I like cooking with live fire, and grilling caveman style is fun. And I like the simplicity of it all. So I chargrilled a butternut pumpkin. But I wanted to turn this into a nice sharing platter, so I decided to amp up up the flavors.
The pumpkin was grilled in my Big Green Egg. I placed it directly on the glowing embers. I turned it twice (rotating 1/3 each time), and I grilled it for 3x15 minutes. Turned out just perfect, but this was a big butternut (3.3 lbs).
I sliced it and chopped it up roughly. To get a lemony tang I applied a good amount of Sumac (a middle eastern spice), and sprinkled liberal amounts of feta cheese, pistachios and maple syrup. It looks good, and I really like the flavor combo on this one. Ladies and gents, pop open a cold one and dig in :-)
EDIT: I spent some time trying to get the flavors to work together. Here's my thinking: the butternut has a slightly nutty flavor, so I wanted to combine that with the pistachios, which are (of course) nutty. But they also add texture, which complements the soft butternut. And the feta cheese adds salt and creaminess. I picked maple syrup for the sweetness, but specifically because I wanted a bit of depth in the sweetness, something a good maple syrup provides. All in all I think this combo turned out pretty darn good.
This is my fire just before dropping the pumpkin on top
Pumpkin right in the sweet spot
Here it is, done:
And here's my sharing platter
Have a great weekend y'all! /Hank
The pumpkin was grilled in my Big Green Egg. I placed it directly on the glowing embers. I turned it twice (rotating 1/3 each time), and I grilled it for 3x15 minutes. Turned out just perfect, but this was a big butternut (3.3 lbs).
I sliced it and chopped it up roughly. To get a lemony tang I applied a good amount of Sumac (a middle eastern spice), and sprinkled liberal amounts of feta cheese, pistachios and maple syrup. It looks good, and I really like the flavor combo on this one. Ladies and gents, pop open a cold one and dig in :-)
EDIT: I spent some time trying to get the flavors to work together. Here's my thinking: the butternut has a slightly nutty flavor, so I wanted to combine that with the pistachios, which are (of course) nutty. But they also add texture, which complements the soft butternut. And the feta cheese adds salt and creaminess. I picked maple syrup for the sweetness, but specifically because I wanted a bit of depth in the sweetness, something a good maple syrup provides. All in all I think this combo turned out pretty darn good.
This is my fire just before dropping the pumpkin on top
Pumpkin right in the sweet spot
Here it is, done:
And here's my sharing platter
Have a great weekend y'all! /Hank
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