Pizza Calabaza (Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza)

If you ask me what my favorite vegetable is ---- squash is my one and only answer! Much like in Africa, where squash reign supreme, in the Philippines you'll often find cooked kalabasa/calabaza on any given day at any family's table. Sauteed pork with squash would be a cafeteria favorite and, in our house, we have this at least once a week. Sometimes, when we feel like it, we add some coconut milk and some chili peppers to the mix and you have the best viand that's perfect for a hot bowl of rice.

But in this post, I give a different treatment to the humble squash. Instead of cooking it with meat and other veggies, I thought why not try it as a pizza topping? I love vegetarian pizzas so I thought I'd give it a try. I had to think of what would possibly complement the sweet butternut squash and the first thing that came into my mind was pesto. For the cheese, I used some mozarella and then added a few tablespoons of feta cheese since I had them on hand. If you don't have feta cheese don't despair, it's fine without it and since mozarella is quite expensive in the Philippines, am sure you can do a Greenwich style pizza and use cheddar cheese instead. Experiment and see what you can come up with!

My first attempt though wasn't a resounding success BUT only because I used the wrong pizza dough. I used a flavored (Italian) one and that made the dish a little too salty and spicy for our liking.

However,  I wasn't about to give up on this idea so I tried again with plain white pizza dough, and it was so much better. Really good! You taste the sweetness of the roasted butternut and then the saltiness of the pesto. Just a wonderful sweet-salty combo which my family enjoyed!

So, I do suggest just using plain pizza dough for this and yes, I used a store-bought one.    I don't have the energy nor the inclination to make my own. :-( Perhaps in the near future I will attempt but until then, am happy with what I have!

Ingredients

• 1 Pizza dough (homemade or store-bought, pref. plain/unflavored)
• 2 cups  butternut squash, peeled and cut into thin slices about 1 inch in length
• 1 Tbsp pesto
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded mozarella cheese
• 1/4  cup crumbled Feta cheese (optional)
• Olive oil (1-2 Tbsp)

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the butternut squash slices in a  baking tray. Toss with a little olive oil until coated. You may lightly season it with salt and pepper but that's entirely up to you. Roast the squash for about 12-15 minutes or until it is tender. Remove from oven and set aside.

Adjust the oven temperature as stated on the pizza manufacturer's instruction (usually between 400F-450F).

In the meantime, prepare the pizza dough by spreading the pesto all over it. 

Sprinkle the cheese/s on top leaving about a 1 inch border.

Top with the roasted butternut squash.

Cook according to the pizza manufacturer's instruction.

Enjoy with some salad on the side. Perfect for lunch or a light dinner.

This recipe is featured on Walking On Sunshine and Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.

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Spinach Quiche Cups

Completely gluten-free and low-carb is this healthy and delicious SPINACH QUICHE CUPS that everyone will enjoy. You can tweak the recipe to add your favorite vegetables! 

A friend of mine is a distributor of Demarle products (Silpat, Flexipan and Silform non-stick bakeware made of fiberglass and food grade silicone from France). This week she kindly lent me some of her wares so I could try them at home and learn how to use them, or sort of put them to the test.

One of the products I borrowed was her flexi-muffin tray. Since it is supposed to be non-stick, I thought the perfect dish to try would be my crustless spinach quiche cups (inspired by South Beach Diet's Vegetable Quiche Cups), my favorite breakfast treat when I am in the mood for a low-carb and gluten-free diet. I love these mini-quiches but when I bake them without using liners, it can be painful to clean up the pan afterwards. That's despite the claim that they are non-stick and that I even used some oil spray on them. So, I am really looking for a product that I can use for this recipe - one that will truly work and would also provide hassle-free cleaning. 

Wow, I am amazed at the result! One look at the photo above and you can already see that it was an astounding success. Look at these beautiful quiches, how they stand up so well, perfectly shaped, didn't look like half of them were left in the muffin pan (that usually happens before I used this wonderful product). I also tried baking raspberry muffins in the flexi-tray and they came out beautiful as well.

