The Butternut Experiment

Having a couple of lovely butternut squash sitting in my kitchen I've been trying to think of different ways to prepare them. Previously, I've usually just cooked them, mashed them, and mixed them with butter/cinnamon/SF brown sugar sub, or cut them into bite-sized chunks, tossed them with olive oil and sea salt, and roasted them in the oven. I have also used it in a dessert dish...

This week I read in HungryGirl's blog about butternut french fries, so I thought I'd try those. And Jamie VanEaton does the olive oil thing but uses cinnamon and a little nutmeg before roasting. I was intrigued by the fries, so I decided to try some of those in the turbo oven. HG has written that it's tough to get them crispy, and I figured the turbo would crisp them up nicely. So I did half the squash as fries, salted/set/rinsed (to try and remove excess moisture and increase the chances of crispness). Then I tossed the other half with the oil, and decided at the last minute that I wasn't in the mood for the sweeter cinnamon-y flavor with beef. So I just put those in the turbo oven with the oil and salt.

The fries were good, but dry and a little boring, although of course sweet/salty. And they did crisp up but not until they were browning, so there wouldn't be much time between "soft" and "burning".

The olive oil/sea salt tossed fries, though, were amazing! I've roasted chunks in the oven before, but not in the turbo - and the turbo makes ALL the difference! They crisped up around the edges, had a little bit of crusty skin over them, and very sweet and tender inside. I am hooked.

The next time I make pork I will definitely be doing these with the cinnamon and nutmeg and I see now that they will be totally AMAZING!!!