The Great Pumpkin
As the first day of autumn approaches, and the shadows are growing longer it won’t be long until we will start scraping frost off of our windshields. This beautiful and vibrant time of year sees us consuming more food as an ingredient for decorating our homes than what we may actually put in our pantries.
As we decorate our homes with corn stalks, kale and all sizes and varieties of gourds and squash, the pumpkin has become synonymous with Thanksgiving and Halloween. Beyond the pumpkins symbolism most of us know little about this fruit and still has most of us reaching for this product in its store-bought canned form when it comes to cooking. Canning pumpkins are harvested in August and are a smaller early maturing variety. Pumpkins for Jack-o-lanterns are a late harvest larger variety of pumpkin.
The pumpkin’s symbolic presence of the autumn harvest has made this fruit a traditional staple of the Canadian Thanksgiving and though it has taken a considerably longer amount of time than Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, the pumpkin has come of age and has transitioned itself into a staple of our pantries.
Sun kissed pumpkins
Although many people are quaffing copious amounts of pumpkin spice flavoured coffees most of us devour pumpkins in sweet dessert like preparations such as pie, cheesecake and muffins. When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, steamed, baked, or roasted. Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking, from the fleshy shell, to the seeds, to even the flowers.
Pumpkins are the largest berry in the world and are related to other fruits like squash and cucumbers. Pumpkins that are still small and green may be prepared in the same way as squash or zucchini, where a more mature pumpkin might be served mashed like potatoes.
Pumpkin seeds, known as pepitas, are the small, flat, green, edible seeds. Most pumpkin seeds are covered by a white husk, although some pumpkin varieties produce seeds without them. Pepitas are a popular snack that can be found hulled in most grocery stores.
The origin of making pumpkin pie came about when after early colonist were introduced to the pumpkin and chose to slice off the top of the pumpkin,, removed the seeds, and filled the pumpkin with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.
Pumpkins are available almost everywhere one would find food for sale right now. It can be fun to go to a pick your own field as well to get your pumpkins. Try cooking with pumpkin whether it be canned or fresh in the following recipe for pumpkin bread.
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
⅔ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. pumpkin spices
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée, canned or freshly cooked
½ cup packed brown sugar
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. unsalted pumpkin seeds
Method:
In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients; flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spices, and salt. Separately in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil, and maple syrup until evenly incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir them together with a large spoon just until smooth.
Spoon the batter into an oiled and floured 9×5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the pumpkin seeds and gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter.
Bake on the middle rack at 350°F until the top is browned and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the cooked bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring it to a rack to cool completely before slicing.
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