PUMPKINS & OTHER SQUASHES : From Jack-Be-Littles to Australian Blues, squashes provide autumn menus with nutrients and color

Among the first vegetables cultivated by American Indians were those called askutasquash or isquoutersquash . Thanks to the pilgrims, however, the word for this vegetable family now is simply squash.

The native American gourd, which originally meant “eaten raw,” has become a mainstay on our tables as both an edible menu item and as a table decoration.

This is the proper time of the year to rediscover the hard-shelled, summer-grown crops of the Cucurbita maxima family. In familiar language, they’re known as winter squash, so-called because they store well for winter eating. So forget the canned substitutes, get the cleaver and mallet out and enjoy your share of these ever-appealing vegetables.

Blending with the brilliant colors of fall, the squash family includes pumpkins, in various shades of tangerine and now white and blue as well. Pumpkins range in size from a 641-pound mammoth (this year’s record holder) to minuscule 3-inch Jack-Be-Littles. Common winter squash varieties include Acorn, Butternut, Hubbard and Buttercup, which come in many shapes, colors and stripings, displaying rugged to smooth exteriors.

For the tough-skinned pumpkin, however, this year’s harvest wasn’t easy.

“Pumpkins have been hurt due to the rains,” said Dimetri Gardikas, a produce distributor in Downey. “The rains damaged some portion of the larger sizes. A good portion of the mini-pumpkins were wiped out while the white pumpkins suffered extensive damage. Adding to the problem, we got more mud in the pumpkins.”

On the brighter side, consumers still will find a heap of jack-o’-lantern pumpkins for carving and pie-making because supplies have arrived from out of state.

“The 20 to 30% (local) loss was also offset by a heavier crop this year,” Gardikas added. Good news is that pricing is about the same as last year, with a slight half-cent-per-pound increase.

Although the familiar pumpkin remains the unanimous choice for Halloween and fall decorating, its eating quality is not that of its sister winter squashes. “Some (winter squashes) are so sweet that you don’t need anything on them,” said food consultant and stylist Marlene Brown, who devoted an informative chapter in her new book, “International Produce Cookbook and Guide” (H P Books: $12.95) to squash.

Consumer acceptance of squash improves each year, she said. “New varieties are being introduced, and people are becoming more aware that squashes are packed with nutrients, are high in fiber and are superb sources of Vitamin A--especially the orange-meat squashes.” Brown suggests choosing a squash that’s hard and solid and heavy for its size.

New, improved hybrids also have inspired the comeback of older favorites. Gardikas said he feels secure handling the popular sellers, such as Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti squash and sometimes Banana squash. On the other hand, suppliers such as Melissa’s Brand (formerly World Variety Produce) and Frieda’s Finest expressed growing positive responses with specialty squashes.

One of the newer entries into the winter squash field is the Australian Blue, which Brown said is her current favorite because it’s very rich and meaty, with brilliant orange flesh. According to Trudy Hernandez, marketing manager for Melissa’s, the bluish-gray shelled squashes, which were once available only in Australia and known as Queensland Blue Pumpkins, are now grown just north of Bakersfield, Calif. Because of their washed-out blue shade, some people are already planning to use them as Southwest-style jack-o’-lanterns or as centerpieces before cooking them.

“These blue squashes were considered a staple in Australia. Because refrigeration of the squash was not necessary even after opening, the blue pumpkins were served at almost every pub Down Under,” Hernandez said.

Highly successful members of Melissa’s and Frieda’s squash lines are two small-size varieties that make excellent one-serving vegetables: the Gold Nugget, a small, round, orange squash of the buttercup type; and Sweet Dumpling, a squat-shaped squash with a cream-colored shell and indented dark green striping.

Another reason why winter squashes are gaining in popularity is that they are all microwaveable, said food consultant Cathi Hofstetter. “They keep their flavor and texture in the microwave,” she explained. “It’s so convenient and fast this way; it frees up the oven during the holidays and doesn’t scare people into thinking that they have to spend so much time preparing squash the stove-top way.”

Hofstetter also prefers baby squashes because they cook faster and are tasty plain or stuffed. Of the special varieties, she prefers White Acorn for baking and the long, slender Delicata for its corn-and-sweet-potato flavor.

To vary presentations and to make soup, rice or vegetable casseroles more appealing, a trend (borrowed from the early American Indians) is to use medium- to small-size precooked squashes as serving vessels.

Drawing from international cuisines, we’ve developed some interesting suggestions on how to use winter squash and pumpkin. For an all-American pumpkin pie, try Julia Child’s Fluffy Pumpkin Pie from her latest cookbook, “Julia Child’s The Way to Cook” (Alfred Knopf: $50). The filling is light and moist, the butter crust so flaky and rich, it melts in your mouth.

Pumpkin seeds have a unique application in the savory, pastel green sauce for orange Pumpkin Ravioli, a recipe from the new “Betty Crocker’s Southwest Cookbook.” There’s also a brightly colored Squash Soup With Cranberry Dollop from Marlene Brown’s produce cookbook.

