|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 15, 2015 14:46:38 GMT -5
Because everything pumpkin is great. Or at minimum, acceptable. What pumpkin stuff do you like? Let's start with a repost from the Random Thought Thread: I had Afghan pumpkin (kaddo borawni) at lunch, my first time eating pumpkin this November. Then I needed to have pumpkin pasta sauce on spaghetti for supper.  |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 15, 2015 14:51:18 GMT -5
Let's start with Afghan kaddo bourani. Good good this stuff is the best. Pumpkin, a garlicy yogurt sauce, and ground meat. I've had it at the Helmand in Baltimore as dessert, but the other day I had it in Columbia, MD, as an appetizer.   I tried making a meatless version of it last year. It was pretty good, but nothing can match the real thing from a restaurant. Probably because mine didn't have enough sugar/oil. |
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Nov 15, 2015 17:21:55 GMT -5
Let's start with Afghan kaddo bourani. Good good this stuff is the best. Pumpkin, a garlicy yogurt sauce, and ground meat. I've had it at the Helmand in Baltimore as dessert, but the other day I had it in Columbia, MD, as an appetizer. I tried making a meatless version of it last year. It was pretty good, but nothing can match the real thing from a restaurant. Probably because mine didn't have enough sugar/oil. Oooh, now that you posted the pic I know I had it at an Afghan place in Dallas and it was delicious. |
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Nov 15, 2015 17:27:57 GMT -5
Does it have to be only pumpkin, or can we use all winter squash here? I use them interchangeably.
I really like red kuri squash. It looks like a pumpkin with a reddish tint and then tapered tips. But it's very intense and meaty tasting. Last year I couldn't find any anywhere, then suddenly it's back this year so I loaded up.
Pumpkin soup on Halloween is a must anymore. It's great to warm up and recharge with after trick-or-treating, plus it's relatively "light" if you already have a bellyfull of candy. Even the kids like it when they get back.
One year I made bruschetta with pumpkin, red onion, and apple that everyone loved. I need to make that again. Of course, i also can't remember how I did it.
For my Diwali inspired menu a few weeks back I made a pumpkin curry.
I usually make a pasta with roasted pumpkin, chilies, mint and pecorino during the fall but didn't get to it this year. I'm making pumpkin risotto next weekend.
You gotta cube it up and roast it when you cook with it though. Just sauteeing it in a pan doesn't do it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Nov 16, 2015 10:17:11 GMT -5
My ability to cook squash in general, and pumpkin in particular, is hampered by the fact that Hugs hates squash and, while she claims to be capable of cooking something for herself if I make meals she doesn't like, that claim is one of those that you don't want to test. I'm sure I'd never, ever, ever be allowed to forget that time I made a pumpkin something for dinner on a random Tuesday night and left her high and dry to cook for herself... Sigh. Anyway, I did sneak a pork-and-pumpkin stew onto the menu last year, when she wasn't looking, and it was incredible. With turnips and kale and all that fall goodness, and a hit of spicy chile in the sauce. I mostly get stuck just making sweet pumpkin things, then, because she'll tolerate them. Pumpkin cheesecake is as close as I'm willing to go to pumpkin pie, and there are a million great recipes out there, the best of which work bourbon into the mix. My love for pumpkin bread (and office bake-off hubris) has been documented here. The greatest trick I've found for baking pumpkin stuff came from Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin cupcake recipe (which is incredible) -- include freshly ground black pepper in with your standard pumpkin spices. Mmmmm... Oh, and the best type of pumpkin ever? These giant, cheesewheel ones with the warts all over them:  After roasting, the puree from these guys didn't need any straining, and they were colossally flavorful and sweet. Just perfection. I don't know what type they are, but everyone should be on the lookout for them. |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 16, 2015 10:34:51 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 17, 2015 12:50:14 GMT -5
Today at the office Thanksgiving potluck I had three pumpkin dishes.
store-bought pumpkin pie: not terrible crust for store-bought, but quite below-average filling that tasted rather like breathing a holiday store. 2/5 stars.
store-bought pumpkin pound cake: pretty ok, but then the pound cake spectrum isn't very wide
homemade pumpkin bars: quite good! Sticky but firm, brownie-sized, and not at all dry.
