Fiddleheads Cuisine Kitchen Tour and Open-Faced Egg Sandwich

This week I thought I would give you a behind the scenes tour of the backstage of Fiddleheads Cuisine: the KITCHEN.

My trusty camera, while perfect for the up close food art I normally practice, is less apt at capturing wide angle shots of larger spaces. So you will have to be happy with the details- my favorite nooks and cranny's, worn wood from daily chopping, and colorful accents that warm the space. Hopefully you'll enjoy piecing it all together in your head- or be inspired to come visit for a cooking class soon, to see it all in action.

I love old wood, repurposed and salvaged finds, white mixed with brights, and a touch of industrial.

A cobblers shelf holds my catering platters, evening wine, a touch of living green, and last season's garlic harvest.

I tried not to clean up too much before taking these shots- instead opting to show you a glimpse of my lived-in kitchen: aprons stained with chocolate, wood turmeric-yellow from last week's curry, chalk faded and smudged from wet hands.

The way light catches the glass, feeds the succulents on the windowsill and brings me out of my dream-state each morning over a mug of coffee.

And because I have never left you without a recipe to share, I'll end this post with a glimpse at today's lunch. Nothing fancy or time-consuming, just simple flavors and fresh ingredients. I wasn't feeling particularly vegan or gluten-free today, so I assembled a few of my favorite ingredients and threw them together, open-face style: eggs from the backyard, kale from there too, creamy avocado, chèvre, whisper-thin red onion and a half of my favorite bagel, Myer's Montreal Spice. Made in Burlington, these bagels are wood-fired, doughy but small and slathered thick with peppery spices and herbs.

Open-Faced Egg Sandwich

Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 a bagel- my favorite is Myer's Montreal Spice

1 tsp. butter

1 farm-fresh egg

a handful of kale, chopped

Sea Salt

1/2 oz chèvre

1/4 of an avocado, sliced thinly

a few uber-thin slivers of red onion

Directions

Set your bagel half to toast. Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat, with a teaspoon of butter. When hot enough to sizzle when spritzed with water, add kale and cracked egg. Sprinkle with a touch of sea salt. Cover and let cook for a few minutes. Flip egg (breaking yolk if desired) and stirring kale. Continue to cook until egg is done and kale is beginning to crisp. Add chèvre to kale and stir to incorporate.

To assemble sandwich, top toasted bagel with the egg, then chevre-spiked kale and finish with onion slivers and sliced avocado.

Relax. Eat Well.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash in Butternut Cashew Cream

Two winter squash in one dish?!? Yup. I did it. And I'm not even sorry.

Winter squash might be the only reason I make it through the fall months. I know, I know, fall is everyone's favorite. Not this girl's. To me, it is another harbinger of winter's impending arrival- which is just difficult for me to get excited about. I'm trying harder this year though, with lots of foliage hikes, garden sessions and crisp air runs. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, there are so many reasons to love winter squash. Nutritionally, it is stuffed full of Vitamin A and C, fiber and potassium, which is needed to balance sodium levels. This combination makes it a super star for immune support. Never a bad thing as the air gets cooler. More importantly, it is sweet, starchy and just plain delicious. L.O.V.E.

This dish could be likened to a lightened-up version of fettuccine alfredo. That is a bit of a stretch, since it is both gluten-free and vegan, but gets you in the ballpark. Hopefully you aren't too intimidated by the ingredient list- it really isn't too scary. Just save it for a rainy fall Saturday sometime soon. Just don't forget to set your cashews out to soak in the morning, so you are all set and ready to go for a yummy lunch or dinner.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash in Butternut Cashew Cream 
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small/medium spaghetti squash
1 tbs. oil

6 cups butternut squash
1 tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbs. nutritional yeast

1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk, plus more as needed

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 tsp. mustard

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground pepper, to taste

1 tbs. oil
8 medium crimini mushrooms

1/4 tsp salt
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup fresh sage, minced

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds and drizzle interior with 1 tbs. oil. Place, cut-side down, on another parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Peel butternut squash, scrape out seeds and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss with 1 tbs. oil, 1/2 tsp salt and spread on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake both squash sheets for 20 minutes. Remove to check butternut squash- if browning and soft, remove and set aside. If they need a bit more time, just rotate the pan and keep checking every 10 minutes. Rotate spaghetti squash and continue to roast until the shell is easily pierced when poked with a fork, another 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the squash. Remove and set aside to cool slightly.

Drain and rinse cashews. Place cashews through ground pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Measure out 2 cups of roasted butternut squash cubes, add to blender and continue to process until smooth, adding additional soy/almond milk as needed to reach the desired consistency. Taste, and adjust seasonings with additional salt + pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tbs. oil. Clean and slice mushrooms. Add to skillet and sauté until golden, about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt. Scoop spaghetti squash into the hot skillet, using a fork to loosen the strands. Add cashew cream and spinach. Cover skillet and cook until heated through and spinach has wilted.

To serve, spoon spaghetti squash into 4 bowls. Top with remaining roasted butternut squash cubes, sautéed mushrooms and fresh sage.

Relax. Eat Well.