Leon County Cooks: A pumpkin of a different color

Debra Richardson and her daughter, Jennifer Culpepper proudly displays her prize “neck pumpkin”. Photo by Max Shadix Two weeks ago the Leon County Cooks column featured pumpkins and until that time I thought most pumpkins looked alike. Most are orange and a few are off-white, but all, I thought, were fairly round shaped with the meat around the hollow center.

And then along came Debra Richardson, a Leon County Cook from last winter. Not only is Debra an outstanding cook she is a true Master Gardener. Debra brought this large, green vegetable into the Buffalo Press. Most of us thought it must be a deformed watermelon but Debra advised us that it was called a neck pumpkin. Since Debra knows I love to cook, almost anything, she gave me one of the beauties and provided instruction on how to prepare it.

When I took the thing home my first surprise was how much it weighed; this one weighted a good 15 pounds. The second surprise came when I cut it open. The long neck has solid bright orange meat and there is a small cavity at the base where the seeds are formed. And the third surprise was the taste. The raw vegetable has a sweet melon taste and when cooked it is much tastier, in my opinion, than a traditional pumpkin. Following Richardson’s directions I cut the pumpkin in four inch sections and sliced them down the middle. Then placed them, skin side down, on a cookie sheet and cooked at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Once they were soft I let them cool and then scraped the meat off the skin. One pumpkin yielded six quarts.

The inside of the green neck pumpkin is surprisingly orange. Sherry’s Shots The next few weeks the recipes are going to be Christmas goodies. This week will be appetizers. We would love to have your favorites. Please email them to buffalopress@ gmail.com.
Cheese Ball
2 jars Hormel dried beef
4 (8 oz) cream cheese
1 bunch green onions
½ tsp garlic powder
Grated cheese
Chop dried beef finely. Chop green onions. Combine softened cream cheese, garlic powder, green onions, and dried beef. Form into a ball and roll in grated cheese. Chill overnight for best flavor. Serve with crackers.
Yummy Spinach Dip
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
and drained
3 oz. pkg. cream cheese
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 ¼ cup grated Parmesan
cheese
¼ cup onion, minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp hot sauce
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp paprika
Mix cream cheese and mayonnaise. Add spinach and 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Add onion and next 4 ingredients. Place in a 1 quart casserole dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Add paprika and Parmesan and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Cream Cheese Roll-ups
3 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese,
softened
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
1 tbsp lime juice
5 canned jalapenos
1 pkg. flour tortillas
Beat cream cheese and sour cream. Add remaining ingredients. Spread a layer of cream cheese mixture on tortillas. Roll, chill and slice. Serve with picante sauce to dip.