About two weeks ago I had a hankering
for something different, some type of comfort food. I wasn't sure
what I wanted. I looked around the kitchen and I could see some tomatoes left from the garden, I figured I would cook up
something different with them, but I wasn't certain what. Then I
recalled the butternut squash I picked up at the market a few days
earlier. In in the last couple of years I have been using squash a
great deal more when I cook, then I had in the past, and I have found
it quite versatile as it mixes so well with many different things.
Taking stock
So it had been decided, I would start with chopping the elongated
part of the butternut squash I had on hand. First I cut off the long
end. Sometimes I use a vegetable peeler to peel my squash but I was
feeling like using my knife yesterday, so I cut off the upper piece
of the squash were there are no seeds of the bottom part for
starters. Then I cut it up in slices so I ended up with little discs
of squash. With the discs having a flat side it made it easy to keep
them still on the cutting board and trim off the tough outer skin.
Once I had done that I sliced those discs into thin strips no more
than a quarter of an inch thick, in most cases I tried to cute them
thing, size has everything to do with cooking time. Once I had my
squash cut up, I measured it and I found hat I had about three cups.
I put this chopped up butternut squash in a bowl and liberally
sprinkled it with ground cinnamon, I added a dash of cayenne or two
and about a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. Then I mixed it all up so
every single slice of squash was coated with a fine layer of the
three magical ingredients.
That done I measured out three portions of linguine. I usually
measure this long type of pasta as one serving being measured
between my forefinger and thumb formed into a circle at about the
size of a beer bottle cap.
I then cleaned three cloves of garlic and chopped it up as fine as I
could, as it would be going in to cook with my thin pieces of squash.
I threw this into my big frying pan with about a table spoon of olive
oil, Cinnamon adds such an interesting taste to squash and things
like pumpkin, not to mention the other spices I decided to add in as
you will soon see.
Ingredients – about 350 calories per serving
Butternut squash – three cups
Cayenne pepper – to taste
Cinnamon – about a tablespoon
Garlic – three cloves
Cherry Tomatoes – quartered – three cups
Turmeric – quarter teaspoon
Cooking mediums
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon
Water – as you would for any portion of pasta
Enriching flavour
One thing I learnt many years ago that there are many spices that
seem to let out their flavours when heated. Over the years I began to
understand that there is an actual term for this his. It's called
blooming, and usually involves a liquid medium of hot oil. What
happens when you heat these spices they release their essential oils
and in turn it bursts into a bouquet of flavours that you will find
it hard to imagine. I also learnt that often ground spices can often
be mixed with a bit of liquid and mixed into a paste before doing so
but given that my squash has a bit of natural moisture in it, the
cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric will nicely stick to all those pieces
of squash! As the spices are bloomed and the squash lightly cooked,
you end up with something that is quite magical in taste.
Later after my tomatoes were in and when everything was just about
cooked I would add my more gentle spices like oregano and parsley, if
you put these in two early their flavour simply disappears.
I decided that I would only cut up about three cups of tomatoes, so
after each cup was filled I tried to make estimates of which size
tomatoes I should pick out in order that I come to three cups of
tomatoes as well. After each cup of tomatoes I would toss them in to
join the pool party with the squash, and always sure to mix it all
up. Once all my tomatoes were in with the squash I cooked them and
mixed them on medium high heat for about 6-10 minutes more, making
sure that the squash was cooked and that the tomatoes had released
much of their fluids and the saucy mixture had reduced.
By
the time my linguine was ready, al dente, I knew that I would have
something that was a little out of the ordinary in terms of flavours
and tastes, but whatever I make I eat. There is simply no reason to
throw food out unless it is rotten, though if it is compostable, it
goes on the compost pile and not in the garbage. Besides there hasn't
been anything that I have made since the time I was in my early
twenties and in university that I would consider inedible. With my
linguine drained I threw it into into the frying pan tossed it with
my admixture of tomatoes squash and various spices. I had cooked
enough for three good servings or two very large servings, so I
plated my serving and enjoyed the labours in the kitchen. I had my
second part for dinner, after having returned from a bit of a walk on
a miserable day – I enjoyed those leftovers reheated.
What's in it for you?
I realized that unless I contributed some value to the recipes I
think up, very often at a whim, there really would be no reason to be
putting in the effort to even records these recipes, with the
exception it allows me to go back to the ones I like for inspiration.
Hopefully in providing the values below, you will become more
informed about different foods. As you may have noticed in the past,
when I introduce some type of new ingredients I try to include
addition sources in order that those visiting this blog can better
understand what it is they are eating.
The values below are approximations based on each ingredients
included in the recipe. The last four values are estimations of my
recommended daily allowance based on my own personal dietary needs,
and are here only to serve as a guide.
|
Calories
|
343
|
|
Carbohydrates
|
67.9 g
|
|
Fat
|
6.3 g
|
|
Saturated
|
0.7 g
|
|
Polyunsaturated
|
0.8 g
|
|
Monounsaturated
|
3.4 g
|
|
Trans
|
0 g
|
|
0 g
|
|
|
Sodium
|
13.6 mg
|
|
Potassium
|
530.9 mg
|
|
Dietary Fibre
|
8.4 g
|
|
Sugar(s)
|
9.2 g
|
|
Protein
|
9.8 g
|
|
Vitamin A
|
327 %
|
|
Vitamin C
|
83.2 %
|
|
Calcium
|
10.9 %
|
|
Iron
|
19.7 %
|
While I love to cook, I don't claim to be a chef, nor do I have an
formal food preparation training or education, my personal experience
of cooking for myself and friends over the years has been my teacher and has taught me the following: if you like to
try new things it makes it very easy to take up cooking. You must be
willing to be your own guinea pig quite often, if something doesn't work out live with it. I grew up in an environment that was void of many spices that we have available to us if we are not intimidated on
trying something new.
I probably never used raw ginger in cooking until I was away from
home for a few years. I even went as far as having my own batch of
sourdough
starter in the fridge that I would have to feed regularly and to have
on hand to whip up home made cresent rolls to serve to friends who
had dropped by for tea or coffee. I figure if you can read
instructions, have an idea of what your own tastes are, you can cook
up anything that is tasty.
