Pumpkin Puree

'Ts the week where all of America is thinking about recipes. After all its the biggest culinary expedition of the year. Thanksgiving! 
Vegetarians and Vegans have a lot of resources on the internet to ensure they dont have to forego joining in the celebration. Potatoes, Beans and Pumpkin are some of the vegetables that find their way to the dinner spread and creatively so. My take is that there is only so much you could stuff into a turkey so all the creativity gets unleashed on accompaniments and dessert. I have decided to dedicate this week to recipes which could easily adorn the Thanksgiving banquet.
What better way to do this than the rotund pumpkin.

As luck would have it I had a huge pumpkin leftover from the Halloween times which had failed to make it to a Jack-o-Lantern. I had to use it before it spoilt. Does a pumpkin spoil? I dont know but I wasnt going to find out today. I took it out of the refridgerator and what ensued after that was a 40-min ordeal to crack it open! The shell was extremely hard and I had never encountered a pumpkin with such a hard exterior. Armed with a sharp knife and gritting my teeth I started puncturing through the vegetable with T reminding me of the fact that I am a klutz and should be careful. I have a history of slicing right through my hands so I dont blame him for being worried. Once I had it open it took me an indecisive 5 minutes to resolve making a puree out of the whole thing instead of trying to skin it for a curry.
Pureeing a pumpkin is really simple as you will read later on. Once done, it could be frozen for a few months atleast and used whenever required. The puree could be used in baking recipes, soups, casseroles etc.

Pumpkin Puree 

Servings: 4 cups from a pumpkin the size of a football.
Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins (includes waiting time)

Ingredients

1 Pumpkin (size of a football)

Instructions

1. Cut the pumpkin into quarters
2. Place it on baking tray
3. Bake at 350 deg F for an hour
4. Allow it to cool and then scrape the pulp out of the skin
5. Blend the pulp in a food processor or mixer to a paste. Use a couple of tbsp of water if required.
6. Store in an airtight container. Freeze for longevity.

Home-made Peanut Butter

Making peanut butter at home is really the easiest thing to do. Plus you can avoid all the preservatives and whatever else they add into the store bought ones. The other advantage of making it at home is the different flavours we can experiment with. Make it sweet by adding some sugar or make it spicy by adding cayenne pepper and red chilli flakes or anything else in between.

Home-made Peanut Butter

Servings: 1 1/2  cups of peanut butter
Prep Time: 2 mins if you have roasted peanuts or 20 mins if not Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients 

2 cups roasted Peanuts

Instructions 

1. In an electric mixer or food processor put in the roasted peanuts and grind. 
2. The peanuts first  turn into powder and then it becomes crumbly. 
3. Continue to grind and with the oil oozing out of the peanuts, it turns into a saucy texture.
4. Make it crunchy or smooth by varying the grind times. 

How to Roast peanuts at home

1. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel and put in 2 cups of regular peanuts in it. 
2. Keep stirring on low-medium heat till the peanuts turn evenly brown. 10 -15 minutes
3. Cool the roasted peanuts and then proceed to remove the skin.
4. To remove the skin - Place the roasted peanuts in  a wide plate and crush peanuts with hand. This will break the peanuts and separate the skin. 
5. Alternatively place the roasted peanuts on a flat surface and run a rolling pin on them. This will break the peanuts and separate the skin
6. Lightly blow on the crushed peanuts to blow the flaky skin away.