[/caption]I got this little "pumpkin" at HomePlus about a week or two ago and have been waiting to get the right ingredients and tools to turn it into something. Isn't it cute?
First, I thought maybe a pie, but Thanksgiving is coming up and it would ruin the fun (or the horror, depending on how the actual pie turns out........) to have a pie so close to the holiday. So, I'm going to try Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread instead. I thought about muffins, but, since no one bakes here, all baking pans run in the range of $8.00-$10.00 and, at Lotte, they have baking pans made of paper that are made in Japan (they're real cute, I'll post pictures once it's baked). So, I opted for some Japanese paper loaf pans and we'll see how that goes.
[caption id="attachment_261" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Seeds, strings and slime."]
[/caption]I may try my hand at roasting seeds, but first we'll see how the loaf goes. The inside color of the squash is lovely, very butternut squash-esque.
I used the How to Roast a Pumpkin in 10 Steps tutorial over at Elana's Pantry to bake it and now I have a bowl full of lovely squash waiting to be properly mashed.
[caption id="attachment_266" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Squash mash."]
[/caption]I only had the one, small pie pan, so I had to bake each half seperately, but it worked out well. The first half's skin got a little mushy, so I was able to let it sit and cool until the second half got done and they both scraped out easily. I've never tasted raw pumpkin straight out of the.. you know, pumpkin, so I don't know if it tastes similar or not, but it tastes like squash. So, I figure it'll be similar.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Also on the list to bake: Mrs. Reagan's Persimmon Pudding
Persimmons are all over the place here and they're so pretty, orange and red. I've been wondering for a while what people do with them. I know they eat them raw, but I remember trying one once when I used to work at a small, produce market and the texture's pretty weird. You're supposed to wait until they're super ripe to eat them, so they get slimy and pulpy. I don't remember how they taste though.
They could be really gross, but I want to try it since they're everywhere and all the ajummas (middle-aged-old ladies) swear they're really good for you.
Let you know how it goes.
- catie
It might be called a Kabocha squash...
ReplyDeletewhen I toast the seeds, I boil them in salted water for about 5 minuets first, to get the salt to stick.
ReplyDeleteBoiling them would have been a good idea. I can't remember how regular seeds are, but these ones were real woody, kind of like the outsides of sunflower seeds. Maybe boiling them would have softened them up, I don't know. I toasted them and then coated them with a mixture of sugar, salt and pumpkin spice (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon) and now I just suck all the yummy off and spit the seeds out. Hah!
ReplyDeleteIt was a really good recipe....
And mom, you're right, it is a Kabocha squash, but people just call it a Japanese pumpkin, and it seems so much easier to say..
I'm lazy. :D