Recent Recipes:

Pumpkins: For Freckles and Snakebites, or Pies and Soups

November 20, 2008
By Judy Bart Kancigor

image
They were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snakebites. Native American Indians cut them into strips, dried them and wove them into mats. Seeds of related plants have been discovered in Mexico dating back thousands of years ago.

The Colonists coming to North America enthusiastically adopted the pumpkin grown by the Native Americans. Harvested in the fall, this large, unwieldy orange fruit (yes, it’s a fruit!) has become an icon of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“For pie filling, look for orange pumpkins identified as ‘sweet’ or ‘pie’ pumpkins,” advises Cathy Thomas, author of “Melissa’s Great Book of Produce (Wiley, $29.95). “They have thicker, sweeter flesh and are intended for cooking rather than carving.”

Thomas suggests baking whole pumpkins as a container for soups or stews. Mini-pumpkins are ideal for single servings, and would make an attractive and delicious vessel for – what else? – pumpkin soup, an aromatic starter for the Thanksgiving feast.

To bake the pumpkins, slice off the top and place them in a roasting pan. Add one inch of water and bake at 325 degrees until the flesh is tender, about 30 minutes. Before filling, leave them inverted to dry.

Now to fill these unique bowls. A new cookbook by food writers Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, “300 Sensational Soups” (Robert Rose) has me salivating. “Soup is not just another meal – it’s comfort in a bowl, love on a spoon, satisfaction simmering on the stove,” they write.

Pumpkin Soup with Leeks and Ginger is just the ticket for the holiday. Snyder and Deeds tested this soup using both fresh and canned pumpkin. “We couldn’t tell the difference, so we’ve called for canned for simplicity’s sake,” they note. “We love the balance of flavors: spicy ginger, subtle oniony leeks and lightly sweet and savory pumpkin.”

Or maybe you’re thinking you want to save your pumpkin for the meal’s grand finale. Steven Raichlen’s Sephardic Pumpkin Strudels end your feast with a flourish without adding fat.

Raichlen, better known as the grill guy ("The Barbecue Bible," "How to Grill"), slashes his way through the schmaltz belt with "Healthy Jewish Cooking" (Viking), a lusciously photographed homage to his family with tasty renditions of over 150 classic Jewish recipes that nourish the soul without damaging the heart.

"I was a restaurant critic for a major city magazine in the '80's, eating out constantly, and developed a cholesterol problem," recalls Raichlen, so he began reducing the fat in his favorite recipes. The result was his "High-Flavor, Low-Fat" series and "Healthy Latin Cooking," which won a James Beard award. No Pritikin spartan, Raichlen now applies his 10 Commandments of low-fat cooking to the last bastion of the clogged artery, Jewish food, with "think flavor, not fat" his mantra.

"The great cooks of my childhood – who came of age during the depression – were more interested in filling plates than in the health consciousness of their dinners," he writes. And with his slimmed-down versions of his family's beloved recipes, we can have our knish and eat it too.

Reducing the fat in the Sephardic recipes – which naturally rely on greater use of grains, beans, fruits and vegetables than those of his Eastern European forebears – was less of a challenge. But where Sephardic dishes call for deep frying, Raichlen solves that problem neatly with what he does best: grilling.

Raichlen’s coiled Sephardic Pumpkin Strudels are a traditional Greek-Jewish dessert for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. "Their spiral shape symbolizes the cycle of life and the
ascent of the soul into heaven," he writes.

The recipe comes from his great-aunt Lily Modiano, who began substituting canned pumpkin for calabazas (the traditional squash) when she came to America, trimming the prep time as well as the fat. Filo dough in a low-fat recipe? Sure. Use spray oil and finely chopped nuts and bread crumbs between the layers instead of butter.

For those that want to eat healthy but crave Pumpkin Pie, try Pumpkin Pie-Tinis from “The Super Food Generation: 14 Foods That Get You Glowing” by Jennifer Flynn.

Pumpkin – along with carrots, sweet potatoes and its relatives in the squash family – is one of the 14 super foods that work “synergistically with the human body to unlock vitality, strengthen immunity and literally slow down the aging process,” Flynn writes.

Excuse me? Pumpkin Pie a health food? We’re talking about a healthy Thanksgiving feast now?

Flynn created the dish one Thanksgiving when she was assigned dessert and balked at the notion of rolling out a pie crust. “I love pumpkin pie, but traditionally it is loaded with dairy, eggs and sugar, all of which have been eliminated from my diet,” she said.

