pumpkin and white bean soup
from the Greens cookbook (1987) written by the chefs of the same-named restaurant in California to which I have never been. So sad.
found the most beautiful Cinderella pumpkin at the Cortelyou Farmer’s market. It would have made a wonderful carriage, green like patina on copper, frosty white in patches. Not being a fairy godmother, I made a soup instead. It was a hefty pumpkin, and I used half, approximately ¾ pound or 4-5 cups when cut in chunks.
halving a pumpkin and skinning it is not for the faint of heart—a serious knife should be employed for the purpose. If you don’t yet have a beloved blade then ask a friend with kitchen wits and witchery (and a bit of cash flow) to get you a good Chef’s knife for your birthday. A fine knife will make you more eager to cut up veggies and entices your foodie friends to cook in your kitchen. Back to the pumpkin: plunge your knife tip into the skin near the stem, the bottom is usually the flattest part of the thing and should sit steadily on your cutting board but having a friend help you steady it is not a bad idea, and carefully bear down along the whole blade, towards the bottom of the pumpkin. Pull out the blade and start again as often as you need. Bit by bit is better than a dramatic cleaving and trip to the emergency room. Repeat on the other side.
scoop the seeds and goop from the pumpkin halves. if you want, reserve some of the seeds for toasted pumpkin seeds, and pile up at least some of the seeds and all of the pulp to use for the stock. slice of the pumpkin skins and set aside for stock as well. cut the pumpkin into slices about an inch wide then across to make large chunks.
wash one medium or two small leeks. Slice off the greens and set aside. Slice down the center of the leeks and across into thin half moon strips. Smash and peel two or three cloves of garlic. Scrub and chop a few carrots or parsnips (parsnips are really nice) and several ribs of celery.
in a large pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil. add the garlic and leek greens and stir to coat and cook a few moments. stir in the celery. add in the pumpkin pulp and seeds and a few stalks of parsley. Salt and pepper the whole lot. Pour in about six cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool a bit before draining, squeezing the rich broth from the veggies by pressing them in a colander over a bowl or pot.
in a soup pot, heat a few slugs of olive oil. add the leeks and stir, cooking over a medium flame until they begin to soften. toss in the pumpkin and carrots, stirring to coat. Cook for about 9 minutes, stirring occasionally or often depending on how wide or narrow your pot is. salt and pepper (white pepper if you have it) and stir in a handful of sage and/or thyme. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for about half an hour (sometimes longer) until the pumpkin begins to fall apart. Stir it every once and awhile.
add a few cups of cooked white beans* and a cup or two of the bean cooking liquid and stir. Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the pumpkin is an orange velvet background to the beans.
top with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon or swirl in a spoonful of plain yoghurt, crème fraiche or sour cream. Serve with piles of warm, excellent bread.
* to make the beans: pick through two cups of dried small white beans, like navy beans, and remove any bad beans or junk. bring a pot of water to a boil, about three time the amount of beans. turn off the heat and add the beans and let sit for an hour. rinse the soaked beans in cold water, combine with fresh water in the pot, add in stalks of fresh or dried sage and thyme and bring to a boil. cook for about an hour or al dente. drain, saving some of the cooking liquid.
lentils for anemic royalty
my flatmate who is leaving for India is also anemic, and the Radical Muffin kitchen has been making iron rich concoctions to help! Cook these yummy lentils in a cast iron skillet and serve with steamed greens and a big glass of OJ for maximum metal absorption.
mince one red onion, two cloves of garlic, and 1 inch of peeled fresh ginger, combine in a pile or bowl. Dice 2 medium carrots. Chop 4-5 fresh tomatoes if it’s the season; otherwise, open up a big can, about a cup and a half, of diced tomatoes.
in a hot skillet, for just a moment or two, toast 1 1/2 teaspoons each of sweet and hot paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (unless you are cooking for the kitchen witch who is allergic), and 6-10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed in a mortar or pestle or some improvisation of that tool. Add one teaspoon each of red pepper flakes, coriander, mustard seeds, garam masala, and tumeric.
