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ByDebraChase SpecialtoTheWoodlandDaily Democrat In"TheStoryofaPump- kin," a traditional tale from Bhutan, a childless couple become parents to a young pumpkin. He works in their fields until the day he leaves home to find a wife. The pumpkin, upon his marriage to a princess, breaks apart when he falls from a mango tree. From the broken parts of the pumpkin steps a handsome man. In the Brothers Grimm story of "Cinderella" a young woman unexpect- edly achieves success af- ter a period of obscurity and neglect, she rides to the Kings Ball in a car- riage her godmother cre- ated from a pumpkin. Linus Van Pelt of Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts believed in the "Great Pumpkin," annu- ally confusing Hallow- een with Christmas, yet successfully teaching the value of sincerity. In the story "Too Many Pumpkins," written by Linda White a woman named Estelle grew up surviving on pumpkins during the Great Depres- sion, ends up with count- less unwelcome pumpkins to deal with, and success- fully turns disaster into celebration. A pumpkin was hurled by the "Headless Horse- man" in Washington Ir- ving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and then brought to life in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum with "Jack Pumpkin- head," a gangly charac- ter made of sticks that spends much of his time growing pumpkins to replace his old heads, teaches us that we are "not yet aware how much there is in the world to find out about." In Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christ- mas," the main charac- ter, Jack Skellington, is named the "Pumpkin King" and Nathaniel Haw- thorne wrote a short fic- tion piece titled "Feather- top" from 1852, wherein a witch turns a scarecrow, sporting a pumpkin for a head, into a man. Lydia Maria Child, wrote her fa- mous poem about a New England Thanksgiving that began, "Over the river, and through the wood" and ended with a shout, "Hur- rah for the pumpkin pie!" Stories of growth and change, stories of tradi- tion rooted deep in farm- land and stories of fun, ad- venture and mystery. The pumpkin, one of Ameri- ca's oldest and most loved crops, has played a starring role in our literature and in our larders. Throughout the autumn season we welcome the ripening of the pump- kin patch creating delec- table dishes, carving Jack O Lanterns and arranging grand displays of the au- tumn harvest. The pumpkin is a mem- ber of the squash family and has been grown, dried, roasted and eaten by native peoples in North America as early as 7000 to 5500 BC and later on came into larger cultivation by Amer- ican farmers in the early 19th century. Their beautiful orange skin and flesh contains lu- tein, alpha and beta car- otene, the latter of which generates vitamin A in the body. Pumpkins were an indispensable part of the diet for the First Peo- ple, the seeds and the flesh roasted, the leaves de-stemmed and eaten as greens and a sort of jerky was made to preserve them throughout the harsh win- ter months by cutting the flesh into strips and then drying them in the sun or over smoky fires. The jerky then could be added to soups and stews. They would also use the outer shells, drying them into hard rusks and us- ing them as water vessels, bowls and storage contain- ers. The early colonists created the first pump- kin pie by cutting the top off, removing the seeds and then adding milk, honey and spices to the cavity. The top was then placed back on and the whole thing roasted until custard was formed inside. Later when flour was not so scarce the traditional pie we know today and serve at Thanksgiving was cre- ated by removing the flesh, straining it, mixing it with the milk, honey and spices and pouring it into a pie shell and baked. Their uses today go be- yond mere pie making and are now grown around the world in six continents leaving Antarctica as the only one unable to produce them. From animal feed to Jack O' Lanterns, pumpkins are a versatile and popular fruit. Every part of the plant — seeds, flesh, flowers, and leaves are edible. Leaves are eaten as greens and the flowers can be stuffed with cheeses or nut meats and fried in a tempura or beer batter. The flesh can be used for all manner of dishes from pies to breads to soups, stews and casseroles. The seeds are also used to make a rich pumpkin seed oil that is astound- ing in salad dressing es- pecially when paired with the flowers. Right now some of the Market farmers may be sell- ing the leaves and flowers while waiting for the pump- kin fruit itself to ripen up later in the fall. (Although