Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween from the Fairy Princess & Roasted pumpkin with rosemary and sage

Boo! Happy Halloween. 

I wanted to make some scary treats for Halloween, but I think my kids are at the age where anything remotely scary placed in front of them would be labelled as "ugly" and shunned. Like their mother, they are much more fond of cute and pretty things. Ah, maybe when they grow a little older, I can experiment with creepy crawlies and ghosts!

What they do know about Halloween is that it's the time of the year when we see lots of pumpkin in the supermarket and in the shop windows as decor. Baby C's got this cute "pumpkin" bag which we take out whenever it's close to Halloween too. Around this time of the year, I also make a lot of pumpkin-related dishes such as soups, muffins, loaves and the easiest of them all, roasted pumpkin since my kids are very fond of this fall vegetable. 

Roasted pumpkin with rosemary and sage

Though simple, for us, this is one of the best ways to enjoy pumpkin. Pumpkin goes very well with herbs such as sage and rosemary, both of which we now have growing in our herb garden. Because we cut them into bite-size chunks, they took only around 15 minutes to roast. This would make a great accompaniment to any meat dish. You don't need much else, other than seasoning it with salt and pepper, since pumpkin is a naturally sweet vegetable. This is a good recipe for using up all the leftover pumpkin from Halloween.



Pumpkin in its raw form (you can remove the seeds and make your own roasted pumpkin seeds)



Roasted pumpkin with rosemary and sage
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
600g ripe pumpkin, cut into 4 x 3cm chunks
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A handful fresh rosemary, leaves snipped
4-5 fresh sage, whole
2 tbsp butter, cut into small chunks
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3-4 sprigs of rosemary, to garnish

1. Firstly, place olive oil, rosemary and sage in a bowl and allow herbs to infuse into the oil for 10-15 minutes.

2. Place aluminium foil on a large baking tray. Using a brush, brush a thin layer of oil onto the foil. Place the pumpkin on the tray in a single layer.

3. Brush the pumpkin pieces with the herb oil, and then sprinkle the herbs over the pumpkin. Scatter the butter pieces in between the pumpkin pieces. Season with salt and pepper.



4. Bake in 170°C preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until tender and the top layer looks slightly wrinkled. Remove from oven and serve in individual ramekins. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprig.




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Wishing you all a frightful Halloween... have a fa-boo-lous day, whatever you've got planned!



*Like my scary lil' ghost? Shaped from a sage leaf. Recipe for the muffins will be posted in December 2012.



Happy Halloween from the fairy princess ;)

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 5 November 2012.

32 comments:

  1. Happy Halloween! Trick or treat???

    Hmmm...roast pumpkin! I like...

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  2. Happy Halloween to you too! Are you going to dress up your kids and attend any part?

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    Replies
    1. No parties, but I updated this post with a photo of the fairy princess. See above ;)

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  3. Pumpkin really goes well with herbs... especially fresh ones...

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  4. I love roasted pumpkins cos I think the flavors developed into a nicer caramelized flavors.... I also used to sprinkle brown sugar for a golden crisp crust...

    Happy Halloween! :D

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    Replies
    1. Happy Halloween to you too. I sometimes like to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on it, as the salty flavours contrast well with the sweetness of the pumpkin.

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  5. Love your roasted pumpkin recipe! and the muffins looks fa-boo-lous :D.

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  6. hope your family has a frightfully GOOD halloween! i love pumpkin too, and i actually don't know anyone who DOESN'T like pumpkin. it's one of those rare pleasures that's extra pleasurable because not only does it taste great, it's healthy and nutritious for us :D

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    1. Actually I used to dislike pumpkin when I was younger. I've discovered other ways to cook it now that I'm older, and am beginning to really enjoy it! My daughter esp loves eating pumpkin.

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  7. Happy Halloween. Loved your roasted pumpkin dish and your super cute sage ghost. And so love the fact that you are using herbs from your garden. Way to go.

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    1. Thanks Amrita! Happy Halloween to you and your boo-tiful family too. I'm really loving my herbs garden, hope it flourishes for a long time!

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  8. OMG your fairy princess is SOOOO CUTE!!!! Happy Halloween to you and the princess. :) My kids still get scared of anything that looks scary or creepy. They tell themselves that it's fake and not scary, but after a few seconds they kind of doubt themselves if they are right. LOL. I love roasted pumpkin and this is delicious!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Nami! Last year she dressed up as a ladybird and we drew her face but this year, we jus kept it simple. My daughter does not like scary things too, I am sure she will tell me it looks "disgusting" Haha!

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  9. Hehe isn't it funny how some kids love the gory bits and some don't! I was surprised to learn that the kids love the popcorn brains the most! :P

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    1. Halloween's not that big in KL, hence noone really gets into the gory things. It's slowly catching up, maybe in a few years time she will like it, since it's trendy by then :P

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  10. This roast pumpkin sound very healthy and easy to prepare.

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  11. I bet your kids would love some gory cookies or cupcakes ! lol Anyway , that roasted pumpkin looks delicious ! Love the spices you've added .

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    Replies
    1. Haha too late now! Maybe I'll try GORY on them next year ;P

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  12. Thanks for sharing... Nice recipe!

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  13. Happy Halloween! Kids costume is so good!!

    Google also celebrating Halloween with special doodle.

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  14. Replies
    1. Hehe.... the good news is this is very easy to make!

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  15. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! loving your blog and can't stop starting at all the pictures!!!!! :D Great recipe!!! I've been having a hugeeee pumpkin craving!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi V Vien! Thanks for dropping by, love your blog too. Hope u had a great Halloween too. :)

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  16. Your fairy not scary at all, haha!

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