And, because it's truly non-stick I did not use any muffin liners nor did I ever need to grease the pan. How's that for convenience? However, if you don't have this pan, don't fret, either just use muffin liners or grease your muffin pan.

Here's the recipe for the spinach quiche which is truly a healthy low-carb and gluten-free breakfast. Try it!

 

 Ingredients

A little olive oil (for cooking the mushrooms)
1 (10 oz) package fresh spinach (I used the baby ones) --- about 284 grams
4 eggs (if the yolks are quite small I use 5 eggs)
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I use mozzarella or the Italian Blend)
1 (8 oz package) mini-bella mushrooms, chopped

1-2 Tbsp, heavy cream or half-and-half (optional)

Salt and Pepper, to taste

*Variation - If you don't fancy mushrooms, try asparagus or bell peppers with the spinach. Also, add some onions to the mix. I add some when I do not use mushrooms.

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 375F or 190C.

Heat a little oil in a large skillet. Saute the mushrooms until they are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Set Aside.

Place the spinach in a deep pan or in the skillet that you used for the mushrooms. Add a little water, 1/4 cup should do it. Using medium heat, cook the spinach just until wilted, about 3-4 mins. Use either your hand or a spatula to pack in the spinach. Drain the excess water really well (especially if you decide to use frozen spinach instead).

 
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the cooked mushrooms, spinach, cheeses and cream (if using) to the eggs. Mix well. Season to taste. 

  

Divide evenly among the 12 muffin cups. The muffin tray was slightly bigger than usual so I only filled about 10 cups.

Bake for about 20-23 minutes, or until it's well set and a tester/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Leave in the pan for a few minutes or just until it's cool enough to handle. It was so easy to remove them from the pan! They practically pop-out!

Sprinkle with a little more cheese on top, if desired. Mark enjoys them with rice on the side!

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Stuffed Bell Peppers (Pinoy Style)

I love bell peppers! When they abound in summer time, I think of all the recipes that I can use them for. You see, red and other colored (except for the green) bell peppers are quite expensive so I take advantage of buying them during summer when they are in season. I love getting the freshest most beautiful peppers in the Farmers' market.

One of the recipes I have been wanting to do for the longest time is stuffed bell peppers. The question is, what kind of stuffing should I make? I didn't want to use just the usual browned ground beef. I thought why not try to use my recipe for arroz a la cubana and do a Pinoy version of stuffed bell peppers? After all it's a recipe that calls for ground meat but with the addition of carrots, raisins and peppers/potatoes, hmmm....why not?

So I tried it and it worked! From now on, this will be my stuffing for bell peppers.

Most stuffed bell pepper recipes would call for the use of the oven to cook this dish. But it's summer time and I don't want to turn the house into a furnace in the middle of an already hot summer so I decided to experiment and use my cast iron instead. Instead of using the oven, I cooked it on the stove top. It worked too! Not only is it possible to cook stuffed bell peppers outside the oven, I also managed to cut the cooking time in half the time. Most of all, the peppers retained their lovely shape. Easy, quick and delicious cooking! Enjoy this recipe while the peppers abound!

For this dish, the arroz a la cubana recipe is indispensable. Click here to get the recipe. When using the recipe as a stuffing, I replace the peppers with red potatoes since we are already using them as the receptacle for the dish.

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Ingredients

Ground meat cooked based on arroz a la cubana recipe (click here).
6 large bell peppers of various colors (if using the entire arroz recipe)
1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce plus half a can of water 
1 teaspoon gluten-free Soy sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon gluten-free Oyster sauce, or to taste 
1 Tablespoon brown Sugar, or to taste 
Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

In a cast iron or any deep and large cooking pan, heat the tomato sauce and the water. Season with soy and oyster sauce, sugar and a little salt and pepper. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Try to achieve a balance between sweetness, saltiness and tartness. Simmer the sauce while you prepare the bell peppers.

Rinse and dry the bell peppers. Cut the tops off and remove the seeds. You may need to taper the bottom of the peppers to ensure that they stand.

Fill the bell peppers with the ground meat mixture up to the top and more if you wish.

