EDF Cooking Contest--Pumpkin Challenge

[Ron Burgundy]

<font color="orange"> Roast Duck with Curry-Pumpkin Gelee and Pumpkin Fries </font>

So, I wanted to do a raost duck. I look in my Professionl Chef book for a how-to. It says to put the duck in the roasting pan breast side up. Then I think: "Hmmm... which side is the breast side?" Needless to say, this was the first time I'd ever roasted a whole bird. It came out a little dry. I think I overcooked it a little. Also, the skin wasn't really as crispy as it's supposed to be. But still, it was pretty good.

The gelee was made by boiling some pumpkin in water with curry powder and cinnamon. Then I pureed it in a blender, returned it to the heat, and added some agar flakes and chopped carica. After a few minutes more, I put it into a ramekin and let it chill and solidify in the fridge. It tasted great, but it looks like barf.

The fries I put in the dehydrator at 150* for an hour, then cooked them in some rendered duck fat. They turned out a little chewier than potato fries, but they tasted good.

The salad is some micro greens and endive. I made a little sauce/glaze/vinagrette kind of thing with pumpkinseed oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, s &amp; p. And I sprinkled on some pumpkin seeds for a little crunch.

[BK_]

Never would have thought of making gelee. Is it served cold or warm? The greens seem crucial to this dish.

[Ron Burgundy]

I took it out of the fridge and let it come back to room temp. But you could serve it cold or put it in the oven for a few minutes and serve it hot if you wanted.

Yea, the greens were essential since the other components were so heavy. I ended up putting a bunch more salad on as I was eating it.

[BK_]

Pumpkin - Goat Cheese Croquettes with Maple Marscapone over Micro Greens and a Pumpkin Vinaigrette



I loved everything about this dish. All the individual pieces were really tasty, but eating them together turns this into one of my favorite dishes in the last couple of months. The greens and the vinaigrette added a nice textural and tangy component to complement the creaminess of the croquettes. (The use of greens here was inspired by ron b's dish above) Anyways, here is the recipe:

Croquettes
1 lb goat cheese
1 lb pumpkin puree (I'm not sure how much I put in, seemed like the same amount as the goat cheese)
2 eggs
1 bunch thyme
2 cups panko bread crumbs
salt to taste
1 bunch sage (not pictured)
maple syrup (to adjust sweetness)

Mascarpone Maple Drizzle
1 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp maple syrup

Pumpkin Vinaigrette
Pumpkin Puree
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Sherry Vinegar

Mix thyme, goat cheese and pumpkin puree in a small bowl. Add maple syrup as necessary. Refrigerate. Make small 1 ounce "balls'" of the mixture.

Dredge in beaten eggs, then coat with coarse bread crumbs (panko works best). Refrigerate again.

For the mascarpone - mix 1 cup mascarpone, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 3 tbsp maple syrup.

Pan fry the croquettes until golden. as they are frying toss in leaves of sage. Remove from oil, drain well.

For the dressing, combine the balsamic and sherry vinegar. Whisk in olive oil slowly. Add pumpkin puree to achieve desired consistency and taste. Add salt and pepper.

To plate, coat the greens with the dressing and place on the plate. Top with the croquettes and top with the Marscapone Maple sauce. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds (I used the ones I made last week)

[ElSapo]

Dish looks great. How are you shooting these awesome pictures?

[Ron Burgundy]

<font color="orange"> Pumpkin Flambe with Pumpkinseed Brittle and Ice Cream </font>

This was really easy and turned out awesome.

To make the brittle, I just mixed up some pumpkinseeds with maple syrup and minced ginger. Baked it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.

The flambe was chopped pumpkin, coconut milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, ground cardamom seeds, and the seeds from a vanilla bean (which you can get super cheap on Amazon BTW.) Sauteed it for about 15 minutes, then the fun part (I used grand marnier):



I stirred in some chopped mint at the end, and garnished with whole mint leaves.

[Mermade]

Ron--Nice. By the way, I added bourbon to something I was cooking the other night and I must have been a little heavy handed. I tilted the pan to the flame (I have a gas range) and I almost lost my eyebrows. It looks like you've added ice cream to this, right? What kind? This is reminding me of cobbler. That's a good thing.

[Ron Burgundy]

It was vanilla ice cream.

Also, I used an heirloom pumpkin from Whole Foods. It didn't say what it was called, but the skin was white with orange vertical stripes. It didn't seem to taste any different than normal pumpkin.

[BK_]

Thanks. I should be asking you the same question though - yours came out really nicely this month.

But to answer your question, I use a canon rebel dslr with a tripod and reset the custom white balance every night. I just started using the tripod again recently and everything is coming out alot more crisp. The lighting sucks in my apartment for pictures and I use a crappy stock lens for food, but I guess the other things make up for it. I also have a 50mm fixed lens but I can't get the whole dish to stay in focus for some reason.

[BK_]

Ron - Thats a nice looking skillet you have there. What kind is it? The desert looks tasty.