This past weekend was for getting my shit in order. I had gone into the city the weekend prior and was essentially recuperating for an entire week. Even though I have written about approaching my weekend visits differently, I caved to my old ways and went full hustle and bustle mode, programming every hour of my time. It was thrilling and I got to see many people that I’ve missed very much, but I came home a bit depleted and had to throw myself right into a busy week ahead. By the time I got to Friday, I was flatlined and needed a weekend of rest and reorganization. Saturday was for meal planning, grocery shopping and catching a matinée screening of Dune 2, which I not only stayed awake for but remained engaged - I genuinely enjoyed! Sunday was for sleeping in, going on a long foggy run, taking an ‘everything shower’ putting away my clothes, and then having some fun in the kitchen.
I started by heading into my basement where I was greeted by a massive crock of sauerkraut that was ready to be jarred. This was my first attempt at fermented vegetables and it went off without a hitch despite some of the small obstacles that tried to trip me and aunt/fermentation buddy along the way. I’m now the mother of many jars of bright purple gingery, cabbage, carrot, kraut, more than I know what to do with honestly, so if you come to visit in the next month, you’re getting a jar! After that messy job, I continued my journey back down to the cold cellar where I was confronted by a couple of lingering squash that I keep forgetting to use. I’ve almost outdone my repertoire of savoury recipes, and couldn’t possibly choke down another squash soup, so I decided to go in a sweet direction and make something that I could snack on throughout the week. I cut the squash in half, drizzled it with oil, seasoned with salt and threw it into a hot oven to roast. While it was doing its thing, I whipped up some homemade mayonnaise to have in the fridge. I started making this when we moved to the property as our hens provide plenty of eggs which is half the cost of this project. I use Sarah Britton’s fool-proof immersion blender recipe - it’s wildly simple and delicious with the best part being that you can control what kind of oil goes into your body - I do a mix of olive and avocado oil to keep a milder flavour profile. Once the squash was nicely caramelized and subsequently cooled, I threw together the semblance of a loaf cake and put it back in the oven with my fingers crossed. I have a reputation in my household for experimental ‘healthy’ baking that can sometimes totally miss the mark. To distract myself from potential failure, I got to work on another project and decided to give a go at preserving lemons.
I love to include a punchy, briney preserved lemon in a salad dressing, an aioli, or folded into beans or pasta, the best way that I can describe them is to say that they are like lemons on crack. Unfortunately, they are pretty well unavailable in my locality but I have always heard they are straightforward and uninvolved to make, which is exactly the bandwidth I had at this point. There are tons of recipes online that you can refer to, I used one from the cookbook Cannelle et Vanille (which I spoke about in last week’s cookbook collection newsletter), essentially you salt a bunch of lemons (go with organic as it’s a skin-forward preparation) to high heavens and smash them into a jar in layers, salting in between; topping it all off with lemon juice to cover and sprinkling in some bay leaves and peppercorns. Back down to the basement I went to set them on a shelf with the rest of my preserves to leave for about a month. I’ll let you know if and how they turn out - my hopes are high. By the time I finished with the lemons, and the clean up, my loaf was ready, and to my surprise and delight the cake tester came out clean on the first try! The texture looked ‘normal’, everything seemed cooked through, and it lifted in one piece out of the tin. After about 10 minutes of cooling time, we cut some slices, and slathered them with butter and the result was quite pleasing! The texture is light and fluffy from overbeating the eggs, yet it's still moist and substantial thanks to the roasted squash. A true holistic health practitioner baking success! Enjoy this loaf with a boiled egg and some fruit for a distinguished breakfast, or share with your loved ones for afternoon tea time - most everyone can partake as it’s free of gluten, grains, dairy, and refined sugar.
Squash Snacking Loaf
3 eggs
1.5 cups mashed roast squash (from about 1 small squash, I used red kuri, you could also do butternut or kabocha)
2 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup maple syrup
2 tbsp avocado oil (or melted coconut oil)
1 knob fresh ginger, grated
½ cup coconut flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A handful of pumpkin seeds
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a loaf pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the sides. In a large bowl, use an electric mixed to whip the eggs until pale yellow and triple in volume - around 5 minutes - I know this sounds tedious but its crucial! In a separate bowl, whisk together the squash, vanilla, maple syrup, avocado oil and fresh ginger. Pour into the eggs and stir until homogenous In another small bowl whisk together the coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gently fold into the wet mixture until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the pumpkin seeds. Bake foir 45 - 50 minutes on the centre rack until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.