Mashed Potato Squash

Friday, 20 August 2021

We are coming into one of my favorite food seasons. More and more I am seeing many of my favorite fruits and vegetables showing up at the local farm markets.

One of these is Winter Squash. And there are more varieties than ever to choose from!

I can only ever remember my mother cooking one kind of squash when I was a child and it was the big old dark green Hubbard squash.

I confess I did not like squash as a child. Mom would cut it into cubes, boil it to smithereens and mash it with a bit of butter, salt and pepper.

It was watery and I just did not care for it at all. I don't think any of us did really. I am sure my mom often wondered why she bothered!

As an adult I discovered butternut squash and fell in love! I had not realised that there were so many varieties of Winter Squash or that they could be delicious. Roasted or cooked in the microwave, they make a wonderful side dish, and not just for Thanksgiving dinner!

My sister and I stopped at a farm market the other day and were instantly entranced with this particular Squash, Mashed Potato Squash. With its bright white rind I was very curious as to what it would cook up like. I bought one and my sister did too!

We also each picked up a Spaghetti Squash. Let the squash fest begin!

I was thinking this Mashed Potato Squash would be an excellent low carb alternative. As a Diabetic I try to watch my carb intake and am always on the lookout for low carb alternatives.

However I have since read online, that whilst squashes are a healthy alternative to carbs in that they are filled with fiber, they are actually quite high in carbs so caution must be exercised. You don't want to go over board with them.

They are considered to be medium glycemic, so whilst not the worst choice, not the best either. You can feel free however, to enjoy them in moderation, because they are actually quite healthy and packed with nutrients.

Most Winter type of squashes lend themselves beautifully to a variety of cooking methods. My favorite ways to cook them are roasting, steaming or cooking them in the microwave.

Calling these Winter Squashes is a bit of a misnomer actually. Whilst they are easily stored over the Winter, most ripen and are harvested in the last summer/ autumn months.

All labels aside, this is a vegetable which comes in many different varieties, including butternut squash, acorn squash, kabocha squash, carnival squash, Japanese pumpkin, sweet dumpling squash, blue hubbard squash, delicata squash, red curi squash, buttercup squash, sugar pumpkin, and spaghetti squash.

And I am sure there are many others I am forgetting. I haven't met one yet that I didn't like.

I decided to cook my Mashed Potato Squash in the Microwave as it is still fairly hot and humid. Its also a lot faster to cook them in the microwave, although the timings will vary according to the size of your squash.

You can also cook them whole in the microwave. Once cooked they are easy to halve, scoop out the seeds and then the flesh, ready for mashing.

You do need to prick them in several places to make sure that any steam can escape. Remember squash is a moist vegetable, filled with water, so they can and will explode if that water has nowhere to escape!

But other than pricking them, just wash off and pop the squash into the microwave. I like to cook them on power 7 to 8 for about fifteen minutes, flipping them halfway over in the middle of the cooktime. My squash was about 6 inches round about and that was perfect.

Once cooked you can just let them cool a bit. Then cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. (I hold them with an oven mitt)

Then just scoop out the flesh and mash, adding a knob of butter and some seasoning. Easy peasy.

These didn't have a really strong flavor so I think they would benefit from treating them just like a potato, adding butter, cream even, or cheese.

You could do a baked potato type of casserole with them adding all of your favorite baked potato things, like chopped chives, spring onions, bacon, sour cream, etc. Now doesn't that sound good!!!

Squash does lend itself to many delicious ways of dressing it up.

Spiced Butternut Soup with Honey is one way I enjoy serving it, but of course that is in the colder weather.

This is a very simple soup to make. You cut your squash in half down the middle and roast it (covered) on a baking tray along with a whole head of garlic.

Don't worry, the garlic gets all sweet and mellow when it is roasted. You won't smell, but your kitchen will smell beautiful.

Maple and Butter Baked Squash is another favorite of mine. Filled with maple syrup and butter before baking.

This is simple and delicious. The hardest part is cutting the squash in half! You can make as many servings or as few as you wish to make.

Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagne is another real favorite of mine. The butternut squash gets all caramelized and sweet, along with the onions.
The sage adds a beautiful herby touch, without being over powering.

And that bechamel . . . so buttery and rich . . . all layered with gruyere and Parmesan cheeses.

So you see, when you buy yourself a squash, you are not just buying a vegetable. You are getting yourself a feast that will lend itself beautifully to any manner of ways of cooking and serving it.

Gotta go, my little kittens need me. I am due for some cuddle time. Photos to follow soon!

