Autumn Equinox

The day was a perfect balance of summer's warmth and fall's dry, crisp air. While my counterpart put a pot of chicken thighs on to stock, I paid a visit to my local pumpkin patch. I found one of those rare, perfectly round pumpkins that seemed to call out to me, whispering "Hey, hey, over here" as I wandered through. And it turned out to be a real beauty.

My counterpart seeded it and roasted both flesh and seeds with salt, pepper, and curry, adding honey to the seeds. And the chicken continued to stock until we had equal parts stock and roasted pumpkin. After letting the pumpkin cool near an open window, he carefully skinned it and diced it and added it to a pot of strained stock. A quick turn with the immersion blender, and the stock became soup.

Left on the back burner to simmer, he started on the meat. A boneless leg of lamb, also seasoned with salt, pepper, and curry, was quickly prepped. Once in the oven, he turned his attention to the veg.

A mash of white potato with leek, olive oil, and zucchini married the last of summer's squash with the longer-lasting roots of a winter diet. He carefully peeled and boiled the potatoes. While the potatoes were boiling, he drained some lamb jus from the roasting pan, combined it with a little butter, and sauteed the veg. Chunks of zucchini and potato were briskly mashed with milk and olive oil for a coarse, slightly bitter vegetable mashup.

The meat and veg complete, a little white onion and leek were added to the soup to simmer while the table was laid. A simple reduction of balsamic vinegar added to a roux was prepared to top our meat.

Our closest family - my counterpart's brother and his wife - provided the corn bread, a moist round that was both mild in flavor and coarse in texture. We prepared honey butter to go along with it, and it was a very nice pairing, as light and sweet as the day's weather.

Dessert was a fallback of Breyer's ice cream - one final salute to summer - as the time we should have spent last night on a cake or pie of some sort was taken up by the pleasure of each other's company doing nothing in particular.

And so the casual days of summer come to an end. Next week, we begin the last of the outdoor chores, wrapping up projects and preparing for the inevitable cold, dark days ahead.

Chicken Stock

Perfect Pumpkin

Pumpkin seeds ready for roasting

Fresh zucchini

Boneless leg of lamb

Potatoes in the sunshine

Placing peeled potatoes in cool water keeps them from discoloring

Roasted pumpkin

Minced leek

The table is set

Potato zucchini mashup

Autumn pumpkin soup

A mid-harvest meal: corn bread, pumpkin soup, potato zucchini mashup, and roasted lamb with balsamic reduction

Company's Coming Chili

Chili is always the first meal of the holiday season for me. One of the great holiday traditions in my family is having a pot of chili on hand the day everyone arrives for the holidays. My grandmother started this when I was little. If you were among the first to arrive, you got to enjoy the company of a small gathering of extended family in relative quiet before the holiday got into full swing. If you arrived later, you got my grandmother's undivided attention and a bowl of chili that had been simmering on the stovetop since mid-afternoon. I was the last to arrive one Christmas, rolling in from Madison at about 11:00 PM. My grandma was waiting up for me, and she and I watched Johnny Carson together over a bowl of some highly concentrated chili goodness that warmed my heart.

My mother carries on the tradition as me and my siblings and our families gather in Madison for Thanksgiving. My mom has her own recipe and has dried beans cooking already for tonight's dinner when my sister arrives from the north-western Chicago suburbs. This recipe is committed to her memory, and hers alone. My grandmother's recipe was made available to all on her cooking show "5 Minutes with Dolores Allen" on WDOR radio, and was then published in her 1989 cookbook "Door County Recipes Old and New and a Little Local Lore". Here it is verbatim:

Dolores's Chili
This may not be the way Mexicans or Texans make chili.....but ti's the way I like it!

2 lbs ground beef
3 large onions, chopped
Salt & Pepper

Brown the meat with the onions and cook for about 30 minutes.

Add:
1 qt. canned tomatoes (or a large can of tomato juice).

Simmer, covered, about an hour.

Add:
3 cans chili beans or kidney beans, drained
1 package chili seasoning

Simmer 15 minutes more.

I like to make this ahead of time, and let it stand for the flavors to blend, and then reheat when ready to serve. If you want "Chili Mac", add cooked macaroni or spaghetti.

Here is the recipe as it appeared in her cookbook. Artwork provided by my mother in her youth. "Door County Recipes Old and New and a Little Local Lore" is still available throughout Door County, WI. You can also find used copies on Amazon.

If you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share, please email me at MarysFoodJournal@gmail.com and let me know how you would like to be identified (ie "a reader in Ellicott City" vs your actual name). Include any stories or traditions if you like.

Pumpkin Soup

Today is the first day of October, and while the vernal first day of autumn was a week ago, today it is indeed autumn in earnest at a slightly chilly 50 degrees and just barely sunny. My counterpart and I spent the day in the kitchen working on an appropriately seasonal meal involving pumpkin and game. The game was rabbit in pear reduction with mushrooms and creamed leeks plus pate on the side. The pumpkin was one of the simplest and most satisfying soups ever.

First, you need a fresh pumpkin. 

Go to your local pumpkin patch - there are a lot of them selling this time of year. 

Pumpkins this size will give you enough for soup and still have some left over for pie.

You will also need a 5-pound roasting chicken.

Quarter the chicken and place in it a large pot of water to stock.

Wash the pumpkin, cut it into quarters and remove the seeds.

Roast on the center rack of a 365-degree oven for about 90 minutes. 

Then set aside to cool.

Add some onion and leek to your chicken stock.

When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, strain your stock.

Return it to the pot and add some curry and white pepper.

Skin half of the pumpkin, cut into large chunks, and add to the seasoned chicken stock.

Add just a little heavy cream - a couple of tablespoons is about enough. 

Use an immersion blender to smooth it out. 

Taste it and add more of whatever you think is missing. 

If you add more pumpkin, use the blender again.

Add a couple of dried chilis - you can find these at Latino, Asian or Indian grocery stores- and let the whole thing simmer for about 45 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Happy Autumn!