It’s pumpkin time! And… It’s time to ‘can’ pumpkin or put it in the freezer for later use.
I recently purchased a pumpkin. Tight on $’s I passed up the small ‘pie pumpkins’ and opted for a large pumpkin. Since the large ones were all the same price I dug around for a not too large one that was heavy; heavy pumpkins have thick insides. Pie pumpkins are darker and have a slight sweetness to them that the regular, Halloween, pumpkins don’t.
The pumpkin I selected yielded 11 cups of puree.
Here’s the easy way to cook a pumpkin or pie pumpkin.
Trim or cut the stem, as best you can, off the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half, around the middle. Remove the seeds and strings, discard. Trim the edge of the pumpkin so it will lay flat, face down, on a cookie sheet. Doing this gives you a good seal so the pumpkin will steam inside while bakeing. Bake in 350 F oven for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool in cookie sheet. Turn the pumpkin halves over and scrape out the pumpkin; placing it in a large cake pan. Using your pastry cutter chop and chop the pumpkin till it is smooth. (I imagen if you have a large food processor you could puree the pumpkin in it.)
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Pumpkin Butter
(adapted from www. skinnytaste.com/2010/10/pumpkin-butter.html)
7 c. fresh pumpkin puree
4 tsp. vanilla
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, pureed
2 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine pumpkin puree, vanilla, apple puree, spices, and brown sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan; stir well.
Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours till thickened. Stir frequently; careful not to scorch. Adjust spice to taste.
Prepare your jars, wash and rinse well. Heat lids in a pan with just enough water to cover them. Place pumpkin butter in pint jars, clean rims and place lids on and tighten rings. Sit on towel to cool in a draft free place. Listen for the “POP”.
Makes 4 pints with a bit left over.
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From last years gardening Blog
arkansasfarmerette.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/pumpkin-pickles/
I just couldn’t resist making this. I do love to Can…and experiment. Once I got started I realized that the recipe was similar to Pickled Peaches. This was somewhat easy to make; the slightly hard part was cutting the pumpkin. Suggest you cube it and then slice off the peeling. I’ve not opened a jar and tasted this yet. I always like to let things made with vinegar and spices sit for a few weeks before I open them. I do look forward to trying this before all the pumpkins disappear from the stores incase I wanna more.
Adapted from: The complete book of Small-Batch Preserving by Elle Tapp and Margaret Howard, 2009
Pumpkin Pickles
3 pints
1/2 large pumpkin
2 c. sugar
2 c. cider vinegar
8 whole cloves
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 pieces candied or crystalized ginger
Remove seeds and cut the pumpkin into 2-inch cubes; removing outer skin.
Place sugar and vinegar in a enamel or stainless steel pot. Put cloves in a bag (cheese cloth or metal tea strainer) and add to liquid. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a low boil for 5 minutes.
Add the pumpkin, bring back to a boil. Reduced heat, cover, boil gently for 25 minutes or till pumpkin is tender. Stir frequently. Discard spice bag.
Place pumpkin in jars and fill each jar with the remaining liquid.
Hot water bath for 20 minutes for pint or 25 minutes for quart.
arkansasfarmerette2012 