Stuffing Cubed

My forever squash and one of two reasons I garden. Yes, really.

The second? Because I’m not done yet. Never will be either.

Of four sage plants one just sprouted all new growth, perfectly timed.

Going through my onion supply like an allium addict.

Everything in a gentle, mellow balance.

Smaller servings because last year I made huge servings and always had too much. Have to stretch my limited supplies too.

The recipe is here, as am I, Dear Reader! I’m here too much for it to be exciting? Oh. Okay, I’ll just stay regardless and talk your collective ears off. I’ve been outside in what I’ve heard called sunlight, it’s rather pleasant and very rare. I’ve planted my seed potatoes for Christmas, they’re a common thing, but I’ve never heard of them before. I put them in rows in the Cabbage Bed, which will be known as that until next year, the ghost of cabbage is remembered fondly in its naming. I want something to do in the later months coming into Winter. I’m currently trying to resist the urge to splurge on tulip bulbs, they tend to be beautiful the first year, horrid the second, not always, but all too often, then hopefully return in the third or just die. I’ll wait for the cheaper bulbs to appear, fancy bulbs are great in small quantities, but my wallet protests at bulk buying them. The store I do most shopping at is constantly filled with indoor flowers, tempting me into cramping my already cramped space, Dear Reader, bu I will be strong…as strong as I can be at least.

It was knocked by the rain, but remains unbroken.

There are still so many roses coming in.

I pinched off the fig tree’s top to stop it overgrowing. I just want it as an ornamental.

This part for those wanting to do the same, same idea as bonsai, just bigger. Not that I know much about bonsai.

A lot of plants are setting seed this year.

My toughest dahlia.

It seems healthier and strong this year, maybe it’s just luck or maybe foliar feeding.

My indoor garden is finally permanently situated and looks so much healthier, I did have an accident with on succulent, I keep inadvertently knocking off it’s lower leaves, I have no idea how!…I’m clumsy, but I put them atop a pot with rooting powder and gel, I have to try both, Dear Reader, curiosity impels me, and I have two purple passion cuttings, one in a pot, the other a glass, both rooting happily. One was hit by high heat in the kitchen and drooped, so I gave it sugar water and moved it and it has come back after a few hours. Sugar water is the greatest lesson I have been taught, Dear Reader, a little sugar dissolved in water for plants that are being transplanted helps prevent transplant shock, if I remember rightly the plant can’t produce sugars while in shock, but the roots can absorb it. No one really believe its efficiency until they see how well it works. I only recommend what I know to work, Dear Reader, that’s just how I am.

Separately they’re nice, but together they’re stunning. You can see my sole blueberry bush in the back.

Oh, the other Hollyhock has flowered.

My “Red Hot Pokers” from the discount store, I wouldn’t mind, but they weren’t selling anything that looked like this.

Three years to see…this..I…

I don’t think I even planted this.

Though the Summer has been dreadful, both the garden and I steadily plod onward, a little here and there can add up and everyday I get a little further to some delicious to eat or if I’m already there to the next delicious thing. I’m enjoying it, Dear Reader, the work really does pay and every year I will forget that as I restart. Such is gardening. I’ll be back again later, Dear Reader, until then take care and send me some sun if you can spare it.

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Rice Flour and Puree Savoury Waffles

The Venn diagram of “What Do You Eat?” and “How Did You Lose The Weight?” is a circle.

Here’s the recipe.

Well, this is surprising to us both, Dear Reader, I had left over squash puree, those Uchiki Kuri are a worthwhile buy, there’s little waste for the size. I found out they’re grown in poly-tunnels, which makes sense after the disappointing sweet dumpling, sweet, but not bountiful. I’ll just have to strike it rich or stick to bush type squashes. What was I supposed to be talking about? Oh, waffles, yeah, I do tend to waffle on, I just…hmm? Heh. I was talking with a Dear Reader, Joëlle, who, like many of you puts up with Dearest Darling Jack, and we were lamenting the dryness caused by rice flour. Now I have had experience baking with rice flour and with Pureed vegetables and fruit, thanks to a recipe from Cooking Without Gluten, that taught me more than the entirety of most blogs have, which in time became my recipe here, sources are important, as is gratitude. So, rice flour is pretty awful. Though it is great for flat recipes like waffles, I have tried out some purees and waffles to no success, but today I managed to hit the right ratios. What happens was really a surprise, the puree took away a lot of he inherent dryness, and the waffles themselves managed to crisp and firm up after cooling, it’s usually the disappointing reverse.

