Featured Ingredient - Pumpkins -

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Featured Ingredient - Pumpkins

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By Cheri Sicard

Photos: Mitch Mandell

Posted July 29th, 2007

FabulousFoods.com Recommends: Holiday Pumpkins: A Collection of Recipes, Gifts, and Decorations, by Georgeanne Brennan, (2003, Ten Speed Press)

Holiday Pumpkins: A Collection of Recipes, Gifts, and Decorations

Nutritional Information
There's more to pumpkins than great taste. This humble, inexpensive food is also nutritious, being rich in beta carotene, potassium, Vitamin C, calcium and fiber. Pumpkins are a dieter's best friend as well. They are very low in fat and only about 180 calories per cup.

You can get pumpkin purée in cans at the supermarket, which is an easy way to get pumpkin for any recipes you might want to make. It's one of the few cases where the quality of the canned product is about equal to fresh (with a whole lot less hassle). You can also make your own purée by roasting fresh pumpkins.

When buying fresh pumpkins, check for soft spots. This is a sure sign that the pumpkin is too old and is starting to go bad. The type of pumpkin you'll want to buy depends on it's intended use.

Jack-O-Lanterns
jack o lanterns, carving pumpkins

If you plan to carve Jack-o-Lanterns, then you'll probably want one of those "big old monster pumpkins" that weighs in excess 8 pounds. This type will give you lots of carving area. Just make sure you have a pumpkin that has a level bottom, so it can easily stand upright.

A novel idea for carving Jack-O-Lanterns is to turn your pumpkin on it's side and use the stem as a "nose". No matter how you carve your pumpkin, however, there's nothing like the "Pumpkin Masters" carving kits. These inexpensive kits (around $5.00) come with a variety of small saws and tools that make it easy to carve intricately impressive designs into any pumpkin. The kit also comes with a collection of stunning patterns that you can use, although it's also fun to come up with your own.

While the flesh of the large pumpkins used for carving Jack-O-Lanterns is not the best for cooking, their seeds are great. See the link below to directions on how to roast them for a healthful snack that's rich in vitamins B and E.

Cooking Fresh Pumpkins
If you want to cook fresh pumpkins, look for smaller varieties, especially the "sugar pumpkin" or Kabocha Squash.

In order to cook fresh pumpkin, heat the oven to 350° F. Split the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy pulp. Place pumpkin halves, cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for about one hour or until very tender when pierced with a fork. Spoon the soft pulp out of the shell and use it in recipes.

Miniature Pumpkins As Serving Dishes

Miniature pumpkins make impressive individual baking and serving dishes. Cut a circle out around the stem (as you would when carving a Jack-O-Lantern) and scrape out the seeds and pulp. Scrape out some of the flesh from the sides of the pumpkin as well, in order to make room for your stuffing. Keep the lids in tact. Place pumpkins and lids in a baking dish and add about an inch of water. Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes. You want the pumpkins to be somewhat cooked, but still firm. Carefully stuff the pumpkins with corn pudding, vegetables, such as green beans or peas or even corn bread stuffing. Return stuffed pumpkins to the oven and bake until stuffing is cooked. Serve each guest their own stuffed mini-pumpkin.

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