Louisville Community Supported Agriculture: Farmer Posts

Styrian Pumpkin Muffins

Tina

Last Tuesday in our Misty Meadows CSA share, we received a Styrian pumpkin, aka a Naked Pumpkin. It's a cute little thing. Ours was about the size of a slightly large sugar pumpkin with orange and green stripes. The "naked" designation refers not to the pumpkin shell, but to the seeds.

Being curious about the background of this unusual vegetable, I ran several internet searches. The sites that came up most often referred to the oil that is extracted from the seeds. The oil is definitely not cheap - I found it on Amazon for $26.15 for 2 8.5 ounce tins - but it packs a nutritional wallop with Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Zinc and the essential fatty acids Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Since the pumpkins are grown for their seeds, there aren't a lot of Styrian-specific recipes that use the flesh of the pumpkin. Growers often simply discard the flesh. I was determined to use the whole thing.

First I chopped the thing in half to see what I was dealing with. Inside were the glistening seeds - green rather than cream-colored like other pumpkin seeds.

I removed the seeds and scraped out the stringy pulp. I oiled the flesh and placed the halves cut side down on a cookie sheet. It took about 45 or 50 minutes at 350 degrees for the flesh to be fork tender. After allowing it to cool for a few hours, I scooped the flesh out with a spoon into a measuring cup. After all was said and done, I had about 3 cups of pumpkin flesh and one cup of seeds.

I bit into a seed - I had half expected it to be filled with a pocket of oil, but it was just a tender, slightly crisp, pumpkin seed. What was most striking was missing. I like roasted pumpkin seeds, but I'm not terribly fond of the outer hull that feels a little like you accidentally bit into a stick along with your seed. The cooked flesh itself was just a mild, bland pumpkin-y flavor. Even my 4yo took a bite and said it was fine.

So I pulled out some cookbooks and my favorite recipe sites and spliced together a pumpkin muffin recipe. I wouldn't bother making this pumpkin into a pie - I think it's too bland. But breads are just fine. I didn't bother to puree the flesh, I simply mushed it up a little with a fork.

They turned out really yummy. My husband loved them. My 4yo took a bite and said she didn't like the seeds. Then the next time I turned around she'd eaten the entire thing and was chewing on the muffin paper. The teens weren't around at the time, but when I got up the next morning one of the two containers of muffins I'd left sitting on the kitchen counter was empty so I'm assuming they went over well. I think next time I'll add more raisins and fewer chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Seed Muffins
(yield - approximately 24-30)

4 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1.5 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups cooked pumpkin flesh
2 cups all purpose white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup Styrian pumpkin seeds
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix eggs, oil, brown sugar & vanilla. Stir in the pumpkin.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, salt & spices.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Fold in the pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips & raisins.

Spoon into oiled or lined muffin tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. A knife inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.

My Favorite Spaghetti Squash Recipe

Tina

I've never been a super big spaghetti squash fan. I never hated it, I just didn't really like it. I think my problem was trying to treat it like pasta. Sure it has individual strands and looks kind of like spaghetti, but it doesn't have the same texture. And frankly, it tastes just like squash.

Since I wasn't particularly happy with the flavor, the kids sure weren't. No matter how much cheese and sauce I piled on, they picked the toppings off and left the squash underneath. My general go-to recipes for hiding less favored vegetables won't really work for this. I like to hide things in soups - after a trip through the blender, if I say it's cheese soup and it's orange, how are they to know it's really butternut squash? I also like to sneak vegetables into fritattas and muffins. Even pancakes.

Finally I stumbled onto a recipe for Spaghetti Squash Pie. I almost didn't try it - it sounds pretty weird. I'm soooo glad I did. It's very much like a chess pie or even a pecan pie without the pecans. The kids (picky teenagers and 4yo alike) have been happy to eat it from the first time I made it. After a while I threw in a handful of chocolate chips and then they actually fought over it. It's even been a hit at potlucks - I've never returned with anything but an empty dish when I take this pie.

We've been getting spaghetti squash in our CSA share for the past few weeks. The good thing is that spaghetti squash tends to have a long shelf life so if I get a few of them in my share in one week I can let them sit on the counter until I'm ready to use them. However, now in this house they don't last long.

New Season Starting Soon (and various)

Kathy

Some of you saw us this week at Phoenix Hill Farmers' Market standing out there in 102+ weather. It was almost unbearable to set up, tear down, etc., but we did it. Unfortunately, it was about all we could do last week. 8 a.m. in the mornings starting out at 90 degrees all week did not help our plan to plant this week. We did plant lettuce last week and we've lost it already due to the excessive heat, watering makes it even worse. Rain would be awesome again at this point.

We really need a week to plant so that we can have lots of fall items for our CSA members. So we have made a very important decision: We will start CSA one week later than planned. Tiuesdays will start August 21 and Thursdays, August 23rd. This will put us into 12 weeks on November 6th and 8th. We will go longer than that if we can. With the cooler weather expected next week, we are sure that we can get a lot seeded, so please bear with us. (We will still be at the farmers' markets, but we often buy items from our neighbors to sell at the farmers' market, so please don't think that we are selling your goodies.

Our Fall "soupfest" and annual meeting is now set. Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 8th at 6:00 p.m. at Bardstown Rd Presbyterian Church, 1722 Bardstown Road, Louisville. There is no cost and you can bring your family. As we get closer, I'll ask how many you'll be bringing with you, so I can be sure to make enough soup. Bring an appetite, this is our way of thanking you for being so supportive of Misty Meadows Farm. This is also the time that we will talk about the year's CSA and ideas for the next CSA. This is where we start taking memberships for the following year and of course there is always a discounted price to pay early and even more if you pay for the Spring and Fall session at one time. We will have door prizes and surveys and if anyone else has things they'd like to say... well, let us know and we'll put you on the Speakers list (not that we really have one, but we always welcome your views, ideas, suggestions, etc.)

Many blessings,

Ralph and Kathy Packard

Phoenix Hill Farmers Market Festival

Kathy

We'll be there tomorrow.

LEMONADE AND WATERMELON WILL BE FURNISHED BY PHOENIX HILL FARMERS’ MARKET ASSOCIATION.