You shall be curry. The buns are here and the bread here.

Rice flour batter looks velvety and is actually just lumpy at the best of times.

You can just see the outer crust being slight less done, hence the flip.

That’s me fed for a while.

So, soft, savoury, because I swear sugar is detrimental to good free-from waffles and I’m using less and less sugar these days, waffles that are really just made with junk and easy to hand ingredients. Sometimes you get lucky, Dear Reader, this should work with any moist pureed vegetable, but you’ll have to experiment, I have enough for a while. In truth, Dear Reader, I’m not sure that I ever really sought to become a food blogger, I just wanted to share what I had learned and what I had to do to accomplish all that I have. If I’m honest at times the blog was a danger to my diet as sugary sweet recipes are the most common free-from ones to be found. Cake was not the curative I needed. You can tend to seek recipes that will please your readership and the most likely candidates are going to be sweet rather than savoury. Once I stopped chasing this ambiguous goal of success I freed myself to really learn all that I could, not that I’m not glad that I’ve challenged myself in various ways over the years, my numerous forays into vegan baking and egg replacement have been a valuable asset, but if you keep making sweets you will fall and no one will be there to pick you up. No matter how great a blogger I could be, not that that’d been a possibility, I know myself and a viral star I will never be, so I switched gears and focused on my health, whatever that entailed would be shared here and I would no longer look for recipes for you, but rather recipes for continued health, popularity be damned. And, well, nothing much changed, the blog’s stats continue to rise each year and there is a lot of support, which I’m grateful for. What I’m getting at is that there’s more than one way to be a food blogger and there are more recipes than you’ll ever know. The post is heavy, but the waffles are light. I’ll be back again, Dear Reader. Take care.

Ingredients

75g Rice Flour (White and Brown Blend)
50g Steamed Squash Puree
1 Medium Egg (60g-65g in Shell)
15ml Olive Oil
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Water as Needed

Makes 4 Waffles. Can be frozen.

Method

1. Turn on Waffle Iron. Mix everything, expect the Water, together in a jug, then add Water until a loose, but lumpy Batter has been formed. It should be just thick enough to spread slowly. batter has been formed.

3. Add enough Batter to warmed Waffle Iron to fill the plates thinly, spreading as necessary, close the iron and cook for 7-10 minutes until waffles are golden brown and the bottom is cooked. Remove with a rubber spatula and flip over, leave for a further two minutes to cook the bottom. Remove and let cool for a few minutes, Waffles will crisp up slightly more as they cool.

Buckwheat Flour Pumpkin Pie

Freshness Update: Even after two days in the fridge, aside from some shrinkage and sweating, the pastry and pie both remain delicious. You’d be best to let it rest overnight and there are methods to avoid shrinkage, but I have absolutely no experience with baked custards so I can only advice you look it up if you need a pristine pie. For Jack this is enough. I still have to test a freezer pie and when I do I’ll report back.

A mixture of Honeybear and Sweet Dumpling.

“Breadcrumbs”.

Wrap it up, toss it in the fridge, gets easy with practice.

Ah, Dear  Reader, this has been in the pipeline for, oh, three years or so. What? I get it done, eventually, heh. In all honesty the major difficulty with a recipe like this is twofold: Firstly I’ve never eaten, seen it in person nor heard anyone ever mention, Pumpkin Pie. So I have no frame of reference as to what it should be like. Recipes, like the one I based this on, never say anything about how it should turn out or taste, then they pose photos to further obfuscate matters, so the second problem occurs: I’m a stickler for details when I’m sharing something, I will wrack my brain to wring out every necessary description, step and variable. Which is exhausting. When large recipes sites fail to do this you’d think I’d give myself a free pass, but I never do, not that it really does anything tangible, I never know who uses these recipes outside of a few dedicated Dear Readers, but it is stressful, it’s why I often shy away from these kinds of recipes, but an abundance of squash forced me to reconsider and, well, here we are. If ever you feel that Jack deserves something for his work remember that a share, like, comment or a coffee really do make a difference. Anyway, onto the breakdown, no, not the break-dance. Stop doing the worm!

