Cucurbita pepos are popping up everywhere, some with silly grins on their faces, others with a mouth full of fangs and scary eyes. I had a small one sitting on my porch for a few days, but took it inside, beheaded it, cooked it and ate it.
Local supermarkets have piles of cucurbita on hand right now, with a bewildering array of colors and fancy names. Crooknecks, Pattypans, Turbans, Mardi Gras, Munchkin, Jack-be-little, Dumpling, Golden Nugget, Butternut, Sugar Sweet, Carnival, and of course, plain old Pumpkin. No matter the name, it’s all just squash, but from now through Thanksgiving, pumpkin will reign, King of Squash.
Field pumpkins, which are the largest variety, are ideal for carving but they tend to be stringy and watery when cooked, so if you intend to turn your Jack-o-lantern into pie, you might want to reconsider and go for something a bit smaller.
Yes, I know canned pumpkin puree is much easier and far more popular, but making your own is not that difficult, and I feel there is a marked difference between the taste of freshly pureed pumpkin and canned.
And right now, with pumpkins at their lowest price, your homemade puree will be a real bargain compared to the canned. A four-pound pumpkin should give you about
4 cups of puree, which can then be stored in the refrigerator for up to three or four days and used just as you would any canned pumpkin.
When it comes to versatility, few other vegetables measure up to squash, whether it’s homely old pumpkin or one of its fancy, exotic squash cousins. Turn it into muffins, fillings for empanadas, cakes, pies, cookies, soups, casseroles, or simply cut a cucurbita in half, sprinkle it with a bit of cumin, brush it with some melted butter and bake until tender.
Or, perhaps a sprinkle of brown sugar instead of the cumin, or possibly a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, or, well, you get the point. The possibilities are almost endless.
If you’re interested in the health benefits of cucurbita, virtually all of the hard-shelled winter squash are an excellent source of Vitamin A, potassium, phosphorous and fiber, with low-to-zero cholesterol and about 24 calories per half cup. Squash, and especially pumpkin, can be used in everything from appetizers to desserts, but when it comes to desserts, you can forget that 24 calories. I’ve never met a pumpkin dessert that wasn’t rich, in both flavor and calories, and I recently tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Crème Brûlée that
I think may well replace pumpkin pie on my Thanksgiving menu next month.
You may look tough and gnarly on the outside, dear cucurbita, but we know that on the inside you’re soft and tender and can be very sweet. May you reign in our kitchens all winter long, not just at Halloween and Thanksgiving.
RECIPES
I really like steamed puddings, a type of dessert I grew up with. This pumpkin pudding is a favorite; outstanding for the holidays or on any chilly winter evening, for that matter.
STEAMED PUMPKIN PUDDING
1 can (8 oz.) unsweetened crushed pineapple
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 T. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 eggs and 1 egg white
1 cup pureed pumpkin (hopefully fresh, homemade)
1 cup flour
½ cup soft fresh breadcrumbs
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. ground allspice
½ t. ground nutmeg
¼ t. salt
¼ cup chopped pecans
Drain pineapple, reserving ¼ cup of the liquid. Combine the pineapple liquid and raisins in a small bowl; microwave at high 1 min.
15 seconds, or until raisins plump. Set aside.
Place sugar, butter, eggs and white in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Add pumpkin, processing until smooth. Add flour, spices and salt; pulse 7 times or until ingredients are just blended. Add pineapple and pecans, pulse
4 times. Add plumped raisin mixture, pulse 2 times. Spoon into a 6-cup steamed pudding mold coated with cooking spray and cover tightly with lid or aluminum foil. (If you don’t have a pudding mold, use a ring mold covered with foil.)
Place mold on a shallow rack in a stockpot; add boiling water to halfway up side of mold, cover and steam over med.-low heat for
1½ hrs. or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean (there should be a few tiny moist crumbs), adding additional water as needed. Let pudding cool on a rack 10 min., then invert onto a serving platter. Slice and serve warm, with a couple of tablespoons of scotch sauce, if desired, or other sauce of preference. Serves 10.
SCOTCH SAUCE
½ cup apple juice
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup single malt scotch (or substitute bourbon, if scotch is not to your taste)
2 T. butter
1/8 t. cinnamon
2/3 cup water
2½ t. cornstarch
Combine apple juice, brown sugar, scotch and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over med. heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves.
Combine water and cornstarch; stir well and add to apple juice mixture. Bring to a boil, cook for 1 min., stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Serve warm over steamed pudding. Makes about 1½ cups.
Even though both my husband and I are carnivores, our dinner table is often without a meat entrée, primarily because of outstanding vegetable dishes such as this Pumpkin Risotto. Risotto takes a bit more care and tending than regular rice, but it is so worth it. One caution, however; don’t buy the packaged peeled and sliced squash you can find in the cold/frozen vegetable section at the supermarket. Preparing your own pumpkin is not that difficult or time consuming.
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
2 T. olive oil
1 med. size pumpkin (about 2 lbs.), peeled, seeded (keep the interior fibers and seeds) and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (you should have about 3 to 3-1/2 cups)
3/4 t. salt and 3/4 t. ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth if you’re vegetarian, but the risotto will be a bit sweeter)
1 cup water
4 T. unsalted butter
1-2 onions, chopped very fine (you’ll need about 1-1/2 cups)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
About 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. minced fresh sage leaves (optional if you don’t like sage, or substitute 1 t. thyme)
1/4 t. grated nutmeg
Heat oil in a skillet over med.-high heat until shimmering. Add pumpkin in an even layer and cook, without stirring, until golden brown (4-5 min.). Stir in 1/4 t. each of salt and the pepper; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin is tender and browned, about 5 min. longer. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Return skillet to med. heat, add the fiber and seeds you took out of the pumpkin and cook, stirring frequently to break up the fibers, until lightly browned. Transfer to a large saucepan and add the chicken broth and water. Cover saucepan and bring mixture to simmer over high heat, reduce heat to med.-low and maintain a low simmer. (This will give your broth a distinct pumpkin flavor which will in turn give your risotto more flavor.)
Melt 3 T. of the butter in the skillet over med. heat; when foaming stops, add onions, garlic, remaining salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened. Add rice to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the grains are translucent around the edges, about 3 min. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine is absorbed.
Strain the hot broth through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Return the broth to the saucepan, discard the solids, cover the pan and keep broth hot over low heat.
When the wine is absorbed, add 3 cups hot broth and half of the pumpkin to the rice; simmer, stirring every 3-4 min. until liquid is almost absorbed. Add about 1/2 cup more of the broth and cook, stirring constantly, until that is absorbed, then repeat with 1/2 cup more broth 2 or 3 more times, until the rice is cooked al dente.
Remove risotto from heat, stir in remaining 1 T. butter, Parmesan, sage or thyme and nutmeg. Gently fold in remaining pumpkin and, if desired, add an additional small amount of broth to loosen the texture, depending upon how you like your risotto. Serve immediately.
Note: To prepare pumpkin, peel with a sturdy vegetable peeler or a sharp knife (after cutting off top and stem); cut pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and fiber and then cut each half in slices, then stack slices and cut into cubes. This risotto is also excellent made with butternut squash; follow same instructions.
