Sunday afternoon food post

[starlady]

Taking a break from scheming about getting back to Japan and to Europe, hacking through applications for things for next summer, and translating Takamure Itsue, who just talked about the tentacles of the world of academic history not having reached the virgin territory of women's history. That sound you hear is the shattering of all my mental compartments.

So! Yesterday and Friday I made a lot of things. They were all delicious.

I have discovered (again) Dorie Greenspan, who is an amazing chef and a little bit of a latter-day Julia Child, I think. On Friday morning I got up early and made this quiche crust, and on Friday afternoon I filled it with carrots, leeks, red bell pepper and custard and topped it with cheese, and it was really, really good. Also on Friday I made this apple-rosemary cranberry sauce, which was pretty good as well; I think next time I will definitely peel the apples.

On Saturday afternoon my friend L and I braved the rain to make this roasted stuffed pumpkin, and oh my god it's amazing. Next time I will definitely scale up the stuffing, since it all cooked down as it roasted, and really stuff the pumpkin, but in principal it's delicious beyond reason. I added a sliced leek and a chopped apple to the filling, and it was grand. Next time I might try sage, too, and possibly use light (or somehow liquified) sour cream to moisten the stuffing.

All these recipes are from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table; I also made the lentil soup recipe from that cookbook, and the pumpkin muffins from her baking cookbook. So good. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. Good thing I have pumpkin leftovers.

ETA: Because a lot of people have asked, my roommate's food blog is cupcake_muffin_feed. You should check it out!

Comments

[kindkit]

Ooh, thanks for the link to the stuffed pumpkin recipe! I'd been thinking of making something like that, but I didn't have the recipe anymore and I was a bit nervous of improvising.

[starlady]

OMNOMNOM SO GOOD.

The other thing is of course to make sure you get a pie/eating pumpkin as opposed to a carving one. We used a fairy tale, which was good, but I'm wondering if there are any other varieties with more native flavour. On the other hand it's not going to taste like a pumpkin pie just as a pumpkin...

[oursin]

the tentacles of the world of academic history not having reached the virgin territory of women's history.

Quite apart from the DO.NOT.WANT image:
Not true.
(Depends on the date that was written, I daresay, but I can make a case for women writing academically reputable history about women going back at least to the Strickland sisters, who did primary archival research which was far from state of the art at the time)

[starlady]

The Strickland sisters sound pretty awesome.

Takamure was writing this in 1938, and she was speaking specifically about history and historiography in Japan, where she's regarded as the founder of women's history. Like the Strickland sisters, her research was almost entirely document-based and "laborious and conscientious." Interesting parallels, actually.

Also, yeah, horrible image.

[via_ostiense]

use light (or somehow liquified) sour cream to moisten the stuffing.

Yogurt and buttermilk could work, or if they're too liquid, whipping creme fraiche or sour cream will make it easier to mix it in with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.

[starlady]

I think if I just blended the sour cream into the stuffing before I stuffed the pumpkin, that might even be enough, since the pumpkin does exude moisture. Definitely something to think about before I make it again; thanks for the tips!

[via_ostiense]

I love your icon! That's my favorite scene in the movie.

[olewyvern.livejournal.com]

Those are some serious metaphors in your first paragraph. I think my mental compartments just did a little shattering of their own.

Sounds like lots of good eating! I don't really care to cook very often, but sometimes it makes a better study break than I expect.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and if you've read enough Lovecraft the idea of tentacles + virgin anything is just not good.

I cook so much, it's becoming pathological.