Filling and full of flavor with fall squash on the side– a twang with spice, hot and sweet…
Balsamic Raspberry Acorn Squash ~
~ Skirt in the Kitchen ~
Wash to clean 1 acorn squash. Cut into wedges, carefully.
Leave on the peelings; they become tender. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle all sides with olive oil. Bake… just until tender, no longer– You want tender peel as well as the interior of squash to be tender– and not mushy.
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt and absorb in and through barely tender squash– when squash has been taken from the oven– place into a pot with a lid and the added ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, red balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, rosemary, mint, 6 ounces raspberries and garam masala.
Do not leave in the oven, long, just so that the peelings do not get tough, remember!– just long enough for a glaze to form over the acorn wedges. Stir gently. Keep a close watch.
Chicken Ciabatta Sand w/Fried Anaheim-Onion ~
~ Skirt in the Kitchen ~
Tenderize to make more tender, and to flatten for a sandwich– 2 pounds chicken breast.
Combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup panko bread crumbs, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Whisk 4 egg whites, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk,
1/2 cup Tabasco green pepper sauce.
Have tenderized chicken cut into strips. Dry them before dunking into egg batter, then into flour. Do not double-dip. Fry in hot olive oil.
After batches of chicken have been fried, do not change out the oil; rather, add more oil to the skillet if need be. The oil at this stage will give the onions remarkable flavor and crunch. It’s ideal to fry onion strips/rings into; first, doing with them as you did with the chicken– into the egg batter, then into the flour with panko.
Cut into thin strips– 2 Anaheim peppers; fry just as you fried the onions, then drain them.
Continue working in batches. This makes a nice trio: fried chicken, fried onions, fried peppers– on the same team, on the same plate.
Mix together mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, capers, sherry, Tabasco green pepper sauce
and agave nectar. Adjust amounts for personal taste.
Slice 1 ciabatta loaf.
Drizzle olive oil or grape seed oil onto the halves to be placed in a broiler for very little time.
Take bread from the broiler, line with swiss cheese, and place back into the broiler– quickly in, quickly out– a few seconds to slightly melt the cheese slices.
Lay cilantro over the top half of the ciabatta bread. Build it backwards– sometimes it’s the process, not only the taste of the food, that makes it better– the way it’s put together, layered, sliced or cut. Flip it in the end; will hold it together better for the arrangement…
Put down the chicken strips– over the cilantro. Don’t be shy– on either.
Put on the mayonnaise mixture… you know– the capers and all, the good stuff of zest and sass~!
Time for the Anaheim-strip-lay– then fried onions, of course… heaven on earth– !
Crunch, tenderness, great flavor– Put the ciabatta bottom bread half over the very top of the sandwich you just made, lightly press down. Flip it, press again; cut into 4 portions– or 2 or 3, depending if you really want to share… but it’s so much, why not…
Add more mayonnaise sauce, or Tabasco green pepper sauce into the layers, if you prefer– SO GOOD!
A Skirt in the Kitchen sandwich favorite.
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