A Life, Lived: Sunday Small Bites

October 25, 2009

Sunday Small Bites - Pumpkin

The Sunday Slow Cooks are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL).

Now we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, and pecans. It boggles the mind to think that we have been at this for eight weeks already!

This week Deborah selected pumpkin as the ingredient of the week. How festive, just in time for Halloween! I wondered a good deal about what to make. Generally when I've eaten pumpkin before it has been in a pie, muffin, cake, cheesecake, soup, or pasta. Lots of those just wouldn't work as an appetizer - not in my world anyway, and the others (soup and ravioli) I have already made before. One of the 'rules' about the small bites is one has to attempt something that they have never made before. This was going to be a challenge!

I decided to make a non-fried version of pumpkin fritters. I had no idea if I'd like them or not but just went with the recipe because it sounded interesting. They were really good, the entire plater was eaten while our guests were sipping Orchard Martinis in front of the fireplace last night. . . . a perfect fall evening!

If you're looking for a different treat to make give these a try.

Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Sage Balls with Balsamic Creme Fraiche

3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup finely diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups vegetable oil for frying
1 sprig fresh sage leaves
sea salt

1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook 2 minutes until softened, then stir in the chopped sage, and cook 2 more minutes. Scrape into a large bowl, and stir in the pumpkin puree, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, and black pepper until combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place onto the greased baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until firm and hot, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the frying oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and add the sage leaves. Fry until the bubbles begin to subside and the leaves are crispy. Remove the leaves, and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Prepare the dipping sauce by stirring together the sour cream, whipping cream, sugar, and balsamic vinegar until smooth.

To serve, sprinkle the pumpkin balls with fried sage leaves, and sea salt. Serve with the dipping sauce on the side.

Posted at 07:25 AM in Appetizer/hors d'oevres, Cooking, Sunday Small Bites | Permalink

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Hi Jerry, your dish looks really delicious. I like that you can bake it. I would like to try making it too. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Have a wonderful fall Sunday!

Posted by: Kathy (Trekcapri) | October 25, 2009 at 11:20 AM

These look really good. I'm glad that baking them worked. I tried doing that with mine to make them lower fat, but it didn't work and I had to fry the rest of them.

Posted by: Cindy Ruth | October 25, 2009 at 01:40 PM