Pumpkin Pie, Kale Salad, and Coconut Shrimp Redux!

Since I screwed up the first pumpkin pie I made my sister (I burnt the shit out of the crust) I decided to use the extra pie filling (I had a ton left over), and redeem myself.  I think my problem with the last one was I didn't have enough pie crust.  I previously followed the proportions for my pumpkin pie crust recipe, but this time I followed the proportions for my apple pie crust recipe, and the extra crust helped immensely.  Also this time, Sherilyn suggested I bake it in a water bath, so I did.  The results were varied, but not disastrous by any means.  The crust was thick and perfect!  However the dish wasn't deep enough and there wasn't much pie filling.  Just a thin layer, barely more than the crust.  But the taste was still spectacular!  Check it out:

Nice!  Look at that flaky crust!  Even with the screw up of picking a dish too shallow, it was still the best pumpkin pie out of the three I've made so far!  But this baby was for dessert.  The main dish was Coconut Shrimp (look up blog entitled "I'm Koo-Koo for Coconut").  But this time I found the organic shredded coconut I was looking for the first time I made it.  I wish I hadn't.  It came out way too clumpy, the shredded coconut overpowered the shrimp, and you couldn't even taste the spices I used.  Plus, the batter was done before the shrimp, causing me to have to burn the outside in order to cook the inside.  Luckily though I made quite a few like the first time, just coating the shrimp in coconut flour, and they came out great.

The only difference from the first time was the dipping sauce.  Last time out I made the sauce from apricots, but they won't be in season again for quite some time.  But Whole Foods had some California Red Seedless Grapes (I had to come all the way from LA to NJ to find California grapes) so I tried them instead.  Came out great!  I used a little extra ketchup that I made that morning to give it a nice color (it was looking a little grey).  To refresh your memory, along with the grapes I used caveman ketchup, honey, cilantro, ginger, garlic, lime juice, and some olive oil to give it a nice sheen.  It looked and tasted glorious.  Here's what the whole dish looked like:

I served it with a side of my Kale Salad (look up, "All Hail Kale," you lazy bastards).  I took the Italian Vinaigrette that Lorin wouldn't eat the other day because it was "too green," and I added some mustard powder and some honey to it and turned it into a Honey Mustard dressing, which was good, because Sherilyn's not a big fan of Italian dressing either.  Take a peek:

I won't even bother making a new dressing for Lorin, he can use the store bought one he likes (plus the bacon bits, which has no bacon in it), and I KNOW he won't eat the kale salad, but I did take some of the red bell pepper, apples, and walnuts (I checked to see if he eats all these ingredients first, and he does), and I made a separate salad for him using romaine (the only lettuce he eats).  Hey, baby steps, at least it's a start.  Where else is he going to eat an organic salad if I don't make an effort to make him one?  But he did eat the coconut shrimp, including the dipping sauce!  I'm not giving up on him, I'm going to rise to the challenge and make him organic caveman dishes that include as many ingredients as I know he'll eat.  If the only bad thing he's eating at a meal is the salad dressing and Bacos, I will consider it a major accomplishment.  When you think about it, that's what I do with myself too, only I eat a LOT more things than my brother-in-law does.  But if someone's going to stay on this diet, they'll have to recreate all THEIR favorite dishes, not mine.

However, the major star of the meal was a side dish I made as a throw away experiment.  What an amazing find!  Sherilyn read an article about the best squash to make french fries with, and it said to use Delicata squash (no, I never heard of it either), and make steak fries out of them.  I found several recipes on line, and they all said to leave the skin on.  Huh?  Look at this pic I took from the internet, does this look like you can eat the skin?

But it came out great.  And so simple.  Cut in half lengthwise, de-seed it with a spoon, and then cut into strips resembling steak fries.  Lightly coat the strips in olive oil so they won't stick to the rack, and bake on said rack (so that the heat gets underneath) at 425 for 40 minutes, turning once.  They came out so great, I didn't even use seasoning!  They tasted just like sweet potato fries!  And the skin provided a wonderful texture, like a crispy fry on the outside and soft on the inside!  This will become a regular staple for me when in season!  Here, look at a pic I took from this website (http://greenlitebites.com/2007/11/15/delicata-steak-fries/) that looks better than my pics, but did look like my fries too:

It looks strange, but trust me, it's delicious!!  By the way, my sister lost 3 pounds in the 10 days that I've been here, and that's WITH eating five non-caveman dinners.  Let's all give her a big congratulatory "Ugga-Bugga!"