FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Here’s a good holiday recipe that Mumm Farm wanted to share with you.  They all want to thank you for being their loyal customers and will see you next spring!

Stuffed Baked Pumpkin

Medium pumpkin (a pie pumpkin works best but any will do)
½ c. raisins or craisins
2 lbs. ground buffalo or beef
6-8 roasted greens chilies, skinned and seeded
2 roasted red chilies, skinned and seeded
¼ c. pine nuts (Piñon nuts)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
½ c. cilantro, chopped
2 medium eggs
¼ c. chicken stock
1 c. honey (used ½ c. at a time)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut a “lid” out of the pumpkin (with the stem as the handle) big enough to scoop out all of the insides, seeds and strings, Clean the inside of the “lid” too. Heat the oven to 375°. Brown the meat, add the onions and garlic and sauté 4-5 minutes. Put this into a large bowl with all of the rest of the ingredients and ½ c. of the honey.  Mix this well. Stuff the pumpkin with this mixture and pour the remaining ½ c. honey over the pumpkin.  Place it in a pan of shallow water and bake for 45 minutes at 375°.

Hot Pepper and Basil Jelly

INGREDIENTS:
5 c. chopped sweet bell peppers (all one color or an assortment of colors works)
About 1 c. chopped and seeded hot chiles (Jalapenos, Serranos, or whichever chile you deem to be the heat that you like)
Leaves from 2 large sprigs of basil (or omit, if you don’t like or don’t have fresh basil)
2 ½ c. cider vinegar
6 ½ c. sugar
2 packages (3 ounces each) of liquid pectin (just make the boxed dry kind and liquidize)

Combine the bell peppers, chiles and basil in a food processor and process until they are finely minced.  Transfer all to a tall, non reactive saucepan (like stainless steel, ceramic, etc).  Add the vinegar and bring it to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir the sugart into the pepper mixture and bring it to a full rolling boil over high heat.  The mixture should be boiling so furiously that you cannot stir it down.  It should take about 10-15 minutes to reach this point. Add the pectin and boil for 1 full minute.

Ladle the hot jelly into sterilized half-pint canning jars with two-piece canning lids (all available at the grocery stores), leaving a ¼ inch head space in each jar. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist, clean paper towel or cloth before adding the lids and then put the screwbands on the lids and tighten.  Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes (usually with some sort of rack on the bottom of a pot large enough to cover the jars with water). Take the jars out of the water and place on the counter to cool off.  After they cool, check the lids to make sure that they sealed.  You will hear them, as they “pop” and seal while cooling. If you press on the cooled lid it should have indented in a just `titch.  If some didn’t, no worries, just refrigerate those and use them first.  Store the sealed ones in a cool, dry place for up to one year.

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Fresh Autumn Pear Bread

One of our customers gave us this one and it’s a real goody.  FYI the Colorado Bartlett pears have been awesome this year!

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
¼ c. buttermilk or yogurt
1 c. coarsely chopped fresh ripe pears, skin left on

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nut­meg.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing gently but thoroughly. Gently stir in the pears.  Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.  Makes 1 loaf.

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until November 1, 2009!