| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 10:55:28 AM | | Tis that time of year here in Cannuckland for ghost's and gobblins! With that, come pumpkins and the leftover carved pumpkins. I am looking for different ways to cook/bake up some as I have 6 in my yard and would hate to see them go to waste! So my good cookin friends, any ideas??? | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 11:44:51 AM | | I was at a Persian restaurant and had a pumpkin dessert that was sweet and perfectly cooked. I don't think any sweetener was added but just the way it was cooked brought out the natural sugars. Wish I knew how they did it. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 2:49:04 PM | Moonie, these recipes are yum!
Libyan pumpkin dip
1lb (500g) pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 2cm cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
60-100ml extra virgin olive oi
Method
Put the pumpkin in a saucepan with 150ml water and simmer for about 10 minutes or until soft. Season well with salt and pepper. Mash the pumpkin with a fork until smooth then set aside.
Dry-roast the caraway and cumin seeds in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes, until aromatic. Crush the toasted seeds using a pestle and mortar. Add the garlic, chilli and a pinch of salt and work into a smooth paste. Add the spice mixture to the pumpkin along with the lemon juice. Mix through, then stir in the olive oil. Serve either hot or cold as part of a mezze, accompanied by lots of hot pita bread.
Serves 6
(From Street Food by Tom Kime)
Tagine of pumpkin and chickpeas
1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/4 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 100ml hot water
500g pumpkin, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut in half
half a 400g tin tomatoes
2 zucchini, sliced
1/2 a preserved lemon, chopped
cooked cous cous or rice, to serve
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup coriander leaves
Method
Put the chickpeas in a pot with plenty of cold water and boil for 30 minutes. Drain.
In a large pot, heat the oil and butter and cook the onion and garlic until soft and lightly golden. Add the spices (except saffron), cook for a couple of minutes, then add the partially cooked chickpeas, saffron, pumpkin, potatoes, tomatoes and just enough water to cover. Season with salt and simmer gently until the potatoes are almost soft (about 30-40 minutes). Add the zucchini and preserved lemon and cook for 5 more minutes or until the potatoes and pumpkin are soft (but not mushy).
To serve
Serve with cous cous or rice and a dollop of yoghurt and some freshly chopped coriander. If you like it hot, serve a little harissa on the side.
Serves 6.
Pumpkin, bacon and sage risotto
1 kg (2lbs) pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
100ml olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper
2 medium brown onions, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
175g eye bacon, trimmed and sliced
2 red bird's eye chillies, chopped
2 tbsp sage leaves, chopped
400g risoni (tiny soup pasta instead of rice)
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. Place pumpkin on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season and roast in the oven until deep golden in colour and soft, about 25 minutes. Remove and reserve. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and add onion, garlic, bacon and chilli. Season and cook until onion is soft and starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Add sage and cook for another minute. Stir through risoni and add 750ml of stock. Simmer gently and continue to stir until risoni is al dente and stock has absorbed. Add more stock if necessary. Stir through pumpkin and serve.
Serves 4 | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 2:51:17 PM | let's see.. hmmm..
pumpkin soup, pumpkin scones and cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
roast the seeds and sprinkle them on top
or add to mixture when making granola bars
last but not least, my fav, pumpkin pecan pie!
make your staple pumpkin pie and top with pecan filling (adding rum/whiskey is must *giggle*)
for an extra treat.. drizzle with toffee or caramel before serving
the crust can also be cookie or graham wafer based
oh.. one other thing I thought of... tempura! why not? there's squash, carrot and sweet potato tempura, so add pumpkin to the mix | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 4:20:57 PM | Moonie!
One of my favorite nice, sweet POF ladies. In fact, all of the ladies above me here are nice, sweet and pretty! Great recipes ladies, FFS, especially your dip and tagine. I am going to write those down.
Oh, don't want to leave out Mr. Hawaiian, but ladies, I can promise you he is a knock out! Moonie has probably seen him. I have no idea why he doesn't post his pic, unless he just gets too many woman beating his POF mailbox down.
Moon the one thing I have found about those large pumpkins and eating them, because I prefer to eat than throw away too, is that they are usually quite stringy and the skin is so hard it is almost too hard to peel off.
What I do is this...
Cut off top
Clean out inner strings and seeds
Separate seeds and roast
Put warm seeds in dry towel and rub to remove remainder of stringy stuff
Very lightly butter, season and return to roast
Cut the remaining pumpkin into large pieces and lay them on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degree F
Can choose to season or not before, or oil or not
When done, I scrape from the peel and separate the individual amounts I need for what I have planned it use it for
Some may go into bags in the freezer
Some to make a side dish, often rissotto
Some for soup
Some for a dessert or bread
Often I find it too stringy to do much with
Depending on the flavor and quality of the pumpkin, then I decide what to do with it
If you need any certain recipes or particular types of recipes, let us know and also what you do with yours.
SS  | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 6:23:06 PM | ^^^^
Hey stay on topic up there.
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 6:29:17 PM | LOLOL if I said what I am thinking....I would get in soooooooooooooooooooo much trouble!
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 6:37:29 PM | Oh yes, I shuld have posted another thing I do with pumpkins...
I love to roast the wedges from smaller pumpkins that are peeled, with brown sugar, tiny spritz of lemon or lime, lots of nutmeg and some cinnamon. I have also done this in a skillet.
