EDF Cooking Contest--Pumpkin Challenge

[SamIAm]

[ QUOTE ]
I may have stopped the process too early, worried the bottle might explode.

[/ QUOTE ]Oh, yeah. I definitely made my family and friends nervous that this thing was going to explode at any minute.

Maybe the off taste in mine was actually the taste of Danger.

[El Diablo]

All,

This has been an outstanding contest. It's going to take me a couple of days just to review all the entries and pick my favorites. There are a ton of really creative and talented chefs on here!

[Greenbird]

This may be a bit belated, but here are the details for the three dishes I (and by "I" I really mean Sam [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]) posted earlier-

The soup was pretty good- the recipe is from a cookbook called "Hot Sour Salty Sweet" but it's also up on epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/104372

Ingredients:
3 to 4 shallots, unpeeled
1 1/2 pounds pumpkin (untrimmed), or butternut squash or 1 1/4 pounds peeled pumpkin
2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
2 cups mild pork or chicken broth (we used organic low-salt chicken)
1 cup loosely packed coriander leaves (also known as cilantro, I like mine finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, or to taste
Generous grindings of black pepper
1/4 cup minced scallion greens

"In a heavy skillet, or on a charcoal or gas grill, dry-roast or grill the shallots, turning occasionally until softened and blackened. Peel, cut the shallots lengthwise in half, and set aside.
Peel the pumpkin and clean off any seeds. Cut into small 1/2-inch cubes. You should have 4 1/2 to 5 cups cubed pumpkin.
Place the coconut milk, broth, pumpkin cubes, shallots, and coriander leves in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the salt and simmer over medium heat until the pumpkin is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Taste for salt and add a little more fish sauce if you wish. (The soup can be served immediately, but has even more flavor if left to stand for up to an hour. Reheat just before serving.)
Serve from a large soup bowl or in individual bowls. Grind black pepper over generously, and, if you wish, garnish with a sprinkling of minced scallion greens."

The base can be a bit bland, so it definitely benefited from some ad hoc additions as suggested by the reviews in epicurious- we added lemon juice and chili flakes and more brown sugar and lots of scallions, and if I made it again, I'd probably think about adding some red curry paste.
But all in all, pretty easy and tasty- I'd recommend it.

The pumpkin tempura was only so-so. The overall tempura effect was really cool and turned out really well (club soda does neat things when added to flour!) but it wasn't really sweet enough to make a good dessert, to my taste. I'd definitely consider taking a savory route with this, though, and using a variety of veggies and making a soy sauce-based dipping sauce. Also, it's really important to keep the finished tempura warm- cold tempura= not as good.

That was from a food network recipe:

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, for frying (we actually
12 pieces fresh pumpkin (about 4 inches long and 1-inch thick), cooked until tender
Salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup ice-sold soda (seltzer) water
Preheat the fryer to 360 degrees F.
Season the pumpkin pieces with salt. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, egg, and soda water and mix well to make a smooth batter. Dip each piece of pumpkin in the batter, shaking off any excess. Carefully lay the slices in the hot oil. Fry in batches until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season with some cinnamon-sugar mixture.

The pumpkin bread pudding was definitely my favorite of the three dishes- it was very very easy to make, and is a neat seasonal variation on just regular old bread pudding. I brought it to a work function, and people thought it was great.
The bread was 20% off day-old brioche from the farmer's market. It was dunked in a mixture of eggs (4), 2% milk (1 1/2 cups), sugar (1 1/4 cups), vanilla (1 tsp), and a bunch of freshly ground spices- I put in 3 allspice berries, one cinnamon stick, and a cardamom pod. Interspersed between bread chunks were some raisins (probably about 1/2 cup or so, maybe a little more) that I'd let soak in a combination of half hot water and half rum for about 15 minutes, and then drained. Spoon into individual ramekins or a small lasagna pan or whatever you like (I butter-and-sugared it first) and bake till golden brownish on top, and a toothpick comes out clean (~40 minutes).

[BK_]

If anyone is still craving pumpkin, here is a nice recipe and writeup for pumpkin butter:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/pu...epita-granola/

and pumpkin bread pudding: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/pu...bread-pudding/

[StevieG]

Wow

Unreal lineup of creative and attractive dishes

My favorites:

The pumpkin fudge
The empinaditas
The duck with pumpkin gelee
The arincini
The "gnocchi"
The hummus

With milliondollaz's soup looking solid and Mer's whimsical spaghetti also intriguing

Considering that two of the cooks made two of my favorites, I gave the nod to El Sapo and SamIAm

But seriously, everyone this time did an awesome job.

[turnipmonster]

this might be my favorite thread ever. I love pumpkin, and all these dishes look awesome, very inspirational. thanks!

[Mermade]

Last night on his own accord my kid saw this thread open on the computer, sat down, and scrolled through the pictures. He ran to get me and pointed "THIS is the best dessert in the whole world! Let's make that!" He had centered Mrs. Utah's pumpkin leek dish on the screen. It was a job convincing him, first, that it wasn't dessert and, second, that we were still having balsalmic glazed pork roast for dinner no matter what. He sat back down and scrolled some more. This time he stopped on Sam's gnocchi. "Well how about that then. Let's have that for dinner!" So, those were our 4 year-old's picks, for what it's worth.

Oh, and he got fed up with me, because I wouldn't cooperate and made his own appetizer.



It's just one carrot he put on a plate with forks. He liked the herbs that were sprinkled on Mrs. Utah's dish, so he went outside and picked some basil and parsley for garnish. At least he has the portion size down for haute cuisine.

[ElSapo]

"I'm done already and I don't remember eating."

- Steve Martin, LA Story

[Xaston]

All,

I think Mermade is trying to parlay the cuteness of his/her kid into votes. Don't fall for it!

[SamIAm]

My rambling thoughts:

BK's pumpkin polenta was a really good idea, and the presentation is really impressive. And I haven't had scallops in a while, so they look TASTY. The sea bass looked good too, but the chips kinda detracted for me. Just seemed too likely I'd remove those immediately upon being served. Still, good lookin' fish.

ElSapo's amuse bouche was really cool. I especially liked that he played off ElD's ravioli comment, and made the ravioli entirely with pumpkin. Amuse(ing). His arincini also looked awesome. I mean, everybody likes fried risotto, but the action shots of those things cracked open look amazing.

BretWeir's bruschetta are a neat idea, but I don't think it really jived with the popover. Still, pumpkin+mustard is a very cool flavor idea.

I really liked Greenbird's soup. I also had the the benefit of tasting it. My wacky pumpkins actually added interesting variety and textures to the soup.

Mermade's pie was obviously a little standard, but she made up for it with the clever "spaghetti".

I hope it's ok that I edited MillionDollaz title of his dessert. "Butter Roasted" didn't seem as appropriate as "BUTTER Roasted". [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Still, considering that legendary sandwich thread, the chicken and soup both look solid.

Ron's duck & gelee look awesome. The duck is stunning, and the fries and greens make for a very pretty plate.

Mrs.Utah's flan is probably the dish I'd most like to try. Savory flan is a cool idea; I'd just want to inspect the taste as well as the (awesome) appearance.

Of my own dishes, I was especially happy with the gnocchi, fudge, & hummus. Still, I'm really impressed with the artistry of BK's, ElSapo's, and Mrs.Utah's pics. I'm using a little point&shoot digital, with an $11 tripod. I wish I could get such nice food porn. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Definitely the best IC we've had. Very well done all.