Pumpkin Steaks

Tonight I fixed ‘Pumpkin Steaks’. They were fantastic if I do say so myself!

Here is the setup

I made them with ‘Casper’, my 208 lb whitish pumpkin that Erika Wanenmacher carved up into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. I used some that she saved for me from the inside. Here is how to make them.

You’ll need raw pumpkin and something big enough to cut into 1/2″ steaks. Be sure to remove the skin.

Crush up some Ritz crackers to make cracker crumbs. I like the cracker crumbs better than bread crumbs as they have a more buttery flavor. Add some herbs to the crumbs. I added some dried thyme, sea salt and pepper. Beat 2 eggs and some milk in a bowl.

Take the steaks and dip them into the egg mix.

Then press the steaks into the crumbs on both sides. Put some olive oil in a fry pan and heat it up till it is very hot but not smoking.

Put the steaks in the frypan and saute till golden on one side.

Flip and put a top on the pan. Cook until it is golden on the other side and a fork pierces them easily. Take some honey and drizzle just a little of it over the steaks and serve. Delicious.

Giant Pumpkin Patch wrap up

Oct26

‘Orange Crush’

Let’s catch up with the GIANT PUMPKIN patch!

My giant pumpkin patch produced 1298 pounds of pumpkins this year but there were no recordbreakers for 2012. My biggest ‘Orange Crush’, weighed in at 385 lbs (which is on display at our glass studio-Liquid Light Glass at 926 Baca Street in Santa Fe) was picked up and transported by my 8 strong buds which I affectionately call my ‘pumpkin crew’. Not as big as my 2012 NM State Record of 448 lbs. ‘Orange Crush’ will be the star of this year’s ‘4th Annual Pumpkin Bash’ on Nov 10th.

pumpkin crew 2012

pumpkin patch with ‘Hugo’ in foreground

‘Hugo’ came in at 262 lbs (already went to The Food Depot to feed people).

‘Casper’, 208 lbs-carved by Erika Wanemacher

‘Casper’ came in at 208 ( carved into the biggest jack o’ lantern in Santa Fe by Erika Wanenmacher), ‘Beautiful Baby’ came in at 190 lbs (on display at Prairie Dog Glass), two smaller ones for the State fair came in at 100 and 153 lbs.

And this year a young man from Albuquerque named Olin, broke my NM State Record, growing a pumpkin (named Shelia) that weighed 530 lbs! He started the seed on St. Patrick’s Day and had it in the ground on April 1! WOW! Putting them in the ground in April would be impossible up here at 7000 ft high with our short growing season. Great to have some competition in this state. Congrats Olin but look out next year!

MAX TO GET AXED/4th Annual Pumpkin Bash on Friday Nov 4

Oct31

MAX GETS AXED at 10 am this Friday, Nov 4th at our studio at the 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash. Afterwards at 11 am, we will give all of Max away to anybody that wants a piece to cook and the leftovers will go to Kitchen Angels and the Food Depot. It will be especially fun as this year we will also crack open the giant greenie squash as well. That’s 788 lbs of pumpkin squashes to give away! I let my friends and the guys who lugged the squashes around take a whack at Max to see who can split it open. Anyone who wants to take part as Mad Max gets axed come on by and please take some nice organic fresh pumpkin home as well!