Roast Pumpkin and Mexican Green Mole

While I have some knowledge of Mexican cooking, it is mainly in the 'bog standard' recipe range. In fact I am such a novice I wasn't sure how to pronounce 'mole', how sad is that! I do now! I made this Mexican Vegetarian dish a few weeks ago. In fact I enjoyed it so much I have launched into seeking out other Mexican recipes. The recipe in question came from a wonderful blog called Pease Pudding http://peasepudding.wordpress.com/?s=roast+pumpkin+with+mexican+green+mole
The author of the blog is Alli Pirrie-Mawer, a woman with 'many strings to her bow'. I met Alli in 2012 when she organised the NZ Food Bloggers Conference during Wellington on a Plate. Due to her work commitments no meeting was planned in 2013 but we have been informed another one is in the pipeline for 2014. I can't wait. I had such a marvelous time at my first one in 2012.

First step done

I am feeling a bit lazy to write out the recipe here but if you go to the link http://peasepudding.wordpress.com/?s=roast+pumpkin+with+mexican+green+mole Alli is more than happy for you to copy it.
I thought two kilograms of pumpkin was a lot for a meal for two of us (even taking into account left overs) so I halved the recipe. I wish I hadn't as we had two (last minute) extra guests for dinner. Thankfully it turned out to be quite enough. It was so delicious we ate the lot in one sitting - sadly no leftovers for my lunch!
I am not a fan of really hot food, so I measured the chilli part very carefully and I put in a little less. I found it perfect to my taste, but one guest needed more heat and piled on extra Chipotle chilli!
I could not find the pickled Jalapeno Chilli in our local shop so they were not added (but I thought it was hot enough without them). Again my guest said they should have been added, mmmmm.... you might like to add them. I found the pumpkin seeds a really nice addition to the mole, they gave the sauce such a great texture. I served it simply with tortilla wraps (quickly warmed/ lightly browned in my fry pan).
Mexican cooking is definitely taking me into unchartered waters but I have now started on a journey to try as many recipes as possible.

Roast Pumpkin and Mexican Green Mole
The final look before serving, it had been sitting a while so not as 'orangey' pretty as Alli's blog photo

A few nights ago we had Oaxacan Green Mole Stew, sourced from one of my vegetarian cook books called Moosewood Restaurant - Cooking for Health. The basis of the mole verde was a can of Tomatillos and luckily I had one in my cupboard, purchased some time ago. Actually the Tomatillos were the most expensive part of the dish! The beans came from my garden and I managed to find five corn cobs for $4.00. While extremely tasty (and it used lots of stuff I had 'hanging out' in my pantry) it is not as pretty to look at like Alli's dish - which may be the decider whether to make it again. (By the way both dishes are great for Vegans).

Oaxacan Mole Stew

So, thank you Alli, your Roast Pumpkin and Mexican Green Mole recipe must be shared - it has become a real favourite of mine too.

Farro and Pearl Barley continued...

If you are like me you will have childhood memories of the ubiquitous pearl barley. It was always the standard addition to our mothers homemade vegetable soup, often boiled so long it turned to mush. But (luckily for us) it is now appearing in so many different other ways. I really love the texture of this nutritious grain (note my risotto post using pearl barley). I looks like I'm in a bit of a grain phase at the moment! 

Last week I found myself with the remaining pieces of a 2kg pumpkin. I also had an ongoing problem with a large hoard of things in my pantry, space was limited, so the thinking cap went on. What to produce that would deal with the pumpkin and hopefully use up some of the items that keep tumbling out of my pantry. Low and behold this recipe appeared in our Sunday paper. It is totally delicious and should be very appealing to any lover of vegetables and if you make some adjustments prefect for my gluten free and vegan friends and of course leaving out the meat, to vegetarians!
The recipe is in the similar vein to the Farro recipe I posted last month. However, this one uses pearl barley which has the advantage of being easier to find and is a little less expensive than Farro. The whole meal would work out to be less than $10. The addition of smoked paprika sits nicely with the chorizo and gives the dish a different sort of flavour. Sorry I do not have a photo of the final dish but the recipe is detailed below.
Yesterday I cooked another dish along a similar vein - created by Ginny Grant in Cuisine -  but you add 2tbsp of pomegranate molasses and 1tbsp of olive oil to the cooked warm grain (for this I used a mixture of farro and pearl barley) and the pumpkin was roasted with 1tbsp of pomegranate molasses. Two roast onions are added and a little feta crumbled on top of the salad. I served it as a vegetarian main but for meat lovers it would be great as a side with BBQ lamb.
I finished the dish with a garnish of fresh pomegranate seeds, it looked lovely and tasted delicious. In fact the bowl was almost licked clean!
http://cuisine.co.nz/cuisine.nsf/recipes/farro-roasted-pumpkin-red-onion-salad?Opendocument&HighLight=2,farro,roasted,pumpkin
So give these grains a try, they add a wonderful chewy texture to your salads and definitely make a change from rice and couscous salads for the summer BBQ's.
Warm pearl barley, roasted pumpkin and chorizo salad

