
Pumpkins
Pumpkins take centre stage in October, lighting up driveways and leering at us through windows in the run up to Halloween in the Northern Hemisphere. But they’re not just pretty faces, they are a great autumn vegetable with a good shelf life.
Blend the flesh into smooth, thick pumpkin soups, finished with a swirl of cream – a small pumpkin can provide a satisfying meal for one. For a pot-luck broth that hits the spot, roughly chop and boil equal quantities of pumpkin, potatoes and sweet potatoes in stock, along with one onion, a tomato, an ear of sweetcorn and a bunch of fresh coriander. When the vegetables are tender, chop them more finely to create a delicious, chunky pumpkin soup.
Stir meltingly sweet cubes of fried pumpkin into risottos or curries, offsetting the flavours with fragrant herbs such as sage or thyme, or warming spices such as ginger. Alternatively, serve pumpkin stuffed into pasta, pasties or gnocchi, or use it to beef up warm salads.
Sweet dishes need not be limited to pumpkin pie. Stir puréed pumpkin into a cheesecake filling for a less sickly take on this decadent dessert. Or try making pumpkin halva – the nutty flavour of the pumpkin flesh blends well with the other nuts and seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds are great on their own as snacks and can be incorporated into flapjacks and biscuits, or used to garnish tarts and cakes.
Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za
Wickedfood Cooking School in Johannesburg runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). This team building venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.
Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.
Superb!This article is creative, it gives me inspiration. Im going to try this out at home but want to do more cooking classes at your Johannesburg cooking school.
Do you guys work with pumpkins in your cooking school?
I truly loved this brilliant cooking article. Please continue this awesome work. I love your Cookery school
Was at a cooking teambuild last week and loved it.
I really enjoyed this—it was a quick, easy recipe. Give us more Wickedfood cooking school
Such a well written post.. Thnkx for sharing this post! I was at a teambuilding last week at your Johannesburg cooking school and loved it!!
Love this cooking school blog!!
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Can i lean this recipe at the Johannesburg cooking school?
Such a well written post.. Thnkx for sharing this post! I love cooking
In the past I found myself checking out all types of cook books, not just for the recipes but to know what spices were used to improve different foods, the best wines for the dishes, and even few of the unknown kitchen devices. Jason
I love pumpkins and i love this post. What kind of pumpkin dishes do you prepare at the cooking school?
good post, I enjoyed reading your cooking school site. Ill have to bookmark it and read more of it later. How often do you update?
Great blog guys!! love this cooking school!