Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Weird Squash - Test Pie

We got a scattered heavy frost this morning and are supposed to get down to 28° soon.

After milking yesterday morning, DH and I loaded up the sweet potatoes and took them to the MIlk Parlor.  I sill have to clean and sort them and then will bring them to the house unless I can get the hallway in the barn up to desired temperature.  We use an oil filled heater out there.

We also brought the squash in and temporarily stored them in the west chicken house.  It is insulated with bales of straw in the ceiling but will still be too cold so I will move them to the barn also.

I was so curious about what kind of flesh I would get from the strange shaped ones.....they were supposed to be Butternut seeds and not saved seeds.  Some were quite normal but large and others almost round.

Here is the one I tested.



I used a ruler to give some idea of the size,




I wanted to try the Victorio strainer with it.  I have never used it on pumpkin.  If I am satisfied with the results, it saves two steps:  Scraping the flesh from the skins after cooking and pureeing the remains .


I cut the squash into smaller pieces, added some water, covered and baked at 400 until tender.  It didn't take very long,  under an hour.

Then I ran it through the strainer using the pumpkin cone.  It went very quickly.  The only negative and it may not be too bad is some very tiny pieces of skin also came through.  I am curious about that.

I removed the shield that drains the pulp into the bowl before I took the picture.


The real test is now in the oven.....I made a pie this morning using the recipe from Joy of  Cooking.  The pie made too much for my 9 inch dish.  I will bake the leftover in a custard cup.  Next time I would simply reduce the amount of cream by 1/2 cup or use another recipe......or try to find my 10-inch pie plate!

Lorraine, I also spread some mincemeat over a part to test.  I hope I marked the edge of the crust enough that I can tell because I want to test it first.

I got three one-pound packages with one cup left over from this squash......this means I have enough squash to make approximately 50 pies!  I need to give some away but I am probably the only person I know who would use this method to make a pie (or 50 pies).

Will report back  later.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Glenda ~ I've been thinking about the pumpkin mincemeat pie since Thanksgiving is coming up. You sure got a lot of squash put away. Have you made breads using squash?

    Happy Autumn ~ FlowerLady (Lorraine)

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  2. 50 pies...wow! I've not made that many pies in my lifetime...(much to the dismay of my family)...but I would love to try one of yours! :)

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  3. The flesh of that squash looks wonderful! Bet it's delish. But, HA! Who but you would even suggest 50 pies? ;) I have a wheelbarrow-full of butternut again this year, but also planted a few seeds of Blue Hubbard. YIKES! Just 7 or 8 seeds produced twenty 15-lb to 25-lb squash!! Sometime between here and November I'll cut one open and make something to evaluate, and decide if they're worth storing. There are enough butternuts for all our reasonable squash needs, so if the hubbards aren't amazing, the cows, sheep and pigs will all get a share over the next few months. I'm actually thinking of tilling up a little more space and growing a pile of 'em on purpose for the livestock next year.

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    Replies
    1. There's an idea; I wonder if the cow would eat the squash?

      I grew Long Island Cheese one year and they produced like your Blue Hubbard. I even canned some for pies. Supposedly that is what is used for canned pumpkin rather than what we call pumpkin.

      I will not be making 50 pies. This one turned out fine but maybe three pumpkin pies a year would do us.

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    2. I've read on other blogs that chickens eat summer & winter squash (the latter when left to soften). Bet your hens wouldn't care shape or size. Bet that pie smelled wonderful. Alas, I shall have to purchase a couple butternuts for winter use this year. Only 29F this morning. We are a week later than normal frost date so am thinking the annuals are going to be toast when the sun comes up.

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  4. Great looking squash and I still say they look like MacMex's Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkins. They were different shapes too and just as orange on the inside. Made beautiful pie. Also great for pumpkin muffins. My chickens love squash. Or just save it in your freezer in case you don't get or don't want to grow winter squash next year, use that garden space for something else. Hugs, Ilene

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