Pumpkin: Roasted, Pureed, Baked

I dream about cooking and baking with real pumpkin. For the past few weeks I've flagged a bunch of pumpkin recipes - but I wanted to try using an actual pumpkin, rather than canned pumpkin. When I was driving back from Santa Monica/SLO two weekends ago, I stopped at Walmart to stock up on food for the day (I was also looking for suspenders - FYI nobody sells FFFing suspenders!)

Sidetracked.

Right, so the week before I went to London to study abroad I watched Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True:

And I really liked Cinderella's haircut, so I asked my hairdresser to do my hair just like hers...

Cinderella reminds me of pumpkins.

"Impossible, for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage!" 

Sidetracked again.

So there I was standing in Walmart, the carton of pumpkins calling my name... "Cinderella!" (too cheesy?)

It was stashed in my pantry for a week. I could have kept it in there for a month as long as it wasn't bruised (pumpkins grow mold faster when bruised FYI). On Monday I decided to finally transform the fruit (yes, pumpkins fall in the fruit category) into something delicious. Indecision got the better of me, as it usually does, so I decided to try two methods.

Here she is. Preheat your oven to 450.

Rinse!

Cut off the stem. It's the only part you won't be eating.

Cut pumpkin in half crosswise.

Scrape out those seeds!

Try to remove all the stringy bits too.

Pull out your peeler.

Peel the skin off of the side(s) of the pumpkin you want to roast.

One half is naked!

Throw away the scraps.

Start slicing the pumpkin. Looks like cantaloupe?

Cut into 2-inch chunks.

I roasted half the pumpkin with olive oil, cut up shallots, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of cayenne.

Before: toss the olive oil, shallots, and herbs directly on the baking sheet (I covered mine in tinfoil)

Roast until the pumpkin is tender, a little over 30 minutes.

My roasted pumpkin went into a bowl with potstickers and veggies, covered in a random satay I whipped up in my food processor. 

MMM tender!

There were enough pumpkin chunks for 4 meals!

What about the other half? Well, I reduced the oven to 350, lined the baking sheet with parchment paper, scraped out the seeds and placed the pumpkin half, flesh side down, on the baking sheet.

I covered the top of the pumpkin with tinfoil and baked it in the oven for an hour. 

You'll know it's done when you can easily pierce it with a knife.

Let it cool and then simply scoop the flesh from the skin. Very easy! 

You can put it immediately into the food processor, but I decided to put mine in a sifter, over a glass bowl, in the fridge, overnight. This helped drain some of the excess water from the flesh.

In the morning I scooped the pumpkin flesh into the food processer and processed until nice and smooth.

1/2 a cup went into the container (back) and into my fridge for later. Refrigerated pumpkin puree will last a couple of days. 1/2 a cup went into the freezer bag (front) and into my freezer. Frozen pumpkin puree will last about 4 or 5 months in the freezer and not lose any of its va-voom. Cool, huh? All you have to do is take out the little bag and let it thaw for about 20 minutes and you're good to bake!

So what did I end up using the pumpkin puree in?

Clue: apples

Clue: batter (?)

Still guessing?

Waffles!

I chose to go with the Ultimate Pumpkin Waffle recipe from The Ultimate Pumpkin Waffle. Yes, it is a blog all about the quest to perfect pumpkin waffles. I halved the recipe and made a few alterations.

I ended up using:

- 1/8 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1/2 & 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1/8 tsp. cloves
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup soy milk, with a little of that half cup actually being chai concentrate mix and hazelnut coffee creamer < < I'm weird
- 1/2 cup FRESH PUREED PUMPKIN!!
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm
- An apple, finely chopped and divided (1/2 went into the batter, 1/2 went into my syrup)

I followed all of his crazy instructions too. Whipping the egg whites at the end, folding them into the batter REALLY gently.

Gorgeous!

The pumpkin waffle master advises to let the waffles cool on a wire rack to let the pumpkin flavor really sink in. He recommends putting them back on the griddle for a little bit to warm up before digging in.

Look! Syrup-y waffles.... mmm!

These were really really really really good.

What about the seeds?

I cleaned the seeds, placed them back on the same parchment paper, and popped them into the oven for about an hour at 250 degrees. When they came out of the oven, I put a tablespoon of canola oil in a skillet and heated it up with a tablespoon (or more?) of sugar. I quickly added the pumpkin seeds and swish swashed them around for about a minute. When they looked caramelized, I transferred them to a bowl and tossed them with cinnamon, sugar, cardamom, more sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and sugar.

All in all I say my first pumpkin experience was a success! Do any of you have recommended pumpkin recipes? I want to bake the most legit pumpkin pie ever for Thanksgiving - pie dough from scratch, bake and puree a pumpkin, do a fancy crust design, the works. 

Red Velvet Pancakes for dinner

It started out with this:

That's all I needed to change my dinner plans from stir-fry to RED VELVET PANCAKES! Over Easter weekend I bought a new bottle of white vinegar and a tin of baking cocoa. I've been anxiously awaiting my next red velvet cupcake adventure. Looks like pancakes take the cupcake tonight!

