How to Make Really Quick Winter Squash

So maybe I did just write about ice cream cake. But it's getting to be that time of year when you can write about ice cream cake AND winter squash. If you were really cool, you'd probably write about winter squash ice cream cake, but I haven't quite reached that level of awesomeness yet. So I'm just going to tell you how to prepare winter squash really really fast. Why? Because you can. And because I continue to believe that one of the reasons people don't cook cheap, good, healthy food is because they believe it takes too long. It doesn't have to. 

Yes, you can roast squash. It's delicious. But it takes 30-60 minutes. And you can steam or saute it. That's delicious too. And the cooking time is faster (though still a good 20 minutes), but you have to chop the derned thing up, which is not fast. So what do you do? You microwave it.

1. Cut the squash in half. 
2.Take out the seeds. 
3. Put a little water on a plate.
4. Put the squash--flesh side down--on the plate. 

5. Cook it in the microwave for 8-15 minutes. (This little winter squash took 10.) The water on the plate will steam it and the squash itself will keep that steam in. (Note: Be careful when you flip it over because it is very hot and steam may rush out. Don't burn yourself.)

6. Scoop it out and serve it up. 

My two favorite ways to serve squash cooked like this:
1. Butter and brown sugar, baby.
2. Butter and salt and pepper.

Easy. Delicious. Healthy. Quick. 

P.S. The type of squash I used was called Ambercup and it is AMAZING. It is new to me and the best type of winter squash I have ever tasted. It is sweet with a perfect texture (not too watery; not too grainy). I am considering making a pie with it. If you're local I bought it at Bud's Farm Market on the very southern end of Weinbach. This is what it looks like not cut up and microwaved.

Butter Chicken

Let me tell you a funny thing about my husband. He doesn't like Indian food or Chinese food. Okay, that's not the funny thing. What's funny is that what he really doesn't like is food that is called Indian food or Chinese food. So if I say, "Hey I'm making this Indian dish tonight" I get that look--maybe you know the one--that look that says, "Really, woman, cause I don't remember that as part of our wedding vows." However, if I flop open a bag of chicken and add some tomato sauce, spices, a little cream, and serve it on rice, well then we're cool. "What's this," he might ask. And I say (trying to avoid eye contact), "Oh, it's just this little dish called, um, tomato-y chicken creamy stuff." And then he's like, "Okay." And then sometimes he's like, "It's a little spicy." But he just keeps eating. This is my life people. Lucky for me, butter chicken is actually called "butter chicken" (at least on all the Indian menus I've seen). I mean, how inocuous is that.

Him: "Whacha making?" 

Me: (able to maintain eye contact) "Oh, just some butter chicken." (innocent batting of the eyelashes)

Him: "Sounds good." 

Yeah. Because it is. Dang good. It's not too hard either. 

Butter Chicken

adapted from Mostly Food and Crafts

Serves 4

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

Cost: $4.70 (served with simple white rice and peas, this meal comes up to about $1.50-1.70/person, although portions are not teenager sized and prices are based off of Aldi.)

chicken: 3.00, butter: .30, onion: .15, tomato sauce: .75, yogurt: .20, all those crazy spices: .30

Note on marinade: I'm not a big marinator (not a word, I know). I usually just make the marinade right before and let it sit while I get the rice going. This might be even better if you marinate, but I never think about it far enough ahead. 

Note on sauce: You can use tomato sauce or tomato puree. If you use sauce, be sure to use less salt at first and then taste it and add more at the end if necessary. 

For the Marinade:

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ginger powder

4 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3-4 medium chicken breasts, diced

For the Sauce:

5 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced (or finely finely grated if you've got onion-haters among you)

15 oz tomato sauce

1/4 C plain yogurt

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 tsp salt

dash cayenne

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over diced chicken. Marinate if you actually thought about this more than two hours before dinner (and give yourself a pat on the back while you're at it). 

When you're ready to make this, heat a large skillet and dump the chicken and marinade into the pan. Cook chicken until browned, then remove it from the pan and set aside. 

Add butter to that same pan. Melt it and add onions. Cook until they're getting soft (five minutes). Add chicken, any accumulated juices, and the remaining ingredients (tomato sauce, yogurt, garam masala, salt, and cayenne). Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should thicken somewhat. If it doesn't, increase the heat at the end and let it boil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. [Quick tip: If you're rushed for time, turn up the heat at the beginning to boiling, but stir it very frequently. You're dinner will be done in 10-15 minutes instead of 30, BUT you will have to give it your full attention instead of just letting it sit and simmer.]

Serve over rice. You can add cilantro to the top, which is really yummy. You can also add some peas at the end of cooking. This is very yummy too. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ice Cream Cake

We had this for my nephew's birthday in July. Then Savannah wanted it for her birthday in August. It's not too late people. It's still plenty hot. Make this. Love this. Just don't eat too big a piece or you'll make yourself sick. Which brings me to the other sort of nice thing about ice cream cake. It can last a long time. Because it's frozen, you see. It won't get stale after 3 days or 5 days or ever. See, it's, like, diet friendly right. I mean, this cake is all about portion control, right. (Note: Wrong, people, wrong. This cake is not about portion control; you will see. Yes, you will see.)

