a guide to baking one's own pumpkins

most of us are resigned to the familiar Libby's can when it comes to holiday pies. Libby's makes a fine pumpkin pack, but one year in Santa Fe i found myself in the midst of a pumpkin shortage. PUMPKIN SHORTAGE. Libby's had a crop failure that resulted in no pumpkin until two days before Thanksgiving. Whole Foods/The Co-op/Trader Joe's had bare shelves too, as other holiday pie-makers had realized the shortage well before myself. so i embarked on a mission to make my own. i did what any honest foodie would do: held pumpkin trials. i bought one of every pumpkin touted as a "pie" pumpkin and processed them separately, taking notes along the way. the clear winner was the long island cheese pumpkin, which is martha's favorite. if, for example, you live in the middle of nowhere and have terrible luck with squash bugs destroying your precious cheese pumpkins, i encourage you to ask around and see what the local older people think is a good one.
by this method i found the north carolina piedmont version: the 'old timey' type pumpkins (as called by the locals) pictured in the photos.

STEP 1
locate your pumpkins. my 'old timey' pumpkins were grown by an old farmer in overalls named Max. he sold them to me out of his front yard at a real deal: the smallest were $1. most pictured were $2. he had a couple pumpkins that resembled boulders that were a little more pricey. smaller pumpkins tend to have better flavor. cheese-type (flattish ones that resemble a wheel of cheese) and crook-neck types (in which the neck is solid meat, with the seed cavity only at the bottom) tend to have more edible flesh per pumpkin. look for squash which are very heavy for their size, have no nicks or blemishes, and have the stem on.

STEP 2

wash your pumpkins. they are dirty.

STEP 3
cut open your pumpkins. halves will do most of the time. scoop out the seeds and do what you will with them. i like to save some to try and grow the next year, and roast the rest. arrange the pieces cut side down in a large pan and put some water in the bottom. a quarter inch really is enough.


STEP 4
put the pan in the oven at 350 degrees f and roast for about an hour. you do not need to preheat the oven, but you can if you want. the skins will start to brown and you will be able to stick a fork through the skin into the flesh easily. remove from the oven.

STEP 4 1/2
this step might be optional...
i like to take the hot pumpkin pieces and put them on a rack to drain. this seems to reduce the water retention of the pumpkin somewhat, but it creates a rack that is a real pain to clean. maybe you'd rather try to pour the boiling hot water out of the pan.

STEP 5
once the pumpkin has cooled, scoop it away from the skin. i like to run the flesh through a food processor or Foley Food Mill to make it really smooth, and i think you should too.

now, you could use the pumpkin as-is. that would be fine if you were making pumpkin butter. for anything else, go on to







STEP 6
you would be doing yourself (and your humble pumpkin) a dis-service if you didn't get that excess liquid out. home baked pumpkin has a reputation for being loose and unruly, laying recipes to waste, and generally just being up to no good. you can tame the pumpkin by letting it sit overnight in a cloth of some kind. i use a flour sack towel, but you could also use a few layers of cheesecloth, an old (but clean!) pillow case, etc. line a colander with the damp cloth, fill with
pumpkin puree, set it over a bowl and leave in the fridge (or other cool place) overnight. in the morning you'll be glad you did! look at all the excess liquid that came out of this one pumpkin! if you know a Harry Potter fan, you could try to use this liquid to make 'pumpkin juice'...i've also read that people like to use it in other baking/cooking. i haven't tried it, although i've been tempted.







now you're ready to use or freeze your pumpkin pack!
i freeze it in 1 1/2 c increments because that is how much goes in a pie.