Pumpkins, squashs and assorted marrowy type vegetables

[Toddy]

I was serious about the shells on these ones roasting out like pistachios. No way they could be eaten easily. I reckon these ones really would have been better dried, cracked and then boiled to release the inner 'nut'.

I have a butternut squash and a green and yellow stripey pumpkin shaped one still to use up.
I think it's soup and curry to be honest

M

 

[santaman2000]

I find most squashes have not great seeds for eating, the pepo maximas have good size seeds (atlantic giant , turban cheese wheel) but the average good eater have seeds too fiddly to bother. For tasteless squashes cubed and fried with lorne sausage or holumi works or curried with a dahl. I have one two year old jar or courette mincemeat eleft in the cupboard now. This year i grew kuri onion squash and little stripey one called sweet dumpling. i made pumkin pie with the onion squash, the kids that would try it spat it out becuse of the texture.

Properly made pumpkin pie should be nearly indistinguishable fro sweet potato pit. It should gave both the same taste and texture; exactly the same The only difference should be the pumpkin pie is slightly lighter colored.

 

[David LaFerney]

I once heard an Amish lady insist that pumpkin pie is NOT a dessert, but rather a vegetable. So if you can agree to that, the lackluster dessert becomes a pretty excellent side.

However a really well made pumpkin pie is a pretty fine dessert - but admittedly hard to come by.

Zuchinis and yellow crook neck squash are good raw in salads or added to spaghetti sauce, and they all make good animal feed if worse comes to worse.

 

[Robson Valley]

Well, all those things, pumpkins, squash, gourds. . . whatever. By botanical definition, they are all fruits like tomatoes as they all have seeds inside.
Celery is a vegetable. A raspberry is a polydrupe. Ain't botany fun? The little seedy things on the outside of a strawberry are the real fruits. If anything
the mush of a strawberry is a vegetable.
Wait. . ... it gets even better!

 

[Arya]

All this talk of food is making me hungry!

 

[Goatboy]

On a rare visit to the supermarket yesterday I saw tins of pumpkin pie filling, maybe you should give it a try Toddy, see if it comes up to snuff?
Sweet potato pie? Never tried it, though I do like sweet potatoes, may have to give it a go. The classification of what is fruit or Veg throws up some fun ones that annoy folk no end. Like bananas are berries.
Do you know the easy way to tell a pear from an apple? (Some do look very similar.) Pears sink in water and apples float. Not very scientific I know but an interesting titbit.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Robson Valley]

Peaches keep best without bruising if you set them upside down on their "cheeks."

The botanical definition means that fruits have seeds in them. All else are vegrtables.
Then there's a long list of fruit types: drupes, samara, achenes, pomes, accessory fruits (strawberries & pineapples as examples.)
Lots of others that I've long since forgotten.

Two things here: Pumpkin pure' (named horticultural variety on the label) and also pumpkin pie filling which is gross.
Not a challenge to use the pure' and do a civilized job of a pumpkin pie.

Sweet potatoes and Yams are two totally different things. I can eat enormous quantities of baked Yam.
I wouldn't feed sweet potato to a dog.

 

[David LaFerney]

I wouldn't feed sweet potato to a dog.

Me neither - Dogs have terrible taste in cuisine. I would bake it and top it with butter and honey. Mmm Mmm.

 

[santaman2000]

......Sweet potatoes and Yams are two totally different things. I can eat enormous quantities of baked Yam.
I wouldn't feed sweet potato to a dog.

LOL. You obviously ain't a southerner. Yams well and truly defy edibility. Sweet potatoes on the other hand, are God's gift to mankind (after pecans)

 

[David LaFerney]

Sweet potatoes and pecans make a nice combination too.

 

[santaman2000]

.......
Sweet potato pie? Never tried it, though I do like sweet potatoes, may have to give it a go.......

Here's a pretty good recipe from Southern Living:

A close cousin of pumpkin pie, this traditional sweet potato pie gets its creaminess from whipped sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. Using refrigerated deep-dish pie crusts keeps it easy.

Ingrediets:
-2 pounds of sweet potatoes peeled and sliced
-1/2 cup of butter (American cup)
-3 large eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
-1/2 cup evaporated milk
-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon lemon extract (we don't use this)
-1 package of 2 frozen pie crusts (we make our own in order to get gluten free)
-garnishes: whipped cream, grated nutmeg

Preperation:

Cook sweet potato in boiling water until done (we bake it)

Beat sweet potato and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and the next 6 ingredients, beating well. Pour mixture evenly into each piecrust. Bake at 350f on the lower rack for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Add garnish (we wait until after the pies have cooled and usually chilled to serve them and let the individuals garnish their own slice to taste)

Edit to add: Sweet potato pie should ALWAY be served at least at room temperature (or preferably slightly chilled) or the texture won't be properly set.

 

[santaman2000]

....... i made pumkin pie with the onion squash, the kids that would try it spat it out becuse of the texture.

Was it properly cooled/chilled? See above post (pumpkin pie is also best served at room temp or cooler for the same reasons)

 

[santaman2000]

Me neither - Dogs have terrible taste in cuisine. I would bake it and top it with butter and honey. Mmm Mmm.

Sweet potatoes and pecans make a nice combination too.

Yep to both! And sliced and fried like chips. Or my favorite; candied sweet potatoes.

 

[Robson Valley]

Truce, Santaman! I buy $100 worth of pecans at a time. Hot-roasted, curried, stir-frys, pies and tarts. Very, very hard to beat.
I still thingk that sweet potatoes are ugly food.

 

[santaman2000]

LOL. To each his own. Truce it is then. I envy you regarding your ready availability and affordability of bison; it's available enough here but the price is exorbitant.

 

[tsitenha]

Me neither - Dogs have terrible taste in cuisine. I would bake it and top it with butter and honey. Mmm Mmm.

You like dog also, good for you, BBQ is better though, I find.

 

[tsitenha]

Bison (buffalo) best meat of all, we have it on a regular basis. Matter of fact it so warm here that we will BBQ some this week.

 

[Robson Valley]

The only effective way to buy bison is a side at a time. Cut by cut, the prices are killers, I could never afford that.
I've tried dog and llama and beaver. Nasty sweet.
Bear ham and cougar or lynx are OK.
Deer, elk & moose all great like bison.
Wild turkey is as good as any bird ever gets.

Over the years, I have noticed that a meal of things of North American origins (corn, bison, squashes) all seem to taste good together.