With Halloween - the eve of All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day - just around the corner the time of carving scary faces into pumpkins and putting candles inside them, to create a spooky atmosphere, has arrived. Long ago the Gaels thought that the dead could come back to life at this time of year, ruining the harvest and spreading disease. Bonfires date back to this time as do wearing masks and costumes which were believed to be necessary if you did not want to stand out as a mortal human being amongst all the wandering spirits.
What can you do with the contents of that pumpkin? Heather has got the answer: make a pumpkin pie! Please do listen to the programme for more detailed instructions and some alternative suggestion incl. the American way to make this pie.
Serves 8
For the pastry:
10 oz plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6 oz unsalted butter, chopped up
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 beaten egg
icing sugar to glaze
For the filling:
1and three-quarter kg or 4 lbs pumpkin, skinned, seeded and cut into chunks
300ml or half a pint of double cream
1 tbsp ground mixed spice
25gr or 1 oz fresh root ginger, grated
115gr or 4 oz caster sugar
grated rind of 2 lemons
To make the pastry sift the flour salt and spice into a food processor or a bowl, which takes longer, and blend the flour etc. with the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar and about 2 tbsp of cold water to make a firm dough. Kneed it lightly. Leave and chill it for 30 min.
Cooking the pumpkin is next so half fill a large pan with water and bring it to the boil. Put the pumpkin chunks in a colander or a steamer over the water. Cover this with a lid or some foil and steam it for about 20 min. until tender. Remove from steamer and cool. Turn two-thirds of the pumpkin into a large pie dish and blend the remaining pumpkin with the cream, spice, ginger, sugar and lemon rind and pour this in the dish over the pumpkin chunks. Preheat the over to 200 C, 400 F or gas mark 6. Take the baking dish, cover with the pastry making a hole in the middle, brush the top with egg. Bake for 25 min. or until golden. Preheat the grill to high. Dust the pastry with icing sugar and grill for 3 to 4 min. until glazed. Serve warm with some cream.
If you'd like to sample some of Heather's food first hand then you can go to her new UK restaurant near Cambridge. Visit her at www.carpentersarmsgastropub.co.uk
You can also send us your ideas for new recipes and other topics at expatsradio@hotmail.com
