I was shocked and horrified to read Nick McLaren's diatribes against
pumpkin pie. He obviously has never had good pumpkin pie. Or else he
was frightened by a rabid pumpkin as a small lad.

To set the record straight, here's *my* recipe for pumpkin pie:

Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs, beaten slightly
½ to ¾ cup sugar (3/4 cup is a little too sweet)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt

1 lb canned pumpkin
1 cup whole milk


Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9-inch raw pie shell. (Frozen is fine.)
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350–375F and
bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 45 minutes more.


Some remarks: this is my mother's recipe, slightly modified to use
less sugar; it originated in a 1930 cookbook, "Good Housekeeping
Recipes Tested and Approved." In that book, it's called Philadelphia
pumpkin pie and has the additional instruction to separate the eggs,
beat the whites, and fold them into the rest of the ingredients. A
near-souffle, iow.

Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
much work, when you consider that high quality canned pumpkin is
available everywhere for next to nothing. It's a real bargain food.

Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

These days, such delights as pie crust are verboten for health
reasons, so I mix the filling and bake it with no crust -- a sort-of
baked pumpkin custard.


Last summer, I grew an excellent squash 'Ambercup' and used the same
recipe for them. Halved them, removed pulp and seeds, and baked them
in a slow oven until soft, then ran the flesh through a food mill. The
flavor is slightly different from pumpkin, but almost the same.
Equally good, with the added pleasure of having grown your own.

Any urgler travelling to these parts is kindly invited to partake of
these delectable dishes, but please give me a little advance warning
before you show up -- a few hours is all that's required.



--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

Rodger Whitlock wrote:

I was shocked and horrified to read Nick McLaren's diatribes against
pumpkin pie. He obviously has never had good pumpkin pie. Or else he
was frightened by a rabid pumpkin as a small lad.

To set the record straight, here's *my* recipe for pumpkin pie:
[snip]
Some remarks: this is my mother's recipe, slightly modified to use
less sugar;

The standard one I've eaten must use several kg of cane sugar. I'm with
Nick on this one. The English have a sweet tooth but the US "pumpkin
pie" is beyond the pale and sickly sweet. Even fudge tastes savoury by
comparison.

Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
much work, when you consider that high quality canned pumpkin is
available everywhere for next to nothing. It's a real bargain food.

Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

We can grow them. There isn't much call for canned pumpkin as no-one can
really stomach pumpkin pie - even those of us that are quite omnivorous.

Thanks for the pie recipe but I prefer my pumpkins with ginger as winter
soup.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message

Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs, beaten slightly
½ to ¾ cup sugar (3/4 cup is a little too sweet)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt

1 lb canned pumpkin
1 cup whole milk


Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9-inch raw pie shell. (Frozen is fine.)
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350-375F and
bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 45 minutes more.


Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
much work,

Please dont tell everyone that. I raise them and my wife cooks them the way
she wants them. That way we control the salt and other preservatives we eat
rather than buying it.

These days, such delights as pie crust are verboten for health
reasons, so I mix the filling and bake it with no crust -- a sort-of
baked pumpkin custard.

That is the way we do it also. Very good and good for you.

Have fun, Dwayne
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
Rodger Whitlock wrote:

snip

Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

We can grow them. There isn't much call for canned pumpkin as no-one can
really stomach pumpkin pie - even those of us that are quite omnivorous.


Speak for yourself - I like pumpkin pie, which, the way I make it, is like a
lighter less stodgy and slightly less sweet version of treacle tart,
decorated with pecans. I have found that people have been prejudiced against
pumpkin pie, but most have actually enjoyed it when they've tried it.

Thanks for the pie recipe but I prefer my pumpkins with ginger as winter
soup.


As I only need about 1 lb of pumpkin flesh for the pie, I usually manage pie
and soup (minus the ginger) from the same specimen. That's having your pie
and drinking it :-)

In article ,
lid (Rodger Whitlock) writes:
| I was shocked and horrified to read Nick McLaren's diatribes against
| pumpkin pie. He obviously has never had good pumpkin pie. Or else he
| was frightened by a rabid pumpkin as a small lad.

