November 1, 2007

[Holler]

Here is my first entry for the Royal Foodie Joust!



Pumpkin Fondue


1 large pumpkin
2 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500g mushrooms, roughly chopped
250g Emmenthal cheese, grated
250g Gruyere cheese, grated
200ml cider (or white wine)
1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with a little water
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Slice a lid of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Cut out the flesh until you are left with a 2cm wall.

Brush the inside of the pumpkin with olive oil and bake in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes.

Heat a little oil in a pan and cook the leeks and garlic for a few minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms and dill and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the grated cheese, cider (or wine) and the cornflour paste. Season with salt and pepper and some grated nutmeg. Heat gently, stirring constantly until the cheese has melted into a smooth sauce.

Pour the fondue into the baked pumpkin. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

Get dunking!

http://tinnedtomatoes.blogspot.com/2007/10/pumpkin-fondue.html

[Valli]

Love the pumpkin Fondue Holler. Everything else looks spectacular as well!!!! What a feast!!!

[No Fear Entertaining]

I love the idea of using the pumpkin as a vessel for the fondue!!!

Judy

[Queen]

These are really looking wonderful! I love all the creativity!

[Holler]

Great ingredients! Mushrooms, I could live on them everyday!

[uncledavros]

Holler, that fondue looks so impressive. I'm just drooling looking at it !!!

[mehgan]

Jeez, so many choices! I have no idea who I'm going to vote for this month. It's too hard!

[sugarlaw]

From Katy (http://sugarlaw.blogspot.com):

Yum!  Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods.  I could eat this recipe every night.  In fact, I made it two nights in a row this week.  It's a quick, yummy dinner over slices of crusty bread.  So... here's my entry for this month's joust! 



Mushroom Canapés

INGREDIENTS:
8 ounce box of baby bella mushrooms
1 large clove of garlic
1 tablespoon fat free sour cream
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 tsp parsley, finely diced
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
10 slices of french bread

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse mushrooms briefly under cold water to remove dirt.
2. Place mushrooms and garlic into a food processor, breaking any large mushroom in to pieces. Pulse until mushrooms are finely chopped.
3. Add sour cream, parsley, parmesan, salt and pepper. Process until blended.
4. Spoon mushroom mixture onto slices of bread. Garnish with extra parmesan cheese, and serve.

Serves 4.

[priyagayatri]

This sounds yummy - and perfect for the beginning of winter here in Delhi. The nights are starting to turn cold - ideal for some hot, steaming and unctuous food. only catch - you typically only get button mushrooms easily here...Oh well...

[raspberry eggplant]

So many yummy entries!

I was so overwhelmed by work and planning my vacation to the UK (from which I am now back) that I totally forgot about this month's joust!  Like everyone else has mentioned, mushrooms, herbs, and cheese are three things that go great together and are pretty commonly used.  I made a great caramelized onion, mushroom, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and goat cheese pizza earlier in the month but it didn't even occur to me to enter it - that's how busy I was! 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to what this month's winner picks for the December joust!

Roopa