When we first moved to America, I was delighted by a number of novel things: fireflies, peanut butter, Seventeen magazine, and the very fun and spooky holiday of Halloween.
In a Persian nod to this most classic American holiday, last year we made the super delicious butternut squash khoresh (which is currently my favorite Persian stew, specially when made with plums.) This year I thought why not make a pumpkin kookoo? There is no authentic recipe for it, so I improvised, and inspired by Pomegranate Diaries, I made it in muffin tins instead of frying it in a pan as is the traditional manner. The result: a decidedly non-spooky savory kookoo that can be served with a sweet garnish (I used roasted cinnamon walnuts and confectioners sugar.) The recipe, however, needs further tinkering (flavor: good; texture: needs work!) so Iβm skipping it for now. I do kind of dig the photographs though, so letβs just consider this a Halloween postcard.
Have a safe and spooky Halloween! Lots of treats, not too many tricks!
I love the photographs and the kookoo sounds really great. I love the idea of baking it in muffin papers. Happy Halloween!
BOO! ha ha, belated, but hope you enjoyed Halloween, I have a feeling it may be one of your favorite holidays too! π
The skeleton glass holders look good. Love the seed pods and composure of the bottom picture. Happy Halloween.
Thank you Maria. I got those skeleton glass holders dirt chip at our neighborhood block party! Score!
Love the visuals – wonderful!! Happy Halloween!! π
belated thank you dear Celeste!
Those glasses are great! You know, I’ve just had to Google Trick or Treat (partly as trick has salubrious connotations here) and didn’t realise there was a form of it in the UK years ago. And I’ve just found this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souling which I would’ve loved to have found last week. I’d hoped to carve swede/rutabaga this year. Haven’t even managed that. Although, I’m cooking pumpkin/swede risotto…does that count?!
Happy Hallowe’en!
Johnny, I hadn’t hear of soul cakes Johnny, what an interesting link. And ha ha, trick has salubrious connotation here too but that is if only one is “turning tricks” which … ah, yeah, salubrious. Good word. π Pumpkin/swede risotto counts for an awful lot I imagine by the way.
Great post, Azita. We have some people celebrating Halloween here in Australia, but I just don’t get into it.
Liz, I don’t think I’d be that into it outside of the U.S., but here, it’s really a truly engrossing and exciting holiday, kind of like a carnival, except that it’s for the very young to the very old and all ages in between, which is one of the things I really like about it.
– Thank you for the postcard. Interesting hand skeleton glass holders!
– I never made kuku’ye kadu, but I know it tastes good! Looking forward for your tweaked recipe.
– We live in an apartment with difficult access, therefore we would not see any cute children knocking our door. Make sure to take photo of Felfeli in costume. I miss the cute little guy. Happy Halloween Azita jan!
Dear Fae, I wish I could post the pix of the two boys in their customs. they are both adorable … the little one was dressed like a ba’ba’ee, which is his favorite word and animal! isn’t that cute!!! ps belated Happy Halloween to you too Fae joon!
Hope you had a fun and Happy Halloween too Azita! Fabulous photos and arrangements!
Belated but hope not too late: thank you dear Margot and hope you and the kids had a lovely and happy Halloween.
They are very artistic indeed! Bravo! Did you get any trick-or-treaters? We get tons of them!
Our neighborhood gets tons of trick and treaters and most people go all out for decorations. Next Halloween it’ll be you and your darling little one! Awww!
dear Azita, your sweet treat sound scrumptious, I have plenty of pumpkin so please please do improve your recipe π
Have a wonderful weekend my friend
Baci
Lou, please make up a pumpkin sourdough recipe!
I tried a bread, with pumpkin and walnuts, but I admit it, it was rubbish π
I think I’ll work on a sweet bread recipe π
Never lose hope!
Have a wonderful afternoon
Baci
Lou
Excited for the recipe and always love your photography and visuals. Happy (belated) Halloween!
Belated thanks and wishs for you too Melissa! π
I was give some sumac and pomegranate molasses by a friend who had spent a lot of time in Iran in the 70’s. I now use those flavours in Moroccan tagines and cous cous.
Mmmm! How nice! You know, sumac is used almost exclusively with the Kabab in Persian cooking; but the pomegranate molasses is used in a variety of ways. Would be interested to read how you incorporate these ingredients in your Moroccan dishes.
Love the photos and looking forward to the recipe!
Lovely postcard, Azita! The colors are gorgeous and the skeleton hands priceless. Looking forward to chapter 2!!! Hope you and your little one had a very spooky Halloween. π
Belated thank you dear Francesca! Wish it was same for you. π Both my nephews were ridiculously adorable in their Halloween getups, wish I could post a pic or two.
Happy belated Halloween, Azita! Your arrangement and photos look great, and spooky too! π
Thank you Stefano! Same: belated and happy that is, to you too!
What a gorgeous post Azita! Such a fantastic arrangement… I love how natural things can look spooky when they’re put in the right context! I cannot WAIT to read your perfected recipe for the Persian Kookoo muffins. Sounds so darn delicious. Happy Halloween (albeit belated!) xx
Thank you dear Laura and I know, right? Some of the spookiest scariest things are right there in life and nature and not creatures of our fantasy or imagination.
Love the pictures!! And looking forward to the pumpkin kookoo once the kinks are worked out. π
Kenley
Instead of me working out the kinds, I have a better idea. Here it goes:
Kenley kindly workout kinks to the kadoo kookoo!
Sorry, couldn’t resist the alliteration. π
HAHAHA!!! Love it!! π
Great photos. The seed pods and dried leaves look really sinister, I’m seeing them in a new light.
I just wandered over and had a look at your kuku recipe and am hooked – can’t wait to try it, and am looking forward to the pumpkin version when you post it. Halloween seems to be getting more popular here in Australia, but it really has no meaning at all. No-one seems to be aware of whatever religious significance there is for the event and the whole pumpkin thing happens at a different time of the year. Sadly, it’s just another commercial retail opportunity.
[…] your pumpkin is not royalty, you can use it to make a Persianized pumpkin pie cafe latte, or, a Persian pumpkin Halloween kookoo. […]