I didn’t realise it’d make five. I jut kept returning the scraps to the fridge.

Plop.

Trim the edge with the back of a butter knife. Always away from you.

Fix the edges with a fork.

A little about pumpkin and squash flesh variations. Pumpkins are more watery in composition, because they’re big probably, I just grow things, Dear Reader, I don’t quickly Google and then copy and paste, and fresh squash such as the kind I used are much drier. This is annoying because it reduces the cooking time, which can make it confusing for anyone making these, add to the fact these are individual pies and you’re better doing the double test of a knife  coming out clean and a press for firmness. For the most part, aside from the sweetness naturally present in the flesh, you’re okay with any squash or pumpkin, but do make sure that you’re using the flesh and not the fibres that surround the seeds. You’re making a dense, cream custard not an abomination. The taste isn’t all that much with the squash alone, between the sugar and spices, and whatever topping you decide on, I wish I’d had some whipped cream, you’re going to find them the main cause of taste. As an aside: I’m really not huge into sweet treats anymore, it’s part of the lifestyle, so if at any point I seem less than enthused about any of this just remember I’d never share I recipe I wasn’t happy with and willing to eat myself. I just can’t muster the energy to care all that much about sweet things. The work of eating as I do is draining at times, Dear Reader, but know the recipes when they appear will be great and this is no exception.

Buckwheat bakes fairly grey in pastry, don’t over bake.

Leftover apple thingy.

You’ll have some left over. Hard to guess at this perfectly.

Squash and milk.

All the rest.

Look at me, Dear Reader, and hearken: I don’t know what baked custard is. I was flying by the seat of my pants, thanks to the lack of description in the original, and many others. You’re pouring a mixture of vegetable, fruit really, but anyway, sugar, milk and eggs into pie shells. That isn’t anything like the food I grew up on. Pumpkin pie is this strange concoction from America. With the quick bake, again probably freshness and dryness, I was weary. It looks odd, feels strangely firm until you cut it. When I ate some, hot, but much better cool, I’m freezing two as a test I’ll update whenever, it wasn’t a lot of things, bear with me, it wasn’t mousse, it was too dense for that, it wasn’t baked cheese cake, it was creamier and lighter than that, it wasn’t mashed squash, it was too sweet and gently spiced for that, it really is just it’s own textural experience. If I had had more chances to try foods way back when I may have a better descriptor for it, but as it is, to me at least, it isn’t a lot of things, but it’s really delicious. The pastry might be a little harder than you’re used to and the taste is stronger if you more accustomed to wheat flours, I’m so long at this this is the norm to me so I can’t approach in the other direction in my write up. But, for a dry flour, it yields a delicate pastry, the slightly drier texture always suits me with a moist filling, moist but not soggy, it doesn’t look that was, but it’s firm and just dissolves on the tongue. But it doesn’t look like it should, which is what cause me such confusion eating it. A really interesting taste too, the spice is just there enough, the sweetness is just right, you could top it with more sugar if you’d like it sweeter, or ice-cream say, a double melting delight.

I made way too many.

It looks like custard from a packet, then again, so does blended squash.

They cooked fast and didn’t brown much, the pastry would’ve been burnt if in any longer.

Firm to the touch and just melts in the mouth. Strange.

Cut hot because I’m impatient.

As for the assembly, it’s all really simple once you’ve made the pastry, which with practice is simple. I’ve frozen two, as I said, wrapped in cellophane and tinfoil as per directions, somewhere, and I’ll update with the results of the freezing. As I say I just don’t want this much these days, it’d be fine if I could store them guaranteed, but even then I just feel better without all this unnecessary food hanging around. I’m not on my best form today, so if I’ve missed anything or you have any questions about this recipe just ask below. I’ll be back again soon, Dear Reader.

Ingredients

Pie Crust

440g Buckwheat Flour
200g Butter, Very Cold, Cut into Cubes
2 Chia Egg (2 Tbsp Ground Chia in 6 Tbsp Water for 10 minutes in fridge)
2 Medium Eggs (60-65g in Shell)
60g Caster Sugar
4 to 6 Tbsp Ice Cold Water (Only if Needed)

Pumpkin Custard Filling

750g Steamed Squash Puree
140g Caster Sugar
2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice (More as desired)
2 Medium Eggs (60-65g in Shell)
25g Butter Melted
175ml Full Fat Milk

Makes five 6 inch tarts.

