Avocado toast

I've been wondering what I might blog about lately, and then suddenly it came to me...

avocado toast!

With radish, lime, and hot pepper flakes.

Avocado toast has become one of favorite breakfasts. Funny as I really didn't like avocados unless they were smashed into a guacamole. But I discovered how good it can be just last year. Since then I have posted over 20 separate ones to my Instagram account. 

My 1st had everything bagel spice & hot pepper flakes.

Everything spice & tomatoes.

Aleppo & lemon.

Sure it is a trendy food right now and Anthony Bourdain once said “I guess it’s good, but I’m not going to get a boner over it.” Sorry that it doesn't excite you Tony, but it seems to me a pretty healthy and easy breakfast option.

With pink lemon and aleppo with tomatoes and kumquats.

With lemon & aleppo.

Another with lemon and aleppo.

As you can see, lemon and aleppo pepper is one of my favorites. But I have tried much more unusual ones like these. The first is with hot pepper jelly and jalapeno powder.

And then honeydew & raw sugar.

The way that I make my avocado toast is usually like this: first get some good bread and toast it. Then drizzle it with some olive oil. Next add your avocado. You can dice it, stylishly slice it, or just mash it up and put it on the toast. Then add your seasonings and some lemon or lime and enjoy! The combinations are pretty endless.

With urfa, maldon, lemon, za'atar, olive oil & various tomatoes.

So go out and give avocado toast a try. I know that you will enjoy it!

With smoked lipstick pepper, pink salt, lemon & arugula.

Some Soup For You

It's been wintry here in the Valley of the Sun, like 55° (bone chilling I know) so I made soup tonight. 

I have had this kuri squash on my counter for over a month so it was time to use it.

 

Kuri squash is a hard winter squash similar to a pumpkin. Use care when cutting it for use. I cut it into fourths and didn't cut myself. Then I grabbed a spoon and scraped out the seeds and stringy stuff. Setting that stuff aside, I then oiled and salted the squash pieces and roasted them at 400° for around 50 minutes until they were fork tender. I roasted onion, shallot and garlic. Thai basil to be added later. 

  

While the squash was in the oven, I worked to get the seeds out of the stingy squash goop so that I could roast them also. Rinsed and dried ready to cook.

 

I put them in a 275° oven mixed with coconut oil, s & p and several pinches of curry powder and cooked them until they started making noise and looking crispy, maybe 30 minutes. 

After the veggies had cooled a little, I scoop out the flesh with a spoon and chop up the onion etc.
  
Then I put this all in the vitamix with a cup of chicken stock and maybe a cup of water and some Thai basil leaves. Blend until very smooth and put into a pot on the stove to heat it up. Now was time to add salt, maybe 1/4 teaspoon, a few pinches of curry powder and cayenne pepper for a little heat. Not sure how much salt, but taste as you go. I needed to add more. Add water or stock as needed for the desired consistency. 

That's pretty much it, a simple winter squash soup. Ladle it into a bowl, float some of the seeds on top with Thai basil flowers and a sprinkle of cayenne. Serve with crusty bread and butter. 

 

A nice warming soup on a chilly evening. Though the seeds turned out chewy instead of crispy, I will probably use pepitas next time. The crusty bread saved the day as I scooped the seeds out after this pic.

Confession:  I've been away from this blog for too long. Truth be told, I have lost a lot of interest in cooking. Lots of eating out and getting takeout has become the norm. 

The last six months have seen me moving along my new life, old friends and new friends have helped me along my grief path. Although some very tough days lie ahead, it will be 1 year next week since my wife passed, I am hanging in there.