Time to Roast... Vegetables

It is sunny, shiny fall here in the NorthWet...err West.  After our dismal spring and June, the sun just won't stop shining.  And it has made for some amazing fall produce.

And a bunch of it is big, pumpkin big, if you know what I mean.

So what to do with it?

Admire it 1st.

Beets, garlic, tomatillos, jalapeños, tomatoes - regular & cherry
radishes and carrots

pie pumpkins, butternut squash, leeks - oh yeah, and the chicken scraps bag

Holy Full Fridge, Batman!  What to do with it all?

Step one - cut it down to size.  Those whole veggies take up a bunch of space.

Step two - dedicate a day to roasting everything into freezable food.  And MUCH of that is done through the magic of roasting.  By driving off excess water, and breaking down the plant cells by tasty cooking, they are all set up to freeze.  If these are frozen raw - the water/chemical balance ends up with mushy and sometimes rotten (blechk!) food.

It's take a big chunk of a day but the longest part of the prep - the roasting - is done (and because it mostly happens at 425˚F) and done together.  Pumpkins and Peppers don't mind sharing oven space with Radishes and Beets.  And while things are roasting you can do lots of other thing - as long as you don't have to leave the house.

So what are the results from a day spent that way?

Tomatillo-Garlic-Jalapeño Sauce

Roast everything until it gets mushy -pull of the stems
peel off the skins,
(optional remove some/all seeds from the jalapeños)
blend them together - add a little salt.
Perfect over leftover mole beef... if you have it.
Lots of other stuff if you don't.

Roasted beets - and other veg

(see the next post for more on beets - or check out some flash backs:

It's Cold Baby!

-or-

Beet Salad - with the goods

-or-

It's Fall - break out the Truffle Salt)

Pumpkin Puree and Roasted Squash Wedges and Chunks

Dedicate the time to making these - and then THERE THEY ARE ready to go into whatever you want 

- things like...

Sweet & Spicy (Butternut) Squash Soup

and the new best thing ...

Pumpkin Mushroom Polenta 

Made lots - freezing this for later use.

(the pumpkin takes the place of the Parmesan - and makes it creamy and savory - and perfect for all stripes of "no dairy" folks -OR- a super way of sneaking in extra veg.)

That is coming up too...

An Easier to Follow Calzone Recipe

I don't know what got into me when I put together that last recipe.  But if you found it a little hard to follow... here's the sane version:

Pumpkin-Ground Beef Calzones

Equipment:

Large Bowl
Knife
Cutting Board
Sauté Pan
Square baking pan
Counter Space - for dealing with dough
Small Bowl
Cookie Sheet (or Pizza Stone if yer fancy)
Measuring spoons - if you don't feel good guessing spice amounts.

Ingredients:

Calzones -
Pizza dough (make or buy)
Small "pie" pumpkin - the kind for eaten' not for looking' at.
1 lb ground beef (I'm betting lamb, pork or a combo are all good too - even turkey)
1 med. onion - purple if you can
Chili Powder (start w/ 2 tsp)
Smoked Paprika (start w/ 1 tsp)
Garlic Powder (start w/ 1 tsp)
Salt & Pepper (start w/ 1/4 tsp each)

Dipping Sauce -
Really ripe tomatoes
the spices you used in the calzones
- or -
Super basic tomato/marinara sauce with some chipotle salsa stirred in
-or - some variation to make a smoky, spicy tomato based dipping sauce.

Greens on the Side -
Dark green greens (whatcha' got - just know 1 lb = 1 Cup cooked)
A few cloves of garlic
2 tsp bacon fat or oil
Salt & Pepper
1/4 - 1/2 C water or stock
Splash of vinegar

Prep:
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
With the large knife, cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out all the insides.  (See previous recipe for info on proper transformation of the pumpkin guts)
Place the pumpkin halves open side down in your baking pan with a small puddle of water (no higher than 1/4 in. (1/2 cm)).  Bake for 30 min, or until the flesh is fork tender, and the edges are browning a bit.  When this is done, set it aside to cool.
(This can also be done ahead, and refrigerated at this point for tomorrow)

Slice you onion into pieces thinner than your pinky.
Get all your spices out.
Wash and roughly chop your dark greens (Spinach, chard, beet greens, kale...)
Slice your garlic as thin as you possibly can, or mince it fine.
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh off the pumpkin's skin, and mash it up roughly - so it is broken up.  (Don't worry if the flesh is a little under cooked, you will be cooking it the rest of the way as you continue.)

Cook!


Heat a saute pan, cook down a sliced onion (purple if you got 'em) and some sage in a little bacon fat (or oil) over med-low heat, until the onions are soft.  Brown the pound of ground beef.
Stir in the spices - in the starting amounts.  THen taste and add more of what you think it needs.  Mine needed more garlic, smoked paprika and salt.
Then stir in the pumpkin pulp you scooped off the skin after it cooled enough to handle.
Mash it up and stir it into the seasoned ground beef and purple onions.  Taste and adjust the seasonings until it makes you want to eat it all up right there.  Restrain Yourself.  
(Fillilng can be cooled and frozen at this point - so make double, and save some for later)


Get a clean expanse of counter very floury.  Divide up the dough into 6 pieces.  Make them into small circles.  Put A few tablespoons of the pumpkin-beef filling into the center.  Fold the circle onto itself, seal the edge by pressing down emphatically.  Fork tines help.  Repeat with other dough circles.

When your calzones are all closed up, poke them a few times to let air escape.  Place on a cookie sheet (or appropriate alternative) in the 375˚F oven for about 30 min., or until dough is in a GBD state (Golden Brown & Delicious).


