Move over juicing! This soup has lots of fiber and vitamins and is loaded with vegetable power. I created this soup with the intent to use some of the kale and broccoli greens I preserved last fall that have been in my freezer this winter. It’s been a favorite around our house, and with a nice loaf of bread and salad it becomes a meal.
Pumpkin Spice is not just a flavor, it’s a meme. To honor this fun seasonal latte flavor I decided to throw a pumpkin spice party complete with sacrificial pumpkin carving.
Everyone was tasked with bringing some pumpkin flavored dish to a table already laden with orange carving pumpkins. This is a great way for your friends to stay regular and ensure everyone is ready to quickly move on to another flavor fad for christmas.
Our menu of pumpkin inspired dishes included:
Sauce:
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbs. salted butter
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
Saute garlic in butter on medium heat in a medium saucepan until soft and translucent. Add nutmeg and saute for another minute. Add pumpkin puree and heavy cream and stir. Season and add cooked pasta once sauce is heated through.
Ingredients:
1 lb brown lentils, washed and examined for duds
2 tbs. olive oil or ghee
1/2 medium diced onion
2 carrots diced
1-2 potatoes (waxy or fingerling) diced
2 quarts chicken broth
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs curry powder
1 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste
Directions:
In a large dutch oven, sweat onions in olive oil. Adding a pinch of salt with quicken the process. Add the ginger and sauté until softened and fragrant. Add the curry powder and toast for a minute to bloom the spices. Add the carrots, squash, potatoes, lentils and chicken broth. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender. Add the pumpkin puree and simmer for another 5 minutes, seasoning along the way. Fresh lemon juice and sautéed sage leaves really light up the flavors of this soup.
Pumpkin Cake
Roasted locally grown Spaghetti Squash with Kale Pesto
Ingredients
1 large Spaghetti squash per person, seeded and cut in half
2 tbs. Kale pesto per person
1 tbs. grated parmesan cheese per person
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Directions:
Brush squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 375F for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender.
Scrape out insides of squash and mix with pesto and cheese.
Locally grown potato gnocchi and meatballs with pumpkin alfredo
Pumpkin cookies
Pumpkin Soup
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I love autumn, the colors, the crisp air, the last harvests of the season. Unfortunately Alaska has been dark, moist and bleary so far. I recently got my fall fix when I went to visit my friend Sarah in Michigan where the apples and fall where crisp and beautiful. We visited an orchard and picked a variety of apples i’d never heard of before- let alone tasted. We were not alone at the orchard! It was Detroit city schools day at the farm as well. Many of the kids clambered over hay bales and made faces as they tried tart, fresh apples.
After our trip we made applesauce following Sarah’s family’s tried and true method of making applesauce. It really showcases the varietal flavor of the apples we picked and I learned something new- freezing applesauce preserves the tart sweet flavor better than canning. These steps can be applied to Alaskan apples as well. If you are bent on using crabapples for your sauce make sure to mix in some sweeter variety as well to decrease the amount of added sugar you will need. If using commercial apples go for organic and pick smaller apples, they tend to last longer on the shelf and will retain better flavor in shipping.
Since this is a method based project I will not include a recipe, just let taste be your guide along the way.
You will need:
A hand operated food mill/strainer- these can be found at Sportsmans’ Warehouse, Cabelas, and specialty food stores.
Apples- Tart and sweet, in our case Jonagolds and Empires.
Large heavy bottomed pots
Spatulas, wooden spoons
Knife and cutting board
Water
Sugar
Cinnamon
Red Hots (candy)
Step 1.
Cut the apples in similarly sized pieces. No need to peel or core the apples, the food strainer will do this. I usually slice the apples down to 6 slices per apple.
Step 2.
The bottom of your large cooking pot should have an inch of water in the bottom to prevent burning as the apples “melt” down. Add the chopped apples of similar sizes to the pot, filling no more than 3/4 full (the apples tend to rise during the cooking process).
Step 3.
Cook apples until fork tender as you would for mashed potatoes.
Step 4.
Carefully remove extra juice from your cooked apples and then scoop the apples into the food mill hopper and begin to grind the apples into mash, being careful not to overload. You will need to spatula the sauce away from the exit of the mill so that the exit area doesn’t overflow.
Step 5.
Once your sauce is processed add sugar, cinnamon, and Red Hot candies to taste. To preserve your sauce, label into freezer safe containers or follow the Alaska Cooperative Extensions’ steps for canning applesauce.
Flank steak is generally a tricky cut to work with, especially from a lean meat like caribou. We use a salt marinade to retain moisture in the meat without the acidification that can create a mushy texture. When cooked rare, this cut is tender and delicious; when over cooked it can be tough and chewy. I like to serve this with Cilantro- Lime Rice.
I love the idea of using garden greens that normally get tossed into the compost. Broccoli, Turnip, and beet greens are all edible and highly nutritious. Traditional palak paneer utilizes spinach and paneer cheese. It’s a dish from Northern India.
We are both born and raised in Alaska, land of the midnight sun and fishing at 2am. We love to find new ways to use fresh ingredients or put a modern spin on an old Alaskan classic. We hope you will enjoy tasting Alaska.