Delicious with Pumpkin

Pumpkin

Growing up on a farm in Norway on the roughest coastal line, I had never grown or eaten or seen pumpkins, except from when Cinderella´s fairy God mother turned one into a magical chariot for Cinderella to go to the ball at the Castle. I was first introduced to pumpkin after 20 years old when I lived and studied in the USA. And it was only associated with Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving.However, Pumpkin can be used for so much more. And it is not American. It is used all over the world, and has been since ancient times.

China

Pumpkin — to Bring Good Health

The tradition of eating pumpkin during the moonfestival is followed by people living south of the Yangtze River.

Poor families chose to eat pumpkin during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times, as they couldn't afford mooncakes. The tradition has been passed down, and eating pumpkin on the Mid-Autumn Festival night is believed to bring people good health.

An interesting legend goes that a very poor family, a couple with their daughter, lived at the foot of South Mountain. The old couples were seriously sick for lack of food and clothes. The daughter found an oval-shaped melon one day when she was working in the fields on the South Mountain. She brought the melon home and cooked to serve to her dying parents. Surprisingly, her sick parents recovered after eating the melon. Because the melon was picked from the South Mountain, so it was named 'south melon' (the Chinese name for pumpkin).

Haiti

Pumpkin soup, The Symbol of Freedom.

Pumpkin soup is served in Haiti on January 1, the anniversary of Haiti's liberation from France. It is said that the soup was once a delicacy reserved for white masters but forbidden to the slaves who cooked it. January 1st, 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti a free republic. After Independence, Haitians took to eating it to celebrate the world's first and only successful slave revolution resulting in an independent nation.

What does that have to do with pumpkin soup? Everything!!! All throughout their reign of terror, the French forbade all Haitians from drinking pumpkin soup. It was considered a delicacy far too sophisticated for the palate of slaves. Therefore as a symbol of freedom, all Haitians, no matter where, drink pumpkin soup (Soup Joumou) every January first since 1804.

USA and Ireland

In the United States, pumpkins go hand in hand with the fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving. An orange fruit harvested in October, this nutritious and versatile plant features flowers, seeds and flesh that are edible and rich in vitamins. Pumpkin is used to make soups, desserts and breads, and many Americans include pumpkin pie in their Thanksgiving meals. Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is a popular Halloween tradition that originated hundreds of years ago in Ireland. Back then, however, jack-o’-lanterns were made out of turnips or potatoes; it wasn’t until Irish immigrants arrived in America and discovered the pumpkin that a new Halloween ritual was born.

Pumpkin carving being associated with Halloween comes from a method used by the Celts to ward off evil spirits during Samuin (a festival where many of the traditions of Halloween come from).  The Celts would hollow out turnips, then carve faces in them and place candles inside.  The turnips were then either placed in the windows, to keep evil spirits from entering a home, or carried around as lanterns.  This tradition eventually melded with the North American tradition of carving pumpkins.  At this point, the carving of pumpkins, which had been around in North America before Halloween was popularly introduced, became associated almost exclusively with Halloween (around the 19th century).

Prepare the pumpkin for baking or soups

 

To prepare the pumpkin to be used in baking or soup. Cut the pumpkin in wedges and remove the seeds. Bake the pumpkin in the oven for 1 hour on 180 Celsius degrees. The pumpkin is ready when it is soft when you press it. Take out from the oven and let it cool off. Spoon out the pumpkin meat and make into a pure with a mixer. 


Check out my various recipes by clicking the links below

American Pumpkin Pie

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2013/11/american-pumpkin-pie.html

Haitian Pumpkin Soup

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2015/02/haitian-pumpkin-soup.html

Thai Pumpkin Custard Sankaya

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2016/09/thai-pumpkin-custard-sankaya.html

Roasted pumpkin soup recipe

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2016/09/roasted-pumpkin-soup-recipe.html

Pumpkin Pancakes

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2016/09/pumpkin-pancakes.html

Pumpkin biscuits

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2016/09/pumpkin-biscuits.html

Roasted pumpkin seeds

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2016/09/roasted-pumpkin-seeds.html

Indian Curry Caserole with Pumpkin

https://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.com/2018/11/indian-curry-caserole-with-pumpkin.html

Pumpkin biscuits

Pumpkin biscuits

Ingredients:
2cups all purpouse flour, more if needed
1⁄4cup brown sugar
1teaspoon salt
3tablespoons baking powder
1teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄2teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄4teaspoon allspice
1⁄8teaspoon ginger
1⁄3cup butter, cold
3⁄4cup pumpkin
3⁄4cup milk

 Directions:

Stir together dry ingredients. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add pumpkin and milk, stirring just until ingredients are moistened and a soft dough forms. If the dough seems very soft, add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time, just until the dough is easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a half-inch thick. Using a 2-inch biscuit or cookie cutter in a simple shape of your choice, dip the cutter into flour, shake off excess and press into biscuit dough.

Place biscuits on a lightly greased cookie sheet one-inch apart and bake at 450 degrees F for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot with butter and honey or apple butter.

