#roasting pumpkins

[rjalker]

[Image description: Several pictures, showing the processing of a yellow pumpkin in an attempt to get the seeds out for saving.

The first photos two show the medium sized yellow pumpkin sitting in a stainless steel sink, with a white hand holding it still, first on the side, then on the front, to show the size. The pumpkin is taller than the hand, by a few inches, but not a very large pumpkin overall.

The third picture shows a pair of cuts that have been carved into the pumpkin, intersecting at a wide angle.

The fourth and fiftth picture shows that the cuts have been connected by another cut to form a triangle, and the peice that was cut out has been shoved into the pumpkin to form a hole. It is shown first from an angle off to the side, and then head on. The flesh of the pumpkin can be seen through the hole, and it is very thick.

The sixth picture shows the white hand holding the pumpkin next to the hole, so show how big it is. On its longest side, it is almost as long as the thumb being used for scale, but it has a sharp angle, and isn’t very wide.

The seventh picture was taken with flash on, to show the inside of the pumpkin through the hole, and the flash has given everything a green tint, and some flesh and seeds are visible.

The eighth picture shows the pumpkin now on its side in a metal colander, with the hole facing upward, and filled with seeds.

The ninth picture shows the white hand again, now holding some of the seeds, which are white and clean. The fingers are slightly wrinkled from the water.

The tenth and last picture shows a metal mixing bowl filled with the many seeds that have been sucessfully removed from the pumpkin.

End Image description.]

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Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

God this pumpkin hated me but that's TOO BAD!!!! I'm clever!!!! Hahaha!!!!!

This pumpkin was so hard to cut that I was afraid that knife would break. Or just get stuck in it and not come back out.

I managed to cut a small hole and then shoved the chunk in word with a wooden spoon, and then I stuck the handle of the wooden ppoon in the pumpkin and just kind of scraped it around a bunch and then I was just going to try and dump the seeds out, but that wasn't working very well, so I was like wait a second... seeds float...

So I set the pumpkin in a colander, and then I filled the pumpkin with water. So that the seeds floated to the top and fell out and fell into the colander.

He has.

The only nice thing I have to say about this pumpkin so far as that I didn't even need to clean the seeds at all. They weren't actually sticking to the guts or anything. Very nice.

And it is possible to bake pumpkins entirely whole without cutting them open or taking seeds out, so it's in the oven as it is right now without being cut up anymore, because that's not going to happen unless a chainsaw magically appears.

The seeds are on a labeled paper plate to dry.

[judyhaubert]

Autumn Pumpkin Butter

This year I decided that I would (drum roll, please) make my own pumpkin puree from scratch. I know, I know, it isn't really deserving of the aplomb I just accredited it, since it turned out to be reeaaally easy! I mentioned a few posts back that I picked up some baking pumpkins on a trip out to the L.I. farm stands several weeks ago. I asked a friend of mine from SAVEUR, who came along on the excursion, the best way to go about processing them and he said, I quote, "Roast the shit out of them!" So I did. This is what that looked like:

My original idea was to make homemade pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving with the resulting puree (which I also did, and which I'll be writing about in a day or so), but I didn't count on these things yielding so much product. After the pie making, I still had almost two quarts of pumpkin, and taking a cue from my apple butter experiment, I decided to also make some pumpkin butter. Unlike the apple butter, I couldn't find a decent online resource to adapt my recipe. So I just winged it. My intent was to make a butter that tasted like pumpkin pie filling, but without the eggs and cream. Now I have six half-pint jars of mellow, creamy pumpkin butter sitting in my fridge, just waiting to be given away to friends.

If you're interested in making your own pumpkin puree, I've included the directions below. But no one would blame you if you decided to start with canned pumpkin instead - I think the resulting product will be just as delicious!

  Homemade Pumpkin Puree

makes: approximately 3 quarts

Ingredients

4-5 whole sugar pumpkins (approximately 14 lbs.)

kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 425° with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Wash, stem and halve pumpkins lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and stringy pulp. Halve pumpkins lengthwise once more, season pumpkin quarters heavily with salt and place rind-down on two foil-lined rimmed baking sheets. Roast 1 hour and 20 minutes, rotating baking sheets once, until pieces are easily pierced with a fork. Cool completely on trays, peel away rind and puree in batches until pumpkin is smooth.

Note: pumpkin puree can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container up to one week, or frozen for up to 3-4 months.

Autumn Pumpkin Butter

makes: approximately 3 pints

Ingredients

6 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups orange juice

2 Tbs. lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise pod

1 vanilla bean, split

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground clove

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed 6- to 8-qt. dutch oven, partially cover to prevent spatters while allowing steam to vent, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and cook approximately three hours until puree is very thick, stirring every 15 minutes during the last 1 1/2 hours to keep the pumpkin from caramelizing on the bottom of the pan. Divide pumpkin butter between sanitized, dry canning jars, seal lids tightly and submerge in simmering water for 10 minutes. Cool completely and refrigerate if, like me, you have no faith in your canning abilities and want to be on the safe side.