Week 18 - A Pumpkin of Your Own

Cresset CSA shareholders now have a couple of beautiful pumpkins from their share, with more to come for winter shareholders. Pumpkins are more than just home decor! You can actually eat them, and they are delicious! (This presupposes that you have not made jack-o-lanterns out of all your pumpkins. The soot from the candle is not very tasty.)

Pumpkins keep for a month or more at cool room temperatures. Racks are better than boxes, so they get a little air circulation around them.

How to prepare your pumpkin

You have decided to transform a beautiful orange item of home decor to food. Cut your pumpkin in half at the equator. Clean out the seeds and strings. STOP! Don't throw the seeds away. Separate the strings from the seeds, and put the unwashed seeds into a pie pan, with a little butter and salt. Now, throw the strings away (better: compost them).

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a rimmed cookie sheet or large baking dish, with a little water. Bake until you can run a fork through the skin and the skin and flesh are tender (30-45 minutes for most pumpkins). Put the seeds in the oven at the same time.

The seeds are done when they are brownish and crispy. Yum.
No need to remove the hulls; they are crunchy and tasty too.

Take the pumpkin out of the oven. Scoop the tender flesh away from the skin. At this point you can run the flesh through a food mill, blender, or sieve to remove remaining strings or fibers.

You can freeze the pulp, or process it in canning jars like applesauce, or just fix yourself a fresh pie or some soup.

Note: Most winter squash can be baked in a similar way. You can roast the seeds of the squash which have smaller seeds; some winter squash have big heavy seeds. You can mix winter squash pulp with pumpkin pulp for pies or soups. The canned pumpkin that you would buy is mostly winter squash, which is why it is so thick.

Here is a link to other wonderful pumpkin recipes:

Simply Recipes - Pumpkin Seeds

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

for a 9-inch pie:
2 cups fresh pumpkin
2/3 cup honey
3 to 4 teaspoons your favorite pumpkin pie spices:
-cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamon, cloves (take it easy
on the cloves)
1 cup milk
four beaten eggs
1/2 tsp salt
an unbaked pie crust

Mix the pumpkin with the honey, spices, and salt. Then mix in the milk and eggs. Pour into crust. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 350 degrees until done, about 50 minutes.

To make a 10-inch pie, make 1 1/2 recipe (e.g. 3 cups pumpkin, etc.)

You can make pumpkin custard the same, without the crust. Use a glass pie pan or shallow round baking dish, and put it in a hot water bath (a larger pan with about an inch of water in it).

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Pumpkin Nut Waffles

2 cups flour (your choice; white, whole wheat, rice, etc.)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat the three egg yolks, mix in the milk, melted butter and pumpkin. Beat the three egg whites stiff, fold into batter. Pour onto waffle iron, sprinkling each with 2 tablespoons chopped nuts. Cook till done (by your waffle iron instructions).

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Pumpkin Rarebit Soup (adapted from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest)

4 cups cooked pumpkin
1 cup stock or water
1 1/2 cups beer or ale
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 tsp salt
3 medium garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp soy sauce
black pepper to taste
cayenne or chili powder to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Mix the pumpkin with the stock, heat with the beer in a large saucepan. Let it simmer. In a small skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions and garlic, then add to the soup. Add remaining seasonings to taste, then the cheese. Simmer partially covered
20-30 minutes.

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Finally, a recipe that does NOT require baking and pureeing the pumpkin. Choose a nice small shapely pumpkin for this dish.

Mexican Stuffed Pumpkin

One nice small pumpkin
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces ground ham (optional)
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp black pepper
dash cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped pimento-stuffed olives
1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or commercial) or 1 1/2 cups
chopped tomatoes
3 eggs, beaten

Brown the beef in the oil, with the ham, onions, and green pepper. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer 15 minutes. Stir in three beaten eggs. Fill the pumpkin, pressing down, then top with lid. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Let rest 15 minutes before serving. To serve, scoop out some filling and some of the flesh of the pumpkin.