Thursday is almost here. Because I am going next door for Thanksgiving (I challenge anyone to beat that commute!), I have been absolved of the early morning panic to stuff and time a turkey. Instead, I am in charge of ‘something green’, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
In anticipation of my day as ‘slacker-cook’, I purchased a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin at the Farmer’s Market. How could I not after being told that this is the one all the chefs use for making anything pumpkin? Apparently the bright orange Jack-O-Lantern variety is more for carving than eating. This Cheese Pumpkin wasn’t as pretty as its day glow cousins, but I had recently learned (this is what happens when one is a WNYC addict) that the bumps on the outside are sugars trying to escape. I now have a new appreciation for ugly, warty winter squashes.
Anxious to get a head start (because I am stressed about the whole pastry thing), I have already turned this ‘beautiful on the inside’ Cheese pumpkin into puree. Puree is basically something that is subjected to the food processor (or anything else to achieve the same result) until it resembles baby food. With this pumpkin, I cut it into quarters, scraped out the seeds and stringy bits and baked it until it was soft enough to be easy work for the processor. There are now a few zip lock bags in the freezer waiting for their next incarnation.
In the meantime, the seeds were washed to rid themselves of as much of the pumpkin yuck as possible and then left to languish on a baking sheet for a day (well, actually two days). As a quick appetizer, they were tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked on the sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. I knew they were done when popping action was heard in the oven. Very nice.
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