What do you think Iron Chefs do when the revealed ingredient is one they’ve never used before?As one of the “Iron Chefs” on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, I got to figure out that answer firsthand! Every Thanksgiving, when the table is cleared after dinner and turkey and stuffing have been put away, out comes the traditional dessert -- pumpkin pie. Plates are passed, loaded, and passed back.
And I just keep on passing. My family loves the dessert. I do not. Give me more stuffing, with a huge ladle-ful of gravy and I’ll be content.
But pumpkin is our Iron Chef ingredient this week. Although I've never used it before, I was determined to come up with something original and unique. I knew better than to try to work with fresh pumpkin, so I bought myself a couple of cans. And I began to experiment.
Some of my concoctions are better left unmentioned… but one, finally, made the cut. It’s quick and simple and not very fancy – Pumpkin spread for crackers. Yep, pretty basic.
Realizing I wouldn’t come up with anything truly great with my pumpkin experiments, I called for help. My brother made Pumpkin LaFourche for Thanksgiving one year. It’s served hot at dinner (not a dessert, although it is plenty sweet), and everyone raved. It’s not my original recipe, of course. It comes from the Madewood Plantation in Napoleonville, Louisiana, where my brother once stayed. Check out the Madewood website. I would *love* to spend a weekend there!
The recipe is involved, but delicious. I had some when my brother made it and I even enjoyed it—despite the fact that it had pumpkin as an ingredient ;-)
You can find the recipe for Pumpkin LaFourche here.
Now, for my feeble attempt at pumpkin spread…
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup Fluff
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
Graham Crackers
Soften cream cheese and mix all ingredients well. Spread on graham crackers and enjoy.
(My family liked them and I even had some… my reaction? “Not bad.”)
That's a photo of a cracker and spread moments before being consumed....
;-)
As Avery announced yesterday, we want to congratulate our first Iron Chef Week WINNER! It's MOLLY EBERT. She's won a $25 gift card to Williams-Sonoma. Molly gave us a terrific secret ingredient. Tune in, in December, to find out what it is and how we will use it when we have our NEXT Iron Chef Week.
I want to shout out to some of our other “secret ingredient” submitters -- JANEL who suggested quinoa (I had to look that one up. The Wikipedia article describing it is here.) And shout-outs to WENDY who suggested smoked paprika and SUZANNE who suggested pomegranate. Lots of great ideas from all of you! Stay tuned for when our new secret Iron Chef ingredient is announced!
Hope you enjoy the *real* recipe of Pumpkin LaFourche!
;-)
Julie
Julie Hyzy’s White House Chef Mystery series features State of the Onion, and Hail to the Chef
I want to shout out to some of our other “secret ingredient” submitters -- JANEL who suggested quinoa (I had to look that one up. The Wikipedia article describing it is here.) And shout-outs to WENDY who suggested smoked paprika and SUZANNE who suggested pomegranate. Lots of great ideas from all of you! Stay tuned for when our new secret Iron Chef ingredient is announced!
Hope you enjoy the *real* recipe of Pumpkin LaFourche!
;-)
Julie
Julie Hyzy’s White House Chef Mystery series features State of the Onion, and Hail to the Chef
Eggsecutive Orders comes out January 5, 2010 Just 2 days after
