Fruits

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

Pumpkin Trifecta Day, Recipe #2.

I have a soft spot for pumpkins. I also have a soft spot for the folks over at Bon Appetit’s The Feed. Not only do they keep me in a constant state of inspiration with their posts, they also regularly review and give away cookbooks.

Last fall, I was a lucky winner, and as it happened, I already owned the cookbook I’d won — the review was that good, I’d already gone out and bought it. I casually mentioned to the sweet editor who contacted me that I owned the cookbook, and was there any possibility of switching?

“Yes, we could give you a different cookbook. I have a gazillion ones sitting in front of me. Want to give me an idea of what you’re looking for and I can suggest some titles?”

Enter Dorie Greenspan. I’d been swooning over Around My French Table for awhile, and had recently come across one of the featured recipes, “Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.” If even a dozen recipes looked half as good as that one, I knew it would be right up my alley.

The editor agreed, and a few days later, a big, beautiful hardcover cookbook with gorgeous photos and mouthwatering recipes was sitting on my coffee table, just waiting for me to dive in.

So far, “Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good” is still my favorite recipe from the book. It’s really more of an outline than a recipe, meant to be adapted as the mood strikes you.

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The original recipe calls for stale bread, but I like cooked rice for the risotto-like end product. Dorie also suggests adding cooked sausage or ham, nuts, chunks of apples or pears, or cooked vegetables such as kale, spinach or chard. These all sound absolutely perfect.

You have choices for serving, too: cut wedges of the pumpkin and filling; spoon out portions of the filling, making sure to get a generous amount of pumpkin; or dig into the pumpkin with a big spoon, and pull the pumpkin flesh into the filling and mix it all up. Serve with a salad as a cold-weather main course, or as the perfect fall side dish. It’s a worthy addition to any Thanksgiving table. Omit the bacon, and it’s also vegetarian.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

Adapted from Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010)

Makes 2 very generous servings or 4 small servings

1 sugar pumpkin, about 3 pounds

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 to 2 c cooked rice

1/4 lb cheese, such as Gruyere, Emmental (Emmenthal), cheddar or a combination, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used Trader Joe’s Emmental)

4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and crumbled (I used Trader Joe’s applewood smoked bacon)

1/4 c snipped fresh chives

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme

1/3 to 1/2 c cream

Pinch of nutmeg

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a heavy-duty baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment, or use a Dutch oven or casserole dish slightly larger than the pumpkin, coated with butter, oil or cooking spray.

Wash and dry the pumpkin. Using a sturdy, sharp knife, cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin at a 45-degree angle (like carving a jack-o’-lantern). Clear away the seeds and strings from the cap and the inside of the pumpkin. (I like to use an ice cream scoop). Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper. Put the pumpkin on the baking sheet or in the pot or casserole.

In a bowl, toss together the filling ingredients (everything except the cream and nutmeg). Season with pepper. (Note: you can also add salt to the filling, but the cheese and bacon may make it salty enough; be sure to taste it first.) Pack the filling into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well-filled; you might have a little too much filling, or you might need to add to it. Stir the nutmeg into the cream and pour into the pumpkin to moisten the ingredients. You don’t want the ingredients to swim in cream; the pumpkin will exude some additional liquid while cooking.

Put the cap in place and bake the pumpkin for 90-120 minutes, checking at 90 minutes. Everything inside the pumpkin is bubbling, and the flesh of the pumpkin should be tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork. If desired, remove the cap during the last 20-30 minutes so that the liquid can bake away and the top can brown a little.

Carefully transfer the pumpkin to a serving platter or to your table.

This dish is best eaten immediately. Scoop out any leftovers, mix them up, cover and chill; reheat the next day.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I’m declaring today the Pumpkin Trifecta.That’s right: one day, three amazing recipes. Pumpkin is my favorite thing about fall, and I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate it into my diet.

Let’s start with breakfast: pumpkin pancakes. Simple, quick, and great with eggs, bacon, sausage, or just on their own. Pancakes also keep well, so one batch sets me up for several breakfasts for the week.

I’ve played around with several different recipes and settled on this amalgamation. It has a fair amount of pumpkin, and it’s not too sweet so the spices shine through. Serve it with a touch of real maple syrup, or a little butter and cinnamon.

P.S. No, I didn’t eat all of this. It’s not that I didn’t want to… but I had two more pumpkin recipes to tackle. :)

Pumpkin Pancakes

Adapted from several sources

Yield: about 15 pancakes

1 1/4 c flour

1/4 c brown sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1 c whole milk

3/4 c canned pumpkin

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  In a medium bowl, whisk milk, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla to blend well.  Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick).

Heat a pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Brush surface with butter or oil, or use cooking spray. Pour batter in 1/4-cup portions onto hot surface. Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 minute per side.  Flip over and cook for another 30 seconds or until they are cooked and nicely browned.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

Fig, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Up to this point, I’d eaten fresh figs exactly once in my life: when the “gourmet fruit of the month” a vendor sends to my office was black mission figs. I managed to snag a couple of those plum beauties, and I could immediately see why my fellow foodies were so enamored. That was nearly a year ago, and I hadn’t seen figs in a grocery store since.

Until Sunday, that is, when I walked into Trader Joe’s, with crate after crate of figs, both black and green. I picked up a container of black mission figs, along with a package of goat cheese. That night, I sliced up a few, topped them with a few crumbles of cheese and a dot of honey, and threw them under a broiler for a couple minutes. Divine and devoured.

For the next two days, they were the highlight of my lunch, in salad form. I packed the ingredients in separate containers and tossed them together on a paper plate from the kitchen at work. I didn’t have any walnuts or pecans on hand, but they would make a great addition, both for flavor and texture. Grilled chicken would make this a great entree salad.

Fig, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad for One

4-6 fresh figs, sliced in half, stems removed

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

1 oz goat cheese, crumbled

4 cups baby spinach

1 T balsamic vinaigrette (or your favorite dressing) – adjust to your personal preference

Toss all ingredients. Serve immediately.