Sunday, December 14, 2008

Punky Punkin

We've been planning to eat this since Thanksgiving. I made the pumpkin butter in advance, and dug out the old waffle maker... But on Thanksgiving morning, we were too afraid it would ruin our appetites.
So the pumpkin butter sat in the fridge, none the worse for a couple of weeks of age. We finally froze most of it, and today we ate the remainder on some silly, buttery Belgian waffles. They're called "Belgian" because the squares are big. Better to hold big Belgian swaths of pumpkin butter.
I will confess that the recipe for the pumpkin butter came from Parade Magazine, that lowbrow circular that comes with the Sunday paper. I thought the ingredients called for too much sugar and spice, but I followed it accurately anyway. I loved the fact that this pumpkin butter is baked, not cooked on the stovetop. It concentrates and gets brown. And the proportion of ingredients turned out to be delicious.
I could bother you with the felicitous quantity of stuff I had on hand. Exactly the amount of maple syrup in the bottle. The amount of sugar in the sugar jar. And the damn pumpkin, stripped of its seeds, even weighed the 28 ounces called for (although the recipe called for canned pumpkin, and I am a kitchen nitwit who insists on baking my own Sugar Pie pumpkin, nyah nyah).
The best part was how beautiful it came out.
Graced with a lick of crème fraîche... heaven.

18 comments:

kudzu said...

Wish I had that on my table tonight -- it looks splendidly winter-timey and dark and spicy and ---- yum! Waffles used to be a Sunday supper treat when I was a little girl.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Hmmm, it looks interesting but I'm not sure .... it may be just that wee bit too "foreign" for me.

Anonymous said...

I kinda love the fact that it came from Parade.

Greg said...

That photo is very seductive.Just want to grab that waffle off the screen.Mmmmmmm!

cookiecrumb said...

Kudzu: Supper waffles! Cranky and I have long toyed with the idea of savory toppings for waffles, such as mushrooms 'n' gravy.
It IS so appropriately winter-timey.

Morgan: Huh! Of course! It is very, very American, and we are foreigners. (The taste was gentle and creamy, not to frighten you.)

EB: I know! Ya swallow yer pride, cowboy up, and cook a Parade recipe. (The only other Parade recipe I've ever tried was for the divine roasted chicken from Zuni Cafe, and it was perfect. So ya know.)

Greg: I'm afraid my photography is getting a little cheesecake-ish.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

that was music to my ears...

why freeze when you can fedex?

Heather said...

I'm so with you on the Not Canned Pumpkin in My Kitchen, Thankyouverymuch tip.

Are your waffles silly because of the size, and not Belgian because you didn't use yeast? They look scrump to me.

cookiecrumb said...

Claudia: I CAN FedEx, if you are dropping hints. But it would require reciprocation of a sort of smoked mullet roe sort of sort. ;)

Heather: Agh. I've never made yeast waffles; must try. These ended up a bit soggy, and I understand yeast batter makes a crisper waffle.
Tastewise, to die, however. Buttermilk and baking powder. Local, organic pumpkin from my local grocery store. I love Northern California.

Brittany said...

That photo is downright pornographic.

I want some.

cookiecrumb said...

Brittany: Don't you just want to fall face-down in that? I think I might even have rubbed some on my pants. You know; down there.

Michelle said...

Love the idea of a bit of creme fraiche to top it off, and giggling at Cookiecrumb following a recipe to the letter ;) Looks like a perfect breakfast to me, anytime of the year!

kudzu said...

Re: supper waffles. They weren't savory, though that might have been good. They were usually served with sorghum syrup, v. similar to molasses, with dripping butter -- but always with bacon or sagey hot sausage cakes or country ham (it was supper, after all), so there's your savory element. Deeelicious.

Anonymous said...

That looks absolutely divine, and I think you're right, who'd want T-day fare after that?

Ahh, pumpkin. I have so many that they're finding their way into the most unexpected of dishes, but somehow they've neither become butter nor waffles. I suppose I need to rectify this, quickly! (Must..ration...eggs...for...weekend...waffles)

cookiecrumb said...

Michelle: To my credit, I substituted Mexican canela for the cinnamon. Couldn't find the cinnamon jar. I think it might be an improvement.
AND: This is good any time of day! We had it for lunch.

Kudzu: Ah. Sorghum is fascinating. Sludgy, evil edge to all that sweetness.
We'll let you know when the savory waffles happen; Cranky seems to be shopping for porcini these days.

El: I had a friend offer me a pumpkin plant last year. No thanks, sez I. You could drown in 'em.
I don't suppose I need to suggest pumpkin soup?

Kailyn said...

Thanks for the new idea. I usually make pumpkin pancakes around this time of year.

Passionate Eater said...

Your line, "graced with a lick of creme fraiche" made me melt... Like pumpkin butter. Beautiful.

cookiecrumb said...

Kailyn: Just keep in mind that the pumpkin butter is freighted with sugar and syrup, right from the get-go. But fat free! Tra la.

PE: Aw, thanks. As an admirer of your writing, I'm flattered.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

go bid on em' girlie...
menu for hope V
UE10
as for me, i'm fresh out
but if i had some i swear i'd send some to you, peter and heather

in that order