Weight-Loss Pumpkin season

Weight-Loss

FoodC

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Hello everyone! :waving:
I have 3 really big pumpkins in my house. Does someone have good ideas for how to eat those?
I need some recipes :)
 
I wish I did, we have about 200 pumpkins about to go to waste in the field next to our house.

I did once have some pumpkin ravioli that was good, but I don't have the recipe.

Our pumpkins end up on the compost pile, some maybe jack-o-lanterns first.
 
Pumpkin curry! I don't have a recipe, but I make it along the lines of:
Chop up an onion, and some garlic, and gently sweat them over a low heat along with a reliable curry paste. If I'm using an extra spice - which might be sometimes ginger (grated fresh), sometimes cardamom, sometimes cumin - then throw this in around now, too, fairly lavishly.​
While the onion and garlic etc are cooking , chop the pumpkin into chunks of a size which will be okay for eating, and then throw those in too, stirring it all around. Let this sit on the heat for a little bit, but before it catches add two or three cups of stock (whatever's needed to cover the pumpkin). Simmer until the pumpkin is soft - and with any luck some of the smaller chunks will have dissolved a bit. Taste and season as needed - a bit of salt? a squeeze of lemon juice?​
Serve with maybe yoghurt on the side, and a touch of green - fresh coriander? on top, Curries are generally taste better the second day, when the flavours have had a chance to blend into a whole.​
 
here's something i never knew until just now...

Pie Pumpkins vs. Carving Pumpkins: How They’re Different & Why It Matters

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by Melissa Dunlap Oct 09, 2017 at 3:30 pm EDT

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The second September hits, it’s uber tempting to grab a shopping cart at your local grocery and go to town loading it up with the pumpkins out front of the store. Tiny pumpkins, great pumpkins and everything in between — honestly, we’ll take them all. Between carving, decorating and baking, they’re all gonna get used, right?
Let us stop you right there. If you’re thinking of using the same pumpkins intended for carving to make a pie, you’re entering into a trap. Not all pumpkins are created equal.
Not to worry, lovers of fall and all things pumpkin spice. It’s pretty easy to separate the jack-o’-lantern pumpkins from the pie pumpkins once you know what you’re looking for.

Carving pumpkins
In contrast to the flesh-packed pie pumpkin, carving pumpkins, commonly referred to as jack-o’-lantern pumpkins, were designed to make it easier to, well, carve. Jack-o’-lantern pumpkins have a thinner shell and typically have less flesh (or pumpkin guts) on the inside. The flesh is grainier and stringy. The inside of a carving pumpkin tends to contain more water than pie pumpkins.
Jack-o’-lantern pumpkins, also called carving pumpkins, are less fleshy and easier to carve:
  • Thinner shell
  • Less flesh/guts inside
  • Grainier/stringier flesh
  • Contain more water than pie pumpkins
Pie pumpkins
Pie pumpkins, also called sugar pumpkins, are smaller in shape than the monstrous pumpkins you’d find at your typical pumpkin patch. Pie pumpkins are commonly found in the grocery store in the produce section or at farm stands. This small, round pumpkin is packed full of flesh that makes it a good choice for cooking. The pulp also has a better texture (less grainy) and is sweeter.

Compared to carving pumpkins, pie pumpkins, aka sugar pumpkins, are smaller and easier to bake:
  • Small and round
  • Normally found in the grocery store or at farm stands
  • Full of flesh that’s good for cooking
  • Pulpy, sweeter flesh on the inside
The 6 best pumpkins for baking

Now the distinction is clear — you’re never going to use a carving pumpkin for baking or a baking pumpkin for carving again. (How embarrassing.) But as you’re gathering up your ingredients to make your famous pumpkin pie this fall, you may come upon still more decisions to be made. Even among the pie pumpkins, you’ve got choices aplenty. It’s hard to know where to begin.

Here are some of our favorite sugar pumpkins and why:
  1. Baby Bear: Teeny-tiny and super-cute, this petite pumpkin has a deep orange color and is popularly used to make flavorful pies because of its fine-grained flesh.
  2. Baby Pam: When you’re looking for sugar pumpkins, you hear this name come up a lot. Baby Pam pumpkins are also deep orange and slightly larger than Baby Bears, with a sugary, string-less, dry flesh.
  3. Fairytale: As adorable as the name is, this sucker can get up to 30 pounds. And yes, it looks just like a pumpkin from the fairy tales, with a thick flesh that tastes more like winter squash.
  4. Cinderella: These names just keep getting cuter. Cinderella pumpkins are bright red-orange with a thick, moist flesh that has a sweet, custard-like flavor.
  5. New England Pie: Considered a classic fall baking pumpkin, the New England Pie pumpkin is round with a deep orange color, offering an almost perfect pumpkin pie taste.
  6. Winter Luxury: Now we’re pulling out the big guns. This heirloom pumpkin has orange and white skin, a smooth flesh and a more rustic flavor.

