Sunday Dish

Butternut Squash "Fries"

For the last few weeks I've been in "smack down" mode.  I hesitate to write the real term 'cause I don't want to be rude or uncouth, but what the hell.  My girls and I, when we are feeling like we are up a few too many lbs. go into what we delicately refer to as "fat ass smack down."  When one of us says "Hey, I'm in fat ass smack down mode" the others nod knowingly and discreetly put away the Kaukauna Cheese Spread.

I want to be fit but I also like to eat good food.  It's a dilemma so I've sort of started off on an obsession of finding things that taste really, really good,  decadent almost, but that don't bust the calorie countdown.

One of those things is Butternut Squash "Fries."  These aren't your instant gratification go to, because they take a while to prep and to bake, but it's so worth it.  They have a really rich flavor, a super crispy (while at the same time chewy) texture and the best part is they are very low in calories.  From my research it looks like one medium sized butternut squash will set you back about 120 calories, not including the ketchup.

 

Start by heating your oven to 425.  Then peel the outside of the squash.  From there, cut it into fourths and scoop out all the pulp and seeds, a la pumpkin carving.  

 Then I used this little handy dandy wavy knife/cutting device.  I bought this for Todd about 3 years ago and it's great when doing a vegetable platter (crudites for you fancy people out there) as it just give the veggies a special look.  I cut the quarter pieces of squash in half and then use the chopper to cut them down into fries.  At first I almost killed myself trying to make them perfect, but the squash is an odd shape, so from there I just did the best I could.

    

I put all the cut pieces in a large mixing bowl and tossed them with Pam, salt, pepper and a pinch of garlic powder.  

Then I laid them out on a backing pan.  I was careful not to crowd them.  I made this mistake once and my little fries were limp.  Not good.

Into the oven for 20 minutes.  Then I flipped them over and cooked for another 20 minutes.

Keep an eye on them because once I had a batch cook uber fast and almost burn.  Not really sure why on that one.

 

One squash left me with two nice sized platefuls of fries.  Decadent and definitely in keeping with fat ass smack down people.   

Simple Roast Chicken

How can something as simple as a roasted chicken be so daunting to make, let alone perfect?  Maybe because it seems so easy to screw up.  I've tried trussing, not trussing, stuffing it, and slathering in butter.  I've even tried popping the chicken, ever so unceremoniously atop a beer can (totally undignified for the poor bird), but for the life of me it always seemed to end up over cooked, under cooked or more often than not, unevenly cooked. 

Pondering the roast chicken has led me to uncover a small personality trait,  it's a problem I have with "letting things just  be."

Let's take something that should be relatively easy prepare:  grilling a good steak.  Check any cookbook, ask any "grill master" the key is to leave it alone.  Turning it once maybe twice if you want fancy grill marks.   Impatient girl that I am, I want to poke at it, turn it, baste it.   Not good.

It's the same with the bird.  After much trial and error Todd and I have discovered the key is letting it be.  Don't check on it, don't open the oven 20 times to baste is, and for God sake don't make the rookie mistake of cutting into it to see if it's done.   We NEVER did that.  Never.

So stuff that bird or don't, season it or leave it naked as the day it was plucked, inject it, or rub it, but once you pop it in the oven, leave it alone.

We got a 3-4 lb. bird.  We rubbed it with a little olive oil, lemon juice and some fresh rosemary.  We stuffed it with carrots and the lemons and some more herbs.  We popped it into a 400 degree oven and didn't touch it for about an hour.   

After that hour we checked to see if the juices were running clear.  Assured that they were we pulled it out, tented it, and alas, had to let it sit for another 15 minutes.

All this delayed gratification was worth it.  The bird was tender, juicy and flavorful.  The leftovers are being made into chicken salad momentarily.

Let it be.  Just let it be.  Words to live by I suppose.