Halloween treats

Photo Courtesy of Mark Soler

Halloween is celebrated on the last days in October and is a feast to celebrate the dead; or rather the souls that are stuck between the mortal world and the dead.  Being an ancient Celtic celebration in origin, Halloween was also celebrated to commemorate the new harvest.  A bountiful time before the harsh winter begins.  The festival itself has changed over time and the way we celebrate it now-a-days is more linked to the souls moving on other than the harvest. 

The term Halloween is said to come from all Hallows' Eve which is the evening before All Hallows' Day, or All Souls' Day.  The fireworks displays as well as the bonfires that were originally done on this feast were meant to ward off any evil spirits that might have crossed over into our world.  The loud noises coupled with the flashes of light were supposed to scare the ghosts away. 

Halloween or different versions of the same feast are celebrated throughout the world.  In Latin America and Asia they coincide with local 'day of the dead' festivities. In England, Guy Fawkes day and bonfire fire were originally celebrated at this time of year but with the influence of American pop culture the feast is now also called Halloween. In America, children dress up as ghosts, witches, vampires or even zombies on Halloween night and go from door to door crying 'trick or treat'! If they are given sweets from the houses they visit, then the tenants are spared a trick. 

One of the most prominent decoration or symbol of Halloween is the pumpkin.  Pumpkins with smiley or scary faces, lit with a candle from inside are known as jack-o'-lanterns.   Pumpkins were introduced into the Halloween tradition because they are quite abundant at this time of year!

Carving your pumpkin can be quite easy but I suggest that you stick to basic designs to start with.  In America, Pumpkin designs have become quite intricate and you can get your pumpkin carved professionally in any pattern your wish.  Apart from the basic horror faces, you can see pumpkins depicting celebrities, politicians or cartoon characters.

Pumpkins are best carved a day before you want to use them or on the day.  If you carve your pumpkin too early, it will lose its shape.  Pumpkins start to dry our once they are carved, so it is best to either coat the carved pumpkin with some Vaseline or petroleum jelly or else to keep it soaked in water when you are not using it.  If the pumpkin dries out, it will start to shrivel and will not be as attractive to display.

Roasted pumpkin seeds 

You may wish to use the pumpkin seeds that have been reserved whilst carving the pumpkin. Firstly you will need to clean the seeds and discard any pieces of flesh that stick on.  Pat the seeds dry and place them in an oven tray making sure to spread them out evenly so that there is only  1 later of seeds. Sprinkle the seeds with some rock salt and bake in a pre-heated oven at 150C for about 45mins.

Once the seeds are cooked and cooled, peel the outer layer and enjoy the seeds inside.

Fried egg blood-shot eyes.

To make the evening a little bit spookier, try this twist on some simple fried eggs.  Fry the eggs into a soft-yolk consistency. Once the eggs have cooked, squirt the ketchup on the cooked egg white as if to have blood-shot eyes!

This can be a fun way to get your children eating eggs!

New house, new recipe

Well seasonal food is somewhat different here than what I was used to in Malta.  So i had to change my cooking and adapt to the fresh ingredients that I am finding.  Since it is already getting cold and we are already in scarfs and jackets, I thought of making some soups this week for my mid-week meals.

My new kitchen leads on to a good sized garden with apple trees so that set me thinking! I also found celeriac which is not common in Malta and so was a new ingredient for me to work with.

Apple and Celeriac Soup
300g Celeriac, peeled and chopped
about 3 small apples or 2 large ones, again peeled, cored and chopped
5cm fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
about 2L stock - to be added slowly

Start off by cooking the onion, garlic and ginger in a little olive oil.  Once the start to cook, stir and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes but until they are still pale.

Add your celeriac and apple chunks and cook stirring continuously until they start to soften slightly. Once the bottom of your pot starts to dry up and sizzle, pour in your stock very slowly.  Add enough stock to cover the vegetables completely plus a little bit more.

Simmer over medium heat until the vegetables are cooked.

Once you are ready to serve the soup, blend it to a smooth puree and serve with some crusty cheese toast!

Bigilla

Bigilla is a traditional Maltese bean dip. Being so healthy Bigilla can be included in our daily diets in more ways than one. Bigilla can be used as a spread with Hobz biz-zejt or as an accompaniment to stuffed artichokes or simply as a dip served with warm ftira or some crudités.

I have gone back to making this dish from scratch after tasting some of the versions on sale. There is some good quality Bigilla on sale, however the home-made version always tastes better. 1 packet of 250g of beans will give you a large bowl of Bigilla to store in your fridge for a couple of days or to add to your summer buffet table.

No need for busy people to panic, I prepare this dish in a couple of minutes. The only thing you need to think about is to soak the beans in cold water, preferably from the night before.
Preparation (if you can call it that) actually takes longer than the actual process of cooking it. What you need to buy is the dried brown small beans known as Ful ta’ Girba.

Once you soak the beans, it is best to change the water as often as possible. This does not mean every 5 to 10 minutes but every 4 hours or when you notice the water turning a dirty brown.
Once the soaking is complete, drain the beans from their water and rinse under running water.

To cook the beans it is best to use a pressure cooker as this reduces the cooking time to 30minutes. Alternatively, you can boil the bean in a normal pot. In this case, the beans will need to be cooked for close to 1 hour. The duration of the boiling also varies according to your soaking process. If you have soaked them for less than 8 hours, then you will need to increase your cooking times. The best test to check if the beans are cooked is to squash a bean slightly with your fingers.

Cooking time is complete when the beans appear to start melting and the water would have taken the dark brownish colour. Should you be using a pressure cooker, stick to the exact cooking time given above.

Next, with the beans still warm, blend the beans in a food processor adding enough cooking water to have a liquid consistency. At this point, the Bigilla should look like the mixture of an un-cooked cake.

Add the following to the beans whilst you are blending. These amounts are correct for 1 packet of 250g dried beans.
1 heaped teaspoon of Maltese sea salt
1 whole garlic clove
1 red chilli pepper (or some dashes of Tobasco)
A large handful of parsley (about 1 cup)
About 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

Place the mixture into a tray or plate, spread it out evenly and allow it to cool. It is very important that the Bigilla is quite liquid when it is still warm as once it starts to cool the beans paste will harden up.

Now chop some more fresh garlic and parsley very finely and spread them over the dish. Drizzle a generous helping of olive oil and serve. This dish can be stored in the fridge of weeks if kept in an air tight container.

Bigilla can also be made with the large type of dried bean however the smaller ones are used in the original recipe. It is important to buy your dried beans in small amounts since the beans will double in size once soaked. Just as a rough indication, 200gr of dried beans will give you up to 6 portions of dip. Enjoy !

This recipe has been previously published in the Best Buy Supplement, out monthly with The Times.