The Great Pumpkin Revisited

Just in time for Hallowe'en! Today's Meatless Monday topic is the pumpkin. Celebrated at this time of year for its potential to grow to a gargantuan size and the ease with which it can be carved, the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) has been a valuable source of nourishment for centuries. 

The pumpkin originated in Central America but is now grown on six continents. Pumpkins come in numerous varieties. Some are better for eating or growing large; others are better for carving. The Jack-o’-lantern in the photo was most likely carved from a Connecticut Field pumpkin. 

The Pilgrims were not familiar with the pumpkin when they landed on the shores of what is now Massachusetts in the 1600s. But they soon learned of the many ways the Native Americans put the pumpkin to good use including roasting of long strips of pumpkin on the open fire for eating, and drying strips of pumpkin for weaving into mats. The creative colonists went on to invent uses of their own: the origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, filled the insides with milk, spices and honey and then baked the pumpkin in hot ashes. They also found a way to turn it into beer, a tradition that continues in the brewing of seasonal ale to this day.

Pumpkins are a nutritious food, low in calories, high in fiber, and packed with vitamins and minerals. One cup of cooked pumpkin has 2 grams of protein, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 564 mg of potassium, an astounding 2650 IU of Vitamin A, and a mere 49 calories.

Newly-harvested pumpkins are readily available at farmers markets, farm stands, and supermarkets. With Thanksgiving on the horizon, store shelves are well stocked with cans of pumpkin that have been cooked and puréed to make life easier when you have to whip up a pumpkin pie on the fly. 

These cans of pumpkin are good for lots more than pie, so pick up a few before they disappear. They will come in handy when you crave a pumpkin treat and local pumpkins are nowhere to be found. One of my favorite uses for pumpkin purée is in a cornbread recipe I adapted from a recipe from The Muffin Cookbook: Muffins for All Occasions, a spiral-bound cookbook published to promote name-brand canned goods and dairy products.  

Tex-Mex Pumpkin Corn Muffins (Cornbread)

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow organic cornmeal
1 cup unbleached organic flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon (or more) of your favorite chili powder
2 eggs
1 cup canned organic pumpkin (NOT pie filling) 
[Note: Feel free to cook and prepare your own.]
1 cup low-fat milk
2 tablespoons organic canola oil
1 4 oz can chopped green chili peppers (mild) or one small, fresh chili chopped
3 oz (or more to taste; I use at least 4 oz) of extra sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl beat eggs; mix in pumpkin, milk, oil, and chopped chili peppers. Add wet ingredients to dry; combine with rubber scraper just until moistened. Turn into an oiled 10” cast iron skillet. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 425° oven for 20-25 minutes —just until cake tester comes out dry. If you decide to bake as muffins, temperature should be lowered to 400°, time will be approximately the same, but check on the early side. Makes around 18 muffins. 

This cornbread is a wonderful accompaniment to pea soup or curried kale. Leftovers (if there are any) taste great after being lightly toasted in a toaster oven and then spread win a little grape jam.

Now for some Jack-o’-lantern trivia in honor of this holiday: This tradition was brought to the United States by the Irish. The myth behind the Jack-o’-lantern involves a stingy man named Jack who makes a deal with the devil and finds himself wandering forever after he dies, unable to gain admittance to either Heaven or Hell. Legend has it that the devil tossed Jack an ember from Hell to light his way. Jack placed the ember in a carved out turnip which he carried with him as he roamed the earth. People in the British Isles began carving various root vegetables to make their own “Jack-o’-lanterns” to keep Stingy Jack and other evil spirits away. The Irish used turnips (and sometimes potatoes). Upon arriving in the US, they discovered the readily available, larger, and easy to carve pumpkin. “Turnip Jack” soon became history and the pumpkin Jack-o’-lantern became part of American culture. 

[Note: This post was originally published in October 2010.]

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.

Meatless Monday: Water Saving Pasta

We are in a drought in Connecticut. Our fall palette is somewhat muted this year with russet tones replacing our normally brilliant reds. Our rainfall deficit is why state residents are being asked to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10%. The New Haven Regional Water Authority has a number of water saving tips on its website. We don’t have a water shortage at the moment, but we need to preserve what we have in our reservoirs.