I certainly agree that I have never had good pumpkin pie. I can't
remember eating much pumpkin as a small lad, but I can't think why
not as the climate was ideal for growing them.

| To set the record straight, here's *my* recipe for pumpkin pie:

Thanks for your recipe, but I really don't like the taste of
sweetened pumpkin - like several other posters, I find it very
sickly.

| Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
| his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
| much work, when you consider that high quality canned pumpkin is
| available everywhere for next to nothing. It's a real bargain food.

Boggle. It is virtually no work at all if you cook the pumpkin
first, and not really all that much if you don't. Even slicing
it with a knife (see below) isn't all that difficult.

| Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

As far as I know, it is one of the few remaining ways in which UK
supermarkets do not force an inferior version of USA practice on
us. I believe that it was attempted.

| These days, such delights as pie crust are verboten for health
| reasons, so I mix the filling and bake it with no crust -- a sort-of
| baked pumpkin custard.

I am sorry to hear that.

| Any urgler travelling to these parts is kindly invited to partake of
| these delectable dishes, but please give me a little advance warning
| before you show up -- a few hours is all that's required.

Thank you.

In case anyone is interested, here is my recipe for pumpkin
soup, which can also use hubbard-type squashes and even marrow
if you increase the quantity of chilli - please note its
old-fashioned flavour, in that I give no quantities:

Fry some onions, sliced as rings until they start to soften
Add a good quantity of sliced pumpkin, carrot and potato if
wished, and continue to fry gently
Add some good ham or bacon stock, not too salty, to make it
the consistency you want
Add some tins of chopped tomatoes; fresh tomatoes would be
better, in season, but don't bother otherwise
Put in some thyme, bay leaves, freshly ground black pepper,
mustard seed, and well-flavoured hot chillis, to taste
Simmer until melded and the vegetables are soft

Most people would want to deseed the chillis, but I don't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Rodger Whitlock
writes

Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

I bought a tin in our local Indian supermarket a couple of years ago.
It was OK for what I wanted it for (not pumpkin pie) but I certainly
wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again. In any case, there are much
tastier things to put in a pie than pumpkin, IMO.
--
June Hughes

On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 22:34:24 GMT, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from lid (Rodger Whitlock) contains these words:

Some remarks: this is my mother's recipe, slightly modified to use
less sugar; it originated in a 1930 cookbook, "Good Housekeeping
Recipes Tested and Approved."

Sob...my 1960's copy was used so much its spine disintegrated and
the pages kept falling out, so I threw it away, but still miss it.

Hie ye to Alibris or ABEBooks.


Can you not get canned pumpkin in the UK?

I don't think so, certainly I've never seen it. So I only make
pumpkin pie when they are in season.

But pumpkins are much like good winter squash, and are therefore in
season five or six months a year. [Maybe. Now that I think about it, I
realize that I don't really know if pumpkins keep as well as, say,
those Ambercup squash I was raving about. Do they?]

BTW, I just baked the last two Ambercups on Wednesday and have the
processed flesh in the fridge pending further ingredientisation.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

In article ,
Rodger Whitlock wrote:

But pumpkins are much like good winter squash, and are therefore in
season five or six months a year. [Maybe. Now that I think about it, I
realize that I don't really know if pumpkins keep as well as, say,
those Ambercup squash I was raving about. Do they?]

GOOD winter squash? Surely you mean BAD winter squash, or don't you
grow good ones (C. maxima varieties, not C. pepo, as I understand it)?
None of the latter (which includes pumpkins) have anywhere near as
much flavour and 'solidity' as the hubbard types (which I think are
C. maxima). Butternut etc. are C. moschata, which I find slimy and
sickly.