Method

1. Add the Butter, Flour and Caster Sugar and crumble together with hands until it forms a lumpy, dry breadcrumb like mixture.

2. Add the two Eggs, Chia and Chicken, and then mix with a fork without water. You shouldn’t need it.

3. Dust lightly with flour, knead into a ball and then form into a flat disc and place in fridge for 2 hours.

5. Grease the baking tin with Butter and scatter with Buckwheat Flour, shaking out the excess.

6. Divide dough into five parts, take o part from the fridge as needed, keeping the others chilled, roll out the Dough into a circle and place over the baking tin, trimming the edges as needed. Prick the bottom with a fork.

7. Blind bake, with baking beads or rice in crumpled greaseproof paper, for 10 to 15 minutes at 180c (Fan). Remove from the oven and remove the rice and greaseproof paper then bake for another 5 minutes or until centre is dry to the touch. Leave to cool in tins.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 200c (Fan) and add the Squash and Milk to a food processor and blend until smooth, then add the Sugar, Eggs and Pumpkin Spice, blend until uniform and smooth. Finally blend in the Butter until mixed. Pour into the baked shells.

9. Bake the Pies for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 180c (Fan) and bake for a further 15-25 minutes or until pies are firm to the touch. Bake for longer if needed, but cover with grease-proof if the top starts to brown too much. When ready test with a knife and if clean leave the pies to cool completely before cutting.

Same Old, Same New: Savoury Fruit Sauce

I just put everything I using near to hand.

Going for a little longer post this time, Dear Reader. Thursdays and Sundays are the days I do my most intensive cooking, depending on my mood they can get very elaborate, they’re almost always followed by relatively simple and plain dinners so it all balances. I don’t think anyone can really conceive of all the work it took to get where I am now. It’s what, hopefully, makes sharing all these tweaks and spontaneous variations worthwhile, Dear Reader, you never know who you’ll reach. So I mentioned before that I had some blackberry juice frozen, cranberry too, same idea, and thanks to a few recipes, Raspberry Sauce and Strawberry Basil, I know that meat and fruit is a very special combination. Coupled with the nut butter amaranth, well, it’s just very special.

I wouldn’t know where to begin posing photos.

So the sauce is a simple reduction. Again, not exact, but close enough, 100ml of blackberry juice, unsweetened, a dollop of blackberry jelly, like a tablespoon’s worth, a sprig or two of rosemary, stripped, no need to chop, salt and pepper. I tossed that in a pot and then went to caramelise shallots, I was inspired, order has no place here. I used all butter, when they turned brown, not quite caramelised, but close enough to bring out the sweetness and increase the natural taste’s prominence, I threw those, sans the butter, reserved for steak, into the sauce pot. Just boil it until it reduces, I could’ve taken it further, but I like sauce, swimming in sauce isn’t ascetically pleasing, but it sure is delicious.

So much sauce, so, so tasty.

The amaranth, is the version with nut butter, cashew in this case, the link is above with recipe, I left unsweetened, but salted. There was enough sweetness, I use either maple syrup or honey when I’m using it as normal. Or as normal as my recipes ever are, Dear Reader. The harlequin squash chips, with carrot and roasted whole cloves of garlic, peeled, think gooey and crunchy, are just seasoned with salt and pepper, I use mixed peppercorns because they were there, I think the allspice in it also goes with savoury fruit sauces. I’m not that nuanced or sophisticated of palate. So, what you get is crispy vegetables, a creamy, nutty, naturally sweet thanks to the cashew, side and a steak, with a hint of shallot, slathered in a sweet, oniony rosemary rich sauce. I love rosemary and blackberry, I’d honestly consider making jelly with it for the Winter. So, that’s that, Dear Reader, a labour intensive dinner, but an enjoyable one and a meal that really let me celebrate the garden’s bounty. I hope you’re enjoying these posts, they’re useful for sharing what wouldn’t warrant claiming a new recipe’s creation, but useful enough to be shared. I’ll be back again later, Dear Reader, take care.

Same Old, Same New: Pumpkin Curry

The sunlight refused to stop obscuring the sauteing squash.