Mashed Potato Squash

Yield: varies with size of squash

Author: Marie Rayner

Baked and fluffed, this hard shelled squash makes a deliciously wonderful alternative to the real thing. You can either roast it in the oven or cook it in the microwave (my preferred method).

Ingredients

1 mashed potato squash
Olive Oil if roasting in oven
salt and black pepper to taste
butter to taste

Instructions

To Oven Roast:

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Wash the squash and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard.
Place the squash halves on a baking sheet, cut side down, and drizzle each half with some olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
Roast in the preheated oven until they can easily be pierced with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool until you can comfortably handle them. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon into a bowl. Mash with a fork to the desired consistency.
Add a knob of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To cook in microwave:

Wash and pierce the whole squash in 6 to 8 places with the point of a sharp knife.
Microwave for fifteen minutes at 7 - 8 power, flipping the squash over halfway through the cook time. A knife should easily enter the squash when cooked.
Cool until you can comfortably handle it, cut in half. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Scoop the flesh into a bowl and mash together with a knob of butter and salt and pepper to taste.

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Small Batch Fried Chicken (air fryer or oven)

Thursday, 19 August 2021

When I first moved into my new home I decided to buy myself an air fryer. They are all the rage at the moment.

I had one of the older T-Fal ones in the UK and I am rather ashamed to say I really didn't use it like I should have done. It was overly large and my kitchen too small. It did great chips and wings, etc. but it was so large I couldn't keep it in my kitchen

It got relegated to our bedroom closet with all of the other things which were too large for storage down stairs and I have to admit, it never got used again. Sad but true.

I am that person. That person who only uses things that are easily accessible to me. If I need help to get something out to use, the truth is I just will rarely if ever use it.

Its not that I didn't want to use it, its more like it was more trouble to dig it out than it was worth. In any case I got myself an air fryer when I moved into my new home and made a promise to myself that I was going to use it. Regularly.

And I have done. I bought a Cuisinart toaster oven air fryer, which had good reviews from ATK (America's Test Kitchen). I figured I could use it for more than one purpose.

I call it the Cremator. That's because almost everything I have tried to cook in it burns and rather quickly too. Its very fierce. I've been playing with it for months now and have still not come to terms with it.

I recently decided to buy myself a smaller one and see if I could work that one out any better. Today I decided to try to fry some chicken in it and I am happy to say, I managed to do a half decent job.

I based my recipe loosely on one I found on a blog called Recipes Worth Repeating. I did make a few changes.

I came near to cremating it, but managed to stop just shy of that, and ended up with tender, juicy, well flavored chicken. A tiny tad bit darker than I would have liked.

I used smaller chicken thighs than she did and adjusted the cook time accordingly. I wanted a recipe to feed two.

I used four small bone in, skin on chicken thighs, whereas she used 5 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I did remove the skin and discard it, but I kept the bone in.

I did that for several reasons. One bone in chicken stays moister. Two, bone in chicken has better flavor than bone out.

I discarded the skin because I was trying to be healthier, but you could leave the skin on if you wanted to.

Having removed the skin, I knew that the coating would have a problem sticking to the chicken. What is the point of using panko bread crumbs if you can't make them stick.

I therefore soaked the chicken in some water before shaking it with the crumb and spice mixture. I wanted my crumbs to stick. I suppose you could do the same with some buttermilk.

The spice mixture is a really nice combination. You would think it would be ultra spicy, but it just isn't.

There is ground cumin, sweet paprika, curry powder (I used medium), sweet paprika, mild chili powder, salt and pepper. This was just perfect.

If you wanted it really spicy you could amp up the heat a bit by using hot paprika, and a stronger curry powder, also a stronger chili powder.

I am a huge wimp when it comes to food that bites you back. I just don't like it. I want to be able to taste all the flavors in what I am eating. I don't want to burn my mouth.

Or worse yet, at my age anyways, get a huge case of indigestion, a very real problem with me. I have gastric disease. When I was younger, the hotter the better! I prided myself on being able to eat hot peppers and all sorts without any problem.

This is no longer the case.

But cutting back a bit on the timings, using bone in chicken and dampening the chicken so that the coating adhered I ended up with some pretty tasty, crisp and juicy chicken.

I served it with some corn on the cob, mashed squash and a kale salad. Yes, that does sound healthy. Well, it did to me anyways.

I think that when you live on your own you can have a tendency to not eat properly, or at proper times. I found myself getting into that habit. I am trying to change that now.

I have spent so many years taking care of everyone else, now I need to be a bit more selfish and take care of me. In any case, this was really tasty! I highly recommend and if you don't have an air fryer, never fear. You can still cook it in the oven if you wish, with successful results.