mix, mix… stir, stir

What better way to welcome fall than to cook a whole pumpkin? I felt so seasonal arriving at a party this weekend offering up a cooked pumpkin filled with tasty stuffing; and what a great presentation for a buffet table.

photo by David Peterman

This is the first filled pumpkin I have ever baked and I learned a few things in the process. I was inspired after reading Doire Greenspan’s post on her filled pumpkin, so off to the farmer’s market I went. I chose a 9 pound Cinderella Pumpkin from the abundant selection. The round squat structure looked well suited for my plans and the lovely orange skin with a yellow blush was cheerful and festive. There is something exciting and fun about hauling a large pumpkin home.

Cinderella pumpkins have a much more solid network of flesh and seeds in the middle compared to the stringy mess that hides inside carving pumpkins. It scoops out just as easily and I did have to remind myself to leave the flesh in place; thin walls are great for carving, not such good eating.

The filling was inspired by what I had in the kitchen, which is why this recipe is so great. You can take the filling in all kinds of directions and not worry too much about following a recipe. Just keep building and tasting until it seems like enough volume to fill the cavity. I used cubes of bread, onion, garlic, apple, hazelnuts, gruyère cheese, sage, allspice, salt, pepper and a bit of cream. The filling was moist, but not wet. I filled the pumpkin and baked it in a pre-heated cast iron dutch oven that I lined with a layer of foil and parchment paper to act as a sling for easy removal after baking.

After 1 1/2 hours in a 350 degree F oven, it wasn’t making enough progress so I boosted the oven temp to 400 and removed the lid to the dutch oven.  Thirty minutes later I was beginning to smell the pumpkin aroma and I peeked under the pumpkin lid. Much to my surprise it was filled with bubbly, watery liquid. My delicious filling was swimming in pumpkin juices. The pumpkin was cooked; I was running out of time before needing to head to a party with the pumpkin, so I thought I would just roll with it. The untested foil and parchment sling was quite effective and I was able to lift the pumpkin out of the dutch oven, but spilled hot pumpkin juice on myself, then as I set the pumpkin on the counter the juices promptly began running out and onto the floor. Well, at least the filling is no longer swimming in liquid so one problem was solved. After giving the filling a stir and a taste, I was pleasantly surprised that the bread cubes were holding together and it tasted pretty darn good. By the time it was served at the party it had set up even more, no doubt due to the additional juices that drained out onto the floor mat of the car during transit, and everyone really liked it. The pumpkin meat was scooped off the walls and mixed in with the filling as people served themselves.

photo by David Peterman

I suspect cinderella pumpkins are just juicy pumpkins and not the best choice for this type of filling. A rice filling could have taken advantage of all the additional liquid. With a dryer style of squash this would be an outstanding dish. Though I seasoned the filling well, it wasn’t quite enough once the pumpkin was mixed in, so next time I will salt and pepper the inside of the pumpkin before adding the filling. With this one experience I am already hooked on cooking in a pumpkin pot and will continue to refine the process. By January everyone I know will be groaning when I show up  with another pumpkin pot.

A Pumpkin Pot

Much like a soup pot, you can base this dish on what you have on hand. Just build enough filling for the volume of your squash or pumpkin. Here is what I used for a 9 pound pumpkin.

4 cups stale bread cubes from a rustic, hearty loaf of bread*
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, crushed
3/4 tsp. allspice, ground
1/2 tsp. salt, more to taste
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and rough chopped
3 ounces gruyere cheese, cubed
3/4 cup cream

Cut a lid in the pumpkin by carving around the top. Position the knife blade to create an inward angle so the lid won’t fall right through the hole. Scoop out the seeds and connective matter, but unlike preparing a jack-o-lantern, don’t scrape the meat off the side walls, that part is dinner!

Measure out a piece of foil long enough to lay across the bottom of the dutch oven and come up beyond the height of the side walls by three to four inches on each side. Cut a piece of parchment the same size. Set both aside.

Preheat oven and dutch oven pan (without the foil and parchment liner) to 375 degrees F.

Over medium-low heat, sweat the onions until translucent. Add the apples, garlic, cumin, allspice, salt and sage and sauté another minute or two. Remove from heat and add the bread cubes and hazelnuts and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning as needed. Mix in the cheese cubes and cream.

