Fall Treat from the Kitchen - Sweet and Sour Pumpkin
After Halloween, I decided I needed to do something with that pumpkin before it went bad. When I was a child, my mother always canned pumpkin similar to pickles but with a nice sweet and sour flavor. I knew I had that recipe somewhere and decided to make some. It turned out quite good, I gave away a few jars and we had some with our Sunday roast. By the way, I roasted the pumpkin seeds for another tasty treet to snack on.
Sweet and Sour Pumpkin
Ingredients:
3-4 lbs Pumpkin (Butternut squash will work as well) - peeled, cleaned and cut in bite size pieces
4 cups vinegar and 6 cups water - depending on how much pumpkin you have, you can increase or decrease the liquid as long as you maintain a 2:3 ratio
1 to 1/2 lbs sugar
cinnamon stick, piece of ginger, cloves, a couple of bayleaves
Instructions:
Bring water, vinegar and sugar to a boil. Add spices and pumkin. Let it cook over medium heat until pumpkin looks glazed, it will intesify in color, and desired consistency is reached. Pumpkin should be cooked through but still be firm with a nice "bite". You may have to try a piece every once in a while to see if it's done.
Remove pumpkin from liquid and fill into clean jars. Make sure not to get spices into the jars, they tend to discolor the pumpkin over time. Continue cooking liquid for a little longer for a syrup-like consistency. Then pour over pumpkin to fil up jars, close, then turn over for a few minutes. Keeping the pumpkin in a cool place or refrigerator, it will last for several months without any problems unless it gets eaten before then! The flavor will intensify with time.
Serve sweet and sour pumpkin with pork and beef and some home made fried pan potatoes or with anything that you would eat pickles with or consider it a relish.
Enjoy!
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