Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
Pumpkin ice cream
Before you close the page in disgust, let me just say that this stuff is delicious. Seriously.
So what motivates a person to make ice cream from pumpkin? Our ex-pat friends scheduled Thanksgiving dinner for the last Thursday in November. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but in 2012, there were five Thursdays in the month, and so dinner was out by a week. Again, this normally wouldn't be a problem for anything apart from the host's pride - it is kind of embarrassing to get the date wrong - but the selected Thursday happened to fall on a 40 degree day. To those of you who prefer their temperature in Fahrenheit, that's 104 degrees. Or very hot.
I'm normally in charge of two things at Thanksgiving; the gravy and the pie. Clearly the gravy still needed to be made, but I decided to mix things up a bit with the pie. Voila! Pumpkin ice cream. Perfect for a hot Thanksgiving, and if you have to have something more pie-like, you can always make it into an ice cream sandwich.
So what motivates a person to make ice cream from pumpkin? Our ex-pat friends scheduled Thanksgiving dinner for the last Thursday in November. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but in 2012, there were five Thursdays in the month, and so dinner was out by a week. Again, this normally wouldn't be a problem for anything apart from the host's pride - it is kind of embarrassing to get the date wrong - but the selected Thursday happened to fall on a 40 degree day. To those of you who prefer their temperature in Fahrenheit, that's 104 degrees. Or very hot.
I'm normally in charge of two things at Thanksgiving; the gravy and the pie. Clearly the gravy still needed to be made, but I decided to mix things up a bit with the pie. Voila! Pumpkin ice cream. Perfect for a hot Thanksgiving, and if you have to have something more pie-like, you can always make it into an ice cream sandwich.
Pumpkin ice cream
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 cups mashed pumpkin
Method
Beat the sugar and eggs together until pale and fluffy. Meanwhile, bring the milk and cream to scalding point over low heat. Remove from heat, and add the egg mix. Mix well to make sure there are no eggy bits. Add the pumpkin, stirring to make a smooth custard. Return to heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. If the mixture boils, remove from heat immediately and stir until it is no longer curdled. Allow to cool, before chilling for at least two hours. Churn according to your ice cream maker's specifications, or if doing it by hand, allow it to freeze for an hour or two, then remove from the freezer and beat until smooth. Return to the freezer and allow to become solid again. Repeat until the ice cream is as fluffy as you want it.
Pie time
November in Australia is not really synonymous with pies. Unless you're talking about fruit mince pies well in advance of Christmas, that is. But since I have a couple of friends from the US, and the biggest dining table of all of us, last November I was responsible for Thanksgiving dinner. And if there's one thing you have to have at Thanksgiving dinner, other than turkey, of course, it's pie.
Being a pumpkin pie novice, I made a practice pie in the week leading up to the big event. All in all, I was pretty happy with it, but still wanted to experiment a bit. I'm glad I did, because the pie I ended up with was delish, getting nods of approval from the people in the know, that is, the non-Australians.
We don't have pie pumpkins in the supermarkets or green grocers around here, so I used butternut. If you're really worried about getting the pumpkin perfect, it's possible to order American canned pie pumpkin online from US foods. For what it's worth, I'd rather save the food miles given there were no complaints about taste or texture.
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2 tbspn water
1/3 cup water
2 cups cream
2 cups pumpkin puree*
1 tspn ground nutmeg
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn ground allspice
4 eggs
Preheat oven to 190 celsius. Lightly grease a 25 cm deep pie dish. Roll the pastry out and line the pie dish. Blind bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan. Bring to a boil, without stirring. Cook until golden - do not over cook as it will turn bitter - reduce heat and add half the cream. Stir until the caramel dissolves then add the remaining cream and bring to a simmer. Whisk together the pumpkin and spices. Whisk in the hot cream mixture, then the eggs.
Place the pie filling in the blind baked pastry case. Reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees and bake for 55 - 60 minutes until golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
Serve with whipped cream.
*Roast a one kilo butternut pumpkin in its skin until the centre is soft. De-seed and remove flesh, then mash with a stick mixer or potato ricer. Alternatively, peel and roughly chop the pumpkin and steam until soft. This method will be quicker, however the pumpkin will contain more moisture and be less sweet than the roasted version.
Being a pumpkin pie novice, I made a practice pie in the week leading up to the big event. All in all, I was pretty happy with it, but still wanted to experiment a bit. I'm glad I did, because the pie I ended up with was delish, getting nods of approval from the people in the know, that is, the non-Australians.
We don't have pie pumpkins in the supermarkets or green grocers around here, so I used butternut. If you're really worried about getting the pumpkin perfect, it's possible to order American canned pie pumpkin online from US foods. For what it's worth, I'd rather save the food miles given there were no complaints about taste or texture.
