Halloween with The Chef

Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Father's Day- all holidays that I would love to have my Mister off but unfortunately, he is busy serving the masses. 

But... Halloween, Groundhog Day, Arbor Day, Earth Day, Cesar Chavez Day- well watch out world cause he is off and we are celebrating!

So what does a chef plan for Halloween festivities at home?

1. Farmer's Market- squash, apples, spinach and cauliflower are in season for us
    Check out what's in season for you: at Sustainable Table

2. Roasted Apple, Caramelized Onion, Fakin' Bacon and Feta Sandwiches for lunch! Can you smell the crisp autumn air and feel the crimson leaves fall into your post-summer sun bleached hair?

3. Planting in the backyard- everyone needs to have beauty in the backyard to look at while you grill, right? And did we mention we're putting in a vegetable garden (more to come later)...

4. Dinner of handmade pasta with a squash and spinach "bolognese"
    Here is our super simple recipe for homemade pasta:
       Ingredients:

11/2 cups of Semolina Flour, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons water

     
        Directions:  

In your standing mixer with the paddle combine all ingredients for 1 minute. Switch to dough hook and knead on medium-low setting for 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes at room temp. Then roll out with pasta maker into your desired shape/thickness.

No standing mixer? Make a well (a circle halfway down the middle of mound of flour) and beat the wet ingredients in the middle, adding the flour as you go, and "knead the crap out of it for as long as you can possibly stand"

5. Pumpkin carving (no triangle eyes and toothy grin in this house)

6. The real joy of Halloween- the pumpkin insides!

The seeds: Clean pumpkin seeds, coat in olive oil and salt & pepper, seasoning of your choice (garlic, lemon pepper, etc.) bake at 375 for 15 minutes

The insides of the cleaned pumpkin: Peel the outside off, chop it up, coat with olive oil, salt & pepper and roast at 375 for 1 hour. You can puree it and make a soup with veggie stock, sauteed onions, garlic, nutmeg and butter (finish with fried sage for an extra treat). Or you can puree it for the "real deal" pumpkin pie filling. If you're feeling adventurous this is a great start for pumpkin ice cream.  

7. Oh and of course... lots of candy for the neighborhood children. Don't make that at home though- it will be trashed by wise parents!