Color Me Fall: Pumpkin Gnocchi, Roasted Chanterelles, and Apple Cider Caramels with Sea Salt

Phil and I don't have children.  Frankly, they would be redundant, as we have no intention of growing up.  In the Fall I am at my least mature.  I shriek while running through piles of dry leaves. I've been known to cover my floors and furniture with visqueen and invite 20 or so friends over with power tools to carve pumpkins. We watch black-and-white spooky movies, curled up by the fire, with big bowls of liberally buttered popcorn on our laps. 

The grownup in me emerges to cook with the season.  Pumpkins, mushrooms, apple cider.

Fall begins with a visit to Suyematsu Farms pumpkin patch on Day Road.  For years Phil dutifully pulled a wagon behind me to the farthest reaches of the farm (where clearly the best pumpkins must hide) as I deliberated the merits of the many varieties . . . Cinderella, Ghost, Turkish Turban, New Zealand Blue. Which to choose?

In recent years, the pumpkin patch visit has become a girlfriend ritual.  

Sneaking away from work for a happy hour in a sunny field.

Katy, Michele, and Me.  

Because Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Only One Pumpkin.

What to do with the bounty?  Pumpkin Gnocchi With Apple Cider, Brown Sugar, Butter, and Sage is a good place to start.

Grab a sugar pumpkin, scoop out the guts, put the pumpkin on a cookie sheet with its top back in place and roast in a 350-degree oven for an hour or so, until brown and soft when pushed with your finger.

 

When cool enough to handle the skin will easily peel away from the flesh.  Discard skin and puree pumpkin in food processor in batches. Drain pumpkin overnight in a colander lined with coffee filters or cheesecloth. Pumpkin puree keeps several days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Follow Recipe for Gnocchi and Sauce At End of This Post

Devour.

But woman cannot live by pumpkin alone.  There are chanterelles to be roasted.

There are friends who would get on a plane in the middle of the night to be by your side in a crisis.  Friends who would bail you out of prison.  Friends that make you a better person, just by spending time with them.  I am blessed with those friends.  Joni is one, but she takes it up a notch by bringing me bags of gold -- piles of foraged chanterelle mushrooms.  

 

Like tomatoes in summer, I could eat them every day.  For those of you who don't have a friend like Joni, you can find chanterelles at your local grocer.  Then do this with them.

Use a mushroom brush, an old toothbrush, or a lightly dampened paper towel to remove detritus from the forest floor from the mushrooms. Cut mushrooms in large chunks and arrange in single layer in a baking dish. Top with torn pieces of fresh mozzarella, sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and sea salt. Drizzle on a generous amount of good olive oil.  Roast in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until mushrooms give up their liquid and the cheese is lightly brown and bubbly.

Scoop onto crusty bread, soaking up the rich liquid in the pan. You can also toss the roasted mushrooms with pasta, or serve on top of soft polenta, or on a hearty green salad.  Or just stand at the counter and eat them out of the pan.

Ready for some sticky fun?  Let's make apple cider caramels with sea salt.  

This time of year you will find just-pressed apple cider at Farmers' Markets. On Bainbridge you'll find jugs at Butler Green Farms. Fresh cider is a world apart from the pasteurized stuff sold in stores. The difficult part of this recipe isn't the prep, it's in allowing yourself to actually boil 4 cups of cider down to 1/2 cup of intense apple syrup.  But oh, does it make good caramel.

 I use painter's tape to anchor the parchment in place.

A long sharp knife is key to a clean cut.

Apple Cider Caramels

 Adapted from a recipe by Smitten Kitchen

4 cups apple cider
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil the apple cider in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume, stirring occasionally.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch straight-sided square metal baking pan with 2 long sheets of crisscrossed parchment. Set it aside. Stir the cinnamon and sea salt together in a small dish.

Once the apple cider has reduced, remove from heat and stir in the butter, sugars and heavy cream.

Return the pot to medium-high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side, and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees F, about 5 minutes.

Immediately remove caramel from heat, add cinnamon and salt mixture, give the caramel several stirs to distribute it evenly, then stir in vanilla. Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Let it sit until cool and then refrigerate uncovered at least two hours. Once caramel is firm, transfer to a cutting board with the help of the parchment paper. Cut the caramels into 1-inch by 1-inch squares. Wrap each one in a 4-inch square of waxed paper, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm in the fridge.

Yields about 64 caramels.

The Last Word:  Pie

When I find a recipe I love (and my guests love) I stick with it.  I've made the same pumpkin pie from Gourmet Magazine since the recipe was published in 1992 (with fresh pumpkin, of course).  Its a very grownup version, laced with cognac. As to the crust, ditch the shortening called for and use leaf lard, or all butter. 

The pumpkin patch awaits children and children at heart.

And dogs.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Apple Cider Sage Butter
 
Gnocchi
12 ounces fresh drained pumpkin puree
8 ounces fresh ricotta cheese drained overnight in colander lined with coffee filters
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 - 3 cups (about) all-purpose flour or "00" flour if available
Sauce
2 cups apple cider
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Parmesan for grating
 
Place pumpkin and ricotta cheese in bowl and stir to combine. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; stir gently but thoroughly with spatula to blend. Mix in flour with spatula, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms. The dough should be very soft, but not so sticky that you can’t hold it in floured hands.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and with a knife divide into 6 equal log-shaped pieces. Rolling gently between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Transfer to baking sheet dusted with flour.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt. Transfer the gnocchi by hand to boiling water. Stir water gently from time to time to prevent any from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Maintain a gentle boil throughout. As the gnocchi cook they will float to the top one by one. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and place (not touching) on a clean baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

While gnocchi are cooling, pour apple cider in a skillet (it should be large enough to eventually hold gnocchi) and boil until reduced by 1/3. Add butter and torn sage leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring to combine.

Add gnocchi and gently stir to fully coat with sauce. Serve immediately, grating fresh parmesan over top.