Roast Stuffed Pumpkin and The Art of Mending

I just finished The Art of Mending, by Elizabeth Berg.  A novel and fine allegory on mending things rather than throwing them out.  Family members and friends particularly.  A woman makes quilts, and uses both new and old materials for her commissions.  She discovers the idea might also be transferred to seemingly hopeless people.  Berg delivers a well done bit of personal character growth, along with her story of a family coming together for an annual event, where tragedy faces them.  From the Publishers:

"It begins with the sudden revelation of astonishing secrets—secrets that have shaped the personalities and fates of three siblings, and now threaten to tear them apart. In renowned author Elizabeth Berg’s moving new novel, unearthed truths force one seemingly ordinary family to reexamine their disparate lives and to ask themselves: Is it too late to mend the hurts of the past?

Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year’s gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, Caroline is the family’s restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness."

What all this has to do with pumpkins is your guess.  Well, the big family get together was at the State Fair, where of course, pumpkins are displayed, usually monstrous prize-winners .  And then I ran into this beautiful, though wee specimen.  Couldn't resist taking him home.  And finding a good recipe to stuff the little prize with.

Swiss Pumpkin for Cook the Books Club

For our Cook the Books Club this go round, hosted by fellow Hawaii resident and blogger, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, we read (or in my case re-read) Comfort Me with Apples, a memoir by noted Chef, Food Editor, Restaurant Critic, TV personality, and author, Ruth Reichl.

I must suffer from some sort of medium-term memory loss.  Most of the book seemed new to me.  Had forgotten the long, drawn-out, often sad, business of her marriage break up and affairs, but on the brighter side of honesty, there is humor, good food, more humor and interesting snippets with restaurant personalities and food VIPs.  Do read as well, Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table, and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, they are even better.

There was much in her memoir to tempt and inspire, as well as challenge our cooking skills.  Reichl has the ability to communicate smells and tastes through descriptive writing, aided by an unbelievable palette, which is the premier gifting for a food critic or chef.  I sometimes wish mine could be tuned up a few notches. It would certainly help in the area of wine tasting as well.  I wonder if there is an herb that would help??

It was difficult to decide exactly what to prepare for this round.  So many directions you might go, from California nouvelle, to Chinese or Thai.  The idea of Cook the Books Club, in case you are new here, is to read the current bi-monthly book selection and then to cook and post a recipe inspired by your reading.

Stuffed Mini-Pumpkins with Gorgonzola, Cream and Toasted Pine Nuts

Fall is the time of year I stuff the darling little pumpkins that seem to appear only then, like mushrooms after a rain.  There they are, calling out to me from the grocery bins.  Irresistible, and so cute on a plate, aside from being really delicious.

My favorite cheese for the stuffing is a blue, which goes beautifully with pumpkin.  These have Parmesan as well.  Basically you have a custard baked in the pumpkin.  They cook together.

Perfect for any vegetarians who may be visiting you at Thanksgiving.  Just stuff them a little pumpkin.  As you will note there is a bit of olive oil floating in the water I put in that cooking pan.  Bake them until the squash is tender and the custard set.  About a half hour.

Roasted Pumpkin Scones with Fresh Ginger and Cranberries

The aroma of roasted pumpkin is such an awesome thing to have perfuming your home.  Days later I was still smelling that delicious scent.  It seems to linger.  Since a little piece of that fabulous pumpkin was left, I thought how nice pumpkin scones would taste, with a bit of fresh minced ginger and some cranberries .  The sort of thing I wake up thinking about.  To go with my hot cocoa.

To tell you the honest truth, I will never boil or steam another pumpkin, which amounts to flavorless really, when compared to a roasted specimen.   An executive decision has been made in this kitchen.  I am only saddened to think of all those wasted years, of cooking pumpkin the wrong way, just the difference between diluting a flavor or concentrating it.

So, what you do with a little dab of left-over (aside from frying it up with an egg) is to mash and add to this lovely scones recipe from Alice Waters.  Which I did, with a few other adjustments.  Like adding some spices and cranberries, using  kefir instead of cream (but feel free to go with the cream) and a bit of soda to balance the acidity in kefir.

