Cooking Tidbits: Leftover Pumpkin
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, ever since I was a little kid.
I used to plant my jack-o’-lantern’s seeds every year and watch the green little sprouts shoot out of the earth the following fall, when the air finally started to turn cool again. The vines would creep across my family’s perfectly manicured garden until they managed to overtake everything with their gigantic fuzzy leaves. To my memory, I never managed to grow a pumpkin to term; certainly nothing large enough to carve or even use for decorative purposes.
In following with the circle of life theme, I thought it would be appropriate to tackle what to do with your pumpkins this week.
Since it is Halloween, I know you will all probably be getting ready to carve, dress up or paint your gourds. No matter how you choose to best embellish your ghoulish night-light, one thing can be certain – there will be plenty of guts to go around. You could always roast your leftover seeds or use the stringy insides to add a certain "gross-out" effect to your pumpkin.
But, how about actually skipping all of that and, instead, baking your pumpkin so that you can use it to create other scrumptious treats?
Pumpkin Puree
Items Needed
1 bowl
Aluminum foil
1 pan with edges
1 non-serrated knife
1 spoon/ice cream scoop
1 pie/sugar pumpkin
1 potato masher/fork
To start off, you will need to buy a special pumpkin. (Insider tip- the best pumpkins to use for the sake of baking are pie and sugar pumpkins. They’re smaller, sweeter and less stringy than regular jack-o’-lantern pumpkins.) A typical four pound pie pumpkin can yield up to 2 cups of pumpkin puree.
Wash any dirt off the outside skin. Nobody most people don’t like to eat dirt.
Cut the pumpkin in half, making sure to remove the stem and woody area on the base. Use a spoon to scrape out the pumpkin guts. (MacGyver tip- Don’t want to use a spoon? I’ve experimented with many utensils over the years and I find an ice cream scoop is, by far, the most efficient. The thick handle gives you a good, strong grip and the scooper helps to separate the seeds from the gooey pumpkin strings.)
Place the two halves on a pan lined with foil. You will want to use a pan that has edges; the pumpkins will leak juices. Bake the halves at 375 degrees for 60 mins-1.5 hrs. You can check the pumpkins every so often to see how tender they are by sticking a fork in them.
Once you’ve taken them out and they’ve cooled long enough to touch, you can now scoop out the soft pumpkin flesh with a spoon. If any parts are burned, just simply skip over them. Use a potato masher or fork to pound the pumpkin to a nice pulp.
And with that, you’ve just made your own pumpkin puree. You’ve just saved yourself a trip to the grocery store and, I think, you just showed up your best friends. You can use this puree in almost any recipe calling for canned pumpkin. I’ve included two recipes- my favorite pumpkin bread and a simple pumpkin pie filling as examples to what you can do. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Go hog-wild! Everybody loves a good pumpkin ravioli or pumpkin pancake.
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
1 cup Oil
2/3 cup Water
3 cups Sugar
4 Eggs
2 cups Pumpkin
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
3 1/2 cups Flour
Utensils
1 Large bowl
1 Medium bowl
4-5 Loaf pans
1 Whisk/spoon
In a large bowl whisk together all your wet ingredients. In another slightly smaller bowl, stir your dry ingredients with a fork. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. Make sure to mix thoroughly. (Insider tip- if you like nuts, you can also fold in toasted almonds or pecans for an added crunch.)
Grease 4-5 mini loaf pans. Pour your batter into the pans and Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 mins.
Let the loaves cool for 10 minutes before removing them from their pans. They should continue to cool on racks.
Pie Filling
Ingredients
3 Eggs
1 3/4 cups Pumpkin
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 3/4 cups Milk
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2/3 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg1/2 tsp. Ginger
1 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Cloves
Utensils
1 Large bowl
1 Whisk/Electric beater
1 9-inch pie crust
Combine all the ingredients into one bowl. Beat the mixture together with a whisk or electric beater. Pour mixture into a 9-inch pie pan with crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.
(Insider tip- test to see if the pie is done by inserting a knife into the filling. If it’s clean, it’s done.)
This Halloween, whether you’re pulverizing your pumpkin’s insides or simply taking a stab at carving a unique design, you should take a minute or two to appreciate spending quality time with your loved ones. After all, nothing brings family and friends together quite like large cutlery and oozing entrails.
Happy Halloween everyone!
Rebecca Adams has a degree in English and is still trying to find her niche in the working world. She can frequently be found scheming up new recipes and scanning previous MacGyver episodes for tips for her column. To learn more about Rebecca add her on twitter @skullnbows.
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