Roast Pumpkin With Cheese "Fondue"

Eat Local Challenge Day 26
(Read What & Why I am Doing This Here)


When I picked up my Mariquita Mystery Box ten days ago, it contained a few "JackBeLittle" Pumpkins, each only 2 or 3 inches across, which I wasn't sure what to do with. A few days later I opened up the November 2008 issue of Gourmet Magazine to find myself faced with a possible solution: Roast Pumpkin With Cheese "Fondue" [Gourmet's Original Recipe Available Here]. Since I am currently celebrating local ingredients as much as possible this month, I tweaked the recipe to use my homemade wholewheat bread in place of baguette and a mix of Andante's "Variation #1" & "Pecorino" cheeses in place of Gruyere & Emmental, eyeballing the ingredient volumes since my vegetables were so small. I used two slices of bread (cookie-cut to the appropriate miniature size) per tiny little pumpkin and this was probably my mistake: During roasting the bread swelled up thereby pushing some of the cheese out of the squash and into the roasting pan where it burned and went to waste. But with more cheese inside the pumpkin than out next time, and less bread, I am certain this dish could be even more enjoyable than it was when we ate it for today's lunch. It's certainly an idea worth exploring further, especially if you want a little more decadence out of your pumpkin...

Brunch Day 26
Roast Pumpkin With Cheese "Fondue": Bread made with home ground whole wheat flour [source: Eatwell], JackBeLittle Pumpkins [source: Mariquita], Variation #1 and Pecorino cheeses [source: Andante], Creme Fraiche: [source: Cowgirl Creamery], Chicken Broth, [source: Fatted Calf] Salt, Nutmeg. Also ate leftover toasted bread from this recipe, spread with butter [source: Straus]

Little Snack Day 26
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds [saved from the JackBeLittle Pumpkins [source Mariquita], with homemade chili powder [source: A Pair of Mad Eaters] and Salt. Plus a few slices of Salame Pepato [source: Boccalone].

Dinner Day 26
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri-ish Sauce: Skirt Steak [source: Prather Ranch], Parsley [source: Mariquita], Red Wine Vinegar [source Kimberley], Garlic [source: local but not recorded], Shallot [source: Dirty Girl], Homemade Chili Oil [sources: Rancho Gordo] and [Bariani]. Baked Potato with Butter & Creme Fraiche: Potato [source: Green Gulch Farm], Creme Fraiche [source: Cowgirl] and butter [source: Straus]; Salad: of Avocado [source: Wills Avocados], Basil [source: Four Sisters Farm], Cucumber & Heirloom Tomato [source: Mariquita], 'Sevillano Fall' Olive Oil [source: Sciabica's], Salt & Pepper. 'Heavenly Honey Ice Cream' made with Milk & Cream [source: Straus] and Sage Honey [Source: Marshall's]

Drinks Day 26
Tap Water, Tea (2 Cups)


Code:
100% Local ingredient
Local Artisan using mostly local ingredients
Local Artisan using non-local ingredients
Californian
Totally Un-local/unknown
Pre-declared exempt
Restaurants which focus on local produce




© 2008 Sam Breach

Roast Pumpkin With Cheese "Fondue"