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?

How much puree will this pumpkin make?

It seems like every recipe I find that calls for Pumpkin Puree list the amount as 'one 15 ounce can'. Very rarely do I find puree measured in cups. I have a zillion pumpkins that were grown to be eaten! Here's how I make puree. How many 15 ounce cans do you think are in this pumpkin?

15 pound, 2 ounce Cinderella Pumpkin

Here it is, cut in half so you can see the size of the seed cavity

I scraped out the seeds and cut it into quarters

Put it in a pan, flesh side down and added a little water so it would not burn. Next time I think I'll cook it skin side down. I want to bring out the sweetness by roasting instead of steaming. 

Cook it at 350 or 400 degrees until done.

Scrape the pumpkin out of the shell, put it in a food processor and process, process, process.
I had to do this in batches.

Put the puree in a cheesecloth lined strainer to drain the liquid out of the puree. You want a dense mush instead of a watered down mush.

See the liquid coming out? Lots of liquid.

Finally, hang the cheesecloth to get the last bit of the liquid out. It's quite amazing to see the amount that is still in there at this point. 

Okay - so, how much do you think this ball of pumpkin puree weighs? Remember, it was originally a 15 lb, 2 oz beauty. Leave your guesses in the comments section. In the next post, I'll tell you the answer!

And the times, they are a'changin'...

Lazy Housewife Beans

The field is telling us that we are entering a new season. There are a lot of yellows and orange on the field. Funny, yesterday was one of the hotter days here. I was thinking how Fall is arriving with the Summer weather. Today we are back to our normal of mid-60 degree temperatures.

The summer season plants are nearing their end and the Winter crops are being planted or the field is being prepared for them to be planted. In the meantime, I have some  things to carry me over.

The winter squash are doing fabulous! I stopped watering them yesterday to speed up the hardening off process. Here is one of the 'Cinderella Pumpkins'. My hand is in this shot on purpose so you can get an idea of size. It's heavy, too!

And here is the monthly beauty shot. It looks similar to last month's photo. Even without the tomatoes, I think the field still looks pretty darned good.

One more sunflower. Because I wanted to. :-)

We did a taste test

I'm all for taste tests. Unofficial blind taste tests to determine what you like better.

Sadly this year I did not grow pumpkins in our garden. It was a year of transition, and my thoughts on the backyard garden were more of putting it to bed instead of trying new things. Although we have tomatoes (LOTS of tomatoes) to eat, we are purchasing most of our produce from Redman House Farm Stand in Watsonville.

They had two different types of pumpkins for sale at the farm stand, Cinderella Pumpkin ‘Rouge Vif d’Etampes’ (on the left) and Sugar Pie Pumpkin (cut). I LOVE the look of the Rouge Vif d'Etampes, so much so that I begged My Farmer to plant them when I worked at Full Circle Farm. Sugar Pie pumpkins are just pumpkins, regular, orange pumpkins.

When I asked at the farm stand which pumpkin made the better tasting pie, the answer was that each had their fans. So I got both and made two pies. I used the same recipe with the only thing different being the pumpkin.

The hands down winner: The Sugar Pie pumpkin. When I was making the pies I thought the Rouge Vif pumpkin would be the winner. The pulp was so much easier to mill, it seemed smoother, less grainy. In the end, the Sugar Pie was much creamier. The pumpkin-y flavor of the Rouge was much more pronounced. Maybe it would make a better soup?

Next year I will be planting both. Because even though she lost the taste test, I still love me some Rouge Vif d'Etampes.