I don't know Ambercup squash.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 03:00:21 GMT, "Dwayne" wrote:


"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message

Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
much work,

Please dont tell everyone that. I raise them and my wife cooks them the way
she wants them. That way we control the salt and other preservatives we eat
rather than buying it.

Canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened
and -spiced goop no self-respecting pumpkin pie lover would touch with
a ten-foot pole) doesn't have preservatives or salt or anything else
in it. Like a lot of canned vegetables, it's very pure.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 03:00:21 GMT, "Dwayne" wrote:


"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message

Note that the recipe calls for canned pumpkin. No North American in
his right mind bothers with processing his own pumpkin; it's way too
much work,

Please dont tell everyone that. I raise them and my wife cooks them the
way
she wants them. That way we control the salt and other preservatives we
eat
rather than buying it.

Canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened
and -spiced goop no self-respecting pumpkin pie lover would touch with
a ten-foot pole) doesn't have preservatives or salt or anything else
in it. Like a lot of canned vegetables, it's very pure.

Hi Rodger. I just looked at 3 cans of pumpkin(made by 3 different
companies) of pumpkin on the shelf in a store. They all say that that the
can contains "Pumpkin" or "Prepared Pumpkin", and they all include recipes
for making pumpkin pies.

They all say that they have added no preservatives. However one serving
size on one can lists 5 mg of sodium, the other two say 0 mg of socium
(sodium is a perservative). They all say one serving has 9 to 10
carbohydrates and they all say 4 g of sugar per serving (that could be the
natural sugar in the pumpkin, rather than added sugar). I guess it all
depends on who you buy it from, whether you find sodium in your canned
pumpkin or not.

If you would care to share your recipe Iam sure of the people who you said
werent in their right mind would love to have it.

Dwayne




--



Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

In article ,
Dwayne wrote:
"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message
...

Canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened
and -spiced goop no self-respecting pumpkin pie lover would touch with
a ten-foot pole) doesn't have preservatives or salt or anything else
in it. Like a lot of canned vegetables, it's very pure.

So is a pumpkin :-)

If you would care to share your recipe Iam sure of the people who you said
werent in their right mind would love to have it.

He did. Look back in this thread.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 18:10:07 GMT, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

...there are
butternut squashes in our local shop right now. IIRC Nick doesn't like
those either, I do. I haven't tried making pumpkin pie with butternut
squash.

Try it: works just fine, but of course then you have a squash pie, not
a pumpkin pie...

But if anybody tries to substitute zucchini, whammo. They're toast.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net

In article ,
Rodger Whitlock wrote:
On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 18:10:07 GMT, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

...there are
butternut squashes in our local shop right now. IIRC Nick doesn't like
those either, I do. I haven't tried making pumpkin pie with butternut
squash.

Try it: works just fine, but of course then you have a squash pie, not
a pumpkin pie...

They would clearly make a good pie, if you like the combination of
pumpkin and sweetness. It is pretty clear that I and many others
don't.

But if anybody tries to substitute zucchini, whammo. They're toast.

Nah. Not toast - they are FAR too soggy ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dwayne wrote:
"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message
...

Canned pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened
and -spiced goop no self-respecting pumpkin pie lover would touch with
a ten-foot pole) doesn't have preservatives or salt or anything else
in it. Like a lot of canned vegetables, it's very pure.

So is a pumpkin :-)

If you would care to share your recipe Iam sure of the people who you said
werent in their right mind would love to have it.

He did. Look back in this thread.

I saw that recipe, but it included salt which is considered to be a
preservative. I thought he may have had another recipe that he had not
posted, because in a later post he stated that canned pumpkin doesnt have
preservatives or salt or anything else in it.

Dwayne


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 6 Mar 2005 10:24:12 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

. ...it's very pure.

So is a pumpkin :-)

Given the notorious promiscuity of the squashes, I'm not so sure that
"pure" is an appropriate word.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
to send email, change atlantic to pacific
and invalid to net