The heart of the American Mid-West in October - Pumpkinland

The change in seasons here is a little like turning off a paved tarmac road onto a gravel farm path - you can really feel the difference, and it's very sudden.


Today at school my children spent 25 minutes in a mandated fetal position while the tornado sirens wailed. It was their first time. I was at home in my pyjamas wondering whether to crawl under the house. After the storm passed, I felt uneventfully, I saw a huge tree in our neighbour's yard had blown down just like that.


Despite the adrenaline rush of the Fall arriving (or Autumn, as I really WANT to keep calling it, please), there are many much more gentle signs of the season which are probably visible in most Western countries at this time of year, but are celebrated in a particular lavish bounty in these rural American parts.

Yes it's the pumpkins. Huge ones, tiny ones, white and the all-important orange, lumpy and smooth, striped, flattish or roundly fecund. If you visited here only once at this time of the year, you would be convinced it was the only thing they grew all year. 


Now, something has made me very pleased and grateful. In England, they "do" pumpkins at Halloween, and then they feed them to the pigs (or the garbage truck). Some very resourceful, recycling types may make spiced pumpkin soup. But, in essence, British people do not believe pumpkins to be truly edible.

In Indiana, I believe they have come up with every possible way to cook a pumpkin. Now this seems very practical to me, considering how many people's porches are currently lined with them, and at $3.99 a pop, you could spend your week's food budget for the week right there in one big orange blow-out. So why not make the most of your seasonal display's nutritional value? (By the way, I am not advocating this at Christmas unless you are into edible Christmas tree decorations - dried fruit is apparently very attractive).

The reason I have been extolling the virtue of the cooked pumpkin is because the Americans are not only using their resources wisely (yes, I said it), but they are also doing it deliciously. I will share my favourite local recipe with you shortly, but if it doesn't take your fancy, do a Google search for some of the following:


Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Cobbler, Pumpkin Torte, Pumpkin Meringue Pie, Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Pudding, Pumpkin Mash, Pumpkin Preserves, Pumpkin Butter, Pumpkin Cupcakes and Spiced Pumpkin Latte (yes you get this last one at Starbucks).

My favourite recipe was served by a dear friend at Sunday Lunch, after a delicious main course of Cheeseburger soup. Yes, we are in America, and I couldn't get enough of it.


Pumpkin Crisp (or Crumble in English).


Ingredients
2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crisp Topping

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped or dried coconut (optional)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease an 8" square baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla until smooth. Pour into prepared dish.
In medium bowl combine brown sugar, oats, walnuts, flour and cinnamon. Add melted butter and stir until combined.
Sprinkle topping evenly over pumpkin mix.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until center is set and topping is golden brown.
Serve warm with whipped cream and cinnamon if desired.

Image: http://www.goodlifeeats.com

The beauty of produce

Well, my children are very clever. They discovered our friends' vegetable garden, went picking, and laid out a beautiful still life, without me even asking! It's quite beautiful.

Cooking with an Empire's Child - Week 2 The New World

It's time to make the (best) hamburger.

Here are the ingredients you need to make the sauce first. Mix together

1/4 cup salad cream (like Miracle Whip)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp French salad dressing (don't ask why there's a lump in mine. Just don't).

Mix these up nice in a bowl. Then chop 1 dill pickle (gherkin)

until it's really small

Chop up 1 slice fresh onion (keep the rest of the onion for the burgers)

Add it to the bowl with

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp ketchup

and finally 1/8 tsp salt.

Stir together and microwave on high for 25 seconds. Stir again and put into the fridge till you're ready to eat.

Now get the rest of the bits ready. First I must introduce you to a gadget that I cannot do without.

Is it not a thing of beauty? What is it, you ask?

It is a Tupperware Hamburger Squasher. You take your minced meat, weigh it out carefully to a quarter pound, pop it in the Squasher, and Squash.

This gives you beautifully shaped burgers, even thickness and with nice sharp edges. If you don't have a squasher, the best way to do this is to press your minced beef out on a flat surface to about a half inch thick, then cut out rounds with a glass. Press it down firm so that  it doesn't break up.

You aren't going to add anything to the mince, just sprinkle with salt and pepper after you have formed them. You want to keep that meat nice and pure. That's why it's important to buy good quality minced beef.

Now decide how you are going to cook them. They must either be grilled over a charcoal fire, or char-grilled on a griddle. You have to get that slightly smoky burnt flavour. Get your fire ready now if you need to.

Now slice up the onion as fine as you can.

Pop it in a frying pan with some olive oil on low heat and let it sweat.

