01 December 2016

Potiron caramélisé



The lamb and pumpkin tajine I've been writing about calls for caramelized cubes of pumpkin. In other words, it's a sweet-and-savory dish. The lamb is cooked with Moroccan spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and cayenne pepper, and with onions.



For the caramelized pumpkin (or other winter squash like butternut), you cut the pumpkin in half or quarters, remove the pulp and seeds from the center, and then cut thick slices that you can peel with a knife or vegetable peeler. You can cut the thick slices into cubes, the way I did, or you can caramelize the thick slices themselves, whole.


Melt plenty of butter in a non-stick frying pan. Put the chunks or slices in the pan and let them brown on one side. It takes a few minutes. Then carefully turn all the pieces of pumpkin over, or toss them around in the pan, to try to get them brown on another side. It can be a fairly delicate operation once the pumpkin starts to cook and soften.


When the browning is done, pour a couple of tablespoons of honey into the pan and stir everything around gently. The honey will start to thicken. Put a lid on the pan for a few minutes until the pumpkin pieces are tender. Set them aside until you're ready to combine them with the braised meat you're using — lamb, turkey, or chicken, for example.


Definitely cook the meat with onions and spices. Adding tajine spices to the pan of caramelized pumpkin cubes or slices is optional. Actually, the meat is optional too. The little Tajines (Hachette 2005) cookbook I have includes a recipe for a vegetarian pumpkin tajine cooked with sauteed onions, raisins, spices, butter, and honey. The caramelized pumpkin could also make a good dessert, with pound cake or rice pudding, for example.

9 comments:

  1. After eating some more caramelized pumpkin at lunch today, I think I've now found my favorite way to prepare and eat pumpkin. With the little bit of honey glaze, the pumpkin tastes much more like sweet potato. It's good with spicy meats, dark green like collards or kale, and with rice.

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  2. I had never thought about carmelizing pumpkin or butternut cubes -- sounds like a great idea.

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    1. "Caramelized" is probably a gallicism. "Glazed" or "honey-glazed" would probably be the American expression.

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  3. I could sit down with a bowl of rice with those veggies on top and swoon from the deliciousness of it.

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  4. My father loved (and so did I) caramelized carrots. Try it et tu m'en diras des nouvelles.
    https://www.ricardocuisine.com/recettes/2291-carottes-caramelisees-au-four

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    1. I will try the caramelized carrots. Sounds delicious. But first I have to make a choucroute garnie tomorrow. I got all the ingredients at the supermarket this morning. Choucroute crue, sausages, smoked cuts of pork, etc. This will be a choucrouty weekend here in Mareuil.

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  5. This looks delicious. I might would try lamb cooked like this. Maybe! :)

    Here is the recipe I found for the Moroccan Turkey Tagine stew. It sounded pretty good to me.

    http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Moroccan-Turkey-Tagine-Stew-8292.html

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    1. I couldn't get that link to work yesterday but this morning the recipe popped right up. It does look good. I'll put a recipe for the ras el hanout spice blend in my next post.

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