Roasting a Fresh Pumpkin

I was at Market (the local farmers market) last week buying my weekly supply of fresh produce. Being the first part of October, nearly every vendor had various sized and varieties of pumpkins for sale. I've been eying them for a few weeks now, but I hadn't bought any just yet. My two boys were having a lengthy conversation with one of our very favorite vendors while I was busy buying some much needed grass-fed beef. On the sly, the vendor bargained with my boys and ended up giving them EACH a huge Cinderella pumpkin (or "Rouge vif D'Etampes" if you want to be correct about it.)

I had just read recently that these pumpkins make an excellent eating pumpkin. Up until now, I've only known people to decorate with them since they are so very beautiful. However, there was no way that I could let all that free pumpkin go to waste so I decided to roast one up to have my own supply of pureed pumpkin for all my baking needs.

So, it went something like this:

With the pumpkin up on the counter, I used my large chefs knife and cut it in half. Using the tip of the knife, I sliced into it up by the stem at middle and continued cutting into it, down, until I had one side cut all the way through to the bottom. Then I swung the pumpkin around and did the same thing on the other side until I had two large halves. 

With a spoon, I scraped out all the seeds from the inside. The cut side down, I placed one half onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Then into the oven at 325° for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The flesh needs to be very soft when poked with a fork. I repeated this process for the other half.

I neglected to weigh this but it was so large that I could only roast one half at a time. 

I let the pumpkin rest about 40 minutes. This cooled the pumpkin enough for me to handle it and also allowed the excess liquid to drain off onto the baking sheet. I then cut it up into large pieces, peeled off the skin and placed the cooked flesh into a large bowl.

Now this next part goes a lot faster if you own a proper Cuisinart. I, however, only have a mini prep Cuisinart that I bought years ago to make baby food for my youngest son. Even so, this little thing got the job done (if in endless batches) so I can't really complain.

I filled up my mini prep with chunks of pumpkin and pressed "chop" until it was sufficiently pureed,  dumped it into a large clean bowl and repeated the process until I had every little bit done. It took a while, but my eight-year-old son had fun helping me with this part.

This would have been a good time to use a 12 cup Cuisinart if I had one.

In all, I processed 24+ cups of pureed pumpkin. That works out to be about 12 regular sized cans of store bought pumpkin. I divided it all up into 2 cup portions in freezer safe containers and put them away into the freezer.  I then promptly made a batch of my mother's famous pumpkin bread.

It's important to note that pureed pumpkin and pumpkin butters/jams must be refrigerated or frozen to properly store it. Pumpkin is a low acid food and you can NOT can it in a boiling water bath. Even pressure cooker canning it is not safe. Be safe and healthy--store your lovely pumpkin puree in the freezer.

Also good to know is that depending on the variety, fresh roasted pumpkin has more water content than canned pumpkin. To get it to the correct consistency you will need to allow the roasted pumpkin to drain. And after pureeing if it is still too watery, you can drain some more liquid off by using some layers of cheesecloth or a very fine sieve.

During my internet search before I actually roasted my pumpkin, I saw numerous ways that intrepid people puree their cooked pumpkin. If you don't have a blender or food processor you can use a sieve and a spoon, pressing and stirring until you've got a nice puree. Alternatively, you could put the roasted pumpkin through a ricer or even use a simple masher.

However which way you do decide to make your pureed pumpkin, make sure to plan for several hours to complete the job. This whole process took me 5 1/2 hours from start to finish. Have your children help out too. I found this to be a lot of fun and I will certainly buy a huge pumpkin next year and do this all over again.

Peach Blackberry Cobbler

I have been making this recipe for years now. I originally found it in the July 2007 issue of a Cooking Light magazine.  It is absolutely fabulous! The drop biscuit topping is tender and fluffy and the whole thing comes together in almost no time at all. You can literally just toss it together while you are cooking dinner, or just before, and you'll have dessert to look forward to once you've eaten all your veggies.

You can easily make this an all peach cobbler. Or an all blackberry cobbler. Or a blueberry peach, or a triple berry, and etc. I use this recipe as the base standard for all my summer cobblers. The amount of sugar and flour called for in the filling below is a good amount for berries/fruit that are sweet and not too juicy. If you have some fruit that is more tart than sweet, like wild blackberries, you will need to add a bit more sugar to the mix. Likewise, if your fruit is very juicy, you may need to add more flour to the filling, up to about 4 tablespoons.

Serves 8

Filling:
1/2 c sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp salt
2 peaches, sliced (you may leave the peels on if desired, I do)
2 dry pints blackberries
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Biscuit Topping:
1 1/3 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c buttermilk (or plain milk if you don't have buttermilk)
1 1/2 Tbsp turbinado sugar, reserved to sprinkle on top of biscuits

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 4 filling ingredients in a large bowl. Add peaches, blackberries and lemon juice. Toss gently. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups and level off with a knife. Using a wire whisk, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. With clean hands, rub butter into the flour mix using your fingertips until the mix looks like coarse meal. You could also do this with a pastry blender if you prefer. Make a well in the middle of the mix and add the buttermilk all at once. Stir, with a wooden spoon in a circular motion, just until moist.

