The best ever pumpkin recipe

It’s almost Halloween which means within the next 36 hours, thousands, if not millions, of people are going to ask, “What can I make with pumpkin?”  Might I suggest the pretty little delicacy pictured above– the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie.  Whatever you do, don’t use the pumpkin guts from your Jack-o-Lantern.  It’s too stringy.  You want a nice, fleshy pumpkin for this.

I had never heard of Whoopie Pies, but was immediately intrigued by the recipe for them in Bob and Melinda Blanchard’s book Cook What You Love.  And I LOVE pumpkin, especially in desserts. 

I’ve adapted their recipe to use fresh pumpkin or butternut squash (which is in the same genus as pumpkins) instead of canned pumpkin.  I also found a different recipe for the filling than the one in their book.  It was in a review of the chocolate whoopie pie recipe on Epicurious, and I picked it because everyone who knew whoopie pies said THAT was the filling they remembered from when they were kids.

So, without further ado, a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies, quite possibly the most perfect treat for autumn there ever was.

1 small butternut squash (about 2 lbs or so)

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 425.  Cut the butternut squash in half and place each half cut side down on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes  until it is very tender and easy to mash.  Take squash out of the oven and turn heat down to 350.

Scoop flesh out of the squash and puree it until it’s smooth.  You should have about 2 cups or 1 pound of puree, which is the same as a can of pumpkin.  Set this aside.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the pureed squash or pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until blended.  Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, and mix just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Place heaping tablespoons of the batter about 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets.  You may want to take a spatula to “smooth” the cakes so the tops flatten a bit when they bake so the whoopie pies will sit evenly when you assemble them.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them with your finger.  Cool on wire racks.

For the filling:

1 cup milk

5 Tbsp. flour

1 stick butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla

In a small saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk.  Cook on medium heat until it thickens.  Remove from heat and let mixture cool a bit.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and shortening together, then beat in salt, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Add the cooled milk and flour mixture about 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is fluffy and creamy.  You may not need to add all the milk and flour mixture.

Spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the flat side of half the cakes and top with the other halves. 

Makes about 24.

 

Well, crap…

This is not good news.  Should I have another cup of coffee or be flatter than Kansas? Coffee or Kansas…. coffee… Kansas…

Next thing you know, scientists will tell us eating lots of cheese will make our butts big.

Bush was right about food aid

According to former President Clinton, he and the U.S. blew it on food aid to developing countries.  In the story he also says that President Bush was right in asking that 25% of U.S. aid be in cash rather than commodity crops.

First, let me point out my headline.  I said “Bush was right.”  I could easily have written it as ”Clinton says U.S. blew it on food aid”, but I didn’t.  I credited Bush with being right, even if it pained me a little to do that.  It just shows that journalists can be fair and unbiased.  So there.

And I’d like to take Clinton’s remarks a bit further.  Not only are we wrong for requiring countries to drop crop subsidies from their own government in order to get aid from the U.S., but the global captains of industry are wrong when they encourage farmers in developing nations to quit growing their own native foods they could use to feed themselves in order to plant more crops  they’ll never eat because it will all be sent to the U.S. or other Western Nations to feed our desire for cheap food.

Furthermore, when they do start growing their own food again, it should be with seeds of their own choosing, not GMO terminator seeds manufactured by companies like Monsanto or Cargill and sent as a “gift” by the U.S.  Some gift.  “Here, have some seeds, that will grow crops this year, and this year only.  After that, you’ll have to pay a behemoth U.S. company to get them.” 

Finally, treating food as a commodity isn’t just a problem for developing nations.  The big commodity crops (corn, wheat, rice, soy planted in giant monocultures) are anathema to responsible agriculture and a big reason Americans are so fat.  All these commdoties are pulled apart and reassembled into crap food like cereal straws, Cheetos (which I love), and Oreos (which I also love).  Basically, most of the “food” in the middle of the grocery store is made up of some reformulated commodity crop.  Yet the U.S. government continues to prop up farmers who grow these crops, and even punishes them for trying to grow anything else like tomatoes or carrots.  This is why it’s cheaper to buy a Little Debbie (which I also love) than, say, an apple.

So, certainly, let’s work to make the food aid we provide to other countries more appropriate, but let’s not forget to tend our own gardens while we’re at it.

How to make tortillas (a.k.a. You’re not in Arizona anymore)

Spoiled.  That’s what I was.  Living in Arizona, I was surrounded by great Mexican food (I’m not talking about authenticity here, if you want to argue about that, go find another blog).  Fresh tortillas were a dollar a dozen.

And then I moved to Adelaide– about as far away from Mexico as one can get, which essentially makes it a gaping black hole of tortilla making.  For a while, I made do with Old El Paso corn tortillas that smelled sort of like Play-doh and had the consistency of fake plastic puke.

Luckily, I found a shop here called Chile Mojo which is run by an American who was probably about as homesick for Mexican food as I was.  Lo and behold, Chile Mojo carries masa harina.  My next problem was a tortilla press.  Chile mojo had metal ones, but since they’re imports they’re expensive.  I shopped for tortilla presses in Arizona, but was underwhelmed by the selection and the price as well.  So my very handy hubby made me a tortilla press that works like a dream.

Until you get the hang of it, making tortillas is a tad time consuming, but when my options are fake plastic puke tortillas or the real deal, I’m happy to give up half an hour of my time.  And there is nothing like the smell and taste of fresh tortillas.  The aroma is amazing– they really smell like fresh ground corn, which is something you’ll never find in store-bought bag.

Making the dough is simple.  In fact, you don’t really even need exact measurements. 

