Well my kids got their wish...we bought a pumpkin pie pumpkin last week and then yesterday we butchered it and turned it into some yummy goodness, in part, in honor of it being Canadian Thanksgiving.
First I removed the pumpkin's face (the kids had some paper cutout face pieces taped to Ronald...actually I don't know if he had a name - but Ronald seemed to fit).
Then I began the cutting and "butchering". Always a difficult process...the outer shell is so hard you practically need a saw to cut through it...I was a bit worried the knife would slip and I would end up with a little butchering myself.
I cut the pumpkin into large chunks - leaving on the outer shell - and popped them into my "new" PRESSURE COOKER. I was a little scared trying it out on my own - but it worked out fine. The pumpkin came out harder than I would have liked, but I'm not ready to blame the pressure cooker - I think I should have cut the chunks into smaller pieces. To remedy this - I just put the too hard pieces into a glass dish and popped them in the microwave.
When I removed the pumpkin from the pressure cooker the shell had fallen off most pieces or a gentle tug was all it took to remove the rest.
I used my ricer to mash up the pumpkin...a very messy job!
Then I drained the excess liquid, letting the pumpkin mash sit in a colander for about 15 minutes.
Here is the recipe I used (makes enough for 2 pies)
2 c mashed cooked pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
2 beaten eggs
3/4 c packed dark brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1 ready made pie crust
Mix all ingredients together - dump into the pie pan - bake at 425 degrees for 15 min then reduce to 350 and bake for 45 min.
I thought it tasted wonderful BUT I would have liked it to be more spicy - I think next time I'd experiment with a heavier hand on the spices. There is a slight difference in taste from a canned pumpkin pie.
When I got ready to serve the pumpkin pie, dd informed me that she hates pumpkin pie. This is the same girl that wanted me to buy the pumpkin to make the pie..."I said I wanted to help make the pie, not eat it" she informed me. "I have never liked pumpkin pie!" What! She's pretty picky when it comes to pie...she'll eat apple pie (as long as it's eaten and made the same day)...she'll eat peanut butter pie (which isn't really a pie)...and she'll eat cranapple pie. She's missing out! I did "coax" her to eat a sliver of the pie - and I mean a sliver. The boy enthusiastically ate his pie.
His method is a bit unorthodox....first he likes a huge amount of whipped topping on it. Not unusual. But he will first eat all the whipped topping off...then he moves on to the next layer eating all the pumpkin pie filling...then lastly he eats the crust.
I should note that a smallish sized pumpkin pie pumpkin produces about 4 packed cups of cooked pumpkin.
First I removed the pumpkin's face (the kids had some paper cutout face pieces taped to Ronald...actually I don't know if he had a name - but Ronald seemed to fit).
Then I began the cutting and "butchering". Always a difficult process...the outer shell is so hard you practically need a saw to cut through it...I was a bit worried the knife would slip and I would end up with a little butchering myself.
I cut the pumpkin into large chunks - leaving on the outer shell - and popped them into my "new" PRESSURE COOKER. I was a little scared trying it out on my own - but it worked out fine. The pumpkin came out harder than I would have liked, but I'm not ready to blame the pressure cooker - I think I should have cut the chunks into smaller pieces. To remedy this - I just put the too hard pieces into a glass dish and popped them in the microwave.
When I removed the pumpkin from the pressure cooker the shell had fallen off most pieces or a gentle tug was all it took to remove the rest.I used my ricer to mash up the pumpkin...a very messy job!
Then I drained the excess liquid, letting the pumpkin mash sit in a colander for about 15 minutes.
Here is the recipe I used (makes enough for 2 pies)
2 c mashed cooked pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
2 beaten eggs
3/4 c packed dark brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1 ready made pie crust
Mix all ingredients together - dump into the pie pan - bake at 425 degrees for 15 min then reduce to 350 and bake for 45 min.
I thought it tasted wonderful BUT I would have liked it to be more spicy - I think next time I'd experiment with a heavier hand on the spices. There is a slight difference in taste from a canned pumpkin pie.
When I got ready to serve the pumpkin pie, dd informed me that she hates pumpkin pie. This is the same girl that wanted me to buy the pumpkin to make the pie..."I said I wanted to help make the pie, not eat it" she informed me. "I have never liked pumpkin pie!" What! She's pretty picky when it comes to pie...she'll eat apple pie (as long as it's eaten and made the same day)...she'll eat peanut butter pie (which isn't really a pie)...and she'll eat cranapple pie. She's missing out! I did "coax" her to eat a sliver of the pie - and I mean a sliver. The boy enthusiastically ate his pie.
His method is a bit unorthodox....first he likes a huge amount of whipped topping on it. Not unusual. But he will first eat all the whipped topping off...then he moves on to the next layer eating all the pumpkin pie filling...then lastly he eats the crust.
I should note that a smallish sized pumpkin pie pumpkin produces about 4 packed cups of cooked pumpkin.
2 comments:
I always add cloves to my pumpkin and I do not use nutmeg. Cloves definitely make the pie spicier and delicious.
That sounded like a lot of work for a pumpkin pie. Was it really better than using canned pumpkin?
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