Orange October

BOILING STONES
(Things a man can do in the Kitchen)
© October 6, 2008
By: George O. Martin, Jr.

Orange October

I don’t want you to get the title of this column confused with the movie, The Hunt for the Red October. That was about a Russian submarine, and lots of scary things that were happening, or, could happen, or, everyone was afraid was going to happen. Orange October isn’t anything like that. In fact there isn’t anything about it that should raise any fears at all. What it should do, is remind us of the October harvest of wonderful orange vegetables. I am talking about Butternut squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes. They are delicious and abundant this time of year.
Of course pumpkins are plentiful; you can see them everywhere. Any grocery store has them; roadside stands sell them; farmers markets are full of them; and hundreds will be bought and carved into jack-o-lanterns. But not many of them will be rendered into something to eat; and that’s too bad.
Pumpkins are quite edible, and not just for pumpkin pie either; although there is absolutely nothing wrong with pumpkin pie; not a thing. But Pumpkin pie should be made with the canned, store bought pumpkin, not the giant orbs that we use for carving. Rendering the flesh of a fresh pumpkin into pie is labor intensive and time consuming. Opening a can is quick, cheap and tasty. I will take that over intensive working any day.
Pumpkin seeds are excellent. Even if you don’t like the idea of using the flesh of the pumpkin you should at least clean and roast the seeds. Lightly browned and salted they are nutty flavored and delicious. But you really ought to use the pumpkin flesh to make Candied Pumpkin. It is sweet and wonderful. It will remind you of the homemade sugar candies of your youth.
Cut the stem off the pumpkin and cut it in half. Remove the seeds and save them, but throw away all the stringy stuff. Slice the pumpkin in to long pieces and carefully remove the skin. Cut these into two inch pieces. In a large sauce pan place 4-cups of water, the juice of one orange, plus the zest, 4-sticks of cinnamon, and 2 pounds of Piloncillo. (You can buy this in the Mexican foods section of the big grocery stores.) Bring to a boil. Carefully add in 5 pounds of the trimmed pumpkin flesh. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or more, until the pumpkin is fork tender and the rest of the ingredients have reduced to a thick glaze. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before serving. If you can’t find the Piloncillo use 2-cups dark brown sugar and one-quarter cup molasses.
I could end the column right here by telling you that using Butternut squash or sweet potato instead of the pumpkin makes just as good a treat, and you really ought to try it, but I won’t. Because, while that is true, there are other things you can do with the sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
Soup out of butternut squash is excellent. Slice two in half and remove the seeds. The seeds can be cleaned and roasted just like the pumpkin seeds, but for now let’s get on with the soup. Place on a baking pan cut side down and add one-half inch of water to the baking sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes until tender. Remove and peel the skin from the flesh, and cut into pieces. Add 2-tablespoons oil to a large pot and cook 2-cups onion and 3 cloves of garlic until tender. Add 5-cups of chicken broth and bit of cinnamon, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, and all the peeled squash pieces. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for ten minutes. Cool the soup, or place it in the refrigerator overnight. Working a little at a time, place in a blender and puree. Put back in the pot and reheat before serving. Add a pat of butter in the middle of the bowl and a sprig of parsley and you might think you are in a fancy restaurant.
Sweet potatoes are colorful additions to any meal. They add great flavor, too. Combine them in a pan with red potatoes, green sweet peppers and onions, drizzle ad toss with a quarter cup of olive oil; throw on coarse ground black pepper and salt and you have a very a beautiful side to serve next to fried smoked sausage coins. But you should peel and cut the sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces. The red potatoes should remain unpeeled with any bad spots removed. The onions can be coarsely chopped into visible sized pieces; and the peppers, seeded, can be bite size also. All of this needs to be tossed to coat with oil, and baked in a 350 degree oven until all the vegetables are tender. Sometimes a sprinkle of rosemary is very welcome, also.
There are lots of other things that can be done with these orange beauties. As an added bonus, all of them are locally grown and readily available. They also store very well in a cool dry place. The only trouble is we have a way of forgetting we have put them in that cool place instead of using them. That isn’t the right idea. So remind your self now and again about the things you put away in Orange October.