Waste not the seeds, flesh of your jack-o'-lanterns

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

If you plan to use your jack-o'-lantern for pumpkin pie, buy the pumpkin at the last minute, then carve it, and cook it within 24 hours before the flesh begins to spoil. Advertiser library photo

I had to smile. Years ago, I had the same thought and found, experimenting in my kitchen, that a) it's one of those good ideas that doesn't always work, and b) even a cook-from-scratch maniac like myself begins to wilt after tackling a pumpkin.

Two things to know:

• If you want to use your jack-o'-lanterns for pumpkin pie or other cooked pumpkin uses, you have to buy the pumpkin at the last minute and then carve it, display it and cook it within 24 hours. Otherwise, the flesh begins to break down and spoil.
• It's a lot of work. Canned pumpkin is one food God should have thought of first, in my opinion.

That said, there is one pumpkin dish that is very easy to prepare and mighty tasty and even healthful: toasted pumpkin seeds. You don't get a whole lot of seeds from a single pumpkin, however, so you need to do two or three to make this project worthwhile.

Aloun Farms reports that the best pumpkins for cooking are the smaller, "sweet" varieties; the large ones cook slowly, don't yield the right texture of meat, although they are edible.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• 1 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
• Melted butter or olive oil (about 1 tablespoon)
• Salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut into tops of fresh pumpkins and pull out seeds. Separate membranes from seeds as best you can, then rinse in colander under cold running water to remove last shreds. Toss in colander to shake off water and blot with paper towels to dry seeds.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil. Spread seeds evenly on sheet. Drizzle with melted butter or olive oil, tossing to coat evenly. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake 35-45 minutes until golden brown, stirring from time to time.

Salty pumpkin seeds: Boil pumpkin seeds 10 minutes in salted water before roasting as above.

Herbed seeds: Use garlic powder or powdered dried herbs or mixtures such as Cajun spice seasoning to flavor seeds before toasting.

Before making pumpkin pie, you need to prepare 2 cups cooked pumpkin — the yield from one medium or two small pumpkins. Cut the pumpkin into 2-inch chunks, thinly slice away the peel (so as not to lose too much flesh) and cook by the method of your choice until easy pierced by a fork:

• Steam over boiling water 40 minutes to an hour
• Pressure-cook 15 minutes at 15 pounds.
• Boil 40 minutes or so.
• Bake at 300 degrees on foil-lined baking sheet; an hour or so.

Mash or rice the pumpkin as you would potatoes or process in food processor. Add a tablespoon of butter and allow to melt into pumpkin.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

• 2 cups cooked pumpkin (as above)
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• Dash of salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 (9-inch) single pie crust (unbaked)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs well and stir in brown sugar, milk, salt, pepper, maple syrup, spices and pumpkin.

Pour this into the pie shell and place in center oven rack at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake until the custard is firm. This should take a total of 40 minutes. Cool and serve.