Well, it finally got to be fall today. After getting sunburned on Saturday. In October. Sunburned. In October. Well, anyway, it finally got to be fall. And since it was fall, it was time to cook something for fall. What says fall? Pumpkins of course! And what goes with pumpkins? Lots of things come to mind: curry, carrots, ginger, cumin, chiles, raisins, sage and soup!
Also, knowing that I was going to be shirking out of my one-year anniversary duties with Julie for a night out with a coworker who was leaving, I figured I'd better make something good. Like Martha-Stewart-Good. Like A-Criminal-Record-Free-Martha-Stewart good.
Oh, and for the record? I don't measure. Unless I'm baking. And that doesn't happen too often. In all these recipes, these seem like enough, but adjust to your taste, leave out if you're allergic, what-have-you. The important thing is to feel comfortable enough to make adjustments and substitutions. And you'll only get good at that by trying and tasting. It's why we have taste buds. And inevitably take-out Chinese food.
Curried pumpkin soup
- 1 decent sized pumpkin (about 8lbs)
- 2 white russet potatoes, medium dice
- 1 medium white onion, medium dice
- 2 medium carrots, medium dice
- 1 knob of fresh ginger, grated (i used a ton of this, maybe 4-6 oz)
- 3 gloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 3 tbls toasted cumin seed, ground
- 2 tsp tumeric
- 2 tsp hot curry powder (i used the penzeys blend)
- 2 tsp sweet curry powder (penzeys again)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (or a small stick, toasted with the cumin)
- 1 qt vegetable (or chicken) stock. (I find chicken stock is too "chicken-y" sometimes for vegetable soups so i usually use vegetable)
- 6-10 sage leaves, whole
- salt
- pepper
- Roast the pumpkins whole in the oven until soft (350 degree oven for like 40 minutes, give or take some softness) and cut in half and let cool.
- When cool, peel and cut into medium dice.
- Sweat the onion and carrot in some olive oil with a bit of salt until soft; add ginger and garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds longer.
- Add the spices, pumpkin and potatoes and let cook a few more moments (1 minute-ish) over medium-high heat.
- Then add the stock throw in the sage, bring to boil, reduce to simmer until the potatoes are done.
- Remove sage and discard, hit it with an immersion blender (bar blender, etc). I usually serve this with fresh sage (cut into a chiffonade -- oh come on, you know French_ and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds (olive oil, salt, seeds)
Chile roasted chicken
- 1 whole chicken (you can use parts; i prefer the economy of the whole chicken, but you have to cut it up into the legs/thighs, wings, and breasts.)
- 3 dry pasilla peppers, deseeded and toasted until soft
- 2 dry mulatto peppers, deseeded and toasted until soft
- 4 tbls toasted cumin
- 2 tbls dark brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tbls olive oil
- 4 tbls water
- 2oz ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp toasted mustard seed
- Put all the ingredients (minus the chicken, naturally) in the blender/food processor until thoroughly combined.
- Marinate chicken for at least 45 minutes (6-8 hours would be awesome).
- Get a cast-iron skillet screaming hot
- Roast in the broiler until meat hits 155F degrees (20 minutes? 25 minutes? Get a thermometer, buddy.), wrap in foil and let sit for 10 minutes.
Glazed carrots
- Bag of carrots (remainder from the soup!) cut into coins or on the bias (so they don't look like eyes)
- 3 oz grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbls cumin seed, whole
- 2 tbls honey
- 2 tbls brown sugar
- 4 tbls water
- 2 tbls butter
- 1 tbls olive oil
- Melt the butter in the olive oil, add the cumin, garlic and ginger, cook on med heat a few minutes until fragrant.
- Add carrots, cook until they just begin to soften.
- Add honey, sugar and water and reduce to a nice sauce. Mount with butter if you want. It's pretty awesome if you do though.
I'm no chef. I'm barely a cook. And certainly not in the professional sense. I work in mobile for a living, but I enjoy cooking almost as much as I love 
