Other than a fondness for fry bread, I must admit that I know little to nothing about Native American cuisine or cooking styles.
However, autumn is the time of year when what little I do know about this cuisine does come to mind. In autumn we tend to think of those orange and brown tones to our foods and earthy flavors much of which encompasses the heart of Native American cooking.A few days ago I was notified of the anniversary release of two cookbooks, one of which was Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs. The book, a James Beard and IACP award winner, is overflowing with authentic Native American recipes from tribes throughout North America including the Cherokee, Navajo and Sioux.
Once I began reading, I knew my knowledge of this cuisine was about to change.
My favorite part of the book, aside from the wonderful recipes, is page 10. This page opens up into a map of the US. On this map are icons which represent foods traditionally used in different areas such as blue corn, buffalo, hazelnuts, deer, persimmons and sweet potatoes. While now it may be more evident in types of barbeque, the diversity of foods prepared across the US was as apparent then as it is today.
Similarly the recipes are separated into different regions and tribes throughout the book. Some of the recipes you’ll find include Iroquois Leaf Bread, Hopi Venison Stew, Honey-Ginger Baked Beets and Papago Cactus Salad.
I wanted to go with something unique that I’d never tried before which, to be honest, wasn’t difficult. Almost every recipe in the book was new to me.
I settled on the impressive, yet surprisingly simple, Hidatsa Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin from the Great Plains region. Aside from scraping out a bit of pumpkin, nothing about this recipe is difficult, nor are the ingredients hard to come by. Yet, it is delicious and upon seeing it, no one will doubt your skills in the kitchen again.
The sage, the pumpkin, the hearty meat – all of it is perfect for autumn. Considering the presentation, I wouldn’t hesitate to also set it on the holiday table.
Hidatsa Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin
Reprinted with permission from Abrams Books
1, 4 to 5 pound sugar pumpkin
2 tsp salt
½ tsp dry mustard
1 to 2 tbsp vegetable oil or rendered fat
1 pound ground venison, buffalo or beef
1 medium onion or 4 green onions, chopped
1 cup wild rice, cooked
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp crushed dried sage
¼ tsp pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the top from pumpkin and remove seeds and strings. Prick cavity with a fork and rub with 1 teaspoon of salt and the mustard.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add meat and onion and sauté over medium-high heat until browned. Off the heat, and stir in wild rice, eggs, remaining salt, sage, and pepper. Stuff pumpkin with this mixture.
Place ½ inch of water in the bottom of a shallow baking pan. Put the pumpkin in the pan and bake for 1 ½ hour, or until tender. Add more water to the pan as necessary to avoid sticking. Cut pumpkin into wedges, giving each person both pumpkin and stuffing. (Or you can scoop out the stuffing with a bit of pumpkin which is what I did.) Serves 6.
As I mentioned, there were two books re-released so I don’t want to pass on sharing the second with you. That’s because it happens to be the ideal gift book for any creative food lover. The Secrets of Pistoulet by Jana Kolpen tells the story of a French farmhouse and was first published in 1996. When I started flipping through it, I thought – this would make the cutest gift. Then I read a bit more about it, The recipes are designed as little pull-out cards and written in paragraph form with very flexible directions. There’s Potage of Vision, Potage of Heart and Potage of Strength. It’s like a recipe book and an inspirational note all in one.
Disclosure: A review copy of these cookbooks was sent to me free of charge. I was under no obligation to blog about them and received no compensation for doing so.
