Roasted Pumpkin, Apple and Fennel Pollen Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

For the raviolis:
1 pie pumpkinsRavioli (about 2 cups pureed, cooked pumpkin)
2 apples
1 shallots
2 cloves garlic
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
¼ cup maple syrup
1 heaping tsp fresh grated ginger
½ tsp fennel pollen
½ tsp salt
¼ white pepper
1 package wonton wrappers
 
For the sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh sage
2 tbs butter

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Poke a few small holes in the pumpkin.  Place the pumpkin, shallots, garlic, and apples onto a roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and roast until soft.  The pumpkin will take about an hour.  The remaining ingredients about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Place the roasted pumpkin, apple, shallots, and garlic into a blender and blend until smooth.  In a mixing bowl, add the puree along with the ginger, fennel pollen, salt, maple syrup and white pepper.  Fold in the ricotta and parmesan cheese.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Place two wonton wrappers onto a plate.  Moisten the inside of the wrapper with water.  Add a heaping tsp of the filling to one wrapper and then place the second on top.  press firmly together to seal. Repeat. Place filled ravioli onto the baking tray and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large sautee pan until it begins to brown.  do not burn!!!  add the sage and stir until the sage is aromatic. turn off the heat. Add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes until the ravioli floats to the surface.  Place the ravioli into the sage brown butter sauce and toss to coat.

enjoy!

recipe notes: For more information please watch the video "Reaping Fall's Bounties" and "Fun with Fennel Pollen"

Peaches in Cinnamon Syrup

peeled peaches5 lbs peaches, peeled and sliced into wedges
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Prepare a second pot of ice water.  Score the bottom of the peaches and add, in batches, to the boiling water.  Boil the peaches for 30 seconds and immediately place in the pot of ice water.  When cool, peel (the skin should easily come off).  Slice the peeled peaches.

Combine the peaches with the remaining ingredients in another pot.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.  The peaches should be soft, but not mushy.  Allow the peaches to cool completely in the syrup.

Recipe variations:

Peaches in Vanilla Syrup: replace the brown sugar with white sugar.  Instead of the spices, add 1 vanilla bean before you cook the peaches.  After the peaches have completely cooled, take a sharp knife and scrape the inside of the vanilla bean.

Peaches in Maple Syrup: Replace the brown sugar with maple sugar.  Proceed as directed.

Recipe notes:  These peaches are delicious alone, over ice cream, or with yogurt and granola.  They freeze beautifully (which is always good in the middle of the winter when you crave a little bit of summer).  Also, these peaches are not overly sweet--if you prefer sweeter cooked peaches, add additional sugar.

Gazpacho with Aged Goat Cheese Crosatini

For the Gazpacho:

4-5 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
3 medium cucumbers, peeled and quartered
1/2 orange pepper, quartered
1/2 yellow pepper, quartered
1 small sweet onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh thyme ( I love thyme, but tarragon or basil would be great substitutes)
1/2 tsp fresh oregano (don't use oregano if you use tarragon instead of thyme)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2-1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree for about 30 seconds.  Resist the urge to overly puree the soup--it should be a little bit chunky.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Allow to chill for at least 2 hours.  serve with crosatini (recipe is below) or croutons.  It is also delicious with lump crab meat or smoked salmon or trout.  Thanks to the acidic nature of the soup, it will last in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe notes: I have a very powerful blender (a Vitamix.  I love it).  If your blender is not as powerful, you may need to peel the tomatoes.  Don't worry, this is easy. core the tomatoes and, using a knife, make an "x" in the bottom of the tomato.  Submerge the tomato in boiling water for about 30 seconds (you should see the skin peeling away) and then immediately submerge it in ice water.  The skin should easily peel off.  Squeeze the tomato to remove the seeds.  Even if you do have  a powerful blender, you may find the tomato seeds bitter.  If so, follow this step.

If you find this soup too thick, add some tomato juice.  Just be careful not to make the soup too salty.  Store bought tomato juice is very high in sodium.

For more information, see the blog post "Eating for Three."

For the Crosatini:

1 Loaf French bread, sliced
olive oil
aged goat cheese ( l used the Cherry Clen Crottin.  it's delicious)

Move a rack to the uppermost shelf in your oven and turn on the broiler.  Lay the bread in a single layer on a baking sheet or broiling pan and lightly drizzle or brush both sides with olive oil.  toast the bread for about 30 seconds per side until the edges are golden brown.  Grate some goat cheese over one side of the crosatini and return to the broiler for 10 seconds.

Recipe Notes:  If you don't like goat cheese, parmesan cheese would be a great substitute.  

My Grandmother's Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup always makes me feel better!1 Whole Chicken, cut up
2 Lbs Flanken style beef short ribs
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cup parsnips (about 5), peeled and sliced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 Tbs kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 cup dried lima beans
sachet filled with 1 Tbs Fresh dill, 1 Tbs fresh parsley, 1 tsp fresh sage, 1 tsp fresh thyme, 5 peppercorns, 5 whole cloves, 1 bay leaf)

Put all of the ingredients into a large Dutch oven.  Add just enough water to cover the chicken by 1/2 inch.  Bring to a simmer uncovered.  Skim the foam off the top of the soup.   Continue to simmer covered for about 1 1/2 hours until the lima beans are tender.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper.  Remove the satchel of herbs.  Serve with egg noodles and enjoy!

Recipe Notes: It's important not to add too much water.  This soup is even better the next day.  Refrigerate Soup--the fat will float to the top and solidify.  Once this happens, you can skim it off the top of the soup.  For more information see, "A Perfect Day For Chicken Soup."

Maple Cornbread

Golden Cornbread1 Cup Flour (4 1/4 oz)
1 Cup yellow cornmeal (4 3/4 oz)
1 Tbs baking powder (or 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and 3/4 tsp baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
6 Tbs butter, melted
3 large eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk, maple syrup, butter and eggs.  Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir, just to combine.  Place in a greased 9 inch round baking pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Recipe notes:Do not over stir!!!!  Even if the batter looks lumpy, this is ok.  I use "grade C" maple syrup.  It's hard to find, but has a very distinct maple flavor.  Even with the maple syrup, this cornbread is not very sweet.  I also always weigh the flour and cornmeal instead of using measuring cups--it allows for more accurate measurements!