burn

My kitchen is really sparkling clean--because V was so wonderful as to clean the whole kitchen while I was out last night--and therefore calling me to come cook. Ah, I'm thinking bread this morning. Maybe for dinner, the roast chicken along with roasted asparagus. Last night watching Iron Chef America, I saw the challenger (parboil?) then cut in half and scoop out the insides of small yellow finns, then (roast?) them until a bit crispy, then fill them with Fonduta (a sort of cheese fondue of melted fontina, egg yolks, and something else I've forgotten). They were topped with bits of proscuitto and lots of shaved white truffle. They looked so good. So I'm thinking to imitate them, possibly subbing another cheese sauce for the fonduta and subbing white truffle oil for the shaved white truffles. Damn, I wish I had some truffles. I'd stuff the thin slices under the skin of my chicken and roast it like that, serve it with the potato skins and roasted asparagus. Maybe even drizzle the asparagus with truffle oil as well, make it a homage to truffles.

Anyway, tentative menu:

Italian Bread
Sexy Potato Skins
Roast Chicken infused with the flavor of (proscuitto, lemon zest, and thyme or rosemary?)
Roasted Asparagus with 10 year aged balsamico and (either unfiltered or Spanish) extra virgin olive oil

And for dessert, something with figs. Yum.

This delicious pumpkin with cornbread and sausage stuffing was the main dish for our Dumb Supper this year. Since it's such a heavy dish, I served it with simple sides--fresh green beans steamed and served with salt, pepper and butter and a salad of spinach, rocket and grated carrots served with my best olive oil and balsamico (the nine year aged real stuff). I was delighted to find out how tasty the grated carrots were with the balsamico! The sides complimented the main dish wonderfully, as did the wine, a pizzolato prosecco. This was probably the best Samhain feast I've ever had the pleasure of cooking.


1 small pumpkin (actually this made enough to fill a big pumpkin, so I ended up with leftover stuffing to bake later)
1/4 cup melted butter
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
9 garlic cloves, minced
2 Granny Smith apples, cubed
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon thyme
2 oranges, zested
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage, divided
6 sausages (I used four bratwursts and two smoked sausages, all organic, made from turkey, delicious stuff), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup Sauvignon Blanc
1 cup heavy cream
cornbread croutons (from one skillet of homemade cornbread, cut into cubes, then dried/toasted, stirring every ten minutes, in a 150 C oven)
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped and toasted
1/2 cup tart dried cherries
3 cups chicken broth
2 eggs, beaten
( the recipe and more photos )