EDF Cooking Contest--Pumpkin Challenge

[BretWeir]

Wow -- some really incredible entries already. Not sure if these are in the same class, but here goes. Cooking details to follow.

Appetizer: Pumpkin Popover and Pumpkin Mustard Bruschetta



Main: Pulled Lamb with Pumpkin Dumplings



Dessert: Chilled Pumpkin Parfait



Cooking notes to follow.

[BretWeir]

First off, here are the pumpkins:



Appetizer: Pumpkin Popovers

I've been wanting to make popovers ever since I had some incredible ones at BLT Steakhouse in DC. I used their recipe, modified to incorporate pumpkin.

For four popovers:
2 cups milk
1/2 pumpkin, roasted
4 eggs
2 cups flour
3/4 tbsp salt
6 oz grated gruyere

I roasted the half pumpkin at 325 for about 40 minutes, then scooped out the meat, mashed it and added it to the warm milk.





I then slowly whisked the pumpkin milk into the eggs, and combined with the sifted flour. I poured the batter into a greased popover pan and topped each popover with about 1 1/2 tbsp of gruyere.



Baked at 350 for 50 minutes. The end result:



They rose nicely (though they need to be served *immediately* or they'll fall -- they'd already falled a bit by the time I took the pic above). The pumpkin added a little weight to the bottom parts -- they almost had a Yorkshire pudding-type texture. The pumpkin flavor was subtle, but it did come through. And it blended nicely with the cheese. Overall, these weren't as good as the original (non-pumpkin) recipe, but they were a nice change of pace.

Appetizer: Pumpkin-Mustard Bruschetta

This was really easy, though there was quite a bit of down time while I was waiting for the flavors to set. To make the relish, I used

1/2 small pumpkin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 tbsp Colman's dry mustard
pepper

I mixed the sugar with the pumpkin cubes in a bowl and chilled overnight; the sugar will liquify and turn into a kind of syrup.



I then simmered the pumpkin and syrup along with the water and wine for about 10 minutes, till the pumpkin pieces were slightly tender. I removed the pumpkin and reduced the liquid to about 1/2 cup. When it was cool, I whisked in the dry mustard and added the mustard liquid, along with the raisins, to the pumpkin cubes. I added some black pepper, then put the mixture in the fridge for about 6 hours for the flavors to meld.



I served this on top of toasted french bread slices spread with fresh goat cheese:





I was really pleased with these. The sharp mustard set off the sweet pumpkin and raisins really nicely, and – like someone said earlier in this thread – goat cheese makes everything taste better. Would definitely make this again.

[BretWeir]

Main: Pulled Lamb Braised with Veggies

Given that fall's upon us, I wanted to try a nice, hearty dish for the main course, so I broke out the trusty crock pot to make some slow-cooked lamb. I chopped up a bunch of veggies -- pumpkin, sweet potato, apple, carrots, green pepper, onion -- into big chunks, grabbed some raisins and zested a lemon. These went into the pot along with a 1 3/4 lb boneless leg of lamb:



I've had good luck with North African tagine-type seasonings with braised lamb, and I thought that might go well with the pumpkin also. So I ground up some coriander seeds, cumin, a few cloves and lots of black pepper, and threw that in, along with some cinnamon, paprika, ground ginger, nutmeg and red pepper flakes.



For liquid, I used a can of beef broth, a half cup of white wine, a little orange juice and some water. I set the crock pot on high, let it go about 2 hours, then put it on low for another four. My favorite thing about crock pot cooking is the amazing smell that permeates the whole house, and this dish didn't disappoint. Here it is toward the end of cooking:



And after I took it out of the pot:



The lamb was falling-apart tender, so I took half of it and pulled it apart with forks, in a pulled-pork style:



This would go into the main course, while the other half got saved for delicious weekend leftovers.

Main: Pumpkin Dumplings

These followed the same basic idea as ElSapo's gnocchi, though they're considerable less refined. The "dough" was more like a thick batter, so rather than rolling it out and cutting it, I just spooned it into the pot. I also wimped out and used canned pumpkin for this part of the meal.

½ can solid packed pumpkin (unsweetened)
1 egg
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
½ cup flour
1 tbsp grated parmesan
Grated nutmeg
Cinnamon
Allspice

I combined everthing in a mixing bowl



then dropped spoonfuls of the mixture into a pot of boiling water.



After cooking and draining, I fried them up with a little sage butter:



Main: Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

As a garnish for the main course, I toasted some fresh pumpkin seeds in a hot pan until they popped:



I then combined the pulled lamb, pumpkin dumplings and toasted seeds in a pan and heated them through:



I then plated and surrounded the lamb-and-dumpling mix with veggies that had cooked with the lamb and some of the reduced liquid from the crock pot:



Mrs. Weir thought I hit a home run with this. The lamb was super-tender but not overcooked, and the tagine spices worked very well. The veggies really absorbed the flavor of the meat and the spices. And the dumplings turned out better than I had expected. I was happy about using three kinds of pumpkin in this dish -- the pumpkin pieces cooked with the lamb, the dumplings, and the toasted seeds.

