The Final Pumpkin Recipe.......#itmightjustwork

It's Halloween and there have been children trick or treating for the last few hours and now there are fireworks going crazy all around us and I am about to give you the final, very special recipe.

 

But first a bit about how I got this recipe.

This year has been amazing, incredible and beyond belief. I have met some extraordinary people and done some extraordinary things. I have met and been humbled by people, amazed at their generosity of spirit and by how excited they are when they hear about Incredible Edible Bristol and how keen they are to get involved. I have been bowled over by kindness and moved to tears by stories of personal change. and i have spent a lot of the year wondering how this is where I am, whilst thoroughly appreciating that place.

So imagine that earlier this year I saw that Pete Lawrence, an allotment holder in Bristol, had just published a book and I cheekily asked for a review copy. Which he duly sent and I duly reviewed. It's a great book and the review is here. Of course at that point I had no idea of his background at the BBC or that he was setting up a production company or that we would end up doing any work together. But that is what has happened and you will be able to see the results the week before Christmas when it goes out on BBC1!!
 He's going to kill me but here's Ross!!

Without wanting to give the plot away, it highlights the work of our amazing volunteer gardeners, what volunteering with Incredible Edible has meant for them and how it has changed their lives, and it creates a stunning new garden in a community space for a community that will really appreciate it and use it for positive change.

 

Whilst working on this project I met Dave Myers, one half of the Hairy Bikers and a genuinely nice bloke who has been amazingly supportive and kind ever since we met. Cheekily on the last day we chatted about my pumpkin recipes and he promised me a recipe which, as yet is unpublished, but will be coming to a Hairy Bikers recipe book in a store near you soon!!

So cheers Dave! It's a pleasure to have worked with you. And cheers also to the lovely Pete, who is struggling to edit the programme as I type and who without lots of these opportunities this year would never have happened. I look forward to working with you more!!

 

But more than that, a huge thanks here goes out to Ross, volunter and pal extraordinaire, with whom this experience and others have been shared this year. A great guy who's story will touch you and who we will, I know, make a great gardener out of.

And here is the recipe!!

CHAPTER 8 SPICY CHICKEN 

Caribbean Chicken and Pumpkin Curry

This curry is very English Caribbean – no coriander, just Mediterranean herbs, so if you want a herb garnish, parsley is traditional. Traditionally this recipe is made with potato but we have found pumpkin and squash make great  additions to the recipe instead!!

A mixture of drumsticks and thighs, skinned BUT ON the bone

Juice of 1 lime

1 scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated

3 cm piece of ginger, grated

3 sprigs of thyme or 1 tbsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves, crumbled

1 tbsp spice mix or medium curry powder

2 tbsp olive or coconut oil

1 large onion, sliced

300ml chicken stock

50g creamed coconut (the sort in a block)

1 tbsp rum or brandy

500 gms pumpkin in 2 cm cubes

For the spice mix:

2 tbsp coriander seed

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1cm piece cinnamon

1 clove

½ tsp allspice berries

2 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp garlic powder

Put the chicken in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the scotch bonnet, garlic cloves, ginger, thyme, bay leaves and spice mix. Stir to coat – if you are brave, you will get much better results if you rub it in with your hands, but be careful because of the scotch bonnet. Leave for at least an hour, but preferably over night.

Heat the oil in a large casserole. Add the onion and cook for several minutes until starting to soften. Add the chicken and stir until the chicken is lightly browned. Sprinkle over the spice mix or curry powder and stir.

Pour over the chicken stock and add the pumkin. Stir in the creamed coconut. Leave to cook, covered, on a low heat for around 45 minutes, until the chicken is falling off the bone. Add a little more water if necessary.

When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the rum and simmer for a few more minutes.

To make the spice mix, toast all the whole spices in a frying pan until they smell aromatic. Immediately transfer them to a plate to cool, then to a fine powder. Mix with the turmeric and garlic powder. Makes more than you need, but it will store in a jar for a few months.

 

Pumpkin Jam Anyone?

I wonder if you might have had enough of pumpkin recipes yet?

Well in case you haven't here is another one from Danielle at Bishopston Supper Club, this time for pumpkin, apple and ginger jam which I can tell you is beyond delicious! The recipe for pumpkin puree is listed with the earlier recipe for brownies!!

Pumpkin, apple & ginger jam

500g pumpkin or any firm, orange fleshed squash (prepared weight), peeled, deseeded & diced into 1cm cubes or grated
350g cooking apples (prepared weight), peeled, cored & diced into 1cm cubes or grated

30g fresh ginger, peeled & diced as tiny as possible or grate with fine microplane-type grater

1 chunk of crystallised stem ginger, finely grated as above (If you're really not a fan of ginger, leave these out.)

250g pumpkin purée (optional)

1/2 tsp ground ginger (or to taste)

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste)

2 lemons, juiced 

2 oranges, juiced 

700g granulated sugar

250ml water

Makes about 6-7 x 225g/8oz jars, 3-4 x 450g/1lb jars.

Place diced raw pumpkin, apples, gingers, cinnamon, lemon & orange juice, and water in a heavy bottomed pan, simmer gently until the pumpkin, ginger and apple chunks are tender, stirring occasionally. Grating the pumpkin & apple will mean it cooks quicker but I like the chunky texture of diced. Meanwhile, wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse and sterilise in oven at 100c for 15-20 mins.

Add the pumpkin purée if using & stir in. Then add the sugar and stir to dissolve. (It helps to warm the sugar in a very low oven first.)

Simmer until reduced, thick and gloopy, there's no need to test for setting point with this jam. It's ready when a spoon pulled across the pan reveals the base.

Cool slightly then pour into the jars & seal with fresh lids or waxed paper discs & cellophane covers while still hot. Store in a cool, dry place and use within a year. Open opened, store in fridge and use within 4 weeks.

Now for some exciting news.....
I have a really excitng recipe to share as the final recipe, from someone I was lucky emough to spend time with at the weekend!! If you follow me on social media you'll probably guess....

Radio Pumpkin.....

Today the campaign to make sure pumpkins are used as food, as well as to carve, stepped up a notch as I was invited into BBC Radio Bristol's Breakfast Show to chat to the very lovely Emma Britton about pumpkins and food waste. Emma showed me some tiny pumpkins she had been given and asked what I would do with them, so having told her, I will now tell you!!

The variety is one called Baby Bear and the pumpkins are tiny, approximately about 3-4 inches across. They are great fun to grow and are delicious. 

 

So what's the recipe I hear you ask?! Well chop the top off so you have a lid, put a knob of butter on the top of the flesh and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until completely soft. Remove, add salt and pepper to taste and eat!! Perfect as an accompaniment to lots of dishes as a vegetable or great as a snack sprinkled with cheese.

Emma went on to suggest I need a superhero pumpkin outfit. I'm not so sure!!