Pumpkin Ravioli

Raul gets ambitious after watching too much Lidia and decides to make pumpkin ravioli. "There are four kinds of sauces," he muses. "A cream sauce."

"Too rich with pumpkin," pipes in Drew.

"Tomato sauce which just isn't my favourite."

"Does tomato go with pumpkin?"

"Or butter and sage."

"That gets my vote," notes Drew. "But what is the fourth?"

"I forget," shrugs Raul. "My search ended with butter and sage."

Raul takes some frozen cooked pumpkin from the freezer and thaws it. He blends the pumpkin with cream cheese in the mini-food processor and then adds grated Parmesan cheese to thicken and add flavour. The resultant filling has a vivid orange colour and is packed with simple goodness.

He reluctantly admits to cheating slightly by not making the pasta from scratch. Instead he uses wonton wrappers that were purchased on a whim at T&T. Lidia will forgive him if she ever finds out.

A spoonful of filling goes on each individual wrapper and is then folded over and pressed tightly together so that it is completely sealed. The resulting raviolis go into a large pot of boiling water where they remain until they start to float, and then for five minutes more.

In a frying pan he melts butter and just as it begins to brown he adds a large helping of sage. The raviolis are drained, tossed in the butter and sage, and placed in bowls for serving. The crowning touch is a liberal sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.

"These are amazing," raves Drew. "Sweet and savoury."

"And buttery," notes Raul. "I wonder what the fourth sauce was."

Chicken and Bacon on Pumpkin Penne

For some reason the day is a rush and Raul has to churn out a dinner quickly. Fortunately there is Jamaican pumpkin left and Raul purées it and stirs it into a Bechamel sauce.

The result is a beautiful bright colour and the taste is just as vivid. For protein, Raul broils a chicken breast. And for flavour: some crispy bacon strips.

A hearty and healthy meal exploding with taste in a matter of minutes. "The only real time it took was in boiling the pasta," says Raul. "And isn't that pumpkin versatile? A great investment. And there is a little bit left . . ."

Pumpkin Ale Chicken with Daikon Salad, Broccoli and Rice

Raul sets butterflied chicken breasts to marinate overnight in Drew's autumnal favourite, Great Lakes Brewery's Pumpkin Ale. He bought the first bottle because the label made him laugh but discovered he loved the taste - a smooth ale infused with real pumpkin and spices. Raul adds a few more spices to the beer to accentuate the flavours: white pepper and Botanica's Fine Herb mixture. Drew happily polishes off the remaining ale.

A simple process follows: toss on the bbq and enjoy.

Raul serves the moist and flavourful chicken with blander rice and simply steamed broccoli. Of course the addition of the carrot and Daikon radish salad adds a real bite and Drew is grateful for the extra bottle of pumpkin ale to wash it down with. A bit of heat soothed with a slug of pumpkin brew.

Bbq and Halloween are blended into a perfect taste treat.

"Now if we only had Halloween chocolates for dessert," says Drew. "Oh wait. I just happened to drop by Rexall for some Russell Stover samplers in their little pseudo-coffins decorated with ghosts and black cats and leering Frankensteins and . . ." And pumpkins.

Raul rolls his eyes but doesn't comment. Sometimes Drew's easily distracted eye does find a true treat.

Pumpkin Soup (Garbage Soup)

The weather is turning and Drew has been running all day. He is home for minutes between the day's appointments and the evening's, and is delighted to find a hearty bowl of soup waiting. Drew's Mom turns leftovers into what she whimsically calls "garbage soup" and Raul has given the combo a Jamaican twist, a variation on Jamaican Cock Soup.

He creates a base using Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon Powder, water, onions, chopped potatoes and carrots, beans, and chunks of corn on the cob left over from the trip to Drew's Mom's summer place (R&D ate as much of the dozen plus as possible, then Raul chopped a froze a few cobs). To the bubbling stock he adds the remainder of the pork roast, pulled into pieces, and what is left of the roasted pumpkin. He leaves the pumpkin in cubes but it softens as it simmers and thickens the soup into an almost stew-like consistency.

Drew dives into a heaping bowl and registers his nostalgic pleasure before setting out into the cold night well-fortified and with a warm full belly. Garbage it ain't.

Pumpkin Waffles

Raul wants to experiment for breakfast and there is leftover pumpkin. Lots of leftover pumpkin. He purees a half cup of the pumpkin and adds it to the best ever waffle recipe. It is an experiment - unlike Drew, Raul is not at ease just adding ingredients and hoping for successful results, science is crucial not whimsical notions - but one that pays extraordinary dividends. The waffles are crispy on the outside and thickly moist on the inside.

The pumpkin flavour is subtle but distinctive. "The best part," notes Drew, "is the bright orange colour when one slices into it. Vivid vivid vivid."

"And," comments Raul who refuses to be distracted by frivolous but happy Halloween haunting accidents, "the pumpkin isn't sweetened so the contrast with the syrup is perfect. And do you have to put so much butter on them? It's already moist enough."

"My bad," says Drew while licking his lips. "I like the pale yellow against the vivid orange and the smaller pieces melt too quickly. Are there more?"

Pork Loin with Roasted Pumpkin, Corn and Corn Bread

Raul finds a big plump pork loin on sale. And he buys a small Jamaican pumpkin. They will be combined into a feast. He rubs the pork loin with Dijon mustard and white pepper before setting it in the oven at 350 degrees until it hits an internal temperature of 165 degrees. The layer of fat around the pork loin is all the basting the roast needs to become succulent and moist.

