Souper Freak

With the beautiful sunny warm weather we’ve had lately in San Francisco (typical for this time of year), you’d hardly know it’s autumn. But with Halloween over and Thanksgiving on its way, fall is definitely here. This has always been my favorite season, and nowadays its when I feel most nostalgic about growing up in Ohio. I miss the crunch of leaves on the streets and the undeniable smell in the air. Thankfully there is the great autumn equalizer: the food! Pumpkin, butternut squash, every kind of apple — and here in San Francisco is the added romance of picking up organic ones at the farmer’s market.

In the spirit of Halloween I’ve cooked up a number of yummy fall dishes since the weekend….

* Pear and kale pizza with a pumpkin-fig-balsamic sauce and caramelized onions *

This one was an original recipe folks!! It all just came together: we used naan for the crust, three kinds of cheese, slices of pear, sauteed kale, patiently caramelized onions…and then the sauce, oh the sauce! Cara and I have long loved the vegan roasted vegetable Amy’s frozen pizza — it doesn’t have any cheese, but it has this amazingly decadent sauce. The sauce we whipped up for this pizza comes close! It’s a mix of canned pumpkin and the deepest, richest, slightly sweet mission fig sauce. I’d attempt to give you the recipe, but the trick to the sauce is a specialty ingredient that I believe is no longer event available! Back when I lived in Berkeley I bought this Mission Fig Syrup from the Big Paw vinegar stand at the Berkeley farmer’s market. It sat on my shelf for years (at least three!) until I figured out what to do with it. Now I know just what to do, but I guess it can only last as long as this small jar does! According to the Big Paw website, you can buy a mission fig vinegar but there is no trace of the syrup. Maybe one day I’ll try to improvise?

* Crab butternut squash mac & cheese *

Let’s be honest: This was more like butternut squash mac & cheese with a dusting of crab — I used a whole pound of pasta, so the measly six ounces of (canned) crab I used gave more of a “hint” of crab. But still not a shabby dish to bring to a Halloween potluck, which is exactly what I did — and the crowd ate it up. The recipe brings broccoli (I used broccolini) and crab and pasta together in a sauce that blends butternut squash, walnuts (ground up to thicken the sauce), a bit of mustard, fresh thyme, and cheese. The recipe calls for just parmesan, but I added some white cheddar and feta too. I can imagine that with fresh crab — and more of it — this would be even more delicious. Alas, I don’t have any pictures of the finished dish — or the costumed friends eating it.

* Breakfast pumpkin quinoa with cranberries and almonds *

I learned something today: Cooking is quinoa is a losing battle at 7am in the morning. First, in my attempt to rinse the quinoa, I poured the tiny grains into a sieve with holes that were obviously too big (not obvious enough to me in the morning, I guess), and poured them straight onto the floor. Then I let the boiling quinoa boil over and then I practically burnt it in the end. I added the spices without even measuring, probably too much canned pumpkin, and forgot about the sugar (later added maple syrup instead — the one good thing I did). I also subbed cinnamon almonds for the pecans the recipe calls for. The result? Meh. I’ll go back to peanut butter toast. But at least I used up some of my leftover canned pumpkin!

(The photo in the original recipe is much prettier than mine):