Cousin Rosa's Braised Pumpkin

This is my father's cousin Rosa's braised pumpkin recipe. I only ever tasted it once actually cooked by Cousin Rosa, but my mother and I worked on the recipe and now I claim it as one my own. Very simple and great as an accompaniment to a roast dinner. Don't omit the pepper, it's what makes this dish so special.

Ingredients
Around a quarter of a good sized pumpkin
2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Extra virgin olive Oil
Herb of choice (?Rosemary)
Salt
Pepper

Method
1. Seed, skin and and chop pumpkin into medium sized pieces.
2. Heat olive oil in a heavy cast iron enamel pot which has a well fitting lid.
3. Drop in garlic and heat through for around a minute, then add pumpkin.
4. Saute for around 2 minutes.
5. Add salt, pepper and herb, then add around two tablespoons of water.
6. Put lid on pot and cook undisturbed for at least a half hour.
7. Check the done-ness of the pumpkin. It should be a little bit caramelised on the bottom.
Enjoy

My best Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
A good piece of pumpkin
4-5 cloves good garlic (preferably organic)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 good sized onion
1 carrot, chopped into medium bits
1 small potato, sliced
grated nutmeg
Rosemary
2-3 cups milk
salt

Method
1. Seed, skin and and chop pumpkin into medium sized pieces.
2. Place in a baking dish with garlic and rosemary, and dribble with olive oil. Move the pumpkin around so that all the pieces and garlic are covered in olive oil.
3. Bake in a medium to hot oven until just beginning to go brown on edges.
At the same time....
4. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy cast iron pot which has a lid (stainless steel saucepan will suffice.)
5. Add onions and saute for at least 15 minutes until they are starting to caramelise.
6. Add carrots. Keep the heat very low and saute, covered for around 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Take lid off and add baked pumpkin (leave the garlic out), and sliced potato. Add around a cup of water and grated nutmeg and put the lid back on. Cook for at least another 20 minutes to a half hour until all the vegetables are well cooked.
8. Puree the soup with a stab blender. It doesn't need to be too smooth.
9. Add milk until you reach your desired consistency, add salt to taste and crumble in roasted garlic.
10. Heat through (don't boil), and serve with garlic croutons.

Some comments from friends would couldn't put up a post:
Don't use celery.
Try sweet potato in addition to other vegetables.
Replace milk with coconut milk and add five-spice.

Root Vegetable (Pumpkin) Marak

Pumpkins are still in season, and a whole heap of other root and winter vegetables. This recipe is an adaptation of Tess Malos' "Marka dar Marhzin" (Moroccon Pumpkin Stew - similar to Tagine) with a few variations. What I love about this recipe is that it has a certain summer quality about it - the colour and flavours - but is made with winter vegetables. I would also like to suggest to my Alice Springs followers that Siri Omberg's locally made Harissa really lifts this dish. (Available at Afghan Traders.)

Ingredients
Olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon each tumeric, ginger and cinnamon
A selection of root and winter vegetables could include: carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip, cabbage. About a cup of each, diced.
2-3 cups water
1 teaspoon Harissa (see above)
1 tablespoon sultanas
1 dessertspoon honey
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
Fresh coriander for garnish


Method
1. Heat olive oil in large heavy saucepan, preferably cast iron enamel.
2. Add onions and garlic and sautee over a low heat until well cooked and soft (but not brown).
3. Add spices and cook for around 2 more minutes.
4. Add carrots and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for around 10 minutes.
5. Add other vegetables, sultanas, honey and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes until vegetables are cooked to your taste.
7. Add harissa.

Serve
with couscous, lime wedges. Would look good on a large plate on top of couscous, but I prefer to leave the ratio of couscous to Marak to the diner.
(For a more substantial meal, you can always add chick peas.)
Enjoy.

Pumpkin

I was given three pumpkins yesterday, and I already had an uneaten quarter in the fridge. Is it pumpkin season perhaps? Autumn?

What to do with pumpkins?
Pumpkin soup of course and Cousin Rosa's Braised Pumpkin. There are also many variations on pumpkin pie (check out Kurma's no egg pumpkin pie), pumpkin bread, pumpkin gnocchi, Indian dishes with pumpkin, a northern Italian pumpkin and chocolate cake (Torta), a Greek pumpkin and carrot pie with Kefalgraviera (recipe needs improvement) and many more..

What do look for in a pumpkin?
I always go for a rich yellow-orange pumpkin that's ripe, preferably a Queensland blue (that's me) or a Kent (Mark's favourite). I would prefer a quarter of a large ripe pumpkin than a small pumpkin. Not a big fan of the Japanese pumpkin, but this is all a matter of taste. I am sometimes tempted by a butternut. There are other varieties available in Australia such as: dumpling, jarrahdale and golden nugget. This is a good website to go to for more information:
http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/455/pumpkin. There seems to be many more varieties in the US, check out this site: http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com

I lived in a Paris for almost a year in my mid 20's, and began craving pumpkin after 6 months. I located one in a shop and promptly bought it, cooked it up according to Cousin Rosa's recipe, only to be bitterly disappointed at the flavour - there was none. I like this story, because with all the wonderful food in Paris, I could still not buy a decent pumpkin.

Tonight I made pumpkin soup, and it was delicious. This recipe (previously below, now moved to May 2010) may seem a long winded approach, and by all means, throw everything in together and boil away for a half hour if you're not in the mood. But for something special, this approach is well worth the effort.