Spiced Brown Sugar Custard Filled Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts Recipe

This is a variation of a coconut custard filled squash I did.

Spiced Custard Filled Acorn Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts

It’s basically the same but instead of coconut milk I used evaporated milk and also changed the sugar to dark brown sugar in the custard and the nuts because I’ve discovered that dark brown sugar is much tastier.

Ingredients for around 8 or more servings

4 squash (acorn or something similar) cut in half and remove seeds

a few squirts olive oil

fresh ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

1-12oz size can of evaporated milk (for custard)

3 eggs beaten (for custard)

1 Tablespoon corn starch (for custard)

1 teaspoon ground ginger (for custard)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for custard)

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (for custard)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar (for custard) or a little more if you want sweeter

pinch sea salt (for custard)

2 cups walnuts (walnut topping)

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted (walnut topping)

2 teaspoons Walkins Maple Bourbon Rub) (walnut topping)

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar (walnut topping)

non stick spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

On sheet pans spray with olive oil and grind fresh sea salt and fresh black pepper.

Put the cut cleaned squashes cut side down on the sheet pan(s).

These stay in the oven for 30 minutes. While the squash are cooking make the custard filling. In a large bowl combine the evaporated milk, eggs, corn starch, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar.

The squash should be coming out of the oven soon. They need to cool enough so you can pull off any stems that stick out. Flip them over so you can fill them with custard. I found it easiest to sit the pans on the middle rack and then pour in the custard filling. Depending on the size of your squash they will take 45-60 minutes to cook the custard all the way.

Walnuts – Combine walnuts, butter, Walkins Maple Bourbon Rub, dark brown sugar and mix well. Spread this out on a non stick sprayed sheet pan. This goes on the top rack in your oven along with the custard filled squash for only 10 or up to 15 minutes..

Remember some of the custard filled squash will be ready before some of the others. You can tell by moving the rack and can see if the custard is set or still jiggles. Add walnuts to the top and enjoy either warm or chilled.

Brown Sugar Spiced Custard filled Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts
Brown Sugar Spiced Custard filled Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to WSKY Bar & Grill (720 E Cheyenne Ave) N. Las Vegas NV – Not the Best

WSKY Bar & Grill is a 24/7 Restaurant, Bar, and Gaming type of place with several locations in Vegas. TWO LOCATIONS are in North Las Vegas and BOTH locations are on Cheyenne Avenue maybe just two miles apart from each other. The New 720 E Cheyenne Avenue location looks different than most 24/7 type places. The most striking feature here are the large glass windows on the front and back of building that leave in lots of natural daylight during the day. The other difference is that this new location has a slightly smaller but also different food menu. They offer the usual all day breakfast and a mostly American menu of foods.

Today I tried the mediterranean salad.

The hummus (right side of plate) is thick as cement and not the best but over-all it’s an OK salad. It came with tzatziki dressing. It’s suppose to come with pita chips but they didn’t make it to the plate. (I had this same problem with a different salad that I had at the other nearby WSKY location) anyways I’m the lucky one because my husband’s burger came out dryer than a Burger King Burger.

Between the dry beef patties were –

Burnt Black Onions.

Oh and I almost forgot. I tried one of the Tater Tots and they were so over salted I couldn’t eat them.

WSKY of North Las Vegas – Not The Best

WSKY Bar & Grill

720 Cheyenne Avenue N Las Vegas NV

www.WSKYbarandGrill.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Abel’s Bagels – Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Abel’s Bagels is a small Bagel Shop located in Las Vegas about 20 minutes away from the Las Vegas Strip near The Durango Casino/Hotel.

We happened to be in the area so we each had a bagel sandwich.

I tried the Lox & Cream Cheese on an Everything Bagel with an onion slice and capers.

It’s a lot less garlicky than most everything bagels and a little softer but they were very generous with the cream cheese and my sandwich had a good amount of ACME brand lox in it that is very good

My husband tried the bagel sandwich special that they named, “The Katz” (Rye, Pumpernickel bagel, mustard, and Wild Fig BBQ Pastrami with added pepper jack cheese)

A little different but tasty.

That was our trip to Abel’s Bagels – Worth a Try!

7250 S Durango Drive Las Vegas NV

702-516-4244

www.Abels-Bagels.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

How Ya Dough’n – Pizza is Worth a Fork! Las Vegas NV

How Ya Dough’n Pizza in Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip in a Building on the 3rd Floor called The BLVD. The BLVD is located across the street from Eataly and just a short distance from M&M World. This is a small casual Pizza shop with an inside counter and outdoor patio tables to sit at. The pizza is really different here. They do a 8-12 day fermentation that creates a sourdough taste like no other. The pizzas we tried were thin and crisp with great really different flavors. Besides unique pizzas they offer three appetizers (wings, meatballs, doughboys ((dough balls tossed in parm.&butter with red sauce or vodka sauce for dipping) Soft beverages are offered here. You want to come here on a nice weather day. They have a small counter to sit at inside. Outside are many picnic type tables.

