Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

All this pumpkin means I'm starting to get creative with it. There's only so much pumpkin bread and pie that one family can handle. I wish I had made this oatmeal sooner, so much sooner, because it is absolutely a delicious way to start the day.

If you recall, I am an avid steel cut oats fan. Mixing pumpkin into it should have been something I thought of ages ago. But, I've made it now and it does not disappoint. I had to alter this one a little bit from my usual steel cut oat recipe, because pumpkin is mostly water and it needed a little extra sweetness.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
Makes 5 servings

What You'll Need:
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup water
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2-3 pats butter
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts

Classic Pumpkin Pie

I couldn't possibly go through 14 cups of pumpkin puree without making at least one pumpkin pie. This recipe is adapted from the one my father made when I was growing up. I actually haven't made it myself since I was in college. There's usually so much when I head to my parents' house for the holidays that I haven't felt the urge to make my own.

In fact, it turns out that I probably haven't made any pies since college- because I don't have a pie pan! I had to use my cake round for this pie. I should probably rectify this egregious error since I'm in charge of Thanksgiving this year.

Classic Pumpkin Pie
makes 8 slices, 8 Points+ per slice

What You'll Need:
   1, 9" pie crust
   1, 15oz can (or 2 cups) pumpkin puree
   2 eggs
   1, 14oz can sweetened, condensed milk
   1 tsp cinnamon
   1/2 tsp ginger
   1/2 tsp nutmeg
   1/4 tsp all-spice

The Process:
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie pan with crust. Mix all the filling ingredients together and pour into pie shell. Bake 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Chill before serving, and top with whipped cream.

Cooking a Pumpkin Four Ways

Over the weekend, my in-laws and my nephew came by for a visit. They live quite a ways from us here in DC, so I planned a whole bunch of things for us to do. One of those things included going to the pumpkin patch and doing a bit of pumpkin picking.

Our pumpkin haul.

We went over to a local place and with the price of the hayride, we each got a free pie-sized pumpkin. That means in addition to the pumpkins we bought for carving, we ended up with 5 small pumpkins for pureeing. I weighed them all out and I had 22 pounds of pumpkin!

Growing up, my dad and I made our own pumpkin puree many times, by baking it in the oven. When I started looking around for a time and temp, though, I discovered there are three other ways to cook pumpkin that I never considered- steaming, slow cooking, and microwaving. Since I had more pumpkin than I could fit in my oven, I decided to try out all four ways and see which I preferred.

You can use these methods to cook any pumpkins or squash- just keep in mind that the large pumpkins for carving jack-o-lanterns don't have a very good taste. Stick to pumpkins that are small, under about 6lbs. They're also easier to cut up and cook because they're smaller.

Beginning steps:
   Regardless of method, wash pumpkins off to remove the dirt. I cut off all the stems to make them fit better into their various cooking containers. I used my pumpkin carving knife to do it, just like you would on a jack-o-lantern because it's fast and easy. Then, cut the whole pumpkin in half. Use a serrated knife and cut with a sawing motion. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. If you want to save the seeds, set all the pulp aside in a bowl for later.
   Cut the pumpkin into big chunks. For the crock pot method, you may need a few smaller chunks in order for them to fit. Fewer pieces are better, because later it will be easier to scoop the cooked pumpkin off the rind.

Oven

   Turn your oven on to 325 degrees. Place your pumpkin pieces into a roaster pan with rinds up and add about 1/2 an inch of water to the pan. Put into the oven and bake for an hour. Use a fork to check the tenderness of the flesh. If not quite done, bake for another 15 minutes.

Shepherd's Pumpkin Pie

I heard about this delightful autumnal recipe through a friend's recommendation. It combines the warm, comfort food aspect of the traditional Shepherd's Pie with my favorite fall food, pumpkin. What's not to love? The recipe passed to me came from My Recipes, but I changed quite a few things about it.

First, I decided not to roast the pumpkin. It seemed needlessly time consuming when I had a perfectly good can of pumpkin puree on hand. I thought that adding cream to the pumpkin was an unnecessary addition of calories (as well as a trip to the store). I also halved the recipe, since I'm cooking for two and don't want a ton of leftovers. Honestly, I made a lot of changes.

Shepherd's Pumpkin Pie
makes 4 servings

What You'll Need:
1 lb lean ground beef
2 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup red wine (or one of those handy mini187ml bottles)
1 cup beef stock
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp sage 1 Tbs corn starch

The Process:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the ground beef over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain. Add the Worcestershire sauce, wine, half of the beef stock, carrots, onions, garlic, cumin, thyme, pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pan. Cook over medium heat for ten minutes.

While the beef mixture cooks, combine the pumpkin puree with a pinch of salt, sage, and cinnamon. Set aside. Then, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining beef stock and add to pan with the beef. Cook for another minute or two until thickened.

Pour beef mixture into a greased 8x8 pan. Evenly spread the pumpkin puree over the beef mixture. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Leftovers can be refrigerated.

Healthy Pumpkin Bread Batter for Muffins or Loafs

This is a nice healthy recipe using one of my favorite switcheroos- substituting the oil for applesauce. Making pumpkin bread is probably my favorite way to use that trick. The bread comes out more moist than with oil, in addition to being tastier. I feel that the apples enhance the rest of the flavors in the bread.

This recipe is adapted from the one my mother made when I was growing up. I have many fond memories of eating slices of this bread, warmed with a little butter, on Christmas morning. She still makes it when we come to visit around the holidays.

Healthy Pumpkin Bread
makes 24 cupcake sized muffins

What You'll Need:
1, 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts or raisins (optional, not calculated into Points+)

Happy Halloween!

The house is all decorated, and there's cinnamon, apples, and cloves in the air. It must be Halloween, the best of all the holidays. I'll be giving out candy to the neighborhood kids tonight. I've even already had a few trick-or-treaters. No tricks at my house tonight!

Larry is a little dramatic.

Larry the Pumpkin and I wish you a happy and safe Halloween!