We had a blast yesterday at the Gutierrez-Hubbell house celebrating the 5th Annual Local Food Festival and Field Day! Sol Harvest was there with their Farm Stand, and Chef Jaye did a great cooking demonstration of her winter squash and jujube salad with red chile vinaigrette. Here is the recipe from the demo, if you’d like to try it at home. It was DELICIOUS!
Ingredients:
4oz Pumpkin (or other fleshy winter squash), batonnet (large julienne)
8ea. Jujubes 8oz.
Young arugula
2oz Pumpkin seeds (or other), washed
Olive oil, for cooking
2oz Red chile vinaigrette: 1/4 c. favorite red chile sauce
2 T. Local honey
1 T. Roasted garlic
Pinch. Cumin seed, toasted and ground
Pinch ground cinnamon
1T Champagne vinegar
1/2-3/4c olive oil
Salt to taste
Assemble vinaigrette.
Remove the pit from jujubes like you would from an olive by using your knife to peel the flesh away from the pit. Cut into bite size pieces.
Wash pumpkin seeds to remove residual strings. Toss in salt and pepper and olive oil, and a little bit of ground cumin if you’d like. Roast on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for ten to fifteen minutes, until toasty and crisp. Coarsely chop once cool.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a sauté pan until glistening, add pumpkin, season lightly with salt, and sauté until lightly caramelized. Add jujubes and sauté until soft, taking care not to burn the skins. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, season arugula lightly with salt and pepper and add a small handful of toasted seeds. Lightly toss to coat with dressing. Arrange on a platter or plates. Add pumpkin and jujube to mixing bowl, it’s okay if they are still warm. Toss in a little more vinaigrette. Scatter across the arugula and top with more pumpkin seeds.
At the restaurant, we serve a similar salad with toasted soft ripened cheese, like quadrello di buffalo.