He bakes the pumpkin at 350 degrees until it is soft enough to cut. He does not, much to Drew's terror, puncture the pumpkin first but, Raul does know what he is doing, it doesn't explode. He chops the pumpkin into one inch cubes and sautes the bright orange pieces in butter and salt and white pepper. "Pretty simple cooking," he notes.

He also cooks up a batch of corn bread in a cast iron pan and adds a serving of frozen corn. "It tastes like autumn," raves Drew. "Simple maybe but beautifully apt."

Pumpkin Cookies from The Danish Pastry Shop

When Drew was a child one of his favourite treats when visiting his grandparents in Thunder Bay was to eat a marzipan from the Current River Bakery. Drew's Mom is a master baker, so the fact that it was such a treat had more to do with the influence of his cousins who would visit at the same time. When Drew's Mom would travel to Thunder Bay she would always go to the Current River Bakery and bring back marzipans - a nice gesture but not a necessary one as a tray of her brownies or some of her gingerbread men are actually more delicious. Unfortunately on the last few visits, Drew's Mom's return flights have fallen on days when the bakery was closed and purchasing the scrumptious petit fours in advance lead to staleness. A dilemma indeed.

Fortunately The Danish Pastry Shop, 1017 Pape Ave is just down the street from R&D's and they make, though differently shaped (tubular rather than square), magnificent marzipans. Drew agrees to pick some up for his Mom to take back for Drew's sister. That way they will be fresh and at their best having only travelled a short distance.

It is pouring rain but Drew has his orders and sets out. On a Saturday morning The Danish Pastry Shop is busy but people wait patiently while individual orders are packaged and paid for. It is an odd but delightful little shop, selling all kinds of pastries, pies and treats, as well as meat pies and pickled herring imported from Denmark. Drew decides to buy a blueberry danish to eat on the walk back but his eye is also caught by the first of their Halloween treats: pumpkin cookies in the shape of jack o'lanterns. At Christmas the store creates massive magnificent gingerbread houses, for Halloween they go all out with spooky cupcakes and cookies in terrifying shapes and styles.

"What do you think of the cookies?" asks Drew.

"They're delicious," says Raul. "You can tell the difference of a master baker."

"Your cookies are great as well," reassures Drew while remembering the hours Raul spend in the kitchen perfecting Drew's Mom's oatmeal cookie recipe. " They've been doing it for so long that they can probably bake perfectly on auto-pilot. The pumpkin makes them really moist and not as sweet as sugar cookies."

"And we did like that Jamaican pumpkin," muses Raul as he heads for the kitchen.

Pumpkin Alfredo Penne with Chicken

Drew's Mom goes to bed while R&D head out to cover a theatre opening. It is a late night and they are all up at 5am in order to get Drew's Mom to her flight on time. After seeing her off (and a brief nap) R&D are famished. Raul contemplates the contents of the fridge and tries to ascertain what they feel like eating. Something that provides energy for sure. "How about an alfredo pasta?" suggests Raul.

"Sounds delicious," pipes up Drew who is completely distracted by the computer screen as he works on the theatre review. "With pulled pork?"

"No," says Raul. "Too spicy and we're too sleepy. But I have an idea . . ."

He mixes two tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of butter in an enamel lined cast iron saucepan and cooks them into a roux. He adds a cup of hot milk, whisking constantly, to make a bechamel sauce. Salt and pepper are added and then he stirs in four tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. He brings the bechamel to a boil to thicken before adding a cup of mashed pumpkin (left over from last night's dinner). For colour and vitamins he adds a half cup of frozen peas and slices of last night's leftover bbq'ed chicken. The resulting concoction is mixed with cooked penne pasta and sprinkled with more Parmesan. 

"This is amazing," enthuses Drew. "Classico Alfredo with pumpkin? It's such a unique and subtle flavour, just what I needed when suffering from a lack of sleep but have to concentrate."

"Oh it's just a basic bechamel sauce whipped up from scratch," beams Raul. He must remember to break a sweat next time.

BBQ Chicken with Jamaican Pumpkin, Rice, Bean Salad and Coleslaw

Drew's Mom is stopping over for the evening on her jetsetting way to Thunder Bay to visit her brother and youthful stomping grounds. Raul is feeling the pressure to produce a gourmet but traditional dinner, so while Drew and his mom wander the nearby Danforth and thrift stores - though mainly they are just visiting and catching up - Raul works in the kitchen.

He rubs chicken breasts with his favourite combo of spices - paprika, Greek oregano, pepper and, for Drew's Mom's tastes, just a touch of garlic powder (he omits the usual salt) - and sets it aside to marinate for bbq'ing. He puts brown rice in the rice cooker and is confident having ascertained that brown rice requires a bit more water and some extra cooking time to be perfect and for the grains to not clump. The bean salad and coleslaw are already prepared.

Raul has purchased a large slab of Jamaican pumpkin after the eventual success of Drew's spaghetti squash debacle. Drew's Mom loves squash and this will, hopefully, be a taste treat with a bit of a difference. He slices the squash into inch and a half squares and then tosses them in olive oil and cumin. The pumpkin bakes in a glass baking pan for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Drew's Mom has brought carrot cake so the pressure to bake dessert is lifted. He plans to serve the cake on the Halloween plates that were a gift from Drew's Mom from one of her nostalgia trips to the shopping mecca of Thunder Bay.

The meal is a big success and the pumpkin is flavourful and tastes of the best of autumn and the tropics. Drew's Mom has nothing but praise and Raul is proud and relieved. Now if there was only space for a proper dining room table so that she didn't have to eat on the coffee table . . .