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All pumpkins can be used to cook with, but the best ones have the least interior fibre. We made pumpkin pies after our 2011 squash trial using Galeux d'Eysines - and they were GOOD.
Before you can use your pumpkin as an ingredient, it needs to be rendered down from a big orange fruit into usable pumpkin puree. One pumpkin will produce quite a lot of puree, so work in batches, and simply freeze any leftovers. We like to pour leftover puree into ziplock bags, which can then be stored in the deep freeze for winter use.
1. Cut pumpkin in half, and scoop out all the seeds, sparing as much of the flesh as possible. Cut the seeded flesh into workable sized pieces, and remove the skin of each with a sharp knife.
2. Steam batches of pe
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Before you venture out to the garden and harvest a bunch of flowers for the dinner table, it’s important to remember that some flowers are poisonous. Make sure you’ve made a positive identification of each variety you’re using. Obviously, you should avoid flowers that may have been sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals, so either grow your own organic flowers, or harvest them from a location you’re sure about. Organic or not, all flowers should be shaken and washed in cold water prior to use, as they may to be homes for insects.
Pick your edible flowers in the morning, when they have the highest water content. Keep them on some dampened paper towel inside a sealed container in the refrigerator for as long as a week. You can revive wilted flowers by floating them in some ice water for a few minutes. Prepare them for eating just before serving in order to prevent further wilting.
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Fattoush is a Lebanese salad enjoyed in variations around the Mediterranean. It’s a superb way of using fresh, seasonal vegetables, and the salad components can vary depending on what’s fresh or what you like to eat. It’s also a great way to deal with stale pita bread! The recipe below makes a knock-out salad to serve with Middle Eastern dishes, or anything else for that matter. It takes some prep time, and a food processor chopping blade will help, but you’ll want to make it again and again.
Dressing:
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons sumac (look for sumac in Mediterranean groceries or delis. It adds a wonderful sourness to the dish)
Pita chips:
You can use fresh or stale pita bread, or one that has been frozen and then thawed. Use one whole piece of brea
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Salsa Verde (literally "green sauce") is the most popular condiment in Mexico, ubiquitous on restaurant tables around the country. Good salsa verde is easy to make, and nearly all the ingredients can be grown in the home garden.
Ingredients:
15 tomatillos, halved
1-2 jalapeno peppers
2-3 cloves garlic
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, quartered
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Begin by laying the tomatillos, cut-side-down on a cookie sheet. Broil these until they are soft and slightly blackened. They don't all have to be charred black, but the black skin adds a nice, smokey flavour to the salsa. Add these and the chopped onion to a food processor and work until you have a smooth liquid.
Heat a heavy skillet over high, and add the separated garlic cloves, unpeeled, and the jalapenos. You want to get these all a bi
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This is a great side dish for any southwestern style meal, and it’s a nice way to use up tomatillos, which seem to ripen all at once at the end of summer. Combining the green tomatillos with the red and yellow tomatoes makes it both tasty and eye-catching.
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ small red onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (or substitute tequila if you’re feeling adventurous)
- 8 tomatillos, cored and diced
- 4 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes, seeded and diced – try this with a sweet variety like Sungold!
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 sprigs fresh basil, torn
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the onions to sauté for 2 minutes. Add the wine and tomatillos, stir to combine, and remove from the heat. Add the yellow and red tomatoes while the pan is still warm, and
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