How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds?

It’s pumpkin carving time and we all know what we get when we carve pumpkins with the kids? No, not a big mess. Pumpkin Seeds! Don’t throw them out. Here’s how to make a delicious and nutritious snack with those slippery little seeds.

Ingredients

Freshly plucked pumpkin seeds
Butter – about 2 ounces of butter per cup of seeds
Salt, to taste

Start by preheating the oven to 400º F

Separate the seeds from the pumpkin flesh. We use a colander under running water to make the job a little easier. It takes a little effort but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. Be sure to remove all the flesh and the strings so they don’t burn in the oven.

Dry them with layers of paper towels or dishtowels.

Some people will tell you to soak the seeds in salted water for a day and that may make them taste better, but we don’t have time for that. We want immediate gratification.

Put the butter onto a baking sheet and place it in the oven. As soon as the butter melts, add the pumpkins seeds to the pan, season with salt, mix everything together and put the pan back into the oven.

Roast for 15 to 30 minutes until the pumpkin seeds are golden brown. Be sure to shake the pan every once in a while so the seeds don’t burn.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the seeds cool. Have some control and don’t start snacking on them right away or you may burn your mouth.

Alternatives:

Some people get very creative with their pumpkin seeds and season with various herbs and spices. You may want to try mixing in some garlic powder, celery powder, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, hot sauce, red pepper flakes (be careful) or even some Worchestershire sauce.

How to Roast a Boneless Leg of Lamb

Nothing could be easier than roasting a boneless leg of lamb for dinner. Growing up, I remember Sunday dinners of roast leg lamb served with roasted potatoes and mint jelly and eating the leftovers during the week. We roasted a lamb this week for dinner, had leftovers the next night and I’ve been making sandwiches for the last couple of days.

Buying a Leg of Lamb

There are basically three ways you can buy a leg of lamb and each has its advantages. There are actually more than these three cuts, but for simplicity, let’s go with three. By the way, even though a lamb has 4 legs, only the 2 back legs are referred to as “leg of lamb”.

Bone-in leg of lamb is usually a little cheaper, cooks faster than boneless, gives you a bone for making stock for lamb stew and because of the bone is a little juicier and has more flavor. A domestic leg of lamb weighs about 7 to 8 pounds.

Boneless leg of lamb with the bones removed is perfect for roasting and easy to carve. You can find it at your supermarket with the thin membrane (called fell) removed and the meat wrapped in a net to hold it together and keep its form.

Whether you buy the whole leg and have it boned or just the top half (sirloin half) or bottom half (shank half) really depends on how many you are serving and your personal preferences.

The sirloin half (consisting of the top of the leg and part of the hip) is meatier and more tender than the shank half (consisting of the lower part of the leg) which is chewier because it has more connective tissue. However, cooked properly, the connective tissue breaks down to be more tender and gelatinous with lots of flavor.

Butterflied leg of lamb is just a boneless leg that has been cut down the center in half but not completely through. The halves are opened to lay flat making the meat easier to grill or broil but can also be stuffed and rolled.

American (Domestic), New Zealand or Australian Lamb?

I will start off by quoting The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly, “When it comes to flavor, tenderness, and overall quality, you can’t beat lamb from the United States, especially California, Colorado, and Vermont”

No matter what country you buy it from, try to get it fresh. A lot of the lamb coming over from Australia and New Zealand is frozen although more and more is coming over fresh. You will find the New Zealand and Australian lamb to be smaller in size and weighing less.

One of the big differences between American lamb and “Down Under” lamb is diet. While the New Zealand and Australian lamb are raised almost exclusively on grass, American lamb is “finished” on a grain, which may be the reason the meat is a bit milder.

Roasting Technique

(more…)