Pumpkins Rule!

I love pumpkins. I love them in every conceivable edible form. I have loved them since I was a little kid. But I’ve got to admit that I actually reached a point several years ago that I hated them.

To appreciate how radical that statement is for me, you have to understand that if I could have, I would have joined Linus at his perpetual Halloween vigil for the Great Pumpkin. I can only guess that Charles Schultz is also a pumpkin lover and recognizes as I do that pumpkins just don’t get the respect they so richly deserve.

Pumpkins rule! And not just metaphorically. It took only one year of growing pumpkins in my childhood garden to understand why pumpkins need their very own patch. Pumpkins have a vast and wandering root system and pretty soon our whole garden and our next-door-neighbor’s garden were overrun with pumpkins. In the interest of sanity and neighborly good will, we never planted them again.

But in our one “Year of the Pumpkin,” we carved a bunch of them, gave away quite a few and roasted tons of pumpkin seeds. Funny thing is, we never actually ate the pumpkin. Maybe it was the power of Libby’s (the canned food folks) advertising campaign.

Eventually my love affair with pumpkin came to include roasting the Sugar Baby, my favorite variety. Sugar Baby pumpkins are about 6 to 8 inches in diameter, have dense, sweet meat without a lot of seeds, and are incredibly delicious when roasted.

Some days at my bakery in Pasadena, Old Town Bakery, I’d cut a hunk off one right out of the oven, plop a piece of sweet butter on top, sprinkle on a little salt, nutmeg and white pepper and contemplate the true miracle of Mother Nature.

Every bakery in Los Angeles undoubtedly bakes a lot of pumpkin pies at holiday time, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I was a pumpkin fanatic. Each year during the holidays, I’d reserve at least three giant produce containers, each with a thousand pounds of my favorite Sugar Babies inside.

We’d crank out hundreds and hundreds of pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheesecakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin seed bread and pumpkin cakes for the four-day holiday period.

I can still picture it: six 40-gallon trash cans full of pumpkin pie filling rolling in and out of the walk-in fridge, every baker’s rack filled with sheet pans of freshly roasted sugar baby pumpkins and me in the center of it for four days straight.

Think of the relentless procession of brooms in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (you do remember “Fantasia”?) and replace the brooms with pumpkins. Got it?

That was my life for four days each year while I owned the bakery. I think you could say I just got pumpkin-ed out. But now, back in the relative sanity of my own kitchen, as we begin those (at least slightly) cooler days of autumn in Southern California, it is again pumpkin season in my heart.

As I began to prepare the pumpkins for these recipes, the old pumpkin fanaticism began to stir. Perhaps I should lead a campaign to popularize the pumpkin.

Why not let the world know that a pumpkin mash like the one included here would complement lamb chops or a pork loin with a rich subtlety that mashed potatoes could only dream of? Why let butternut and other winter squashes, or potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes get all the credit when pumpkins can do so much more?

Fortunately I came to my senses before I had a chance to start calling the markets to demand year-round access to pumpkins.

The truth is that having a limited time to cook and bake with pumpkins imbues them with something special. You’d better get while the gettin’ is good or wait till next year. I have a feeling that having a big crate of pumpkins week in and week out at the market would take all the fun out of it for me.

So the way I see it, now is exactly the right time to bake a pumpkin pie or make a huge pumpkin pancake feast, just as summer is the time for blueberries. Why mess with Mother Nature?

I’ll try to get my fill of this season’s pumpkins and then, around next August, I’ll start anticipating the first slab of pumpkin hot from the oven. I can just about taste it.

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Pumpkin Puree

Any kind of pumpkin can be pureed, but my favorite pumpkin variety is the Sugar Baby, which is about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. An 8-inch pumpkin will yield 4 to 6 cups of pumpkin flesh for your puree. Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen for future use.

To make the puree, place the pumpkin on a jellyroll pan and bake at 375 degrees for at least two hours. The pumpkin is done when it is soft and yielding to the touch, the skin has a burnished look and the stem can be easily removed when you tug it off. (If you are making the soup recipe, reserve the “pumpkin juice” in the bottom of the pan.)

