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Tuesday 19 May 2015

Ralph McFarlane wins the Pumpkin competition

Ralph McFarlane in Room 13 was the proud winner of our pumpkin competition with an exact guess of 27 kilograms, for the combined weight of our two big pumpkins. Zara Munro, Jonathan Rapson, Ella McMillan and Ralph worked flat out last Thursday afternoon to get the pumpkin soup ready. Friday of last week was a suitably chilly day for soup, so with the help of some of our senior boys, we just about managed to feed the whole school with some delicious soup. Pretty good going to be able to do that with those two big pumpkins! Well done to Ralph and his team of chefs. I know you made lots of people happy on a cold, wet day.

Here's the recipe

Ralph’s Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Any type of pumpkin
2 Carrots
1 Leek
1 large or 2 small potatoes
Milk or cream
2 Vegetable stock cubes or Oxo
Cayenne pepper, ground coriander, curry powder - optional
Salt and Pepper
Butter

Chop up the pumpkin, or even better drop it on the ground and watch it break apart.
Wash the pumpkin pieces if you’ve dropped it on the ground.
Scoop out all the seeds and save them in a bowl.
Drizzle some olive oil over the pumpkin.
Roast the pumpkin on a baking tray (skin and all).
Wash the rest of the vegetables and then chop them up.
While the pumpkin is roasting fry the chopped veggies in a little bit of butter until soft.
When the pumpkin has gone soft and a little bit brown take it out of the oven and leave it to cool.
When it has cooled cut the skin off the pumpkin and chop the roasted pumpkin up into small pieces
Mix up the vegetable stock.
Add the fried veggies, roasted pumpkin, vegetable stock, salt and pepper (and spices if you’re using them) to a large pot
Put a lid on the pot and let it simmer.
While this happening wash the pumpkin seeds and put them in between paper towels to dry.
When all the veggies are soft add the milk or cream.
Use a stick blender or food processor to puree all the pieces so the soup is nice and smooth.
Taste and add more salt, pepper and spices if you like.

Enjoy steaming hot with lovely crusty bread.


Warming up the Pumpkin Soup

Getting ready for the serving

Lots of hungry students ready for their soup. 

Brad and Tim helping serve up the soup to the masses 

Snotty green vegetables, Frog's legs and Snails

As well as hosting our  Community Cooking Evening, Chris Fortune from Kids Can Cook ran cooking workshops with all of our Year 2-8 students last Wednesday. I saw the students having a great time, and they really enjoyed eating Chris’ “green snotty vegetables”. They learnt about New Zealand Kai and food from around the world, including Frogs Legs and Snails and they got to sample some of Chris’s crepes. It was fabulous to see so many of our students giving the crepes the ‘thumbs up’! If you’d like to have a go at recreating the dish at home here’s the recipe:

Apple and Silver Beet Crepes
1 Cup Flour
1.5 cups of milk
2 eggs
Apples, Grated
Silverbeet or Spinach, Washed

Mix milk and eggs, whisk into flour and leave to rest for 20 mins.  If it is too thick thin with a little milk. Ladle into crepe pans and cook until golden brown, leave to cool. Mix Apple and thinly sliced silver beet together,  and roll up into a tight cylinder. Slice and serve cold or heat by placing in the oven with a little cheese over the top.  

Lauren at the community Cooking Evening having a go at flipping the crepes

Chris in action
Natalie and Claudia (or is it Lillian?) taking a few tips on Chris's tasting technique

Lots of eager tasters