The dipping sauce is only a matter of mixing the ingredients together to get a smoky, tomatoey dipping sauce.


For the greens, while the calzones are baking, start the sliced garlic in the bacon grease over med low heat - to slowly melt it.  When it gets floppy and mild, turn up the heat, add the greens to wilt them.  Add the liquid, and cover while the greens simmer until they are tender.  Take the top off, reduce the liquid, add salt pepper and a splash of vinegar to make them extra tasty.


Serve everything... and as the phoneticists say - "WA LAA!"

Pumpkin-Ground Beef Calzones

Or maybe they are Empanadas?  Nope, not fried, so Calzones.

  (If you are just looking for this recipe... go here ---> Pumpkin-Ground Beef Calzones)

Oh dear... they're not pretty,
but they were so good we ate them all
before we could figure out a pretty picture

The challenge at my house has always been a ban on fruit with meat.  So the usually spicy sweet route for pumpkin as an accompaniment to meat was OUT.  Banned.  Disapproved of.

But I love pumpkin, and the creaminess it brings is reminiscent of the best of gravy, so I wasn't willing to give up on pumpkin.  I just needed to make it Not Sweet, also known as Savory.

Fortunately for all the palates concerned, Smoky as a flavor option has come a long way since the days of "Liquid Smoke" and "Gravy Browning."  For the purposes of this recipe, smoked paprika and chipotle peppers (which are ripened, smoked jalepeños) do the trick.

And the beet greens with masses of sautéed garlic was the best bonus.

Step 1 - roast the pumpkin.  A pool of water at the bottom of the pan, as you set it at 375˚F for 30 - 40 min will make it soften right up.  Be sure to use a cute little pie pumpkin.  They have the best taste.  "Big Carvin' Pumpkins" are watery and not for food.

Pull it out when the skin and the edges are starting to brown, and the flesh is fork tender.

Step 2.  Don't toss the pumpkin guts.

Step 3.  Why - because you can make roasted pumpkin seeds!  YAYAYAYAYYAYAY!!!!

(At the same time you are baking the pumpkin)

Normal Person 1: "But I hate getting all those orange ecchchy stings all over my fingers!"

Kitchen Geek: "Me too, but I figured out this cool way to get rid of that problem."

NP1: "You spent time on this?"

KG: "Well, I just like fresh roasted pumpkin seeds that much."

NP2: " What are you two talking about?"

KG: "Well, all you need to do, is put the pumpkin guts..."

NP1: "Why do you keep saying pumpkin guts?"

KG:  "Remember Sally from the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin Special?"

NP2: "Oh right, when she freaks out from opening up the top of her pumpkin and scooping out the..."

KG:  "Right, so anyway, put the pumpkin guts into a big bowl of water.  If you squeeze the pointy end of the seeds they pop away from the orange stringy things and just float on the water.  Then you can scoop them out."   

Step 4:  Toss them on a cookie sheet/ half sheet pan with a silpat, 

(NP1: "You ARE a Kitchen Geek.")

with a little salt, and just enough oil to coat them lightly.  Bake at 375˚F until lightly browned and crunchy (25 - 40 min... depending).  And as far as I'm concerned that's the point of Halloween.
(NP2: "Total Geek.")

KG:  "HEY! Who ate all but a handful of the roasted pumpkin seeds?  Huh!?" 

Anyway, Step 5:

Heat a saute pan, cook down a sliced onion (purple if you got 'em) and some sage in a little bacon fat (or oil) over med-low heat, until the onions are soft.  Brown a pound of ground beef, and 

Add Chili powder (Start w/ 2 tsp)

Smoked Paprika (Start w/ 1 tsp)

Garlic Powder (Start w/ 1 tsp)

Salt & Pepper (start w/ 1/4 tsp)

until it tastes almost right. 

Then stir in the pumpkin pulp you scooped off the skin after it cooled enough to handle.

Mash it up and stir it into the seasoned ground beef and purple onions.  Taste and adjust the seasonings until it makes you want to eat it all up right there.

Step 6:  Restrain Yourself.

Get that bag of pizza dough from Trader Joe's you bought earlier today.

NP1: "Wait, so you bought a pie pumpkin, a pound of ground beef and pizza dough at Trader Joe's today?"

KG: "Well, I didn't have much a choice did I?"

NP2: "Next you are going to tell us you were stopped in your tracks by these items."

KG: "Well, it was all the pumpkins that did it.  I see the other 2 things all the time."

NP1 & NP2:  "You are just not normal."

KG: "Do you want dinner?"

OK, anyway.  Get a clean expanse of counter very floury.  Divide up the dough into 6 pieces.  Make them into small circles.  Put A few tablespoons of the pumpkin-beef filling into the center.  Fold the circle onto itself, seal the edge by pressing down emphatically.  Fork tines help.  Repeat with other dough circles.

Stab a few times to let air escape.  Place on a cookie sheet (or appropriate alternative) in the 375˚F oven for about 30 min. That is until dough is in a GBD state (Golden Brown & Delicious).

While the Calzones are cooking...

Step 7:  Vegetables
Wash & tear some green stuff.  I had beet greens.  Chard, spinach & tender kale are all good here too
.

Saute with large amounts of well chopped or thinly sliced garlic.  Add broth or water and let simmer until all is tender and mild.  Don't forget the salt.

And then make a dipping sauce.  Basically take a nice plain Marinara or similar, and stir in some chopped chipotles in adobo... or chipotle salsa.