Local and Seasonal: Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good

Pumpkin fresh from the oven.

It's September 2010.  My friend Stacie calls me, and in a voice full of excitement, tells me, "NPR just did an interview with a chef who makes a recipe you have to try.  It's called Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good.  I know you'll love it!"  Stacie was correct, and that was the day I discovered and fell in love with Dorie Greenspan.  This recipe comes from Around My French Table, which I am very sorry to say I still don't own.  That day, though,  I went to google.com, and a quick search yielded up a version of this recipe on Epicurious.com, (which I encourage you to use if you have not already tried it, though I prefer allrecipes.com's ratings system). 

Flash forward to October 15, 2011, when I'm on my second go with this recipe since the pumpkin season hit.  While pumpkin growers in the Northeast had their crops devastated by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, I still managed to find two PA pumpkins at the Whole Foods in Mt. Washington, MD, and I shipped them back home with me.  I like the "bonne idée" section at the end of the recipe; both times I've used chard, the first time I subbed in 1.5 cups of brown rice, and this time I left out the thyme and added in about a tablespoon of ginger to complement the Star Anise and Ginger Chicken that I'm going to have as the main with my stuffed pumpkin tonight.

Try this recipe!  If enough people eat Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good, maybe stores will carry pie pumpkins after Halloween!

Phyllo Feta Torte: Entertaining Menu Option

Guests are very often my kitchen guinea pigs, since I normally use them to debut new recipes that have captured my fancy. Thankfully, my choices are seldom failures--it's a bit risky to mix a new recipe and company. I've been a cooking fiend in recent weeks but got too busy to post. This is a catch-up with some truly must-try dishes that I've made recently.

When my friend Missi was here, I pulled out all the stops for a dinner I hosted for her. Not only did I make the Phyllo Feta Torte mentioned in the title, but I had her teach me how to grill by making Beef Andouille Burgers, and I did Epicurious's Lemon Curd Tart for dessert, which I highly recommend.

The Phyllo Feta Torte is one of my NYT finds. Apparently it's traditional fare at Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations. It's also the single easiest way to use phyllo dough that I have encountered (spanakopita is the hardest, baklava relatively easy). In fact, the whole recipe is a cinch to make, yet everyone gasps at its beauty when you unmold it. While it doesn't hit my cooking-for-myself trifecta of easy, healthy, and yummy, it more than meets my cooking-for-guests trifecta of easy, gorgeous, and yummy. This dish may well be the winningest I have.

When I made it the first time, I was delighted with how it tasted plain, but then I bravely tried the honey--yes, honey with feta and dill!--and ZOMG it was transcendent! A light to heavy drizzle of local honey really should be a requirement for this impressive and easy dish, and everyone who likes flaky pastry and a complex array of flavors should give this baby a go. 

Friday's Tip: Egg-cellent Advice

A Tip  Today's post is all about the glorious, wonderful, incredible, edible egg.  I feel sorry for my egg-eschewing friends, since these little guys are really quite an amazing package:

• They are the perfect protein.  Really, there is nothing better nutritionally.
• They are the cheapest animal protein you can buy, even if you get organic eggs.  Let's say you buy a dozen eggs at $4.00, and you eat 2 at a time--that's a whopping $.67 per meal.  Thankfully, I can get local, pastured eggs cheaper than that.  Serious Eats recently confirmed my suspicion that eggs taste like eggs regardless of how footloose and fancy-free the chickens are, UNLESS they're pasturized (and then they suck).  
• At about 70 calories per large egg, they are an excellent low-calorie, low-fat, high-protein snack, particularly if you are cutting calories, hungry, and don't want to sabotage your weight-loss goals.  Protein is very filling!  I've been keeping boiled eggs in the fridge just for this purpose, and they really do the trick.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of these little powerhouses:

1. Fresh eggs are desirable for baking, particularly if you need to separate white from yolk.  Less fresh eggs taste the same, but the white deteriorates with age and is less separable.
2. Older eggs are preferable for boiling, since the peels will come off easier.  Boiling, in fact, is an excellent use of eggs on the verge of passing their Best By date.
3. Not sure if your eggs are fresh?  Fill a large pot or bowl with water, and put them in.  If they sink, they're good; if they float, very delicately but decisively throw them out (the reason they float is that they have begun oxidizing).
4. Don't pay more for egg-shell color, which is determined by chicken color and does not affect taste or quality; instead, pay more for eggs from humanely-kept chickens!
5. How to hard-boil eggs with energy efficiency in mind: Fill a pot with cold tap water.  Place eggs in.  Sprinkle liberally with the cheapest salt you own (egg shells can crack, and the salt fills the cracks to keep the insides from leaking out).  Cover (optional step, but it helps them boil faster so saves energy).  Bring to a full rolling boil.  Cover if you haven't already and turn off heat.  Let sit 12 minutes.  Uncover and add a tray's worth of ice cubes.  Let sit 10 minutes.  Remove from water and place in fridge.  N.B.  This process takes less than 30 minutes, but requires you to hang out in the kitchen.
6. Secret ingredient to boil fresh eggs to help with peeling: 1 teaspoon baking soda. (h/t Summer Tomato for this excellent video--I always buy farm-fresh eggs and was losing lots of white when peeling.  This trick seriously works!)
7. Secret trick to separate eggs: Do it when they're cold and the whites are at their firmest, and then bring to room temperature to bake.
8. Have extra egg whites?  Eat them within 2-3 days, or freeze them in ice cube trays and store till ready to use in freezer.
9. Have extra egg yolks?  You can freeze them, too, but you need to liberally sprinkle them with sugar OR salt so that they keep their consistency--if you plan to make a lemon curd or flan with them, for instance, choose sugar.  You have to have a plan in mind for them to know which to choose.
10. Finally, don't be afraid of the cholesterol or other bad press eggs have gotten.  They are a great food for everyone but truly a dieter's friend. 

