How to cook with autumn’s crown
Solid gold ideas for cooking with pumpkin
Kia ora friends,
We’re at the last day of April (which also happens to be my birthday – yay!) and I can’t wait to dive into May, as I’ve got some very very exciting news to share with you later this month – stay tuned for more on this in future newsletters!
In other news, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for me as I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and start a side hustle alongside my food writing and doctoring. Since moving to Ōtepoti, Dunedin at the beginning of the year, I’ve been fruitlessly looking for a premises to start a food business in. So while I wait for the right opportunity to come up, I’ve decided to launch a made-to-order cake business from my home kitchen!
Beau – Cakes by Alby Hailes
Handsome cakes for every occasion: unique, adventurous and most importantly, delicious! There is a signature cake range (see below) in different shapes/colours designed to push the flavour boundaries of your typical cake – because the eating experience should be as much of an event as the cake itself. I will also be making custom cakes to order. One of my mottos is that everyone deserves to be able to enjoy a slice of cake - no matter the circumstance. That’s why when you purchase a BEAU cake, you’re also giving the gift of cake to others. With EVERY signature cake purchased, I donate a 20cm cake to a community organisation or group of your choice in Ōtepoti, Dunedin. Sorry for the shameless plug to those who don’t live near Dunedin – but if you have friends or whānau in the area it would be amazing if you could spread the world! Check out @beaucakesnz on Instagram or www.albyhailes.com/beaucakes to follow my cake business journey!!
Let’s give you ‘Pumpkin’ to talk about
Anyway, onto the reason why we’re all here – let’s talk new recipes!! One of my favourite parts of autumn is undoubtedly the arrival of pumpkin season, in all the various shapes, sizes and colours; ever since seeing a cartoon fairy godmother transform a pumpkin into a beautiful golden coach, I’ve always found pumpkins particularly magical. And the magic doesn’t stop with their curious appearance – they’re one of the most versatile vegetables to cook with. Boil, roast, blitz, mash, curry, stew, sauté – you name it, pumpkin can do it, bringing that familiar mild sweet nuttiness and orange-gold palate. And carrying on from the theme of last week’s newsletter, it is one of the easiest vegetables for crossing the boundaries of sweet and savoury in your cooking.
Did you know that pumpkins are actually a powerhouse of nutrition that can help optimise your physical and mental health?! Their signature orange-gold colour is from beta-carotene, which our body converts into Vitamin A, an essential vitamin for optimising our immune system and vision. And it’s not just the pumpkin flesh that’s good for you - pumpkin seeds are relatively high in tryptophan, an essential amino acid important in the production of serotonin and melatonin in the body – which play a key role in improving our mood and maintaining our sleep cycle.
I had so much fun last week creating a creamy, dreamy recipe for Pumpkin cheesecake ice cream with pumpkin seed praline. This no-churn recipe is remarkably simple to make (the scariest part is making the caramel for the praline, but I promise you it’s more than achievable), and you can make it in advance and chuck in the freezer, ready to bring out at a moment’s notice to impress guests. The pumpkin is roasted with spices, blitzed, whisked with some cream cheese and folded through a cheat’s condensed milk ice cream base. Throw in some crunchy pieces of pumpkin seed praline and it’s an absolute winner. Ice cream inherently boosts your mood through its texture, sweetness and sense of childhood nostalgia that it brings, so when you combine that with some of the health benefits of pumpkin, recipes like this Pumpkin cheesecake ice cream are natural mood boosters (as long as everything is eaten in moderation!).
One of my favourite pumpkins to use is the butternut pumpkin: I love its hourglass shape and the flesh is slightly sweeter, drier and nuttier than regular crown pumpkins, which makes it an excellent choice for roasting. This recipe for Baked conchiglioni with pumpkin, walnuts, oregano + feta sees butternut pumpkin roasted with warming spices then mashed with feta, lentils, walnuts, lemon and oregano, before being stuffed in pasta shells and baked in a richly warming pasta sauce. A relatively simple-yet-fun way to use pumpkin in a soul-warming dish, perfect for late-autumn eating.