Pumpkin Curry.This isn’t a huge variation, but a really interesting look at the importance of each ingredient and its effect on the flavour balance of a dish. It’s funny, Dear Reader, I used to post quite a few variation posts when I was creating new recipes, but over time the variations have become set and what’s left is, well, this. Wildly varying changes to recipes that due to the inexact nature can’t be recorded the same way. This is why I’m playing around with the new post style. So, pumpkin curry, a very Wintery dish, very warming and slightly spicy. What I used today was an sweet dumpling squash and two things happened: It obtained a much richer, more velvety texture. It was just so thick and creamy, amazing what a fresh squash can do. The problem is usually that squash can be watery and if you used a sweet potato it’d become too dense and stodgy. Naturally the ingredient is tricky, but that’s what these posts are for. More education and elucidation than straight forward recommendations.

I rarely change plates, but when I do it’s just the same dishes. Again and again.

The second thing, you thought I’d forgotten! Hah! Er, the second was that the sweet flavour of the squash, also the Roscoff onions, slightly caramelised by mistake, again not a recipe, just me cooking, brought out a missing element. It cut through the strong spices, really balancing the whole dish better than I’ve ever had it, if the squash’s taste is weak or watery the whole isn’t at the level this was. Naturally that’ll be hard to do when the squash run out, I’ll have to freeze some of this sauce sans meat, but it’s interesting to see the best version of a dish. You can’t always get one hundred percent from a dish, but when you do it’s amazing and a pleasure to eat. Yeah, I see it, I sauteed some of the sweet dumpling, they crisped up lovely, had a sweeter, melting centre than the honeybear. The only issue is you need to cut them into segments and then chop away the skin as the shape is very awkward, you can roast, but I like it this way. I’m wondering if this is one of the mystery squash’s parents. Butternut and sweet dumpling look like they could make this. Who knows, I’ll enjoy it while I have it. I’ll be back again later, Dear Reader, take care.

Probably the last big chilli pepper harvest. I’m not even eating them, but I like harvesting them.

Clever Titles Will Resume in 2018

We’re down to the runts of the uchiki kuri squash. Worth buying for bread, but this is the last.

You know, if I cough too hard it still feels as if someone has punted a football into my gut, though the after pain isn’t there so much now. Progress! What a great way to start a post. I’m been thinking, dear reader and boy, are my arms tired. Don’t cry, dear reader, I’ll stop with the dad-jokes. Anyway, I’ve often apologised for repeating myself in posts, sometimes years apart, but that’s Jack, other-times I’ve lamented the lack of topics to post about, yet again I’ve been saddened by the lack of views some recipes get. So, I think on occasion, like this, I’ll share what I’m making, be it old or new, talk a little about the hows and whys, because in my now eight years I’ve learned a lot. A lesson worth learning is worth repeating is the best way to put it. Not that my dear readers, ever complained, you’ve been staunch supporters of team Jack.

Tasty tasty turkey…juices.

Ah, Christmas traditions, nothing says Christmas quite like juicing your own turkey. Getting it into that small chute isn’t easy and boy are….NO I WAS KIDDING COME BACK! The turkey juices are often tossed out with the baby, no that was bathwater, sorry, baby. This year I thought we should save them for gravies and it really made a delicious gravy, or so I was told. I had curry. I’ll use the frozen blocks later, probably to cook turkey in. It’s not that healthy, but considering I barely use any additional oil in my cooking these days it balances out. Roasting vegetables has been a boon to my taste-buds and health.

I love these tins. Hate getting them out as they fly everywhere when I bash them.

Ah, chocolate and vanilla…Hmmm? No? Oh, okay, treacle and peanut butter each with squash.I like one slightly sweet loaf and treacle is sugar, but has some additional nutritional benefits, not enough to spoon it copiously into everything I eat, but a slice a week isn’t so bad. I didn’t make gingerbread this time as I just wanted a plain treacle loaf. The one trick to making breads with treacle is to cover them with greaseproof paper for the last fifteen minutes to make sure they don’t burn, but do cook. The breads are all based on one recipe, but they’ve branched of numerous times and I usually tweak them as I go anyway. When I share a recipe it’s exacting to make sure you have the greatest chance of replicating it, but as you repeat the recipes you learn how much, give sounds good, give there is in a given recipe. These loaves are nutritionally packed and will receive additional protein with peanut butter spread on, sugarless for a while now, or if it’s a all pumpkin loaf then calcium from cheese, though I may have had peanut butter cheese sandwiches by mistake due to a mislabelling on occasion. It takes a lot to get here, but it’s worth building up the experience to give yourself this kind of diet. Trust me it might be work but it’s worth every second, even if my arms are tired, boy.

