You have to really love all-things-pumpkin if you want to battle a fresh pumpkin in the kitchen.
That's right--battle. While this unassuming fruit may leave your mind with nostalgic memories of grandma baking pumpkin pie in the kitchen for Thanksgiving, make no mistake--pumpkins are not to be trifled with. (and grandma was one tough lady)
So how do you tame this wild beast fruit?
The first challenge is cutting the pumpkin in half. If you can't do that, then you have no hope of making homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread or homemade dried apricot and pumpkin jam (a-hem, my Sunday afternoon "project").
Basically, you have to turn the pumpkin on its side and grab a small knife (don't bother using a chef's knife...too large for this job). Next, channel your inner Norman Bates--it is Halloween after all--and start stabbing the pumpkin. I initally cut the pumpkin in half with a chef's knife in a sawing motion---and, 15 sweaty minutes later I made little progress. You might want to saw here and there, but the small puncture "wounds" around the circumference of the pumpkin seemed to loosen it up for me the most successfully.
A portrait of evil...BOO!
Are you ready to give up yet? Just hold on--cutting the pumpkin in half is the hardest part. Once you cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the "guts," place the pumpkin in a roasting pan filled halfway with water in oven at 450 degrees F. Roast for about 45 minutes. The heat will loosen up the pumpkin's skin so that you can easily scoop out the flesh. For excellent, step-by-step instructions that offer more details on how to do this, click here.
I'm not sure if the recipe I used called for the pumpkin roasting, but I don't know how else I would have ever gotten the pumpkin "loose" enough to cut into cubes.
Now for the fun part, and today's Sunday project, dried apricot and pumpkin jam. You can't go wrong with recipes from Ginnette Mathoit--and this recipe was no exception. You can modify the amount of pumpkin and apricot used in the recipe--which is what I did. Regardless if you choose to use the proportions that Mathoit uses in the recipe or something of your own, you have to first slice the dried apricots and soak them in a generous amount of water overnight. The next day you'll drain the apricots and save the water for the jam.
Start the jam recipe by first adding the water reserved from the apricots to a heavy sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Add the pumpkin and let simmer for around 30 minutes (less time if you're using a smaller proportion of pumpkin). Next, add sugar to the pumpkin mixture. (I also added a dash of pumpkin spice. And remember--use equal parts sugar and pumpkin if you modify the proportions of the recipe.) Let simmer for 30 minutes. Last, add the apricots to the pumpkin mixture and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
After all of that work you'll get an apricot and pumpkin jam with a golden hue. Trust me, it's well worth the trouble.
Dried Apricot and Pumpkin Jam
Recipe by Ginnette Mathiot in I Know How to Cook, p. 853
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the day before. Wash the apricots and cut into strips. Soak in 8 1/2 cups water for 24 hours. Drain, reserving the water. Place the reserved soaking water in a large pan and bring to a boil. Boil the pumpkin in the soaking water for 30 minutes. Strain to make a smooth paste, then return to the pan with the sugar and cook the pumpkin puree over low heat, stirring, for 30 minutes. Add the soaked apricots and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars.
Not so long ago, I tried and failed to make a French apple tart. Everything went wrong....the apples weren't sliced very well, the crust wouldn't stick together, and the tart literally fell apart once I turned it over onto my serving plate. And, yes, I did read the directions--it just wasn't meant to be. I gave up.
Until?
I discovered a marvelous cooking show hosted by Laura Calder called "French Food at Home." Ironically enough, she had an episode entitled, "Confidence Builders"--and her confidence building menu included an apple tart for dessert.
"Easy apple tart, Laura? I doubt it." I said to the TV. (Don't you talk to your TV...and to imaginary apple tarts?)
She made the tart recipe look so simple. I decided to put my tart anxieties aside and try it out.
And?
She was right. The apple tart was easy to prepare.
Here's how.
First, select fresh apples. I prefer the sharp flavor of Granny Smith apples, so that's what I chose to use.
The apples should be peeled, cored, and sliced. If you're like me and own lots of dull knives for some reason, you might want to invest in an apple peeler/corer machine. It's quite possibly the best invention of ALL TIME.
This best invention of ALL TIME will give you apple slices that will inevitably make you look far more talented than you might actually be (and by "you," I, of course, mean ME):
Here's the best part: the crust is one of the simplest crust recipes I've ever come across. All you do is take 1/2 cup of butter, creamed, 1 cup flour (I used gluten free flour), vanilla extract, and mix it together. Instead of letting the dough rest in the refrigerator, you will place it in the tart pan. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes until golden at 400 degrees F.
