Ok, a “recipe” for hot dogs...uhhh...we’re sort of at a loss here. This is really just one of those: “Put it on the grill, cook it, put something you like on top of it, eat, and repeat” type deals. So, we’d be wasting everyone’s time by having a recipe here right? Right. (If you just HAVE to have one check out our Chimichurri recipe from a few years back. Delicious.) However, because we are always keen on giving you, our loyal reader, your money’s worth, we’re providing a non hot-dog recipe. This one is relevant to the month of October and, is a bit of a show stopper.

Fire Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Adapted from “Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way” which is a seriously cool cookbook available at you know where.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pumpkin
• ½ cup of finely chopped Italian parsley
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 8 ounces chevre
• 1 large bunch of arugula

Directions:

 
Assemble your ingredients. (The astute reader will notice that there is some fine looking Swiss Chard in this picture. At one point – I thought that I’d include it in the recipe and then didn’t. However, I still think it looks great in the picture.)

 
Get the charcoal in your barbecue nice and hot and then deposit the pumpkin. (You could do this on a gas barbecue by roasting the pumpkin directly over medium-high heat.)

 
Action shot! Nestle the lil orange fella down into the charcoal.

 
Hook up your remote temperature gauge. (If you don’t have one of these yet, seriously just come into the store today and get one.)

 
Finely chop your parsley.

 
Whisk in your oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

 
After about half an hour rotate your pumpkin. Careful - it's hot in there.

 
When the temperature of your pumpkin hits 150 degrees – take it out of the coals.

 
Admire your handiwork.

 
Let your pumpkin rest for a few minutes (hot!) and then slice it in half so you have two ‘bowls’.

 
Scoop out the entrails.

 
Gently cut the ‘meat’ of the pumpkin off of the edges and keep it in your pumpkin bowl.

 
Slice the chevre into the pumpkin flesh and move it around. If you do this while the pumpkin is still nice and hot, the cheese will melt nicely.

 
Place a good sized clump of arugula into your bowl and drizzle your dressing over the mixture. Toss and turn the mixture as much as you can.

 
And voila – your pumpkin “salad”. Rightly described by one of the Hot Line staff as “...more of a squash dish than a salad”. Not only is this one fun to make – it’s hella tasty. Give it a try this Autumn.