Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Many years ago, this pie recipe featured in an article written in The Sunday Times by Jan Oldham that reviewed a lunch bar called Kitchen Express that served wonderful home made pies, including this vegetarian one. The newspaper cutting has survived being tucked in various books and recipe files, being dribbled on and nearly set fire to. This week it has starred on Face book after I took it to a friends house for dinner so I thought it was time to pass it on. Perfectly timed for pumpkin season! Kitchen Express Pumpkin Pie about 2kg  Butternut pumpkin 1 uncooked 9 inch pastry shell 2 eggs 1½ cup Cheddar cheese, grated ½ cup spring onions, chopped 2 Tbsp mixed fresh herbs 2 pinches nutmeg ½ tsp each,salt and pepper ½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 8 Black olives, pitted

Preheat oven to 180C.

Deseed pumpkin. Cut into chunks and bake on an oiled oven tray till soft then peel and mash flesh.

If the skin is soft, you can mash the pieces in the food processor and retain all the nutrition that sits just below the skin. You should have about 4-6 cups of mashed pumpkin but the amount is not critical.

Bake pastry blind for a few minutes as per the instructions on the packet.

Mix pumpkin flesh with eggs, herbs, spring onions, nutmeg, salt and pepper and half the cheese.

Spoon filling into pastry and top with the remaining cheese. When making as individual pies, heap the pumpkin up like a little mountain before sprinkling with the pepitas.

Sprinkle with pepitas and arrange olives on top.

Bake for one hour in middle of oven for a large pie, 35-40 minutes for individual ones.

Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting a large pie so it can firm up.

TIP: Don't be shy with the fresh herbs, they are the secret to the success of this recipe. You can use basil, chives, sage, rosemary, parsley, celery leaf, marjoram, in any combination or your choice but do choose at least three different ones.

Zoup time



One here...

The cool weather after the cyclone we didn’t get has been great in that it has coincided with the summer harvest. It was easy to spend time in the kitchen on a gloomy overcast day. Along with the Satsuma’s, the zucchinis and cucumbers are going nuts. I can never understand why the nursery sells seedlings of these plants in punnets of six or eight. To consume that many you would need an extended tribal family or a dozen children. Hating to waste anything and the neighbours having already planted their own, I planted  most of the zucchinis in the most unlikely places where they had little hope of survival and of course they are all thriving! 


here

 

I had a zucchini that had ‘got away’ and now weighed about a kilo. Usually, I would stuff one this large or sneakily chop it up for chicken food. Thanks to the unseasonal rain, its skin was still tender and its seeds barely formed so I thought it worth playing around with.





Zoup

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp oil

2 t curry powder

1 large zucchini, roughly chopped



1 Tbsp Maissel stock powder

2 Tbsp coconut milk powder



Gently fry the onion and the curry powder for one minute.

Add the zucchini and cook a minute more.



Cover with water, adding stock powder and coconut milk.

Simmer for ten minutes.

Blend and check for seasoning, add salt and pepper if you like.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and some chopped mint or coriander leaf.



and here!



Very quick, very easy and with so little cooking, very fresh tasting. It is also gluten free. I actually made mine in my Thermomix™ (alias ‘Thermo man,’ my favourite kitchen helper ever) which meant I didn’t even have to chop the vegies.



I expect that by tomorrow it will be back to temperatures in the thirties. I have just ‘done a Nigella’ and eaten a few mouthfuls of the left overs in the fridge and the soup tastes just as good cold. If you are weight watching, omit the coconut powder and stir in some yoghurt towards the end of the cooking time.

Maybe I should try that recipe for zucchini cake next...



Happy eating!



Whole Children

Jude Blereau has been my whole food hero for many years.  A wholefood chef, food coach, real food activist and author are some of the hats she wears. This, her third book is written from under her most important hat – that of a mother.

It includes careful explanations of the nutritional and emotional needs of children, a practical grounding in wholefood preparation and loads of yummy recipes. Covering the needs of children from 6 months to 7 years, she caters for allergies and food intolerance of all kinds and includes recipes for meat and fish.  These are not the bland meals we feed children from jars, they are certainly not boring and adults will find them irresistible too.  Certainly not a load of old lentils!

There is sensible advice about fussy eaters and attainable goals for parents wanting to provide the best nutrition they can without losing sight of the demands of a busy life. It is a book written from her vast experience of life and of food.

It is a book written from the heart.

Wholefood for Children, Jude Blereau 

Murdoch Books 2000 $45.00

Licking fingers

The sweetcorn is almost the last man standing in the garden at the moment and for the first time in years we have a successful crop. The scorching Indian summer has seen almost every other vegetable bolt to seed, succumb to mildew or dry to a crispy brown. The farmers' Market today was a little quiet in the variety of vegetables but there was plenty of corn. I had been looking for inspiration for a barbeque and seeing the great green stacks reminded me of a recipe...

Smokey Corn Cobs

6 cobs of corn - must have the whole cob, preferably with a 'handle' for easy eating.


100gms salted butter, softened

4 tsp smoked paprika, Spanish if you can get it

4 drops of Tabasco

4 tsp light brown sugar

Blend the butter, paprika, Tabasco and sugar until you have a rich smooth orange spread.

Peel back the outer leaves of the corn, working around the corn until the cob is exposed and remove the corn silk.
Generously spread the cob with the butter mix. It should fall into the spaces between the individual corn seeds.
Begin to re wrap the corn in its husk, again working around the cob and smoothing over the butter.
Make sure that you have at least two layers covering the butter and then remove any green husks you didn't need.
Tear a strip from top to bottom from one of the discarded husks, about 2 cm wide and tie at the top of the cob. Trim the ends of the tie.
Continue with the rest of the corn.

Place the corn in the refrigerator until needed.

To cook, place on a hot barbeque grill, turning so it is evenly browned. You can also microwave the cobs but they tend to steam rather than roasting and you don't get the additional smoky flavour.

Let each person 'peel' their own cob to enjoy the caramelised spicy sugar and dripping melted butter.

Any extra butter can be served with the corn. Provide lots of serviettes, there will be plenty of sticky fingers!

Any extra corn husks can be dried and stored. Soak for an hour in warm water to revive and use them as a wrapper for tamales or any other steamed morsels.

Enjoy,

nirala