Pumpkin for the Holidays! Let's cook!

Ah... pumpkin pie!  One of my family's favorites anytime.  Not just fall.  So, how do you get fresh pumpkin for recipes?  Easy! 

First off, you need the right equipment.  A cookie sheet, a sharp pointy knife, and foil.  The best pumpkin for this is a "pie pumpkin," which can be a Baby Bear, or other smaller eating pumpkin.  The big ones can be used, but the flavor is less superior to the ones grown for pies and deserts.  Pick the one that is heaviest, and also the darkest orange.  When testing the weight, choose more than one of the same approximate size.  You can feel the heft of each one to see which may have the most moist and thick flesh.  The darker the color normally means you will have the best of nutrition selecting it. 

Wrap the cookie sheet in foil with the shiny side toward the outside where it can be against the pumpkins.  Add a teaspoon of cooking oil to the spot you plan to place your pumpkin on the foil wrapped cookie sheet.  Snap the stem off of the top and put steam holes near where the stem had been.   

To do this, hold the pumpkin at the top, opposite where you plan to make the slit.  Be sure the knife's sharpest edge is away from your pumpkin holding hand, and away from your body.  Turn the pumpkin and make 4 or 5 more around the top near the stem edge.  This will allow your pumpkin to "vent," or release steam.   

Place the pumpkin into the oven at 300 degrees. It will cook slowly, but evenly. Check it in an hour to hour and a half to see if it's done. When you can poke your thumb in and it leaves a dent, it's done. If not, check back in 30 minutes. Repeat this process until it's done.

So, as you can see, there is a dent shown in the left pumpkin.  It's done!  Allow it to cool on a counter or stove top for an hour or more.  You want to be able to store it in the refrigerator until you have time to work with it, or be able to handle it easily without risk of burns. 

 

When the pumpkin is cool, cut the top off in order to get to the lovely seeds inside.  Scoop them out using a soup spoon, or other similar sized spoon.

  Once the seeds are out, you can start pealing the outer skin from the pumpkin as shown.

When you've accomplished that, it's ready to cut into cubes to mash with a fork, throw in a blender, or a bowl using a hand held mixer.  I sometimes use the blender or food processor so I can just add the other ingredients for the pie, or to make bread.  It's your choice in how you accomplish this step.

Be aware that if you use the blender, as shown here, you will need to stop the blades, then stir or push the pumpkin down a bit before adding more.  A little at a time works best with this method.  If you are going to use the blender to make your desert right away, add some the the liquid that is called for in the recipe.

So there you have it!  It can be frozen for several months in the freezer (putting it in zip-locks in the correct amount for a recipe is great).  If you are storing for use in the refrigerator, it should keep nicely for about a week. 

Next up:  Pie! 

First RV trip of the summer!

So, it's been hot, dry, or balmy this June......   except!!!  When we were on our first outing for the year, it rained, the wind howled, and there was very little break in the clouds.  A great time to do laundry!  However we stuck it out and played games or read.  Good thing we both had great books to read!

We Have a fairly nice set-up with the Bigfoot, so on days when it's nasty, we either stay in and enjoy, or go out and enjoy!  Fun is how and where you make it.

Here the boys (hubby and Zack) are relaxing at Tiger Run in Breckenridge, Colorado, at our camp.  We had great weather here even though it was warmer than normal that year.

Some of my best pictures have been taken when it's been raining.  Here in Colorado there are plenty of photo opportunities, and I take advantage every chance I get.  Click to enlarge the pictures if you would like to see them in greater detail.

Photography is something I love! 

Flowers are one of my favorite subjects, but I had an extra fun time with this next picture!

Marmots are very common in the mountains of Colorado, but are sometimes hard to spot amongst the rocks they blend in with.  They make a high pitched bark-like sound.  Click on the picture, then on the marmot, to get a close-up of this little guy.

So no matter if it rains or shines, there is always something to do. 

 RV'ing is very enjoyable for us, and I always have something on hand in case it rains come dinner time. 

 Cooking inside is more of a challenge than grilling, due to limited counter space, but I have always loved a challenge.  Guess that's what made being an Occupational Therapist fun.  The little Weber "Q" is a great thing for those who love to camp.  It's easy to put up, large enough to cook for the whole family, and just needs you to time the meal prep and cooking so everything is warm when it gets to the table. 

Hopefully there will be a few posts this summer about cooking in, and outside, through the summer.  So stay tuned, and enjoy the summer camping season.