stir in 2 tablespoons of sunflower or veggie oil. Let the oil get hot then stir in the garlic pile. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions have softened, stirring occasionally.
add one cup of red lentils. Stir. Pour in 1 2/3 cup of coconut milk and one cup of water. Bring to a boil and stir in the tomatoes. Bring back to a boil and stir, then reduce the heat and simmer for half an hour to 45 minutes. Resist the temptation to stir too often—lentils are delicate, breaking down to mush quickly. Gently swirl and cover and cook over low heat.
slice and 3 scallions. Chop a few fistfuls of fresh cilantro and/or parsley if you have it and set aside.
ladle into bowls over brown rice or jasmine rice. Sprinkle with cilantro and scallions; serve with wedges of lime. Excellent with a drizzle of Greek yoghurt or raita.
And later, much later, the green fairy.
Lemony Gingery Veggie Stock
Fill your big and heavy pot with clean water and put it on the stovetop to boil. Scrub two fist-sized turnips, a potato, and two carrots (the ones so big you cannot imagine using them for anything in the kitchen). Trim any stems or roots. Trim four stalks of celery too; rinse them if they are dirty. Toss all these veggies in the pot.
Press three cloves of garlic under the flat side of a knife and peel. Break three inches of ginger into pieces. Cut a lemon into quarters. Toss all of this into the pot.
Bring the water to a rolling boil then let it fall back to a simmer for half an hour.
Stem any mushrooms you have about for this recipe or any others. Wipe them clean and add to the stock. Pour in a few cups of water. Cover and bring back to boil then simmer half-covered for another hour or so. Stir occasionally, and use the back of the spoon to squish the ingredients gently, especially the lemons.
In your sink, set a colander in a bowl or pot large enough to hold all that hot stock. Pour the stock through and using cheesecloth or the back of a wooden spoon, mush the veggies to squeeze their best stuff into the broth.
Let the broth cool and store in jars in the frigidaire. Or you can use it right away to back soup. Viola:
gajjar ki burfee
also – gaijjar ki burfi; or served as gajjerella
In about ½ a cup of hot water, soak
¼ cup of almond slices.
Scrub clean
two pounds of carrots.
This is one of those recipes that are not worth making if you cannot lay your hands on fresh, local, in-season, smells like fake carrot they’re so carroty carrots. It won’t be near the same with craptastic mass produced carrots. Do not peel them, just scrub them a bit and grate. Be as careful as you can be, and maybe grate in shifts or invite a helper bee friend over—grating two pounds of carrots by hand isn’t easy on your fingers.
Cook the grated carrot in a large, heavy sauce pan with a lid (I use the pot I love best for risotto) over a medium-high flame for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Lower the flame and cook 10 minutes more, covered and stirring every few minutes. Add a pat or two of butter if you like.
Add
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
and cook for another half hour or so over medium-low heat, cover the pot and stir occasionally. The carrots will absorb the sugar, and it will become “dry.”
While the carrots are cooking, in another saucepan, combine
1 ¾ heavy (whipping) cream
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 cups nonfat dry milk.
Cook over medium high heat while whisking occasionally until the dairy cooks down to a batter-like consistency—about 15 minutes. When the cream mix is good and thick and the carrots good and dry, pour the cream into the carrots, stirring and cooking for 5 minutes or longer. Add the almonds, and
2 tablespoons of chopped pistachios, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Cook over medium-low heat until thick and hefty – almost like fudge. Poor it into a large, shallow backing dish or on a cookie sheet with sides or very carefully on one without. Let cool a bit, and top with
edible silver leaf
if you can get it. You cannot get it in Brooklyn; you have to, the clerks said, go to Manhattan for that. You can also top with
sparkly decorator sugar, or
dessert masala: cinnamon, cardamom, pistachios, sugar.