Pour the masa harina in a mixing bowl– just eyeball it– a cup and a half to two cups will make plenty of tortillas.  Add a pinch of salt and just a dab (a teaspoon or so) of cooking oil.  Fill a measuring cup with hot tap water.  Pour in about half a cup, maybe more, and stir it into the masa harina with your hands. Keep adding water bit by bit until the mixture is just moist.  You want it just past the crumbly stage but not sticky.  Form the dough into a ball, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap, and then go do something else for about an hour.

When the dough is ready (it’s not going to rise or anything, it just needs to rest for an hour), heat a non-stick skillet over high heat (don’t use oil, you don’t want to fry them).  I use my Calphalon griddle, which I adore.  While the griddle is heating, roll the tortilla dough into just-smaller-than golf ball-sized pieces.

Line the tortilla press with plastic wrap on each side, place one of the dough balls on the base…

put the lid down and press. 

Lift the lid, then carefully peel the tortilla from the plastic wrap and place it on the hot skillet. 

 Be prepared to tear your first few tortillas, but don’t cry, pobrecita, just roll it back into a ball and do it again.  Let it cook on one side for about 30 seconds and flip it.  The first side should have brown speckles.

  Let  it cook on the other side for about the same amount of time, maybe less, then flip it one more time and finish it off on that side for about 10 seconds.  The tortillas are supposed to puff up when they cook. Sometimes mine puff a lot, sometimes they don’t  but they still turn out fine.  Take the tortilla off the skillet and place between the folds of a clean dish towel.  Eventually, you’ll find a rhythm and be able to press a tortilla while one is cooking to speed the process along.

The last time I made corn tortillas, I used them to make cheese enchiladas.

Ready for the sauce and cheese…

Time to go in the oven…

Hot and bubbly, topped with green onion.

Plated with some refried black beans, which, I must admit, look pretty unattractive, and a green salad with a creamy chipotle dressing.  Delish.

Now, even if I do ever wind up living in tortilla central (Phoenix) again, I’ll probably make my own from time to time, just because nothing tastes better than homemade.

Michael Pollan for U.S. Food Czar

 

I just recently read journalist Michael Pollan’s memo to the next President (it’s really long but worth the read).  After reading it, I think there needs to be a food czar– just like the drug czar– only this position would likely be a lot more effective.  This person would help direct food policy and oversee both the compromised and castrated FDA and USDA.

Michael Pollan probably knows more about food policy than any other American after researching his two excellent books The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, so he is the obvious choice for food czar. I’d like to hear what others think and who they would like to see as food czar or members of the food czar’s staff.

That said, I have a couple of quibbles about his memo in the NY Times magazine.

Blog Action Day 2008: A chicken in every pot

The title of this post was one half of a Herbert Hoover campaign slogan in 1928 and we all know how well his dreams of prosperity turned out.  Perhaps part of the problem with that slogan is that Americans didn’t actually have a pot to cook the chicken in.

Today is Blog Action Day and I’ve taken up the challenge to address the issue of poverty as it relates to food.

Obesity is a huge problem in America and Australia, and there’s a lot of research that points to a possible link between poverty and obesity.  Part of the reason for this is that people who live in poverty often live in what are known as “food deserts” and don’t have easy access to good food or just can’t afford fresh, healthy food. 

Los Angeles is trying to combat the “food desert” problem in a South L.A. community by putting a moratorium on new fast food restaurants and encouraging businesses that sell healthier food.  There are other ways people are trying to get better food into the bellies of those who need it most: community gardens are springing up in lower-income neighborhoods, farmer’s markets are linked to the WIC program, and programs like Second Harvest.  These are all great– but does just providing healthy food go far enough to solve the problem?  I don’t think it does.

The poverty that leads to obesity goes beyond the inability to afford decent food.  It’s also a poverty of the kitchen tools needed to cook healthy food and a poverty of kitchen skills.  Sure, you can give everyone a chicken, but if they don’t have a pot to put it in or don’t know how to cook it, how are they going to eat?

Jamie Oliver finally figured this out when he filmed Jamie’s Ministry of Food.  He spent time in a lower income community where people eat like crap and found out they eat that way because they don’t know how to cook.  And how would they?  If they grew up eating convenience foods and fast food, where would they learn?

While food banks and other food programs do help get healthy food to people to some degree (and I’m aware of some of the inadequecies of the food stamp program), we need to go further if we want to help battle the obesity born of poverty.

This is why I want to start a foundation to work in conjunction with food banks and other food programs that will provide basic kitchen equipment and cooking classes to people on low incomes.  This idea has been brewing in the back of my mind for at least a year now, but I think Blog Action Day has made me think more seriously about actually doing something about it.   Watch this space….

I’m a happy little Vegemite

Although we’re both former British colonies, the U.S. and Australia have a LOT of cultural differences.  We both allegedly speak English, but I still frequently don’t understand what people are saying to me and I sometimes have to ask my husband to spell out what he says.  Americans wear religion on their sleeves, but you’ll never hear an Australian candidate for political office be forced to say how much he loves Jesus.  In Australia, I can be watching regular TV at 8pm and hear the f-bomb and see full frontal nudity.  Americans are prude by comparison.  Americans only love a winner. Australia idolizes its losers (Ned Kelly, Burke & Wills).

But perhaps the biggest cultural divide between Americans and Australians is a culinary one:  Australians love it.  Americans don’t.  Today, I officially crossed that great divide for the second time in a month by eating  Vegemite without making a face and falling into spasmodic convulsions.  I think this makes me a Vegemite eater, and probably a little bit more Australian.

Granted, my toast is spread with butter first, then just the thinnest veil of Vegemite and topped with a slice of cheese, but still…  I’m eating Vegemite.

I’m curious to know what culinary hurdles other expats have cleared in their new countries of residence.  Is there a food that once gave you the heebie jeebies that you now like?