Real Pumpkin Pie, Not From the Can

This Thanksgiving I made a couple pumpkin pies with pumpkins from the farm.  It was a smashing sucess.  I am not a great recipe follower when it comes to flavoring pies and I tend to forget to write things down or measure.  So here is a recipe that I found, not the one I used.  I believe I used nutmeg and allspice.  And you can use honey or substitute brown sugar, though probably not is the same proportions.  For those of you with a Winter Produce Share you will find pumpkin in your December share.  Thanksgiving is not the only time to try making a pumpkin pie!   

 

Fresh Pumpkin Pie  

Ingredients

• 1 medium sugar pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup honey, warmed slightly
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender.
2. In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Beat in eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Pour filling into pie shell.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Harvest Days

The goal on the farm for the next couple weeks is to harvest everything that is still out there.  We have rows and rows of beets and carrots which we harvest and stack in our root cellar, storing them for the winter months.  There are also still cabbages and leeks in the field as well as the greens that are still showing up in the share.  Other than that much of the share is now being pulled out of the root cellar, instead of the ground.  The garlic in the share this week is strong in flavor and potency.  It was planted last November, harvested in July and left to dry in the barn since then.  Last week we cut all the garlic down and sorted it into groups.  The largest bulbs with the most cloves went in one bucket, to be separated into individual cloves and planted to grow more garlic.  Then we planted most of that garlic.  The rest of the bulbs were cut and placed in buckets to distribute to you all for the next couple weeks.  In the share this week we included sweet potatoes.  Sweet potatoes are a hot-climate crop and I was excited to embrace the challenge of growing them in a cool climate with a short growing season.  There are so many things that can be done with these little gems.  I am excited that they were such a success. 

Here on the farm we are harvesting and putting the farm to sleep.  We have one more week of CSA distribution for the main season.  We are all sold out of our Winter Vegetable and Egg Shares and are very excited about the Winter Shares.  If you are interested in a Winter Chicken Share or a Winter Meat Share and you have questions please let us know!