and it’s very flavorful. A thin spread goes a long way here. You might want to use it on bagels and other things like on sandwiches too. I’m thinking maybe it can kick up a grilled cheese sandwich in an interesting way too. Well anyways it sure makes the Potato Pancake a little more fun and tasty!

Ingredients for about 12 servings

12 oz whipped cream cheese – room temperature

7 Tablespoons cayenne pepper sauce (preferably Franks Red Hot)

4 Tablespoons dijon mustard

4 oz sweet butter – room temperature

1 Tablespoon sugar

7 oz blue cheese

Directions

Get a large bowl and mix in ingredients one at a time in order until done.

Forking Delicious!