Remove the baking dish from oven after the 15 minute pre-bake. Drop the biscuit topping onto the hot fruit mixture in 8 spots. Sprinkle the dough with the turbinado sugar. Bake for another 25 minutes or until it's bubbly and the biscuits are golden.

Zucchini Bread with Candied Ginger

I'm an avid Farmer's Market shopper; and being one requires me to eat with the seasons. Which means that for the majority of the year, I eat whatever produce is locally in season at the time. Practically, what this looks like is weeks of eating a certain vegetable, say zucchini, in creatively different ways as to not get bored or tired of eating the same thing.

Last year I came across this cookbook that nearly called out my name from the shelf. It's perfect for my eating lifestyle. Called Eating Local, it highlights great recipes that help to make the most out of the local produce that is available at the farmers markets or through a CSA subscription. This is where I found this amazing recipe for zucchini bread; it has since become my very favorite.

Don't be scared off with the addition of the candied ginger, it really makes this bread into an almost gourmet experience. I find candied ginger at my local Fred Meyer. There's a brand called Naturally Preferred that they carry in the "healthy food" section that I like the best, but any will do.

Makes two 8 inch loaves

3 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup minced candied ginger
3 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
(For a variation, try 1 cup grated carrot and 1 cup grated zucchini. It's just as tasty and more colorful.)

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift the flour before measuring. With a wire whisk, sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Then stir in the candied ginger.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and foamy. Add the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the zucchini (or the zucchini and carrots if doing that variation.)

Add the dry ingredients all at once to the egg mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans.

Bake for about one hour, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out loaves from the pans and leave them to finish cooling, right side up, on the rack.

Loaves should keep well, wrapped in plastic or wax paper, for about 3 days.

Chocolate chip hazelnut Scones

Here's another scone recipe for you, the perfect foil for a cup of coffee. It's one of my favorites and so easy to whip up when you want a treat for your coffee break.

I started out using my British Scone recipe, then adapted it for the addition of the chocolate chips and hazelnuts. After a few trials, I finally had it down to this perfect recipe.

Enjoy!

Makes 8 wedges

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet
1 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips. Making a well in the middle of this, pour in the cream. Mix together using a wooden spoon. This dough will be very thick. You may add just a touch more cream if the mix is too dry.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Shape and pat into a round, 1 inch high. Using a floured knife, cut the round into 8 equal sized wedges.

Place wedges onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 375° for 16 minutes. The bottoms of the scones will be golden, but the tops will still be pale. Leave on the cookie sheet for a minute and then remove to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm if you like.

***Revised this recipe April 17,  2011. *** Oops! A friend brought to my attention that I failed to include the sugar in this recipe. She had made these scones, and thought them wonderful, but wondered at that they didn't call for any sugar. My recipe was supposed to have sugar, I told her. And so, alerted to the mistake in this post, I have made the necessary changes. So, evidently, these scones still taste lovely with less (or no) sugar, if you feel so inclined to make them that way.

A British Cob

A cob is simply a crusty round loaf of bread. The name "cob" comes from England, it's Anglo Saxon for "head." I guess the theory is that the round loaf looks like the shape of a head when baked.

I enjoy making bread in this cob form, it cuts down on the amount of pans I have to wash later. Plus, it's a lot of fun to handle these round loaves as opposed to our (USA) traditional rectangular loaves. To get this round shape you simply bake it on a cookie sheet instead of in loaf pan.

This bread has become a family favorite around here. I found the idea for this recipe in a baking book called The Best-Ever Book of Bread. Through some trial and error I finally settled on this adapted recipe. It is especially lovely served warm, just from the oven for dinner. It also makes a great tasting sandwich bread.

Just a note for those of you who may be new to baking with yeast (as I was just about a year ago): Yeasted breads take a bit of practice. It's wholly different than baking up a quick batter bread. The whole process (kneading, rising, resting) will take you on a sharp learning curve. I recommend buying or borrowing a good bread baking book. It will help you visually, showing you various steps, and it will also help you to troubleshoot for when something goes wrong as it usually will until you've had more practice. Don't give up. Bake some bread once a week and before long you will be a pro!

Makes 1 round loaf

1 1/4 c milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or one packet)
1/4 c lukewarm water
3 c whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose unbleached flour

Topping:
2 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
rolled oats

Scald milk in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir into the milk the butter, salt and sugar. Set aside until cooled to lukewarm.

In a small bowl, stir together the yeast and 1/4 c water. Set aside

In a large bowl, mix both flours together and reserve about a cup to use later during kneading. Make a well in the middle of the flour. Add into the well the cooled milk mixture and the yeast mixture. Stir until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Flour a board (or whatever surface you will be doing your kneading on) with some of the reserved cup of flour. Turn out the dough onto this floured surface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, until it's smooth and elastic, using the reserved flour as needed on your surface. Place dough in a large oiled bowl, turning dough over once to coat. Cover with damp, lint-free towel and leave to rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down and turn out onto a floured board again. Knead another few minutes, about 3-5.