Making Kefir, for Salad Dressing, Lassi, Cheese, Curried Pumpkin Soup

The latest exciting discovery around here is the awesome benefit of keeping a kefir culture going, drinking and doing stuff with it.  On the benefit subject, Bob has had stomach problems for over 20 years, taking Zantac, Prilosec, Tums, antacids, baking soda, etc. etc., daily, and still waking up at night with indigestion.  He has no more of that!  As a side note, he also says it has eliminated his sugar craving. Of course, this solution is of no monetary value to the drug industry.  Sorry you doctors out there, but I do think you should take your heads out of the drug basket, and have a look at other solutions. 

A client of his had mentioned making kefir in front of our grandson, who declared an interest in doing it himself, and was given some of the starter culture (pictured above).  Then, when the boy went off to camp last month, I agreed to babysit his new pet, and Bob started drinking kefir (the client had told him it was good for indigestion/acid reflux).  So, now we have our own culture going and his stomach thing is over.  Sleeping through the night and able to eat without constant indigestion.  An answer to prayer.

Fried Brussels Sprouts, Zucca and Angel Hair

 Is it just me?  Am I the only one who has noticed Michael Symon's Fried Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Capers?  Deep fried.  And, the fact that he says to "remove the contents of the pot with a skimmer and place directly into the bowl of dressing.  Toss to coat."  Dressing which contains another 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Foolishly, I followed directions.  Sort of.  I did hold the skimmer over some paper towels for a second or two.  Still I want to tell you, that was some oily sprouts.  The flavors were extremely tasty, but it was hard to get past all the liquid fat.  Of course, my grandson's reaction was "Oh fried food!"  A fairly uncommon occurrence around here.  Aside from a few foodie events lately.

I served it as a side with Shepherd's Pie on St. Paddy's.  And almost threw out the remnants afterwords.  There weren't a lot, but being a frugal sort, I tossed them instead with a pile of pumpkin and pasta, which turned out to be a fabulous move.

So you may want to cook enough for a side dish, plus extra to make this wonderful concoction on angel hair the following day.  Be sure to drain the Brussels sprouts properly on paper towels after frying though.  Pasta can take some oil in its stride, but it can be added later.  I love angel hair in this, as it allows all the brilliant flavors to shine through.  The sweet, tender Kabocha or butternut squash is a fabulous contrast in flavor, color and texture, and when cut into 1/2 inch chunks, can be cooked with the pasta in the same amount of time.  It then absorbs the Dressing flavors when stirred together.  Easy peasy.

Corn-crusted Panfried Shrimp with Sweet and Hot Caramelized Onions

I like my shrimp crusty crispy on the outside, just tender inside, and when served with a hot sweet-sour sauce incorporating caramelized onions, well does it get any better?  This recipe comes from a wonderful cookbook which I like a lot, mostly because it gets into all those hot, wild flavors of the tropics, the spice zone.  So I relate to that.  And, the title is reflective, Big Flavors of the Hot Sun, by John Schlesinger and John Willoughby. 

I served them originally with roasted buttrerball pumpkin, then decided they could use the intervention of noodles to wrap themselves and all that flavor around.  The pumpkin still makes a good side though.  And, since pineapples are not in season right now, but oranges and lemons are, I substituted.  Anyway, here's the recipe...

Sexy Pumpkin Moons with Brie and Marjoram

 It happens a lot. I'll read something online, somewhere out in the blogosphere, and go merrily on my way.  Then, later (could be the very same day) I'll wonder where did I just read that bit?  Who said it?  And, in reference to what?  Which is how it happened that I "read somewhere," that "someone said," that marjoram is the sexy herb.  Yes indeed, and it made me think.  I don't have any of that herb.  Never use it.  Could it change my life?  I looked marjoram up in my Rodale's Herbs, and discovered that it was popular at Greek weddings, being as how it was precious to Aphrodite, the goddess of love.  You see, right there the root of the rumor.

How sexy is that marjoram?

I seem to have been in an herbal rut.  Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  Okay, a few Asian ones thrown in.  And, Oregano, dill, chives, and basil.  But, you know what I mean.  I don't ever use tarragon either.  So, after a trip to the Nursery where I picked up some lonely looking pots of marjoram and tarragon, we are set to begin broadening our herbal horizons around here. New relationships loom.  I'm sure there are a lot more I would take in, if they could only be found in this remote region of the galaxy.

