Baked pumpkin two ways

 

Two different pumpkin recipes, one savory, one sweet.

Spicy Pumpkin and Greens

2 2- to 3-pound sugar pumpkins

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, diced

1 plum tomato, diced

1 Scotch bonnet chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or about 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1 pound frozen, chopped, sturdy greens, thawed (or about 3 bunches fresh; I used kale)

1¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1 cup evaporated milk

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

4 tablespoons breadcrumbs (preferably panko)

1½ cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off the top 1½ inches of the pumpkins and discard. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. Have onion, tomato, chile, thyme, and collards ready to go.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, tomato, chile pepper, thyme and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the scallions and collard greens, add salt and cook, stirring, until the greens are slightly tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the evaporated milk and nutmeg and bring to a gentle boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, the cheddar cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook, stirring, until the cheese melts and the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Put the pumpkins in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and fill evenly with the collard greens mixture.

Toss the remaining 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs with the Parmesan. Sprinkle over the filling. Add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkins are tender, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until browned and bubbly on top, about 30 more minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then scrape the pumpkin flesh and serve with the collards.

I made only one pumpkin and the large skillet was too large, drying out my ingredients. If making only one pumpkin, use a medium skillet. I used a large bunch of fresh, curly kale and the filling didn't even fill a small pumpkin. (I don't know the weight.)  I was going to use a roasted Poblano chile, but it was bitter and not hot at all, so I used two red jalapeños. Careful with the salt if using fine salt.

Apple-Pumpkin Brown Betty

1 2-to-3-pound sugar pumpkin

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup cubed bread (preferably from a baguette)

2 Gala apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

kosher salt

maple syrup, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off and reserve the top 1½ inches of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, apples, brown sugar and raisins to the skillet and cook until the apples are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the rum, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Return the bread to the skillet.

Put the pumpkin in a small baking dish and fill the pumpkin with the apple mixture. Cover with the pumpkin top and add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkin is tender, 2-2½ hours. Remove the foil and pumpkin top and return the stuffed pumpkin to the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly browned, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup. To serve, scrape the pumpkin flesh and stir into the apple mixture.

The Gala apple I bought was tasteless.  (I planned on baking only one pumpkin and therefore thought I was halving the recipe, so I bought only one apple.)  Fortunately, I also had an Envy, which was crisp and delicious, so I added that.  I used a sourdough loaf, quite stale and not very dense, and threw in some dried, natural cranberries.  I'm intrigued by the substitution of half an onion for half an apple, as one commenter did.  Cheddar cheese might be a really good addition, though.

I messed up the baking a bit because I put the pumpkin top back on the savory pumpkin and left it off the sweet one.  It was supposed to be the other way around.  So the apples dried out a bit, and the cheese and bread crumbs didn't get toasty.  (It was a little challenging following both these recipes at once.) 

Note:  the sweet pumpkin wasn't super sweet and could be served as a side dish or a light dessert as is.  For a standard dessert, it needs ice cream or whipped cream at minimum.

Conclusion:  These recipes were good, but it comes down to baking inside a pumpkin is a PITA.  Trying to scoop out proportionate amounts of filling and pumpkin flesh is pretty much impossible, and very messy.  You can't help but get more filling at first, and meanwhile the pumpkin skin is falling apart, and the whole thing is steaming hot while you're trying to handle it.  This is a cute idea in theory, but the reality is ridiculous.  Both of these were worth making again, but I'll have to find another method. 

Recipes:  Spicy Pumpkin and Collards and Apple-Pumpkin Brown Betty, both via Food Network

Blueberry muffins I

I have in my mind the perfect blueberry muffin, but I've never been able to create it.  (My second and third attempts can be found here and here.)  I looked at 3 muffin recipes I have, two of which I've made with moderate success; the third was nearly identical to one of the others.  I had notes on my impressions, and suggestions for changes.  So I've cobbled together my own recipe here, cutting it in half to yield 6 average-sized muffins.

Here's what I used:

3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 extra large egg
1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 tablespoons orange flower water

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then mix in the oats.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until light.  Starting with the dry ingredients, add half at a time, alternating with the liquids and stir until just mixed.  Fold in the blueberries.  Drop into 6 greased muffin tins and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.  Cool on a rack about 10 minutes, until firm enough to be removed.

I wish I'd had some fresh basil to try out with the blueberries, but in the absence of that I decided to try adding something floral.   My orange flower water tasted really watery, so I wanted to use as much as I could, but didn't want to omit all the dairy entirely, so I used a little heavy cream (for the fat and flavor).  In the end, I still don't think I could taste it.

I omitted vanilla because in one of the earlier versions I didn't like it.  Perhaps there was too much (1 teaspoon).  But these needed something.  I'd tried cardamom before and not sure it was "it".  Didn't think I wanted cinnamon.  Definitely not ginger...  I don't know.  I tried out dipping the tops in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar for one and cardamom sugar for another; both were tasty, but then why wouldn't they be?  I'm looking for THE complimentary spice or herb or flavor.  The search continues.  (Hence the "I" in the title.)

Conclusion:  While this wasn't "the" recipe, they were good.  Nice texture.  Could use a wee bit more salt (and if dipping tops in butter, that could be enough) and perhaps even just a little more sugar, depending on the berries.  I also wish I'd thought to add some dried blueberries, which are sweetened and might have been sufficient.  Contrary to logic, 1 cup of berries really is too much.  I want cake and berry--- not berry and some crumbs.  (And these were unusually large berries.)  I think I will add a little vanilla in the future, but still undecided on what else.