Processing Your Own Pumpkin Puree

Instead of just buying the same old canned pumpkin this year, why not make your own pumpkin puree. We have used pumpkin puree for many different recipes including: pie, cookies, waffles, and ice cream.  From experience, we have found that the pumpkin variety does matter when choosing one to process. Our favorites so far are Rouge vif d'entampes (Cinderella) and Long Island Cheese. Cinderella pumpkins tend to have a lot of water weight and straining the pulp through cheese clothe may be necessary. The Long Island Cheese pumpkins have less water and make a nice, thick puree.  This is great especially for ice cream when you want to limit the amount of water so it stays creamy.  Several squash varieties are excellent as well, such as Butternut. You can also use sweet potatoes. Follow these steps to make your own pumpkin puree. Did I mention babies love it.

1. Select a ripe, firm medium pumpkin. Larger pumpkins may take on a more stringy texture. This is why we like the varieties mentioned above.
2. Cut open and remove the (brains) or fibrous seed area.
3. Cut pumpkin into manageable sizes. Smaller pumpkins may only need to be cut in half.
4. Line a large cookie sheet with tin foil to make clean up easier.
5. Place pumpkin onto sheet face up, this will allow more moisture to leave the meat and make your pulp more creamy.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until soft.
7. Remove meat with a spoon or knife just like a cantaloupe and discard skins.
8. Blend pulp in a blender or food processor. You can also use a Victorio Strainer with a pumpkin screen. Food processors may work better for large quantities. If using a blender be careful not to overload. Too much pumpkin is a lot of stress on a blender. (I learned from sad experience).
9. As mentioned above, you may need to strain the pulp through cheese clothe to eliminate some water if you would like a thicker           puree.
10. Use in whatever recipe you like.



It is best to use the puree when it is fresh but you can freeze it. USDA does not recommend canning pumpkin.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

This is a recipe that I found at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/11/pumpkin-ice-cream-recipe/  It is an excellent recipe and even though it calls for liquor, we did not add it because we don't drink. It still tasted amazing. The only thing I would change is to use half and half or even just straight cream and make it as creamy as possible. Our puree that we used wasn't the greatest either. It had way to much water in it. This website recommended using a butternut squash. We have some other varieties of squash like Sunshine and Cinderella Pumpkins that would make a great pumpkin puree. The sunshine squash are significantly drier. If you can help it, do not use Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins. They really do not have great flavor.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart (1l)

Adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco & Mindy Fox

If using canned pumpkin, make sure to find one that’s 100% pumpkin. Often you’ll find cans of Pumpkin Pie Filling, which usually has spices and sweetener already added.

Press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer before freezing, as directed. Pumpkin can be slightly grainy and straining the custard is a good idea to help smooth it out.

• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) whole milk
• 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (95 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly-grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup packed (60 g) dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional: 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier, rum or brandy

3/4 cup (180 g) canned pumpkin puree (100% pure), or homemade (see directions in post)

1. Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller metal bowl (one that will hold at least 2 quarts, 2l) inside it. Set a mesh strainer over the top.

2. In a medium saucepan mix the milk, cream, granulated sugar, ginger, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, and salt.

3. Warm the mixture until hot and the edges begin to bubble and foam.

4. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly.

5. Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read between 160º-170ºF (71º-76ºC).

6. Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in the ice bath. Mix in the brown sugar, then stir until cool, then chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

7. Whisk in the vanilla, liquor (if using), and pumpkin puree. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Variations: Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups (250 – 320 g) white or milk chocolate chips, crushed caramel, chopped up Skor or Daim (toffee) bars, or chopped toasted pecans or walnuts. A bit of chopped candied ginger would be nice, too.

Leftover bits of crumbled gingersnaps or gingerbread, or even toasted bits of brown bread or gingerbread could also be folded in, or crumbled on top for serving, which was suggested in the book.

Pumpkin Chocolate Fudge, something everyone should try. We tried this recipe today and it turned out amazing. We saw some other recipes that called for cinnamon chips, white chocolate or toasted pecans as well. We just used regular chocolate chips since that is what we had and also because Sara is pregnant and she was craving chocolate. Year after year, pumpkin flavor becomes more and more popular. Look for instructions to process pumpkin later on as we get closer to harvest. 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, chopped
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 7 ounces marshmallow cream or fluff
• 3/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Preparation:

1. Prepare a 9x13” baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray or lining it with foil.

2. Combine sugar, butter, evaporated milk, pumpkin, and spices in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches soft-ball stage, 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

3. Take the pan off the burner and stir in the white chocolate until it melts.

4. Scoop the marshmallow cream and stir it into the candy until smooth. Add the chopped nuts last and stir until well combined.

5. Spoon the candy into the baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

6. Allow to cool and harden at room temperature until firm, preferably overnight.

HOW BIG IS BIG!!!!!

