The Odd Fork

Isn't Halloween a great time of year? The Odd Fork loves horror stories, masked parties and of course, Halloween recipes! Since there was enough pumpkin left from this pumpkin salad, the Odd Fork made some easy, yummy sweet pumpkin treats to satisfy the little Forks which will come knocking at the door and ask the traditional "Treat or Treat?" 🎃

The spices in the recipe and good quality walnuts are the key ingredients and they will make these pumpkin sweet pieces fantastic, just one bite and you' ll be addicted forever!

Ingredients:

- 4 cups white sugar

- 1 cup evaporated milk

- 3 tbsp light corn syrup

- 1 cup pumpkin purée

- 1/8 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp butter

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 tsp cinnamon 

- 1/4 tsp ground ginger

- 1/4 tsp ground cloves

- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

- 2 cups chopped walnuts

In a saucepan, bring 5 first ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes and be careful NOT to stir, as the syrup bubbles a lot and you don't want a caramel burn! When mixture registers 232 degrees F (110 degrees C) on candy thermometer, or forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water, remove pan from heat. Stir in butter and when cooler add vanilla, spices and walnuts. Beat mixture until it is very thick and loses some of its gloss. Quickly pour into a square pan lined with greased baking sheet, put in the fridge and chill until firm for some hours before cutting in squares.

Keep the pumpkin bites in a box inside the fridge.

Pumpkin purée may be found easily ready and canned in every super market, but it's really simple to make your own homemade purée and keep it in the freezer in portions. Just cut your pumpkin in slices and bake until pieces are soft (test them by pinching with a fork).

When pumpkin slices cool, blend them until you have a nice, smooth purée. Measure pumpkin purée using a tea cup, fill single-use plastic bags and store them for a long period of time inside the freezer.

So, every time you wish to make a recipe containing canned pumpkin, all you need to do is to defrost a bag of your homemade purée!

The Odd Fork continues its tribute to chestnuts! These sweet babes above are perfect for breakfast with coffee or hot chocolate and for a late afternoon snack also, with a shot of liqueur.

For the pastry:

- 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour

- a package of active dry yeast (about 7 g)

- 60 ml lukewarm milk

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 50 g melted butter

- a medium egg

- some vanilla and some cinnamon 

- an egg slightly beaten (optional)

For the chestnut filling:

- 15 to 20 boiled and peeled chestnuts

- a small piece of butter (size of a walnut)

- 1/3 cup evaporated milk

- 3 tbsp sugar

- some vanilla, some cinnamon and some brandy or citrus liqueur

- 1 tbsp thick fruit marmalade (any flavor available) 

- some blonde raisins

- 1/3 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

- a bar of praline chocolate (about 180 g), coarsely chopped

Start with the filling first. Heat the milk and dissolve sugar and butter. Add chestnuts and milk mixture into blender and mix to make a smooth chestnut purée, adjusting the amount of chestnuts or milk to have the desired consistency. Transfer into a bowl and add remaining filling ingredients, mixing well. The texture should be thick, like potato mash. Set it aside and prepare the pastry. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in milk and add 1 tbsp of the sugar. Mix and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix all the remaining pastry ingredients except the beaten egg and add the yeast mixture, kneading until the dough does not stick on hands. Form the dough into a ball and set aside covered with a damp towel. Let it rise until doubled, about an hour.

So after that, divide the dough in three equal balls and roll each one to a thin, big circle. Cut smaller circles using a cookie cutter or glass and fill each one with a tsp of chestnut filling, sealing the edges very well (wet edges with water to make them stick together). Layer a baking pan with parchment paper. Arrange the chestnut pies, cover pan and allow them to rise in a warm place until double in volume. Once ready, brush them with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame (if desired). 

Bake in a preheated oven, air setting, at 350 C for 15 min or until lightly brown. Enjoy them while still warm, they are fantastic!

Chestnuts bring Christmas to mind, however October is the month for them! So the Odd Fork came across some lovely chestnuts in the flea market and the result was an unusual, yet absolutely yummy vegetarian pizza!