Below I offer two options for this cake. One is the normal cake which involves ingredients like Hershey's syrup and Cool Whip. This version is still pretty darn yummy. However, I wanted to try it with homemade chocolate syrup and homemade whipped cream and that was pretty amazing. (Note: Portion control. No really, you'll thank me. Well, maybe.)

You'll find the homemade to be a bit cheaper and only about 7 minutes more labor intensive (yes, 7 minutes). However, you'll note that neither of these is particularly cheap. So now I will attempt to justify this sin.
Justification #1. It is very rich. You can eat/serve smaller pieces and get quite full and it doesn't spoil so you can keep it for longer.
Justification #2. You don't have to buy ice cream to serve with your cake. So really you should knock $3.50 off of the price of this, right.
Justification #3 (my old standby). It's still cheaper than buying a crap cake from the Walmart "bakery." Amen and amen.

One final note about this cake. It's easy to make, but don't try to slap it together in 30 minutes because each part needs to be put on and then frozen and the chocolate sauce will need a good 12-24 hours to cool. I recommend making it the day before (remember it's not going to go stale on you). Don't worry, making it a day ahead actually makes for its own kind of birthday bliss because there's no cake to worry about on the big day.

Ice Cream Cake with Homemade Fudge Sauce and Whipped Cream
makes one 9x13 inch pan
Prep time: 30 minutes, but you're going to have to have (sometimes long) breaks between layers.
Cost: $9.40
cookies: 1.50, butter: .50, 1.90, cream: 2.00, ice cream 3.50 (Walmart Breyer's price)

30 Oreos (or decent generic substitute--we used generic Walmart cookies to good effect and it wasn't even a full package)
1 stick butter
1 recipe of Kip's fudge sauce
16 oz. cream. whipped with 4-8 Tbsp sugar and a few drops vanilla (see here for a how to)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (we used Breyer's, which was a little shy of 1/2 gallon--arg--but worked)
toppings like nuts, sprinkles, etc (optional

1. Make Kip's fudge sauce. You must do this 12-24 hours beforehand or your sauce will be warmish and melt your ice cream. The sauce must be COLD.

Note: If you're reading this 1 hour before the birthday of your precious and feeling about to cry, then do this. Make the sauce, then put it in a small bowl, then put the bowl of sauce in a bigger bowl that is filled with ice (no ice will go in your sauce--it's just surrounding the bowl that contains your sauce). Put this in the freezer and stir the sauce every 10 minutes or so.

2. Crush Oreos. I did this in a food processor, but a blender would work, as would a good old fashioned Ziploc bag and rolling pin. Add 1 stick butter to the crumbs, mix, and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Let this cool in the freezer for 20 minutes

3. While the crust is freezing, get your ice cream out, so it can soften. When the crust is ready, spread the ice cream onto it into an even layer. Then put this back in the freezer for an hour or until it's quite firm.

4. When it's firm, add the (cooled) chocolate sauce and spread it on. In my humble opinion, this is too much chocolate sauce and I would have used less. However, let it be noted that I was the ONLY one in our family who would have used less. Everyone else loved it how it was. Put this in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

5. While it's freezing, whip (and sweeten) your cream. You can find directions here. Layer this onto your cake. Freeze for 10-15 minutes.

6. Add toppings if you wish and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ice Cream Cake
cost: $10.50
cookies: 1.50, butter .50, Hershey's syrup: 2.00, sweetened condensed milk: 1.00, butter: .50, cool whip: 1.00 (guessing here--haven't bought this in years), ice cream: 3.50

Crust:
30 Oreo cookies (we used generic Walmart cookies to good effect and it wasn't even a full package)
1 stick butter

Sauce:
1 can Hershey's syrup--16 oz. (the kind you find in a can with a yellow lid like this)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter (yes, another one)

1 8-oz tub Cool Whip

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
toppings like sprinkles, nuts, cherries, whatever (optional)

1. Make your chocolate sauce. You must do this 12-24 hours beforehand or your sauce will be warmish and melt your ice cream. The sauce must be COLD.

Make the sauce by combining the Hershey's syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and 1 stick butter. Cook, stirring frequently (if not quite constantly) until boiling. Boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. LET THIS COOL COMPLETELY. It'll take the good part of a day. Note: If you're reading this 1 hour before the birthday of your precious and feeling about to cry, then do this. Make the sauce, then put it in a small bowl, then put the bowl of sauce in a bigger bowl that is filled with ice (no ice will go in your sauce--it's just surrounding the bowl that contains your sauce). Put this in the freezer and stir the sauce every 10 minutes or so.

2. Crush Oreos. I did this in a food processor, but a blender would work, as would a good old fashioned Ziploc bag and rolling pin. Add 1 stick butter to the crumbs, mix, and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Let this cool in the freezer for 20 minutes

3. While the crust is freezing, get your ice cream out, so it can soften. When the crust is ready, spread the ice cream onto it into an even layer. Then put this back in the freezer for an hour or until it's quite firm.

4. When it's firm, add the (cooled) chocolate sauce and spread it on. In my humble opinion, this is too much chocolate sauce and I would have used less. However, let it be noted that I was the ONLY one in our family who would have used less. Everyone else loved it how it was. Put this in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

5. When it's done, spread the cool whip and freeze that.

6. Add any toppings you want and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE