They're not just for jack-o'-lanterns or Thanksgiving pies. From canned puree to fresh, pumpkins can pump up the flavor of many dishes.
By JANET K. KEELER
Published October 29, 2003
[Photo by: SHNS]
Pumpkin toffee cheesecake
Pumpkin is like a much-loved relative who turns up once a year but blessedly knows when to go home.
We are happy when we see them coming - the relatives and the pumpkins - but after a time, the novelty wears off, doesn't it?
Pumpkins certainly are the international sign of fall, but fall means different things in different parts of the country. In colder climates, fall signals the last bit of nice weather before the snow flies.
In Florida, the sight of pumpkin patches at churches and waist-high bins at grocery stores heralds temperatures in the low 80s. By the time Halloween comes around, the lingering humidity has loosened its sweaty grip.
Humidity keeps pumpkins from being a major commercial crop in Florida, though some farmers, such as Hunsader Farms in east Manatee County, and home gardeners grow them. Most of the pumpkins we buy come from the Carolinas and Virginia.
The thick-skinned pumpkin has a tough time breaking out of its roles as Halloween jack-o'-lantern and Thanksgiving pie. (See Dish, page 3D, for the origin of the carved pumpkin.) Its reputation as a two-trick pony is misleading because pumpkin's subtle flavor melds smoothly in a variety of dishes, including soups, breads, muffins, cakes and even stuffed in ravioli and layered in overnight stratas. Cubes of pumpkin can be used to thicken soups, a nutritious and flavorful alternative to flour.
Besides being synonymous with Halloween, the bright orange of the pumpkin should also clue you in to its nutritional properties. Like the carrot, pumpkin is loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant that helps fight the diseases of aging, such as heart disease and certain cancers.
Pumpkin is low fat and fairly low carb. It has half the carbohydrates, 12 grams per cooked cup, as white potatoes, but it can stand in for them in some dishes. Pumpkin is just 50 calories per cup.
Of course, we do what we can to push those amounts sky-high when we make pumpkin pie and add such things as sugar, heavy cream, maple syrup and eggs, among other things. Making a good thing better, perhaps? Or perhaps not.
When cooking with pumpkin, the biggest question is "fresh or canned?" The answer depends on what you are making and how much time you have.
We recommend using canned puree for baked goods and dishes in which the pumpkin needs to mesh seamlessly in taste and texture with other ingredients. Yes, you can cook, peel and puree a fresh pumpkin, but unless you have a lot of time or a bumper crop of pumpkins, the results don't justify the effort. The canned version, Libby's being the nation's top seller, is 100 percent pure pumpkin and tastes as good as fresh.
Warning: The jack-o'-lantern growling on the porch is no longer food. Do not cook with it, because the flavor and texture have been diminished by exposure to air.
(To make puree from scratch, steam, boil, bake or microwave pumpkin chunks, without seeds and stringy bits, until soft. You can peel the pumpkin before, but it's easier to remove after, and then puree in a blender or food processor. Avoid large pumpkins, which are more suitable for carving. They are usually bland, watery and fibrous. Smaller is better for cooking, so look for pumpkins that weigh 5 to 7 pounds. Select pumpkins that are heavy for their size and have no cracks. One pound of raw pumpkin equals 3/4 to 1 cup puree. Fresh-made puree is generally more watery than canned. Put the puree in a strainer and set over a bowl in the refrigerator overnight to get rid of excess liquid. The puree will keep in the freezer in zipper-lock bags for about six months.)
When the pumpkin needs to be more noticeable, such as in a stew or a roasted vegetable dish, use fresh. Go for small pumpkins, sometimes called sugar pumpkins, for sweet and tender flesh.
Can't imagine how else to eat pumpkin other than sweetened and cradled in a graham cracker crust?
-- Slip a few tablespoons of puree into buttermilk pancake batter and add a few shakes of allspice or cinnamon.
-- Substitute a like amount of pumpkin puree for mashed bananas in quick breads or muffin recipes.
-- Mix 1- to 2-inch cubes with chopped onions, potatoes and carrots, coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then roast in a 350-degree oven until some pieces are browned and all are soft.
-- Experiment with substituting pumpkin for apples in applesauce recipes. Cinnamon compliments both, and pumpkin pie spice and a little sweetener will give you the flavor of pumpkin pie with fewer calories, carbs and fat.
-- The adventurous among you might even make pumpkin chips by deep-frying thin slices in vegetable oil. Use them to scoop a dip of softened goat cheese lightened with a few tablespoons of cream.
The flavor of the season has even jumped from food to drink. Maggiano's Little Italy in Tampa offers a martini flavored with Bols pumpkin liqueur, and Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month for November is pumpkin pie, made with Libby's puree. The Best American Recipes 2003-2004 (Houghton Mifflin, $26) names pumpkin the vegetable of the year based on the many recipes for it published in magazines, cookbooks and newspapers and on the Internet in the past year.
Torani, maker of flavoring syrups, recently debuted its pumpkin spice syrup with overtones of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. It can be used in coffees, lattes, mochas and apple cider, in addition to spiking pancakes, sweet potatoes, cheesecakes, pies and other desserts.
Hmmm, a bottle of pumpkin liqueur? Now that's a hostess gift that might get a relative another week, on the house.