I’m glad I can’t hear the collective groans. 

I’m still learning to adjust for lighting. Getting better.

There’s quite a lot of flesh in those squash so scones were a given. I try to reduce the sugar whenever I double a recipe, there’s very little in some to begin with which is a good practice. You can, and probably will add additional sweetness when eating, but when you start with a lot you’ll still feel the need to add more which is extremely detrimental. Diets are self-moderating, which is why so many fail when they adopt a diet unsuited to their temperament or needs. We’re only as strong as we are willing to admit to our weakness. Sugar isn’t a friend of mine, I’ve cut it down and mostly cut it out and I’m better for it, though I have to admit, no shame in it, dear reader, that, boy, are my arms tired. I’m sorry! I’ll stop. A stocked freezer is a necessity for me, I went on a top up shop today and couldn’t get any yoghurt or flaxseed. They’ll be open in a few days, but I really have to be on the ball constantly. Them’s the breaks, dear reader. I’ll be back again, take care.

Varying sizes because…ehhhhh.

I used 650g of squash and there’s some left.

Hisashiburi Uchiki Kuri

Er, sorry Japanese readers!

I did it, dear reader! I came up with the best blog post title I’ve ever thought of. That’s it, we can all just leave now. No? Okay then since it’s Autumn, or Fall depending on where you are, here it’s Winter which will be followed by Further-Winter. It’s really dull and deary, dear reader, but thankfully I have Uchiki Kuri squash again. The same woman grows them every year. I’ve actually only used one so far. So, instead of carving pumpkins, we’ll talk about this squash that is pretty great. It’s no harlequin, but it comes a close second.

Nothing compares to harlequin squash.

Well, firstly that name is wonderful. It’s almost Ohh Cheeky Curry. You can’t say that and not smile just a little. Second is that it’s a very thin skinned squash, same as an Hokkaido Pumpkin is, you just grab a potato peeler, mine has never touched a potato, and start scrapping away and in short order you’ve got a peeled squash. There’s a reason I cut in into two.  Look below.

The colour is a bonus, just not on your hands.

See it yet?

It’s not just to remove the seeds and insides easily, when you leave two halves you protect your fingers from the peeler and you will catch yourself even if you’re careful, trust me. This way you can safely peel the squash and waste very little, nothing if you have a compost bin. The other thing I love about this squash is that it was made for mashing and consequently it makes amazing bread. It’s extremely soft, you can roast it very quickly, but no “fries” with this, I tried, but it’s too soft, but it isn’t watery, this is more true of home-grown, but even store bought ones had that drier, creamy flesh that makes perfect bread without adding too much moisture. I am thinking of growing this or its blue cousin next year.

I’m getting pretty adept at this squash preparation malarkey.

I saved some for mash too.

There’s another aspect to this fruit that makes it perfect for baking, I mentioned the colour which gives a hue similar to turmeric, but there’s also a inherent sweetness that when combined with a little sugar and cinnamon makes a bread that just can’t be compared to. The recipes are here. As I said, I did say, right? I only used one squash which brings me to my last point: You get a lot of flesh even after peeling and deseeding. There’s very little loss when preparing this squash. If you’re going to use it then think soft preparations like soup, or pasta sauce, or to add additional moistness when baking. You can roast it, but it’ll break apart, so you’d get a lovely roasted flavoured puree, but not crispy chunks of squash. This is my second year preparing these kinds of squashes. I did a write up about carving them last year, right here.

Uchiki Kuri, Turmeric and Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Some for bread, some for future dinners.

I talk a lot about squash, but I think that there’s not much known about them, I’ve learned…The power went out for a few hours, dear reader, the world away from here is deary and I really don’t recommended it. I played cards and board games with my nieces and nephew enough for several lifetimes I don’t need to do that again any time soon. As I was saying, I’ve learned a lot about squashes by growing them yearly and eating them frequently. There are so many with so many distinct uses that you could eat squash once a day and rarely repeat a meal. Speaking of meals I tried something new with an old recipe.