Here are some recipes that I recommend, all of which are easy and yummy:
A lowfat Egg Salad.
A lowfat version of Eggs in Purgatory.
My current favorite dessert, Lemon Curd Tart with Olive Oil.
A great use for summer's cherry tomatoes, Cherry Tomato Frittata (I use only half the parmesan, and then add hot sauce).

Found Food: Roasted Squash Seeds

While I am perfectly happy to compost my food scraps and reuse them that way, the best foods are those that have further edible iterations.  The kuri squash that I used to make the Spiced Kuri Squash and Chicken Stew yielded some plump, beautiful seeds that begged to be roasted.  Since these will be higher calorie and a huge temptation, I'm taking them to a neighbor's tonight along with a bottle of Portguese wine.

Roasted Squash Seeds
Makes 2 cups

Seeds from a winter squash such as Kuri
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1)  Take seeds scooped from squash and rinse in colander to get rid of as much squash fiber and meat as possible.  Spread on baking tray and dry out.

2)  Preheat oven to 375 F.

3)  Place seeds in a mixing bowl.  Add oil and stir.  Add spices (improvising as necessary or desired) and stir.  Spread seeds evenly on baking sheet.

4) Place baking sheet full of seeds in oven and bake 20-30 minutes or until seeds begin to brown.  Adjust salt as desired.

French Tomato Tart: Vive la Tomate!

It seemed fitting yesterday to celebrate Labor Day by making David Lebovitz's fabu French Tomato Tart for my neighbor's potluck. Pinko commie cuisine never tasted so good, and tomatoes are at their best as summer cools into fall. Really best with home-grown or farm-fresh tomatoes, but if you must have an out-of-season fix, go for tomatoes that feel heavy for their size and ignore all other considerations such as color. That trick works for me all the time. And romas are typically the best tomatoes in winter.

This recipe is ideal picnic fare. The first time I made this, I served it to a friend hot from the oven, and we both swooned. Eight servings became 4. *blush* We took the remaining slices as picnic fare on a scenic day trip to Pittsburgh the next day (which included stops at the Flight 93 9/11 memorial site and her family's ancestral home in northwestern PA), which we ate upon arrival at our hotel in downtown Pittsburgh--and it was even better! The crust was even more tender, and the flavors had melded together. So, if you happen to have leftovers (!), be sure you have the time to savor each bite!

French Tomato Tart (adapted from David Lebovitz)
You can use a tart pan, removeable bottom or not, anywhere from 9-12 inches, though be sure you roll out the dough large enough to overalap the edges after you fit it in. I used a 10" ceramic tart pan for thicker dough and so I might make extra tartlets from any scraps (I got one, which meant my roommate got to try it even though she missed the potluck).

Be generous with the herbs (I have twice used oregano and thyme) and mustard. Consider slathering the mustard on the bottom of the unbaked crust as you would for a sandwich. The crust is a dream--it's considered a good beginner's recipe, and it really does go straight in the oven unbaked and topped with juicy tomatoes without becoming soggy (be sure the mustard layer dries out as specified to achieve this effect).

One possible tweak to this recipe that I want to try to move it west along the Mediterranean by subbing 8 oz of feta and using basil and oregano. Yum!

Tart Filling

One unbaked tart dough (see recipe, below)

Dijon or whole-grain mustard

2-3 large ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

two generous tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, chives, chervil, orgegano, or tarragon

8 ounces (250 g) fresh or slightly aged goat cheese, sliced into rounds

Optional: 1 1/2 tablespoons flavorful honey

Tart Dough

1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
4 1/2 ounces (125 g) (9 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons ice water

1. Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and use your hands, or a pastry blender, to break in the butter until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture. If you use your hands (which I prefer), make sure the butter cubes have chilled in the fridge and that you use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture as quickly as possible without letting it become pasty (which means it's too hot). Some people's hands are too hot to do this.

2. Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of the water. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the beaten egg mixture, stirring the mixture until the dough holds together. If it's not coming together easily, add the additional tablespoon of ice water. I worked the dough a little to get it to come together and sprinkled more water as necessary, both with a very light hand to keep the dough from becoming tough.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. I suggest that you get King Arthur's amazing silicone rolling mat if you plan to roll out tart or pie dough, naan, tortillas, or other things with any regularity--it provides an instant clean surface AND allows you to roll your dough to the right size with ease.

4. Once the dough is large enough so that it will cover the bottom of the pan and go up the sides, roll the dough around the rolling pin then unroll it over the tart pan. (You can also carefully fold the bottom half up over the top half and lift it into the pan, making sure the crease is in the middle.) "Dock" the bottom of the pastry firmly with your fingertips a few times, pressing in to make indentations.

5. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC).

6. Spread an even layer of mustard over the bottom of the tart dough and let it sit a few minutes to dry out.

7. Slice the tomatoes and arrange them over the mustard in a single, even layer. Drizzle the olive oil over the top.

8. Sprinkle with some chopped fresh herbs, then arrange the slices of goat cheese on top. Add some more fresh herbs, then drizzle with some honey, if using.

(If baking a free-form tart, gather the edges when you're done, to envelope the filling.)

9. Bake the tart for 30 minutes or so, until the dough is cooked, the tomatoes are tender, and the cheese on top is nicely browned. Depending on the heat of your oven, if the cheese doesn't brown as much as you'd like it, you might want to pass it under the broiler until it's just right.

Bon Appétit!