Here's a pumpkin "pie" recipe without the crust, but so deliciously pie-like you won't miss it. So easy a child can make it; which Sylvia did.
4-6 lb pumpkin
6 eggs
2 c whipping cream
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cinnamon from World Spice on Western Ave.)
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbl butter
Mix the remaining ingredients together except the butter and pour into the pumpkin, topping with the butter.
Put the lid on the pumpkin and place in a large baking dish.
Bake at 350-degrees for 1 - 1 1/2 hours (it took us more like 2 hours), until the mixture has set.
Serve from the pumpkin at the table, scraping a little of the pumpkin flesh to accompany each serving.
Paseo-like Pork Sandwich
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| Paseo in Fremont without the usual cue of people waiting to order. |
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| Midnight Cuban |
Several years ago, my husband and I had tickets to see The Cook, a play at the Seattle Repertory Theatre by Eduardo Machado, a Cuban expatriate. The play takes place in the kitchen of an American expat in Havana around the time Fidel Castro's revolutionary army entered Havana, circa 1959. During the performance, the Cuban "cook" actually prepares food on stage and the aroma of onions and peppers waft over the audience. In anticipation of the play, we decided to hear the playwright read from his memoir, Tastes Like Cuba, An Exile's Hunger for Home, at Elliot Bay Bookstore (still in it's old location in Pioneer Square). I purchased the book and then pored over it absorbing Machado's memories of the Cuban food he savored as a child there. An Internet search for Cuban cuisine in Seattle led me to Paseo and their mouthwatering, highly satisfying pork sandwich. The sandwich is filled with tender, succulent pork layered with aioli mayo, jalapenos, caramelized onions, fresh cilantro, romaine lettuce on a grilled French baguette.
Imagine my thrill when I found this recipe for barbecue pork without having to go outside in the wet and cold. The result is a Paseo-like pork sandwich that was pretty darn close to the original, if not quite Cuban.
For the pork:
5 or more cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion, quartered
2 tbl dried oregano
1 tbl ground cumin
1 tbl salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl wine vinegar
1 lime, juiced
1/4 c orange juice
1 pork shoulder (3-4 pounds)
Combine all but the pork in a food processor and puree.
Score the meat with a cross-hatched pattern and marinate in the mixture overnight.
Next day bring the meat to room temperature, place on a rack in a pan with a little water, roast for 3 hours at 300-degrees until tender.
Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before shredding (with two forks pulling in opposite directions).
For the onions:
Slice one onion into thin slices.
Put a tbl of olive oil in a heavy skillet.
Cook until brown and caramelized, about 10 minutes.
Set aside.
For sandwiches:
Individual French baguettes, sliced in half
Mayonnaise
Jalapenos (pickled, sliced)
Fresh cilantro, leaves only
Romaine lettuce, torn
To assemble:
Toast the baguette
Spread liberally with mayo
Layer with jalapenos, pork, caramelized onions, cilantro and lettuce
Serve if desired with oven sweet potato fries:
Peel and cut into medium-size slices, sweet potatoes
Put in a bowl with olive oil, ground cumin and chili powder and toss
Place on baking sheet and cook in 400-degree oven for approximately 10 minutes or until tender and brown
Salt and serve
Pasta e Fagioli
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| Fresh cranberry beans, now that's Italian. Okay, maybe New England where it is often called shell bean. In any case, it's going into my Pasta e Fagioli tonight. |
Fagioli al forno
1 lb fresh beans
2 oz pancetta, cut in cubes
1/4 c olive oil
3-4 whole black peppercorns
5-6 fresh sage leaves, julienne
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 375-degrees.
Put the beans in a small casserole with lid, add water to almost cover the beans, olive oil, pancetta, sage, pepper, salt and cook in oven for approximately 45 minutes. Remove when tender.
Chop and cook fresh Kale in a heavy skillet with a shallot that has been thinly sliced and in a small amount of olive oil. Put a lid on the pan and set aside when tender about 8-10 minutes.
If desired, can serve with cooked Italian sausage.
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| Pumpkin soup with maple croutons and a dollop of Greek yogurt. |
Harvest Pumpkin Soup
I purchased four sugar pumpkins and now that I made a sweet pumpkin dessert, I was set on trying a savory recipe using another pumpkin. Harvest pumpkin soup is perfectly satisfying for a Fall night at home and makes a beautiful enough presentation for entertaining as well.
1 4-5 lb sugar pumpkin (or your can substitute butter and acorn squash) cut into pieces, with the membrane and seeds removed and cooked in a 375-degree over on a baking sheet with water misted on top or a pan of water underneath. Cook until soft enough to put a fork through without resistance. Take out of oven. Cool. Remove skin and cut in chunks.
In a large pot, put in chunks of pumpkin, 2 carrots chopped coarsely, 2 stalks of celery with leaves included, 1 onion chopped, 1 leek (green portion only), 1/2 bulb of fennel and some leaves, chopped, chopped parsley, 1 tsp powdered ginger, 1 tsp ground mace, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 4 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water or enough to cover vegetables. Cook on stove top until tender. Remove. Cool.
In small batches, puree soup in food processor and return to pot to heat for serving.
To serve, garnish with a dollop of sour cream, thinly sliced leeks that have been fried in olive oil until crisp, and chopped parsley.
Serve with a salad of grapefruit (with skin and membrane removed), pomegranate seeds, avocado slices, fennel slices, blue cheese and topped with a olive oil, balsamic vinegar, shallot vinaigrette.
