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| A rather large cushaw squash! |
Brian: I am holding in my hand a Cushaw squash. We discovered them last year, while hunting at the orchard for some apples, and we were told they made pumpkin pie better than pumpkins! We had to try it, so we took one home.
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| Cutting the cushaw |
Angie: Cushaw squash looks like a cross between a watermelon and squash, and to prepare it, you start by slicing in half. And much like preparing any type of squash, you have to let the gutting of it begin.
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| Time to clean out the squash |
Brian: Once you peel it, there are several ways to cook it. You will see recipes for microwaving, baking, and boiling it. Which ever way you prefer, you must cook it until you can puree it in a blender. We opted for the boiling method.
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| Cubed and Boiling |
Angie: Once the Cushaw is out, you want to strain it, to get all of the water out. Now, depending on the size of melon, you can get quite a bit of puree. We were able to freeze much of the puree and make additional pies with it in the future.
Brian: After you have pureed the squash, you add the cream, and then the beaten eggs.
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| Add cream, beat the eggs, and then add eggs to mixture |
Angie: You then start adding your flour, sugar, and spices.
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| Add sugar, flour, and spices |
Brian: Pour into an unbaked pie crust, and you are ready to put in the oven. The Recipe we used suggested to bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, and 350 degrees for 40 minutes. However, there was no real "test" to see if the pie was done. We looked at several other pies that advised the "clean toothpick" test, so we ended up cooking for another 30 minutes.
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| Baked cushaw pie |
Angie: We probably overcooked it just a bit, but we wanted to ensure that the pie set up properly. I really liked the texture and flavor of this pie.
Brian: I like the texture of this pie, but this recipe was a bit to "lemony" for me. It was like a cross between lemon meringue pie and pumpkin pie, and I was looking forward to a taste of fall. It was good, but not exactly what I was expecting.
Pie Recipient of the Week
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| Emily from Susie's Place |
Our pie recipient of the week is Emily! Emily is the Director for Susie's Place, which is a great child advocacy not-for-profit organization. Our church, Kingsway Christian Church, has offered a day of community service for the last three years called "We Love Avon." It is where our church congregation goes out and tries to serve local residents, businesses, schools, and others. We became introduced to them via that project, and our Life Group fell in love with what they do.
They have an office in Bloomington and Avon, and you can learn more about them by watching this video. If you live near either one of these areas and would like to donate either financially, or with your service, I encourage you to check out their website and Facebook page. Children are one of our greatest treasures, and this is an organization devoted to helping those who need it most.
Recipe:
There are lots of places to read about how to puree the Cushaw Squash, so this recipe is going to assume that you have already prepared the squash.
1 unbaked pie shell
2 1/2 cups cooked, mashed cushaw
1/4 cup cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons butter
Preparation:
Stir together the mashed cushaw and cream; add beaten eggs. Mix well and add sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, and allspice; mix well to blend. Blend in lemon extract and butter.
Pour mixture into the prepared unbaked pie shell and bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake about 40 minutes longer.
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