Fiona Smith – SST November 2013

Ingredients

1/2 - 3/4 cup pearl barley

1 kg pumpkin, peeled and cubed 2cm (drizzle with honey for a sweeter flavour if desired)

1 tsp dried oregano or 1tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

Juice and finely grated zest from a lemon

2 tsp red or white wine vinegar

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ c pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds)

200g chorizo, slice 1cm (leave out if vegetarian dish preferred)

½ cup fresh coriander chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Rinse pearl barley under cold water and drain. Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain.

Toss the pumpkin with the oregano and oil and season with salt.

Spread out on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook in oven for

20-25 minutes, turning once, until tender.

In a large serving bowl, whisk together paprika, lemon juice and zest,

vinegar and extra virgin olive oil then stir in warm barley and mix well.

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and cook for a minute shaking

the pan, until they pop. Set aside.

Heat the pan or grill till hot, cook the chorizo for 2-3 minutes on each side until brown.

Add the pumpkin, chorizo and coriander to the pearl barley mix and toss all together.

Sprinkle with pumpkins seeds and serve.

Serves 4-6

Note – Gluten free option - substitute gluten free chorizo and quinoa for barley

Farro, pearl barley, roast pumpkin and onion salad with pomegranate

Pumpkin and herbs

Right now I have Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme growing in my winter garden. It is about the only thing I have to harvest apart from my Silver Beet or Chard (as it is sometimes called). I do like pumpkin soup in winter but prefer to make my own. I rarely order it from a restaurant menu cos it so easy to make - at home! Yes, it can be a little boring but if you get the right recipe, pumpkin makes a great, inexpensive, nutritious meal for the family! This soup recipe came from 'Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone' by Deborah Madison. I came across her book in 2010 when staying with Jules and Jane in Hudson, New York. It is a classic book the size of a 'brick' and has been reprinted many times. It can be bought on Amazon and I would recommend it to anyone interested in vegetarian cooking.
For this soup I was inspired to do two things - make my own vegetable stock and fry little sage leaves. I must be a bit weird but they are rather lovely things to fry and are delicious subtle little treat to include on your spoon of pumpkin soup (along with a little bit of the melted cheese!) Trust me it is worth the trouble - YUM!
Winter Pumpkin Soup with Fried Sage Leaves
1 to 1.5 kg of pumpkin
1/4 c olive oil
6 garlic cloves
12 whole sage leaves - plus 2 tbsp chopped
2 onions finely chopped
4 thyme sprigs - finely chopped or 1/4 tsp dried
1/4 c chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper
2000ml water or vegetable stock (make your own with celery, carrots, chard, onions, fresh herbs etc)
1/2 cup strong cheese
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut pumpkin into big chunks, remove seeds, brush with oil, stuff with garlic, place cut side down and bake until tender for about 30mins. In a small fry pan heat the olive oil then drop the sage leaves and fry for only a minute, remove and drain on a paper towel and reserve. Transfer the oil to a larger pot, add chopped onion, chopped sage, thyme and parsley. Cook until onions are lightly browned. Scoop the pumpkin flesh into the pot along with any juices in the roasting pan, add the peeled garlic, 1 1/2 tsp salt and the water/stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer partially covered for 25 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick just more stock or water to thin it out. Taste for seasonings. When cooled slightly, I used a hand held kitchen whizz to smooth/refine the soup. Reheat, ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with a little cheese and add a couple of the fried sage leaves on top to garnish.

