The Great Pumpkin

Sugar pumpkins should be the darlings of the harvest kitchen. They are incredibly sweet and smooth-textured and can be a surprising ingredient in many recipes. But only a few home cooks think of them when it's time to make the Thanksgiving pie. Many bakers, intimidated by the thought of peeling and chopping a whole pumpkin - even a small one - reach instead for a can of prepared puree to fill the crust.

The Jamestown Community Farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island, enjoyed a particularly good season for the little sugar pumpkins this year. High humidity and dewy mornings favored the pumpkin crop, says Bob Sutton, who manages the farm, now in its fifth year. "We grew over 300."

Last month, a group of students interested in pumpkin cookery gathered at the local Conanicut Grange. There, with the help of Philip Larson, a Jamestown resident who is a retired chef from the Mooring restaurant in Newport, and Kevin Gaudreau, executive chef of Trattoria Simpatico in Jamestown, little pumpkins were cooked to sweet tenderness.

Larson, who, with his wife, Janet, volunteers at the farm, wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to turn the flesh of the sweet orange orbs - roasted to slightly caramelize it - into everything from a first-course soup to a dessert-course creme brulee. A group of 20 students - including grandmothers and small children, who paid $10 each for the privilege, with all proceeds going to the community garden - watched the preparation and ate pumpkin soup made with seafood stock and garnished with flecks of lobster, "stuffies" (stuffed clams) flavored with pumpkin bits, and a satisfying risotto.

The chefs also offered pumpkin soup made with chicken or vegetable stock, which the diners could then garnish with an array of fresh corn, chopped red Portuguese chili peppers, sauteed apples, and crumbled sausage. One spicy soup variation incorporated chili peppers and coconut milk. As for the roasting, peeling, and pureeing of pumpkins, the class consensus was that it was child's play. "Roasting without a doubt is the easiest way," says Larson. "I store some uncooked pumpkins in a cool dry place for the winter. I roast them as I need them. On a cold day, you throw a few pumpkins in the oven and warm the house up."

The community farm is located on donated land, which its supporters are working to get protected by the state and town of Jamestown. A volunteer force of 150 does the daily work and the harvesting. This year, the farm yielded 10,000 pounds of food - all of it sent to the needy, as it is every year.

The farm is also a vehicle to educate the public about farming and the value of keeping the land in agriculture. One sure way to do that, workshop organizers reasoned, is to get people to taste the bounty.

ROASTED SUGAR PUMPKINS

The sweetest sugar pumpkins measure about 6 to 7 inches across and weigh about 3 pounds each. You can also use the smaller 1 1/2-pound pumpkins. Set the oven at 450 degrees. Wash the pumpkins to remove any dirt. With your hands, snap off the stems. Halve the pumpkins through the stem end. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Set the pumpkin halves on a rimmed baking sheet, cut sides down. Roast them for 50 to 60 minutes or until the flesh is tender when pierced with a skewer. Set them aside to cool.

With a large spoon, scoop the flesh from the pumpkin skins and puree it in a food processor.

ROASTED PUMPKIN SOUP
SERVES 6

To accompany this, retired chef Philip Larson offers small bowls with many garnishes: sauteed chopped apples, crumbled fried sausage, steamed corn kernels, chopped chili peppers, and pieces of steamed lobster.

2 tablespoons butter
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
4 cups pureed roasted pumpkin
(see above; use 4 of the 3-pound sugar pumpkins)
4 cups seafood, chicken, or vegetable stock
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often, or until the onion softens. Add the ginger and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the pumpkin puree, then the stock, a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the half-and-half or cream with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat, and simmer the soup for 5 minutes.

Ladle into 6 bowls. Arrange the garnishes in small bowls and let guests add their own toppings to the soup.

SPICY PUMPKIN SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK

To the butter-onion mixture, add 1 finely chopped small chili pepper. Use vegetable stock and substitute coconut milk for the half-and-half or cream. Garnish the soup with finely chopped scallions and cilantro.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO
SERVES 4

Chef Kevin Gaudreau gives this dish extra flair by garnishing the risotto with pumpkin-seed oil. At home, serve it plain.

4 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
Pinch of saffron
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups pureed roasted pumpkin
(see left; use about 2 of the 3-pound sugar pumpkins)
3 to 3 1/2 cups chicken stock, heated to boiling
1 cup frozen green peas, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated
Parmesan cheese
Extra fresh sage (for garnish)

In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter. Add the shallots and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the shallots are tender. Add the rice and saffron and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the rice grains turn opaque.

Add the wine and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Add the pumpkin puree along with 1 cup of stock, stirring constantly. When almost all of the stock has been absorbed, continue adding stock a half a cup at a time, still stirring constantly, until the rice is cooked through but still has some bite. It should be thick and creamy in consistency.

Add the peas, sage, salt, pepper, and Parmesan. Stir just until the cheese melts. Spoon the risotto onto 4 plates and garnish with extra sage. Serve at once.

"STUFFIES" WITH ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE AND ROASTED PUMPKIN
SERVES 6

Follow the pumpkin roasting instructions on the facing page, but rather than pureeing the flesh, chop it coarsely for this stuffed-clam dish.

24 cherrystone clams
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 andouille sausages, finely chopped
2 cups roasted pumpkin, coarsely chopped
(use about 2 of the 3-pound sugar pumpkins)
2 cups crumbled dry corn bread
2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Set the oven at 375 degrees. Shuck the clams, reserving the liquor. Chop the meat. Clean and reserve the shells for baking.

In a skillet, melt the butter. Remove 2 tablespoons of the melted butter; reserve it for later. Add the onion to the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the onion softens. Add the celery and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from the heat. Fold in the sausage, pumpkin, corn bread, crackers, salt, pepper, and chopped clams. Add 1 cup of the reserved clam liquor a little at a time. The mixture should be moist but not soupy and quite chunky in places.

Divide the stuffing among the clamshells and mound it without packing it down. Transfer the clams to a baking sheet. Brush the stuffing with the reserved 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes or until the stuffing is hot and lightly browned on top. Serve at once with lemon wedges.

Ask the Cooks: Baking Basics

Recently I've taken up baking as a hobby. I've been to Borders, Barnes & Noble, and my local library. The books I've found explain only baking in general, and the mixing times they give are for a KitchenAid-style stand mixer. I have a hand-held electric mixer, and need to know how long to cream butter and sugar, whip egg whites, and incorporate dry ingredients with it. I'm determined to learn the old way before I surrender to the new.
Danyale Eva Wrenn /// Hyde Park

In cooking school, we were required to do everything - mixing dough, beating egg whites - by hand before learning how to use machines. That's because it is crucial to understand how ingredients should feel and look as they are transformed by cooking techniques; a well-written recipe should tell you exactly what to look for. Reading is a great start to your baking adventures, but you will also have to endure some trial and error. In the beginning, it is reassuring to have instructions give exact times for creaming, whipping, or folding. However, these times are arbitrary and can vary if, for example, your butter is cold or the sugar is lumpy. You may have to cream longer than the time given in order to achieve the fluffy yellow results necessary. Classic books like Joy of Cooking or The Making of a Cook have sections explaining basic baking techniques. These primers not only give excellent descriptions of the techniques but often include illustrations and tips on handling various ingredients.

Answer by Peter J. Kelly, a chef-instructor at Johnson & Wales University.