Pumpkin Cooked In Raw Sugar Food

PUMPKIN PUREE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Slice a small piece of skin off the one side of the pumpkin so when laid on its side, the pumpkin will lay flat without rolling. Remove the stem and split the pumpkin in half from top to bottom, using a large cleaver and a mallet. Scoop out the seeds and fiber with a large metal spoon or ice cream scoop. Cut the fibers with kitchen shears if necessary. Reserve seeds for another use.
• Sprinkle the flesh with kosher salt and lay the halves, flesh side down, on a parchment paper-lined half sheet pan. Roast until a paring knife can be easily inserted and removed from the pumpkin, 30 to 45 minutes. Test in several places to ensure doneness.
• Remove the half sheet pan to a cooling rack and cool the pumpkin for 1 hour. Using a large spoon, remove the roasted flesh of the pumpkin from the skin to the bowl of a food processor. Process until the flesh is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

FRESH SUGAR PUMPKIN PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; lightly oil the foil.
• Arrange pumpkin halves onto the prepared baking sheet, cut sides down.
• Bake in preheated oven until flesh is tender throughout, about 40 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
• Increase oven heat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Scrape pumpkin flesh into a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, heavy cream, sour cream, demerara sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt; beat until smooth. Pour the pumpkin mixture into pie crusts.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PUREE

Steps:

• Select a couple of small size pumpkins. Cut the pumpkin in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center. You don't have to be too thorough with this.
• Place all the seeds into a bowl (you can roast them later and make pepitas). Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.
• Place pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet (face up or face down; I've done both) and roast in a 350° oven for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and light golden brown when done.
• Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces until you have a big pile of the stuff. If you have a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time. A blender will work, too, if you add a little water. Or you can simply mash it up with a potato masher, or move it through a potato ricer, or process it through a food mill.
• Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks too dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. (Note, if the puree is overly watery, you should strain it on cheesecloth or over a fine mesh strainer to get rid of some of the liquid.)
• Dump the pureed goodness into a bowl, and continue pureeing until all the pumpkin is done.
• You can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you'd like, store it in the freezer for later use.
• To store in the freezer, spoon about 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining, then use your hands to flatten out the pumpkin inside the bag and push out the air. Store them in the freezer until you need them.

HOW TO COOK A PUMPKIN IN THE OVEN

Steps:

• Use as many pumpkins as will fit in your oven on the center rack. Wash and dry the pumpkins and remove stems if necessary to help them fit in the oven better.
• Move the oven rack to the center of the oven and put down aluminum foil or a cookie sheet to catch any drips (mine didn't require this, but it may still be a good idea).
• Bake at 200 degrees for a few hours. The time depends on how big your pumpkins are. My pumpkins were about 3.5-4 lbs, and they took 4 hours. A larger pumpkin will take longer.
• Check your pumpkins periodically to see if they're getting soft. You'll know they're ready when the outside feels soft.
• When they're soft, remove from the oven, place on a cookie sheet or cutting board, and cut the pumpkins in half.
• Remove the seeds and the stringy flesh in the pumpkin cavity.
• Using a large spoon, scoop out the cooked pumpkin and put into a food processor.
• Process the pumpkin in the food processor until you have a nice smooth puree.
• Store in jars or another container. The puree will stay good in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for months.

DINNER IN A PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Thoroughly wash and dry the outside of the pumpkin. Cut the top off the pumpkin and clean out the pulp and seeds. Place the pumpkin on the baking sheet. Save the top.
• In a large skillet, sauté onion, celery, mushrooms, and garlic in butter. Add ground beef, sage, and thyme and cook until the beef is no longer pink. Drain the grease from the beef. Add salt, pepper, and water chestnuts.
• In a large bowl, mix soup, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce.
• Add ground beef mixture and cooked rice to the bowl. Mix until everything is evenly coated with sauce. Empty bowl into the cleaned out pumpkin and replace pumpkin top.
• Bake for 1 hour on the lower rack of the oven, or on the rack where the pumpkin can be most centered in the oven. After 1 hour and 15 minutes, remove the top and check the sides of the pumpkin for doneness. The outside of the pumpkin will turn a dark orange, and the inside of the pumpkin should be tender and easily scoop off the sides with a spoon. If the inside of the pumpkin is still not fully cooked, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pumpkin. Sometimes I've cooked the pumpkin as long as an hour and a half before it is ready.
• Using hot pads, place the pumpkin onto a serving plate, remove the lid, and stir. Be sure to scoop off chunks of cooked pumpkin into the casserole as it is served. That's the best part!

COOKED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Cut pumpkin into small manageable pieces and cut off pith and seeds.
• Place cut pumpkin skin side up in a large roasting pan. Add 1/4 inch of water and bake uncovered for 1 hour or until tender. Remove from oven and allow pumpkin to cool.
• When cooled, cut away skin and mash or puree. Use in any recipe that calls for canned pureed pumpkin.

FRESH PUMPKIN BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Spray standard size loaf pan with cooking spray.
• Combine sugars, pumpkin, oil, vanilla extract, water, and eggs.
• Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
• Pour into prepared baking dish.
• Bake at 350°F for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• •Options:.
• BUNDT: Double recipe. (My personal preference.) Drizzle with a 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, and 1/2 cup butter glaze. Melt sugar in butter. Add nuts and drizzle over top of cooled bundt bread.
• MUFFINS: Recipe makes 18 muffins. Reduce baking time to 35 minutes.
• Freezable for a quick, healthy alternative for dessert.

PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse at least 15 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in the hot cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree.
• Strain mixture into a large glass measuring cup (the measuring cup makes it easier to pour into the ramekins without mess).
• Bake in the center of the oven until almost set but still a bit soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. The custard should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools.(Center Temp will be between 161F-168F).
• Remove from the water bath and let cool 15 minutes. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not touch the surface of the custard.
• Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours. Uncover the chilled custards. Pour as much coarse sugar as will fit onto the top of 1 of the custards. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard. Repeat until all the custards are coated. Discard any remaining sugar.
• Fire up your kitchen torch and melt/brown the sugar. (You can do this under a broiler, but I feel it heats up the brulee too much. You want the top crisp but the brulee cold and that result is difficult with a broiler. If you love brulees like I do--buy a torch!).
• Let cool 1 minute before serving.