Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:22 pm
#3785
One of my favorite things about carving lanterns, aside from the joy of just carving, is cooking the seeds that come with the pumpkin. Over the years I have tried numerous variations in seasoning, cooking method, time, and temperature. I have looked at a lot of recipes in order to get ideas. Here is what I have found I liked.
For one, I don't like to bake/roast the seeds for very long, or at a high temperature. Some recipes say to cook in the oven at 350°F for as much as 40 minutes (!). I find that though the seeds may taste okay (if you don't mind a very well done seed), they make your breath smell horrid. Plus I don't like my seeds burnt to charcoal.
For me, it's in the oven at 350°F, for between 10-15 minutes; just as they barely start to turn color, if not slightly before. I think this creates a more tender seed with more of the natural flavors intact.
Then there the matter of seasoning, as a pumpkin seed that is naked, is without much character. I like to take my seends (before roasting) and put them all in a bowl, melt 1/2 to 1 tbsp of butter, and stir it into the seeds then hit them with a generous pinch of salt (to start). I don't like to put any other seasonings on them just yet, as the spices would most definently burn. After roasting the seeds as previously stated, I remove them from the oven and find that they are always still just wet enough from the butter to hold on to seasonings. Here's some of my favorite combinations:
- salt and black or white pepper
- salt and cayenne pepper
- salt, chile powder, cumin, and cayenne (tastes like a bowl of chili)
- I've also used any number of premixed seasonings (McCormick and the like), although you often have to grind them into powder so it will all stick to the seeds.
Tonight I decided to experiment a bit. I took 1/8 cup sugar, plus 1 tsp. butter and combined them in a hot skillet and let the sugar melt, then added raw seeds in an attempt to make sugar glazed or candied pumpkin seeds. I think there's promise for the idea, but the method didn't work all that well. I seem to have ended up with a batch of still mostly raw, caramel coated seeds. So it needs work.
How about everyone else? How do you like to dress-up your pumpkin seeds?
For one, I don't like to bake/roast the seeds for very long, or at a high temperature. Some recipes say to cook in the oven at 350°F for as much as 40 minutes (!). I find that though the seeds may taste okay (if you don't mind a very well done seed), they make your breath smell horrid. Plus I don't like my seeds burnt to charcoal.
For me, it's in the oven at 350°F, for between 10-15 minutes; just as they barely start to turn color, if not slightly before. I think this creates a more tender seed with more of the natural flavors intact.
Then there the matter of seasoning, as a pumpkin seed that is naked, is without much character. I like to take my seends (before roasting) and put them all in a bowl, melt 1/2 to 1 tbsp of butter, and stir it into the seeds then hit them with a generous pinch of salt (to start). I don't like to put any other seasonings on them just yet, as the spices would most definently burn. After roasting the seeds as previously stated, I remove them from the oven and find that they are always still just wet enough from the butter to hold on to seasonings. Here's some of my favorite combinations:
- salt and black or white pepper
- salt and cayenne pepper
- salt, chile powder, cumin, and cayenne (tastes like a bowl of chili)
- I've also used any number of premixed seasonings (McCormick and the like), although you often have to grind them into powder so it will all stick to the seeds.
Tonight I decided to experiment a bit. I took 1/8 cup sugar, plus 1 tsp. butter and combined them in a hot skillet and let the sugar melt, then added raw seeds in an attempt to make sugar glazed or candied pumpkin seeds. I think there's promise for the idea, but the method didn't work all that well. I seem to have ended up with a batch of still mostly raw, caramel coated seeds. So it needs work.
How about everyone else? How do you like to dress-up your pumpkin seeds?