Baked butternut squash and potato fries

Fall is a great time of the year for squash vegetables-butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, and yellow squash. I bought a nice size butternut squash at the local farmer's market. I usually either make butternut squash soup or make a puree. As I saw a posting on facebook about squash, I asked what else I could make. I also saw online an article about making butternut squash fries. This seemed like a nice way to get my nephews to eat vegetables with them not even knowing they are eating vegetables. (Also since most kids like to eat french fries, I thought butternut squash would be a nice change). The article was telling you the way to make the fries without them coming out soggy and not crispy. The secret was to salt the butternut squash because salt will bring out the moisture. It says to soak them in salt water for 10 minutes then pat dry. After that I decided to salt a bit more and let them sit another 10 minutes. (You might think this would make the squash salty but it did not). Then place the potato and butternut squash fries on an baking sheet lined with foil and oiled. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and just turning brown, flip the fries over halfway during the baking. The result I got was crispier and crunchier fries. I gave one to my nephew and he thought they were sweet potato fries. This will be one of my kid friendly recipes I will have to keep in my recipe collection. Below is the recipe.

Butternut and Potato French Fries

Ingredients:
Top half of butternut squash, cut into thin matchsticks
2-3 potatoes, cut into thin sticks
salt
pepper
Cooking oil spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees F

2. Cut butternut squash and potatoes into thin sticks. Place in bowl with water. Salt the water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Drain water and pat the butternut squash and potato sticks dry with paper towels. Place in bowl and salt again. Let sit for another 10 minutes.

4. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the cooking oil all over the foil. Place the fries on the baking sheet. Spray the tops of the fries with the cooking oil spray. Place in the preheated 400 degree F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fries are crispy and lightly browned.

5. Take out of oven and let cool. Place in serving bowl and serve. If not serving immediately, just before serving reheat in 200 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until hot.

Homemade beef and pork empanadas

My mom's health aide is from Colombia and likes to cook. One day she brought empanadas to eat. I asked her where she got them and she said she made them. I told her I always wanted to know how to make them. She said she would teach me one day. So, last Saturday she and I decided to finally make empanadas. These are the traditional Colombian beef and pork empanadas that are made with a masa (cornmeal) crust not the pie dough kind. Masa crust makes a crispier and crunchy crust with a corn taste. These had a pork and beef filling. Very simple to make with lots of tasty flavorful ingredients. It takes a bit of practice to be able to shape the empanadas and make sure you have an even thin layer of crust for top and bottom so when you fry the empanadas the filling does not come out. The only thing about making empanadas is that they take time to prepare and it is best to eat them the day of. Below is the recipe I wrote from what she told me and showed me how to make. Hope you enjoy and try to make them yourself. You will never buy empanadas again or buy the pie dough version.



Beef and Pork Empanadas

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork, cut into bite size chunks
1 lb. london broil beef, cut into bite size chunks
1 tomato, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
4 potatoes, diced small
5 green onions, finely chopped
salt
black pepper
3 packages sazon goya mix
1 bag masa
1½ to 2 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Take beef and pork and put in heavy pot. Add green onions, potatoes, cilantro, tomatoes, sazon goya mix, salt, black pepper, and a little oil. Cook on medium high heat.
2. Stir and let cook until meat is tender and potatoes have cooked down and mixture turns thick and creamy. Turn off heat and let mixture cool.

3. Make masa crust by pouring whole bag into a mixing bowl add about 1 ½ to 2 cups of warm water. mix with hands, adding more water if needed to get a smooth consistency that is not to wet and not too dry.

4. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Take a golf ball size of masa and place on plastic wrap. fold over the top of plastic wrap. Using your hands flatten out the masa to an even thin layer. Take off the plastic wrap and add a tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center. Fold over the masa to enclose the meat. Using a glass, put the top of the glass down on the empanada just halfway creating a moon shaped empanada. Press down to seal and cut. Continue with the rest of the Masa and meat mixture to make empanadas.

5. Heat a heavy high sided pot halfway with oil. Heat until oil reaches 375 degrees F. Place 5-6 empanadas in the oil to fry. Fry until golden brown. Place on a towel lined plate. Continue to fry the rest of the empanadas until all done. Cool slightly then serve.

Homemade Lychee cheesecake

I was watching TV and it was talking about the famous Junior's cheesecake. They were talking about having a contest for the people to create the next Junior's cheesecake. So I decided to try to experiment to see if I could enter. I asked a friend about it and we were thinking of ideas--green tea, chia tea, and early grey tea. Then she said how about lychee and I was like sounds good. aI also said to do almond cookie crust instead of the traditional graham cracker crust. She thought it might be overpowering but I wanted to test it out. So I decided to make a lychee cheesecake with chopped lychees in the cheesecake base, an almond cookie crust, and a lychee puree gelatin on top. I baked the cheesecake then let it cook and then put the lychee puree gelatin on top. The result was a smooth and light flavored cheesecake. The almond cookie crust did not overpower the cheesecake and complimented the whole cheesecake. It was yummy (even my 5 year old nephew loved it). Below is the recipe I came up with and made. Next time I will try to experiment with puree lychees in the cheesecake base. I will definitely enter this into the contest.