A little quiz for a little fun. Do you know how big pumpkins are capable of growing? Pumpkins are only capable of growing to the size that is within that varieties genetics. Obviously a Jack-be-Little is only capable of growing to a very small size.

What variety that is capable of growing world records?

A) Howden Biggie
B) Dill's Atlantic Giant
C) Expert
D) Champion

What is the world record?

A) 200 - 500 lbs
B) 501 - 1000 lbs
C) 1001 - 2000 lbs
D) 2001 - 3000 lbs

How many pounds can a giant pumpkin put on each day during its prime growing time and conditions?

A) 1 - 5 lbs
B) 6 - 10 lbs
C) 11-15 lbs
D) 16 - 20+ lbs

Pumpkin History and a Recipe

Did you know that pumpkins are native to the americas. For those of you familiar with the Lewis and Clark expedition, some of the tribes they came across while traveling up the Missouri river what is now the North Dakota area, grew what they call the three sisters (corn, beans, squash). Most people think that the native americans were mostly hunter/gatherers. The Hidatsa and Mandan tribes that Lewis and Clark met on the Missouri however, were agricultural based and used the flooded lands next to the river as their agricultural lands. If you want to read more about the native pumpkins of America, here is a link that I found interesting.
http://www.nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1075/hidatsa-pumpkin-food-diary



Also here is a recipe for what would have been a typical dish for these indians.

1 4-poundSugar pumpkin; (up to 5-pounds)

1 Mediumonion; chopped

1 tsdried sage; Crushed

1/4 tsPepper

1/2 tsDry mustard

1 cwild rice; Cooked

3 Eggs; beaten

2 tsSalt

1 lbGround buffalo; venison

2 tbRendered fat

Hidatsa Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Cut the top off the pumpkin and remove strings and seeds. Reserve seeds for another use. Prick the cavity with a fork and rub with 1 teaspoon salt and the mustard. Heat fat in a large skillet, add meat and onion and saute over medium-high heat until browned. Off the heat, stir in wild rice, eggs, remaining salt, sage and pepper. Stuff pumpkin with the meat mixture. Place 1/2" water in the bottom of a shallow baking pan. Put pumpkin in the pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Add more water to the pan as neccessary to avoid sticking. To serve, cut pumpkin into wedges, giving each person pumpkin and stuffing. Source: Spirit of the Harvest

Late Summer Pumpkin Growing

Female Flower

Male Flower (Notice Buried Vine)

There are a lot of you out there growing your own pumpkins. Because of our love and passion for pumpkins we also would like to inform you of things you can be doing to increase your chances of a good harvest this fall.
Our pointer today is managing your babies in the patch. They need to be treated as such. Any mothers out there understands, your babies while in the womb needed plenty of nourishment. Respectively this is the stage your pumpkins should be in. Hopefully by now you should have some pumpkins on the vine or, your  babies umbilical cord. If not, they will need to set fruit very soon depending on the variety. If you haven't set fruit yet, you may be discouraged because you see so many flowers but not enough pumpkins attached to those flowers. Pumpkins are what are called monoecious plants. The term monoecious means that the plant will have two types of flower, male and female. The male will carry the anthers with the pollen. The female, the fruit. A dioecious plant carries both male and female parts in the same flower, or a complete flower. If there isn't a small fruit attached to the base of the flower, it is a male flower, so don't be discouraged when each flower isn't producing a pumpkin. 

Pinched Vine Tip

Pollinating Female with Male Flower

Buried Vine(primary vine with some secondaries)

Your vine though, should have conceived its little babies by now. You should now start feeding your babies, and part of that feeding is making sure the food is being sent to the baby and not the mommy. Do not be afraid to fertilize. Pumpkins love fertilizer. Once a week is not asking to much. For the giant pumpkin growers, once a day is recommended to apply a foliar spray to the leaves. Granular base fertilizers usually last 6-8 weeks. To insure that your feeding is going to feed your fruit, your vine will need some attention. Pruning the vine will stimulate the plant into thinking that it is in survival mode. Survival to a plant means offspring, and offspring means seeds. Most pumpkins will have a primary vine and at the base of each leaf on that primary vine a secondary vine may commence growing. These vines are good. Any vine that grows from the secondary vine should be terminated. A simple pinch of the tip of the vine with the fingers will do this. Also, at some point you can terminate even your secondary vines and primary vine in the same manner once the fruit has set. As I said this will direct the food to your fruit rather than the vine. Another item of business if you wish to indulge is burying the vine. At the base of each leaf on the vine a root will grow from the underside of the vine. Burying the vine slightly will help quicken the root growth. The more roots, the more nutrients the plant can take in and the bigger your pumpkin will grow. Here are some pictures to illustrate our types for today. Please comment on the post with any questions.