28 Oct 2015

Dining:

Market Meals: Pumpkin Curry and Gram’s Red Cabbage with Beer Braised Brats

By Jonathan Bardzik

Stop by Jonathan’s free cooking demonstrations at Eastern Market on Saturday mornings to learn more and to pick up more free recipes using fresh market ingredients. 

Happy Halloween! Whether you are feeding hungry trick-or-treaters as they return home or a houseful of party guests, you’ll need a hearty meal that’s quick and easy. You’ll also need a good answer for the age-old question “what’s the difference between pumpkin and squash?” Botanically, they are the same thing – all members of the genus Curcubita. Pumpkin and squash are culinary terms with pumpkin typically referring to larger, thick-walled squash. So where does a round, red, small Kabocha fit? Don’t worry too much about it. The important thing is how good it tastes in this pumpkin curry!

This week’s recipes both come from my new cookbook, Seasons to Taste – a four-season celebration of farm-fresh food and the people we share it with. The recipes were all inspired by fresh ingredients from Eastern Market. To pre-order a book, shipping around Thanksgiving, visit SeasonsToTasteCookbook.com. See me at the Market this Saturday for a sneak preview.

With so much fresh pumpkin at Eastern Market right now you can take your pick of Kabocha, Butternut or Delicata squash. Ask David and Valerie at Sunnyside Farm for their recommendation. You can find Thai basil and curry paste inside at Paik produce. Canales Quality Meats has fresh, homemade Bratwurst sausages and you can grab a red cabbage from Dan at Agora Farms.

2014-09-20-1 P1 Pumpkin CurryPumpkin Curry

Serves 6

Inspired by the unforgettable pumpkin curry at Washington, DC’s Thai X-ing restaurant, I grabbed a rich, sweet Japanese Kabocha squash and created a quick at-home version that tastes wonderfully bright, fresh and complex.

Ingredients:

4 tbs peanut or vegetable oil, divided

1 large red pepper, thinly sliced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbs yellow curry paste

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

3 Makrut lime leaves

1 Thai Bird chile, thinly sliced

½ lb kale, de-ribbed and thinly sliced

6 cups Kabocha or Butternut squash, peeled and cut in 2” cubes

1/2 can coconut milk (about 7 ounces)

1-2 tbs fish sauce

Lime juice

3-4 sprigs Thai basil

Directions:

  • Warm 2 tbs of oil over medium-high heat in a 3 quart sauté pan. Add red pepper. Cook 5 minutes until browning on edges. Remove from pan and reserve.
  • Return pan to heat with remaining oil. Add onion and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add curry paste and cook an additional 1 minute until fragrant.
  • Add vegetable stock, lime leaves, chile, kale and squash. Partially cover and simmer for 5 minutes until squash is just fork tender.
  • Return peppers to pan. Add coconut milk and simmer 5 minutes longer.
  • Season to taste with fish sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper. Serve tossed with Thai basil sprigs.

Tip: In the first step, your peppers should come out of the pan undercooked. They will continue to soften while you cook the pumpkin and finish at just the right texture when simmered with the other ingredients to finish.

2014-10-11-4 P1 braised red cabbage w bratsGram’s Red Cabbage with Beer Braised Brats

Serves 6 – 8 

Gram probably didn’t have star anise and cardamom pods in her pantry, but I bet today she would. She seemed cool like that. If you want to, count the whole spices as you put them in so you can pull them out later. Otherwise, just warn your diners.

Ingredients:

1 tbs butter

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1 diced medium apple like Stayman, Braeburn or Cortland

1 star anise

3 whole cloves

3 cardamom pods

1/2 red cabbage, thinly sliced, about 6 cups

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups apple cider

1 tbs olive oil

6-8 bratwurst

1 bottle brown ale

Directions:

  • Melt butter in an 8 quart stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Add apple and spices and cook 2-3 minutes.
  • Add cabbage and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until it begins to soften.
  • Add vinegar and cider. Cover and simmer until cabbage is soft, about 10-15 minutes.
  • Remove lid and cook until most of the cider has evaporated.
  • Season to taste with salt, pepper and additional cider vinegar.
  • Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add bratwurst and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total.
  • Add beer, cover, and simmer 5-7 minutes until cooked through.
  • Serve bratwurst over braised cabbage.

Tip: You’re going to look in the pot at the beginning and think you should add more cider, but as the cabbage cooks, it will release plenty of moisture. Reduce the heat and add extra cider 1/4 cup at a time if the pot gets dry on the bottom.

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