Now slice up your dill pickles as fine as you can.

Do the same with the tomatoes.

Wash the lettuce and let it drain and dry.

Put your burgers on the very hot fire or griddle. You want to only turn them once. This is our lovely Weber barbeque. We would not use anything else.

(Yes we actually have two).

Oh yum. There is nothing like meat on the grill. Really. Not even the gooiest chocolatiest creamiest dessert is quite as good.

Back in the kitchen, get your buns toasted. If you don't have a toaster, use the grill.

When the meat is ready you can assemble your masterpiece. Like this.

Mm carbs.

Ooh greens.

Ahh fruit (yes really!)

SAUCE!!

ONIONS and BURGER!!

YES!!

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Cooking With an Empire's Child - Week 2 The Shopping List

My husband tells me I am outrageous to suggest that I may be able to teach Americans how to make the best hamburger in the world.

I am, by degrees, an outrageous person.

By the way, to prove how serious Americans are about hamburgers, Serious Eats has their very own blog, just about hamburgers. It's called A Hamburger Today.

If you read their section on Tips and Recipes, you will become anxious and afraid. I warn you.

Here is the shopping list then.

1. White bread buns. Please buy them fresh, from a baker, not in a package that can sit on the shelf for three months. You don't wanna know the chemicals they use to keep them there, still fresh and spongy. Make sure you get soft-crust buns, not crispy. Oh and whatever you do, don't go all healthy on me and ruin the burger with wholewheat. Your meat will get your GI rating right down so don't panic about your blood sugar.

2. Minced beef steak (or steak mince if you will). Don't buy cheap stuff. Get the good stuff. Get enough for a quarter pound per burger.

3. Onions. Whatever kind you want.

4. Lettuce. Romaine or cos is best.

5. Tomatoes. The biggest reddest ones you can find please. Beef steak tomatoes are the perfect choice.

6. A jar of sweet gherkins (dill pickles). Get the whole ones. You'll see why on Friday.

7. Mayonnaise. Proper.

8. Salad cream (Miracle Whip, or something similar)

9. French salad dressing.

10. White vinegar

11. Tomato sauce (ketchup)

Ok, that's it. If you want fries with your burger, I suggest you buy pre-cut fries in the freezer section. Trying to cut your own thin-cut french fries is a nightmare. You don't need this when you just want to get to eating your burger.

You're probably thinking, OK this is what I normally use to make burgers. What's so great about that! It's the technique that counts. So join me on Friday for the challenge. I'm up for it!

Really fast really easy banana muffins

OK so the smell in the kitchen isn't great. It's like when someone drops a banana peel in the car and it slips under the seat, never to be seen again.

It's time to make banana bread. Well, the unfortunate thing about banana bread is that if you don't bake it for at least an hour it ends up all stodgy and disgusting in the middle. So what do you do if the kettle is already boiling for afternoon tea?

Make banana muffins instead. These took me literally twenty minutes (OK I had to boil the kettle again, but still my family actually waited without moaning, so that means it was superfast).

Here's what you do.

Put the oven on to 350F (180C)

Take 3-4 overripe bananas

Peel them and put them in your food processor.

Pour in 1/2 cup white or brown sugar.

Break in 1 egg.

Zoom it all up. Now add a handful of your favourite nuts. I used Hazelnuts.

Zoom it up again, so the nuts get chopped up smallish in the mixture.

Then add 1 1/2 cups plain flour

and 1 tsp baking powder

and 1 tsp baking soda

Do you see I'm not sieving or anything here. Remember, I have ravenous children in the next room.

Zoom it up till mixed. The nuts might have splattered the batter all over the place inside there. Just scrape it down so it's all nice and mixed together.

Now melt 1/3 cup butter in a jug in the microwave (just estimate, and measure properly when it's melted. You can always give extra to the dog).

And finally add 1/2 teaspoon salt (don't ask me why now, just do it).

Zoom it up again until it looks totally mixed up and lovely.

Now get out your muffin and pop in some muffin cases. Yes you must have these in your cupboard. Who likes fussing with greasing little muffin spaces?

Divide the batter between the cases. Don't worry about mess. Just use your finger and lick.

Get them nice and full. Don't be stingy now!

By now, your oven will be hot enough. Pop them in and set a timer for twenty minutes.

Don't you love mine? It's magnetic so it sticks to the fridge. My husband gives me these kind of presents for birthdays and Christmas. He is, after, quite a remarkable husband.

Ooh aren't you hungry for one now?

We had them outdoors in the garden.

With tea.

Happy family.

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