__________________
I’m all about seasonal eating. But for me, seasonal foods are about more than just the rhythms of agricultural growing seasons. Some foods just feel more right at some times of the year than others. When I woke up this morning to a crisp but drizzly day, I knew that toast season had officially kicked in. Now I know, toast is something you can eat everyday regardless of weather or season. Its not like the difference between a ripe, lush, juicy summer tomato and a wan, pale, flavorless winter one. And I don’t mean to imply that I don’t eat toast the rest of the year, as an accompaniment to eggs or encasing a sandwich. Cause I do. But once the weather turns and gets this perfect mix of cool and damp and crisp, toast becomes an event in and of itself. Best eaten curled up, in a chair, with a book. Today, a little Doris Lessing, in remembrance.
Oh, also, I know that for some people toast can be a sparse, ascetic experience. But that’s so not what I’m talking about here. Thick slices of brown bread toasted and served alongside clunky pottery bowls of chunky broccoli soup. White toast saturated with butter, and topped with homemade preserves. Or this week, pumpkin butter, which I made a batch of for a story, and am very glad to have at hand.
One of the greatest things that you can do with a sugar pumpkin is make this pumpkin butter. It’s like spreading a piece of pumpkin pie on your morning toast, but you can also use it in recipes: add a scoop to your basic waffle or pancake batter, use it to top chicken or pork dishes or swirl a spoonful into butternut squash soup. Unlike other preserves, pumpkin butter isn’t particularly shelf stable, so you’ll have to store it in the fridge. This recipe makes 3-4 cups.
What You Will Need:
1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 3 pounds)
2 cups apple cider
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
6 1/4-inch thick slices fresh ginger
1 tsp Smoked Cinnamon – No “18″ from La Boîte à Epices
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
Vegetable peeler
Knife
Large spoon for scooping
Large saucepan with lid
Immersion or Standing blender
Jars or containers
What To Do:
Peel off the skin of your pumpkin with a vegetable peeler. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon. (Save the seeds for roasting and snacking!)
Chop the pumpkin into 1- 2-inch cubes. Place the pumpkin cubes in a large heavy saucepan, along with the cinnamon sticks and ginger. Pour the apple cider over the pumpkin cubes.
Bring to a simmer, cover the saucepan and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Puree mixture with hand blender, or blend in standing blender in 2-3 batches, and return to pot.
Add the maple syrup, brown sugar, and spices and simmer gently over low heat, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, occasionally stirring and scraping the bottom. The finished butter will be thick and spreadable.
Place in jars or sealed containers and keep in the fridge.
