Autumn and Winter Vegetables - 2 - Spuashes and Pumpkins

Winter Vegetables – 2 – Squashes and Pumpkins

I have come to this group of vegetables late in my life and late in my growing experience. My daughter and a neighbour on my allotment field have introduced me to the delights of them. My favourite vegetables are brassicas, closely followed by the allium family and potatoes. After that come the legumes (beans and peas). So, you can see that those fruiting vegetables come a long way down my hierarchy of favourites. Of course I grow tomatoes and peppers and chillies. I use them, dry them for use in the winter or freeze them for dishes in the winter.

I have given up growing aubergines. I did produce some excellent crops of these in my poly tunnel in warm years but, I found that I was not seduced by them and gave most away. I don’t dislike them but, when they are available there is so much more stuff I prefer.

Until last year, this same principal applied to squashes and pumpkins. It was a challenge to grow lots of different varieties but, somewhere along the line there have been some varieties I have learned to love , want to grow because I want to eat them and hope to store them for winter eating.

My favourites, by a long way are Butternut Squash – there are several different varieties of these and all of the ones I’ve grown have been excellent though, disappointingly, each plant produces – for me anyway, no more than 2 fruits. Okay, I can plan for that but, last year my germination rate for pumpkins and squashes was definitely not good – no more than 30%. And when you consider that in each packet of seed you get no more than 5 or 6 seeds, this is definitely not enough to see me through the winter.

Last year, I was totally impressed by pumpkin ‘Baby Bear’ which produces smallish fruits suitable for eating in one meal – I loved them but, this spring the germination rate was 0%. Instead I had ‘Hooligan’ which were similar in size but had much harder skins. They were similarly prolific – each plant producing 4 or 5 fruits. Their skin is unbelievably tough but, the flesh is excellent. I’ve also grown Justynka – not amazingly prolific but it does produce a range of sizes for medium to small and is quite delicious.

Already I have bought a range of different seeds for next year, including those which have not done so well this year. 2011 was a difficult year so I feel it is important to grow a range of vegetables which might be successful. Long range weather forecasters are suggesting that we might be into an extended period of unpredictable weather so, it is probably in our own interests to plan accordingly.

Anyway, do try some delicious and seasonal recipes for squashes and pumpkins:

Butternut Squash  Soup

1 Medium to large butternut squash ( well this depends on the average you have produced on your plot)

 2  Large potatoes ( the floury variety)

1 litre ( 2 pints) chicken or vegetable stock

1 medium Chilli pepper ( my choice is for Joe’s Long, I find them reliably medium hot even in cool years)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chopped coriander

 2 – 3 cloves of garlic

150 ml ( ¼ pint double cream) if you wish you can add milk to deduce the fat content.

A dollop of crème fraishe to garnish.

Method

·         Wash and cut the squash in half lengthways. Remove the seeds.

·         Peel the garlic cloves and put them in the seed spaces of the squashes to raost.

·         Roast the squash – oven 180ºC  no 5 gas for 25 to 30 mins.

·         In the meantime, wash, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes.

·         Put the potatoes into a large saucepan with the stock, chilli and seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer gently.

·         When the squash is cooked and soft, scoop it (with the roasted garlic), into the saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes or so to blend the flavours.

·         Put through a blender or blitz with a hand blender until smooth. If you don’t have electronic equipment, just mash the ingredients well.

·         Correct the seasoning to taste and serve.

·         Garnish with chopped coriander and a dollop of crème fraishe

·         Serve with hot crusty brown or white bread.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Potatoes – this recipe came from Philip Drew, but I can’t find his original so this is my take on his idea

1 – 2 medium onions - red onions for preference – peeled and cut into chunks

½ kilo suitable roasting potatoes – washed, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 medium butternut squash – sliced, peeled and deseeded then cut into chunks

1 garlic bulb – separate the cloves and skin them

A good dollop of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Prepare the vegetables.

·         Heat the oil in a roasting pan until hot - 200ºC, No 6 gas

·         Toss the prepared squash, onions and potatoes in the hot oil.

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and return to the oven.

·         Cook for a further 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and crunchy ( this will depend on the size you have cut them.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.

Note – an excellent choice for Christmas dinner

Squash and  Chicken Breast Parcels

This is a low fat main dish par excellence, but very, very tasty and satisfying.

Per person you will need:

1 chicken breast – without skin – left whole

3 slices of butternut squash (1cm thick - ½inch) skinned and sliced – OR - use the flesh from a range of squashes or pumpkins instead with excellent results

1 piece of fruit – a pear, apple or peach / nectarine – washed and sliced – leave the skin on.

