PUMPKIN WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH ROSEMARY

I had a pumpkin whose top was chopped off and stolen to replace the top of a jack-o-lantern who had also been decapitated. There it was sitting in my fridge. I never tackled an entire pumpkin before, but recently at a great restaurant called Northeast Kingdom I had tried Pumpkin Black Bean Apple Cider Soup which was outstanding so I decided to make it with my favorite bean: the cannellini or the white bean.

A day ahead I roasted the pumpkin in the oven with salt, pepper and olive oil. I also soaked my dry beans ahead of time. The next evening I started boiling them for close to an hour. In the meantime, I sauteed an onion, fresh rosemary and some bay leaf in olive oil. Then I added the chunks of pumpkin and let everything sautee for a bit. Next I ladled in some of the water from boiling beans and some vegetable broth. I brought everything to a boil and added the beans along with the rest of the bean water, which is nice and starchy. At this point I added a clove of chopped garlic. I let everything simmer for a while until soft then I blended it until smooth.

It turned out to be a really simple and delicious well balanced soup. I got hints of everything, the pumpkin, the white beans and my favorite herb, the rosemary.

And I didn't let those pumpkin seeds go to waste, I toasted them with some curry, cayenne pepper, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper.

KALE LENTIL SOUP

I haven't posted frequently to my blog because I made all this soup and have been living on it for a week with no need to cook anything else!

This recipe is adapted from Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet Cookbook South Indian Spinach and Lentil Soup recipe. I have substituted kale.

Soak 1 C. of orange lentils for a couple of hours, then rinse them and boil them in 4 C. of water until they are mushy. Meanwhile, steam or boil spinach or kale or any leafy green. I have even substituted broccoli rabe here. Then add the greens to the simmering lentils. In a separate pan sautee some hot red chilis and a couple of tablespoons of white urad lentils, then add this to the soup. Add 1 C. of unsweetened coconut. Let everything cook together for a bit. Meanwhile in hot oil cook 1 tablespoon of black mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds pop add the seeds along with the flavored oil to the soup. Serve warm. This makes a lot of soup that can be enjoyed all week long.

POTATO LEEK FRITTERS

The last CSA pick-up is coming up and its bittersweet. Bitter because no more vegetables. Sweet because no more trying to figure out what the hell to do with vegetables I know only how to do one thing with. Well, at least it has forced me to be inventive.

Leeks! I've done Kale Leek Frittata, Potato Leek Soup and Leek Pasta with Toasted Bread Crumbs. What next? FRITTERS! Anything fried, right?

So I looked up a few recipes and saw this one for Potato Leek Fritters. I modified it a bunch. I used 3 potatoes, which is more than the recipe calls for and 2 eggs which is less. I also omitted the cheese, which I know would have been really yummy.

What I liked about this recipe is that it called for me to boil garlic with the potatoes, then add the leeks. I have never ever boiled garlic. But it was fantastic. The smell was wonderful especially after I added the leeks. After everything boiled down I drained then mashed it and added some salt and pepper and really good extra virgin olive oil. I let that cool then mixed in beaten eggs and bread crumbs. I eyeballed everything making sure it was thick enough to form into fritters. I let that sit for a bit to come together then fried them. These would be perfect with this garlic mayo I was just put onto and sour cream of course.

PUMPKIN PECAN PIE

Like the turkey the pumpkin really suffers from seasonal depression. It asks: why only love me until halloween then throw me away with the egg and shaving cream covered decorations?Pumpkin is seasonal, but the season doesn't end on October 31st, and pumpkins like other squashes keep for a while. This post is dedicated to sweet pumpkins everywhere. Not only are they delicious, they're orange, the best color ever.

I remember Melissa, my favorite baker, claiming to make a kick ass Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. If thats not the best of both world's as far as pie go then I don't know what is. In honor of the pumpkin, and as a sweet gift to a jack-o-lantern obsessed person, I made a Pumpkin Pecan Pie. This self-proclaimed Halloween grinch had such an awesome Pumpkin Carving Party and made spicy pumpkin chili, pumpkin bread and served pumpkin beer.

