Orange Crush:
Fall Means Pumpkins, But They Now Come
in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
With Recipes For:
Pumpkin
Pecan Torte
Pumpkin
Ravioli with Parmesan-Sage Cream
Pumpkin
Risotto
Every October for the past 32 years, the hills of Half Moon Bay, California
come alive with the color of orange, a sea of over 3,000 tons of pumpkins.
Pumpkin mania transforms this quaint coastal town into a gourdish Brigadoon,
with some quarter of a million people descending upon it to gawk at pumpkins
the size of Mini Coopers, eat more pumpkin food than you thought imaginable
(including pumpkin wine, which admittedly was not a hit), and take pumpkin
body peel spa treatments with a mask of pumpkin, oatmeal, cream, cornmeal,
and honey. “Honestly, you smell like pumpkin pie when you’re
finished,” says Stacy Cooper Dent of the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay,
where the treatments are given.
“The whole town goes crazy. Pumpkin this, pumpkin that. To see this kind
of excitement around a gourd is kind of amazing,” says Peter Rudolph,
chef of Navio restaurant at the Ritz Carlton. Rudolph prepares a six-course
pumpkin menu that last year included a pumpkin and foie gras terrine with gingerbread
and frisee salad, chestnut royale with pumpkin bisque and white truffles, and
loup de mer with grilled pumpkin, candied turnips, pecans and creamy apple
broth.
And you thought pumpkins were only for carving and smashing.
Rudolph gets his pumpkins from Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm, which grows
50 varieties. “We’ve worked really hard with chefs to get the
best for cooking and eating pumpkins,” says owner John Muller, who
likens himself to a grape grower or small vintner. “Half Moon Bay is
the Napa Valley for pumpkins,” he says, proudly.
Rudolph uses five kinds of Muller’s pumpkins: Fairytale, Sugar Pie,
Zucca, Red Kabocha and Cinderella, each for a different purpose. He uses
the Fairytale, a fairly new variety, for braising because its fibers hold
together while cooking and don’t let the meat fall apart. Zucca, from
Italy, and Kabocha, from Japan, are good for purees and sautéing because
of their density. The high sugar content Sugar Pie is traditional for pumpkin
pie, though Rudolph blends it with other pumpkins for more depth of flavor.
Muller doesn’t limit his pumpkins to haute cuisine, however. “We
have one now called Golden Delicious, that’s strictly for baby food.
It’s smaller with a finer grain that makes it easier to mush up,” says
Mueller. Mueller gives his wife Eda credit for expanding his pumpkin horizons.
Eda literally scans the globe to bring in seeds. She grows a few pumpkins
and cooks with them before the Mullers decide to grow the pumpkins commercially.
Marina di Chioggia is one of 15 Italian varieties the farm produces. It’s
a squat pumpkin with light green, nubby skin and deep orange flesh. “I
like to bake with it and use it in risotto,” Eda says. “And when
you carve it on an angle the contrast between the flesh and skin gives you
a 3-D effect.”
Some pumpkins are incredibly specialized. Francisco’s Blossoms, as
the name implies, is grown strictly for the blossoms, which chefs stuff. “It’s
not much of a pumpkin,” John acknowledges. And the Ka Kai, a gray pumpkin
with orange stripes, is prized for its seeds, which are not only plentiful
but hulled as well.
Pumpkin passion isn’t limited to Half Moon Bay, though. One of the
more fascinating pumpkin subcultures involves people who grow pumpkins for
their sheer size. The world record is 1,337.5 pounds. Ray Waterman, founder
of the World Pumpkin Confederation in Collins, NY, predicts a 2,000-pounder
within 10 years. Why do people grow pumpkins that resemble Cinderella’s
carriage after midnight? “Why do people climb Everest? It’s something
for mankind to do,” Waterman says, unapologetically. (If you want
to try your luck, the Atlantic Giant is the Incredible Hulk of pumpkin varieties.)
If pumpkin weight lifting isn’t your thing, here are some cooking ideas.
Annie Cuggino, chef at the Veritable Quandary in Portland, Ore uses the drier
Kabocha squash on pizza with pecorino cheese, rosemary, and walnuts. (Nuts,
especially walnuts and pecans, are great partners with pumpkin.) She also
pairs pumpkin with game birds and any kind of pork.
I love to sauté or oven roast cubes of pumpkin by itself or with
other winter vegetables (such as sweet potatoes, parsnips or carrots) in
olive oil or in a mixture of olive oil and butter. Garlic, sage and rosemary
are good seasonings, but you can also try something more exotic, like cumin
or cardamom. Cuggino tries to stay away from the pumpkin trinity of clove,
nutmeg, and cinnamon. Instead, she’ll combine roasted poblano peppers
with pumpkin, which sort of makes sense since both are New World natives.
Pumpkin puree seasoned with allspice, nutmeg or ginger is nice under grilled
fish. (Rudolph prefers strongly flavored fish like wild sea bass, sardines
or mackerel.) Pumpkin is also great with pastas (in the sauce or stuffing),
in risottos, and in soups with beans and perhaps some hearty greens such
as chard or kale.