Thankfully when they’ve baked they’ll be distinct from each other. The light one is Nutty Squash Bread.

Look at that colour! This is unaltered, unfiltered, all natural.

Instead of making my Pumpkin Curry with meat and freezing it with a portion of rice I opted to just make the sauce instead and after defrosting added cooked meat, boiled and made fresh rice. I’ve often said that a lot of my recipes could be made vegan with very little effort, that’s very true of the curries, this one can be made with maple syrup and meat isn’t needed. I actually made this with butternut squash and sweet potato, just sweet potato ends up too thick. If I end up with too much Uchiki Kuri I may make some more with that. It’s a nice compromise, you get fresh rice which is the best part of a curry and you get what I like to think of a winter-kick, all those warming spices and ginger, and, yes, that’s pretty much a pumpkin spice curry sauce. Handy to keep your body in tip-top condition, needs be when everyone is incubating germs and bugs, dear reader. I’m impervious to illness, nothing can stop Jack!

Multitasking is a myth. It’s just clever use of the downtime in recipes.

Sunlight is the best light for photos.

So, yeah, that’s it Oh! I found out that I’ve been using buckwheat flour for three years now. I’m not sure if that’s a long time or not, but I can honestly say it’d been the best alternative flour I’ve ever used. I think, at this stage n my life, I’m eating almost nothing that I used to, way back in the fat-days, as I will forever call them. It’s pretty amazing how the small changes add up, isn’t it, dear reader? I’ll see you again soon, possibly with a post about the second squash, depends on how I use it really. Until then. Take care.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Original can be found here.

Hello and welcome to every single food blog at this time of year. It was bound to happen eventually, dear reader, at some point I was going to have squash puree leftover and it was going to be made into a frothy concoction. Now my favourite pumpkin is of course: Generic Orange Squash Flesh. Seriously, the difference between a random butternut and a pumpkin isn’t that great unless it an extremely sweet pumpkin and even if it is just use more sweetener. No shops sell pumpkin puree here, but they do sell squash, often cheap, and once you add it all together it doesn’t really stand out that much. I’m running the recipe down a bit, aren’t I? No harm intended. It’s a pretty decent way to use up some squash. I like the fact that the squash gives it a real rich, thickness. I only have an ordinary blender so it was slightly gritty. Though it did froth up really well. I tweaked this a bit with the milk, if I added cold milk to hot coffee I’d have lukewarm at best. I didn’t want to dump it all in a saucepan, I’m still tired and that’d mean more cleaning up. Microwave to the rescue. So, this is my first Pumpkin Spice Latte, I could mock the ubiquity of pumpkin spice products, but I won’t. People like what they like. It’s nice in that there’s nothing messy going into it, I can imagine that commercial ones would feature more than the basic ingredients. So, a nice hot drink, warming spices and a handy way to use up puree that’s left over from making bread.

I’m one month post-surgery this Thursday. I’m standing almost completely straight, there’s still swelling, nothing severe thankfully, and numbness, but it’s doing well. It’ll be a long road, but this is the last major hurdle. There’s no pain, dear reader, not like there was. No pull, no muscle strain, no self-hatred. I’m getting sleepy even writing this, I get bursts of tiredness, but that’s to be expected. Your old pal Jack is doing just fine, so have no fear. I forget if I mentioned it, but the Crab Apple jelly has new photos. I made a rosemary version and it was amazing with turkey. I’ve heard it’s great over ice-cream too. If you’re looking for more pumpkin spice recipes remember I’ve used it a lot and there’s a tag devoted to it. See you later, dear reader.

Ingredients

120ml Freshly Brewed Coffee
120ml Milk or Dairy Free Alternative
1 Tbsp Pumpkin or Orange Fleshed Squash Puree
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 Tsp Pumpkin Spice

Method

1. Heat the Milk in a microwave or saucepan until warm.

2. Add the Hot Coffee, Puree, Maple Syrup, Pumpkin Spice and Milk to a Blender and process until frothy.

Baked Table King Squash Fries

This takes so long, but it’s worth it.

