Battle Pumpkin Continues

And to be completely honest, it's just not going as well as I had hoped. I am completely intrigued by the pumpkin. I have always enjoyed pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread, but I've never enjoyed it as the vegetable it really is. So far I have to say, I like it best plain with a pat of butter. Although that ravioli was pretty good...

Anyway, today's adventure took me to risotto. I must have sustained a head injury recently with all of my poor choices in the kitchen. First of all, I've never actually made risotto. So that's a strike in itself. Secondly, I was already cooking up some brown rice to go with our dinenr tonight, so I started the risotto process halfway through cooking using the wrong rice. Ah well, texture wise, it did turn out okay, but flavor wise it was sorely lacking. I started with the rice and added about 3/4 cup fresh pumpkin puree, a bit of sage, and some salt and pepper. I let that cook in, and then I added a bit of half-and-half to help it get creamier. I continued cooking and stirring occasionally. I don't know waht I was thinking. I guess I expected the "magic flavor fairy" to just show up and flavor the risotto with something. It was so bland. I added more salt, Penzey's Fox Point, and lastly, a drizzle of pure maple syrup, trying to get SOMETHING out of my risotto. Eh. It got a thumbs down from all. At least Andy did a fine job smoking a roast on the grill- so we had that to enjoy.

So tomorrow to finish up my challenge, I have engaged some help, and a friend is bringing over a pumpkin flan for dessert- now that sounds like my kind of pumpkin! We are having our friends over for our weekly to-do, and the theme tomorrow is Fiesta. I have yet to decide for sure what we're making, but I may be inspired enough to try a recipe I found recently for a spicy pumpkin sauce and enchiladas. Again, complements of the one and only Bob. Maybe he'd like to join us for dinner tomorrow. I could use some good karma in the kitchen after this weekend.

And on a brief business note, I have added several new foodie blogs to my blog- do check them out- there is good food lurking around every single page!