Friday, October 30, 2009

Pumpkin, two ways

I know it's not original, but I really do love pumpkin this time of year. I've come across all kinds of glorious recipes for pumpkin recently, including pumpkin cake, pumpkin bars, and pumpkin ice cream, all of which have my mind spinning in an orangey blur. So when an adorable Sugar Pie Pumpkin arrived in our produce box last week, I thought long and hard about what to do with it.

By the way, isn't "Sugar Pie Pumpkin" the cutest name ever? I mean, if you don't want to eat something called Sugar Pie, you need to get your head checked.

Sometimes I spend a lot of time mulling over what to do with a particular ingredient, only to use it on a whim, which is what happened to my little Sugar Pie one night recently when we found ourselves without a dinner plan. All of a sudden my agony over pumpkin whoopie pies v. pork and pumpkin stew, in honor of one of my favorite dishes at Burma Superstar, vanished into thin air. Before I knew it, I was flying around the kitchen like a little witch, chopping squash, covering the other hungry dog in a light dusting of garam masala, and rooting around for my immersion blender.

Turns out curried pumpkin soup isn't bad for a quick weeknight dinner. It's certainly not fancy, nor is it particularly photogenic, as is evidenced below, but it hits the spot on a cool night. Serve it with a dollop of sour cream and a few snipped chives, plus crispy croutons or some good bread.


I also had some canned pumpkin burning a hole in my, uh, pantry. I think we can all admit that canned pumpkin is up there with frozen spinach when we're talking about the greatest convenience foods. Someone else has done all the hard work so that all we have to do is open a can or defrost a box. Canned pumpkin lends great moisture to any baked good and can take a lot of flavors.

Normally I make pumpkin cranberry bread, but having recently made something similar, I nixed the berries, bulked up the powdered ginger, and added a hefty grating of fresh ginger root.


Gingery pumpkin bread is a nice way to start the day. It's not too sweet and has a lot of spice, and it goes well with coffee or tea. I ate it plain, just cut into thick golden slices, but I think it would be delicious cut a bit thinner, toasted, and served with an orange marmalade or quince jam.


What have you been doing with pumpkin recently, besides carving jack-o-lanterns?

15 comments:

  1. That bread looks awesome! I mean the soup does too, but damn. Great crumb on it.

    I actually have a bunch of sorta-puree in the freezer I'm trying to decide what to do with.

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  2. Wow, that's pumpkin-filled meal for sure. I have not started my pumpkin baking yet, but will soon. Contemplating just which lovely baked good to begin with. Will it be pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, or something entirely different? We'll just have to see....

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  3. yeah, your loaf's a looker. although i would enjoy the cranberried version a great deal, this would be just as good, particularly with said orange marmalade. and i agree--canned pumpkin in an awesome convenience. having made pumpkin puree the old-fashioned way, i now appreciate the canned version a great, great deal. :)

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  4. I know! Sugar pie pumpkin is the cutest name ever. I'm always on the lookout for new pumpkin recipes, these look like keepers!

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  5. Oh! Btw, this is Jessica at Jessica's Dinner Party! I finally figured out a way to post on your site: it's to be logged onto gmail!

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  6. You rock! Whip up a little sugar pie pumpkin soup, take your bread up a notch-You go! Who says that the soup is not photogenic? Yes, it is! Looks wonderful.

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  7. Love the look of that soup. I've been doing a lot of pumpkin recipes, but none have been soup yet. What am I waiting for??

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  8. Looks reasonably photogenic to me!

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  9. Ohhh what a grate combo - pumpkin and cranberry!!

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  10. Thanks, everyone!

    Jessica: isn't the comment thing a hassle with blogger? People are always having trouble with it.

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  11. I made a nice big batch of toasted pumpkin seeds with my pumpkin.

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  12. Double-whammy YUM. I have a pumpkin from a friend's garden and am still figuring out the best use for it. If I can roast and scrape every bit from it, I might be able to make both of these beautiful recipes. I love the use of ginger -- great for both sweet and savory purposes and people really go "whoa, what's in here??"

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  13. Spiced soup is one of my very favorite uses for pumpkin! If I feel like doing something more involved, risotto or lasagna are usually winners.

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  14. egg to the apples: as I was prepping the pumpkin for the soup I was thinking I should be doing something with those seeds...next time I guess.

    denise: isn't ginger amnazing? It can add spice and brighten so many dishes.

    croquecamille: I'd love to see how you incorporate pumpkin into lasagne!

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  15. Here you go: http://croquecamille.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/the-winter-squash-saga-part-i-lasagna/

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