For the pizza crust:

- 250 grams plain flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- half a cube of fresh, bread yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
- 25 grams melted butter
- 2 egg yolks
- some ground, dried thyme
- 1/3 tsp mix of nutmeg and ground cloves
- some extra lukewarm milk, if necessary

For the chestnut - mushroom topping:

- a small onion, finely chopped
- a clove of garlic, finely chopped
- a small leek, finely chopped
- a small sachet dried mushrooms of choice
- a wine glass of Greek Mavrodaphne or a similar sweet, red wine
- salt, pepper, some paprika
- 2 whole cloves
- a cinnamon stick
- a star anise
- some ground, dried thyme
- some roasted chestnuts (the Odd Fork used 8)
- some blue cheese in small cubes
- some soft, yellow cheese (like Greek Kasseri) in small cubes

Start with the pizza crust. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in milk and add sugar. Mix and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix all the remaining crust ingredients and add the yeast mixture, kneading until the dough does not stick on hands. If dough is too thick, add warm milk. Form the dough into a ball and set aside covered with a damp towel. Let it rise until doubled, about an hour.

Meanwhile, make the topping. In a pot over high heat, add a tbsp of olive oil and sauté onion and garlic. After a while add leek and mushrooms and deglaze with Mavrodaphne. Add all the spices and chestnuts chopped and also add some water, just to cover the ingredients. Turn heat to medium, cover the pot with its lid and boil for about 20 to 30 minutes until tender. Then uncover the pot, increase the heat and let luquids evaporate. Remove from stove and set aside to cool.

Stretch out the pizza dough (using a pastry roller or hands) on a large pan lined with non-stick baking sheet and spread it around evenly with the chestnut topping, leaving some space around the rim. Sprinkle with cheese and let pizza in a warm place until crust has puffed up and almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for about 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 min, slice and serve!

It is totally delicious and although the Odd Fork loves to drink beer when eating pizza, this one was fantastic paired with Greek Mavrodaphne. Hope you enjoy it as much as the Odd Fork did!

The Odd Fork has many food blogger friends and one of them is Penelope. She cooks with imagination, using leftovers and healthy, mediterranean ingredients and she always creates new, tasty recipes! So when the Odd Fork came across these tahini mini breads, it made its own version using its favorite wholemeal Greek tahini (tahini = sesame paste) and spices!

Ingredients:

- 4 Tbsp wholemeal tahini

- a medium, ripe banana

- 1/2 cup black raisins, soaked in warm water (keep the water)

- 2 Tsp mix of ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg

- some sunflower seeds (about 1/3 cup)

- whole wheat self rising flour (as much as needed)

Just add into your blender tahini, banana cut in pieces, spices and 1/2 cup of raisin water and blend everything together on a high speed to get a nice, smooth paste. Transfer into a bowl and add flour stirring slowly, until batter resembles a cake dough.

Add sunflower seeds and raisins (drained) last and mix to combine into the dough. Divide it evenly among muffin tins filling them with batter up to 3/4 and bake in a preheated oven, air setting, at 350C, for 20 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.

The Odd Fork ate as many as possible while still warm with its afternoon Greek coffee and saved the rest into single-use plastic bags in the freezer. This way the're going to remain fresh for long, and any time the Odd Fork wants a warm muffin for its breakfast, all it has to do is to heat the muffin up in the oven and enjoy with coffee! 

So yummy and healthy at the same time, thanks Penelope! ;)

The Odd Fork likes all legumes. Lately, it has an obsession with lentils. They are cheap, easy to prepare and like all legumes, packed with protein and all the good stuff.

Greek lentil stew is a traditional winter dish, the Odd Fork though made its own version with the addition of carrots, paprika and wild, Greek oregano and loved it!

To serve two to three, it used:

- a cup of dried lentils

- 2 to 3 bay leaves

- 2 to 3 whole cloves

- a medium onion

- 3 to 4 cloves of garlic

- 3 carrots

- 2 to 3 tbsp tomato paste (or 70 grams)

- one tbsp paprika

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- salt, to taste

- half a tbsp dried oregano

The Odd Fork added water in a pot (about twice the amount of the lentils and as much needed to cover them well in the pot) and when it came to a boil, it added bay leaves, cloves, lentils (well rinsed and drained), onion chopped, garlic chopped and carrots cut in thin slices. It simmered everything for about half an hour until lentils and carrots where tender.

