Pumpkin Panna Cotta with ginger Caramel

"Pumpkin Everythang”

We end Pumpkin month with a final dessert

While brainstorming dessert ideas for pumpkin month I saw another blogger make a coconut panna cotta it looked like a dish of queso fresco. I thought what’s a Panna cotta? GOOGLE!!

It’s a word I have heard before, but I was not really one hundred percent sure what it was. At first sight I thought it was a flan, but after more reading realized it’s the flans Italian cousin that uses no eggs. Its basically a pudding served cold.

Pumpkin Rum Cake

  "Pumpkin Everythang”

It’s time for the dessert course 

Regardless of what anyone says, I absolutely love Paula Dean. She has always been one of my favorite cooking personalities on TV. I always love the chefs that give you recipes that tastes as delicious as they looks.  And with Paula, rest assured you can follow her recipes and be happy. Thanks to her we inducted a pumpkin bar recipe into our family, to us  its known as the pumpkin cake.

Pumpkin gnocchi with white wine cream cheese sauce

  

 "Pumpkin Everythang”

I’ve always wanted to make gnocchi. In my early days of cooking, when I was mostly a spectator (that is watching food network) I decided to try these little Italian dumplings, however I purchased the prepackaged ones in the pasta section and needless to say it was not good. It deterred me from ever trying or attempting to make gnocchi again. That was years ago, and I know better now. Its always better to make your own than to do store bought if you can. So one fateful jet blue flight from Kingston to JFK about two months ago, I was watching food network on my little mini screen. I saw a really quick video with Mario Batali and Mark Bittman making gnocchi and as usual the light bulb went off.

Pumpkin Sausage & Raisin Rice

"Pumpkin Everythang”

So here is part two of the main course, the delicious rice that stuffed my Cornish hens from last Tuesdays post.  It is very simple and delicious. The stock added an amazing rich flavor that the rice soaked right up, coupled with the sweet pumpkin, sage, sausages, raisins and veggies, it went very well stuffed in the citrusy fowl. The reason I separated the dish into two post is because this rice is a side dish all in itself, you can use it to stuff the fowl as well as serve it on the side. When stuffed in the hen the rice gets the ginger and citrus flavor imparted on it, however on its own, the sage, sausage and pumpkin flavor are more prevalent.

Boneless Citrus ginger Cornish hens stuffed with Sausage pumpkin rice

  "Pumpkin Everythang”

The words thanksgiving and turkey are almost synonymous. Normally you don’t find one without the other, but personally I’m not a fan. This large bird needs the right amount of TLC to be delicious. My late grandma was one to apply that perfect amount of TLC to yield an awesome turkey and an even more awesome turkey salad in the days to follow.  Now-a-days whenever we are in New York for thanksgiving, or when we have thanksgiving dinner in Jamaica (Jamaica?? Yes I know.. My mother just loves any excuse to set the table) we always do another type of roast poultry, out of sheer laziness and the plain fact that Jamaicans generally don’t like turkey. What better substitute than a Cornish hen.

Scotch pumpkins, not eggs

"Pumpkin Everythang”

 Scotch eggs, are a popular picnic food  in Britain. It’s a soft or hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, breaded then baked or fried.  It’s sold everywhere in Britain even gas stations (shocking I know).  Serve them with ranch sauce, honey mustard or gravy. I decided to put my own little spin on this and make it even yummier by replacing the eggs with balls of pumpkin. What a great way to cut the cholesterol levels .

Warm Kale and Pumpkin salad

"Pumpkin Everythang”

Pumpkin salad surprisingly has been my biggest challenge so far. In trying to conceptualize the dish I made a few decisions very early on...

•  I’ve never been a fan of warm salads, but this had to be one, because raw pumpkin es no bueno
• Texturally pumpkin gets mushy no matter how it’s cooked, so I needed a way to prepare it so it would maintain its shape for the most part.
• I didn’t want it boiled
• I didn’t want it roasted
• I didn’t want a pumpkin dressing

Pumpkin Coconut Leek soup

"Pumpkin Everythang”

Like clockwork  the day I decided to make a lovely pumpkin soup here comes the rain, perfect timing. I had originally wanted to make a pumpkin wonton soup. However when I got to the grocery store they were all out of wonton skins, and ‘aint’ no way I’m making that dough from scratch, so plan B. A few isles down I spotted some leeks and figured, they probably taste like onions or scallions, so they should pair well with pumpkin, not to mention some coconut milk.

Cheesy garlic Pumpkin bread

"Pumpkin Everythang”

I bet you can’t name one person (who is not on a diet) that does not love a hot basket of bread or rolls or any carb. at the start of a meal. One thing I’ve always said about restaurants; your first sign of a good meal to come is the bread you are first served, it sets the tone for the meal. Oh you need some examples?