Over the past year or two in our house we have switched to low flow toilets, and we recently replaced a sink with leaky faucets. We have long had water efficient shower heads and aerators on our sinks. So we are down to the small things, mainly being more mindful of water use whenever we turn on the tap. This brings me to my Meatless Monday adventure of the day, my experiment with Barilla Pronto Pasta. Pronto promises: One Pan. No Boil. No Drain. Dinner for 6 in under 15 minutes!

I have long been a fan of Barilla in general and Barilla’s no-boil lasagna in particular because it allows me to make lasagna quickly on demand. So when I noticed Pronto products on the shelf I decided to give them a try. The Italian-American woman on checkout made a snide comment when she put the Pronto in my bag, but I brought it home and did a little research.

I checked out the Barilla website and found a YouTube video.

I decided Friday night was the night and I followed the directions on the box:

• Pour the whole box of pasta into a large skillet,
• Pour three cups of cold water into the pan, making sure that the water covers the pasta.
• Turn the burner to high, stirring regularly, until most of the water is absorbed.
• Remove from heat and add your favorite ingredients.

It worked! Less water, and none down the drain. Fewer dishes.

Here are before and after images:

Starting Out

Done

I used cold water from the fridge and I couldn’t bring myself to turn the flame really high,  so it took 12 minutes instead of 10 for my pasta to cook. You will know when you stir it if your pasta is done.

I saved half the pasta for another day and topped the rest with a small batch of fresh pesto. It was delicious, and it had the taste and texture of the pasta I normally used.

I am not sure how they do it; the ingredients and nutrition info for Pronto Penne are the same as in the traditional variety. I wonder if you could do the same with the whole grain version, perhaps with a little more water, and a little more time? Could you use a little less gas by not turning the burner quite so high? I will have to do some experimenting.

What I do know is that Pronto made life a little easier on the night I tried it, and it did take less water.

Keep in mind that blue box pasta is not a nutritious meal in and of itself, but if your day has slipped away and you have the perfect something to serve on top, this product is really great.

FYI If you are used to microwaving your leftovers, be warned that Pronto tends to stick together when reheated. It will be fine once you add your sauce and give it a good stir.

Happy Monday!

I often blog on food, food issues, or topics related to growing things on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Those of you who read my recent post on peaches know that I cannot pass up a bargain, particularly when it comes to food. At a late Friday stop at Bishops’s Orchards in Guilford, Connecticut (on a quick mission to buy lettuce on our way home from Hammonasset Beach State Park) we discovered that large baskets of plum tomatoes were available for just under $11. We had to buy one.

When the weather turned surprisingly wet and windy on Sunday, I had the perfect opportunity to turn these beauties into two large batches of Oven Roasted Tomatoes, using a recipe from a cookbook called The Cape Cod Table, by Lora Brody.

In her preface to the recipe Lora Brody wrote, “These tomatoes will become a kitchen staple when you see how much punch and flavor they add to a vast number of dishes, including soups, sauces, fish, poultry, and meat.”

She is so right. I have been cooking up multiple batches in early fall for the past several years. I use my largest stainless steel baking pan; it holds 30 plum tomatoes, by my calculations equal to the amount called for in the recipe. The recipe is really easy if you have a large pan and a bit of time on your hands.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 5 pounds of plum tomatoes, rinsed and cut in half lengthwise
• 4 large springs fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dry thyme leaves [Fresh is great, but dry is fine.]
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar [I used balsamic with a delicious result.]
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• Five or six peeled shallots if available [My tweak. I had some on hand and had used them in the past in a similar recipe.]

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack in the upper third of the oven, but not the highest position.
• Place the thyme in the bottom of the roasting pan.
• Spread the tomatoes over the thyme, in one layer if possible.
• Scatter the shallots.
• Drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle with the vinegar and salt.
• Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the tomatoes have browned (unevenly) and given up their juices and the juices have reduced and become slightly thickened and syrupy. [I let them go for an hour and a half.]
• Allow the tomatoes to cool in the pan.
• Remove the thyme sprigs if used.