Baked Lychee Cheesecake

Crust:

7 almond cookies

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

2-8 oz package cream cheese

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 can lychee, chopped

½ cup lychee syrup from can

Topping:

lychee puree from 1/2 can of lychees

1 tablespoon gelatin

½ cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wrap aluminum foil on bottom of springform pan and up the sides of the pan. Butter bottom and sides of a springform pan.
2. In food processor, pulse almond cookies until finely grounded. Slowly add the melted butter until it just comes together. Press cookie crumbs onto the bottom of springform pan. Place in oven and bake for 5-7 minutes. Let cool.
3. In electric mixer, add cream cheese, lychee syrup and sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add the chopped lychees and mix until incorporated and smooth.
4. Pour cheesecake mixture into the prepared pan with crust. Put springform pan in a baking pan. Pour hot water in the pan just enough to go halfway up the springform pan.
5. Bake cheesecake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until set. Take out oven and let cool then chill in fridge while making topping.
6. Cut 2 lychees in half and put in center in a circle on top of cheesecake.
7. Mix the gelatin and boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for gelatin to dissolve. Puree 1 can of lychee in food processor. Strain into a bowl. Add the gelatin and mix. Pour on top of the cheesecake and chill for at least 2 hours until firm. Serve.
   

Basil Chicken

Since I had some basil leftover, I was thinking what can I make with basil besides the usual basil pesto or tomato, mozarella, and basil stacks. I had some chicken breast so I decided to make basil chicken. As I was searching the internet to find recipes to base my basil chicken on, I noticed some use ground chicken others used sliced chicken. I liked the sliced chicken. It also uses the thai fish sauce but that is a strong taste not many people like so I omited it and used oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce and some chicken broth. You are to use thai chiles but since my family does not eat spicy I also omited it. The final dish came out very well. Good basil aroma, nice thick sauce, and tender chicken.

Ingredients: chicken, basil, garlic, onions

Basil Chicken

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped basil
4-5 whole basil leaves
1 medium onion, sliced thin
4 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Directions:
1. Keep chicken a little frozen so it is easier to cut. Cut chicken into thin slices. Marinate chicken with some water and cornstarch.

2. Heat wok on medium high heat. When hot add oil. Add chopped garlic and stir for about 1 minute until fragrant but not brown. Add the onions and cook until they are brown, about 4-5 minutes.

3. Add chicken and cook until outside of chicken is just done, about 5-7 minutes. stir all ingredients together. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. stir well together. Last add the chicken broth to create a thick sauce.

4. Add the chopped basil and stir together until fragrant, about another 1-2 minutes. Add the whole leaves and just cook until they are wilted. Place on serving platter and serve.

If you would like to have a party catered or want to know about cooking classes contact me at fancindy888@gmail.com

Red Mango Fans

for all you Red mango Fans. Here is a deal. $1 smoothies on July 20th. Great way to have a healthy drink, try something new, and not pay the high prices that smoothies usually cost. Have a great smoothie day.


http://www.8coupons.com/discounts/red-mango-union-square-new-york-10011#d3938001

Copy and paste link in browser.

First time making Hollandaise Sauce

Since in the house we have lots of eggs and bought canadian bacon, I decided to make my version of eggs benedict. It was my first time making hollandaise sauce. You hear all the stories about how people say this is a hard sauce to make because if the butter does not emulsify well with the eggs it will just separate and you get a layer of butter and a layer of eggs. Not very appealing. I found a simple recipe (recipe below) that did not sound hard. Big suggestion, prep all ingredients before starting to make becuase you need to whisk the sauce constantly. (This I learned from stopping to melt butter then go back to see eggs were partially cooked and scrambled). Finally, after cleaning up my first try, I made it again. It was very easy all you need is a strong arm to whisk the eggs til pale yellow and thick. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Then take the egg mix off of the stove and slowly drizzle in melted butter until all incorporated. I put it back on the saucepan with simmering water to bring the sauce back to a thick consitency. Keep warm until ready to use.

Since I had unused egg whites, I decided to make an egg white omelete (this is beeter for you anyways). I used regular wheat bread instead of english muffin. Then cooked the canadian bacon for a minute. Added some blanched spinach for vegetables. Assemble: the toasted bread, canadian bacon, blanched spinach, eggs, then the hollandaise sauce. I made 2 of them. The end result was a creamy sauce and nice contrast with the salty bacon and nice green spinach.

Hollandaise sauce:

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
salt and fresh ground pepper
dash of hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
1. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, and hot sauce in a metal bowl. Place bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water. Do not let bowl touch the water. Whisk egg yolks until pale thick yellow in color. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Take egg mixture off of stove and drizzle in the melted butter while whisking to combine. making sure the sauce does not separate. Then return to the saucepan and whisk until thick again. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

If you would like to have a catered party, event, or learn about my cooking lessons please contact me at fancindy888@gmail.com.

Everyday Good Eats Facebook fanpage

I have created a fanpage on facebook for my cooking classes and events company called Everyday Good Eats. (Website to come soon).

Learn about cooking classes, cooking techniques, see photos of past events and you can inquire about classes, catering, or events. Link below to join.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everyday-good-eats/134194919934908?ref=ts