Pumpkin Stew with Fresh Chiles & Feta Cheese

I am making this hearty, comforting pumpkin dish tonight.  It is one of my daughter's favourites and it reheats well.  I use pumpkin and squash interchangeably in most recipes depending on what I have on hand.  Use fresh and not canned pumpkin which is pureed. Alternately, a good substitute is a dense orange squash like butternut.  The original recipe was from Peru and it was made with serrano peppers which are 5 times hotter than jalapenos.

Below the cayenne peppers are spread out to ripen in the house.  I had them near the fire for a week or two which helped totally dry them out for storage

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ORGANIC INGREDIENTS
Makes six servings about 300 grams each

1 Tbsp (15 ml) sunflower or other neutral oil like grapseed
1 cup (250 ml) onion, raw, chopped - I use red
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh cayenne, serrano or jalapeno pepper, minced (to taste) - I used 2 dried cayenne
2 potatoes, with skin, raw, cut into cubes - I prefer red potatoes but any will do
8 cups (2 liters) pumpkin, raw, cubes (or squash or sweet potatoes)
1/4 cup (60 ml) water - add more as necessary
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk or cream (coconut milk works if you need a non-dairy version)
1 cup (250 ml) Ontario cheese like brebis, feta or semi-soft goat cheese (skip cheese for non-dairy or vegan version)
1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) sea salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 cup (125 ml) cilantro, fresh, minced (or parsley, oregano)

METHOD:

1.  Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Saute chopped onion, minced garlic and chiles until soft and fragrant.  I used a few of my dried garden cayenne peppers.

 2.   Scrub potatoes but leave the skins on for extra fibre and nutrition.  Dice into bite-size squares.

3.  Peel and cut fresh pumpkin (or squash) into cubes.  I use a very sharp chef's knife to split the pumpkin in half and set aside the seeds to dry for the summer garden.  I cut it into strips, peel and cube as below.  It is a bit of work but worth the effort. 

 

I save my vegetable scraps in a bag and freeze them.  I will use them later to make a fragrant vegetable broth.  Pumpkin is really nice in vegetable stocks as it imparts a sweet flavour and golden colour.



4.  Add diced raw pumpkin and potatoes with water to the skillet.  Cover and cook over medium low heat until the pumpkin and potatoes are tender.  I cooked mine 10 minutes and thought it was too long.  I like the pumpkin a bit less mushy.

 

5. Stir in the milk (or cream) and crumbled cheese and heat through.  I used goat cheese in tonight's version but I usually use feta.  It would also be good with the Brie, Brebis or Camembert cheese.  Brebis to me is the French equivalent to feta - a creamy, soft, unripened cheese made with sheep's milk.  PC brand is 26% MF and very delicious. If you want a dairy free version you can use coconut milk and skip the cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Garnish with fresh minced cilantro.  You can substitute fresh or dried oregano and/or parsley instead of the cilantro. 

Don't toss the pumpkin seeds!  You can dry them to plant in this summer's garden or toast them for a tasty snacks.  I will sit down and remove the "gunk" and spread them out on a tea towel to air dry.  I have good results and rarely have to buy pumpkin seeds.  I also save the seeds from any organic squash I buy at the store and grow some for myself.  Roast the seeds in a 350'F oven on a lightly oiled pan until lightly brown and toasted.

NUTRITION FACTS: Pumpkin a very versatile and nutritious vegetable that is very good in cookies, muffins, pancakes, pie, savoury quiche, soup, stews and casseroles.  The dark orange vegetables like pumpkin, winter squash, sweet potatoes and carrots outshines all others in beta carotene which our body converts to vitamin A. Research has found that a diet rich in beta-carotene can reduce your risk of developing certain cancers and helps prevent heart disease. Beta-carotene also maintains good vision and fights infection. They are also packed with fibre, antioxidants, vitamins B6, C and K as well as calcium, potassium and folate. The flesh of the pumpkin is lower in calories and carbohydrate compared to sweet potatoes.

Per 300 g/approximately 1 cup serving of the casserole has: 190 calories, 9 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 400 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 3 g fibre, 5 g sugar, 7 g protein.  % Daily Values are 60% vitamin A, 45% vitamin C, 20% calcium and 10% iron.

Yours in good taste, © Nancy Guppy, RD, MHSc.  http://nancyguppy.com/

Easy to save squash and pumpkin seeds

Above I am starting to clean up the seeds from an organic Kabocha squash. They look somewhat like a buttercup squash but are Japanese in origin.  Use your hands to remove the pulpy bits and wash in water as necessary.  Spread out on a plate to dry.  Turn them every day or so until very dry.  Then pack in a glass jar and seal for next's years garden.  Couldn't be simpler.  One caution though - be sure they are good and dry or they may grow mold.

Picture below shows me having cut the squash in half to get at the seeds.  I tend to bake the flesh and use it mashed.  Sometimes I freeze it after baking for a quick start to a vegetable dish for another meal.

Below I am taking the seeds out of a baby sugar pumpkin that we grew in the garden.  Some people call them pie pumpkins.  They tend to give enough flesh to make 2 pumpkin pies.  Save what you need and toast the remaining seeds in the oven for a healthy snack.  The toasted squash/pumpkin seeds are also good scattered over salad.

Below is a shot of the bottom of a large butternut squash.  I filled the cavity with some organic butter, local honey, fresh rosemary and a sprinkle of my ground hot cayenne peppers before baking.  All kinds of possibilities!

Enjoy the harvest moon!  Save your squash and pumpkin seeds for next year.

Harvesting Organic Tomato Seeds

This year I am experimenting with drying the seeds from ORGANIC fruits and vegetables I have purchased.  Seems like a good idea.  I will report back on my progress.  I know a lot of people dry their seeds at the peak of harvest but I am curious to know if we can do this along the way and even in the spring like I am doing now. Recently I also dried squash seeds from organic butternut and kaboche squash.  I know it works with squash seeds as I have done it in the past.  I remember the summer of the 30 turban squash quite fondly!  You have to remove the seeds before you bake the squash (duh)!

Organic Cherry Tomatoes

Here I am harvesting tomato seeds from organic cherry tomatoes I bought at the store. Why buy all seeds when your food often comes with them?  I used the usual method... cut the little tomatoes in half and scooped out some of the seeds.  I then soaked them in water overnight to remove "sludge"... rinsed and few times and put seeds out to dry well on natural paper towel. I will let them dry a few weeks and then start the seedlings. This is easy! Mine have been drying a few weeks so I will germinate them and share some photos and notes later.

© Nancy Guppy, RD, MHSc
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