Yearly Archives: 2017
Cooking Is Like Love
“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
~Harriet Van Horne
Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients:
- 3 big leaks cleaned and sliced finely (white bits only)
- A handful of fresh dill or about 3 tbsp dried dill
- 3-4 huge potatoes peeled and diced
- 5-6 chicken stock cubes
- Black pepper
- A stick of butter
Melt the butter and add leeks till soft. Add potatoes, and rest of ingredients. Add enough water to cover veggies. Bring to a full boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Lower heat and gently simmer for about 30 minutes. Can add a small can of evaporated milk at the end, but it usually is creamy enough without it.
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of spices associated with the Fall season, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. It’s very easy to make.
To start, you’ll need all of three minutes and the following ingredients: 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice and 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves. Mix the spices together in a small bowl and take a little whiff. (Smells like heaven, right?) Store the mixture in a clean small jar or spice container. See? So easy.
You can customize your personal blend by bumping up the ginger and cloves, for a sharper, more robust flavor, or go light on those and amp up the cinnamon for a softer flavor. When you make it yourself, you can make it JUST right, and that’s worth doing at least once every Autumn.
Source: Betty Crocker
Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
- Pumpkin
- Onion
- Salt
- Oil
- Water
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Allspice
- Croutons or toasted pumpkin seeds to garnish
Cut the pumpkin open and remove seeds and the stringy portion of the interior. Cut the pumpkin into about one inch cubes. Slice the onion and saute for a couple of minutes, then add the pumpkin. Saute for about five minutes, stirring, and then add a cup of water, put on a lid, and let it simmer for forty o fifty minutes, until the pumpkin is quite tender.
At this point the pumpkin, or some portion of it, can be mashed to thicken the broth. Add some more water to the onion / pumpkin mixture to make it soupy. Heat and season with salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, or any other herbs you might want to use for the seasoning.
The soup may be garnished with croutons, toasted pumpkin seeds, and or sour cream.
- Note:
This recipe did not include any definitive amounts. I think this is because the sizes of pumpkins used may vary widely. I think you could just follow your own intuition, and season it to taste.
Saute and seasoning variations:
- equal parts of oil and orange juice
- two parts oil, one part lemon juice, sugar or honey to taste
From: Tassajara Cooking
Baked Winter Squash
Here is a simple recipe for baking winter squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, and other edible fall curcurbits. This is a simple recipe, and the ingredients are equally simple. All you need is the ripe squash and oil (or butter).
Here’s the how to:
Cut up the squash, remove seeds and arrange the pieces in a baking dish. Baste the pieces generously with oil or melted butter, and bake in a 350 degree oven from forty to sixty minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. Baste every ten or fifteen minutes for added moistness and flavor.
This recipe can also be made with whole squashes. Baste with oil and bake until knife or fork-tender. When baked whole, it can be carved at the table like a roast.
Basting variations:
- equal parts of oil and orange juice
- two parts oil, one part lemon juice, sugar or honey to taste
- a few dashes cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice in any of the basting mixtures
From: Tasajara Cooking
Roast Pumpkin with Cream and Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1½ kg pumpkin
- 300ml pot double cream
- 150ml milk
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp thyme leaves
- 85g grated parmesan
Method
Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2.
Cut lid off pumpkin and scoop out seeds and strands. Put the pumpkin on a baking tray. Meanwhile, heat the cream, milk, garlic and most of the thyme, with plenty of seasoning. When hot, pour into the pumpkin and stir in 50g of the Parmesan. Put on the lid.
Bake for 1½ hrs, take from the oven, then turn up the heat to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Remove the lid, sprinkle with pepper and the rest of the cheese, then bake for 15 mins more until golden. Scatter over the remaining thyme leaves. Scoop the pumpkin flesh into bowls with the cheesy cream and serve with crusty bread as a starter.
Recipe from BBC Good Food
Fried Squash Blossoms Stuffed With Cheese
Before I share this recipe with you, I want to help you select the blooms.
Use the blossoms from zucchini, or pumpkin. Other squash flowers may have strong, unpleasant flavors. Harvest the male flowers once they have just opened. The male flowers have stems and you can tell them from females, because the females are attached to the squash. They also go on to say that you should use them as soon as possible, but I have found that the blossoms are not as delicate as they seem. In fact, I have actually left them inside and uncovered carton in the refrigerator a couple of days and still find them easy to work with if not better.
Don’t worry, if you don’t have the luxury of growing your own squash, and you can’t find them, ask one of the farmers for flowers at your local farmers’ market or in specialty food stores. If they have zucchini on their farm stand, they’ll have blooms on their farm. I just so happen to know that farmers don’t bite and they will be happy to help you get some blossoms. Just ask!
Fried squash blossoms are practically a delicacy! The delicate squash blossoms are filled with a well seasoned creamy ricotta cheese, dipped in a light batter and fried to a crispy golden brown. If you have your own garden and zucchini are starting to run out of your ears this summer, here’s something different you can try. Prepare them as unique appetizer or as a side dish this summer for family and friends.
Here’s how you make them:
These delicate fried squash blossoms are filled with a creamy ricotta cheese mixture and dipped in a light batter, fried to a golden brown. They’re amazing! |
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon season salt
- ½ cup water
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 10 to 15 squash blossoms
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
- peanut, canola or vegetable oil, for frying
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
The batter:
Combine cornstarch, baking powder, pepper, flour, then season with salt. Stir in the egg and water until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes before frying.