After that it uncovered the pot, increased the heat and added tomato paste, paprika, olive oil and salt and cooked stirring from time to time, so that big part of the liquids evaporated and sauce was thicker. Just a little before removing from heat, it added oregano. Oregano should be added in the end, to prevent its aroma from fading.

The Odd Fork likes in this dish the contrast between the sweetness of the cooked carrots and the intensity of paprika and dried oregano. More creative legume recipes are yet to come of course!

The Odd Fork hates to stay indoors for a long period of time. It likes to walk around, to pinch and discover new tastes and new things in general. But when due to bad weather it stays home, it usually spends its time cooking! So, today's recipe was made on a rainy day with whatever was left on the fridge, since the Odd Fork couldn't stand to go out in the rain and buy more things.

For a big serving, the Odd Fork used:

- a chicken breast, skin removed
- a wine glass of Greek ouzo
- a small onion finely chopped
- half a green apple cut in slices
- 2 small bay leaves
- half a tsp of dried basil
- 2 whole cloves
- half a tsp of mustard powder
- half a vegetable stock cube
- salt and pepper
- about a dozen of lettuce leaves (not so fresh to become a salad)
- a shot of evaporated milk
- a handful of almonds, coarsely ground
- rice for serving

Start by marinating the chicken breast in ouzo for about an hour, sealed in a plastic bag into the fridge. Remove it from the ouzo marinade, but keep the ouzo. In a pot over high heat, add a tbsp of olive oil and sauté the chicken until is white. Add onion and the apple slices, stir with a wooden spatula for a couple of minutes and deglaze with the ouzo.
Wait until the alcohol evaporates and add bay leaves, dried basil, cloves, mustard powder, stock cube, salt + pepper, stir once again and add water to half cover the chicken. Turn heat to medium, cover the pot with its lid and boil for about 30 - 40 minutes, until chicken is tender.

Then, uncover the pot, add the lettuce leaves chopped by hand and let the juices evaporate on high heat. Add the evaporated milk (a cheaper substitute for milk cream here) and the almonds and stirring carefully, let sauce thicken.

Serve this different creamy chicken with rice or a short type of pasta. Ouzo adds a sweet note to the chicken and is paired well with the creamy sauce. Another cooking improvisation in the Odd's Fork kitchen that was pinched with joy!

One day (fading to night), when the Odd Fork walked through dark forests and strange, secret gardens, it came across this pumpkin:



And because it immediately realized that the pumpkin was enchanted, with great care not to awake the malicious forest spirit, the Odd Fork cut it and brought it home! When it cut it with a knife in the middle, the magical aromas that emanated and the pumpkin's lovely taste - something like fresh melon and carrot together - led to the creation of a wonderful salad with raw pumpkin!

A sachet of fresh, tender rocket and baby spinach leaves from the supermarket (no way of going back again in the enchanted forest!) were the base of the salad.
In a cup of aromatic tea (no sugar added of course), the Odd Fork soaked a few black raisins. It cut a pumpkin piece, removed the peel and grated it. The pumpkin strips should be neither too thin, nor too thick, almost like matchboxes in order to make the salad crunchy!



The Odd Fork mixed the greens leaves with the grated pumpkin, added a few pomegranate seeds, some chopped walnuts, the raisins, a little salt and finally it drizzled the salad with a light and very aromatic dressing which it prepared very easily by whisking olive oil, white vinegar, a little of orange juice, a teaspoon of honey, some orange zest and a little bit of freshly ground ginger.

All the ingredients matched perfectly with each other and the salad was fantastic. It could be even served as a Christmas salad -the Odd Fork thought that it would be ideal.
So do yourself a favor and next time you'll buy a pumpkin to make a pie, keep a piece of it aside and make this salad -you will not regret it!