Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Thursday 25 October 2007

Pumpkins. . . Squash. . . Cucurbits. . .

Whatever you call them they are the vegetable of the season. This is our 2007 Squash Harvest. The huge dark green one is the fabulously tasty "Zucca Marina di Chioggia" (and with a name like that so it should be!), such a shame there's only one. The lovely stripy yellow ones are "Winter Festival" - not quite as flavourful but a good size to cook stuffed. The lovely dark orange one with the grey/green centre was a bit of a surprise! Either I lost the label or it was a rogue seed. If anyone recognises it, please let me know.


On a cold dark autumn evening what could be better than squash risotto, or squash and potato mash, or squash soup, or squash added to a curry or tagine, or these squash, raisin and pecan muffins.



Hannah has requested that I post the recipe (I'm in awe of Hannah's baking skills, so if you want to see some treats visit her blog). So here goes, I haven't time to unscramble the mixed measurements - this is just how I do it!
In a bowl sift 5 oz plain flour (I used half wholemeal/half white), half a desertspoon of baking powder, 1 and a bit oz caster sugar and a sprinkle of mixed spice.
In another bowl put 2 eggs, a third of a cup of sunflower oil, two thirds of a cup of semi-skimmed milk, about two cups (I didn't measure this) of cooked squash (I bake squash in the oven then de-seed and skin). Beat together with a balloon whisk.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ones. And fold gently together, add some raisins as you do this, you must not stir too much, leaving bits unmixed is good.
Spoon into muffin tins and decorate with pecans. Cook at about 190 C until they have risen and smell delicious and a bamboo skewer stabbed into the middle comes out clean! Enjoy!

On 30th October 2007 that amazingly talented gardener, Matron of 'Down on the Allotment', is hosting a Squashblog, a chance to see cucurbits of every shape and colour from garden bloggers around the world!

31st October 2007 . . .
And this is our Halloween Pumpkin - a "Winter Festival" squash baked whole in the oven. Carefully cut off the lid and scoop out the seeds and fill with the flesh from the lid . . . and . . . izzy-whizzy!!!*!*!*!*!*! An instant ready-filled pumpkin tureen!

13 comments:

  1. Your varied squashes make a nice composition! I am having squash (mashes with salt & pepper) with my dinner in two minutes. Muffins lok tempting too.

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  2. You had a lovely squash crop this year. Thanks for posting the muffin recipe. I will try it - I love pumpkin muffins.

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  3. You are so clever, Celia, all our squash plants rotted before even flowering this year.

    Love the giant one. Just like Cinderella’s coach!

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  4. I have been making roasted red pepper and roasted butternut squash soup, it's absolutely GORGEOUS. Next year I will definitely be growing squash - they were one of those things I wouldn't touch as a child, but with my newly found adult wisdom I realised I was just being insanely picky! I really missed out!

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  5. These look delicious Celia - I will definitely be making them!
    xxx

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  6. Great crop of squash!
    The muffins look tasty too!

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  7. There are few tastes I enjoy as much as pumpkin and squash and there are so many different kinds of recipes to enjoy them. Thank you for sharing this one.

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  8. Hi Meg - we were disappointed with the crop until I cleared the "Squash Mound" and found more than we knew were there!

    Hi Kate - I like experimenting with this basic recipe, and the pumpkin gives them a lovely orange colour!

    Hi CS - what a shame about your squash plants. I had very few plants survive this year. And the under-gardeners took a liking to embryo squashes. Some of those that survived still bear the scars

    Hi Lucy - it's well worth growing your squash and there are so many lovely shapes. I've never succeeded with Butternut, but Zucca Marina di Chioggia tastes wonderful. Another good one for flavour is Crown Prince. And for looks Turks Turban is extraordinary!

    Hi Hannah - compared to your baking these are Cinderella muffins - you could wave a magic wand and sprinkle magic glitter on them!!!!

    Hi Nicisme - everyone's celebrating pumpkins and squash this month!

    Hi Becca - thanks for visiting. Isn't it amazing how a little seed planted at the end of May can produce such amazing fruits in 4 months!

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  9. Hey Celia, I've been cooked for by Hannah so there!! I can vouch that she is a tremendous baker and a top lass.

    Oh, that art you mentioned - it was luck!

    Cheers
    David

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  10. Hi David - just a quick look at Hannah's blog and it's obvious she's a Premier League cake maker!

    Your recipes are pretty good too :)

    Celia

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  11. Wow, these little muffins look lovely, I am going to copy and paste the recipe, unfortunately I only had about half a dozen summer squash on my plants this year, a disappointment being an understatement! We are having pumpkin soup with our meal this evening, I confess it has been bought from Sainsburys, I have had no time to scoop out my own pumpkin this year, too much time taken up blogging! Louise

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  12. love the look (sound) of those muffins

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  13. Hi Louise and Ed - It's worth experimenting with this muffin recipe - I use different sorts of flour and flavourings and vary the oil/milk ratio. Have fun!

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