Friends from Scotland

What a fun three weeks with my friends from Scotland!  Kenny and Ruth are both Physical Therapists, and I used to work with Ruth when they lived here in the States.  This was my first time to see their children, so it was even more fun to see them again.  Kenny is a "Physio," as they call it in Britain, for the Falkirk soccer team and has his own private practice. 

Ruth and Abbie (is 5 yrs. old this August) stayed while Kenny went back to Scotland with Alasdair (6 yrs. old as of Jan.) early in the first week of June, as he had patients scheduled the next day.  The first two pictures are at Chuck E Cheese's, which was a ton of fun, as my kids (in their 20's) played with the little ones.  There was a lot of catching up on all the things I missed in Ruth and Kenny's lives.  The last picture (click it to see the whole view) is one of Ruth, Abbie, myself, and our mutual friend Sheila who hails from England.  We threw pennies in the fountain after tea at the Cliff House in Manitou Springs, CO.  Hopefully they will be back to the good ole USA again in a couple of years!

Salmon in phyllo with sheep feta and duxelle!

What a wonderful pairing! 

Sheep's feta was something I had not counted on finding.  Most feta cheeses are made from "skim milk" which is cow!  Not the traditional goat milk that made it famous in Greece.  However, after browsing for 10 minutes or so, reading the ingredients of many packages, this one popped up as a possible contender in the dish I was going to make for my husbands birthday dinner.  What a nice surprise!

The duxelle was made following the video from The Cliff House site "The Savage Kitchen".   My son works there as a chef, and I get lots of feedback from him with the dishes I make.  A plus for me!  I followed the video version vs. the recipe that was presented.  I used 3 pounds of Cremini and button mushrooms, 12 cloves of garlic (instead of the 10 on the video) one stick of unsalted butter, and one medium large sweet Texas 1015 onion, to make the duxelle.  This was placed in a large skillet on medium heat to simmer, reduce, and integrate flavors.  It takes some time, so allow at least one hour to prepare and cook the duxelle.

Once the duxelle is finished it's long cooking process, you can start putting the dish together on the phyllo dough.  Starting with the thin slices of feta cheese, place the deboned salmon (skin removed) on top of a couple of layers of the cheese.  You can add as much of the cheese as you like, and I like a lot!  There is probably three thin layers or more of the cheese here. 

Next I add a thick layer of the mushroom duxelle on the top of the salmon.  Make sure you use a good wild salmon for health reasons.  There is a ton of Omega 3's in the wild caught, which is so good for you!  Pat the duxelle into a nice layer matching the size of the salmon.  Once this is accomplished, sprinkle some good salt, such as Flur de Sel, fresh ground Himalayan, or other good gourmet salt over the top of these ingredients.  On mine, is also some white truffle oil.  Drizzling is easy if you use one or two fingers to cover the opening of the tin or bottle so only the desired amount comes out.  You don't want to waste this lovely oil.

 The tin to the left is my favorite brand of truffle oil, and many of my other types of oils, such as grape-seed, sunflower, and hazelnut oil, to name a few.  The packet of salmon, cheese, and duxelle, are wrapped in the 4 layers of phyllo dough, the ends turned under, and the top lightly caressed with the truffle oil.  This went into a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Next time I will try 400 for 20 minutes.  The inside was perfect, but the outside was not as brown as I would have liked it to be. 

What a great dinner!  A few wild flowers from the yard, some asparagus lightly steamed, and a vine ripe tomato, make the colors of a pleasing meal.

Wine:  We had a nice French Brut with this meal because it was a special occasion.  It went very well with the packet of salmon, and the asparagus was not the main taste with it.  I tended to take a bite of the salmon, then a sip of the brute.  It worked pretty well.  Click on the picture of the brute, then on the label to get a larger view of the lettering.

Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Kahlua Shrimp!

In January of this year we went to Mazatlan.  It was a great place to eat!

One of the dishes, as you see above, was this Kahlua shrimp that I said I would attempt to make and show you what I did.  Well, here it is.  As close as I could come.

Buy large prawns, about 4 or 5 inches long if you can find them, and 2-3 per person (depending on the size).  If not, make do with the largest you can find.  I purchased some that were fresh and about 6 inches or more long (got lucky!).  Being on the wrong side of town where the butcher is, I made do with prosciutto instead of extra thin bacon.  Also you will need a bottle of Kahlua, and some Spanish or Mexican semi hard cheese. 

Peel the shell from the shrimp, but leave the tail.
Butterfly the shrimp to within a 1/4 inch of the tail (as shown below) and remove black veins.

