Menus, October 15, 2013

"To everything there is a season,

 and a time to every purpose under heaven."

Pete Seeger (via Ecclesiastes) 

Did you know that oranges ripen in winter? Or that in the top end of Australia, there's a season refered to as Mango Madness because the harvest of mangoes corresponds with weeks of insanity inspiringly oppressive heat and humidity? Of course you knew that if you only ate the corn and tomatoes that grew near you, they would by now be a dim and glorious summer memory. But it's easy to forget all that. 

It's easy to forget that if it weren't for modern fruit teleportation devices, our diets would be tied with double knots to the calendar. 
Until October, and the giddy arrival of wonders that you absolutely, positively cannot get at any other time of year. I'm talking of course about the elixer that is the true reason that the Headless Horseman terrorized Colonial New England.  He wasn't out to avenge himself on American Revolutionaries,

He was trying to order a quad venti nonfat
 pumpkin spice latte.

Finally, it's here. It's  really, truly  Ahhhhctober. And it's wonderful. At this moment, I'm sipping an espresso laced with my first attempt at a homemade pumpkin spice syrup, and for the second day in a row an intended trip to our local pumpkin patch has been postponed because of rain.  

Me, and many other Texans, complaining about
3 days of rain.

My Australian friends taught me long ago that pumpkins are not just for pie, they're for salads, soups, sides, mains... in fact ever since our stay in that lucky country, around here winter squash season is a full on, vitamen A loaded, beta carotine packed

PUMPKALOOZA!!!!!

Winter squashes (henceforth called pumpkins, because it's less typing) are some of the most interesting, versatile, flavorful, nutrient dense vegetables you're ever going to get your knives on. Well, technically, they're a fruit, but we're going to think of them as veggies, because to do otherwise feels like a sort of foodie smugercize. Most of the varieties you see at your local pumpkin patch or nursery or grocery store are delicious eating, the most notable exception being those pumpkins that are bred not for taste, but for size and color: jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Here are a few  great charts that'll help with choosing pumpkins that will work as both decoration and dinner. Tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, whenever the rain stops, I'll be row, row, rowing my boat up the street to look for these:

cheese

cinderella

delicata

Red Kuri

lady godiva
(for the shell-less seeds)

Queensland blue

Apologies for the glitch in the picture arranging skills- but whether my collage making software is working or not (and I'll find a way to repay you for that wasted hour, Picasa) all of these are excellent for all kinds of cooking and will keep for ages. So while they're waiting to be cooked into soups or breads or other sustaining foodstuffs, they'll be making the fireplace hearth look all harvest-festey. Hmm. For some reason this home dec/home cooking plan seems a little cannibalistic.

 But I think I can find a way to live with that.

And here's what we'll be doing with those pumpkins as their respective numbers come up:

Wednesday: Rodrigo style fish and Sauteed green beans

A little Tilapia both to balance out the rest of the week, and because I have some cilantro that needs to be used, and there's hardly a better use for cilantro than Rodrigo sauce. The green beans will be sauteed from frozen (if you can find frozen whole green beans, they seem to handle this sort of treatment more willingly than other cuts) and topped with the Rodrigo sauce as well. Don't worry about leftover green beans, there's a stirfry a'comin' at the end of the week.

Thursday: Pumpkin Stuffed with everything good and pork chops

There may be a few good things that do not form the stuffing of this super yummy looking dish- shoes, hairbows, earrings, smiles from people who still have all their baby teeth, but there's a whole lot of good stuff that did find it's way in. I may pay dues to the gods of gluten free and substitute a wild rice mixture for the bread.
The pork chops! Brining pork chops! why didn't I think of that! The good ol' honey/salt brine should work well here. There are uses ahead for both the leftover pumpkin and the leftover chops, but I'm still going to use a relatively small variety of pumpkin for this.

Friday: Pumpkin enchiladas

Spooning the filling out of the leftover stuffed pumpkin before it's put away will make the cooked pumpkin easily available for these absolutely fantastic looking enchiladas. A jar of tomatillo sauce will stand in for the homemade variety, and a small salad of cherry tomatoes and avocados make make a surprise appearance.





Saturday: Cabbage soup and sausages

Cabbage soup recipes abound on the internet; this made the cut because it doesn't have potatoes. And potatoes, for some reason, sounded less than awesome today.  If there's still any leftover pumpkin, it would add a wonderful flavor to this soup; if that happens, it will be the last pumpkin of the week. For real. I'm resolved to pace my pumpkin passion and try to limit myself to two squash-centric meals a week until the season's over. Whole foods has put all kinds of unusual and creative sausage varieties in the meat cases for October and a few of them would be perfect with soup. If whole foods doesn't happen (it's a bit of a drive), Aidell's Chicken and apple sausages have never let me down, and are easily available. Oh, cut up a little extra cabbage and a few extra carrots and put them in a zip bag for tomorrow's stir fry if you want to.



Sunday: Pork stir fry 

The leftover pork chops, any leftover green beans, shredded cabbage and carrots can all jump in on this party. Only remember, stirfries are at their best when everything cooks quickly. Think energetic four year old chasing a running dog fast. That means the pan has to get, and stay, hot. Think bare feet on a summer sidewalk hot. And that means no crowding the pan. Cook in batches just barely big enough to cover the bottom of the pan in a single layer, tip each batch into a bowl or onto a serving plate and let the pan regain is hotness mojo before you throw in the next batch. Then at the end, drizzle on the homemade or jarred sauce and give the whole thing a stir. 
 Okay. I may break my self imposed pumpkin pacing guideline and make a pumpkin dessert to go along with this light supper. Like maybe making muffins out of this terrific Pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. 
Because really, in a very few weeks, the pumpkin stands will disappear, so we'd all better enjoy the season while we can, right?

I hope that wherever you are, autumn is bringing you a harvest.
A heavy harvest of all things rich and warm-
the fruits of things you've planted 
and worked hard to keep alive.
I hope that the passion, curiosity, energy 
and all the love that summer nearly burnt up
and burnt out 
return to life 
and ripen for you in the days ahead.
And that these golden days
 bring you good, sweet, golden things

by the armful.