Unexpected Treasures: Pumpkin and Eggplant
The old proverb: ”When life gives you lemons – make lemonade”, has connotations of turning sour or unpleasant aspects of life into something more pleasant or useful. There are many clever quips to this saying such as “—make tequila” and for Mainers “—find a lobster tail”. But joking aside, there are times when the home cook is faced with an unexpected bounty of something in his or her kitchen and suddenly needs to come up with a recipe to do this bounty justice.
This being October and Halloween time, I found myself recently in possession of more small pie pumpkins than needed for my decorations. Fortunately I recalled the French regional recipe for pumpkin gratin from “The Vegetarian Bistro” by Marlena Spieler, which I had slightly modified previously and found unexpectedly flavorful and delicious.
Pumpkin Gratin with Tomato and Red Pepper
Peel, seed and dice a small pie-pumpkin, lightly butter a 12 inch round baking dish or gratin dish. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1) Wash, halve and thinly slice a leek, using white and pale green parts.
2) Prepare the vegetables by dicing: ½ large seeded red bell pepper, 3 small tomatoes. Cut 5 sundried tomatoes in thin strips and mince 3 garlic cloves.
3) In a large pan sauté the pumpkin with leek in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil for 15 minutes until golden. Add the red pepper, all the tomatoes and continue to sauté for 15 additional minutes.
4) Stir in ½ cup dry white wine and cook until the volume is reduced by half.
5) Stir in half the minced garlic, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper and ½ cup heavy cream.
6) Heat the mixture though and pour in the prepared baking dish.
7) Mix the remaining garlic with 2 teaspoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs and 3 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese. Sprinkle bread crumb mix on top of the pumpkin and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve hot.
My second unexpected bounty arrived one morning in the form of a small bag of Japanese eggplants. My friend had delayed cleaning up her garden because of our warm fall this year, and in the meantime her eggplants had produced another big crop. Not to waste such a gift, It was time for a delightful recipe for a vegetable cassoulet, originally vegetarian, I had previously modified from “The Vegetarian Bistro” by adding eggplant, onion, additional texture in the form of oriental wood ear mushrooms and substituting chicken broth for vegetable broth.
Vegetable Cassoulet
Soak 1 cup small white beans overnight in cold water. Cannellini beans are particularly good for this.
1) Drain, rinse the beans and place in a pot covered by 1-2 inches of water. Add 1 bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook on low heat for 1 hour. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and cook for an additional 30 minutes, the beans should not be too soft. Drain and set aside.
2) While beans are cooking prepare the other vegetables. Dice: 1 large seeded red pepper, 1 carrot, 4 fresh tomatoes and 1 medium peeled potato, to be kept under water until cooking. Mince 4 garlic cloves. Set 5-6 Japanese eggplants sliced in half on a baking sheet, spray with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt and broil on both sides until browned. Cut eggplant in bite size pieces.
3) Pour boiling water over 3-4 large wood ear mushrooms and soak submerged for 30 minutes. Remove from the water and cut in strips or small pieces. Wipe clean and slice 4 ounces white or cremini mushrooms. Sauté 1 chopped onion and the fresh mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter each for 5 minutes, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and the chopped wood ear mushrooms, cook until all the moisture is absorbed and set aside,
4) In a large heavy pan sauté the pepper, carrot and potato in 2 tablespoons olive oil for 8 minutes over medium heat until lightly browned. Stir in the tomatoes and mushrooms ½ teaspoon thyme, 1 ½ teaspoons herbes de Provence, flavor with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
5) In a large preferably earthenware casserole put alternate layers of vegetables and beans, pouring in 1 cup dry red wine and 1 cup or more of chicken or vegetable broth until well covered with liquid. Cover with tight fitting lid and bake for 1 ½ hours at 325 degrees..
6) Meanwhile mince 2 large garlic cloves and combine with 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil and ¼ cup chopped parsley.
7) Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove casserole from oven, remove lid and make sure the contents are somewhat soupy by adjusting with broth. Spread 1/3 of crumb mix on top. Return to bake for 15 minutes. Break the crust and stir in cassoulet. Return to oven and repeat one more time. Leave crust on top the last time and serve immediately. The dish reheats well.
Well used bounty can sometimes be a bit lengthy to prepare, but the flavors are well worth the effort and are often even better when reheated.
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