3 – 4 medium mushrooms – wiped and sliced

3 – 4 mini tomatoes or one regular sliced

Herbs – be generous (my choice is for a mixture of lemon thyme, tarragon and marjoram with parsley, but do use you own favourites)

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

A knob of butter – if you must!

Method

·         You will need a sheet of tinfoil or greaseproof paper for each portion. Spread it out and add the prepared ingredients – it really doesn’t matter what order you add them to the pile.

·         Season well and add your chosen herbs.

·         Close the parcel and put in an oven proof dish.

·         Bake in a preheated oven 180ºC,  No 5 gas for about an hour.

·         Remove from the ‘parcel’ onto the plate and serve with mashed or baked potatoes and green vegetables.

Note  This makes an excellent supper party dish wrapped in greaseproof paper where each guest has their own parcel.

·         The flavouring ingredients can be changed – spices and chillies, peppers, curry spices, a different range of fruit, grated lemon or orange rind, etc. You can put sliced or tiny potatoes into the parcel. They will take longer to cook and will absorb the juices from the ingredients making a drier dish but, the upside is that the whole dish is cooked together.

Autumn harvesting

I have just returned from a reasonably long holiday in Andalucia (southern Spain) well! It was long for me anyway, I’m not usually away for more than a couple of days. I returned in the middle of the night to a cat in tears as he had been mauled by (apparently) another cat and was desperately in need of a vet. Although not injured, my other cats were equally upset. They so put the guilt trip on me! Really I hadn’t left them unattended. My cat carer is very competent and kind, just not the person they wanted.

It is autumn. When I visited my plot I was dismayed by how overgrown it was. Grass paths are rampant, weeds have taken over, caulis have overgrown, cucumbers are overripe, runner beans are too mature, tomatoes are too, too many.

I have collected several buckets full of several varieties of tomatoes and have found homes for most of them, not least, several more tubs of frozen tomato pulp for use in the winter. I’ve noticed that the runner-bean poles on the plots of many of my neighbours have fallen over. Mine would have too if I hadn’t propped them up but, in any case, the beans are not worth harvesting – too mature, too stringy, too hard. No worries, I will dismantle the canes and compost the rest of the crop. I have already harvested and dried my Borlotto beans. They are good, though I think I will look for a climbing variety next year – so much easier to dry for winter use. I see that my Yinyang (Orca) beans are almost ready. I worry that the weather might be too damp for successful drying. I have not seen climbing varieties of these beans but, when they lie on the ground in damp weather they are more likely to go mouldy.

There is a load of stuff to deal with now. I have harvested most of my squashes and pumpkins. Really I’m not interested in the huge varieties for competitions, nor the large pretty ones for Hallowe’en lanterns. I am looking for the small fruits which will store easily for use as a winter vegetable. My favourites are butternut squashes. This year the germination rate was not good and from a couple of plants I have ended up with only 4 squashes. If you do have a good crop you mean to store, make sure they are dry and store in a frost free environment out of direct sunlight. Check them regularly for rot and don’t store in direct sunlight, on a wooden or on a carpeted surface. If they do break down they will destroy those surfaces. I intend to store mine in a dark attic room on top of cardboard. I do hope they will last for the winter as they are staple vegetable for winter.

Talking about staples for winter, I have now lifted all my potatoes including my Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona which are both late maincrops. When lifting them, separate the damaged ones – slug damaged or by digging implement - and use these immediately as they will not keep and will damage your stored potatoes. Make sure they are dry before you store them in hessian or paper sacks and store in cool, dark frost free conditions. Mine are going into my attic room. Gosh, it is going to be packed when I have finished. Hopefully they will keep well into the new year, unless I have eaten them all first.

For the first time, this year, I have enough carrots to store. Goodness, this has never happened to me before. I do have some damage from carrot root-fly but, I have been harvesting Purple Haze from my raised carrot bed with little damage. Although not huge roots, they have excellent texture and flavour. My Resistafly and Flyaway have been good, although, obviously I hadn’t prepared the bed well enough as the carrots, although excellent flavour and strong roots are really very forked.

My carrots – Creme de Lite (F1 from Dobies) planted straight into a well prepared bed on the flat ground have been excellent. There has been some carrot root fly damage but the carrots have been huge, flavoursome and tender. I do recommend them. I will leave them in the ground as long as I can manage. I’m not yet sure how I will store them. If the winter is going to be as bad as has been predicted then I don’t think that a sand-pit or my shed will suffice. They might also have to go in bags in my attic room.