[BretWeir]

Dessert: Chilled Pumpkin Parfait

This was something I've done before with Key Lime, and I adapted the recipe to pumpkin. There are three layers: a graham cracker crumble, a pumpkin custard, and a spiced whipped cream:



For the first, I sauteed some crushed graham crackers in butter and sugar to make a kind of graham cracker brittle, which I then crumbled. The custard was pureed pumpkin, sour cream, spices and a little condensed milk folded into whipped cream. Finally, I whipped up some heavy cream and added cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

I layered the ingredients in a martini glass and chilled them in the freezer for about an hour, then another hour in the refrigerator to soften it a bit.



These were good, but heavy. The wife and I couldn't finish ours in one sitting.

[pokah5]

the parfait looks delicious... i want one.

[Mermade]

<font color="orange"> "Spaghetti" with Pumpkinball </font>

I intended this dish to be a play on spaghetti and meatballs, with none of the traditional spaghetti flavors, no spaghetti, and no meat. I only wanted to use pumpkin and squash.

I cut and cleaned one small pumpkin and one spaghetti squash.



I put a little water in a pan and cooked them in the oven at 375 until tender.

I loosened the spaghetti-like fibers of the squash with a fork.



I made a sauce of pureed pumpkin and hot red curry paste. Initially, I thought this would give the sauce a red color, but I quickly realized that the amount of paste necessary to color the sauce would make it inedible so I was sparing. The resulting color made the dish a bit monochromatic, which wasn't my original intention. I wanted then to add coconut milk to make the sauce smooth, rich, and slightly sweet, but I found I didn't have any in the cupboard. I made do with a bit of cream and some evaporated milk leftover from making the pumpkin pie. I topped it with one small ball of roasted pumpkin.



It was nice to use only one type of ingredient (squash) and play on the textures. There was the "al dente" spaghetti squash, the smooth pumpkin curry sauce, and the soft roasted pumpkinball. This was a fun experiment.

[Mermade]

<font color="orange"> Spicy Pumpkin and Beef Empanaditas </font>

I made some teeny tiny empanadas. I suppose you could call this an amuse. They were bite-sized. Of course, I made a whole plate of them and my son and I ate them all, so that wasn't in the spirit of an amuse. I guess it was more like a party appetizer since we wolfed them down like that. Anyway, I made a dough of butter, flour, salt, and milk. I combined it with a pastry blender and chilled it while making the filling.

I cleaned and peeled half of a small pumpkin. Then chopped it up along with some red and purple potatoes, garlic, onion, carrot, parsley, and thyme.



I chopped up some cubed steak and browned it. I then added the other ingredients. I added salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg. BTW, I REALLY liked what nutmeg did here. Overall, it was a good savory seasoning.



I rolled out the dough and cut it into small circles.



I filled the dough, shaping the empanadas into crescents. I pressed a fork along the edges and cut a small x into each one to vent steam. I brushed them with an egg wash and baked them at 350 until done.

[SamIAm]

Mermade, very cool! Sorry your sauce didn't turn out as red as you'd like, but the roasted pumpkin definitely saved it. Good call on the tri-texture squash. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

How do you make empanada dough? Do you chill it just so it's workable, or is it for a flaky dough when it's baked? About how much filling can you fit in a circle that size?

P.S. If you read the thread via email, you get a super-secret empanada picture. Mwah ha ha. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Ron Burgundy]

mermade,

I love the "spaghetti" idea. It's that kind of outside the box thinking that makes me horny for cooking. And the secret ingredient is featured so prominently. Well done.

[Mermade]

I deleted that pic because I wasn't sure it added anything and I was embarrased about the state of my baking pan.

When I moved into our house I was super excited to have a double oven. Then I learned that only the micro-est (13" x 9") of cookie sheets fits into either one. Anything bigger and the edges of the pan get too close to the sides of the oven, the pan overheats, and everything burns. If you can believe it, I only have 2 baking pans that size. I should get new ones. I've been thinking about getting some nice aluminum ones and silpat mats too. Anyone use these? Thoughts? BTW, the big heap of dough in one corner is just the empanada my 4 1/2 year old made all by himself.

The empanada circles were approx 2" in diameter. The finished one is sitting on a blue espresso saucer to get a sense of scale. Each one could fit a heaping teaspoon or so of filling. They were cute in mini-size and that was what I was going for, but larger takes more filling obviously. I have a bunch of filling leftover that I think I may have this morning with some eggs, hot sauce, and a dollop of sour cream.

I chilled the dough for the sake of workability, but actually had to work the chilled dough my hands a bit to warm it enough to roll it. So, I don't think it was necessary.