Now playing: Tricky - Pumpkin
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A larger pumpkin was plucked from the garden recently. Along with a few birdhouse gourds. The gourds were cleaned and sprayed with diluted bleach, then hung by string to dry and use next year hopefully!
The smallest orange-ish pumpkin is finishing up on the vine. There are many tiny ones trying to squeek by. Perhaps I will employ a few green pumpkin recipes soon? There some out there!
I harvested the seeds, roasted a portion, cubed a portion for fritters and made puree for ice cream out of the big 'un. The ice cream was spiced and was good with Port caramel and dark chocolate brownies. I didn't strain the puree of the pumpkin and like the texture of it in the ice cream. This is the recipe I used for the caramel:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/port-caramel-sauce
The roasted portion will be made into a nice curry, and garnished with the fritters on top. I have to have it this time of year, like mulled cider. It is a must!
The broccoli and kale are doing great this year. A nice light frost could be a good thing, it adds flavour to these greens.
A free packet of seeds from the Ludlow Food Festival provided plenty of heat from the garden. I dried the chillis in a 180 deg oven overnight. Not bad for free! Maybe I will grind some down for cayenne power in my curry.
Have you tried cooking with Japanese pumpkin? I'm cooking one today, in both steamed and tempura-fried preparations. It's really good! I finally discovered just what that really yummy sweet-potato-like veg that frequently shows up on a plate of vegetable tempura is! Apparently, SW Colorado is one of the largest growing areas for Japanese Pumpkin, but most of it is shipped to Japan!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what are you planning on doing with the kale? Following someone's suggestion, I recently made kale chips. They are really good! You just break the kale into approx. square inch pieces, toss them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on medium heat for 20 minutes. You can also flavor them with vinegar, Worchestershire sauce, or whatever you want.
Hmmmmm, maybe I will try to grow the Japanese pumpkin next year. I'm making regular pumpkin spaetzle with pork chops tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI also, like the idea of kale chips, will try it sometime. So far, I have made a sausage and kale soup and put wilted kale with mushroom risotto.