Pumpkin is extremely popular as an ingredient for a great variety of dishes. Due to the fact that it ripens in autumn, it is widely used during the celebration of such popular American holidays as Halloween and Thanksgiving Day. It is used in preparation of salads, soups, desserts and bakery. One of the most unusual ways of application of pumpkin is carving it into jack o’ lantern during the celebration of Halloween. This tradition has come from Ireland. Pumpkin belongs to the gourd family, together with cucumbers and watermelons. Despite the fact that at first it was grown in Central America, now it can be found all over the world.
Pumpkin not only tastes good but it has a lot of beneficial qualities for your health. Due to the fact that the pumpkin is high in fiber and low in calories, it should be included in your daily ration. It contains a lot of important vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B for example. Beta-carotene which is also contained in pumpkin is converted into vitamin A that is necessary for your health. It is so important because beta-carotene helps to avoid some dangerous cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. There exists an opinion that it is able to prevent from premature aging.
As we have already mentioned, pumpkin is used in cooking. It is a perfect ingredient that adds very pleasant flavor and bright orange color to the dishes. One of the most interesting things that can be cooked with pumpkin is pumpkin bread.
This bread is extremely popular in the USA in November, when there is a season of pumpkins. Pumpkin bread is considered to be as a traditional American dish, because Native Americans discovered the qualities of this product before European settlers had come. So that is how they were the first to invent those recipes which we use nowadays.
Some researchers state that remnants of pumpkins were found among ruins that existed 800 years ago.
Today it is much easier to use pumpkin because it is sold in cans and you don’t need to spend time on cutting and boiling it. Though of course fresh pumpkin is much more useful for your health.
We would like to share the traditional recipe of pumpkin bread with you.
Pumpkin Bread
- Flour - 7 oz
- Salt - ½ tsp
- Sugar - 7 oz
- Mashed pumpkin - 7 oz
- Olive oil - 3.5 fl. oz.
- Eggs - 2 pieces
- Water - 1 cup
- Baking soda - 1 tsp
- Chopped walnuts - 3 oz
- First of all you should heat your oven.
- Then combine flour, salt, baking soda and sugar.
- In a separate bowl mix mashed pumpkin, eggs, water, oil and spices. After that you should mix it with dry ingredients and nuts.
- Butter the pan where you are going to bake the bread. Bake it during an hour.
- After it you should pull it out from the oven and then cool. Only after that you can pull it from the pan.
- This bread will be extremely tasty and moist, with a wonderful flavor. If you want, you can add some oatmeal into the pastry to make it even more nourishing. This bread will be very tasty if to spread a bit of butter on it.
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