Are you alone? Baking for one? "Just you, miss?" YES! Well then you are in luck because I translated my recipe to be for one person! These turned out great and have all the makings of a traditional red velvet recipe: cocoa powder, red food coloring, baking soda, and vinegar! Lots of other typical ingredients are involved, but the four I just listed are the primo parts.

{FYI: Little "t" = teaspoon. Big "T" = tablespoon.}

Whipped Dream Cream (for one): 

- 2 1/3 t. Sugar (or 4 Sweet 'N Low packets)

- 1/6 t. Vanilla Extract (measure just short of a 1/4 t.)

- A pinch of salt

- 2 2/3 T. Heavy Whipping Cream

- 1 T Cream Cheese

- 1 T Clotted Cream or Double Devon Cream

Add ingredients to a medium-small bowl. Use a sturdy metal whisk. If you are making this for more people (you probably don't cook for just one like me... sad), use an electric mixer on medium-high or a stand mixer on medium to whip the cream cheese and clotted cream until smooth. Then reduce the mixer's speed and add the sugar, salt, vanilla. Continue beating and, on a low speed, add the heavy whipping cream. You might want to add the cream in 1/4 cup at a time. Increase the speed a bit and whip until soft peaks form. 

IMPORTANT: stick your finger on the side of the bowl for a taste test. I was just messing around with this recipe, and the first words out of mouth were: "holy jesus, oh my god." I'm not kidding.

FULL ORDER of Whipped Dream Cream:
- 1/4 c. Cream Cheese
- 3 T. Clotted Cream or Double Devon Cream
- 1/3 c. Sugar
- 1 t .Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 t. Salt
- 1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

Everything you'll need!

Red Velvet Pancakes (for one):
- 5 T. Flour
- 3 T. Sugar
- 1/4 t. Salt
- 1/4 t. Baking Powder
- 1/4 Egg (or 1 egg white)
- 1 T. Canola Oil
- 4 T. Buttermilk
- 1/2 ounce Red Food Coloring
- 1/2 t. Baking Cocoa (use Dutch processed unsweetened if you can find some!)
- 1/8 t. Vanilla
- 1/8 t. Baking Soda
- 1/8 t. White Vinegar

I got to bust out my food coloring gels!

FULL ORDER of Red Velvet Pancakes:

- 1 1/4 c. Flour
- 3/4 c. Sugar
- 1 t. Salt
- 1 t. Baking Powder

- 1 Egg (or 1 egg white)

- 4 T. Canola Oil
- 1 c. Buttermilk

- 1 ounce Red Food Coloring
- 1 t. Baking Cocoa (use Dutch processed unsweetened if you can find some!)
- 1/2 t. Vanilla
- 1/2 t. Baking Soda
- 1/2 t. White Vinegar

Here's how to make the pancakes (right ways and wrong turns):

1. Stir flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.

2. Mix in the egg, oil, and buttermilk. Continue whisking the mix until it gets nice and smooth.

3. Add the red food coloring and cocoa (FUN PART).

4. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and vinegar (in that order). If you don't, your kitchen might turn into a mini science lab. Beat and beat and beat until it is all well incorporated. Shouldn't take you that long.

I'm so happy that I was able to use my Red Velvet Cupcake ingredients!

5. Heat up your pancake griddle (my mom has one - I love it) or large skillet (I have this - not as reliable for pancakes). Use non-stick cooking spray or more canola oil to heat up and grease up your loins pan.

6. When the oil is hot enough, drop a large spoonful of batter into the hot oil (2 T. will give you a nice portion size per pancake - and you'll be able to flip them easily).

7. Once the batter bubbles, take a deep breath, pretend you are Bobby Flay or Paula Deen or Rachael Ray or Alton Brown and flip your pancake like a pro!

7 (b): My first flip revealed a few things to me: my heat was on too high and I left the pancake on the first side for way too long! From then on I started experimenting with size and thickness. The ones that I made wider and thinner were easier to control (instead of burning black!)






8. Serve these red fluffy bumpkins hot with whipped dream cream. I also used a bit of low-sugar syrup.

These turned out delicious! I am definitely a pancake fan. Tico's in Marina makes a great berry pancake. I've been there on two occasions now. (Read about Trip: One, Two). Next time I go out to breakfast in Monterey County I'd like to try one of the restaurants that made Monterey County Weekly's Best Of 2010 list.

They awarded Best Breakfast to First Awakenings (125 Oceanview Blvd, Pacific Grove). According to their website they have NINE gourmet pancakes to choose from "Always made from scratch, never a mix! Singles available." My wandering eyes also spotted Crepeggs "A thin, sweet crepe combined with fluffy whipped egg. Served with homestyle potatoes and an English muffin." (Yelp). Oh my! Can't wait to try that spot out and cross it off the Best Of list!