Back again, dear reader, with another squash. This time I tried table king fries and they worked really well, not quite as good as the harlequin, but still really worth trying. As I’ve repeated often you can’t compare a freshly harvested squash with a store bought one so I can’t say with certainty how you’ll fare if you do try this with store bought fruit. I imagine they’d still be good, but maybe not quite the same. They crisp up rather well, they are slightly softer than the harlequin, the standard which all squashes will be unfairly held to, I can’t help my love of that humble berry, dear reader, no more than you could stifle the love of Jack in your heart, why are you laughing? They’re in no way soggy thankfully. Nothing more unappealing than soggy vegetables.

Fake McDonald fries anyone?

This marks the last of the first batch of pollinated and harvested squash. There are more waiting in the wings, but it’ll be a while before I’ll be able to use them. No rush, I’ll be searching for new recipes to try them in. I’ll leave it at that today, dear reader, take care.

Seven Spice chicken open faced waffle sandwiches.

Ingredients

1 Medium King Squash, Around 400g
Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt, Black Pepper and Garlic Powder to Taste

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c (Fan) and line a baking tray with tinfoil.

2. Peel the Table King Squash, remove the seeds with a spoon and slice them lengthways, each slice should be about about half a centimetre thick, then cut them into half centimetre strips. Add to a plastic bag, season to taste then drizzle in the Olive Oil. Shake everything until the Table King Squash Fries are coated.

3. Spread out over the prepared tray. Making sure there’s plenty of room between the fries. If making a large batch use two trays. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. until the Table King Squash Fries are dry and crisp. Remove from oven and transfer to a plate and let cool for a minute or two. Table King will crisp up more as it cools.

Last of the pea onward.

Harlequin Squash, Apple and Sage Stuffing

Another year, another stuffing recipe.

Harlequin stuffing, familiar? We’re back with another potato recipe, traditional Irish recipe at that, being converted into a harlequin one. This time we’ve ditched the sausage and opted for apple. Now, less of this we, dear reader, it’s my show. I found I couldn’t tolerate pork, doubt I ever could, why? Who knows. Why is there so much Jack can’t eat and yet he has so many recipes? He’s a wonder, humble too. Stuffing varies from place to place, I see it often online as this bread cube lumpy concoction and that isn’t the stuffing I grew up with. This is childhood taste revisited, or as close as I can make it. Stuffing was mashed potato, onion, sage, rarely fresh, but I like it fresh, and sausage. It was billowy, creamy and crusty on top and delicious. It has been a long time since I have had it. Last year I made a meat version, this year, aside from the butter but margarine could replace, I never list until I’ve tried and soy allergy stops that trial, but you’re creative dear readers, I know you’ll manage. Er, rambling there, sorry, aside from the butter it could easily be vegan. I tried it unbaked and it is worth making. Tomorrow I’ll bake it and add a photo if I remember.

Rake the tops and hope for crusty stuffing. The taste of childhood revisited.

So, yeah, addressing the giant berry in the room, you need harlequin for this. It’s the best potato substitute I’ve ever eaten. It’s dry at first when you’ve freshly steamed it, but add the buttery onion and apple, a delicious aromatic variation I have to admit, and suddenly it’s this creamy, fluffy mixture. My sage wasn’t in it’s prime and I had to add a little dried to up the taste, but you could use all dry if you can’t get fresh, use a third of what’d you use in fresh. Three ingredients are from my garden. The squash, sage and onion. There is a huge benefit over the pork version, you can freeze this. My Mother warmed me of freezing sausage meat and I stay away from it, this though can be frozen. Handy as it does make quite a bit. I went by the squash, but you can adjust it as you see fit. Try other vegetables and let me know how it fared. I’ll see you again, dear reader.

Ingredients

375g Harlequin Squash, Peeled and Cubed
125g Cooking Apple, Peeled and Chopped Fine
50g Butter
1 Medium Yellow Onion, Chopped Fine
16-20 Fresh Sage Leaves, Chopped
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Makes about four 170g Servings

Method

1. Steam the Harlequin Squash and place into a bowl, Mash and set aside.

2. Chop the Onion and Apple finely and fry in Butter until Onion is translucent and Apple tender. Add the Onion and Apple mix, Sage, Salt and Pepper to the Harlequin Squash and mash everything together. Taste test and add more Sage, Dried if there’s no more Fresh, if required.

3. Scoop mixture into a greased baking dish and smooth down. Bake at 200c (Fan) for half an hour. For a crispier top grill for the final 5 minutes. If freezing divide and freeze in tin trays.

Creamy and delicious.