Use your imagination. Substitute squash purees, chunks or slices for potato or sweet potato in recipes. Tempura or creme brulee? You’ll be surprised that squash works in both applications.

Of course, it’s hard to beat the delicate perfection of plain cooked squash, swathed in butter and accented with a sprinkling of fragrant herbs and spices.

Food Styling by Minnie Bernardino and Donna Deane. Winter squashes provided by Melissa’s

Brand.

SQUASH-SEAFOOD MELANGE

1 tablespoon oil

2 teaspoons finely choppped ground ginger root

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/2 cups peeled and sliced Australian blue or other winter squash

1 cup cubed okra

1 tablespoon dry Sherry

Salt, pepper

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

10 to 12 mussels

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium high heat. Saute ginger and garlic until tender. Add coconut milk and slowly bring to boil. Add squash. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add okra, sherry and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp and mussels and cook, covered, about 5 minutes or just until done. Do not overcook. Serve with steamed rice or French bread if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

VERDE PORK TENDERLOINS WITH SPAGHETTI SQUASH

1 (2 1/2-pound) spaghetti squash, halved

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 long green chiles, broiled, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup clear chicken broth

12 slices pork tenderloin

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Salt, white pepper

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups sliced spinach leaves

Juice of 1/2 lime

Cook spaghetti squash in boiling water 25 minutes (or microwave on HIGH 15 minutes) or until strands separate from rind. Remove strands from squash with fork. Puree half of squash strands in blender with whipping cream, chiles and 1/2 cup chicken broth until smooth. Place mixture in large saucepan.

Rub pork pieces with 2 teaspoons minced garlic and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Brown on hot grill pan. Add pork and drippings to mixture in saucepan. Simmer, covered, 10 to 15 minutes, or until pork is tender and done. Keep warm.

Melt butter in skillet. Add remaining minced garlic cloves and cook until tender. Stir in spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook briefly to wilt. Sprinkle with lime juice. Drain spinach and set aside. Add remaining spaghetti squash strands to skillet and heat through. Season if desired. Serve pork tenderloins on bed of cooked spinach and surround with sauce and spaghetti squash. Garnish with red pepper strips if desired. Makes 6 servings.

HARVEST PUMPKIN-APPLE

NUT CAKE

1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups pureed cooked or canned pumpkin puree

1 cups diced peeled apple

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside. Cream butter with brown and granulated sugars until light. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Continue beating until mixture is smooth.

Alternately stir in pumpkin puree and sifted dry ingredients. Fold in apple and walnuts. Turn into greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on rack. Unmold and serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or custard sauce if desired. Makes 10 servings.

INDIAN PUMPKIN STEW

1/2 cup oil

1 large onion, sliced

2-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced

1 serrano chile, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

6 medium tomatoes, cubed

2 cups water

4 cups cubed pumpkin, acorn or other winter squash

1/3 cup cooked lentils

1 cup green peas

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Saute onion, ginger and serrano chile until tender. Add cumin, coriander, garam masala, black pepper, turmeric and salt. Saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes. Cook and stir 5 minutes.

Add water and cubed pumpkin. Bring to boil. Simmer until pumpkin is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in lentils and peas. Cook and stir just until heated through. Stir in cilantro. Garnish with red onion slices if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

A FLUFFY PUMPKIN PIE

(from Julia Child’s “The Way to Cook”)

3 1/2 cups pureed cooked or canned (solid pack) pumpkin

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons light molasses

3 tablespoons Bourbon whiskey or dark Jamaican rum

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

4 egg yolks, stirred

1 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup milk, or more if needed

5 egg whites

Butter Pastry Shells

Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or pulverized praline or nut brittle, optional

In large mixing bowl, blend pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, molasses, whiskey, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, egg yolks, whipping cream and milk. Mixture should hold its shape softly in spoon. (Beat in droplets more milk if it seems too stiff.)

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Beat a quarter of whites into pumpkin mixture. Gently fold in remaining. Ladle mixture into prepared pastry shells, filling only to rim of pan.

Place in middle level of oven and bake at 450 degrees 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake 15 minutes more (lower heat if pastry begins to brown too much). Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking another 15 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean when inserted 2 inches from edges of pie. Turn oven off and leave door ajar 20 to 30 minutes longer.

Serve warm or cold. If desired serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, dusting with pulverized praline. Makes 2 (9-inch) pies, 16 to 20 servings.

Butter Pastry Shell

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached

1/2 cup plain bleached cake flour

1 teaspoon salt

6 ounces chilled unsalted butter, diced

1/4 cup chilled vegetable shortening

1/2 cup ice water, plus droplets more if needed

Combine flours, salt and diced butter in food processor bowl fitted with steel blade. Pulse 5 to 6 times to roughly break up butter. Add shortening, turn on machine and immediately pour in 1/2 cup ice water, then pulse 2 to 3 times. Remove cover and feel dough. It should look like a bunch of small lumps and will just hold together in a mass when pressed together. If too dry, pulse in droplets more water.

