Archive for October, 2009

Graiiiiiins….

[Mushroom zombies, banana pirate, and peach bun creatures by Kaela.]

I love the crunch of lightly salted pumpkin seeds, still warm from the oven.  This is just a teaser for the pie to come and is incredibly easy and quick.

We found a nice little sugar pie pumpkin at the market that we sliced in half and baked at about 350°. I dusted these with some kosher salt; I also like adding a shake of cayenne or chili powder. I suspect there’s some phenomenal spice mixture to be created (maybe a dab of brown sugar, ginger, and cinnamon with a pinch of salt?) that would give you pumpkin pie-flavored seeds. We still have a couple of weeks until Halloween; I’ll have to experiment.

I started baking these together on the same pan; this saved washing an extra pan but was a little fiddly to get the seeds off when they were toasted and lightly brown, about 10-15 minutes later. The pumpkin still needed another half-hour until it was fork-tender.

The seeds store well in Tupperware-type containers or plastic bags once they’ve cooled. I’ll cube and freeze the pumpkin until I’m ready to make the pie. Stay tuned!

I have been very lucky in the draw for coworkers. Linda sends me home with cayennes and green beans, and Kathy and her husband go out to a tomato grower each year and bring back lots of tomatoes for anyone who asks. This is the lovely box we got this year and was very welcome especially in this year of tomato blight (I got four, count ‘em, four from eight tomato plants).

I was a little intimidated by the entire crate, especially while recovering from flu, but what’s better for recovery than something fresh, hot and spicy?

Start with eight large tomatoes, and a couple fresh jalapenos, depending on how much heat you like.  I’ll also use a couple rounded teaspoons of kosher salt; add half while cooking and adjust as it cooks down.

I’ve made this recipe before by boiling the tomatoes to remove the tomato skins (throw the jalapenos in while they’re boiling), but I thought it might add a nice note to roast them. So I put them under the broiler for a bit until the skins blackened a bit and split, let them cool, and peeled and cored them.

Remove the stem from the jalapeno, slice lengthwise and remove the seeds (a few left are fine). Put tomatoes and peppers in the blender and blend till smooth, or to your preference. I like these pureed to a smooth red sauce.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, adding half the salt. Turn the heat lower once it’s reached a boil, and let it simmer until it thickens a bit. These tomatoes were quite juicy so I wound up simmering it for much of an hour on low. Check the salt and add more if it needs it.

I might use a bit of this over burritos later in the week, if there’s any left.