Sunday, September 7, 2014

Stuffed Red Kuri Squash

Beautiful Kuri squash are perfect for stuffing and roasting. If you can’t find them though, a butternut or tender pumpkin would also work for this Stuffed Red Kuri Squash recipe made with spicy Italian sausage.

Food Lust People Love: Beautiful Kuri squash are perfect for stuffing and roasting. If you can’t find them though, a butternut or tender pumpkin would also work for this Stuffed Red Kuri Squash recipe made with spicy Italian sausage.


Last year I heard the news that a great new farmers’ market was set to open in Safa Park, a lovely green space not far from the coast here in Dubai. But weekend after weekend other plans got made (and brilliantly executed) and we never did seem to get to the park, until finally, in late May, it happened.

To the Market, finally!
Now the farmers’ market had gotten good press regularly since opening so I knew it had fabulous food trucks and loads of fresh vegetables. The gourmet butcher would be there along with folks with games for the children and shopping opportunities from select purveyors of sauces, baked goods, jams, all natural ice cream and many handmade crafts. So, as you can imagine, I was rubbing my hands together with glee as we made our way there. 

Due to a big construction project along one side of the park, the normal entrance had been changed so we circled the containing wall, looking for the right gate. Whew! Found it. And snagged the last parking place in the parking lot just outside! By this point, I was clutching my shopping bags and practically skipping through the gate, only to be brought up short by the sight of one lone booth with fresh vegetables. And that’s it. 

Turns out that the farmers’ market had closed for the summer the weekend before but the vegetable vendor, who is also the organizer, thought it would be a good idea to show up one last time, in case not everyone had gotten the word. Crestfallen does not even start to describe me. 

Fortunately, the vendor did have a decent selection of produce, including a few weird little round squashes with crook necks that I had never seen before. He didn’t know what they were called, beyond squash, but said that they were grown locally and were great when roasted. Sold!

My guy! Ooh, ooh, talking 'bout my guy! 


Do you have a farmers’ market near you? 
This year, when the sweltering heat has abated somewhat and sitting outdoors is no longer a health hazard, the farmers’ market will resume operations on 10 October at a different location in Zabeel Park and this time I’m going to try to get there long before next May. I know I have readers from around the world. I’m curious. When do your farmers’ markets open and close, if they aren’t year round?

Ingredients
4 links fresh Italian sausage (My four weighed about 7 3/4 oz or 275g)
1 red Kuri squash (My guy weighed about 440g or almost 1 lb)
2 slices stale bread (about 1 3/4 - 2 oz or 50-55g)
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
Handful flatleaf or Italian parsley
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (depending on your tolerance/love of spiciness)
Olive oil
Salt, to taste

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and use a little olive oil to grease a small pan that will just fit the two halves of your squash side by side.

Make crumbs out of your stale bread in the food processor and divide them into two bowls, the smaller one with just a few heaping tablespoons full for topping, the balance in the larger bowl. Pour the milk over the crumbs in the larger bowl and leave to soak.



Mince your garlic and parsley and remove the sausage meat from the casing.

Meanwhile, cut your squash in half and remove the fibers and seeds. Slice just a tiny bit off of the bottom so the squash halves sit flat and place them in the oiled pan.



Drain your breadcrumbs in a small sieve and press down lightly with your hands or the back of a spoon to get most of the milk out.



In a large mixing bowl, put the sausage meat, drained bread crumbs, garlic, parsley and crushed red pepper in with the egg and mix well.



My locally made Italian sausage is plenty salty so I don’t add more salt to this mixture. If yours is not, or if you are not sure, I encourage you to cook just a teaspoon of the mixture in a small frying pan to check. Add a little salt to the mixture, if necessary.

Stuff your mixture loosely in the squash halves.



Top with the reserved breadcrumbs and drizzle liberally with some olive oil.



Roast in your preheated oven for about 45-60 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce the squash and it is cooked through. If it’s getting too brown, you can cover it with foil and continue roasting until done. And, in case you are wondering, the peel is completely edible. In fact, it's my favorite part!

Food Lust People Love: Beautiful Kuri squash are perfect for stuffing and roasting. If you can’t find them though, a butternut or tender pumpkin would also work for this Stuffed Red Kuri Squash recipe made with spicy Italian sausage.


Enjoy!



Are you a fan of squash dishes? We've got everything you need for a festival of squash today!

Starters – Appetizers & Cocktails:
Pickles & Relish:
Soups & Salads:
Main Dishes
Side Dishes:
Sweets to Start or End the Day:

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Loaded Baked Potato Waffles #FoodieExtravaganza



Take all the lovely ingredients of a fully loaded baked potato, stir them into waffle batter and bake till golden in a Belgian waffle iron. Perfection squared. 

