This combination of pumpkin, coconut milk and spicy smoked peppers is a rich and warming first course, or light lunch dish. It is silky and smooth with the sweetness of pumpkin and coconut offset by a smoky spicy finish. I added just a squeeze of lime before serving to brighten the whole thing and bring the flavors together. Just a sprinkle of Vietnamese cinnamon added a nice touch at the table.

Make it ahead of time and reheat it for the most flavor. I saw the prototype for this recipe on epicurious, but I wasn’t completely happy with the way the flavors sounded together. I like my version!

Make sure the coconut milk "thumps" when shaken.

Cut the pumpkin into wedges and remove seeds. This will make it easy to peel.

Peel the pumpkin.

Cut the pumpkin into chunks

Rub leaves between fingers to check for freshness.

This sounds a lot more involved than it is. You CAN do this…and trust me, you WANT to.   Adjust the spiciness to your own liking. Thai chilis are HOT…chipotle a little less, and poblanos pretty mild. I would suggest starting with the chipotle and then moving to a Thai if you want it spicier.

Spicy Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh pumpkin
• 2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
• 2 cups  chicken broth
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 1/2 dried Thai chili, or 1 chipotle in adobo, or to taste
• 2 tbs organic coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, or to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Juice of 1 lime

1. Peel the pumpkin and clean off any seeds.
2. Cut into cubes. You should have 4 1/2 to 5 cups cubed pumpkin.
3. Place the coconut milk, broth, pumpkin cubes, cilantro leaves, garlic, ginger, and chilis in a large pot and bring to a boil.
4. Add the salt and simmer over medium heat until the pumpkin is tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the fish sauce, liquid smoke, and coconut oil and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Spoon, a little at a time, into a blender and blend until smooth.
7. Set aside for flavors to blend about an hour
8. Reheat
9. Check seasoning and adjust.
10. Just before serving squeeze in the lime, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cinnamon.

About 8 first course servings or 4-6 luncheon size servings

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

The chicken comes out very flavorful and tender. The flavors are exotic enough to be impressive but, and here is the best thing of all, you can have it totally finished in 45 minutes. Serve it with brown rice and melon wedges for a complete, simple, and yet exotic meal.

Moroccan Chicken with Spicy Mango Chutney

This is based on a recipe in the Culinary Institute of American Cookbook.

Moroccan Chicken

• 8 chicken breast halves, boneless
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1 bunch cilantro chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut for garnish

1. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and about 1 tsp of the curry powder.
2. Cut lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half the lemon over the chicken. Slice the rest of the lemon and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a skillet. Brown chicken on both sides until golden brown, about two minutes per side.
4. Add onion, garlic,chicken broth, sliced lemon, and curry. Cover and cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.
5. Stir in garbanzos.
6. Lay chicken on the plate, spoon juice and garbanzos over it. Add a spoon of the mango chutney, sprinkle with cilantro and coconut, and serve.

Serves 8

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Any way..because of my chaotic life it took me until yesterday to make the recipe she sent the ingredients for. This is not baked, I am sorry, but i htought your interest in this experiment might outweigh your desires for my oven to be heating up my kitchen when it was 104 degrees. Yeah. 104. Blech. No we do not use air conditioning. Double blech.

The recipe was for Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar. It looks really pretty in the picture in the book. The sago looked to me like tapioca. And the result, MY result, looked more like unconstructed tapioca pudding. Hey! Leading edge dessert making! I read that unconstructed desserts are all the rage in the big cities.

The first thing was to chop the palm sugar, which comes in cones, coarsely. I did that and I tasted it..I thought it tasted a bit like a combination of horehound and maple. Strong but good and very sweet.

Next I had to cook the sago. I had a running commentary from the kids on this..Fish eggs! Spider eggs! Are you making tapioca? Aren’t you suppose to cook it in the milk?

So far so good. Then I rinsed and drained it..and had to put a cheesecloth in the colander so the sago wouldn’t go through. Then I let it cool..I didn’t have the cute individual cups that they showed in picture so I had to put it in a casserole dish. In the fridge it went.

When it chilled the sago stuck together but it was tasteless. Like globules of water. You serve it with a syrup made from the palm sugar and water, and coconut milk. When I put the syrup on the sago moved apart and it really looked like tapioca..unconstructed tapiooca. LOL!

But…it was good in a comfort food sort of way. It was a homey kind of taste and the kids liked it enough that it was gone after lunch. I don’t think I did it right, sorry Eunice! But I loved the fun of trying it!

Here is the recipe if you want to try it:

12 c water

1 c pearl sago

1 1/3 c palm sugar coarsely chopped

2/3 c water

1 c coconut milk

pinch of salt

makes 4 small jellies (mine made a huge bowl of unconstructed tapioca pudding)

Bring 12 c water to boil in large pan. Stir in sago and simmer, stirring, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let set 10 minutes. AT this point the sago should be transparent.

Put into a strainer adn rinse under cold water to get the excess starch off so rains will separate. Drain thoroughly. Spoon into small dessert glasses and chill well.

Combine sugar and water in small saucepan and simmer until sugar dissolves. cool

To serve turn sago out onto plate. Spoon some syrup and some coconut milk combined with a pinch of salt over the top.

Post from: Baking Delights