To cook, or not to cook?

While many foodie enthusiasts tend to prefer cooking with a pie pumpkin over a carving pumpkin, you still can put your old jack-o’-lantern to use in recipes. The most common challenge with cooking a carving pumpkin is too much moisture. So after carving out the flesh, put it in a bowl, and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. This should allow for water to separate from the flesh, which you can then drain before using.
 
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Varieties
Queensland blue pumpkin:
A large (5-7kg) blueish-grey pumpkin with smooth, deeply ribbed skin and full-flavoured golden orange flesh. The baby blue (about 2kg) is a miniature version. The pureed flesh is a favourite for scones.

Butternut pumpkin:
This buff-coloured, pearshaped pumpkin has dense, dry, sweet-tasting flesh, making it the most versatile type for cooking.

Jarrahdale pumpkin:
The jarrahdale closely resembles the Queensland blue, but is grey and not as deeply ribbed. It cuts easily, and has orange, sweet-tasting flesh.

Dumpling pumpkin:
This attractive, highly coloured yellow and orange ribbed pumpkin varies in colour between specimens. It is best stuffed with flavourful fillings then cooked.
Jap pumpkin:
Jap is short for Japanese pumpkin or kabocha, as it is known in Japan. There are many different varieties, such as kent. The green/grey skin is mottled yellow and brown and is easily cut. A nutty-flavoured pumpkin, it has yellowish/orange flesh that is soft and drier than most.It is also known as Kent pumpkin.

Golden nugget pumpkin:
This bright orange, diminutive pumpkin with golden-yellow flesh is easy to cut and best cooked with the skin on. Its appearance is its primary appeal.


The most common variety grown where I am is the Jap and the Queensland blue, but I do like soup made from the Butternut
 
..., but I do like soup made from the Butternut
mmmmmmmmmmm...!

i've cooked some squash before, but this has gotten me interested in trying some other sorts. spaghetti squash is one of my favorites after i learned how to cook those. have to admit i never tried pumpkin pie until fairly recently. i grew up with a mom who made the most amazing apple pies so at Thanksgiving, the choice seemed simple to me.
 
I have never think twice about the differences between pumpkins! It is really interesting :)
My friend gave me today one more idea for pumpkins it is pumpkin carbonara, but to be honest I would like to eat something without tone of carbs :)
 
And one more variety - the Windsor Black! It's as big as a Queensland blue, and much the same shape, but with a tough, very dark green rind, deeply indented. Not very popular, probably because it's not easy to hack into, but it's a good keeper and good to cook with.
 
Amy, do y'all in Australia carve jack-o-lanterns from your pumpkins? It would seem yours would be ripe in the wrong season. I think jack-o-lanterns are the primary use of pumpkins here.

I agree Food C, there are a lot more kinds of pumpkins than I knew about.

When I used to work in Italy they did not seem to have a unique name for pumpkin, in Italian they were just another type of squash, or zucca. So they on menus zucca was often translated to pumpkin in English, no matter the variety. At first I thought we were eating an awfully lot of pumpkin dishes, but soon learned it was just the local varieties of squash. I did figure that at least one of the raviolis we got really was pumpkin, it looked and tasted like pumpkin anyway.
 
I have never seen carving pumpkins in Tasmania.
Queensland Blues are my favourite to eat. I love baked pumpkin, cooked on baking paper, with the skin on with a little olive oil, salt & pepper.
 
I love baked pumpkin, cooked on baking paper, with the skin on with a little olive oil, salt & pepper.

Baked pumpkins are really good. Have you tried with sweet red pepper and salt and a small pinch of cayenne?
 
Nope, never seen pumpkin-carving in Victoria or South Australia - at least, there's not a tradition of it, but who knows what might be happening in some place I haven't seen?
I think my favourite for cooking is butternut, because it's so easy to chop up.
 
Freshly grated nutmeg goes beautifully with pumpkin.
 
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