Last month my Foodie Extravanza group celebrated peaches and I missed the whole thing because of traveling. It made me a little sad, but with the choice of London or cooking peaches, I had to go with London! But it did make me doubly determined to participate this month, especially when I heard that we were celebrating waffles. Waffles can be sweet or savory so, if you know me at all, you know which way I was sure to go. And since my mother, well documented on this site as being a lover of all things potato, was visiting, a waffle with all the fixings of a loaded baked potato seemed perfect. And indeed it was. Serve them plain with extra sour cream, chives and cheese. Or pop a fried egg on top.

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom to see all the lovely waffles we are sharing. Many thanks to Summer from Summer Scraps who is hosting this month!

Ingredients for six or seven square Belgian waffles
5-6 slices streaky smoked bacon (just less than 4 1/2 oz or 125g)
1 cup or 125g flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream plus more to serve, if desired
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1 egg
1 potato (about 7 1/2 oz or 210g)
1/2 oz or 15g green onions, plus more to serve, if desired
1/2 cup or 45g grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, plus more to serve, if desired

Method
Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry it until crispy. Remove it from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on some paper towels. Put a little of the bacon fat in a small bowl and set it aside. Yep, we are going to grease the waffle iron with it for extra flavor.

Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and a few generous grinds of fresh black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add in the grated cheese, crispy bacon and green onion tops and stir well.



Whisk the egg, sour cream and milk together in a smaller mixing bowl.  Peel and grate the potato and add it immediately to the egg bowl and stir to stop the potato from oxidizing and turning brown.

Looks like the grated cheese, doesn't it?


Preheat your waffle maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.



Using a pastry brush, grease your waffle maker with a little of the reserved bacon fat.



Pour the manufacturer’s recommended amount of  batter into the center of the lower half of the waffle maker, being careful to leave room for when the batter spreads out as you lower the lid and also for when the waffle starts to rise when baking.



Close the lid and watch for the signal that your waffle is cooking.  On my waffle maker, the light goes green when it is ready for batter, red when it is cooking and then green again when the waffle is ready.  I leave the waffle in just a little bit longer after the light turns green the second time so the waffles are nice and crispy.  But if you like them less crunchy, by all means take them out earlier.



Serve topped with a little extra sour cream, green onions and even grated cheese, if desired.



If you have any batter left over, go ahead and baked the waffles and store them, wrapped in cling film, in the refrigerator or freezer. They reheat beautifully in the toaster. A couple of days after making these, I toasted one and served it with a couple sunny-side up eggs on top, more bacon on the side. Sadly, I didn’t take a photo but it was wonderful. The runny egg yolk nicely filled many of the waffle holes. Soooo much better than plain toast!

Enjoy!

My helper is always right there, on clean up duty, just in case I drop something. Hope springs eternal.




We are a group of bloggers who love to blog about food! And each month we all incorporate one main ingredient into a recipe or choose to celebrate a certain dish and put our own twist on it. This month that dish is waffles! We hope you all enjoy our delicious waffles this and come see what next month's new ingredient or dish will be. If you would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our bloggers Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

Check out all the fabulous waffles we've made this month!

Savory Waffles


Sweet Waffles


Ambidextrous Waffles




Monday, September 1, 2014

Plummy Muffins for #MuffinMonday


With lots of sweet purple plums inside, and more pretty plum baked on the outside, these plummy muffins, with a hint of ginger, make a great breakfast or snack.

There are three meanings to the word plummy. First and foremost, as you will imagine, it relates to actual plums and comes from the same root word plume in Old English, borrowed the Old High Germanic pfluma and the Latin prunum. The second meaning, first recorded in the late 1700s is "something desirable." If you’ve ever watched Queen Elizabeth II delivering her annual Christmas message, you will have witnessed the third meaning, and here I quote the Oxford English Dictionary: (Of a person’s voice) having an accent thought typical of the English upper classes.

There is nothing snooty or upper class about these muffins, but the first two definitions certainly apply. Full of plums and highly desirable. Make you some!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 125g raw light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 small ripe, yet firm, plums (Mine weighed almost 11 oz or 310g total weight.)
1 egg
1/3 cup or 75g butter, melted then cooled
3/4 cup or 175ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Put liners in a 12-cup muffin pan or grease it well with butter or non-stick spray.

Slice the sides off of your plums and set them aside.  Cut the pits out and chop the rest of the plums in small pieces.



Make three equal three-quarter long cuts in the plum sides, so that you can fan them out on the batter before baking.



In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger and salt.



In another smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, milk and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine.  This will be very dry and you should have lots of flour still showing.



Gently fold in your chopped plums.

It looks dry but the chopped plums take care of that in the baking.


Divide batter among muffin cups.   Decorate each with a fanned out plum side.



Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.


Enjoy!