Aren't these jack-o-lanterns awesome!

And check out the moto! If this doesn't scream Halloween Spirit then I don't know what does. It went all the way over the Williamsburg Bridge and back in one piece!

I had a lot of scary movies to watch on Halloween so I went with Muirhead Pumpkin Butter from William-Sonoma for the pie filling to save some time. I did take the time to make the crust myself since I am obsessed with making pie crust at the moment. If I keep it up I am going to need a food processer. Cutting the butter into the flour by hand is hard work! I used the pie crust recipe on the jar of pumpkin butter and will surely use this recipe again. I am very proud of how well it turned out. Professional-like. It stayed nice and crisp and didn't get gooey on the bottom.

While the pie was baking I coated pecans with brown sugar, maple syrup and some whisky. About half way through baking I took the pie out and added the pecans on top so the filling would be hard enough to support the pecans. Next time I will also beat an egg into the pecan mixture so they hold together on top of the pie better.

The oven was temperamental and not properly calibrated so the pie was a little loose in the center, but after some refrigeration it hardened up fine. It was a delicious pie that I cannot wait to further tweak. I will definitely be making this pie for Turkey Day.

GRILLED SHRIMP AND TURNIP SOUP

Turnip soup is a favorite of mine. This time I made it with Indian Spices. In hot oil I sauteed some black mustard seed, cumin seeds and hot chili flakes until the mustard seeds popped, then added chopped onions, garlic and grated ginger. Next, I added cubed turnip and potatoes. I added some water and vegetable bouillon and let everything simmer until the vegetables were soft, then I used to hand mixer to puree it all together and simmer it for a while longer until thick. Meanwhile I marinated some shrimp in some lime juice and salt and grilled it. I served it over the soup with fresh parsley.

ted and amy supper club

I'd been looking forward to going to The Ted and Amy Supper Club, as in Ted Allen from Queer Eye, and Amy Sedaris from Strangers with Candy. But its not their supper club, its Kara's super club in ode to them, which is so hilarious. I figured the Halloween Dinner, with the scariest menu I have ever seen would be a perfect.

I came in costume, which can be a little weird when meeting people for the first time in their home, but I love awkward situations so I powered through it with a Bloody Rum Punch Cocktail.

On the kitchen counter, there shamelessly displayed for self-promotion was the Guest Chef Scott Gordon's The Shameless Carnivore A Meat Lover's Manifesto. I hate modesty so I appreciated his countless plugs. I asked him whether people always ask him his cholesterol level, to which he answered that its a stupid question because he doesn't only eat meat, he eats all good food and thinks meat can be eaten healthily and responsibly. Agreed. Now, I am a meat lover who likes to argue for argument's sake, but since Scott was serving my food I played nice.

I really enjoyed Scott's first dish, Blood Sausage with daikon (if I remember correctly) with a nice mustard sauce on the side. Nicely portioned and a great start.

Next we had a really deliciously prepared Headless Horseman Soup of pumpkin with cloves and honey. I loved it too much. And the portion size here was a little too much for the amount of food still ahead. I wish I had more self-control, but it was so good I couldn't help but lick the bowl clean. There were even offerings of seconds. Craziness. If I had had another bowl of that I would have been ready for dessert.

It was time for the dreaded Zombie Brains, which was pan calf brains and lemon aioli. Guests likened them to fried oysters. As the saying goes, "anything fried is good" and these were pretty good if you could get over the fact they were brains. One brain for me was enough though. My mouth didn't want any more of the creamy insides after the first one. I am glad I tried them but if I never had them again I wouldn't really miss them. They were a perfect menu item for this creepy dinner however.

Next the anxiously awaited Skeleton Bones which were roasted veal bone marrow with parsley salad. I love bone marrow. I had it the first time at a Choice Cuts dinner. Delectably described as beef butter, Scott plated it perfectly with a side of well dressed parsley greens and plenty of bread for sopping. But then more bone marrow was passed around! Kara, don't you know I have no self-control? I bit. More bone marrow for me, which wasn't wise with what was still ahead.

