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PUMPKIN BASICS
Buying: Examine the surface, stem and base of pumpkins to make sure they’re blemish-free before buying. Fresh pumpkins can be stored in a cool, dry place for two to six months.
Cooking: Versatile, hearty pumpkins are the perfect fall crop for cooking and baking. Their meaty orange flesh adds texture to everything from soups and risottos to pies and cakes.
PUMPKIN POWER
Originating in the southern part of North America, the pumpkin is one of the world’s oldest domesticated plants. All of it is edible, from the seeds — known as pepitas — and the flesh to the leaves and flowers.
AROUND RVA
Charm School: With chunks of house-made graham crackers, this pumpkin pie ice cream is a mood in a bowl, best served with a dollop of bruleed meringue.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery: The master of holiday beer, Hardywood has bottled sweater weather in its rum-barrel-aged Farmhouse Pumpkin ale.
Proper Pie Co.: Alton Brown called Proper Pie’s pumpkin-and-salted-caramel pie his favorite version of the beloved dessert during a 2014 visit, and that’s all the testimonial we need.
“Pumpkin is sweet and savory all at once, and that makes it a very versatile vegetable.” —Carena Ives, owner of Jamaica House and Carena’s Jamaican Grille
Carena Ives, owner of Jamaica House and Carena’s Jamaican Grille (Photo courtesy Carena Ives)
COOK LIKE A LOCAL
Carena’s Pumpkin Soup
By Carena Ives, owner of Jamaica House and Carena’s Jamaican Grille
Chef Carena Ives ate pumpkin often while growing up in Jamaica, where the green-skinned fruit is referred to as calabaza squash or West Indian pumpkin. The owner of Jamaica House and Carena’s Jamaican Grille says getting past the skin is always the challenge. “Sometimes cutting the squash in smaller sections then peeling it is much easier.” If finding pumpkin proves problematic, Ives says butternut squash works just as well in her rich, spicy, vegan pumpkin soup.
Makes 8 servings
4 cups half-inch diced pumpkin (or butternut squash)
Half of a medium yellow onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 whole habanero pepper
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
2 quarts vegetable stock
4 ounces coconut cream (not sweet)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a heavy stock pot, add oil and saute garlic and onion for three minutes over medium heat.
Add stock, squash, carrots, thyme, habanero pepper and bay leaf and season to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes. Add coconut cream and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, discard bay leaf, thyme and pepper (careful not to puncture the pepper, or the soup will be very spicy!). Allow to cool for a few minutes. Blend until smooth with immersion blender or regular blender. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.
