Pumpkin Ravioli with Buffalo served at 50 Ocean in Delray Beach
The Pumpkin Beer Float at 50 Ocean
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jan Norris
How to tell when it’s fall in South Florida? The license plates change color.
And pumpkin-flavored everything fills coffee cups, ice cream cones, beer mugs and plates.
Seems the coffee crowds pull out the sweaters the minute they hear of the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks — which arrive earlier each year.
Dunkers can get in the act with Pumpkin Spice donuts at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Not to be outdone, there’s Pumpkin Caramel Crème tea and a Pumpkin Chai Latte offered by The Spice & Tea Exchange in Boca’s Mizner Park. You can smell the enticing cinnamon, and Chinese 5-Spice mixes when you walk in. These versions are offered up in loose teas to make at home.
Kilwin’s Chocolates and Ice Cream stores serve a decadent, not-for-dieters Pumpkin Pie ice cream by the scoop or cup. Creative types might marry it with a second scoop of butter pecan or caramel.
As October rolls in, area chefs will be featuring the gourd in dishes that will rotate as seasonal specials, along with other fall flavors.
Lighter summer foods that were suitable for hot days make way for game meats, fowl, fall vegetables, heartier soups and deeper seasonings as the weather changes. Fruits like cranberries, grapes, figs and pomegranates are beginning to show up along with nuts and cheeses that go well with robust wines.
It’s the chefs’ favorite time of year to create menus, they say.
“I’ve been looking at some things to maybe include,” said Wilson Wieggel, chef at Farmer’s Table in Boca Raton. “Maybe a seared scallop with pumpkin. Maybe I’ll add a verbal dish — pumpkin and shrimp stew, using local Sun shrimp from Melbourne — and curry.”
Farmer’s Table serves a menu focused on sustainable, gluten-free and vegetable dishes — though meats are on the menu. Expect some creative main-plate dishes featuring game, root vegetables, hearty grains, greens and wheat-free desserts flavored with autumn’s warm spices.
At Delray’s 32 East, chef Nick Morfogen is “just getting started” with autumn ingredients that include fig, pumpkin, maple syrup and fall’s sweet and savory herbs and spices.
“I did a maple-roasted pumpkin bisque, with sherry, sweet potato and vanilla bean. I garnished it with candied bacon and fried sage,” he said. “There will be more to come as it gets cooler.”
The Pumpkin Risotto at Caffe Luna Rosa in Delray Beach.
Caffe Luna Rosa’s chef Ernesto de Blasi is starting off fall at the beachside restaurant with a honey-roasted pumpkin risotto. He chooses the calabaza, also called a West Indian pumpkin, for his fall dishes.
“It’s sweeter, with a better flavor, I think, and is denser; it has a texture that holds up,” he said. The gourd comes in a variety of colors and often the flesh is more yellow than orange.
He ticked off the ingredients, shared in a recipe: “Aborio rice, Parmigiano-Reggiano, honey-roasted pumpkin, applewood smoked bacon, fresh thyme and a bay leaf. We finish it with a drizzle of the fond from the bacon, deglazed with red wine and a touch of demi-glaze.”
He looks forward to changing out the summer menu to fall, and plans to include other specials with heartier dishes for the new “brunch every day” menu at the restaurant.
At the nearby 50 Ocean, chef Blake Malatesta is working on dishes that will bring a taste of fall to the menus. Expect more root vegetables, wild rice and other grains, deeper greens, heartier meats and fishes on their lists. Presently on the menu is a pumpkin ravioli, pillows of pasta that encase a spiced pumpkin mixture — served under coffee-crusted, grass-fed buffalo tenderloin slices.
Caramelized cippolini onions and spiced pumpkin seeds around it are sauced with a pan reduction that includes Shipyard’s Pumpkinhead Ale beer. Sage leaves, another harbinger of autumn, are sprinkled on top.
The same pumpkin brew finds its way to a bar drink, created by beverage manager Millie Wilkinson, that’s suitable for a dessert.
The Pumpkinhead Beer Float is a tricky concoction, she said. It’s made with Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale, caramel syrup, house-made cinnamon ice cream and a crown of whipped cream.
“You have to pour in the beer, add the ice cream and caramel, then really fast add the whipped cream, so it doesn’t foam over the side,” she said. “And serve it immediately — it will only hold about 10 minutes.” Just as she mentioned it, one of the drinks erupted, flowed down the side of the glass and covered the bar. “It’s a carbonated beverage,” she said, shrugging.
The result is a drink of sweet and savory flavors, with texture from crushed, toasted and spiced pumpkin seeds on the glass rim.
More glasses of pumpkin are flowing elsewhere. The Saltwater Brewery in Delray has just released its Pumpkin Swordfish Stout, a traditional stout brewed with cinnamon, pumpkin and spices. Also on tap, its Oktoberfest Lager made in a German/Marzen style.
At the Beer Trade Co. in Delray, owner Gene Playter has brought in a host of the pumpkin beer releases from craft breweries around the country. Look for Southern Tier, Shipyard, Terrapin, Dogfish Head, Due South, Anderson Valley, Timmerman’s and Ace pumpkin brews and hard ciders. A wide selection of Oktoberfest beers is arriving daily, he said.
Mustn’t forget the cocktails. Bourbon, still the spirit of the year, goes to smoky bacon at 13 American Table in Boca. When Pigs Fly is their drink made with bacon, rooibos-infused bourbon, syrrh, bitters and an orange rind twist, served on the rocks.
Below is a recipe for the Roasted pumpkin risotto served at Caffe Luna Rosa. And if you just can’t get enough of the golden gourd, Apron’s Cooking School in Boca Raton will teach a “Pumpkinology” cooking class Oct. 25.
Roasted pumpkin risotto
Chef Ernesto de Blasi,
Caffe Luna Rosa
1 small pumpkin (calabaza preferred) – see note
½ pound applewood smoked bacon (cut into 1 inch pieces)
4 ounces medium-bodied red wine
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
5 to 6 cups of hot chicken stock or vegetable stock
½ cup grated Parmesan
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 ounces demi glaze or reduced beef stock
Note: To prepare pumpkin, cut in half and remove seeds. Bake one-half in 350-degree oven till tender, about 45 minutes, then puree. For remainder, peel, dice small and saute in oil/butter mixture over medium heat until tender.
For bacon au jus: In a sauté pan over medium heat, brown the bacon until crisp but not burnt. Remove the bacon and add red wine. Reduce by half. Add demi glaze, reduce to desired thickness; set aside.
For risotto: In a medium-size heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring continuously, just until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rice and continue to stir, using a wooden spoon, to coat the rice with the oil.
Add the white wine and continue cooking, stirring often, until it has been absorbed by the rice. Pour in enough chicken stock to cover the rice completely, about 3 cups, and continue to cook, stirring often, until all the liquid is absorbed.
Pour in 1 cup more of the remaining stock and stir and cook until it has been absorbed. Repeat with 1 more cup. Add the remaining cup and cook, stirring, until the rice is al dente, tender but still very chewy, and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Stir in the pumpkin puree and the diced pumpkin and reduce the heat to very low so that risotto no longer simmers. Stir in the Parmesan and butter to give the risotto a nice, creamy finish.
Serve in a shallow bowl with a drizzle of the bacon au jus and topped with crispy bacon.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
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