Here are the pizzas that were offered..

We ordered a Pistachio Pizza and the January Special called The Funion. (Mozz.,Havarti, roasted onion, leeks, chives, onion seeds)

While we waited for our order I watched one of the pizza guys throw a pizza crust in the air.

Soon we get pizzas.

Above is the Funion.

Above is the pistachio.

Both were very good but I thought the pistachio was more layered and popped more.

My husband felt different and enjoyed the Funion more.

Both were very good.

How Ya Dough’n is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

How Ya Dough’n

3755 S Las Vegas BLVD Las Vegas NV

702-665-4019

www.HowYaDoughn.com

Every THING is subject to change

The Forking Truth

The FORKING Las Vegas FOOD Buzz of the Week

Best Restaurant of the week is James Beard Nominated for Best Chef – Calabash African Kitchen. We shared Fataya Pies (vegetarian Empanadas), Red Snapper Platter, and their Famous Jollof Rice. All was delicious and this really was the best African Style food I ever tried anywhere.

Also enjoyed a hidden Gem – Cured & Whey. It’s a small deli, cheese, and wine shop in an industrial park that’s a short ride from Mandalay Bay. We didn’t try any wine but I can say that the sandwiches and the cheeses are unusually good!

Cheese Tray

In other Food News –

I’m so FORKING tired of the cart problem at my local Smith’s. The woman next to me was very angry. I was afraid she might crack and go berserk because she said that she couldn’t shop without a cart. She was screaming and waving her arms in the air. I was afraid something was going to happen that you’d see on the news.

In other Food News –

Already Open – Amata Moderne Thai – 5597 S Rainbow Blvd – By former executive chef of high profile Strip Asian Restaurant Hakkasan (he left to open his own Thai Restaurant)

Maybe – Feb 26? – Hayworth Restaurant by Bravo Top Chef and of Beat Bobby Flay Chef Alex Reznick is opening an Eastern European-Jewish Restaurant 1450 W Horizon Ridge Pkwy – Henderson

Feb – 28 – Korea Town Plaza Lunar New Year Festival 1-9pm free to attend

March 27 – Fiorella Pasta Bar by Marc Vetri is to CLOSESin the Durango Food Hall

Spring – Able Baker Bomb Shelter – 6371 Centennial Center Blvd

Soon? – Bokki Chicken (Korean Take Out) 110 S Rainbow Blvd

Soon? – 6 NEW locations of Hawaiian Bros Island Grill (no addresses were listed)

Summer? – Five Guys ((with a patio) Plaza Hotel/Casino – 1 N Main St

This Year? K-Ssam Bap (Korean Restaurant) 3909 W Sahara Ave

By Year End? – 215 Losee Village (NORTH LAS VEGAS) Retail Complex on the east side of Losee Rd between Deer Springs Way and 215 Beltway. Eateries and MORE – Second Phase will include Stand alone restaurants.

In Silly and or Cute Food News – My Dogs enjoying the Dog Menu at Market Grill Cafe on the Patio.

That was The FORKING Las Vegas FOOD Buzz of the Week

and this is

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Bakery Collection M&M’s

The Bakery Collection of M&M’s Candy recently came out so I had to give them a try even though they ALL contain artificial flavoring.

Lemon Meringue Pie – I open the bag. they smell like lemon soda. When you eat them they have a strange texture and don’t feel like a M&M in your mouth. More of a candy coated cereal ball. They have a bright refreshing almost lemon taste and do taste a little bit white-chocolaty. Not terrible but have very little resemblance to an M&M.

Cherry Chocolate Cupcake – These smell like chocolate when you open the bag. They are the most successful flavor of the three. They do have an M&M’s chocolate taste embellished with a Cherry Soda type taste.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Roll – YUK! Worst of the bunch. They smell like peanut butter. It’s like they made peanut butter M&M’s and instead of adding cinnamon they added a chemical that doesn’t taste like cinnamon and is bitter with a chemical taste.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on the M&M’s Bakery Collection. I do note that YOUR Forking thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

A Peak of the International Marketplace – Las Vegas NV

The International Marketplace is an enormous sort of Supermarket and Houseware Store that sells groceries and things from all over the world. They also sells lots of fresh and frozen seafood, kitchen items, some restaurant ware, live bamboo, Oriental urns, plant pots and more.

