FRESH-BAKED PUMPKIN PIE FROM "REAL" PUMPKIN
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Terry! You didn't...?
Actually I think sugar beets are the main source of refined sugar over here. They're a huge crop in these parts of Ontario and Michigan. The brother of my hs friend up the street has a large sugar beet farm just outside of town and most of his he ships to a refinery in Michigan.
Turbinado Sugar
As I understand it, turbinado sugar is sugar that is spun (in a turbine or centrifuge) to remove the impurities but it is not as pure as white sugar. It has a characteristic light amber color, and a little extra taste from the residual molasses that was not spun out. Nutritionally, it is virtually identical to white sugar, but it may retain some chromium which is thought to be useful to help the body process sugars. But it doesn't have any vitamins to speak of. I like turbinado sugar but it tends to be more expensive than refined sugar without much benefit (but if it helps your conscience when you add two tsp to a cup of coffee, fine ;-).
Both beet sugar and cane sugar are sucrose, so theoretically the refined versions are identical. Certainly they can be used interchangeably in cooking.
Much fuss is made over the evils of table sugar, but in reality it's no worse than refined starch insofar as health is concerned. However, most refined white wheat flours have the minerals and vitamins of the whole grain wheat added back, at least partially, to make them "enriched", as does another pure starch, white rice. So in that respect they are better nutritionally than refined sugar. Regardless, they will spike blood sugar quicker and higher than the sucrose in table sugar, because refined starch is simply a chain of glucose molecules, which the body very quickly breaks down to separate glucose molecules, which enter the blood stream and raise blood sugar most rapidly. Sucrose, which has a more difficult glucose-fructose bond, takes longer to digest, and convert entirely into glucose for the blood.
In other words, I don't feel all that guilty about using refined table sugar to sweeten things like coffee or oatmeal. In reality the caloric value is no more than an equivalent weight of starch, which is a small amount, and we eat a lot more starch than we do sugar (or should).
As I understand it, turbinado sugar is sugar that is spun (in a turbine or centrifuge) to remove the impurities but it is not as pure as white sugar. It has a characteristic light amber color, and a little extra taste from the residual molasses that was not spun out. Nutritionally, it is virtually identical to white sugar, but it may retain some chromium which is thought to be useful to help the body process sugars. But it doesn't have any vitamins to speak of. I like turbinado sugar but it tends to be more expensive than refined sugar without much benefit (but if it helps your conscience when you add two tsp to a cup of coffee, fine ;-).
Both beet sugar and cane sugar are sucrose, so theoretically the refined versions are identical. Certainly they can be used interchangeably in cooking.
Much fuss is made over the evils of table sugar, but in reality it's no worse than refined starch insofar as health is concerned. However, most refined white wheat flours have the minerals and vitamins of the whole grain wheat added back, at least partially, to make them "enriched", as does another pure starch, white rice. So in that respect they are better nutritionally than refined sugar. Regardless, they will spike blood sugar quicker and higher than the sucrose in table sugar, because refined starch is simply a chain of glucose molecules, which the body very quickly breaks down to separate glucose molecules, which enter the blood stream and raise blood sugar most rapidly. Sucrose, which has a more difficult glucose-fructose bond, takes longer to digest, and convert entirely into glucose for the blood.
In other words, I don't feel all that guilty about using refined table sugar to sweeten things like coffee or oatmeal. In reality the caloric value is no more than an equivalent weight of starch, which is a small amount, and we eat a lot more starch than we do sugar (or should).
Forgot to add: white flour does have some protein, so it's better nutritionally than sugar if protein is an issue. Most of us probably get more protein than we need anyway, though.
I could go on for hours about the variations I've made in pumpkin pies, and Charles I believe I can get some edumication from you. But I have to tell about an experience I had several years ago...
I was making some pumpkin pies from pie pumpkins, and was doing it the same way - cut it in half, remove the seeds and bake it. I had two identical looking pumpkins. There was no obvious difference. The problem became obvious when I went to scoop them out.
Apparently the farm where these were grown, one got a little too close to some spagetti squash and they cross-polinated. One pumpkin was fine - the other was very stringy - like a cross between a pumpkin and a spagetti squash. I didn't have another pumpkin, I did not want to resort to canned pumpkin, so I decided to press on regardless. Pressed the Osterizer into service, and couldn't get a puree, although I did get the strands down to a workable size. So I made the pies, hoping nobody would notice.
They did - but it was very positive. Not only was the pie very well liked, the texture was unique and well liked, both pies that I brought were eaten in a hurry. I was asked repeatedly how I did it, and I said it was made with "Mutant Pumpkin".
Anyone ever have an experience like that?
I was making some pumpkin pies from pie pumpkins, and was doing it the same way - cut it in half, remove the seeds and bake it. I had two identical looking pumpkins. There was no obvious difference. The problem became obvious when I went to scoop them out.
Apparently the farm where these were grown, one got a little too close to some spagetti squash and they cross-polinated. One pumpkin was fine - the other was very stringy - like a cross between a pumpkin and a spagetti squash. I didn't have another pumpkin, I did not want to resort to canned pumpkin, so I decided to press on regardless. Pressed the Osterizer into service, and couldn't get a puree, although I did get the strands down to a workable size. So I made the pies, hoping nobody would notice.
They did - but it was very positive. Not only was the pie very well liked, the texture was unique and well liked, both pies that I brought were eaten in a hurry. I was asked repeatedly how I did it, and I said it was made with "Mutant Pumpkin".
Anyone ever have an experience like that?
It's Generation Next
Cross pollination with a spaghetti squash, if it were possible, would result in the next generation of pumpkins having a different character - if the farm was growing pumpkins from seed produced on site. If the farm grows pumpkins from store-bought "true" seed, then a mutation in the seed itself (or error by the seed company) would account for the different texture.
Cross pollination with a spaghetti squash, if it were possible, would result in the next generation of pumpkins having a different character - if the farm was growing pumpkins from seed produced on site. If the farm grows pumpkins from store-bought "true" seed, then a mutation in the seed itself (or error by the seed company) would account for the different texture.
maggie~hamilton
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Regarding texture, as I said, most recipes I've found call for pressing the cooked pumpkin through a colander or pureeing it in a food processor. However, I like the texture it has by not doing this; for me, whipping it until creamy with the electric mixer is great because it keeps some of that texture and does not seem "canned."
