Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Empanadas?...

However sweet potatoes are prefered..

Getting back to the pumpkin seeds, how come Pepitas are so small compared to the Ginormous seeds that come out of our pumkins? Maybe they only grow pumpkins for the seeds and they pick them when they are small and still green to get the smaller seeds and then discard the rest.

I think it has to do with the variety of the pumpkin. Or is it that there is an outer layer that is removed? I can never remember.

There is an outer layer that is removed, but even with that in mind, the Pepitas that I can buy here are really small in comparison to regular Pumpkin seeds.

Todd,

Really? When I shell pumpkin seeds, the inner kernel is about the same size.

That being said, I don't think the shelled pepitas you buy (the green ones) come from carving pumpkins. I think they come from some other variety.

Ok, really dumb question alert: do you need to hull pumpkin seeds to eat them? I never have, and am finding myself wondering if I should. (I never knew they could be hulled).

Carey,

Well, they're easier to eat if they're hulled. One tends to eat them too fast that way, actually.

You have to hull them if you're going to use them to thicken sauces, though.

One of my favorite pumpkin seed dips, which I found in Diana Kennedy's Regional Cooks book - sakil pak - called for using unhulled seeds, toasted and sifted, and it was actually better than with hulled. I wasn't doubting her, but one time I only had hulled and made it with them, and, while still delicious, there was something missing.

And speaking of varieties, I grow a winter squash called seminole pumpkin. Not really a pumpkin, but a very hard shelled squash with a flavorful, bright orange flesh, and a huge number of seeds. I could not see throwing them away, so I cleaned them and dried them, and used them as pumpkin seeds. They worked great, and I get more than I can use from those squash!