Then I pour it all over homemade cinnamon ice cream MMMMMMM MMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
SS | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 7:20:16 PM | | I bake 'em, push the pulp through a sieve, and freeze it in 1 1/2 cup portions. I'm real fond of pumpkin pie and I'm just now using up the last of it from last year. Warning: this is labor intensive and not for everyone. You have to be a little nuts. But I love it. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/23/2009 9:18:35 PM | Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
1 pastry-lined pie shell
2 cups cooked, peeled sweet potatoes
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash salt
2 tablespoons bourbon or if you can find it, praline liqueuer
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup pecan halves
Prick bottom of pie crust with a fork; bake in preheated 425° oven for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool. Mash sweet potatoes with half of the butter (1/4 cup). Let cool. Add heavy cream, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, spices, and bourbon or praline liqueuer. Blend until fluffy, spoon into pie crust. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
Combine remaining 1/4 cup butter with corn syrup and pecans; sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Return pie to oven and bake 25 minutes longer, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Top with whipped cream.
Pumpkin Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin or winter squash
3 cups sifted cake flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
Frosting of your choice ( recommend sour cream, vanilla or whipped cream)
Cream shortening and slowly add sugars, eggs and pumpkin. Sift together flour, baking powder and soda; add alternatively with the milk to the creamed mixture. Fold in nuts and maple flavoring. Pour into 3 greased 8" round layer cake pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool on racks. Put cake layers together with frosting, then frost sides and top.
Pumpkin Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 drops orange extract
1 1/2 cups mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts
Cream together shortening and brown sugar. Add eggs, beat throughly. Mix in vanilla and pumpkin. Sift together dry ingrdients. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts.
Drop dough by heaped teaspoons onto a greased baking sheet about 2" apart. Bake in a 375 degree oven about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove cookies and cool on racks. Makes 5 dozen. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 11:31:08 AM | | Don't forget pumpkin ravioli. I don't have the recipe right here, but i can get it later. I didn't think that i would like it, but i really enjoyed it. If you like pumkin its worth a try. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 12:24:08 PM | | VBX... thanks for sharing those recipes. I am definitely gonna try all three this year! | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 5:01:34 PM | Friendly, I love the Middle Eastern recipes...a little work, but they sound good! BTW, do you preserve your own lemons? I tried it, but they went bad. I just used salt, olive oil and whole lemons, as done in Arab countries, but something went wrong.
And I'm glad to see this thread. It's sad to think of all the people in 3rd world countries who are starving to death while we make decorations out of foods like pumpkins, dried corn and squash. Too bad we can't share them. So let's eat those pumpkins, and be thankful!
JB | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 5:39:47 PM | And I'm glad to see this thread. It's sad to think of all the people in 3rd world countries who are starving to death while we make decorations out of foods like pumpkins, dried corn and squash. Too bad we can't share them. So let's eat those pumpkins, and be thankful!
test | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 5:39:50 PM | Justbunky: I have made preserved lemons, but not for a few years. I should though; we've got a lemon tree. I think I overdid using them so I became tired of the flavour.
Here's a good recipe, c/- Stephanie Alexander:
Speedy preserved lemons
lemons, scrubbed and quartered
kitchen salt
black peppercorns
slivers of cinammon stick (optional)
lemon juice
extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
Put lemons into a plastic bag and freeze for at least 4 hours or until quite firm (not overnight otherwise they will be too hard to deal with). The peel will really soften up. Scatter 1 cm salt ino wide mouthed sterilised preserving jars, then layer fruit and more salt as tightly as you can, pressing down on the fruit as you to release maximum juice. Include a few peppercorns and slivers of cinammon stick (if using) in each jar. Finish with a layer of salt and top up with lemon juice to cover. Press to ensure there are no air pockets. Top with a layer of oil, then seal and leave in a cool, dark place for 1 week before enjoying. The flavours get better and better over time.
I make that pumpkin dip sometimes and it's really easy! | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/24/2009 7:22:11 PM | Bubky, I just posted a Preserved lemon recipe in here a couple of weeks ago, but cannot find it now. I thought it was with the one I gave you on Middle Eastern Pickled Turnips.
I am not at home, but when I get there I will post it again.
SS | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/25/2009 6:51:57 AM | Thanks for all the contributions folks! Definately gives me ideas for what I can do with all of these lil guys! lol
I was wondering though, is there a way that I could freeze pieces of them without all the work of grinding them through a seive? Anybody know? | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 11:32:07 AM | | I would just partially or fully cook it and then peel (if not already done)... and then put it into freezer bags when cooled. Depending on what it might be used for later... you could always freeze on trays and then put the pieces into an airtight freezer bag. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 1:05:13 PM | Yeah Moon, what ^^^she said LOL
FFS, I apologize to you. I did not see your preserved lemon recipe when I came in here and wrote that to Bunky. I am sorry, I wasn't trying to discount yours. It sounds wonderful.
SS | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 5:29:31 PM | | ^^No, mine's nothing like yours, SS. Mine's a quick version...made for those who must have preserved lemon NOW!! | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 7:48:15 PM |  vbxtc Sweet potato pie!! much better than pumpkin, but they look so funny out on the porch with candles in them  | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 8:15:29 PM | | Pumpkin seed brittle or pumpkin seed nougat. Pumpkin pancakes with pecan syrup. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 8:17:21 PM | ^^^^^
You're absolutely right Wingsonmyfeet, and I didn't even notice, lol! I guess I tend to think of sweet potato and pumpkin pies as interchangable. Sorry 'bout that. | |
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| Pumpkins!!!
Posted: 10/26/2009 8:56:48 PM | Gona give Pumpkin wine a try after Halloween. Bought 3 big ones for my yard.
Since it usually freezes over Halloween generally process the pumpkin 2 ways. First scrape out as much as possible separate out the seeds and bake until soft in a roaster mash then make pies breads or what ever. In my case generally pies.
Second freeze the remainder of the pumpkin after it does jack-o-lantern duty or in my case while it does its duty. Cut into strips while frozen then thaw scrape/cut the pumpkin from the skin and once again cook. This is what I am going to try to turn into wine this year without the cooking. | |
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