Pumpkin Fried Rice

This recipe is a homage to a dish of the same name from Ginza, a downtown Bellevue restaurant. I can only hope that I can get the presentation close to how Ginza serves this up (inside a cooked kabocha squash).

Ginza's Pumpkin Fried Rice

From looking and tasting the dish, it has these noticeable ingredients: green onions, bacon, short grain white rice, caramelized onions, and chunks of kabocha squash. It easily serves 2-3 adults. Except for the rind and stem, it's all edible. I only have one sugar pumpkin on hand for this recipe; so no fancy presentation for me. You'll need to have two small sized kabocha squash on hand to replicate Ginza's plating for this dish. I think Ginza finishes the dish in the oven or steamer for the last ten or so minutes of cook time.

I only had five slices of bacon on hand, and while I could have taken more out of the freezer, I didn't. This recipe ratio definitely needed ten slices of bacon for the amount of rice cooked and prepared diced pumpkin. I used 1/4 cup less water when making the rice since I wanted the cooked rice to have more texture when frying. I also stirred the freshly made steamed rice until it cooled.

Ingredients

2-3 stalks green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 medium white onion, small dice
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices of bacon, fried to a crisp then coarsely chopped
4 c. cooked white rice (2 c dried + 1 3/4 c water)
1/4 c. light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2+ c. diced sugar pumpkin (or kabocha squash)

Directions

1. With a rice steamer, cook two cups of rice in 1 3/4 cups of water. This will give the short grain rice a firmer texture for fried rice. Long grain white or brown rice can be used, if you prefer.

-or- Have four cups of cooked rice. White rice works better than brown rice. Long grain is the preferred American style of fried rice; while short grain is typically used in Asian cuisine.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, fry bacon over low-medium heat until all the strips are crispy. Pour out all but two tablespoons of bacon grease. Let the cooked bacon cool on paper towels before chopping up.

3. In the same skillet, turn heat to medium and saute onions and garlic until onions have turned translucent and begin to brown; about 5 mins. Add diced pumpkin and stir mixture occasionally until the pumpkin is fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.

4. If you intend to add a saltier taste to the rice by using soy sauce, add it before the rice and stir until the pumpkin is mostly coated with it; instead of adding it to the rice which gives the rice an uneven color. Then, add the cooked rice and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. To preserve the green color of the scallions, these should be added last and about 10 minutes before serving. Add bacon and green onions. Stir to combine.

5. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.

This is how my version came out. It really did need more bacon; and the pumpkin could have cooked for longer:

Pumpkin Fried Rice, first attempt

Toasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash Seeds

Sure, nearly all squash seeds are edible, but some definitely yield larger seeds than others. These are edible seeds worthy of toasting: butternut squash, kabocha squash, jack-o-lantern pumpkins (the ones that usually get carved up into scary shapes), sugar pumpkins, and acorn squash.

Basic Prep Method:

Remove seeds from the squash, and discard any strings or pulp. Wash the seeds and spread them to dry on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. I put mine in a salad spinner and then onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet to dry more. I don't recommend using paper towels or kitchen towels because as they dry, the seeds will stick to the paper or pick up lint from the kitchen towels.

If using flavorings, mix the flavorings with the seeds prior to heating.

Heating Method(s):

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the squash seeds and cook, occasionally shaking or stirring the pan. Once the seeds start to "pop", they are done. Do not let the seeds burn. Remove from heat. If using a spice mix flavoring, taste one before adding additional spices and/or salt.

-or-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake seeds for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are a light golden brown color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.


Flavoring Options:

1-2 tbsp olive oil + spices to taste (cayenne pepper or paprika, sea salt, black pepper)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil & 2 tsp kosher salt

Zucchini and yellow squash fritters

Aye ya. Two terrible dishes in the same day. I must not be in sync with the universe today. I'm told that if yellow squash isn't ripe (as if anyone can tell just by looking at it), the squash can be bitter. I don't think this would have tasted any better if I made it into something else. Why would it be for sale at a produce stand if it weren't ripe? Maybe farmers can't even tell when the yellow squash is ripe during harvest season...

This is a typical fritter recipe. You have a shredded ingredient, say a potato, zucchini, carrots, or squash, or any combination of ingredients, say clams or crab meat, add it to a flour-based batter and fry it up.

The base of the fritter usually involves some mixture of water, eggs, flour, and sometimes baking powder. The baking powder supposedly makes the fritter more crunchy; though, it didn't do much for this batch. If I were to do this recipe again, I'd definitely omit the yellow squash. Ugh.

