Making Pumpkin Chili for Fabulous Fall

[kevin313]

Here's a twist on a favorite dish. Apologies in advance to chili purists - but here's a turkey chili (you could use beef) that's a perfect match for a slow cooker a cool autumn afternoon.

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Recipe and more at link:

http://cavalcadeoffood.blogspot.com/2011/10/fall-version-of-longtime-favorite.html

 

[retropia]

Kevin, that looks interesting. I might be able to get hubby to try it if I call it something other than chili. Maybe I could call it "Autumnal Harvest Stew."

 

[kevin313]

Doug,

That's catchy!

 

[lordkenmore]

Interesting idea for chili!

 

I'm kind of amused by one thing. The blog post describes the joys of fresh produce at the farmer's market. Then calls for canned tomatoes and pumpkin! I realize of course both choices are more practical for a long list of reasons--particularly making this more than a 2 weeks a year dish. (It's also an approach I take--I'm not very interested these days in recipes than can be made one time a year because of the required fresh ingredients.)

 

[lordkenmore]

call it something other than chili

It's amazing sometimes what a name change will do for acceptance of a dish.

 

I've told this story here before, but for those who missed it: my grandmother was very American meat and potatoes at the end of her life. From experience, I got the impression she'd even judge without trying based on name and other information. One fine day, when cooking a dinner she'd eat, I decided I wanted Beef Stroganoff. So I went ahead. But, based on past experience, I said NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING about it, except: "Dinner is served!" She wondered, "What is this? I've never seen it before!" I told her it was just a simple beef stew that had sour cream. (I made special note of the sour cream--she really liked her saturated fat.) And she ate it. I can't remember how big a hit it was...but she did apparently like it enough that I was able to make it again.

 

 

[kevin313]

John - that's funny! It didn't occur to me that, other than the peppers, onions and garlic, the tomatoes and pumpkin are not fresh but canned! Well, I once made my own pumpkin puree from scratch and I have to tell you that for all the time and work involved, I thought the orange can from Libby's was superior!

 

[lordkenmore]

Libby's was superior!

I don't know this from experience, but I've been told that a lot of pumpkins sold don't cook that well. They are basically suitable for carving. Good cooking pumpkins are harder to find. Thus one might as well just buy the canned, which should--theoretically--be eating pumpkins.

 

If this is true, one wonders why pumpkins linger past Hallowe'en in the store. (I'm not 100% sure they still linger--but they have in years gone by.) Is the intention for them to be general harvest decorations? Or for suckers who want to try making a pumpkin pie from scratch? Or "we harvested these, we might as well try to sell them if we can!"

 

This reminds me of Thanksgiving one year when I was growing up. We always kept the Jack o'lantern on the porch as long as possible. Usually until it turned moldy, and collapsed under its own weight. One year we hosted Thanksgiving, and my father told our guests that we'd just scraped up the Jack o'lantern a couple of days before, and it became our pumpkin pie.