Notes from a Food Diva: Pumpkin Patch

Google’s list of local pumpkin patches is impressive, but when we read of 6,000 pumpkins at a church on Stewart Avenue in Garden City, we said, “That’s the one.”

A profusion of wooden pallets was arranged attractively on grassy church grounds with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes displayed on top. Petite ones, only as big as oranges, were hung on a tree like Christmas ornaments. 

People were buying three, four and more, while wood wagons were provided for selecting and transporting. On Oct. 15th, a second shipment of 3,000 pumpkins will arrive at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Nassau County. This is the big fundraiser that pays the minister’s salary.

Pumpkin in hand, we sat on a bench underneath a tree, nibbling a chocolate chip pumpkin muffin and listening to three drummers. One was the president of the congregation, who asked where we were from and he turned out to be Douglastonian Bob Coddington's brother.

I grew squash only this year in my garden upstate. There was spaghetti squash that climbed up the wire fence as well as the elongated, dangling honeydew-looking squash. There were buttery looking, buttery tasting butternut squash, an acorn squash, a lone cucumber and, for good measure, a most incredible zucchini plant. It produced almost 100 pounds of squash.

The first one weighed 11 1/2 pounds. I gave that to veterinarian Dick Lang, who grew up on a farm, loves to ride a tractor and is still a farmer at heart. Then, there were nine big ones with one on the vine that I’ll bring back on my next trip.

But no pumpkin.

My grandmother used to grow cheese pumpkins on the compost heap. They were flatter than the jack o' lantern type that is most frequently grown today. Their color was beige, not orange. They have been called the finest pumpkin for cooking and I happen to agree.

I've been cooking a lot of pumpkin the last few seasons. I like to remove the seeds, cut them into 3x3-inch pieces and steam them. Surprisingly, at Halloween pot luck suppers, it‘s very popular with butter, salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg.

Next year, I’ll cut off the top of a medium one, remove the seeds, salt and pepper it. Then, I’ll bake it at 300 degrees until it’s done (start to check after about 45 minutes). I’ll present it on a board or tray, tucking a few autumn leaves around the base.

But for this year’s pot luck, I’m serving my butternut squash, cooking three halves and arranging them on a tray with a mixture of sautéed onion, pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts with raisins in the center.  I'll cut them in slices, about an inch thick, and provide tongs for serving.

The most popular recipe that utilizes the fall crop is, undoubtedly, pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. In Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House recipe book, she talks of sprinkling bits of candied ginger on top, which is a good way to personalize a store-bought pumpkin pie.

Soup is next. At a recent gala with six French chefs at the helm, the first course was a pumpkin celery root soup by Alain Sailhac, who was formerly chef at Le Cirque, the 21 Club and the Plaza Hotel. It was magnificent - thick and creamy, yet light and airy. Two 50-cent-size croutons floated majestically, side-by-side, center top.

However, the pumpkin soup that fascinates me is one that I found in a 1972 copy of an early Ruth Reichl cookbook, “Mmmmmm: A Feastiary.” For this recipe, you hollow out a pumpkin and fill it with layers of bread and cheese, add cream, then bake it and serve it right from the pumpkin, spooning it into each person’s soup bowl. Whenever I see pumpkins adorning Douglaston doorsteps, I promise myself that I’m going to make it. 

This is the year.

With or without it on the menu, I use pumpkins for décor at this time of year. For a centerpiece, I'm likely to remove the top from a pumpkin and put a small bowl filled with water in it and tuck autumn leaves in with a bit of ornamental grass. Or, I just place on the table a pumpkin draped with a lovely bunch of plump purple grapes.

With Halloween now being number two on the most celebrated days of the year, I think outside as well as inside.

At a garage sale eons ago, I bought the most magnificent pottery pumpkin about a foot-and-a-half across for $1. You could lift off the cover with the leaf on top. It was the perfect soup tureen, so I photographed it for an October article in the Daily News. I still have the tureen and put it in the front window at Halloween time, set on a pile of books so it’s viewable for trick and treaters.

Happy Pumpkin Day!

Ruth Reichl’s Pumpkin Soup

Go out and buy a small pumpkin with a flat bottom. Cut off the top as you would if you were going to carve a jack-o’ lantern and hollow it out. Spread the seeds out and dry them to eat later.

Now get a good loaf of French bread, slice it and toast it lightly. Grate a goodly amount of one of the Swiss cheeses (Emmenthal, Gruyere or Appenzeller). Layer the toast and cheese inside the pumpkin until it’s almost full. Then, fill the pumpkin up with cream. Now add salt, pepper and nutmeg, replace the top of the pumpkin and bake it in a 300-degree oven for two to two-and-a-half hours.

Bring the whole pumpkin to the table. When you serve it, be sure to scoop out the pumpkin flesh with the cheese and cream. Serve with a light second course.