Here’s How To Cook Fresh Pumpkin

September 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is nothing like the taste of a fresh pumpkin pie or cookies and other baked good made with fresh pumpkin as opposed to the canned pumpkin you find in the stores – when you can find it.

I’ve been cooking and freezing fresh pumpkin for years and years. I’ve used three different methods and I have to tell ya, only one of those methods really gives me the end product that I want. Its kind of the the story of Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

First I tried cutting up and peeling the pumpkin, chunking it up and boiling it in water. The end product was way too watery and had to be cooked cooked to get all the moisture out. It still didn’t really suit me.

The second method was to cut the pumpkin open and bake it in the oven. Way too dry. It won’t go through a food mill very well and it has a mealy texture sometimes.

Finally, I baked it in the oven COVERED. And it was just right.

Cut the pumpkin open, scrape out the seeds and pulp. Place it in a baking dish or even better: A covered roaster.

If your pumpkin is very large, you can cut it into small pieces to fit in your pan and of course you can use more than one pan if needed.

Add about 1/2 cup water. You can also place the pumpkin halves on racks to keep the pumpkin out of the water.  Cover the pan with foil or a tightly fitting lid. Bake at 350*F til the pumpkin is so tender that you can easily pierce the peel with a fork.

Bring the pumpkin out of the oven and allow it to cool until you can easily handle it.

Using a large spoon, scoop out all the cooked pumpkin. Transfer it to a clean bowl to await processing.  That’s all there is to it. From this state, you can run it through a food mill easily so you can freeze  it, or you can use it as-is to make pies, muffins, pumpkin spice oatmeal and cakes.  And pumpkin butter.  And Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

If you want to can pumpkin, I recommend that you peel it raw and cut it into chunks and can the chunks.  It is not usually recommended that pureed pumpkin be canned because of the danger of not getting the center of the food in the jar hot enough to kill bacteria.

BTW, if you like kitchen helps like this,  I’d like to invite you to sign up for my monthly CHK Newsletter. You can sign up for it on the front page of this site. The first issue will come out in October!

 

Filed Under: Cooking School, Freezing, Recipes

Broccoli’s In

May 13, 2011 By 2 Comments

The broccoli has started to come in. I harvested 8 heads today and there should be 8-10 more in another few days. My family is divided on broccoli. Some won’t eat it. Some eat it with cheese and some will eat it in any form or fashion. Its for those family members that I grow so much broccoli.

This year I am experimenting with salvaging the stalks and leaves.  I’ve peeled the stalks and sliced them, sliced the leaves a bit and cooked them in the same way I cook the heads of the broccoli. It just seemed a shame to take the head and leave all the rest of the plant for the compost pile. I will allow more shoots to form on the stems first and cut them before cutting the whole plant.

I’ve got a tutorial here on the site for freezing broccoli. You can dry it too.  Broccoli doesn’t can too well. It gets very strong smelling and tasting and sort of mushy. Its not impossible, just not what I like so I stick with freezing and drying.

If you decide to dry broccoli, chop it into very small tiny pieces and dry on 130*F for 6-10 hours. Its good for adding to soups and casseroles.

Veg Paradise is a site that has a lot of interesting info about broccoli.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Cooking School, Freezing

Garden To Freezer

May 28, 2010 By 5 Comments

I am growing broccoli in my garden this year. I just have 18 plants and I think I could have used about 18 more. They produce one big head and then a lot of little shoots for another few weeks. I picked about 8 heads today and thought I’d show you how to prepare it for the freezer.

Freezing broccoli isn’t difficult at all, you just need a few tools. This batch went from garden to freezer in less than 20 minutes.

Get together your tools:

  • A big pot of boiling water
  • Salt
  • A strainer or other tool to get the broccoli out of the boiling water
  • A big bowl of ice water. I put about a quart of ice in the bowl and then fill it up with cold water.
  • Rigid freezer containers or what ever you want to store the broccoli in, in the freezer.

    • Bring the water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into spears, where there are two or three stems of broccoli in a bunch.

    Salt the boiling water liberally.

    Drop a large handful of broccoli into the boiling water. Count down three minutes. Take the broccoli out of the water and give it a shake.

    The broccoli becomes bright green when its boiled.

    Then drop it into the ice water. Let it sit in the ice water just long enough to cool, it won’t take long.

    Finally, transfer the cooled broccoli to your freezer containers and put them in the freezer.

    You may want to steam your broccoli instead of boiling it. If you steam it, time it for 5 minutes then proceed with the ice water bath and freezing.

    Filed Under: Cooking School, Freezing, Tutorials