After Halloween I brought home large pumpkins for 50 cents each. I took one look at those cast-offs and said, "Whoa! That's food for a week!"
So I am roasting one of them right now. I can hear the coconut oil I brushed over the quartered chunks sizzling on the baking sheet right now, and I can't wait for the aroma of roasted pumpkin to fill the house.
And I thought I'd give another try at roasting the seeds. I have not tried it in a very long time. Many years ago I tried a couple of times, only to have them come out rather unpleasantly. Sort of like mulch.
I would love to collect some pumpkin seed recipes, tips and techniques if you've got some you love.
Meanwhile, I'm housecleaning and sewing. I repaired Michael's frock coat for our annual Civil War Christmas Ball this weekend. I also did some work on my cape. I was just getting ready to put it all away when Michael requested repairs to the down jacket I found for him at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago.
Picking up feathers and watching the snow come down,
~Faith
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Hi Faith, talk about pumpkins, I had something growing voluntarily which I thought was some kind of melon, but now turns out to be pumpkin, I think. So I'll be looking out for recipes soon...(will post photos later)
ReplyDeleteHave fun at the Ball
I haven't roasted pumpkin seeds for a long time. I remember spreading them in a single layer and spraying them with olive oil and sea salt. They came out well, but they do have quite a lot of fiber....
ReplyDeleteHope to see pictures from the ball, sounds like wonderful fun.
ReplyDeleteI love salted pumpkin seeds - but don't know how to make them.
Ooh...I know I saw several recipes/tips for roasting them, but I don't think I kept them. Dang! I have 5 smallish pumpkins I should bake and just have not had the gumption to do it. Let me know how yours come out, eh?
ReplyDeleteGrandpa,
ReplyDeleteAren't volunteers great surprise gifts!
Usually when I get them they are a cross between a pumpkin and a zucchini. I call them Zucchins. They are really tasty!
~Faith
Chai,
ReplyDeleteProbably not too many photos this year. I'm still waiting on camera repair. But I'll try to take some with Michael's camera.
~Faith
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI think I got the spreading them out part down. But the rest... not so much. LOL
~Faith
Cyn,
ReplyDeleteThey came out Fantastic! Well, almost fantastic. I threw them in the trash. They made fantastic trash. :oP
Would love a good recipe....
~Faith
Please post the recipes if you find some! hehehehe
ReplyDeleteSFG,
ReplyDeleteI came up completely dry on the recipes. Nary a one was offered. I guess all my commenters are as clueless as I am.
My batch turned out like mulch again. I now know one more way NOT to make them. LOL
~Faith
I love roasted pumpkin seeds. I don't know if you will like the way I make them, but around here, if you want some you need to be waiting around for them to get done.
ReplyDeleteI put them in a microwave safe bowl, in small batches, spray or mix with a little olive oil, sprinkle with seasoned salt and garlic powder, and cook by minutes in the microwave stirring and watching that they don't burn.
I do this with squash seeds too.
the way i make roasted pumpkin seeds is different from the way most people do- which is spread them out on baking sheets and sprinkle them with salt. this makes them tasty but they are like sandpaper on your mouth so i did something like what the Indian and Davis brand of pumphin seeds are like.
ReplyDeleteI boil mine in a salt water brine. i never remember the ratio of salt to water, but i use as many seeds as i can and use enough water to cover them. the way i test for the correct salt level is if my stainless steel stirring spoon comes out of the boiling water and has a fair coating of salt haze on it (it dries almost immediately due to the heat of the saturated salt water).
if you are adventurous you could add cayenne powder or white pepper (or any other dried herb or spice might be fun to experiment with) to the brine while you are boiling...
i boil the seeds until the hulls are mostly translucent. Then i strain the seeds in a collander (don't rinse) and immediately spread them on trays (with a spatula not hands, very hot) and into a 350 degree oven. the trays have foil on then cause i am lazy and i coat the foil with canola oil spray.
they will stick together a bit but release once they begin to dry out in the hot oven, stir them now and then. you can raise the temperature too if you want browned hulls... i prefer mine only very lightly toasted. they will crackle when they are done.
if you think you have oversalted them, just rinse the batch and dry them out again.
i do make sure to clean the seeds from the pulp as well as i can but i rinse them in water before adding them to the boiling salt water, the boiling water will clean them but it foams up more and the seeds don't present as well when finished if they have strands and clumps of brown pulp on them. but thats the way i have been making pumpkin seeds since i was around 15.