Not all Winter Squash are the Same

So, when we last left our heros, we were trying to guess how much puree can be made from a 15 lb, 2 oz pumpkin. Cinderella pumpkin. Before I give you that answer, let me introduce you to two other pumpkins that were grown on Seven Cats Farm

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present The Valenciano Pumpkin:

This is how it is described in seed catalogs:

"These creamy, white-skinned beauties are about 8-10 lbs in size, round and slightly flattened in shape. Vigorous vines bear uniform fruit with nice thick handles. A unique specialty pumpkin can be both eaten and used ornamentally. Flesh is high quality, dense and sweet. Not as rugged as orange pumpkins, harvest right away and keep protected for best quality off the vine."

This pumpkin weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces when harvested. I was surprised at the yellowness of it's flesh when I cut into it. Not what I expected from a pumpkin. Sadly I made soup with this right after I roasted it, so I don't know the puree weight. The soup was squash-y tasting. Exactly what I was looking for.

The next winter squash I would like to introduce you to is called Sweet Meat.

Again, as described in seed catalogs:
"Vigorous and spreading, this amazing tasting squash can top 10 pounds or more. Sweet meat squash is soft grey-green to deep green on the outside, the sweet, fine-grained orange flesh is an amazing keeper and great for pies! Excellent grower in our cool California coastal climate. 

Sweet meat makes a great addition to any meal.  Taste almost like a sweet potato.  We have even cut up chunks, put butter on them and popped them on the grill in some tin foil.  YUM!!"

This was harvested weighing 9.3 pounds. Okay, It's AWESOME! It's name really captures what this squash is. I made puree out of this one (2 lb, 3 oz or roughly 25% of it's original weight) and then made pumpkin lasagna. Yum yum. 

So - the answer to the original question? My 15 pound, 2 ounce Cinderella Pumpkin, after being cooked, pureed and hung to drip dry, weighed 3 pounds, 3 ounce, or right around 20% of it's total weight. Who was close?

Cornbread in a Square Pan

... is really good. Even if my stove makes it look like Mickey Mouse.

Really, a well-seasoned cast iron pan is AWESOME!!!!!!!

It Feels Like Fall

.... and I feel like cooking! Our tomato crop has been about half of what I harvested last year. I don't know why the drastic change, so I blaming it on the weather. We had a REALLY cool and cloudy summer. Also, the majority of tomatoes I harvested had blossom end rot or were sun burned. Good for cooking, not for selling (I'm not selling - yet). This will be our last year of planting at The Mayor's home. Next year - we'll be planting the first ever (and experimental) crop of Seven Cats farm.

Although we didn't have a huge crop, here is a photo of some of what was harvested! The cool striped one is called Copia. There is also Black Krim, Fourth of July, Orange Globe and Marvel Stripe.

 

You may remember this post when I roasted tomatoes last year. Well, I am doing it again this year. No canning of tomato sauce or whole tomatoes. I think this is much easier and it tastes better. I've refined the way I cook it a bit, thanks to friends input and a plain old taste test. The ingredients are the same, but the cooking method is a tad different.

Recipe:

• Drizzle oil (I am using rice bran oil. You COULD use olive oil, as long as you don't heat it above 300*. Anything about that temp and olive oil's composition changes into bad stuff) in the bottom of a pan
• Sliced onions to slightly cover bottom
• Tomatoes, cut in half
• Minced garlic over top
• Drizzle oil over all.
• Lightly salt and pepper

All that listed above is old. The new thing I'm doing is cooking at 250* for four or five hours. Then I squish the tomatoes with a spoon, and put back in the oven (this time at 300*) for an hour.

The new temperatures lets the sugars in the fruits caramelize, and then the last hour helps the moisture evaporate which then condenses the flavors. YUM!

Tomatoes, ready to roast

Heirloom Tomatoes on a bed of sliced onions. A little salt and pepper, some minced garlic and a bit of olive oil.

Roast until all liquid is gone. About an hour or so at about 400*.

Use, or freeze and use in the winter. Great on pizza, in sauce, bruschetta.... yum!

In the pan are: orange paste, orange globe, Marvel Stripe, black krim, Brandywine, 4th of July, and a yellow mystery tomato.