Ingredients

2 small yellow squash, grated

1 medium zucchini, grated

1 carrot, grated

1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten + 1 tbsp water

salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

olive oil, for frying

Directions

1. Grate vegetables and stir in 1/4 tsp of salt. Let this sit for 10 minutes, then with cheesecloth or with your hands, squeeze out and discard the excess liquid from the vegetables.

2. Lightly beat an egg, salt, and freshly ground black pepper; stir this into the vegetables.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.

3. While stirring, sprinkle in the flour to the egg/vegetable mixture. It should be slightly runny, like a batter.

4. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry on each side until lightly golden brown. Remove fritter from heat and repeat with the remaining batter.

These would probably taste good with a light sauce or sour cream.

Goat cheese and zucchini omelette

Using a flavored goat cheese (Primo Taglio, a Lucerne brand), in this instance garlic & herb, for an omelette proved to be too strong tasting and overpowered all the herbs in the eggs. I don't think it would have mattered if I used fresh herbs instead of dried.  The original recipe from Cooking Light magazine calls for red bell pepper and fresh herbs.

Ingredients

4 eggs
3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp fresh chives, chopped (optional, as garnish)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
olive oil, for frying

Directions

1. In a bowl, beat eggs, salt and black pepper together.

2. In a small bowl, combine tarragon, parsley and goat cheese.

3. In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 tsp of olive oil and fry zucchini until lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in the skillet and add half the egg mixture. As the egg cooks, evenly spread on top half the cheese and half the zucchini. Using a spatula, loosen the edges of the omelette before attempting fold it into thirds. Carefully flip the omelette over in the skillet and let it cook for 2-3 minutes more. Remove the omelette to a plate and repeat with the remaining ingredients.

5. Sprinkle fresh chives on top before serving.

Ratatouille Tart

I made a double cornmeal crust for this and even after baking it twice, once for the crust and again with the assembled tart, the crust did not hold up too well to slicing. Some potluck guests had suggested that instead of it being the crust, to use the cornmeal as a topping on top of the crust. That would be an interesting notion. I'll have to think about how to make it so that it cuts well and is crust-less. It is entirely doable if the bottom layer is comprised of sturdier slices of vegetables like more overlapping layers of eggplant and zucchini. This tart only had a single layer of roasted eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices. Without the 1/4" cornmeal crust it can easily accommodate more layers of vegetables. The inclusion of the shredded Gruyere and Swiss cheese into one of the cheese layers was certainly worth repeating. The original Food Network recipe only called for shredded mozzarella cheese, and three ounces was not enough for a 10" tart. I don't think it would be enough had I used a 9" tart pan.

For roasting:

1 green zucchini
1 Japanese eggplant (the long, thin one)
3 medium tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Slice vegetables into 1/8" slices and lay out in a single layer on a 9" x 13" glass baking dish (for easier cleaning) or onto a Silpat-lined baking tray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake vegetables for 12 minutes. The vegetables should be soft and doesn't have to be cooked all the way through. Take roasted vegetables out and set aside to cool until ready to fill the tart pan.

The cornmeal crust (optional):

One batch will supposedly fill a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. But, that is not the size I had on hand. I made a double batch and packed it all into the 10" tart pan, which turned out to be way too much crust.

2/3 c. finely ground white cornmeal
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a food prep, pulse together dry ingredients, then add butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add in the olive oil and pulse until well combined.

If you managed to roast the vegetables first, turn the heat down to 350 degrees F. After packing the crust into the tart pan with a 1/4" edge around the base of the tart. Place a sheet of aluminum foil between the top of the tart and the pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and pie weights and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the crust no longer looks shiny.

Kitchen note: this crust did not hold together and tasted very dry. The combination of olive oil and butter did not do much as a binder. Perhaps just a water, butter, flour crust would have sufficed.

Putting it all together:

The remaining ingredients for this recipe involves shredded cheese, sliced basil leaves, and grated Parmesan cheese (or some comparable tasting hard cheese).

3 oz - 5 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 oz Gruyere and Swiss blend cheese, shredded
5 medium fresh basil leaves, sliced
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano-regianno cheese

Bottom layer:  roasted eggplant slices and mozzarella cheese. When I did this, I placed the slices in a circular manner with the slices slightly overlapping each other.

Middle layer: zucchini slices and Gruyere and Swiss cheese

Top layer: tomato slices, fresh basil leaf slices, and the remainder of the mozzarella cheese. Generously scatter the grated hard cheese on top of the tart.

Bake tart for 30 minutes, or until all the cheese has melted. It will smell a lot like a pizza because it is made up of similar ingredients.

Remove tart from oven and let cool before serving.