Hidden curry

I have developed in the last couple of years a real obsession with curry. Every once in a while I cannot resist and I buy another curry mixture to try. Maybe is just to much influence from my Indian and Pakistani colleagues.

I think pumpkin goes very well with spices and why not with curry also. I did it with bulgur, but I think it will taste wonderfully with rice and maybe even with chicken instead of shrimps. Again it´s all a matter of what your´re in the mood for (or whatever is available in you fridge).

Pumpkin and shrimp curry

Ingredients

1 small hokkaido pumpkin per person (or make it a bigger one for 2, for example)

1 cup of bulgur

2 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup of spinach

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup of tomato in small pieces (can be canned)

1 cup of shrimps (no skins, can be precooked)

your favorite curry powder to taste

oil, salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of bread crumbs per pumpkin

Cut the pumpkin above middle in order to make a sort of bowl and lid. Remove all seeds, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook in the oven until the inside of the pumpkin is soft. Let it cool down and scrape the inside of the pumpkin, trying not to make any holes on the "shell". Chop the pumpkin "meat" in smaller pieces and reserve.

In a pan soften the chopped onion and garlic until slightly brown. Add the curry powder letting it toast for a couple of minutes. Fold in the bulgur mixing it well to get all the spices involved. Add the chopped tomato and pumpkin, and the broth letting it cook until the the bulgur is soft and most liquid evaporated. Add in the spinach and the shrimps cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes. Distribute the mixture in the pumpkin(s) and top with bread crumbs and a sprinkle with coriander or other herb to taste. Take to the over for a couple of minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden. Serve with the pumpkin "lid" on.

Marzipan people

Dead or live, they are delicious.

I used a honey marzipan, which is not actually as sweet as the normal one. As a result the cookies are not extremely sweet, and have a light honey note to it.

Marzipan cookies
(recipe from Rapunzel website)

200 g flour
40 g of brown sugar
100 g cold butter
100 g of marzipan
1 egg yolk

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until the dough is consistent. If it is too dry and not holding together, add a bit of cold water (1 or 2 tablespoons). Refrigerate for at least one hour before shaping and cooking. When refrigerated, roll out the though thinly and use the cookie cutter of your choice. Bake the cookies at 180°C until golden (less than 10 minutes). Let them cool down before decorating if you wish.