Makes about 6 adult portions

Pumpkin and herbs

Right now I have Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme growing in my winter garden. It is about the only thing I have to harvest apart from my Silver Beet or Chard (as it is sometimes called). I do like pumpkin soup in winter but prefer to make my own. I rarely order it from a restaurant menu cos it so easy to make - at home! Yes, it can be a little boring but if you get the right recipe, pumpkin makes a great, inexpensive, nutritious meal for the family! This soup recipe came from 'Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone' by Deborah Madison. I came across her book in 2010 when staying with Jules and Jane in Hudson, New York. It is a classic book the size of a 'brick' and has been reprinted many times. It can be bought on Amazon and I would recommend it to anyone interested in vegetarian cooking.
For this soup I was inspired to do two things - make my own vegetable stock and fry little sage leaves. I must be a bit weird but they are rather lovely things to fry and are delicious subtle little treat to include on your spoon of pumpkin soup (along with a little bit of the melted cheese!) Trust me it is worth the trouble - YUM!
Winter Pumpkin Soup with Fried Sage Leaves
1 to 1.5 kg of pumpkin
1/4 c olive oil
6 garlic cloves
12 whole sage leaves - plus 2 tbsp chopped
2 onions finely chopped
4 thyme sprigs - finely chopped or 1/4 tsp dried
1/4 c chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper
2000ml water or vegetable stock (make your own with celery, carrots, chard, onions, fresh herbs etc)
1/2 cup strong cheese
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut pumpkin into big chunks, remove seeds, brush with oil, stuff with garlic, place cut side down and bake until tender for about 30mins. In a small fry pan heat the olive oil then drop the sage leaves and fry for only a minute, remove and drain on a paper towel and reserve. Transfer the oil to a larger pot, add chopped onion, chopped sage, thyme and parsley. Cook until onions are lightly browned. Scoop the pumpkin flesh into the pot along with any juices in the roasting pan, add the peeled garlic, 1 1/2 tsp salt and the water/stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer partially covered for 25 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick just more stock or water to thin it out. Taste for seasonings. When cooled slightly, I used a hand held kitchen whizz to smooth/refine the soup. Reheat, ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with a little cheese and add a couple of the fried sage leaves on top to garnish.

Makes about 6 adult portions

Pumpkin and books

I belong to a book group, I am a recent recruit but it has been going for 12 years now. We meet each month to discuss various books we have read, then we have tea and (usually) cake for supper! We take turns to host the group in our home and it is my turn next week. I have taken my time to research what to bake as I really like to surprise everyone with my choice of cake on the night. I don't think we consciously try and outdo each other with making something different each time, for me it is more about sharing a new recipe so my friends can add to their repertoire of baking. 

When I came across this recipe I instantly thought of my little grand-daughter aged 4, she will not eat too many vegetables. As she grows older she is slowly adding to her limited list but I have noticed a preference and a love of sweet things (a little like her Mum) and this is the perfect way to introduce her to pumpkin - disguised in a delicious cake!

I love my new zester, a recent addition to my kitchen, how did I manage without one like this....

Pumpkin and Date cake

From Lynda Hallinan’s column  SST – Sunday magazine   

3^rd June 2012 from a competition she ran with her readers.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Peel, dice and simmer 450g pumpkin in unsalted water for 20 minutes until very tender.

Drain, press out water and mash until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Grease and line the base of an 18cm square cake tin.

Cream 225g of softened butter, the finely grated zest of 2 oranges and 175g caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, and stir in 150g chopped dates, 40g desiccated coconut and the mashed pumpkin. Sift 275g of self-raising flour and fold into the mixture with 100ml of milk.

Spoon the cake batter into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 1 ¼ hours.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Sprinkle with extra caster sugar to decorate.

Nice served with whipped cream or yoghurt.

lovely and moist and when sliced a pretty orange colour

Pumpkin and books

I belong to a book group, I am a recent recruit but it has been going for 12 years now. We meet each month to discuss various books we have read, then we have tea and (usually) cake for supper! We take turns to host the group in our home and it is my turn next week. I have taken my time to research what to bake as I really like to surprise everyone with my choice of cake on the night. I don't think we consciously try and outdo each other with making something different each time, for me it is more about sharing a new recipe so my friends can add to their repertoire of baking. 

When I came across this recipe I instantly thought of my little grand-daughter aged 4, she will not eat too many vegetables. As she grows older she is slowly adding to her limited list but I have noticed a preference and a love of sweet things (a little like her Mum) and this is the perfect way to introduce her to pumpkin - disguised in a delicious cake!

I love my new zester, a recent addition to my kitchen, how did I manage without one like this....

Pumpkin and Date cake

From Lynda Hallinan’s column  SST – Sunday magazine   

3^rd June 2012 from a competition she ran with her readers.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Peel, dice and simmer 450g pumpkin in unsalted water for 20 minutes until very tender.

Drain, press out water and mash until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Grease and line the base of an 18cm square cake tin.

Cream 225g of softened butter, the finely grated zest of 2 oranges and 175g caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, and stir in 150g chopped dates, 40g desiccated coconut and the mashed pumpkin. Sift 275g of self-raising flour and fold into the mixture with 100ml of milk.

Spoon the cake batter into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 1 ¼ hours.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Sprinkle with extra caster sugar to decorate.

Nice served with whipped cream or yoghurt.

lovely and moist and when sliced a pretty orange colour