I'd never have heard of one, neither had my wife, but her father brought us a cushaw. For which we had to find something to do with it. This leads me into today, Sunday, a glorious day.
Today was hot in Louisiana, something like over 100 degrees, hot. Hot like when you walk outside your find yourself wanting to write your deodorant company complaining there "hot zone" guarantee can't stand up to 10 minutes of LA summer and you want your $3.99 back. Hot like you can audibly hear the cries of your grass as it lets out it's last breath and dies, virtually seeing it turn yellow before your eyes. Hot like you are standing at the edge of the river styx waiting to greet Phlegyas. Hot.
This was the day I decided to grill some chicken. I found a pretty neat recipe in Men's Health for Jerk Chicken (which we took to calling Republican Chicken). It needed 60 minutes on the grill. We cooked it, it was awesome, there's some left if you want some. But, while we prepared this we had the battle of the desserts. Me with my Cushaw, and Eliz with her Peach Bars. We flitted around the kitchen in each others way attempting to make the best dessert. Stove kicking it a 400 degrees, three burners on the stove dialed up to boil, and the sun streaming through our uncurtained windows. It brought a more literal definition to "If you can't stand the heat, get out the Kitchen." We survived, neigh, we endured this heat to bring ourselves some goodies. Neither of us had made these sweeties before and were diligently following the instructions we had. Turns out, cushaw is good for pies, and that's pretty much what I found on the internet. I'm willing to bet it's because Louisiana is great and taking healthy vegetables and making them not healthy for you. Which is what 2/3 cups what sugar, adn 2/3 cups brown sugar will do to any squash. Not to mention the milk and butter. And we wonder why there's an obesity epidemic out there. That being said, we dove into making our sweet treats just as sweet as directed.
Turns out Cushaw pie is a lot like pumpkin pie, could be because one recipe called for 2 Tbs of pumpkin pie seasoning but who really knows. It cooked for over an hour and half and when it was done was not bad. With the consistency of custard and the creamy butterness of pumpkin pie. We had so much cushaw we made two pies with two recipes, for comparison. I'm pretty sure they will be give away to a good home, though, and not consumed by us. That'll be next weeks PSA, "Feeling as if you can't go on? Too much staring you down? Don't take that next bite, donate your half eaten pie to the W.G.T.Y.U.P of America. Here a We Glady Take Your Used Pie, of America, we're dedicated to making sure no pie is neglected and no consumer is over indulged." Yeah, I could see it. Course The Park Cafe would be like ground zero for trading, but I'd dig in for some more Sugar Free Razzleberry, damn that stuff is good.
It turned out good and now I feel all the more in-tuned with my southern brethren. Course, this day and age, I know of almost no one who knows what this is. They're going to be confused tomorrow at church group when I lay that puppy down. But really, pie is pie, and with enough sugar and butter even old leather shoe pie could eat...and probably has before.
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| The finished (and tested) products. Not much to look at really, but tasty! |
Note the Miller High Life in the background, it is, after all, "the champagne of beers." The recipe I used came from Discuss Cooking, Cushaw Pie. Bonn Appetite (but say it in a south Louisiana way).
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