Appetites: Savoring and favoring squash

We are entering the pumpkin quarter of the year. It's a time of inundation for "pumpkin" desserts and drinks — think pumpkin spice latte.

Chef, TV personality and author Amy Thielen has no problem with the flavor itself, but she questions the origins of this phenomenon. Is "pumpkin flavor" really made from pumpkins? And why is pumpkin considered dessert and its more flavorful cousin squash thought of as savory?

"I feel like we are wired to think of pumpkin as something sweet, and squash as something savory," she says. "But I think that really it's the word 'pumpkin' that gets people all excited. The word 'squash' has a problem."

As a cook, Thielen has worked with a lot of different gourds and says she finds even the sugar and pie pumpkins stringy, watery and bland. Safe to say, she says, pumpkins are bred to be ornamental.

Clearly, pumpkin is the front for squash, says Thielen. We forget that squash can easily go sweet.

"Remember: Anywhere that pumpkin goes, a squash can go better," she says.

In fact, Thielen says, if you want to make a really memorable pumpkin pie, the secret is using squash. Libby's pumpkin pie filling is made from a large tan-colored variety of pumpkin that looks suspiciously like a butternut squash. Other canned pumpkin manufacturers have admitted that they also use squash.

Cooked buttercup or butternut or even acorn squash is thick and sweet, and offers a much better flavor than canned pumpkin.

"I feel like everybody has a squash that they love or that is their favorite, and generally it's the one their mom made. And my mom made buttercup," says Thielen.

Buttercup is the densest and richest of all of them, she says. It's the darkest, and usually the sweetest, and makes a wonderful pie.

In season, Thielen likes to cook off a bunch of different squashes from the market or her garden and freeze the pulp. Come Thanksgiving, she likes to make pumpkin pies with the different squashes, and a loaf of squash bread as well.

Recipe: Buttercup-Bourbon Pie

The crust:
• 2 cups ground gingersnap cookies (about 10 ounces)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of salt

The filling:
• 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese
• 2 packed cups cooked buttercup squash
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons bourbon or any kind of whiskey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• hefty pinch of sweet curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for baking the squash. Split a buttercup squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub the cut sides of the squash with plain oil and lay cut-side down on a baking sheet. Bake for about one hour, or until tender when poked.

Let the squash cool enough to handle, then scoop out the soft squash and measure out two cups for the pie. (Reserve the rest for another purpose.)

For the filling, add the cream cheese to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the squash and process until combined, taking care not to over-process. (Some squashes are starchy and can turn gluey, like potatoes do.)

Add the cream, sugar, maple syrup, eggs and egg yolks, bourbon, vanilla, spices and salt, and process until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides. Reserve the filling in the refrigerator, up to two days in advance.

For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulverize the gingersnap cookies to fine crumbs in a food processor or in a bag (with a rolling pin). Measure 2 cups ground gingersnap crumbs into a bowl and add the sugar, ground ginger and salt, and mix.

Then add the melted butter and mix with a fork until the crumbs hold together. Pour the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate and press into place, pinching the crumbs into a high crown at the top edge of the glass.

Bake the crumb crust at 350 degrees until a shade darker and fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the baked crust and bake until the custard is set, 50 to 60 minutes. When shaken, the custard should have a very tight wiggle; it will not test dry at the center, but will be set nonetheless.

Cool completely before slicing and serving. This pie can also be refrigerated and served cold.

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