Food • Photography • Life
Celebrating DH’s 42nd with a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy-themed party filled with Doha family, Southern-style spread (ENC-leaning pulled pork, cornbread, slaw, fried okra, dairy-free Mac-n-cheese), ice cream cake, non-dairy ice cream cupcakes, and games.
A successful celebration.
Yay, Instagram – home of endless pretty pictures of food, with occasionally frustratingly vague descriptions that sometimes send me in unexpected flavor directions.
This is kinda that – Jamie Oliver posted something about a smashed butternut squash with crispy sage, and I created a version that goes swimmingly alongside leftover holiday roast beef.
Gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan
Smashed Chili Butternut
1 butternut squash
3 – 4 Tbsp. fresh sage
1/4 – 1/3 c. toasted hazelnuts, chopped
2 – 3 small chilis, minced
4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. Pomegranate molasses
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 – 2/3 c. shallots, minced
Olive oil
Neutral oil
Salt & pepper
Cut the butternut in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds. Sprinkle with neutral oil, salt & pepper and bake at 200-220C until soft and browned a bit, 30 – 45 mins. Let cool.
In a large pan, sautée the garlic and shallot in 1 Tbsp. oil until softened and browning. Remove to a large bowl. When the squash is done, scoop that out as well and add to the bowl.
Crisp the sage by heating a Tablespoon oil over high heat and quick frying until browned and crispy. Chop and add to the bowl.
Mince the chili and add.
Chop the nuts and add.
Add the spices (including salt & white pepper), molasses and vinegar. Smash with the back of a spoon to combine.
Taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper & vinegar as needed.
Serves 3 – 4 as a side
No excuses …
Checked out the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Center today – spent 4 hours, and only worked through 3 of the 6 museums – can’t wait to re-visit and finish!
A few highlights from the Space, Human Body, and Robotics/Transportation museums:
Not sure if I’m sold on atrium view rooms – seems a little dystopian to me. But then again, with all this sunshine…
Kuwait Aquarium – the second largest in the Middle East, and well worth the visit.
Kuwait City 🇰🇼
This recipe comes largely courtesy of Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbook’s Instagram feed. She mentioned restocking her freezer after a move and the outline of what she calls Winter Green Miso Paste and it sounded fabulous, so I decided to make my own version.
And boy am I glad I did. This stuff is versatile! I served it with shiritaki noodles, a neutral guacamole, roasted broccoli & batch cooked ground chicken, but it would also be fantastic baked with salmon, swirled into soup, piled into or onto root vegetables, or thinned a bit and used in place of chimichurri to dress up red meat.
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, low carb
Guac Noodles with Miso Pesto
First, make the pesto by whizzing:
1/2 c. yellow miso
3/4 c. your favorite oil
6 large cloves garlic
3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
16 garlic chives
2 inches fresh ginger
2 tsp. vinegar
Salt & pepper
Then, the noodles:
1 pack shiritaki or kontjac noodles
2 tsp. stock powder (I used Ina Parman’s chicken, which is strangely vegan)
2 tsp. your favorite oil
Drain and rinse noodles. In a medium pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the noodles and stock powder and cook until noodles are dried.
While the noodles are working, make a neutral guacamole by smashing:
1 avocado
Juice 1/2 lemon
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
Salt & white pepper
To serve, combine and eat as-is or round out with roasted broccoli and/or ground chicken.
Makes a bunch of sauce – enough to freeze, enough guac for days, and 1-2 servings noodles
Gastography 