Winter’s freeze came late this year so our pumpkins (yes, the ones from our very own garden) sat on our front porch until I brought them in this past weekend. They were dutifully serving as seasonal decorations commemorating Halloween & the Harvest.
I brought the two largest ones into the house this past Sunday, knowing that the first storm of the season was forecast to hit the following day. I gutted the pumpkins and then proceeded to cook them in two varying ways. The first pumpkin I cut into large sections, placed them on an industrial-sized cookie sheet, poked holes all over them, poured melted butter over them, covered the cooking sheet with heavy gauge aluminum foil, then threw them into a pre-heated oven to bake for an hour and a half–until soft. This baked pumpkin I planned to use for pumpkin pie.
The second pumpkin I sliced into thinner sections, in a manner similar to how you would slice a cantaloupe. I then cut away the thick outer skin, cut the sections into wedges, and then threw them into a pot of boiling water. When I could easily pierce a few pumpkin wedges with a fork, approximately twelve minutes later, I strained the water off the boiled pumpkin, mashed it like I would mash potatoes, and then pureed it with melted butter and milk. I then placed the pureed pumpkin back into the soup pot and combined it with already prepared chicken stock, cream, and pureed caramelized onion and garlic. In minutes, it turned into a delicious creamy pumpkin soup.
Tonight, I just finished preparing and cooking the pumpkin pies. If you have ever made pumpkin pies with canned pumpkin, you will be familiar with the orange squash-like color of the pie. Not so with garden grown pumpkins. The cooked pie is more beige, the color of Christmas cinnamon custard. Color aside, these fresh pumpkin pies create a creamier custard center with a taste that will turn you into a homemade pie miser – you’ll forever turn your head at anything you see at the store!
If you want to venture making pies this weekend, now is a good time. Stores are still carrying pumpkins left-over from the Thanksgiving season.
I have my own pie crust recipe and I encourage you to use your favorite one, as well. One thing I have learned about making your own crust is that they tend to be flakier, thicker, (because one rolled crust is never the same as the other), and more flavorful. Store-bought crusts are nearly paper-thin and have this generic "I was mass-produced" flavor. Yuck! Store bought cookies taste this same way to me, too. But I digress. My pie crust recipe makes crusts for two pies and consists of one and a half cups butter-flavored Crisco, 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 well-beaten egg, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, and five and half tablespoons of water.
For the pumpkin custard, let me introduce you to our tried and true custard recipe that my family has used for at least four decades now, maybe even longer. And being who I am, I enjoy more cinnamon in my pie than the recipe calls for. However, for this recipe, I’ll give you the actual amounts for the spices and not any of my Dr. Jekyl-like deviations or experiments.
