Good Gourd!!

[tim]

No1 Daughter insists upon growing these.

Do I treat them just like Courgettes in all recipes??

[tim]

[Marymary]

Has it got a hard skin? With pumpkins & other winter squashes I usually cut them in chunks & roast them in a bit of olive oil before making soup or risotto.  I have got a couple ripening & looking forward to cosy autumn suppers of comfort food.

[supersprout]

It looks like a winter squash to me tim (and a lovely one too) - cut in half, scoop out seeds, bake and fill or butter? :)

[Diana]

Yep, definately treat like a pumpkin.

If you like deserts, try this (it was listed as a diabetic alternative to pumpkin pie, but I really like it for what it is - nutty + not too sweet):

2 lb Pumpkin, washed
2 Apples, cored, quartered
1/2 c Pineapple chunks
1/2 c Broken walnuts
1 ts Ground cinnamon
1/2 ts Ground nutmeg
1/4 ts Ground cloves
Cut the top off the pumpkin and remove the seeds.
Place cut side down i a baking pan and bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes or until soft.
With a metal spoon, scrape out the cooked pumpkin, leaving a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick shell.
Process the apples in a food processor until chunky.
Add the remaining ingredients and process until just mixed.
Spoon into the pumpkin shell. Cover with the top.
Bake in 400 F oven for 45 minutes or until the filling is hot.

1 serving 118 calories 18 gm carbohydrate, 3 gm protein, 5 gm fat, 3 mg

[undercarriage plan]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... lovely squash Tim!

I grow gourds for drying, I don't eat them... the kids at school make the most erm... amazing? instruments outta them and they sell dead well!

I've turned over third of the plot to them... fun playing hunt the gourd..  ::)

Squashes I bung in a tray,  drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and peppery stuff and roast for 30 mins, soups and casseroles, and other stuff I'm sure I forgot.. :-\

[tim]

Thanks for all that!

Yes, Mary - it does have a hard skin. So hard that it took every ounce of strength to get through it.

Meanwhile, I tried roasting & boiling little cubes. The roast ones browned well. The boiled were soft in 3 mins. Both tasted much like a parsnippy potato with a slight taninny after-taste. I don't think that they would hold their shape in a dish.

Yes, Lottie - No1 uses them in her 'still-lifes'. You may remember this one?

PS Can't believe the teaching that you should leave them for the first frost??
PPS Presumably you do peel them?

[undercarriage plan]

Lol! Yup! I remember!! There's a shocker!  ;)

I would leave them til the first frost, but....erm.. I decided to live dangerously and plant some out in early April....  :o Much to my amaement they sulked then took off! Not flew, you understand.....  sooooooooooooo I've had squashes and courgettes and other big weirdy wonderful stuff for  few months!

Yup I peel them!

[busy_lizzie]

What a beauty your first pic was Tim.  I think I would even just  be content to put it somewhere just to gaze in admiration at it. 

Nice to see the squash recipes coming in. I have just picked my first butternut today.  I have often fancied growing some gourds just for decorative purposes - might do that next year. busy_lizzie