27 October 07Squash and Pumpkins

Winter Squash, Leek, and Saffron Risotto

From From Asparagus to Zucchini ~ A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce

• 5-6 cups chicken stock
  
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, pulverized
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 - 1 cup finely chopped leeks (white and pale green sections only)
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 2-3 cups cooked, pureed winter squash
• 3/4 - 1 cup grated Parmesan, romano, or asiago cheese
• salt and pepper
  

Bring stock and saffron to a simmer in saucepan. Heat olive oil in large, heavy saucepan. Add leeks; cook over medium-low heat until softened, several minutes. Raise heat to medium-high and stir in rice. Keep stirring rice 1-2 minutes, then add wine. Stir and cook until nearly all the wine has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add two ladlefuls hot stock (enough to barely cover the rice); stir frequently until most is absorbed. Continue to add stock a ladleful at a time and stir very frequently until nearly absorbed. Risotto is done when rice is barely tender and mixture is creamy; this should take 25-35 minutes. (Adjust heat if rice is absorbing liquid too quickly.) Stir in squash during last 10 minutes. Fold in most of the grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, with a little more cheese on top of each serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

Pie pumpkin

Is it a pie, or is it a cheesecake? Well, it's a little of both, and consequently it's exponentially delicious. You can see the commercial now: at the left, a man with pumpkin pie in hand; at the right, a woman with cheesecake in hand. They are walking toward each other, their eyes on their own desserts, lips smacking, and WOOPS! They collide and the pie falls on the cheesecake. Light bulbs appear above their heads and they dig in, smiling, happy, and then they fall in love. You will fall in love with this Pumpkin Cheesepie.

Pumpkin Cheesepie

From Farmer John's Cookbook ~ The Real Dirt on Vegetables

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs (about 45 wafers or 22 crackers)
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted, divided
• 3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
• 3 eggs
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup sour cream
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare fresh pumpkin: cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half in half and lightly brush with oil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until very tender when pierced with a butter knife. Scoop and scrape the flesh from the skin, and mash it as you would when making mashed potatoes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Combine the crumbs, 5 Tablespoons of the butter, and 1 Tablespoon sugar in a small mixing bowl. Mix well.

Grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with the remaining 1 Tablespoon butter. Press the buttered crumbs into the bottom of the pan to form a crust. Press on the crumb mixture with the bottom of a glass to form a solid, tightly packed crust.
Bake the crust until lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.

Reserve 2 Tablespoons of the sugar. Beat the eggs with the remaining sugar. Stir in the pumpkin puree, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Pour the mixture into the crust; bake until the top is browned and the center is still a little jiggly, about 40 minutes.

Remove from oven; let stand on a rack for 5 minutes.

Combine the sour cream, the reserved 2 Tablespoons sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Spoon the mixture on top of the pie. Bake until browned and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Let cool; then chill before serving.

About Dried Beans

Taken from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker

Remember: 2 cups dry Jacob's Cattle Bean equals 4-5 cups cooked.

Always wash your beans before soaking. Soak in 3-4 times as much water as beans. Remove any that float or that may be moldy. They are usually soaked overnight. Bring them to a slow boil in the water in which they were soaked. Reduce the heat and simmer. All beans should be cooked until tender. (In this case, cannellini beans take about 2.5- 3 hours.) One test, provided you discard the beans you have tested, is to blow on a few of them in a spoon. If the skins burst, they are sufficiently cooked.

After soaking overnight, you can speed up the cooking process by pressure cooking for 18 minutes instead of the slower stovetop way.

If you have forgotten to soak, a quick method to tenderize for cooking is to cover beans with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. After removing them from heat let them stand, tightly covered, 1 hour. Alternatively, blanching for 2 minutes is almost equivalent to 8 hours of soaking.