I’ve been thinking about pumpkins a lot, especially so close to Halloween. The whole month of October seems dedicated to these wonderful orange fruit that have so much character. According to the top paragraph that appears when you Google pumpkins, they “are members of the enormously diverse Cucurbitaceae family, which contains more than 100 genera and over 700 species” including other squash and gourds. Continuing with my research, I discovered that gourds may have been planted and carved as early as 8,000 BCE. Our American Jack o’ Lantern tradition comes from Celtic Irish traditions of carving scary faces, but they used turnips and other root vegetables. It wasn’t until colonists arrived to the Americas that pumpkins were used as Jack o’ Lanterns. Can you imagine carving into a turnip? It sure would be difficult, but then again maybe a better use for turnips than actually eating them… (no offense to turnip lovers!). Here are some more pumpkin facts from the History Channel.
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| Glorified squash really.. |
I looooove pumpkins. They are the friendliest fruit, and certainly have a nice range of uses, from decoration to delicious foods. Recently I was in a bind with a small pumpkin I got from the farmers market. I thought it was a baking pumpkin, the super hard and small kind that you bake into a sweet mush to be used for pies, cookies, bread, muffins, etc. However it was more fibrous and stringy inside, like a regular carving pumpkin. You can still use this kind for baking but it isn’t as good, so instead I tried this
casserole, making some adjustments. It was seriously one of the most delicious casseroles I’ve ever made!
1 and 1/2 cups of cooked black beans (or a can)
1/2 cup of corn
1 onion, chopped well
1 red or green bell pepper, well chopped
garlic cloves to taste, minced
2 or 3 large tomatoes, chopped well
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Red Chipotle pepper (or any other chili spice you like)
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pumpkin (a small pumpkin)
3/4 cup milk or soy milk
3 or 4 tablespoons corn starch or flour
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of grated cheese, I use combo of Pepper Jack and Cheddar
Bake the pumpkin by cutting it in half, and putting it in the over at 400 F for 45 mins to an hour. Another option is to peel and cut the pumpkin into thin slices. Layer the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish with the baked pumpkin or the raw slices of pumpkin. In a bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients, mix and then pour over the pumpkin. Combine the milk, corn starch or flour, and spices into a bowl and you can microwave or heat on stove top until it thickens a little (this is optional). Pour the milk sauce over the casserole, and top with cheese. Bake at 425 F for 20-30 minutes, until it’s bubbly and the cheese is browned.
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| Don’t mind the mate in the background 😛 |
To all a Happy Halloween and enjoy your pumpkins, whether to eat or to carve!