this year many are ripen- ing early). Pumpkin greens are some of the sweetest greens to eat lacking in bitterness that many other greens have with a flavor that tastes like green beans and asparagus. To use the leaves of the pumpkin plant, the tough strings need to be removed. Do this by first holding the leaf upside down by its stem. No- tice that the stem is hol- low? Use the thumbnail to split half or a third of the stem and snap it backward so that the flesh breaks cleanly, but the outer fi- bers do not. Pull gently, removing the fibers from the outside of the stem and the back of the leaf. Repeat until you have de-strung a good pile of the leaves. Like all greens, pumpkin leaves cook down by more than half. A large mixing bowl packed with fresh leaves will serve four as a side dish. This is the best time of year to try this simple side dish from Malawi. Using a wide shallow sauté pan, simmer the de-strung and chopped leaves with diced tomatoes for a few minutes until the leaves are ten- der. Make it your own by adding some fresh herbs, toasted almonds and per- haps a pumpkin flower or two. Pasta pairs well with the leaves, flowers, flesh and roasted seeds of the pump- kin. Take a small pie pump- kin cut off the top to reveal the inner flesh and remove the seeds. Rinse them well separat- ing the stringy parts then dry in a tea towel. Place the seeds in a shallow roasting pan with a bit of pumpkin seed oil or grape seed oil and roast them at 400 de- grees until dry, crisp and light brown. This could take from 5-20 minutes depending on the size of the seed. Set aside to cool. Scoop out mounds of the flesh and cut into bite sized chunks. Briefly blanch a couple of large handfuls of de-strung leaves and set aside. Fry the pumpkin chunks with olive oil and garlic add the blanched greens and stir and sauté until the mixture is tender. Toss in some chopped fresh sage a squeeze of lemon and a knob of but- ter. A light sauce will form. Serve over hot penne or bow tie pasta with the roasted seeds on the side, a green salad, crusty bread and a crisp white wine or chilled sparkling apple juice. AT THE MARKET Th e lo re a nd l ar de r of g re at p um pk ins PHOTOSBYDEBRACHASE-COURTESY Pumpkins on the vine await picking. It's that time of year when the orange gourds are popular not just for Halloween but for soups as well. "Great" pumpkins aside, small pumpkins are preferred for use in soups and pies. By Candice Choi The Associated Press NEW YORK What kind of wine pairs best with a Cha- lupa? Taco Bell customers in Chicago and San Fran- cisco will soon be able to find out. The chain says it will open a location that serves wine, beer, sangria and fro- zenmixeddrinksinChicago next week, marking the first time it will serve alcohol in the United States. The new restaurant will also feature trends Taco Bell says it is seeing among millennials: "tapas-style" appetizers, a mural by a local artist and an open kitchen. "You will literally be able to see the food" before it's prepared, said Meredith Sandland, Taco Bell's chief development officer. "(Cus- tomers will be) able to see all the beautiful ingredi- ents." A similar location will open in San Francisco later this month, according to Taco Bell, which is owned by Yum Brands Inc. Aside from the alcohol and ap- petizers, Taco Bell says the menu will be the same as regular locations. Taco Bell isn't alone in trying alcohol. To try and boost sales later in the day, Starbucks has also been rolling out wine, beer and small dishes at select U.S. locations. Chipotle also serves margaritas and beer, depending on the location. The plans for the Chi- cago location were an- nounced earlier this sum- mer, although an exact opening date and other de- tails weren't disclosed at the time. It is just the latest evi- dence that traditional fast- food chains are trying to revamp their images to be more in line with changing expectations. Whether Taco Bell can makethetransitionremains to be seen. In 2012, the com- pany also introduced a line of Cantina bowls and bur- ritos intended to compete with the Chipotle restau- rant chain, but marketing for that lineup has since been changed to empha- size protein content. FAST FOOD AND BOOZE Wine and tapas? Taco Bell to s er ve t he m in C hi ca go 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Peking Chinese Restaurant DineIn,CarryOut&Lounge 860MainStreet 530-527-0523 10%Off yourticketwiththisad. Limit 1 coupon per ticket/table. No other discounts apply. Alcohol, taxes or gratuity are not included. Offer expires 10/31/15 | FOOD | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 4 B