Pumpkin and Feta Lune (moons) or Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce was what I had in mind.  Though, we've all been seeing takes on that combo just about everywhere lately.  Pumpkins are ubiquitous at this time of year, so it's not surprising. You buy a pumpkin, and voila, next day left-over pumpkin.  We're just going with the flow.  My love theme take used marjoram instead of the more traditional sage, and a good splash of Amaretto di Santo in the butter, in place of Mario's crumbled Amaretti cookies (I'm working my way through the Babbo Cookbook).  Besides, it says right on the bottle that Amaretto is known as the drink of love. 

Roasted Pumpkin Feta Cake

I have recently been admiring those French savory cakes, and especially the cauliflower one Ottolenghi did and, which Deb of Smitten Kitchen adapted, hers with added black sesame seeds on the sides.  The guy who does the ordering at our grocery says there is some sort of disease affecting those seeds, so no supply for the time being.  And, I did like the way it looked.  Pooh.  Perhaps poppy seeds would work. Also, the cauliflower here hasn't been all that appealing.   So......... what I had was left-over, spicy roasted pumpkin, which would normally  go right into a Pumpkin Curry Soup.  But hey, we've been there and done that enough times to have a yen for something different.

You may have been hearing good things lately about Ottolenghi, London restaurant owner, author of the cutting edge cookbook, Plenty, and Guardian columnist.   I tried a few of his very creative dishes when the Guardian did a special feature about his book, including numerous recipes.  One was an awesome salad of fried white beans, sorrel and feta, which I should do again and post about.

This savory sort of cake is, apparently a traditional French  thing, a crustless variation on the quiche.  We Americans are more used to the Impossible Pie Bisquick version, at least those of us old enough to remember when we, or our mothers made them, back in the day.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

 This soup, served cold or hot is a favorite of mine.  Especially when you have a really good pumpkin to begin with.  Bob found it lost in the weeds on a property he was inspecting.  It was so gnarly looking on the outside that I neglected to take a picture of the poor thing, supposing it would be too old once opened up.  But not at all, the color was vibrant and the taste intense and delicious.  Since the boy was also quite big, we had lots left after a simple dish of steamed pumpkin with butter and feta.   So, soup was next in line.

Now, I have to remember what all I added to this version of an old stand-by.  I started out by sauteing some curry leaves in ghee, which were removed when crispy and set aside on a paper towel.  An onion, was fried in a bit more of the ghee until soft, then minced ginger and some chili pepper was added, and cooked for a few minutes more before the dry spices went in.

Rosey Tea and Pumpkin Pie

Tea in a basket.  This should actually be called a Tisane.  I collected from our gardens, Red Zinger hibiscus flowers and buds, lemongrass, some kumquats and a couple of allspice leaves.  Pour boiling water over and there's your tea.  Well, not exactly.  I just used a bit of zest from one of the kumquats.  I'm going to make a Starfruit Chutney and add the remaining kumquats to that (I love the word - just something about it, reminds me of an old W.C. Fields movie, where he calls Mae West, "My little Kumquat" in his inimitable style.

My daughter, granddaughter, and her Silkie chicken joined me.  It was a ladies' tea.  With leftover pumpkin pie.  Those hibiscus flowers and buds made the lovliest rose color in the pot.

Actually, there was one piece of pie left, and two custards with whipped cream.  With the extra pumpkin pie filling I baked two souffle dishes in a bain marie (larger pan filled with water in which souffle dishes are sitting).  For the pumpkin pie this year I used what was left after my soup, defrosted, dumped into the blender with some cream cheese, eggs, cream, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, bourbon, and of course, the inevitable ground Wattleseeds.  They're finding their way into all sorts of dishes lately, as part of my ongoing experiment in using the suckers up.  In this instance, the flavor was there, not pronounced, but a presence bringing the usual pumpkin pie spices up a notch.  I added extra cream and cream cheese as I wanted a less dense pumpkin, more cheese cakey kind of thing, but not.  If you know what I mean.

 

This tea was also fine iced.  I just looooove the color.

Pumpkin, Chicken and Lemongrass - TGRWT #20

An organically grown, roasted pumpkin.  Isn't it lovely?