|
|
|
|
Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Nov 17, 2015 12:51:53 GMT -5
Today at the office Thanksgiving potluck I had three pumpkin dishes. store-bought pumpkin pie: not terrible crust for store-bought, but quite below-average filling that tasted rather like breathing a holiday store. 2/5 stars. store-bought pumpkin pound cake: pretty ok, but then the pound cake spectrum isn't very wide homemade pumpkin bars: quite good! Sticky but firm, brownie-sized, and not at all dry. I wouldn't be afraid of your pumpkin bars!  |
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Nov 22, 2015 12:03:00 GMT -5
I'm gonna bite the hand that feed for this thread and say I actually don't like pumpkin itself, or at least vastly prefer butternut and almost every other hard winter squash over it. yesterday at the store, they had none of the above, except a huge crate of sugar pie pumpkins, so I bought one to make risotto with. The flesh of the pumpkin was pale and anemic looking, nowhere near the vibrant intense orange of a nice butternut or kuri. I roasted one half whole, to scoop out and puree with some broth as the risotto base, then cubed up the other half and roasted it to toss into the risotto when it was done. It was absolutely flavorless; I tasted the sage and the parm swirled into it more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Floyd Diabolical Barber on Nov 22, 2015 13:55:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Nov 22, 2015 18:07:27 GMT -5
I'm gonna bite the hand that feed for this thread and say I actually don't like pumpkin itself, or at least vastly prefer butternut and almost every other hard winter squash over it. yesterday at the store, they had none of the above, except a huge crate of sugar pie pumpkins, so I bought one to make risotto with. The flesh of the pumpkin was pale and anemic looking, nowhere near the vibrant intense orange of a nice butternut or kuri. I roasted one half whole, to scoop out and puree with some broth as the risotto base, then cubed up the other half and roasted it to toss into the risotto when it was done. It was absolutely flavorless; I tasted the sage and the parm swirled into it more. Yeah, pumpkin really doesn't have a lot going for it straight-up. You have to get into the really fancy olde-fashioned types of soup pumpkins and whatnot to get ones that can compete with actual good squashes. And even then it's hit-or-miss whether they're going to taste like anything. |
|
|
|
Post by Nudeviking on Nov 22, 2015 19:37:05 GMT -5
Hobakjuk dudes! Or Korean style pumpkin porridge if you're nasty. We made a heap of this this weekend past and will undoubtedly be eating it for the next few days, but that's alright, because it's pretty grand. Anyway here's a decent enough recipe for you should you wish to craft it yourself. We use some top secret family recipe...that is pretty much exactly the same as the recipe found in the link enclosed and it's pretty good stuff.  |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 22, 2015 20:00:59 GMT -5
Hobakjuk dudes! Or Korean style pumpkin porridge if you're nasty. We made a heap of this this weekend past and will undoubtedly be eating it for the next few days, but that's alright, because it's pretty grand. Anyway here's a decent enough recipe for you should you wish to craft it yourself. We use some top secret family recipe...that is pretty much exactly the same as the recipe found in the link enclosed and it's pretty good stuff. This sounds so great. I will definitely make this with the sesame seeds and red beans (I grew the latter in my garden last year!) |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 23, 2015 11:00:41 GMT -5
Where is my spoon!?  Lifemate's parents left behind a loaf of white bread, which is the perfect non-spoon conduit for this stuff. |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Nov 26, 2015 21:48:11 GMT -5
pumpkin pie made by my host: really excellent filling; homemade crust is a bit too thick and without much edge; 4 of 5 stars
pumpkin pie made by another attendee: pretty OK filling; experimental crust of graham crackers was too wet; 3 of 5 stars
|
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Dec 7, 2015 10:58:20 GMT -5
No one thought I was done, did they? I just bought this yesterday:  I haven't tasted it yet; I'm waiting fro the right moment. The hippie mart had samples of the mint chocolate flavor, which really was so delicious; I went to buy a couple cartons of that for easy little presents and saw the pumpkin spice flavor to keep for myself. $3, on sale to $2.50. |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Dec 11, 2015 21:03:19 GMT -5
More adventures in pumpkin.
Yesterday's holiday potluck at work had a frosted pumpkin bread which would have been fine except for the inclusion of raisins. Now, I like raisins, I like oatmeal raisin cookies, but why would they do that.
The same potluck also featured a homemade pumpkin pie, with a proper homemade crust. The filling was good, but interestingly the slices were served individually in a box instead in the pie plate. It edged just in to 5 out of 5 stars.