Tomatoes before cooking

Once the tomatoes are out of the oven I let them cool down and congeal a bit at room temperature. I put them in a covered glass casserole overnight in the fridge and then bag them in freezer bags, label and date them, and lay them flat in the freezer; I find that three cups per bag works well. If you don’t eat them they will last until next season.

Tomatoes when they are done

My favorite use? Can I mention fish on Meatless Monday? I like to use my oven roasted tomatoes for baking or poaching cod fillets. I discovered individually wrapped MSC certified  Atlantic Cod Fillets, frozen in packages of six at Whole Foods. Three cups of tomatoes is the perfect amount for cooking two fillets, and that is all you need to make a great meal. It is easier if you thaw the fillets in the refrigerator a day ahead.

However you use your oven roasted tomatoes, I promise you will be amazed at just how easy it is to give yourself a taste of summer all winter long.

Happy Monday!

I often blog on food, food issues, or topics related to growing things on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Peaches 3 Ways

We had a very pleasant surprise on a visit to Bishops’s Orchards in Guilford, Connecticut several weeks (and a season ago now). We are peach lovers and, though hopeful, didn’t really expect to find baskets of perfect, ripe, jumbo, native peaches for sale. They were pricey at $22.99 a basket, but we couldn’t resist.

They were a little firm when we brought them home. I spread them out in flat baskets in a single layer and waited for them to ripen. By the next morning I found one ready to slice for breakfast cereal. By the next day the scent of peaches permeated the air, and it was time to do something with them. 

These survivors of both the early budding/late frost in the spring and the scorching summer drought that followed are the sweetest and juiciest I can remember — the kind that send liquid dribbling down your chin when you bite into them. We did not want to waste a single one.

I set aside about a dozen, and the rest I froze using a very easy method that had worked for me last peach season.

Easy Frozen Peaches

• Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap.
• Peel and slice the peaches as you would for a pie. [A ripe peach peels easily. If the skin doesn’t come off easily, you can dip the peach into boiling water for 10-20 seconds using a slotted spoon, cool slightly and then peel.]
• Lay the slices on the baking sheet in a single layer without overlapping them.
• Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, pressing the wrap firmly down over the peach pieces.
• Pop into the freezer overnight (or until the peaches are firmly frozen).
• Put the peach slices into ziplock freezer bags.

Last year I sliced, froze, and bagged five peaches (enough for a crumb top pie) as an experiment. Turning them into a pie was a snap.

That evening we had fresh peach halves filled with Sweet Italian Cream, probably the easiest elegant dessert ever. This was a dish inspired by a recipe in an Italian travel magazine calling for mascarpone, marsala, and crushed amaretti, none of which I had in my pantry. It did, however, bring to mind a ricotta-based recipe from my friend Claire Criscuolo’s cookbook Italian Feast. I had no sweet vermouth, but I did have everything else. I substituted Amaretto and came up with a delicious treat.

Here is my version:

Italian Cream Filled Peaches

(Makes enough to fill 4 peaches)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/8 cup golden raisins
• 1-1/2 tablespoons Amaretto
• 8 ounces whole milk ricotta
• 1/8 confectioners sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS

• Soak the raisins in the Amaretto for half an hour, stirring occasionally.
• Put the cheese in a bowl.
• Add the now plumped raisins with any liquid remaining.
• Add the sugar.
• Stir to combine.
• Peel and cut two peaches in half.
• Remove the pit.
• Use the sweet ricotta to fill the centers. 
• Put any remaining cheese into the refrigerator.

Claire uses her sweet ricotta to top poundcake and fill cream puffs. She also shared that her mother liked to spread it on her breakfast toast.

And the next day I made this beautiful pie, based on the Neely’s Peach Crumb Pie  on the Food Network site. The only substitution I made was to swap almond flour for the flour. It enhanced the flavor of the sliced almonds, which goes so well with the taste of fresh peaches. 

The recipe is “easy” as it promises, particularly if you have an empty pie crust on hand. The smell as it bakes is sublime. It is particularly delicious served slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is why I froze just enough peaches to make this pie on some cold, dreary day in the future when a taste of summer is just what I need.

My apologies. Peach season is over. It’s time for apples and pumpkins now, and these tips will be much more useful next August. Life got in the way of blogging. That happens sometimes.

I often blog on food, food issues, or topics related to growing things on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”