Pumpkin pie
Pastry
1 1/2 cups flour1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2 tbspn water
Pie filling
1 cup sugar1/3 cup water
2 cups cream
2 cups pumpkin puree*
1 tspn ground nutmeg
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn ground allspice
4 eggs
Method
Rub together flour and butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix together the egg yolk and water, then add to flour mixture. Shape in to a disc, wrap in cling wrap, and chill for at least half an hour.Preheat oven to 190 celsius. Lightly grease a 25 cm deep pie dish. Roll the pastry out and line the pie dish. Blind bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan. Bring to a boil, without stirring. Cook until golden - do not over cook as it will turn bitter - reduce heat and add half the cream. Stir until the caramel dissolves then add the remaining cream and bring to a simmer. Whisk together the pumpkin and spices. Whisk in the hot cream mixture, then the eggs.
Place the pie filling in the blind baked pastry case. Reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees and bake for 55 - 60 minutes until golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
Serve with whipped cream.
*Roast a one kilo butternut pumpkin in its skin until the centre is soft. De-seed and remove flesh, then mash with a stick mixer or potato ricer. Alternatively, peel and roughly chop the pumpkin and steam until soft. This method will be quicker, however the pumpkin will contain more moisture and be less sweet than the roasted version.
Creamy pumpkin pasta sauce
It's been a long time between posts; most of my cooking time is spent whipping up culinary masterpieces for a ten month old. Tonight, however, dinner was yummy enough that I don't want to forget how to make it. Once again, there was no time for photography. I really need to get back on top of that!
1 butternut pumpkin, peeled and seeded
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tspn dried Italian herb blend
2 tbspn garlic infused olive oil
1 tspn minced chilli
1 tspn minced garlic
250 - 300 ml cream
1/4 cup pine nuts
pasta to serve 4
Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius. Chop the pumpkin into small, roughly equal cubes. Put around half the olive oil in the base of a large roasting pan. SPrinkle with herbs, onion and remaining oil. Roast until the pumpkin is soft - anywhere from 25 - 45 minutes. Cook the pasta until al dente and set aside to keep warm. Heat the cream slightly, then add half of the cooked pumpkin and onion. Add the chilli and garlic, then puree until smooth. Stir through the remaining pumpkin and onion chunks. Place the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and toast until golden. Serve pasta and sauce sprinkled with pine nuts. Garnish with parmesan and season with black pepper to taste.
Creamy pumpkin pasta
1 butternut pumpkin, peeled and seeded
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tspn dried Italian herb blend
2 tbspn garlic infused olive oil
1 tspn minced chilli
1 tspn minced garlic
250 - 300 ml cream
1/4 cup pine nuts
pasta to serve 4
Method
Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius. Chop the pumpkin into small, roughly equal cubes. Put around half the olive oil in the base of a large roasting pan. SPrinkle with herbs, onion and remaining oil. Roast until the pumpkin is soft - anywhere from 25 - 45 minutes. Cook the pasta until al dente and set aside to keep warm. Heat the cream slightly, then add half of the cooked pumpkin and onion. Add the chilli and garlic, then puree until smooth. Stir through the remaining pumpkin and onion chunks. Place the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and toast until golden. Serve pasta and sauce sprinkled with pine nuts. Garnish with parmesan and season with black pepper to taste.
Comfort food
Soup. Although I absolutely loathe winter, soup just about makes it bearable. It's fast, gives you almost all of your vegie serves in one hit, and generally tastes pretty good too. So in the first of a series of thoughts on comfort food, here's to soup.
Basic Pumpkin Soup
1 medium sized pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tbspn olive oil
1 litre of vegetable stock
425g can cannellini beans, drained
black pepper to taste
Method
Heat the oil and add onion. Saute until tender and translucent. Add the pumpkin and pepper, stirring to coat. Add the stock and beans, and bring to a simmer, covered. Simmer until the pumpkin is tender - around 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. When you're sure the hot soup mix won't burn you if it splatters, use a stick mixer to blend to a smooth puree. If the mixture is too thick, add a little milk. If it's too thin, red lentils or another tin of beans will do a nice job of thickening it up.
Variations
Add 1.5 tbspn of red curry paste after the onions and before the pumpkin. Replace the beans with coconut cream stirred through after blending the pumpkin.
Roast the pumpkin instead of boiling it.
Try seasoning with a little bit of nutmeg.
Quick Tomato Soup
This is almost as quick as heating up a can of campbells, but better value for money.
2 cans of tomatoes - chopped, peeled, seasoned, however you like them
1 tbspn tomato paste
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 litre of stock
Seasonings to taste
Method
Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for around ten minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend with a stick mixer and voila! Serve with hot buttered toast to relive your childhood.
Variations
Add some chilli, pepper sauce or curry paste/powder for a warming hit. Tear some fresh basil leaves and add at the last minute for beautifully fragrant soup. Try a little chopped capsicum and cucumber for a hot gazpacho.
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