With the dough on the board, shape into a round. Press your lightly fisted hand into the center of the round. Then pick up the dough, turning it over so the pressed side is on the bottom and lightly cup and shape it into a compact ball shape. **see photo at side**
 
Place dough ball onto the middle of a floured cookie sheet. Cover with a large inverted bowl and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes.

For the topping: Mix water and salt together. Brush over the top of the risen dough and sprinkle with rolled oats.

Bake in a preheated 450° oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 400° and bake for another 20 minutes, until the cob feels firm and when thumped on the bottom, sounds hollow. Or until a thermometer in the middle reads 205°-210°. Cool on a wire rack or slice into it and enjoy warm.

Spiced Pear Cake

This cake is the perfect thing to make with all the fresh, ripe, local pears that are in season right now. It is so wonderfully divine that I was hard pressed to share this with my family. I could have happily ate the whole thing myself. It also makes for a lovely treat for breakfast, if you have any left over, that is.

I used ripe Bartlett pears for this cake since that is what I had on hand. It made this cake very sweet and soft. Bosc pears would very work well, they hold their shape when cooked and do not have that candy sweetness that ripe Bartlett's do. Any pear variety will work.

Serves 10

11 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice (or nutmeg if you prefer)
1/4 tsp salt
2 lg eggs
2/3 cup milk

Place 3 Tbsp of the butter in a 9-inch round cake pan. Place the pan in the oven while preheating it to 325°. When the butter is melted, remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Place pear slices in a fan pattern in the bottom of the pan, overlapping if needed.

In a medium sized bowl whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, cloves, allspice and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric beater, beat remaining 8 Tbsp butter with the remaining 1 cup of sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add half the flour mixture and mix it in. Then mix all the milk, followed by the remaining flour. Beat just until smooth. Pour batter over the fanned pear slices in the pan.

Bake the cake at 325° for 1 hour, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake then invert onto a plate. Remove the pan, replacing any pear slices stuck to the pan, and allow to cool slightly.

Serve warm with freshly whipped cream if you like.

Meatball Kale Soup

I was in the kitchen the other afternoon. It was a Thursday, with my market shopping Saturday still two days away. I was looking at what dwindling fresh produce I had left in the refrigerator and trying to come up with something for dinner. One bunch of kale, a couple turnips, a few carrots and a pound of hamburger meat. Hmm.... So this is what I came up with. I was delighted with my results, it was so good! My husband, who had been working late and hadn't watched me prepare it, even had to ask me where I got the meatballs; he said they looked so perfect and were so tasty that I must have bought them from the store. I smiled and said,

"No store bought, factory made, frozen meatballs for my family, I'm a homemaker and I have plenty of time to actually cook for my family."

Pair this soup with some nice thick slices of freshly made whole wheat bread and you've got the perfect Autumn dinner for your table.

A note about the meatballs: The one pound of hamburger made 33 one inch meatballs, way too many for my soup to handle. I ended up putting 17 meatballs into my soup (a little less then what my recipe says below because I have two little boys who don't eat much.) While the soup was simmering, I cooked up the rest of the meatballs in a skillet and then froze them for use in a future meal.

Another note about the beef base: I keep a jar of beef base in my refrigerator. I make a lot of soups and other things that require broth. I have found the Better Than Bouillon paste products to be the best tasting broths or stocks out there, hands down 100% better than something out of a can. I find this at my local Costco; it carries the organic reduced sodium base that I like the best.

Soup Serves 4

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground hamburger
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
a few sprinkles of garlic powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lg egg


Into a large bowl, put the hamburger, bread crumbs, spices and Worcestershire sauce. In a small, tall-sided bowl, beat the egg until good and frothy with a wire whisk. Add the egg to the hamburger and mix up all ingredients with a fork.

With clean hands (free of wedding rings and such) pinch off just enough hamburger mixture to measure about an inch. Without putting pressure on it, roll the hamburger in a circle between the palms of your hands until you have a uniform 1 inch round meatball. Place onto a large rimmed cookie sheet. Repeat until all meatballs are made. You should have about 32-33 meatballs when done. Place the sheet into the refrigerator until ready to use.

Soup:

1 celery rib, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped

1 small onion, chopped
12 c. water
8 tsp Better Than Bouillon Beef Base
2 turnips, chopped
1 small bunch of kale, well rinsed and shredded

In a dutch oven, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped celery, carrots and onion and saute them for 5 minutes. Add the beef base paste and warm, stirring, for about a minute. Then add the 12 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Once the soup begins to boil add the turnips, kale and drop in 20 meatballs. Bring back to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve with a hunk of whole grain bread.