You will find it much easier to scoop out the seeds and “string” and separate the pumpkin flesh from the skin if you allow the pumpkin to cool in the refrigerator overnight or for at least several hours.

After the pumpkin has cooled, remove the seeds and string (putting the seeds aside for roasting if you like) and cut the pumpkin flesh away from the skin. Place the chunks of soft pumpkin in a large bowl. An immersion blender is the perfect tool for turning your pumpkin into puree. If you don’t have one, a regular blender or a food processor will do the job.

Pumpkin Pie

Active Work Time: 35 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 15 minutes plus 1 hour 30 minutes chilling

PIE FILLING

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup half and half

3 eggs

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

* Whisk together pumpkin, half and half, eggs, syrup, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves until smooth. Set aside until pie crust is ready to be filled.

PIE CRUST

1 cup flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into cubes

3 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon whipping cream

Nonstick cooking spray

* Using pastry blender, combine flour, butter, sugar and salt in mixing bowl until it forms little balls resembling crumble topping. Whisk together egg yolk and whipping cream and add to flour mixture. Mix until dough forms into ball; do not over-mix or dough will be tough. Flatten dough into disk, wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour in refrigerator.

* Generously flour rolling pin and work surface. Roll dough into circle 11 to 12 inches in diameter. Keep dough well-floured and rotate it several times as you roll in order to maintain a relatively even circle. Don’t overwork dough, and don’t worry about holes or unevenness. Roll dough gently over pin and center it over 8-inch pie pan that has been lightly greased with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in pan with some draping over sides. Gently fold excess dough around pan edge; don’t worry about uniformity since this is a rustic pie. Freeze 30 minutes.

* Remove crust from freezer. Pour filling into crust. Set pie pan on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until crust is golden brown, about 40 minutes.

8 servings. Each serving: 305 calories; 453 mg sodium; 162 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.79 gram fiber.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 35 minutes

Serve these with honey butter and maple syrup or create your own topping by blending butter with other ingredients: ground cinnamon, chopped dates, grated citrus zest and juice or toasted nuts.

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2 3/4 cups milk

4 eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

* Whisk together pumpkin, butter, milk and eggs in large bowl.

* In separate bowl, thoroughly mix cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, flour and baking powder. Add to wet mixture and gently combine. Do not over-mix or pancakes will be rubbery.

* Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto greased skillet set over medium heat. Cook pancakes until bubbly on top, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip, then cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Keep pancakes warm in oven, if necessary, while cooking the rest.

2 dozen (4-inch) pancakes. Each pancake: 166 calories; 138 mg sodium; 48 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.30 gram fiber.

Pumpkin Soup

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) can be found in most supermarkets and Latino markets.

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup half and half

3 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/3 cup finely chopped toasted pepitas, for garnish

* Melt butter over medium heat in 5-quart saucepan. Whisk flour and curry powder into melted butter, stirring constantly 1 minute. Add chicken broth, vegetable broth and half and half and continue to whisk. Scrape bottom of pan with rubber spatula so nothing sticks.

* Add pumpkin, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well and bring to a simmer, simmering 1 minute until surface of soup is bubbling slightly. Serve immediately, garnishing each bowl with a sprinkling of pepitas.

8 (1-cup) servings. Each serving: 179 calories; 702 mg sodium; 19 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 1.66 grams fiber.

Pumpkin Mash

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Substitute half and half or whipping cream for the milk to make a richer dish. This can take the place of the usual sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving. Dress it up with a marshmallow topping or a little more crystallized ginger on top.

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon finely minced crystallized ginger

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons milk

* Warm puree in saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in ginger, pepper, salt, butter and milk until well blended. Serve immediately or keep warm until serving.

4 (1/2-cup) servings. Each serving: 105 calories; 366 mg sodium; 16 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 1.99 grams fiber.