Pumpkin Sage Grits

Halloween equals fuckers wasting perfectly good pieces of fruit in ridiculous straw bale displays. I personally prefer to chop pumpkin flesh up into bits, roast it, and make puree, while of course reserving the seeds for the separate pleasure of roasting myself some snack food.

With puree, you can do all kinds of things--pumpkin-flavored cinnamon buns, for example. But it's not all about sweets and your fuckin' lattes. Savory goodness can come out of it by making these Pumpkin-Sage Grits. I like mine with crispy bits of golden fried garlic, because they offer an excellent textural contrast while moving through your otherwise texturally-monotonous breakfast bowl.

Gloomy morning lighting, delicious grits still shining golden.

A rhythm to stir to: Scarecrow Man by The Misfits

COMPONENTS

½ cup of "5-minute-cook" grits (white or yellow--suit yourself!)

1 cup water

1 cup unsweetened vegan milk (I like almond)

¼ teaspoon of salt (possibly a little more)
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of onion powder (optional)
½ cup to ¾ cup pureed pumpkin
Three to four fresh, large/long sage leaves, minced

Topping:

Cubed hunks of raw pumpkin flesh (to be sauteed)
Diced garlic (1 to 2 cloves)


DICTATIONS

1. In a high rim pot, bring the water and nut milk to a boil (or a very strong simmer, if you are impatient like me).
2. Toss in the salt and other spices.
3. Slowly stir in the grits with a wooden spoon. (Wooden spoons won't scratch up the bottom of your pan as quickly, FYI.)
4. Cover and let cook for five minutes (or according to the package directions).
5. Meanwhile, wash your sage leaves, rub them gently between your fingers, remove the stems, and then mince the leaves with a very sharp knife. Starting with a chiffonade technique in probably easiest...
6. When the five minutes is almost up, uncover and stir in the pumpkin and sage until well incorporated. Then, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit while you prepare the topping. (You can even remove it from that eye of the stove to another and use the residual heat to start your frying pan.)
7. In a small skillet or frying pan, heat a tiny dab (1/2 tsp) of cooking oil. When there are wavy lines on the oil's surface, throw in the pumpkin flesh bits (if using) and stir around to get every side coated in oil. Let cook for about a minute and a half.
8. Toss in the garlic and stir around to coat in oil. Then, turn the heat down to low medium and let the garlic crisp up and become golden brown, removing from heat when it gets to that point. It takes about a minute and a half, but hover over it to stir to make sure it doesn't burn!!
9. Check on your grits pot. You may need to mix in more fluid if the grits have gotten too thick. We're not going for soup, nor a mass of congealed mush. There's a sweet spot in between. Find it.
10. When they're at the consistency you prefer, transfer to bowl(s) and top with the fried garlic and hunks of pumpkin. 

I'm pretty sure these could be a fabulous asset on which to pile something else for a dinner entree, but for now I'm merely content to have them as a savory disruption to my breakfast habit of cereal.


Bonus pic: late season Purple Cherokee Tomato who was born with a scarecrow mask!

Eating Out: Fiction Kitchen (Raleigh, NC)

When I eat out, I like to pay someone to make things that I am too lazy to make (with any frequency) at home. Thus enters Fiction Kitchen of Raleigh--formerly Sunday Vegan Brunch at the Pinhook in Durham. I dare you to go there and not become
a devotee.

Side note: For some reason, the Andre 3000 bottle often seems to wind up on the table I am seated at, despite that I've been seated at different parts of the restaurant. It's a weird coincidence, but I don't mind too much since I like Outkast. (I suppose he's part of the décor because he's vegan.)

Musical accompaniment: "Hot like Sauce" by Pretty Lights

APPETIZERS

Seasonal vegetable fritters: "NC onions and cornmeal, spices, and agave "butter." 

They may be called fritters, but they are hushpuppies as far as I am concerned. I'm not complaining, though. It's a pain in the @$$ to make fried bread at home, so these squelched a long-standing craving of mine.

July 2014: Vegan cornbread and pimento 'cheese' spread with some chilled caramelized onions. The cornbread was good, but the pimento cheese tasted more like a red (bell) pepper hummus. It was tasty, but not a remotely a convincing replication of traditional pimento cheese. (FYI: pimento cheese tastes like sharp hoop cheese and mayo, and completely engulfs the mild flavor offered by the diced cherry pepper.)

ENTREES

The farmers' plate in late September 2013: a veggie burger of beet and shiitakes on a vegan bun with an aioli my friend said was amazing. On the side, tomato and banana pepper salad in a (dill?) cream sauce. There was dill in there somewhere, and a third component to the burger, possibly beans of some sort. The point is that my friend really enjoyed her meal. 

Vegan chicken and waffles: amazing. Simply amazing. My waffles were billowy and had the perfect amount of agave. The chicken is actually herby like the menu says—they don't skimp out—and toothsome like real chicken. And don't worry: the arugula isn't awkward next to the waffle, although that was my initial thought. Slap some hot sauce on the peppery arugula atop your chicken and nom down.

Savory and sweet. Crunchy and fluffy. Delicious and gobbled down. 

Bonus: When I asked for hot sauce, the guy behind the bar handed me two bottles, one of which he said makes himself and that they were looking to bottle and sell in the coming year or so. All he would tell me about it was that he uses seven kinds of peppers (habs and jalapenos were in the abbreviated list). I report to you that it's not a "burn the tongue out of your skull" kind of hot sauce, but rather, a pleasant, subtle spice that leans towards laying savory compliments on its hosting food. A welcomed change of pace for someone who thinks suicide sauce is one of the many reasons to keep on living.

Pulled "pork" plate. When I first became a vegetarian, I used to have INSANE—insane, as in my teeth itched—cravings for eastern NC-style BBQ pulled pork. (My need for vinegary things is a story for another day.) I've tried several recipes and products in an attempt to recapture my beloved, but none of them made the mark. Point blank: Fiction Kitchen's BBQ got me there.

At first bite I was even struck with the illogical fear that my plate had been confused with a meat one…in a completely veg*n restaurant. 

The only complaint to be had was that there was a tad too much black pepper in a few of my bites. But, hey, maybe the pepper's kick is there to keep it from being too spicy. After all, not everyone likes their BBQ sauce with extra chili flakes, such as I do.

Side note: It is also the case that you can eat the plate's portion without having the "pork" sit in your stomach like a brick for several hours after eating, as is the case with traditional BBQ. This, in combination with having little to possibly no saturated fat, could perhaps help our Stroke Belt.

If this stuff freezes well, they should sell it by the pound in tubs just like regular meat-serving BBQ pits. I’d stock my freezer and have a BBQ sandwich every week, just like I did in my childhood.

  
BRUNCH option: Fried "chicken" biscuit with NC blackberry jam. Served with either a side of grits or root vegetable hash. I got hash because I'd already had grits that day.

SWEETS

Vegan chocolate mousse pie with salted caramel sauce. Rich dark chocolate. Excellent sauce. 

Two scoops of avocado and lemongrass ice cream with a rosemary cookie. The cookie was yummy and the complimentary complexity of the ice cream's flavor was fascinating. 

 Peanut butter vegan cheesecake with very good whipped topping and a delightfully crunchy nut crust.

 July 2014: Blueberry sorbet with a lemon sugar cookie. I relished this greatly.