One of the most intriguing food events I've yet to come across, is called, "They Go Really Well Together", or TGRWT, and features a monthly challenge to combine two different foods, not ordinarily used together, in a recipe, and see how it works out.  I love things that stretch me in various areas, cooking included.  This month's combo is pumpkin and cooked chicken, with lemongrass as an additional option, hosted by John at Docsonz - the Blog.

This particular realm of the blogosphere seems to be inhabited primarily by chemists, doctors and chefs, so I'm definitely out of my orbit.  Zooming along irregardless with the big boys and girls.  The event was started by a Norwegian chemist, Martin Lersch, interested in molecular gastronomy, who states on his site, that it was: "to explore flavor pairings suggested by the hypothesis that if two foods have one or more key odorants in common it might very well be that they go well together and perhaps even compliment each other."

So, there you have it.  This month's pairing is actually not all that unusual - pumpkin and cooked chicken, even including the lemongrass.  You should just peruse some of the previous months for stranger ones.  I haven't gone through all of them yet, but it is one of my goals.  Anyway, this weekend, having some cooked chicken thighs left over, I took off the meat and reserved it.  Then used the bones, together with other saved chicken bones, and frozen vegetable scraps to make up a stock.  You can see where this is going.  Soup.

 Couldn't resist this picture, saved last year, the origin of which I've forgotten.

I  roasted a pumpkin, brushed with olive oil, for an hour (it was still slightly firm, so could have gone another 15 min.) and we had it with butter and blue cheese that night as a side.  The next night, all the  required ingredients were available, stock, chicken and pumpkin. The lemongrass was dug up from my garden.

As a side note, of which I'm quite proud, the seeds, separated out from the fiber, without too much trouble, dumped into a roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of butter and some seasoned BBQ salt, were stirred around,  then roasted at 400F for about a half hour, stirring several times.  I can't figure out why recipes tell you to wash them first??  I mean, what exactly is on those seeds anyway?  They've been enclosed inside a pumpkin, with a bit of pumpkin juice on them, which only adds to the flavor when caramelized with butter.  A very nice snack and too easy as well.

Ingredients
2 cups roasted pumpkin, cubed
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon ground wattleseed (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced galangal ginger
2 teas. finely minced lemongrass (white part)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 zucchini, sliced
juice of 2 lemons
6 cups chicken broth
Cooked chicken (I used the meat from 3 thighs)
A hearty grind of black pepper, salt to taste
Lemon basil shreds to garnish

So, the next thing, after the various elements (chemistry term) are gathered together, is to bring the stock to a boil in your soup pot, then reduce it to simmering.   I added my chicken in at this point to soften a bit more, then removed and shredded the meat before adding it back in.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium pan, add the cubed (cooked) pumpkin and stir in the cumin and wattleseed powder (if desired -  I just bought some online, and am trying it out in various dishes  - an experiment). Cook til lightly caramelized, then remove and set aside. 

Heat the olive oil in your pan, then toss in the onion and zucchini, stir fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are softening, then add  the garlic, lemongrass and galangal (or regular ginger).  Cook maybe 5 minutes before putting everything into your simmering chicken stock, including the pumpkin.  Simmer 30 minutes or so to give all the flavors a chance to merge.  Add ground black pepper and additional salt to taste.  Garnish with shreds of Lemon basil.

 

I believe this could be called a Thai Pacific Fusion dish.  We all really enjoyed the flavor combination, pungent, yet not overpowering, umami, spicy and rich, as I did not remove the chicken fat.  There wasn't all that much.  So, take as much off your stock as you want.  I think a little adds flavor and the unctious element.

 

But, the next day, as a further experiment, the flavors having melded even more, I did remove fat from the top, and going with the Asian theme, stirred in about 3/4 cup coconut milk (one of those small cans) . So, ended up with fat after all.  But, the taste was just that added element up the scale of goodness. The only thing I'd possibly add would be turmeric when stir frying the vegetables, just for the color.  Not to mention health benefits.... Also, hindsight being what it is, I would definitely add more lemongrass. It combines well with the chicken and pumpkin, just needs to be more assertive.  Next time I'd add 2 or more tablespoons of the minced white lemongrass bottoms.  And, there will be a next time.