Of course, pumpkin pie is the dish most associated with pumpkin. Early pumpkin
pies were made by filling a hollowed out shell with milk, apples, and sweeteners
like honey and molasses, then baking it. Spices were probably limited until
clipper ships made them more common. Even today, most pumpkin pies
are pretty ho-hum. Not so the following recipe adapted from The New Basics
Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukens. My wife said it was the best
pumpkin pie she’d ever eaten. If you can’t find a good pumpkin,
any hard-shelled squash, especially butternut, will do. And for some dishes
like pie or soup, canned pumpkin can be a perfectly adequate substitute.
Pumpkin Pecan Torte back
1 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup toasted pecans
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups cooked pureed pumpkin
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each allspice and nutmeg
Salt
3 eggs, separated
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1)Process 1 1/2 cups of pecans and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor
until finely chopped. Add the flour and egg white and process until well
combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9 or 10-inch pie plate and
bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Let cool.
2) Combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, milk, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon
of salt in a saucepan and heat just to a boil. Remove from the heat and add
the egg yolks one at a time.
3) Combine the gelatin with 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and set aside
for three minutes. Add to the pumpkin mixture and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Set over ice and stir occasionally until cool, 20 to 30 minutes.
4) Beat the egg whites and pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Sprinkle
with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Continue beating until glossy,
15 to 20 seconds.
5) Fold egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. Pour into the crust. Tap lightly
to remove any air bubbles. Chill, uncovered, at least 6 hours.
6) Chop the remaining pecans. Whip the cream, confectioners’ sugar
and bourbon until soft peaks form. Top slices of the torte with the whipped
cream. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Makes 8 to 10 portions.
This article originally appeared in the October 31, 2003 issue of Wine Spectator.
--- MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES ---
Pumpkin
Ravioli With Parmesan-Sage Cream back
A ravioli crimper (looks like a ridged pizza cutter, makes the
job of making ravioli a lot easier)
1 to 1-1/2 pound pumpkin or other winter squash
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot skim milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese plus additional cheese for passing
12 sheets fresh lasagna noodles, 5 by 7 inches each, enough for 36 ravioli
Cornmeal
1) Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and place, cut side down, in a baking
pan with 1/2-inch water. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven about
40 minutes or until very tender. (Microwaving takes less than half
the time.) Scoop out flesh and puree with nutmeg, salt and pepper. You
should have about 1 1/4 cups.
2) Meanwhile, put butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add
flour and stir a few minutes. Add milk slowly and bring to a bare simmer,
whisking constantly. Cook until thickened and you can no longer taste
any flour, about 10 minutes. Add sage, cheese and salt and pepper to
taste. Remove from heat and put plastic wrap on the surface to prevent
skin from forming.
3) Spoon out pumpkin puree in 2 rows across and 3 rows down on one lasagna
sheet using 1 teaspoon per ravioli. Brush another sheet with water. Gently
put the second sheet on the first, wet side down. Run a ravioli cutter
down the middle between the two rows and then across, sealing each ravioli
with a 3/8-inch border of dough all around. Without a ravioli cutter, press
down with the side of your hand along the rows between the fillings, removing
any air pockets. Seal with your fingers and cut the individual ravioli
free with a knife, then crimp each with the tines of a fork. Repeat
with remaining pasta and filling until you have 36 ravioli. (To prevent
sticking, put ravioli, as you make them, on a baking sheet sprinkled with
cornmeal.)
4) Bring a pot with 4 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil over
high heat. While water heats, gently reheat cream sauce. Add
ravioli to cooking water, stir and cook, covered, about 3 or 4 minutes. All
ravioli should rise to the surface. Drain.
5) Put half the cream sauce into the emptied pasta pot over medium-low heat
and add the ravioli. Add remaining sauce and gently stir, coating all
the ravioli. Serve at once with more cheese passed at the table. Serves
4.
Sam's Cooking Tip: Fresh lasagna sheets are now available in many places
where fresh pasta is sold. If the sheets you buy are larger than those
indicated in the recipe, reduce the total number of sheets needed to get
36 ravioli.
Pumpkin Risotto back
About 7 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
1 1/2 cups cooked but still firm butternut, acorn or cooked winter squash,
cut in 3/8-inch cubes
6 sage leaves, minced
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 to 6 sage leaves for garnish
1) Heat stock to a bare simmer in a saucepan. Heat butter in a large,
heavy-bottom saucepan next to it on the stove. Add onion to the butter
and sauté over medium heat until it turns translucent. Add rice,
stir and add 1 1/2 cups of stock.
2) When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add another 1 1/2 cups
stock. Then add another 1 1/2 cups in the same fashion along with the
minced sage and squash. Finally, add another 1 1/2 cups stock, salt
and pepper to taste.
3) After most of the stock has been absorbed, taste the rice. It should
be firm but tender. If too firm, add some or all of the remaining stock,
again tasting to discover when it is just right. Leave the risotto
a little runny before you add the cheese so it will have a nice creamy texture.
4) Dish into soup plates and stick a sage leaf in the middle of each plate. Serve
immediately. Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as an appetizer.