Makes: 3½ Pounds

In the NutriGuide test kitchen, Chief Culinary Specialist Stewart Lucas refined this classic Makes: 3½ Pounds to celebrate vibrant, wholesome ingredients. By prioritizing aromatic layering and precise thermal control, this recipe achieves remarkable culinary depth while preserving natural micronutrients and wholesome texture.

At NutriGuide, our mission is to ensure that home cooking is both accessible and culinary-grade. When executing Makes: 3½ Pounds, focus on fresh aromatics, dry surface contact for proper searing, and allowing the food to rest before serving.

• COMMENT:
• I’m really not sure of the French
• spelling or even the translation, but
• most of the old Cajun and Creole cooks
• referred to the meat of a crooked-neck
• pumpkin, simmered in sugar and
• spices as Juirdmon. I first tasted this
• dish at the hands of Mary Farchaud,
• the woman who not only cooked for us
• but instilled in me, my five brothers

Chef's Sourcing & Quality Tips:

• Produce & Aromatics: Always use fresh whole aromatics and seasonal herbs rather than dehydrated powders when possible.
• Cooking Oils: Utilize cold-pressed oils with appropriate smoke points such as extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
• Salt & Seasoning: Season from a modest height above the pan to ensure an even, uniform crystalline dispersion.

Follow these sequential steps with careful attention to sensory cues and cooking temperatures:

Step 1: Technique & Execution

and two sisters an appreciation for Louisiana’s unique culture and cuisine

Step 2: Technique & Execution

The green and white striped pumpkin would be chopped into 2-inch squares, the seeds removed and the pumpkin boiled in lightly sugared water

Step 3: Technique & Execution

The tender meat was then scraped from the shell and returned to the pot along with butter, sugar and spices to create the dish

Step 4: Technique & Execution

This filling could then be placed into a pie shell or made into turnovers

Step 5: Technique & Execution

As children we ate it simply from a cereal bowl...hot from the pot

Step 6: Technique & Execution

INGREDIENTS: ● 1 (9-pound) cushaw ● ¾ pound butter ● 2 cups sugar ● 1 cup dark brown sugar ● ½ cup Steen’s Cane Syrup ● 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice ● ½ tsp allspice ● ½ tsp nutmeg ● ½ tsp ground ginger ● ½ tsp cinnamon ● 3 tbsps vanilla METHOD: Select a cushaw with a main section approximately the size of a soccer ball