November 1, 2008

[Kimi]

Whew! Done baking (hint), now to go through photos and post! Will get back to you today with the yummy results!

[Kimi]

It's officially here, the moment you all have been waiting for. May I present.......

Acorn Squash Spice Cupcakes with Orange Sage Buttercream Icing



For all the delightful details, please stop by http://myplatemyworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/acorn-squash-spice-cupcakes-with-orange.html

I hope this is pleasing to all!

[mehgan]

I love that you did cupcakes!!! 

[Accidents are Avoidable]

I have to say I am most impressed with the cupcakes.  They look delicious!

[feedingmaybelle]

AAH, I just made cupcakes for this and came here to check in, alas.  will post my backup.

[Maria S.]

Just got done with my first entry tonight ... I've got to say this is a little intimidating. These ingredients were more difficult than they first seemed. My "judge" is on his way home from work to have a taste test. Then we'll see if this dish makes it in, or if I have to scramble and make another one!

[feedingmaybelle]

Ah, I did a lot of squash baking this month.  And this one is my entry:

Orange Sage Acorn Squash “Cinnamon Rolls”






The recipe is super long, so let me do a run-down of the ingredients, I infused sugar with sage for a little under 2 weeks.  Then, I made a yeast dough that included acorn squash, orange zest, powdered orange rind.  Then a spicy filling with orange juice, fresh sage, acorn squash, Chinese 5 Spice, cinnamon.  The filling was topped with roasted squash and pumpkin seeds.  Finally, an orange glaze. 

Recipe: http://feedingmaybelle.blogspot.com/2008/10/royal-foodie-joust-acorn-squash-orange.html

[The Crispy Cook]

These are all such creative and impressive squash dishes.  Way to joust, everyone!

[Foodycat]

I must say, I am feeling very intimidated by these lovely entries! I haven't finished posting mine because blogger is being a bit of a pig, but here we have Squash fritters "Brutti ma buoni"

[feedingmaybelle]

oh, i love squash fritters.  I bet they were very nice.

[Foodycat]

They were delicious! The orange zest and sage really complemented the squash flavour.

[Familia]

Orange-scented Lentil Soup with Acorn Squash

In order of appearance:

one acorn squash

2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 oz prosciutto
large pinch of dried sage leaves

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup lentils, well rinsed
4 cups broth


juice of one orange

salt and pepper to taste


1. Roast the acorn squash: microwave the squash on high for 2 minutes so that it is easier to cut in half. Once it has cooled for a bit, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy parts. Place the two halves flesh-side down in a baking dish and roast at 400 for about 20 minutes until soft and starting to caramelize.

2. Saute onion, sage, and prosciutto in olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat until onions are translucent and prosciutto begins to brown. Add carrots and continue cooking until soft, about 5 more minutes. Add lentils and stir to coat in the oil. Add broth and let cook over medium-low heat until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.

3. Stir in juice of orange and cook 5 more minutes.

Serve in warm soup bowls with nice crusty bread and cheese, and poached pears for dessert. A good tempranillo would be a nice wine choice.

The original post is at http://sunsetzaguan.blogspot.com.

[kavs]

I nearly didn't make it this round - the kitchen has been in full swing preparing for the Deepavali Festival (which is tomorrow - yeay!)...

Cekodok Labu dengan Sos Oren
(literal translation from Malay: Sweet Pumpkin Fritters with Orange Sauce - figured I'd jump on the exotic-sounding name bandwagon)

Ingredients:
Quarter Pumpkin - cubed
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup water
2 heaped tablespoons Sugar or to your taste (I used Brown sugar)
Juice from 2 Oranges
1 teaspoon Orange zest
1 sage leaf
1/2 heaped cup Flour
*1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:
1. In a pot, cook cubed pumpkin with water. When it gets slightly soft, add milk and sugar. Once pumpkin is smushy soft (note: at this stage, you can also serve it hot and have it as a yummy pumpkin milk dessert ala bubur labu), remove it from the sauce to a seperate bowl.
2. Add orange juice from 1 orange and sage leaf into the pan with the milk and cook it down until you get a thick orange sauce.
3. In the seperate bowl, smush pumpkin with juice from 1 orange. Stir in orange zest, baking soda, baking powder and flour till you get a "muffin mixture" like consistency.
4. Heat a skillet with some oil. Scoop mixture with a teaspoon and drop it in. Flatten the drops slightly and cook till bottom doesn't stick. Flip around and cook the other side.
5. Drain oil from "cekodok" and serve with the orange sauce.

p/s: Traditional Malay Cekodok is usually made with bananas.
p/p/s: You can check out the rest of my post at http://thegirlnextkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/royal-foodie-joust-november-cekodok.html

[Foodycat]

http://foodycat.blogspot.com/2008/10/royal-foody-joust-squash-fritters.html here we go - my post is done (but blogger is still being a pig - the photos are all over the place!)


Squash Fritters "Brutti ma buoni"

1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed
slosh of olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp dried sage
Finely grated zest of an orange
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs
salt & pepper
oil for frying

Bake the squash in a 180C oven for 1/2 hour or until a fork pierces it easily & allow to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh out into a bowl and mash with a fork to a rough puree.

Sautee the onion in the olive oil until translucent, then add the sage and stir a minute more to get the oils coming out of the dried sage. Allow to cool and then add to the squash along with all the other ingredients. Shallow fry spoonfuls of the mixture on both sides until well cooked. Makes about 10 fritters.

[Dharm]

My post is ready!!  I had to substitute Pumpkin for the Acorn Squash coz we just cant get that here in Malaysia.

My entry is Citrus Prawns on Spiced Pumpkin


and this is the recipe.

Citrus Prawn on Spiced Pumpkin
4 large prawns - shelled and deveined leave tails on
black Pepper
Juice from 1/2 orange
quarter small pumpkin
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp curry powder
Black Pepper
Juice of 1/4 orange
Salt
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tsp sage
1 red chilli
celery leaf for garnish
Salt

Method
Marinate the prawns in orange juice and black pepper.
Cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Fry the curry powder and black pepper together with the pumpkin until soft. Add some water to prevent it from drying out if necessary. Using a masher or fork, mash the pumpkin and then add in milk and orange juice and mix till smooth. Season with salt. Set aside
Meanwhile, in a clean pan, fry chopped garlic and sage until fragrant. Add in prawns and cook quickly until prawns turn pink. Serve by laying the pumpkin on a plate and then arranging the prawns on top. Garnish pumpkin with chillies and prawns with celery leaf.

The prawns tinged with citrus and sage were delicious on their own while the sweet pumpkin flavoured with a little curry powder paired very well with the prawns. The chilli lent an extra bit of spiciness to every bite of prawn in true Malaysian style.

I hope you like it.  I certainly did!!!