Today Lifemate made black bean burgers. Instead of ketchup or barbecue sauce, I topped it with a smear of the pumpkin pasta sauce from upthread. Delicious!
|
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Dec 29, 2015 15:29:31 GMT -5
Christmas day pumpkin pie by my grandmother: really good filling with...store-bought crust. A 3 for anyone else, but bumped to 4 out of 5 stars because I love you, Oma.
|
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Sept 22, 2016 11:01:51 GMT -5
It's the first day of fall - PUMPKIN TIME! (No, not midnight, I mean time to eat anything and everything pumpkin-flavored.) Last week I was speaking to my neighbor over the backyard fence. Half her yard is covered with vines, and she gave me a pumpkin as big as my head! This is great. I'm going to cut it up tonight or Friday, maybe make something fresh and put the rest away in my freezer. It would be great to try kaddo bourani again, this time with ground meat (I made it two years ago without meat for a work putluck). Also on the priority list is hobakjuk, courtesy of Nudeviking's link from last year upthread. All of the azuki beans I had stored from my garden recently got made into anko, but I'm going to try to use a bit of that and reduce sugar from other places in the recipe. What other pumpkin dishes should I try? Is it possible to find a pumpkin or pumpkin spice-flavored dish (that really exists) that I don't like? What do you like? |
|
GumTurkeyles
AV Clubber 
$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,065 
|
Post by GumTurkeyles on Sept 22, 2016 11:50:21 GMT -5
It's the first day of fall - PUMPKIN TIME! (No, not midnight, I mean time to eat anything and everything pumpkin-flavored.) Last week I was speaking to my neighbor over the backyard fence. Half her yard is covered with vines, and she gave me a pumpkin as big as my head! This is great. I'm going to cut it up tonight or Friday, maybe make something fresh and put the rest away in my freezer. It would be great to try kaddo bourani again, this time with ground meat (I made it two years ago without meat for a work putluck). Also on the priority list is hobakjuk, courtesy of Nudeviking 's link from last year upthread. All of the azuki beans I had stored from my garden recently got made into anko, but I'm going to try to use a bit of that and reduce sugar from other places in the recipe. What other pumpkin dishes should I try? Is it possible to find a pumpkin or pumpkin spice-flavored dish (that really exists) that I don't like? What do you like? Are you going for dessert-y stuff, or do more savory? I'm looking forward to roasted pumpkin soups. And once the kabocha squash is ready, curries and other sauce-like stuff.  |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Sept 22, 2016 11:53:06 GMT -5
Are you going for dessert-y stuff, or do more savory? All things. All things. |
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Sept 30, 2016 10:18:22 GMT -5
BREAKING NEWS
While I still haven't cut up the pumpkin from my backyard neighbor, I just received TWO more pumpkins from the guy one garden plot over. That...is a lot of pumpkin. The first had me very excited, now I'm just nervous. All these things are unasked-for, the people are just friendly! I give back whatever veggies of my own that I can.
My chest freezer space is seriously threatened. The plan will be to cook at least half of it into sauce and leave the rest in cubes, to cram as much in freezer containers as possible. Tonight we are eating steaks from the freezer to clear space. I have got to eat/give away two bags of vegetables if I want to put a turkey in there in two months.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 30, 2016 10:44:45 GMT -5
Bought a can of pumpkin to give some to our dog (it's good for extra fiber) and still have a ton left. So I've started plopping a big spoonful on top of greek yogurt, drizzling with honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon - it's pumpkin pie yogurt minus the crap.
|
|
|
|
Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Sept 30, 2016 13:17:16 GMT -5
I am becoming anxious that my farmshare hasn't had any signs of pumpkin yet. I mean, I know that there's still probably 7 weeks left in the season, but normally we have pumpkins by now! What if there was a pumpkin crop failure this year, and I don't know about it, and I'm not going in search of pumpkins because I expect to get some in my CSA share, but then I miss pumpkins completely? WHAT THEN?
|
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Oct 4, 2016 14:01:11 GMT -5
I forgot to post before,but after dinner Saturday we went to Rita's. I had Pumpkin Pie Cream Ice, the best product from a tremendous establishment. One of the best things about Rita's is the seasonal and cyclic rotation of flavors.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 4, 2016 14:21:19 GMT -5
Not technically pumpkin aside: These things are fantastic:  |
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Oct 4, 2016 14:32:35 GMT -5
A few years ago, our fancy grocery store carried something called "butterkins": a sugar pie pumpkin/butternut hybrid: basically the bottom, bulbous half of a butternut squash. It was really good. But I haven't seen them since.
|
|
|
|
Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 5, 2016 10:04:27 GMT -5
Everyone can relax -- it looks like I'll be getting pumpkins from my CSA this week. Which means I can get started post-haste on baking more LOSER PUMPKIN BREAD!
|
|
|
|
Post by Powerthirteen on Oct 5, 2016 10:09:40 GMT -5
My coffee shop of choice has brought back its annual pumpkin lattes - not pumpkin spice, actual pumpkin (and spice.) They're delicious.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pastafarian on Oct 11, 2016 22:37:58 GMT -5
I made slow cooker pumpkin butter over the weekend. Delicious! I then used it to make pumpkin old-fashioneds. Delicious and boozy!
|
|