And talk about presentation! “They look really cute, like mini individual trifles served in martini glasses,” she said. The creamy pumpkin mousse is sprinkled with an almond-pecan crumble, a light but satisfying end to the holiday feast.

“Pumpkin is one of the healthiest foods on the planet,” Flynn revealed. “It has the highest concentration of alpha and beta carotenes, fiber, potassium and phytonutrients known to man, as well as carotenoids, those antioxidants that lower your risk of heart disease and cancer.”

She has also presented them in little shot glasses too.” For the holidays everybody wants to eat a little of everything,” she said. “With this dessert you can indulge without over-indulging.”


image



Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family” and can be found on the web at www.cookingjewish.com.





PUMPKIN SOUP WITH LEEKS AND GINGER

From “300 Sensational Soups” by Carla Snyder & Meredith Deeds (Robert Rose)

1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated gingerroot
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
1 can (28 ounces) pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add leeks and sauté until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, salt and honey; sauté until garlic and ginger are fragrant but not browning, about 2 minutes.

2. Add pumpkin and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes to blend flavors. Stir in half-and-half, whipping cream, vinegar, nutmeg, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste; reheat over medium heat, stirring often, until steaming. Do not let boil. Ladle into heated bowls and serve.


SEPHARDIC PUMPKIN STRUDELS (RODANCHAS DE LA CALABAZA)

Adapted from “Healthy Jewish Cooking” by Steven Raichlen

For the filling:
2 cans (15 ounces each) pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

To finish the rodanchas:
1/3 cup toasted unflavored bread crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons very finely chopped toasted walnuts, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
16 large sheets filo dough
Spray oil

1. Prepare the filling: Combine the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a large, heavy saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thick and pasty, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon. (The mixture should be thick enough to leave clean traces on the bottom of the pan when stirred with a wooden spoon.) Let the filling cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.

2. Combine the bread crumbs, sugar, 3 tablespoons walnuts, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and toss to mix. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Open the package of filo, unfold the dough, and keep covered with a damp cloth. Spread a single sheet of filo on the work surface, narrow side facing you. Spray the filo with oil, then lightly sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture. Place another sheet of filo on top, spray with oil, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Fold up the bottom quarter of the filo rectangle, as though you were folding a business letter.

4. Spoon one-eighth of the pumpkin mixture in a cigar shape along the bottom of the filo dough, not quite to the edges. (You’ll need 2 spoons to do this. If you’re handy with a pastry bag, you could pipe the pumpkin mixture through a 1/2-inch tip.) Starting at the bottom, roll up the filo and filling into a tube.

5. Starting at the end on the left and working gently so as not to tear the filo (it may tear a little anyway – don’t worry if it does), loosely coil the filo tube into a spiral. Set it on a nonstick baking sheet you’ve lightly sprayed with oil. Make the remaining rodanchas the same way.

6. Spray the tops of the rodanchas with oil and sprinkle with remaining chopped walnuts and any remaining bread crumb mixture. Bake until golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve the rodanchas warm.

Serves 8


PUMPKIN PIE-TINIS

From “The Super Food Generation: 14 Foods That Get You Glowing” by Jennifer Flynn

For the Spiced Pumpkin Mousse:
1/2 cup raw unsalted whole cashews
6 tablespoons purified water
1 to 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, or to taste
4 large Medjool dates, pitted (or 5 to 6 small)
1 1/2 cups canned organic pumpkin
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of sea salt

For the Almond-Pecan Crumble
1/2 cup unsalted raw almonds
1/4 cup raw pecans
4 to 5 pitted Medjool dates
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of sea salt

1. For the mousse: Combine the cashews, water, maple syrup and dates in a high-speed blender on medium speed until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add remaining mousse ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down as needed. (Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if necessary.) Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. For the crumble: Chop almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add remaining ingredients and process until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Place mixture in freezer for 15 minutes.

3. To assemble: Place 2 1/2 tablespoons of crumble mixture into bottom of standard-sized martini glass. Top with 1/2 cup pumpkin mousse and gently smooth surface with back of small spoon. Sprinkle with a pinch of crumble mixture to garnish.


More articles from this author





Submit a Comment

Comments posted on this website are subject to editing for space, language and/or clarity.


Name:


Email: (Rest assured, your email address will not be published.)

Comment:


Please enter the word you see in the image below: