A great time at the pumpkin cook-off
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
What a lovely morning for a cook-off!
We all had a great time last Saturday down at the Farmer’s Market for the last of the Learning Connection/Murphy’s Menu cooking contests in 2007.
Five wonderful women brought by a dish made with pumpkin, and Lois Githens was the big winner! Actually, the votes were only one point apart — an amazingly tight spread — so you know all of the dishes were top notch. Lois’s cake was dish No. 1 on the table.
Lois said “I didn’t think this cake turned out particularly well, so I can’t believe it won!” Her pumpkin bars can be made either in a cake pan for a thicker bar or a rimmed cookie sheet for a thinner bar. Congratulations, Lois!
LOIS’S PUMPKIN BARS
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup pumpkin (use plain)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour
Frosting:
3 oz. softened cream cheese
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3/4 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. milk
Mix all the ingredients together very well. Pour into a large greased and floured cake pan or rimmed cookie sheet. Bake the cake pan for 35–40 minutes or the cookie sheet for 20–25 minutes.
Frost the cake while hot; make the frosting by whipping together all of the ingredients until well combined, no cooking is required.
Second place was a tie between a sweet dish and a savory dish. Linda Cookson’s pumpkin dip (dish no. 2) came with a box of homemade molasses cookies, and Tracey Graham brought a crock pot full of pumpkin pilaf (dish no. 4).
Linda’s dip was served in an amazing vessel: a pumpkin that had our little, summer, cook-off chef guy scratched into it when it was young, so that the adult squash was decorated with a raised copy on its skin. So cool! Linda ordered it from The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, Ill. They’re on the Internet, if you’re curious. Thanks Linda!
LINDA’S PUMPKIN DIP
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can (30 oz.) pumpkin pie mix
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and cream cheese, beating until well blended. Beat in the remaining ingredients. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This can be served with a variety of cookies: molasses, ginger snaps, graham crackers, etc.
Linda said this dip is one of her most requested specialties. It makes seven cups, so you might consider reducing the quantity.
Tracey’s dish is made with a type of wheat called bulgur. The wheat grain is parboiled, re-dried and then cracked. It has a great texture, a nutty flavor and can be used just like couscous or rice. Tracey’s pilaf was brightly colored with red, orange and yellow bell peppers, although you could use whatever peppers you prefer. This will be a fantastic side dish for your holiday meals this year!
TRACEY’S PUMPKIN
BULGUR PILAF
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cinnamon sticks
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped peppers
4 cups cubed pumpkin
2 cups bulgur wheat
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 cups water
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil to very hot. Sauté the cinnamon sticks about 15 seconds, then toss in the onions. Sauté the onions for 2 minutes, or until they begin to brown at the edges.
Add the peppers, pumpkin, bulgur, salt and pepper. Sauté about 3 minutes, stirring, making sure all the ingredients are well coated with oil. Add the water and bring to a simmer. (Here, I would have my water already warm, and maybe even use some de-fatted chicken broth or half water, half white wine — RM).
Turn the heat to very low and cook for 30 minutes, or place in a crock pot on low and cook for one hour. Fluff the pilaf before serving.
This is an excellent recipe as is, or to build on. Tracey and I talked about adding some sage or even some sage-flavored sausage. Jim Wallace has some great sausage for sale at the Market! You could use any winter squash in lieu of the pumpkin, but the bright orange pumpkin, brightly colored peppers, and creamy brown bulgur make this a visual treat as well as a tasty one.
Nancy Catron brought a beautiful pumpkin cake (dish no. 3) — it was frosted with rum-flavored cream cheese and had a rim of perfectly matched walnut halves. This cake was dense, rich, and delicious.
NANCY’S PUMPKIN CAKE
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift all the dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat the eggs thoroughly at a high speed, then add the sugar and beat until lemon colored, light and fluffy. Gradually add the pumpkin and oil, beating well after each addition to blend thoroughly.
With mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, beating only until flour is moistened.
Pour into an ungreased, 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Bake one hour or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Don’t forget the frosting!
NANCY’S RUM & CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. rum or 1 tsp. rum extract
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
walnut or pecan halves
Beat the cream cheese with the rum until soft. Gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Frost your cake and arrange the nut halves on top in a lovely pattern. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.
The final entry of the day was Christy Freeman’s Pumpkin Delight (dish no. 5). This was a wonderful combination of creamy pumpkin on bottom with a nutty, “cakey” topping. Christy says it’s for the person who loves cake and pie. She also sometimes uses walnuts instead of pecans. The flavor was light and crunchy. Thanks, Christy!
CHRISTY’S PUMPKIN DELIGHT
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 large or 2 small cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 cans evaporated milk
1 cake mix (yellow or white)
1 stick oleo
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Pour everything into a bowl and mix thoroughly; set aside. In another bowl, combine one yellow or white cake mix and one stick softened oleo. Pour the pumpkin mixture into a greased and floured 13-x-9-x-2 cake pan. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top, and sprinkle the pecans on top of that.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45–60 minutes, testing for doneness. There’s no need to frost it; just serve it up hot with a cold glass of milk!
A great big “thank you” to everyone who came down to the cook-off and to the lady from St. James Missionary Baptist who helped me get the tables covered. I can’t wait until next summer to see what we’re going to do next!
Your challenge for our next culinary adventure is in honor of a legendary American folk hero: Johnny Appleseed. His birthday is coming up, so let’s see what you’ve got for apples.
F Send your best recipe to Murphy’s Menu, The Emporia Gazette, P.O. Drawer C, Emporia or e-mail to murphysmenu@yahoo.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Let’s get cooking!