While this week we celebrate pumpkin, there’s so much other exciting produce coming our way in the following weeks in NZ; look out for the arrival of crisp sweet persimmons and a winter bounty of citrus fruit to cook with.
Remember to check out my Instagram @albyhailes for other recipe/food content – some exciting announcements coming later this month.
Much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER
Pumpkin + tofu kofta curry
I love a curry, and this plant-based recipe is reminiscent of the beloved dish malai kofta. Here, grated pumpkin and tofu is formed into balls of deliciousness that are fried until crispy then bathe in a sumptuously creamy tomato-based curry. This is warming comfort food at its best.
serves 4 as a main
Ingredients:
Curry
3 tbsp canola oil
2 medium brown onions, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
6 green cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
½ small cinnamon stick
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground chilli
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
400ml can coconut milk
1 tbsp kasuri methi
¾ tsp sea salt
finely chopped coriander leaves, to serve
Pumpkin + tofu kofta
400g peeled pumpkin flesh, finely grated
200g firm tofu, finely grated
80g chickpea (besan) flour
4 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground chilli
½ tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
canola oil, for frying
Method:
For the curry, place the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté for 10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes, stirring through the onion until starting to turn golden and fragrant. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli and stir through for 30 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and 250ml water and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the curry is nicely reduced and thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick from the curry (and the other whole spices if you can find them), pour the curry into a bowl and blitz with a stick blender until relatively smooth. Return the curry to the pan and add the chickpeas, 350ml coconut milk (you will use the remaining 50ml later), kasuri methi and salt, stirring through. Bring to the boil, then simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes to allow the flavour to develop. Remove from the heat and adjust seasoning to taste. Set aside while you make the kofta.
To make the kofta, in a large bowl, using your hands, mix together the kofta ingredients (except the oil) until well combined, squeezing as you go so the moisture from the pumpkin and tofu binds with the chickpea flour. Roll the kofta mixture into golf-ball-sized balls (about 45g each) and place on a plate. You should have around 16 kofta.
To cook the kofta, heat 2-3cm of canola oil in a medium high-sided frying pan or Dutch oven (24 or 26cm) over medium-high heat. You want the oil to reach about 175°C. Line a large plate with paper towel and place beside your frying station. Once the oil is at temperature, fry the kofta in the hot oil in batches of 7-8 at a time (or as many as you comfortably fit in a single layer), for about 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally to fry evenly, until beautifully golden and crispy. Remove the kofta from the oil with a slotted spoon and place in a single layer on the paper towel-lined plate to allow any excess oil to drain. Repeat until all the kofta have been cooked, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature.
To serve, once the kofta are cooked, return the curry over medium heat and gently warm. Serve the kofta in bowls, bathing in the warm curry, and finish with a drizzle of the remaining coconut milk and some chopped coriander. Serve alongside your favourite rice or flatbreads.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ)
Pumpkins
Apples
First Limes
Broccoli
Last Feijoas
Kitchen music of the moment
I’ve long been a fan of Hozier, best known for his 2013 Grammy-nominated song Take Me To Church. Ten years later, and he is preparing to release his third studio album titled ‘Unreal Unearth’ later this year. Last month he shared an EP of songs (some of which may be on the upcoming album), include this track Eat Your Young, which has been a repeat listen for me of late.
By now, everyone has probably heard the track Heat Waves by English indie rock band Glass Animals that was a global phenomenon last year. I suggest you look beyond this single at their extended discography which dates back to 2014. Songs like the 2016 track Mama’s Gun and 2021 single I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance) are a couple of my favs.
Interesting reads
If you think a carved pumpkin is scary, wait until you see these Irish turnips
How to know when your pumpkins are ready for harvest
Who thinks they could eat a more than 1-tonne pumpkin?
Grow big or go home – useful tips on how to grow a big one (pumpkin that is)
These homemade pumpkin bars look hard to go past