The blossoms:
While the batter is chilling, prepare the squash blossoms.
Use your fingers to carefully separate the flower petals without breaking them and remove the pistil in the center. Rinse the flowers under cold water, paying attention not to damage petals. Lay them spaced out on a paper towel and gently pat dry.
The cheese:
Combine the cheese, mayonnaise, oregano, and breadcrumbs until smooth.
Pour the filling inside a piping bag or use a plastic storage bag and cut the tip off one corner, so that you can carefully add about a tablespoon of this mixture to each blossom and twist the top of the flower tight.
Frying them up:
Heat enough oil in a frying pan to accommodate the blossoms (about 1 inch deep). Get the batter out of the fridge and dip each blossom in batter, coating it.
When the oil is hot, carefully place each batter-covered blossom in the hot oil and fry until golden crisp on both sides.
- Be careful! This batter contains a little water, which tends to make it pop and spatter a little more than usual.
Remove the blossoms and drain on paper towels; sprinkle with salt and pepper, while hot.
Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes: 15.
From: The Mountain Kitchen
Campfire Roasted Pumpkin Rice
Ingredients:
- 9 inch sugar pumpkin (with a nice big stem)
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 4 – 4 ½ cups vegetable broth
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup dried apricots, chopped
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- ½ cup dried barberries (see note below)
Tools needed:
- Campfire
- Foil
- Medium pot
- 10 inch / 4 quart Dutch Oven
- 10 inch Cast Iron Skillet
- Lid lifter
Do At Home:
Make sure the pumpkin fits in your dutch oven! It should sit comfortably inside the dutch oven diameter-wise. Soak barberries in warm water for 10 minutes and then drain.
Melt butter in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the dried apricots, walnuts and barberries. Cook until the fruit is softened, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a pot, bring 4 cups of broth to a boil and add the arborio rice with ½ teaspoon of salt. Simmer with lid slightly ajar until rice is cooked, approximately 20 minutes. Check rice after about 10 minutes and make sure there is still some liquid. Add ¼ to ½ cup of water or broth if necessary.
Add nut and fruit mixture to rice and mix well. Add salt to taste if mixture still needs seasoning. Pack in water tight container or gallon sized zip top bag and store in cooler.
Do at campsite:
Get a nice campfire going to build a bed of hot coals.
Wash and dry pumpkin. Cut a lid around the stem and set aside. Scrape out insides of pumpkin leaving only the firm flesh.
Set the pumpkin in the dutch oven and scoop the rice filling into it. Don’t over fill the pumpkin – the pumpkin lid should still close tightly.
To cover the pumpkin and create an oven-like condition, use a 10 inch cast iron skillet as an improvised lid by turning it upside down and placing over the dutch oven. If the pumpkin is too tall, get creative and build a foil cover that will be easy to open/remove and put back on (you’ll need to check in on the pumpkin during the process).
Set the dutch oven directly in the fire pit with coals using your lid lifter. Place hot coals on top of the cast iron lid. Rotate ¼ turn every 15 minutes until pumpkin outside is slightly soft to the touch and the inside flesh is soft.
Remove from the campfire and set on heat-proof surface. Using a big spoon, scoop up rice, scraping up bits of pumpkin at the same time. Serve immediately.
- Note: Barberries have a unique tart-like flavor and are commonly found at Middle Eastern grocers. If you can’t find them, substitute currants soaked in lemon juice.
Makes: 8 servings
From: The Dirty Gourmet
Brazilian Shrimp Stuffed Pumpkin
Camarao na Moranga
Ingredients:
- 1 medium pumpkin
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 pound wild caught large shrimp (prawn), cleaned and deveined
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 cup cream cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C.
Wash the pumpkin and cut off the top. Scoop out the flesh and remove all seeds. Wrap it in aluminum foil and place it onto a baking tray, cut-off side down. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, until it is nearly soft. Remove it from the oven and unwrap from aluminium foil. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Add garlic, chopped jalapeño and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp to the pan and continue cooking for another minute. Add chopped fresh tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are soft, for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add fresh cilantro. Set aside.
Using a spoon, spread the cream cheese inside the pumpkin, trying to coat all the inside area. Pour shrimp stew into the pumpkin and return to the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until cheese melts and pumpkin becomes really soft inside. Remove from oven, sprinkle some more fresh cilantro on top. Serve warm with white rice on the side.
Makes: 4 servings
Source: Adore Foods
All Saints’ Day Pumpkin
Calabaza de Todos Los Santos
In the Basque countries, Spanish and French, the pumpkin is also associated with the supernatural feeling of the Halloween season. This dish is traditionally found on November the 1st in many peasant homes.
Ingredients:
- 1 large pumpkin
- 1 lb rice, uncooked
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large green pepper
- 2 lbs medium shrimps, sautéed in butter
- 1 tbsp grated onion
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Clean and de-vein shrimps, chop green pepper and garlic. Sauté in 1 tablespoon butter and add onion. Cut the top from pumpkin, remove all the seeds.
- Note: Save the top to use as a lid.
Place rice in pumpkin, put the rest of the ingredients on top of the rice, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Attach the lid with toothpicks. Place pumpkin on baking tray and bake in a 325 oven for 1 – 2 1/2 hours. To serve, remove the lid and scoop out the pumpkin / rice / shrimp mixture. Serves 6 to 8.
From: Authentic Spanish Cooking
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I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!