I was really excited about the Creature from the Black Lagoon dish of grilled calamari over squid ink linguini. The calamari were grilled beautifully and the squid ink pasta had a really delicious creamy buttery sauce that was divine. This time I asked for more pasta. Shame on me but it was just so good. As a rule seconds should be banned from Supper Club dinners.

Kara's dessert, The Devil's Food Cake which were individual chocolate caramel cakes served warm topped with candy corn were chocolate heaven. It was like hot chocolate cake. It had a nice cake crust on top and was ooey and gooey inside. I loved it. A perfect ending to a delicious meal. Thanks Kara and Scott!

PAULIE GEE PIZZA PLACE OPENING SOON!!!

Read about it on Slice.

Paulie Gee is awesome. And he's opening his own pizza place in Greenpoint very soon! What a great day for Paulie Gee, for pizza in general, and for all the lucky New Yorkers who will get to enjoy his amazing pizza. This WILL be the best pizza in NYC. I am sure of it!

HARVEST FEST IN THE CATSKILLS

Harvest Fest at Charles and Martin's house means a few great things: food, fun, food, fun, brown booze, fun, bonfire, more food. When I arrived Kathy's secret homemade gingerbread cookies were waiting to fill our hungry bellies. Look how cute, there are little wiener dog skeletons! This next to a plate of Stephanie's homemade chocolate peppermint cookies and the eating festival had begun. While munching on these sugar crack cookies, Charles gave us a tour of his bee hive which he was able to harvest a good amount of honey from this year. He has Italian honey bees and the Queen is befittingly named Donatella.

Its amazing how much we all do and eat in a 24 hour period when we go up there. After cookies and bees we headed out for cider and the fixins we would need for a meal of what turned out to be 15 people!

At Rickard's Cider Mill, the cider lady filled our gallon jugs to order from a hose apparatus that came directly out of the cider mill. We then headed to Honesdale, a town in PA to check out all of the new stores that have popped up since the summer.

Next a stop at the Alpine, this amazing German Specialty Store. The meat there is gorgeous. The butcher was really bossy to Mart about the meat he selected, but it ended up being unbelievable so it was worth it. I also picked up some fantastic Kielbasa and Chorizo sausage that we enjoyed with fresh crusty bread from this new artisanal bakery, the name of which escapes me, and cheese from the local Caulkins Creamery.

Dinner was as usual a big fun group effort. Stephanie presented a delicious squash soup to start plus a sage cheddar squash tart. I worked with Kathy on a big roasted root vegetable dish we made with butternut squash, potatoes, red carrots, onions, garlic, fresh rosemary, thyme, butter, olive oil and the secret ingredients, Charles' honey and cayenne. Jennifer made a delicious salad of romaine, pear, goat cheese and dressed it with with a garlic maple mustard dressing that was really delicious. I made a baked rigatoni with a pesto bechamel. Mart was in charge of the meat, which he cooked simply to perfection.

For dessert I embarrassingly served an apple pie which had a major crust malfunction. This secret apple pie recipe is from a Erik's Grandma Hare's Family Cookbook. Its his Aunt Sue's award winning Apple Pie recipe, and even though she divulges the recipes in the cook book, there are still some sneaky secrets. First, you have to double the darn crust or it won't be enough to cover the top or bottom of the pie, which happened to me. Bob described it as looking "primitive," but it still tasted great and I did a good job covering the botched slices up with lots of ice cream. Food coma time begins over Whiskey Apple Cider Cocktails and the warm bonfire in the backyard, which I nearly fell into, but was saved in the nick of time.

You would think we would end the eating festivities there but we woke up the next day and headed to a Firehouse Pancake breakfast. $6 all you can eat pancakes, bacon, eggs and potatoes. And these funny ladies were serving us tons of laughs to go with our pancakes. A fun end to a fun and filling harvest weekend. I can't wait for next year!