Sprinkle the inside of the pumpkin with salt and pepper and then stuff the cavity with the filling. Place the lid on the pumpkin. Lay out the piece of pre-measured foil, lay the piece of pre-measured parchment paper on top of the foil, then place the pumpkin in the center on top of the parchment paper. Give the foil/parchment sling a test by grabbing the excess material on either side of the pumpkin and lifting up. If the pumpkin feels stable enough use this sling to lift the pumpkin into the hot dutch oven. If you don’t have confidence that the sling will hold, reinforce it with another layer of foil.

Carefully remove the hot dutch oven from the oven. Lift the pumpkin sling and place it in the hot dutch oven. The pan is hot - be very careful not to touch it! Fold the excess foil and parchment across the top of the pumpkin and place the lid on the dutch oven. Place the pot in the oven to bake for 2-2 1/2 hours. During the last 30 minutes of baking you can remove the dutch oven lid and the pumpkin lid to brown the tip layer of stuffing. Once the pumpkin flesh is tender when pricked with the tip of a knife and the filling is bubbly and hot, it is ready to be removed from the oven.

Ready a serving platter. Carefully lift the cooked, very hot, pumpkin out of the dutch oven using the foil/parchment sling and set it on the serving platter. Using a sturdy spatula lift up one side of the pumpkin and slide the foil and parchment out from underneath then do the same on the other side. To serve, scoop some of the pumpkin meat from the walls up with the filling.

*If you have a fresh loaf of bread, you can “stale” the bread by laying the cubes on a sheet pan and baking them in a 250 degree F oven for 20-30 minutes until they feel dried out. They should develop a dry crust, but not become brown.

 It was Iron Chef Bobby Flay vs. Gabrielle Hamilton, owner and Chef of Prun restaurant in NYC in battle Zucchini. As always there were many interesting dishes created, but one in particular hit me as a must-make. The first factor is that it looked delicious and the judges raved about it. Secondly, it looked very straight forward as in I didn’t actually need a recipe to make it work, and the kicker was the use of Harissa.  I just happen to have been given a jar of wonderful Harrissa recently.

Harissa is a hot chili paste used frequently in North African cuisines especially Tunisia and Morocco. It is commonly used as both a condiment and an ingredient. Typically it is made from dried chilies, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, and various spices such as coriander, cumin, or caraway. There are many recipes available to make your own or you can find it for sales in specialty stores or online.

Chef Hamilton boiled a variety of zucchini and tossed them with harissa, garlic, coriander, caraway, olive oil, lemon juice, green and black olives, and fete cheese. It was so simple, and with such raves from the judges I had to recreate my own little Iron Chef America moment.

I grilled the zucchini rather than boil it and added cumin to substitute for being out of caraway. Though I am sure I have some, I dug and dug through my spices and never found it. Next time I am looking for a different spice I will no doubt encounter two or three containers of caraway.

Zucchini Like an Iron Chef
Keeping with the style of Iron Chef, don’t bother measuring. Eyeball everything like a pro!

A variety of zucchini (4-10) depending on how many people you are feeding)
Harissa
Garlic paste
Coriander seed
Cumin seed
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Fete cheese
Green olives
Black olives

Cut the zucchini into large pieces. Coat the zucchini with a bit of olive oil and place it on a hot grill. Watch it carefully to avoid over cooking and pay attention to the different rates that different varieties of zucchini cook. It should still be a bit firm when removed from the grill so that it can stand up to being tossed with the other ingredients.

Crush some coriander and cumin seeds to break them up, but don’t grind them to a powder. In a small bowl combine a good dollop of harissa, some garlic paste, splash of lemon juice, and the coriander and cumin. Mix well and set aside.

Cut the fete cheese into half-inch cubes and set aside. Remove the pits from the olives and cut them into large pieces and set aside.

Once the zucchini comes off the grill place it in a bowl large enough to mix everything together. Add the harissa, and stir to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning adding more harissa if needed. Mix in the olives. Place the zucchini on a serving platter and sprinkle the fete cubes over the top. If you are making a large quantity, mix some of the fete in and save some to garnish the top of the dish. If all of the fete is mixed in, it turns red from the harissa and isn’t as pretty as the bright white fete.

It is a delicious way to enjoy zucchini that is so bountiful this time of year. The dish would make a great side for a buffet or to take to a pot luck because it doesn’t need to be piping hot when served. Best of all it is quick and easy to put together, but makes you look like an Iron Chef!