Stuffed Pumpkin and other things...

Last night for dinner I made stuffed pumpkin. It's something I've been making for years and have never written down the recipe so that will have to wait until the next time I make it. Generally I don't use recipes other than for the base of an idea of what I want to make if it's something I've never made before. I usually just throw stuff together and go by intuition(you have taste buds and a brain, use them!!) instead of sticking to a recipe to the letter.

Anyway, the stuffing for the pumpkin is a cranberry, apple, walnut, sage stuffing. I didn't have any apples last night though since the kids had eaten them all so I made it with just the cranberries. It still came out pretty tasty, but is definitely better with the apples.

Veggie Stock

Another thing I finished up today was the veggie stock I was making. Since I'm staying home again I actually have time to make all of these things again, it's great! Basically what I do is save all the bits, pieces, and peels from onions (not the papery stuff though), carrots, celery tops, parsley stems, mushroom trimmings, etc. in a freezer bag and then when I have enough, I bust out my huge stock pot and make stock. If by the time I go to make the stock I don't have enough of something to follow the balance of a basic mirepoix, I will add whatever is needed. In this case, I needed to round out what I had with some onions, carrots, and then of course a bouquet garni for added depth and flavor to the stock. I don't mess with making an actual bouquet or even a sachet, I just throw it all in the pot since I strain all through cheese cloth later. Bring it to a boil, reduce a simmer, and wait....stir and wait...and wait...


...6 hours later... I kind of just let it do it's thing on the stove. You really don't have to watch it if you keep the heat low and if you have enough water in there the veggies won't stick to the bottom and burn. The longer you can let it cook, the more developed your stock flavor will be. I ended up just pulling it off the stove to finish in the morning.

After seasoning the stock with some sea salt, a little Bragg's liquid aminos, and fishing out most of the veggies with a small mesh strainer I have into a square of cheese cloth over a bowl, I try to press as much liquid as possible out. Then I set those veggies to the side and strain the remaining liquid into a huge mixing bowl. The veggies go back into the pot for the second extraction and I bag up the first batch for freezing. I was able to get almost a full gallon out the first batch. The second batch will be smaller and will get the last bit of flavor and nutrition out of the veggies which I'll just toss afterward. I guess I could compost them or something, but that's a project I plan to undertake next year or whenever I actually get around to it.

Another thing I want to try to start doing is saving all the cooking water from any veggies that I steam or boil and incorporating that into my stocks and soups. (unless it's something that would make everything taste weird like cabbage water) I got the idea from reading on the Bragg website here. It really makes a lot of sense. I also remember from my reading on the Hunza people, the most long lived people in the world that they also consume all cooking liquids from their vegetables. I think the common thread here is to consume as many nutrients in their natural state as possible.

Funky Carrots

Here are a couple of shots of some carrots we picked at Miller Farms that I thought were very interesting...

These two grew twisted together. They're like little love carrots!














And these ones remind me of the mandrake roots from Pan's Labyrinth.