The Giant Squash and the Perfection Knife

I met my match in the form of a 3-pound spaghetti squash.

You see, I’ve been exceedingly creative in the time since I moved into a temporary apartment in Washington, DC. I’ve been repurposing everything, adapting the Goodbye Detergent! Original Spaghetti Scrub into a mushroom brush, using my Hurom Slow Juicer box as a printer stand and converting a display cabinet into my pantry, among many other imaginative solutions.

But my resourcefulness couldn’t conquer this beastly squash. More specifically, there was nothing in my kitchen that could cut it – literally and figuratively. Most of my premium kitchen gadgets are packed away in storage or on a “to buy” list as housewarming gifts to self once I’m settled for the long term. Premium knives fall into this category, so I’ve been scraping by (eek, bad pun) with less-than-stellar cutting tools. They could barely scratch the surface of this tough-as-nails squash. There was only one thing left to do: call in the heavy artillery. Fissler knives to the rescue!

Like a kid on Christmas morning, I joyfully unpacked a shipment of Fissler knives and prepared to accomplish the mission. The squash was a worthy opponent, but the Perfection Chef’s Knife flexed its macho muscle and powered through the squash.



The dirty work done, I proceeded to cook the squash in the Fissler Blue Point Pressure Cooker and had a hearty side dish for several days.

Needless to say, the moral of the story is that sometimes there is simply no substitute for the proper equipment. Quality really does make a difference.

All Meat: No Tofu

I've been posting mostly vegetarian recipes, but here's a good one for brisket (click on title), cooked in a pressure cooker, from food writer Jessica Harlan. She wrote a glowing review of the Fissler Blue Point Pressure Pan.

Freegan Greens

Whenever I go to our local farmers' markets I always ask for free beet greens and other scraps. The farmer's are always happy to give these away since they usually need to truck them back to the farm where they wind up in the compost heap. It amazes me that people buy beets but don't want the greens. Lately I've been collecting the leaves that are trimmed off of cauliflower and broccoli too. There's little difference between these and collard greens. They just take a little more trimming and cooking time. Collecting this kind of discarded produce is called freeganism and with the economy the way it is, more and more people are doing it. And frankly, greens like these are incredibly tasty and full of vitamins and minerals. If you insist on paying for your greens, Trader Joe's has a prewashed bagged mix called Southern Greens that's pretty good.
I cooked up my freegan greens in the Fissler Blue Point pressure pan and flavored the greens with turkey tasso (spicy turkey ham) from Schexnayder's Acadian Foods . I used the pressure pan as a conventional skillet, with the glass lid, but you could use the pressure lid and cook your mess of greens really quickly.

Freegan Greens and Tasso
Saute one chopped onion in olive oil, add two quarts of trimmed, chopped greens (cut out tough stems), or one bag of Trader Joe's greens, or two bunches of store bought greens. Saute for ten minutes, add a cup of broth, water or white wine and a cup of chopped turkey tasso, or pork ham, or smoked tofu (all of which are optional but good for protein). Cook covered for fifteen minutes. Add salt or seasonings as desired.

Get to the (Blue) Point

Click above to read what Maggie Reed said about Blue Point Pressure Cookers!