EDF Cooking Contest--Pumpkin Challenge

[Ron Burgundy]

Or the liquid nitrogen method. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[SamIAm]

BK, can you tell me more about your pumpkin chips? As you can see, I ended up just straight-up baking mine, but that was because my frying was a total failure. I can't even claim that I wasn't paying attention; I watched carefully as I turned a quarter pumpkin into a couple dozen gooey or burnt disks (and a few gooey AND burnt disks). [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

You said that you baked first. Do you think that's important? What oil did you use, and how hot? I think I used plain veggy oil because I had a big tub of it. I know it has a low smoke point, but I brought it right to that smoke point, so I don't think the oil was too cold. I thought I remembered that some fries are made by double-frying, so I tried flash frying some and then refrying them, but it didn't seem to matter.

They all just seemed to go straight from soggy orange to crisp black, never passing through crisp orange. Anybody have any ideas?

P.S. Amazing work on the seafood. Both look creative, tasty, and gorgeous. Well done.

[Ron Burgundy]

I suspect they got gooey because they're too moist. The baking is probably for drying them out amirite? I think some punkin chips would go well with my dish, so I'll give it a shot.

[BK_]

Hey sam. I think I know why your frying didn't work. Did you put them in raw? I Think you have to cook them to soften them up and dry them out, then just use the frying to crisp them. I think the same theory works for fries - recently I have been par boiling them then baking and the texture has been so much better. I guess this is the same theory behind double frying, but I think that this requires frying them on a lower temperature first then on a higher temperature to crisp. I am not patient enough to monitor the temperatures this closely so I just boil then bake. Anyway, I didn't feel like boiling the pumpkin becuase they were sliced so thin, so I baked it part way instead. That being said, I had the same problems that you did, just to a slightly lesser extent I think. Mine were almost soggy and almost burnt.

The fact that yours went from soggy orange to crisp black makes complete sense to me I think. The pumpkin isn't getting the chance to dry out out properly before the burned stage comes. I agree with what Ron said - maybe we should bake them on a low temperature before doing the final frying on high heat? I think this should work....

Did you see Iron Chef this week? One of the guys (the challenger I think) made these really really good looking pumpkin crisps. They were very long, very thin, and really really crispy. They only showed his last frying step though so I'm not sure how he did it. Did anyone else catch this?

Thanks, yours look really great too. Ron, please make chips so you can correct for our mistakes!

[Ron Burgundy]

I have a dehydrator, maybe I'll try putting them in that on like 150* for a couple hours to really dry out without getting cooked through. Then I'll fry them in duck fat.

I watched IC, but I was cooking during it and must've missed the pumpkin crisp.

[BK_]

Duck fat makes everything better

[SamIAm]

EDFCookingContestants, I totally thought I was done with pumpkins. I'd spent a couple solid weeks' cooking energy on veggie pumpkin dishes, and when I was done, I finally returned to my hippy butcher to get fish for sushi, and brisket for corned beef, and any other carnivorous delights I might discover.

Unfortunately, she's got this table of local, organic produce in the front of the store, and she had <font color="orange">HEIRLOOM PUMPKINS</font>. These things are funky, heritage pumpkins, in all sorts of weird colors and shapes. So, uh, I sorta bought three. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

When I got them, she said "Oh, &lt;that kind&gt;'s best for pie. And &lt;that one&gt;'s best for gnocchi, since it has more starch." Very cool!

I think I'm going to have a 'Pumpkin Tasting' this weekend. I'll use all four pumpkins (three funky and one normal) to each make a few basic dishes. I'm thinking Pie and Soup and Ravioli, just because I want to be able to focus on the differences in the pumpkins, not the fancy meal.

Whatcha think? What are the most basic uses of pumpkin? Should I save some for raw consumption? Should I make a pumpkin puree, like mashed-potatoes? Maybe pumpkin bread? Are there any diseases I can get from eating dozens of dishes that contain pumpkin in a single month? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ron Burgundy]

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Should I make a pumpkin puree, like mashed-potatoes?

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I dunno, I think it would have to have a bunch of other flavors in it.

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Maybe pumpkin bread?

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Punkin bread is good, epicurious has a ton of recipes for it.

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Are there any diseases I can get from eating dozens of dishes that contain pumpkin in a single month?

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Yes. You should seek medical attention immediately if you look like this:

[Mermade]

Wow Sam! I can't wait to see what else you come up with. Make sure to take a shot of the pumpkins before you cut into them and share with us any info about the various varieties that you can remember.

[ QUOTE ]
Are there any diseases I can get from eating dozens of dishes that contain pumpkin in a single month?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, but maybe all this pumpkin will make you realize that it's not Cinco de Mayo anymore and you'll change your avatar. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Sorry, but for some reason that's been driving me crazy. Can we please get winking Cat in the Hat until after Thanksgiving (then Christmas/Hanukkah Cat in the Hat obviously)?

[Mermade]

I thought we should talk about how to do the voting this time around. I think there should be multiple polls. First, I think we should do a regular IC poll where we vote for the best cumulative effort. Second, I think we should have a poll to vote for the best individual dish, since we have so many entries this time around. Third, I think we should have a poll that just has Million Dollaz in it. Maybe he'll get sufficient votes to continue to post awesome in these threads. That movie and the stick of butter still gets me. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Let's have more talk too about next month's contest please. Thoughts? Again, I nominate cranberries if we want to do another IC ingredient challenge.

If we want a general-type challenge, how about a "Your Mama" challenge? (I just made that up.) Thanksgiving brings to mind family traditional recipes. Anything would go, but the theme is reinventing the dishes we grew up with. This could be trying to best some recipe that's been handed down in your family or reinventing childhood favorites like making upscale homemade versions of dishes like spaghetti-O's, fish sticks, etc. Maybe the concept of this challenge is too hard to convey or maybe it's just crap. At any rate, come up with suggestions or bag on mine. We'll do whatever the consensus wants.