open sesame, its all yours

How to savour this pumpkin dish to the max.

1. remove the pumpkin cap, smell the aroma that escapes the interior of the stuffed pumpkin
2. lick the base of the cap so you get a taste of the stuffed stew, eat the cap
3. slide your spoon into the stuffed filling, scrapping the sides of the pumpkin and stirring it into the stuffed stew
4. scoop out the filling,
5. spoon in mouth, eat and partake in a succulent experience
6. finish off the meal by tearing and eating the stew soaked pumpkin skin. hands are welcome
   

For the stuffing, i used chayotes, onions and seitan with sage, rosemary and thyme which I cooked over the stove just a little since they get cooked again in the oven. I wonder If I could skip this step in future.

Next, I prepared the pumpkin by carving out the top into a cap and then scrapping out the seeds with a spoon.

Following that, I spooned the filling into the hollowed pumpkin and added some of the liquid used to cook the seitan.

Finally, I replaced the cap and prop the whole thing in the oven at 200degreeC for about 30mins and then 170degreeC for about 15mins. ( this works for about a 800-900g pumpkin). I tested by using finger to press on the pumpkin to see if its soft. Once it was soft, then I lowered the temperature.

A truly heartwarming satisfying dish.

i'm calling this gnocchi

...although I doubt any true blue Italian will acknowledge it as such. From what I have seen and read, gnocchi are dumplings made from potato or ricotta and flour which are boiled and served with a pasta sauce. Gnocchi usually are in tiny oblong shapes and slightly flattened with a fork. However, I have seen many gnocchi with the fork imprint ( too time consuming i guess!) They can be considered a type of pasta dish.

What i did was to use pumpkin and besan flour instead. And rather than the rectangular oblong shape, i formed ballls. Muatard and sage is a pretty common flavour pairing that works so I used that for the sauce.

The 1st time I made this recipe, which was sort of a create as you go thingy, I quickly note down the quantities I used as the combination absolutely work. ( 1st thought after taking a bite: "must make again"). And went I wanted to make it again, I just could not locate where I wrote it down! I thought all was lost until I found it hidden in a mess of red inked scribbles in one of my notebook. I don' t usually follow recipes closely, especially savory ones, bot the texture of this gnocchi like thingy was totally spot on and hence I knew I needed to be have more precise measurements.

the dumpling was:
300g pumpkin, microwave/steamed/boiled
40g besan flour, sifted
-combine all and chill foe easier handlling
-bring a pot of water to a rolliing boil,
-use a teaspoon to scoop out mixture and form ball shapes before boiling them in the water
-they are done when they float to the surface.

the sauce was:
about 1.5 -2 tbsp mustard
about 10 sage leaves, chiffoned
about 2tsp apple cider vinergar
some of the leftover boiling liquid
-combine all the above over heat and keep stirring till slighlt reduced
-toss in the dumplings, reduce heat, and stir occasionally till sauce reach resired thickness ( careful not to destroy the dumpling!)

gnocchi eaten alongsidesmoked fish with herby vegetables plus a white bean blondie cake

Potato-Pumpkin Croquettes

This was time consuming but tasted pretty awesome. I made them 2 ways: either as...

potato stuffed pumpkin croquettes or...

as pumpkin stuffed potato croquettes.

Not that it made much of a difference taste wise, but I thought it would be pretty cool when you bite thwm in half and could see the two separate coloured layers.

Since I did not want to use additional flour to help make the mashed potato and pumpkin less sticky, I thought that if I left the mashes in the fridge it would them less sticky. And it worked!

These croquettes were made with:

300g pumpkin
150g potato
35g textured soy protein, grounded
thyme ( or any seasoning blend preferred)

-microwave the pumpkin and potato seperatly, DO NOT add water
-mash/blend them seperately and refrigerate for about 1/2 hour or more
-combine the grounded TSP with the thyme and some salt
-remove potato and pumpkin from fridge and season them a little
-make some tiny balls of pumpkin and potatoes ( wetting hands a little helps to minimise sticking)
-then make larger balls, flatten them and wrap them around the tiny balls
-so like tiny potato balls wrapped in larger flattened pumkin ball and vice versa
-dust them in the TSP mixture
-bake at 250degreeC for about 8-10mins and then flip them to brown the other side (please monitor to ensure they do not burn!)
-DEVOUR!