Rebecca Mildren's Blog - Posts Tagged "pet-peeve"
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
I love to play dress-up, but I'm not big into Halloween. Other places have other days to get all costumed up: Carnival, Purim, and so on. But one of the top reasons I'm not into Halloween is the whole display-a-pumpkin for decoration thing. Or worse, cut it up into a Jack-o'-lantern. Really, what could be more wasteful? I still remember how my Russian friends, fresh after the food shortages following the collapse of the Soviet Union, were horrified to learn how Americans waste food just for fun.
Just think about all the food games: You've got egg tosses, raw egg roulette, pie-in-the-face gags, find the penny in the flour, and so on. Of course, my personal favorite has always been the build-the tallest-structure-using-marshmallows-and-spaghetti game. Seriously, if you haven't tried it, you should. OK, so no one's perfect. But back to pumpkins…
So, what do you do if you have a pumpkin, you know you shouldn't let it go to waste, and like me, you hate pumpkin pie? Yep, I'm with the heroine of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: I think this staple of American pumpkin usage tastes like soap. Fortunately, there are sooo many other yummy ways to enjoy pumpkin, and I thought I'd share a couple recipes with you that are my personal favorites. Enjoy!
Near East Pumpkin Soup (adapted from the Mediterranean Kitchen cookbook by Clark and Farrow)
1 kg (at least 2 lbs) of pumpkin, peeled and in chunks (this is the hardest part of the recipe)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cumin
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
Directions: sautee the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large pot. Add the spices and stir. Add the pumpkin and broth. Simmer until soft, 20-30 minutes. Process with a hand blender or in a food processor. Garnish with sesame seeds if you're Shmuel.
No-Egg Pumpkin Bread (adapted from my m-i-l's recipe)
1 cup light olive oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup REAL maple syrup
3 3/4 cups processed pumpkin (30 oz canned is OK)
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
5 cups flour (I like to do one of those cups whole wheat)
Directions: mix oil and sugars in a VERY large bowl. Add pumpkin and mix. Add all the dry ingredients and mix. Place a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of your loaf pans and grease the sides. Pour into your forms (makes 2 very large loaves or 3 medium-sized) and bake at 350 (175 celsius) until toothpick comes out clean (an hour for large loaves, less for smaller).
Aromatic Rice With Pumpkin (a cross between Bat-El's Indian rice recipe and Tanya's pumpkin rice recipe)
Prepare to make your typical white, 20-minute rice on the stove -- same amount of oil, salt, rice, and water, but before you put on the lid, add some chunks of pumpkin (you don't have to peel it beforehand if you don't want), a cinnamon stick, a cardamom pod, a bay leaf, a peeled clove of garlic, a few whole pepper corns, and a dash of turmeric. (You can omit ingredients you don't have or don't like, just not all of them!) You can even throw in a few black or golden raisins if you like. Simmer the normal 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let steam another 5 minutes. Yum! Hint: Don't eat the cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, bay leaf, garlic clove, pepper corns, or pumpkin peel.
Just think about all the food games: You've got egg tosses, raw egg roulette, pie-in-the-face gags, find the penny in the flour, and so on. Of course, my personal favorite has always been the build-the tallest-structure-using-marshmallows-and-spaghetti game. Seriously, if you haven't tried it, you should. OK, so no one's perfect. But back to pumpkins…
So, what do you do if you have a pumpkin, you know you shouldn't let it go to waste, and like me, you hate pumpkin pie? Yep, I'm with the heroine of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: I think this staple of American pumpkin usage tastes like soap. Fortunately, there are sooo many other yummy ways to enjoy pumpkin, and I thought I'd share a couple recipes with you that are my personal favorites. Enjoy!
Near East Pumpkin Soup (adapted from the Mediterranean Kitchen cookbook by Clark and Farrow)
1 kg (at least 2 lbs) of pumpkin, peeled and in chunks (this is the hardest part of the recipe)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cumin
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
Directions: sautee the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large pot. Add the spices and stir. Add the pumpkin and broth. Simmer until soft, 20-30 minutes. Process with a hand blender or in a food processor. Garnish with sesame seeds if you're Shmuel.
No-Egg Pumpkin Bread (adapted from my m-i-l's recipe)
1 cup light olive oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup REAL maple syrup
3 3/4 cups processed pumpkin (30 oz canned is OK)
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
5 cups flour (I like to do one of those cups whole wheat)
Directions: mix oil and sugars in a VERY large bowl. Add pumpkin and mix. Add all the dry ingredients and mix. Place a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of your loaf pans and grease the sides. Pour into your forms (makes 2 very large loaves or 3 medium-sized) and bake at 350 (175 celsius) until toothpick comes out clean (an hour for large loaves, less for smaller).
Aromatic Rice With Pumpkin (a cross between Bat-El's Indian rice recipe and Tanya's pumpkin rice recipe)
Prepare to make your typical white, 20-minute rice on the stove -- same amount of oil, salt, rice, and water, but before you put on the lid, add some chunks of pumpkin (you don't have to peel it beforehand if you don't want), a cinnamon stick, a cardamom pod, a bay leaf, a peeled clove of garlic, a few whole pepper corns, and a dash of turmeric. (You can omit ingredients you don't have or don't like, just not all of them!) You can even throw in a few black or golden raisins if you like. Simmer the normal 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let steam another 5 minutes. Yum! Hint: Don't eat the cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, bay leaf, garlic clove, pepper corns, or pumpkin peel.