Below is just a small amount of what I came across.

That was a peek of The International Marketplace

5000 S Decatur Blvd Las Vegas NV

The Forking Truth

Amazing Thai – North Las Vegas NV – Hits and sort of Misses

Amazing Thai is a casual Thai Restaurant that offers most of the Thai dishes that you would expect and also some Vegan alternative dishes.

From my first visit we both enjoyed the eggplant chip appetizer.

Haven’t tried this dish again until recently. The Eggplant Chips look a bit different but are still tasty and very good but they gave us a different sauce that is just sweet instead of the savory spicy sauce that we preferred.

Recently I tried the Caramel Salmon.

It’s sweet caramelized salmon. on a bed of lettuce. It only pops when you add the spicy flavorful sauce on the end of the plate. It comes with a double order of rice.

My husband tried the Spicy Basil with Beef.

The beef was hand chopped that creates more surface space to hold in flavor better (some places just slice the meat or just use ground Meat) Tonight this dish was very soy forward. It should be basil forward.

Some of the dishes we tried on past visits were –

Chicken with Spicy Eggplant – This was the biggest hit. That day the eggplant was absolute perfection in a very tasty sauce.

Drucken Noodles with Beef

We also did some take out.

Spicy Basil Chicken Rice

Salmon Panang – reasonably good.

A little Hit and Miss like most places. Also not the most consistent.

Amazing Thai

3000 W Ann Rd North Las Vegas NV

725-222-8289

www.AmazingThaiLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Chubby Cattle Hot Pot – Las Vegas NV – Pretty Tasty – Worth a Try!

The Chubby Cattle Hot Pot Restaurant is located in Las Vegas’s Chinatown. This is a restaurant that specializes in Asian Hot Pots or Hardy Soup Meals. They offer a variety of soup bases. Most soup bases do contain pork but they still offer a long list of things to those who don’t eat pork. You start out by ordering your soup base. You order add ons. The add ons come in small and large sizes. We found that small add ons are plenty for two people. They also have extra add ons that go by your table on a conveyer belt. You also use the condiment bar to embellish your hot pot further.

The tables have soup wells built into them to keep your hot pot hot.

You can see by my picture that we tried a lot of things.

I tried vegan Beautiful Tomato Hot Pot and my husband tried House Original Hot Pot.

See how red the Tomato one is in the bottom left corner looks different after you do the add ons.

I added on tomatoes, spinach noodles, pumpkin, baby corn, some mushrooms, and flounder. I also added just a little bit of condiments. Some garlic, cilantro, mirin, sesame oil. Everything is delicious (except for the flounder) I would not recommend getting the flounder here. I’m glad it didn’t spoil my soup. The fish was still edible but fishy. Somehow my soup stayed pretty darn tasty and I had a bunch left over for the next day.

My husband added on wagyu brisket, ramen noodles, mushrooms, potatoes, and extra numbing, spicy sauce. He enjoyed all of his very much.

Chubby Cattle is Worth a Try! (just don’t get the flounder)

3400 South Jones Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-868-8806

www.ChubbyCattle.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The FORKING Las Vegas FOOD Buzz of the Week

Favorite Dish of the week was the Maitake Mushrooms with Miso Fondue from Ada’s Food & Wine. It was delicious and amazing. Almost every one would enjoy it. I also should say at this point that most dishes we tried were at least VERY GOOD from Ada’s ……..But also the worst dish of the week came from the same restaurant.

This pasta dish was terrible because of how highly over salted it was. The restaurant was very apologetic about this and did offer to replace and remove from the bill. But It’s a long story that is best saved for another time.

Took a trip to the newly opened Hearthstone at Red Rock. Had maybe the smallest salad that I ever had anywhere. (It was only tomatoes, cheese, and black berries)

In other food news –

Coming Soon –

Late February? – Hayworth (by chef Alex Reznik – winner of Beat Bobby Flay, and also from Bravo Top Chef) Eastern European and Jewish Foods – 1450 W Horizon Ridge Pkwy – Henderson

Feb.- 28 – Lunar New Year FESTIVAL at Korea Town Plaza

March?– Tacos 1986 – at The Resort at Summerlin (in the Food Hall)

March? – For The Win (smash burgers) At The Resort at Summerlin (in the Food Hall)

Now Open –

-The FIRST Five Guys with a walk up BAR on the Strip in The Venetian

And in Silly and or Cute Food News – My Dogs eating from The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill.

That was The FORKING Las Vegas FOOD Buzz of the week

and this is

The Forking Truth