Meanwhile, take cream cheese, softened, an egg, vanilla extract, sugar and mix it together. Put the mixture in the crust. Top with apples that have been pre-coated with cinnamon and almonds. Bake for 40 minutes.
The results?
A beautiful apple tart and a little more confidence in the kitchen.
Take THAT, tart.
Easy Pastry Shop Apple Tart
Recipe by Laura Calder
For the crust
For the cream filling
For the top
Directions
Is it weird to daydream about tomatoes and French food markets?
Maybe.
But how can I not when I got to see tomatoes that looked like this when the Mr. and I were in Lyon.
Or what about these heirloom tomatoes...
Who wouldn't have daydreams about such perfect tomatoes?
Oh, what, that guy? He prefers the onions. I don't speak French, but I'd like to think that's what he said to me here.
On second thought, he's probably more of a zucchini blossom kind of fellow.
If tomatoes aren't for you, how about some flowers?
Spices?
A truck?
Eggplant?
I think I'll take it all...along with more daydreaming.
"Cash or credit, ma'am." said the grocery store cashier.
"Credit." I said.
"Excuse me, ma'am." asked the man in line next to me.
"Yes."
"Where did you get that hat?"
I was wearing my husband's MBA baseball-style hat. Apparently it's great at attracting the attention of strange men who insist on talking to me in the grocery store line.
"Uh, my husband." I replied.
But I was thinking...damn. Why did I just get ma'am-ed TWICE in the last two minutes? Have these ma-am-a-holics stolen my ID and know that I'm about to turn thirty?
That was two weeks ago. And the "ma'am-ing" has not seemed to decrease.
Would I prefer "miss"? No. Who wants to feel like a little girl? How about "sugar"? Nope. Not any better. But still better than getting "ma-am-ed" every five seconds. Don't you think?
What's a gal to do on her 30th birthday eve?
I turn the big 3-0 in a matter of hours, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I had envisioned feeling "grown-up" (whatever that truly means...) or really focused...or...something. Anything? Maybe this birthday isn't such a momentous occasion, after all.
Anyway, let's forget about my ma'am paranoia and my ambivalent birthday girl attitude.
Champagne, anyone?
Hmmm.
Apparently, I'm on a role these days. First the Tarte Tatin that almost was, and now it's the Yaourt (yogurt--nice translation work, huh?). What was the problem this time? Here's my hypothesis. It was all in the temperature. My "yaourt" never became creamy. It was more like a runny, goopy mess.
The bright side?
I made homemade apricot jam that was delightful.
P.S. I know that these are apricots...not jam. Husband has the camera at the moment. Work with me here, k?
P.S.S. Yes, the apricots look a little skanky. But once they were cooked in the sugar water mixture, you'd never notice the slight imperfections.
This is a post that I would love to come back to and update.
Here's a question for all of you out there in the blogosphere.
What's your favorite French wine?
FYI: That's my arm and shirt on the left-hand side of the picture.
FYI-I?: By the way...I made that while in Lyon. More later.
FYI-II??: And, I think the wine is E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone...not sure of the vintage.
Well, well, well. Look at who knows how to cook.
Let me tell you, the Un bon jeune homme ("a fine young man") recipe, just might be one of my favorite desserts to make. Ok, that's a pretty strong statement, but you get the picture. All the recipe entails is melting chopped chocolate (I use Scharffen Berger 70%) with milk...and lots of stirring...and then? A creamy, intense dark chocolate dessert. I served my "un bon jeune homme" with a sprig of mint, a sliced strawberry, and a shortcut creme anglaise sauce. Add a flute of champagne and strawberries, and oh laa laa, the perfect dessert.
Un bon jeune homme
Recipe from Ginette Mathiot in I Know How to Cook, p. 726
Ingredients
Directions
Bring the milk to a simmer in a pan. Mix the chocolate and sugar into the milk. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring frequently, to make a very thick paste. After about 30 minutes the chocolate will have the consistency of yogurt, and should be stirred constantly. Pour into a bowl, and allow to cool. Coat with the creme anglaise and serve very cold.
Shortcut Creme Anglaise
Idea from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa
I adore Ina Garten's show, The Barefoot Contessa. On one episode, she made a shortcut creme anglaise sauce to complement chocolate cake and strawberries. Simply buy a pint of high quality vanilla ice cream (I used Häagen-Dazs), let it sit at room temperature, and then add the melted ice cream to a dessert plate. Creme anglaise doesn't get any easier than that. Trust me.
