Starting to Harvest Pumpkins

I'm beginning to bring in pumpkins and winter squash. The squash bugs have tried very hard to completely destroy my crops, but I do have some nice pumpkins and several kinds of winter squash. I would like to leave them on the vine for another month, but when the bugs start destroying the vines I've got to pick them or lose them. I'll store the ones with good intact stems and bake the rest and make squash puree.

Here's a couple of good squash recipes. Whenever I have a really pretty squash or pumpkin I'll use it as a serving dish. It makes a showy presentation. Last Thanksgiving I saved my biggest and best Musquee de Provence squash and baked the cornbread dressing in it. Everyone loved it.

Pumpkin-Coconut Bisque
1 3/4 cups pumpkin purée
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs. shredded fresh ginger
1/2 to 1 tsp. red curry paste, or to taste
1 3/4 cups light coconut milk
6 Tbs. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup vegetable broth
Salt to taste
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
1 cup garlic-flavored croutons for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Put pumpkin purée into ovenproof dish, and heat until edges brown, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium heat, and sauté onion and ginger about 10 minutes. Add curry paste; sauté 2 minutes more. Put onion mixture and 1 cup roasted pumpkin purée into blender or food processor; add 1 cup coconut milk, and purée until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into saucepan, and stir in remaining pumpkin purée, coconut milk, apple juice, vegetable stock and salt. Heat 5 minutes. Garnish each serving with sprinkling of pumpkin seeds and croutons.

I love squash, and I love candied ginger. So the recipe is a real winner.

Ginger-roasted Winter Squash
1 butternut or kabocha squash
1 Tbs. honey
2 Tbs. currants
2 Tbs. minced orange zest
1/4 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
1 Tbs. candied ginger, minced
1 Tbs. butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice squash in half, scoop out and discard the seeds. Combine honey, currants, orange zest, pecans and candied ginger; fill the squash cavity. Brush the cut flesh of the squash with melted butter. Pour excess over the filled cavity. Bake about 40 minutes or until the squash pierces easily. Serves two.

Another Good Use for My Eggplant Bounty

Yum, yum, yum! The eggplants keep growing. Here's a fancy looking way to use a nice big eggplant.

Eggplant Pâté

1 lb. eggplant
4 whole eggs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil leaves
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. salt, or more to taste
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Spray 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Press 8x17-inch piece of parchment paper into loaf pan to mold to bottom and sides with excess folded over sides. Spray again.

2. Cut eggplant into four slices lengthwise. Set on a large dish, sprinkle liberally with salt and cover with plastic wrap. Let sweat 30 minutes. Rinse well, and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch chunks for country-style pâté or into 1/4-inch dice for smooth.

3. Place eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, olive oil, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, basil, parsley, salt and pepper in food processor; purée until smooth. Add eggplant, and process until as smooth/chunky as you like. Fold in almonds. Spoon mixture into loaf pan. Reduce oven temperature to 400F.

4. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce to 350F, and bake 30 minutes more, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cover with foil; cool 10 minutes. Loosen ends of pâté with sharp knife. Lift out of pan using parchment paper on sides. Cool completely. Slice, and serve.

Another Rice Salad

I love Basmati rice. I love it so much I bought a twenty pound bag at BJ's, so I need to find lots of ways to use it. Here's a nice spicy rice salad.

Basmati-Rice Salad with Cauliflower and Potatoes

1 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and cooked in salted water (I usually add a teaspoon of olive oil)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into small florets
1 pound baking potatoes (about 2), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons currants ( raisins are more usual, but I love currants)
3 to 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 cups water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 scallions including green tops, chopped

Saute the onions in olive oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, mustard, cumin, cayenne, coriander, cloves, and 1 3/4 teaspoons of the salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the cauliflower, potatoes, and currants and coat with the spices. Add 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover, raise the heat, and simmer until almost no liquid remains in the pan, about 10 minutes more.

Add the vegetables to the rice. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, the cilantro, and scallions. Taste the salad and, if necessary, add the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar.

Here's an easy way to roast garlic
Heat 2 cups of olive oil and 2 cups of peeled garlic cloves in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat until the garlic is very tender and golden. Seperate oil and garlic. Store both in the refrigerator. Now you have roasted garlic and garlic-flavored olive oil. Roasted garlic is a wonderful substitute for butter on bread.

End of Summer Assessment

We had a wonderful gumbo tonight. This is the fourth big batch of okra I've cut this summer. There's at least one more to go. This was not only my best ever summer for eggplant. It was also a record year for okra. The pepper crop is excellent, both bells and chilis. It's probably my second best ever year for peppers. I bought six habanero plants, but they either died or were mislabeled. I have tons of Anaheims, yellow banana, Tabasco, jalapenos and poblanos, but there are no habaneros anywhere. Too bad. I'll have to buy them this year. You never need more than one at a time. They are so hot! But their flavor is incredibly fruity and delicious.

As I've said before this was supposed to be my best squash year ever, but three weeks away in July gave the squash bugs too much of an opportunity. The zucchini and yellow squash were plentiful until late July. Then they were overwhelmed by the bugs. I have grown three beautiful varieties, the muscat de provence, a giant pink banana squash and Long Island cheese pumpkins (one of my favorite squashes). I may or may not have some black futsu squash. The plants are far away from the main garden, and the squash bugs have only recently found them. The race is on. Can I kill bugs fast enough to give the squash time to mature before the bugs eat them all up. i was looking forward to growing legendary marina de Chioggia squash, but the plants were all eaten. Maybe next year.

My cucumber crop has been ok, and the lettuce has been spectacular. I have several new crops coming. I will start cutting new lettuce next week. This was first year for beets. I must plant twice as many next year. They're so wonderful.

My tomatoes have been good, but they are almost finished. The extreme heat has been too much for them. The tomatoes that I grew in the earthboxes did much better than the ones in the garden. Here's a tomato recipe from my friend Barbara.

Tomato Pie
1 1/2 cup Bisquick
3/8 cup milk
7 ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced in medium thick slices
tablespoon chopped chives
tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cup grated cheese - cheddar or SWiss are good choices
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise - DON'T use Miracle Whip. It just isn't mayonnaise

Stir milk into Bisquick with a fork and form a ball. Roll out as thin as possible and put in a deep dish 9 inch pie pan. Trim edge evenly. Mix herbs and seasonings. Put in a layer of tomatoes. Sprinkle with herbs and seasonings. Alternate layers of tomatoes and herb mixture. Blend together cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on top of the tomatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. This is good hot or cold.