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Title: Harvest of Pumpkins and Squash
ISBN: 0811861260
Author:
Lou Seibert Pappas
Publicate Date: 2008-09-01
Publish: 2008-09-01
List Price: $15.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.85
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $10.74
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.85
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Unusual and versatile recipes
Lou Seibert Pappas's "A Harvest of Pumpkins and Squash" is a delightful tribute to squash, including both summer squash (zucchini, chayote, pattypan, crookneck) and winter squash (acorn, butternut, pumpkin, hubbard, kabocha, delicata, sweet dumpling, turban). It's a great way to make use of an oft-underutlilized veggie; I for one had never peeled and cubed a squash before purchasing this, although I had occasionally halved and baked acorn and butternut squash for Thanksgiving.
Thanks to Lou's guidance, it turns out there are a wealth of possibilities lurking behind that tough squash skin, including breakfast breads (a stunning rosemary-polenta-pumpkin muffin/coffeecake, cranberry-walnut pumpkin coffeecake, zucchini-golden raisin quickbread), frittatas, bisques and soups, salads, polenta, and desserts that can be made with peeled and cubed squash or many that call for squash puree (yes, canned pumpkin is fine). The various sections are color-coded, which is nice.
Given, peeling and cubing your own squash can be messy and time-consuming, but it's worth the effort invested. The taste and texture of freshly roasted squash is far superior to anything canned, bagged, or frozen as the sugars caramelize in the oven. The first recipe I tried was the roasted butternut squash polenta with fried sage (I substituted a sugar pie pumpkin instead). The combination of olive oil-drizzled roasted pumpkin with the creamy polenta was enhanced with a sharp Italian cheese (I used pecorino romano) and butter-fried sage leaves. Delicious! Other standouts include the sesame, pear, quinoa, and butternut squash salad, tortellini with butternut squash, artichoke hearts, and pecorino, and the orzo with yellow squash, leeks, and sun-dried tomatoes. As a longtime vegetarian, I appreciated the fact that there were many meatless starters and entrees to choose from; vegetarians will feel at home here.
But the main draw for me was the cornucopia of pumpkin-based dessert recipes perfect for Thanksgiving: pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust, pumpkin-maple pie with cognac whipped cream, honey-rum pumpkin ice cream, candied ginger-pumpkin cr??me brulee, and pumpkin flan with caramel whipped cream and ice cream balls. The five-spice pumpkin ginger cake is superb, a moist blend of honey and molasses tempered with Chinese five-spice powder, grated fresh ginger (invest in a good ginger grater like Kyocera 6.5 Inch Ceramic Grater; my kitchen was covered in ginger juice after several messy attempts with the box grater!), and topped with chocolate chips and slivered candied ginger. The five-spice powder lent the cake a deliciously dark and exotic flavor, and the pumpkin (and a half-cup of yogurt) made it moist without tasting like health food. In the baked goods particularly, your guests may never guess that pumpkin is the secret ingredient; the rosemary-polenta muffins are delicate and mysterious without tasting (or looking) like they contain pumpkin, for example.
This is a wonderful gift just in time for the holidays, when your local grocery should have a wide assortment of the included types of squash. In the past, I never made it a point to look for different varieties, but just this week I counted butternut, turban, acorn, sweet dumpling, pie pumpkin, delicata, spaghetti, and red kiri squash, all of which can be put to delicious use in "A Harvest of Pumpkins and Squash." Pick up that vegetable peeler and enjoy!
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2: Another Solid Book from Lou Seibert Pappas
I have enjoyed other cookbooks by Lou Seibert Pappas (Creme Brulee; Ice Cream & Sorbet; Coffee Cakes) so I ordered this without first checking it out in a book store. It did not diappoint.
The first several chapters provide very helpful background about choosing, storing and cooking squash as well as listing the types of squash (both winter and summer squash varieties).
Many of the recipes are novel and are delicious-sounding pairing of ingredients that I haven't seen in other cookbooks (and I have a lot). More than half of the recipes are accompanied by a beautiful full-page color photo. As a vegetarian, I found many recipes I want to try but the Entrees chapter also includes a nice selection of recipes for meat eaters (from chicken to lamb, pork to fish).
Chapters include Breads and Breakfast (rosemary-polenta pumpkin muffins, zucchini-golden raisin quick bread, pumpkin-orange waffles with hazelnut-maple sryup butter); Soups, Salads and Sides (butternut squash-pear bisque, roasted butternut squash polenta with fried sage, goat cheese-stuffed squash blossom and heirloom tomato salad); Entrees (five-spice pork tenderloin with pumpkin half-moons and red grapes, grilled chicken breasts stuffed with zucchini and goat cheese, chayote stuffed with lamb and pine nuts); and Desserts (cranberry-pecan pumpkin drop cookies, candied ginger-pumpkin creme brulee, pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust, caramel-glazed pumpkin date bars).
As you might expect, pumpkins are the most popular squash used throughout the book and appear in nearly half of the recipes. Other squashes featured include butternut, spaghetti, zucchini, chayote, kabocha, and acorn. Several recipes let you choose the winter or summer squash to use but, don't worry, there is a list from which to choose.
This would be a wonderful hostess gift in the fall if you are a guest for dinner or a weekend.
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