Donna van Veghel-Wood graduated from the two year Culinary Arts Programme at George Brown College including three month Italian Culinary Arts programme in Italy. Worked for five and half years at "JK ROM" Restaurant and Catering company with Jamie Kennedy. Started and ran "donna&co." catering company for five years. Presently, owner of "frankie's ristorante" in Uxbridge.
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Pumpkin puree
I am not computer savvy. I bake. So, when I write a column for Conrad and it has to be sent by computer, I can very easily lose it in Cyberspace - wherever that is... (It must be full of columns by now.)
Thus a few weeks or so ago, when there were lots of fresh pumpkins around for Thanksgiving and Halloween, I wrote a column on making pumpkin puree. The idea for this came from the abundance of orange around the countryside and at the grocery store and from many people who complained that the grocery stores were out of canned pumpkin puree and pie filling.
Well, nothing beats fresh as we know and this is no exception. So, if there are still some pumpkins in your pantry, gather them together and roast them off for “Pumpkin Puree.”
The smaller pumpkins - two to five pounds - are better but you can use the larger ones also. Wash the pumpkins and split into two halves. Scoop out the seeds and save for roasting for snacks. Place the pumpkins - cut side down - onto parchment lined baking sheets and roast the pumpkins in a 350 F oven until they are tender. That's it!
Let the pumpkin cool and then lift the skins off to reveal soft pumpkin flesh. Puree four halves in a food processor or blender with a half-cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon of Allspice and Cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of ground Clove. Use in pumpkin pie, muffins, pumpkin cheesecake or cookies.
The puree can be used in a soup without the sugar - just add a diced onion, some garlic and vegetable or chicken stock. Simmer until hot and flavourful.
Freeze the pumpkin puree in batches for baking at Christmas. Or, use some now for Pumpkin Muffins.
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup of vegetable oil
3/4 cup of water
4 eggs
Mix the above together in a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Add two cups of sweetened pumpkin puree and mix.
Spoon into muffin pans and bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes (for large muffins).
Pumpkin puree, delicious in many recipes for the coming holidays, like, maybe, Pumpkin Cheesecake? Stay tuned.