Place grated cheese in the middle "well" created by butterflying the shrimp.  I used what I had, Spanish Manchego cheese.  Fold the prosciutto over the shrimp and cheese, using one or more pieces as needed to cover all but the tail.  If you use bacon, make sure you fry it until it's just about to get crisp.  You need it to still be pliable.

Place each wrapped shrimp in a lightly oiled baking dish, and insure you have the meat in a single layer.  You will not need to salt these as there is plenty in the salt cured pork.  Pour enough Kahlua over the top so that you have almost covered the shrimp.

Place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees.  Because this is shrimp, you do not want to overcook them.  So pay attention!  10, maybe 15 minutes at the most!  They will be dry, and not as flavorful if you cook them too long.  They will continue to cook after removing them from the oven.  Serve with a slotted spoon and pour just a tiny bit of the Kahlua juice over the top.  I served mine with roasted bell pepper and sweet onion polenta, and baked baby Vidalia onions.

Enjoy!

A great new site to see a real chef!

The Savage Kitchen is a very fun, and educational new site for learning to cook great food.  Check it out!
http://www.thecliffhouse.com/_blog/Savage_Kitchen/post/Cliff_House_Colorado_Rack_of_Lamb/

With lamb, especially a good lamb dish, you want a wine that will complement the flavors.  Click on a label to get a better look at each if you like.  Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Chateauneuf du Pape, or a good Syrah, should go well with most lamb dishes. 
 
Hope you enjoy the link above for a light hearted way of approaching food prep and cooking.  Cooking and eating should be enjoyable, and the more you expose yourself to these kinds of learning tools and new foods, the more educated you and your palate become. 
 
So until the next blog, happy cooking and eating!

Grilled Asparagus.... yum!

Grilled asparagus is so easy to make.  Yummy to eat!

This is another one of those easy to prepare dishes that scream "gourmet!"  If your company or family like asparagus, they will love this.  It's also very healthy because you are not losing nutrients in water.  The good stuff is sealed in!  Plus, I eyeball the stuff going into the marinade instead of measuring.  But that comes with practice, and you will be able to do the same.

So, let's make it. 

Wash a handful of asparagus at a time, getting off any loose pieces at the head or areas that have become a bit mushy, and let them drain on a paper towel.  I leave the bands on but moved them to the bottom of the stalks so the bunch can stand up to drain.  While they drain, get out a gallon sized zip bag and place the following ingredients in.  Zip bags are an essential in my kitchen. They make life so much easier.

~1/2 cup good olive oil

~1/4 cup snipped parsley leaves and smaller stems (can be chopped also)

~1 Tbsp  minced garlic (I like the big jar of Gilroy grown garlic that is pre-minced)

~1/2 tsp  salt and pepper (I use only fresh ground and the blend is my fav)

These ingredients are based on two bunches, though it should accommodate more if you add a little bit more oil.  There are three bunches of medium sized asparagus in the picture above.  Small stalks can work, but they can so easily fall through the grill bars.  Large stalks can be use quite easily if you can get them.

This can all be done 2-3 days in advance if you like, however I prefer marinade mine only a few hours before dinner.  Squish all the ingredients together in the bag after it has been tightly sealed, then add the relatively dry asparagus after the bottoms have been snapped off, or you can cut 2-3 inches off.  The ends are just too fibrous to enjoy as much.  Zip the top closed again, getting most of the air out, and work the ingredients around so all sides of each stalk of asparagus is in the marinade.  Let it sit on the counter if you are making it the day of use, otherwise place it in the refrigerator and turn it every 6 hours during the time you are awake.  If you forget, no worry, just get it out the day of use and turn the bag over as often as it's convenient. 

Lay the asparagus across the grill bars as shown, trying to make only one layer.  The heat should be turned to medium-low for this.  Turn every 3 or 4 minutes with flat tongs or a spatula, and only 15 minutes or so is needed on the grill to be cooked to perfection.

And that's it!  They are ready to eat.  If they come off of the grill before dinner is done, just put them in the oven on the lowest setting possible to keep warm.  I will marinade this a day or so ahead of taking it on a camping trip which makes it so easy to have a gourmet meal on the road!  The potatoes can also be done in this fashion.

You ask what kind of wine goes with asparagus, well, not many when it's steamed, but I think a good Zin or Malbec do just fine.  But this is not the core of the meal, so look for a wine that goes with the other items on your menu for the night.