Roasted pumpkin soup

Roasted pumpkin soup 

Ingredients:

1.5kg edible pumpkin

Olive oil

1 teaspoon dried chili

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 large onion

3 cloves garlic

1 carrot

1 sweet potatoe

1 litre hot vegetable stock

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F. Half the pumpkin and remove the seeds (you can keep these for roasting), then chop into wedges. Place the pumpkin on baking trays and drizzle over a little olive oil. In a pestle and mortar, grind the chilli and coriander seeds with a pinch of salt until finely ground. 

Sprinkle the spices over the pumpkin with some black pepper. Roast the pumpkin for 1 hour, or until soft and slightly caramalised at the edges.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion, garlic, carrot and sweet potatoe. Heat a lug of olive oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan then add the vegetables. Wok until a bit soft but not coloured. Add the stock and cook for 15 minutes.

When the pumpkin is ready, add to the pan with the hot stock. Blend with a stick blender, adding a little more water if you like a thinner consistency.

When serving you can mix in a click of natural yogurt and swirl it around a bit. 

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk or cream

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, pureed pumpkin and oil until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.
Lightly grease a griddle or frying pan; heat over medium heat. Pour batter 1/3 cupful onto griddle. Cook until bubbles on top begin to pop and bottoms are golden brown. 

Turn; cook until second side is golden brown.

Serve with maple syrup, jam, applesauce or any topping you like.

Minced meat pie with crispy puff pastry lid

 This is a minced meat stew or pie under a crispy puff pastry lid. It is a dish with a touch of mexican spices. Of course, you can use other kind of ground beef, for example from pork or lamb or complete vegetarian mince.

Ingredients filling

400g minced beef

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 pinches of pepper

200 g of chopped tomatoes

1 carrot sliced in small cubes

2 potatoes cut in small cubes

400 g chickpeas or 1 can of cooked chickpeas

3 ancho chili pods

1 spring onion finely chopped

1 dl water, or a can of pasta sauce, or 1 dl meat broth. I had some chicken stock from baking chicken the day before and I saved it for using it in other cooking.

1 stock cube

1 egg

100 g shredded cheese

Pastry dough (homemade or use a bought roll chilled puff pastry, 250 g)

To make the filling tasty you can really add any spices you prefer. This time I added some

Ancho chili pods crushed finely and some Mexican spices.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 225 ° C.

Brown the ground meat in the oil in a frying pan. Season the mix with salt and pepper and spices of your preference. Heat the chopped tomatoes to a sauce. Add the water or use a can of pasta sauce or broth and let it simmer with the ground beef 3-4 minutes.

If using dried chick peas soak in a bowl of water over night. Boil for one hour. Drain and rinse and mix with the ground beef. If using canned chick peas, strain the juice out and add.

In a frying pan add some olive oil and fry the chopped onion lightly, add the cubed carrots and potatoes and the Ancho Chili. Stir and fry a minute and add these ingredients to the mince mixture. Cook for a couple minutes. Remove from the heat.

Beat up the egg and stir into the pie filling. Stir in the shredded cheese.

Pastry dough

Ingredients

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable shortening

¼ cup butter + more for buttering pie plate or skillet

4-5 tablespoons ice water

Instructions

Butter a pie plate or skillet and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Cut in the shortening and butter with a pastry blender or two forks or use your fingers until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Gradually add enough ice water to the mixture while mixing with a wooden spoon until a ball of dough is formed.

Cover in plastic wrap.

Let it rest in a cool place at least 20 minutes.

Baking the pie

Place the pie filling mixture into a greased oven proof dish. Roll out the pastry and place over the mixture. Cut small incision in the dough with a sharp knife. Brush the surface with beaten egg. You can make decorations on the pie shell from left over pastry dough to make the pie look even more decorative and inviting. Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes in the oven on 225 degrees Celsius. Serve preferably with a fresh green salad.

Peach Pie

Peach Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust 

3 cups flour, (180 g)

125 g unsalted butter

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

Filling

4 large egg yolks

4 cups creme fraiche

1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla pod

3 - 4 peaches

    

Directions

Pie crust

 1. Mix flour and butter in a food processor. Add the sugar and 1 egg yolk, work quickly into a dough.

2. Press out the pie dough directly into a pie pan (preferable with removable bottom about 26 cm in diameter). Prick the bottom with a fork. Place the dish in the freezer for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 ° Celsius.

4. Bake the pie crust in the oven until it is lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Filling

5. Whisk egg yolks, sour cream and sugar. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds and add them to the batter. Pour into pie shell.

6. Rinse and slice the peaches. Put them in a neat pattern over the batter.

7. Bake the pie in the oven about 40 minutes or until the batter has solidified.

Serve with ice-cream or whipped cream or custard sauce.

Homemade Custard Sauce

Ingredients

4 dl milk

2 eggs

2 tsp potato flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Directions 

Whisk lightly together milk, eggs, sugar and potatoflour in a saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, but do not let the sauce boil. Place the pan to cool when custard is getting thickness you like. Season to taste with vanilla sugar.

Vanilla sauce is quick to make, actually as fast as making from of a bag, and the taste of homemade is so good .