Place the peppers inside the cast iron casserole and cook on gentle simmer for about 30 minutes or until the peppers are fully cooked through and tender.

Spoon the sauce on the peppers and serve them with steamed rice on the side. Yum! Truly Pinoy!

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Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. Proverbs 10:12

Favorite Pot Roast (Dilled Pot Roast)

This is probably one of the earliest recipes I have ever tried and have truly fallen in love with. I have been cooking this for about 7 years now. What attracted me to this recipe was its simplicity. Slow cooked, only a few ingredients, how can I say no? And then we tasted the result, melt-in-your-mouth tender beef paired with a delicious dill-sour cream gravy...wow! So good! I so love this that I have never bothered to look for any other pot roast recipe ever since. I honestly have not prepared roast beef any other way. When you find the best, you stick to it.

When we travel abroad and I get the chance to cook, this is always on our menu. In South Africa, I even bought a slow cooker just so we can have this. We search for the chuck roast in the nearest market (unfortunately, not all countries have this particular cut) find a butcher who can cut us one, cook it, then serve it to our guests. It's always been a winner.

Just try it and you'll see what I mean!

Ingredients

3 - 4 lbs. Beef chuck roast

1-2 teaspoons dried Dill Weed, or to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup Water

2-3 Tablespoons  rice vinegar (I use 3 tablespoons if am cooking the 4 pounder)

3 Tbsp. Flour (or cornstarch diluted with water for gluten-free option)

1 cup Sour Cream

Procedure

Generously season the beef chuck roast with dill weed, salt and pepper. Truth is, I don't measure the amount of dill weed. I just eyeball it. Place the seasoned beef in the slow cooker. Add the water and vinegar. Cook on low for about 7-8 hours or until roast is tender. I usually crank up the slow cooker to high for the first hour and then turn it to low for the rest of the time. This is to speed up the simmering process a bit.

Remove the cooked roast from the slow cooker and transfer it into an oven-proof dish. Cover with foil. While I am doing the sour cream gravy I usually place the roast in the oven (250F) to keep it warm.

Add the sour cream and flour into the liquid that's left on the slow cooker. Mix by using a whisk until everything is combined and there are no more flour bits floating. Turn the cooker on high and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the gravy is thick enough and heated through. You may also add more dill if you like and adjust the seasoning to your taste. I just like it the way it is, tangy and delicious!

Take the roast out of the oven and serve with the sour cream gravy on the side. Have it with steamed rice and green veggies. Perfectly paired with green beans, broccolli or peas. Yum!

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Adapted from www.southernfood.about.com

Blueberry-Zucchini Bread

With both blueberries and zucchinis added, this summer bread comes out so moist and so deliciously good!  Perfect treat for the whole family!

One of the summer rituals in Michigan is blueberry picking. I love blueberry picking! I love that I can bring the tots to a blueberry farm so they can enjoy getting the blueberries straight from the trees. They love it too! They especially love to eat them straight from the trees as well so I end up doing most of the picking. I ask them, "So where are the berries that you picked?" And with that silly smile on their faces they say, "But we ate them already." Oh well, at least they had some free snacks! Here's Sophie with her friend, Gabby, posing by a blueberry tree.

Aren't these girls gorgeous?

We picked over 3 kilos of blueberries ( 6 lbs +) and now I have to think about what I'm going to do with them. Half of them would be eaten by my family, but the other half would be used for cooking. Am planning to go back to the blueberry farm before the season is over so I can get some more for freezing. That way, I can still enjoy my berries in the middle of winter! Yay!

Here's one of my favorite summer recipes, Blueberry-Zucchini Bread.

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Ingredients

1 ½ cups plain Flour 
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Sugar
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon  ground Cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground Nutmeg
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable Oil
1 cup Zucchini, grated/shredded
1 cup Blueberries (roll in flour before you fold them in to prevent the berries from sinking into the bottom of the pan)

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 F/ 180 C. Lightly grease a loaf pan or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flour, salt, sugar, leavening agents, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

In a mixing bowl beat together the eggs, vanilla, oil and zucchini.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until combined.

Fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until a tester/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Cool for about 30 minutes in the pan and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

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