Turn dough out onto work surface and press into rough mass. Rapidly and roughly, with the heel of hand, push egg-size clumps of dough in front of you in 6-inch smear.

Gather and form dough into two cakes. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours. Roll out each dough and fit into two (9-inch) pie pans, making strong fluted rim that extends about 1/2 inch above top of pan. Makes 2 (9-inch) pastry shells.

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI

(from “Betty Crocker’s Southwest

Cooking”)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup pureed cooked or canned pumpkin or other winter squash

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups flour

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

2 eggs

Water

Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Mix ricotta cheese, pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon salt and nutmeg. Reserve.

Mix flour and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Make a well in center. Beat tomato paste, oil and eggs until well blended. Pour into well. Stir with fork, gradually bringing flour mixture into center, until dough forms a ball. If dough is too dry, mix in up to 2 tablespoons water. Knead on lightly floured cloth-covered surface, adding flour if dough is sticky, until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll dough, one part at a time, into rectangle, about 12x10 inches (keep remaining dough covered). Drop pumpkin mixture by 2 level teaspoons onto half of rectangle about 1 1/2 inches apart in 2 rows of 4 mounds each. Moisten edges of dough and dough between rows of pumpkin mixture with water.

Fold other half of dough up over pumpkin mixture, pressing dough down around mixture. Trim edges with pastry wheel or knife. Cut between rows of filling to make ravioli. Press edges with fork to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and pumpkin mixture. Place ravioli on towel. Let stand, turning once until dry, about 30 minutes.

Prepare Pumpkin Seed Sauce. Heat until hot and keep warm. Cook ravioli in 4 quarts boiling salted water until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain carefully. Serve with sauce. Makes 6 servings.

Pumpkin Seed Sauce

1 cup shelled pumpkin seeds

1 small onion, chopped

1 slice white bread, torn into small pieces

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons canned chopped green chiles

1 (14-ounce) can clear chicken broth

1/2 cup whipping cream

Dash salt

Cook pumpkin seeds, onion, bread and garlic in oil, stirring frequently until bread is golden brown. Stir in chiles.

Place mixture in food processor bowl fitted with steel blade. Cover and process until smooth. Stir in broth, whipping cream and salt. Makes about 3 cups sauce.

Blender Method: Place pumpkin seed mixture and about half of broth in blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Stir in remaining broth, whipping cream and salt.

SQUASH SOUP WITH CRANBERRY

DOLLOP

(from Marlene Brown’s “International Produce Cookbook and Guide”)

3 pounds winter squash, such as buttercup, butternut, acorn, turban, kabocha, Australian Blue squash, banana squash, cooked

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pint half and half

1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Remove cooked squash from shells. Measure 4 cups pulp (reserve remainder for side dish). In blender or food processor fitted with metal blade, process squash until pureed. Set aside.

In large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter or margarine. Saute onion and carrots 5 minutes or until tender, but not brown. Stir in broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to boil. Boil, covered, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer. Stir in squash puree and half and half. Simmer 5 minutes or until heated through. Taste for seasoning. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Spoon 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce in center of each bowl of soup. Makes 8 servings.

MICROWAVED TURBAN SQUASH WITH ORANGE

1 large turban squash, about 5 pounds

2 tablespoons orange juice

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

Salt, pepper

Pierce squash all over (about 8 times) with ice pick. Microwave on HIGH (100 %) 12 to 15 minutes or until squash yields when pressed with finger, rotating 1/4 turn every 5 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, slice off blossom end, cutting around line that divides bottom from top. Scoop out seeds and fibrous pulp. Puree flesh with orange juice in food processor or food mill. Whisk in butter, brown sugar and orange zest.

Spoon mixture back into bottom shell. Replace top half. Microwave on MEDIUM (50 %) 3 to 5 minutes or until heated through. Makes about 6 servings.

Note: Squash may be baked in 400-degree oven 60 to 75 minutes. Fill with squash puree and return to 400-degree oven 10 minutes.

SAVORY SQUASH AND

PEPPER PUREE

1 cup cooked and pureed winter squash

2 sweet red peppers, broiled, peeled and seeded

1 teaspoon sugar

Dash white pepper

2 teaspoons crushed sage

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup chicken broth, or more if needed

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt

Combine squash, red peppers, sugar, white pepper, sage, lemon juice and chicken broth in blender container. Puree until smooth. Heat butter in saucepan and saute garlic until tender-crisp. Add puree and simmer to desired temperature. Add more broth if needed for thinner sauce. Season to taste with salt. Use as sauce for grilled meats, fish or poultry or for hot pasta. Makes about 2 cups.