Now, I have to admit to occasionally having a lax grasp of the laws of physics, the incident I am about to relate to you being one of those occasions.
I have a few pumpkins still left from last year. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the only ones not in an advanced state of decomposition by this point have incredibly thick skins. But never one to let some pumpkin flesh go to waste, I decided to tackle one of the smaller squash. A few vain attempts at attacking it with knives of varying sizes resulted in little more than a couple of dings on the surface.
I'd read somewhere that you could microwave smaller pumpkins whole, to I put it on a plate and popped it in for a couple of minutes. I was pottering around the kitchen and forgot about it for a while, and by the time I remembered the microwave had stopped, so I turned it on again for another couple of minutes.
BOOM!
Yes, that will be the pumpkin exploding in the microwave, oh-so-perspicacious reader. The picture above sets the scene of devastation rather well, I think. Anyway turns out that, like eggs, you need to make some kind of hole in pumpkins when you cook them in this way. Who knew? Ok, anyone with half a brain ...
Anyway it was interesting to note that this was a spaghetti-type squash, the result of some cross breeding experiment of an earlier year. I managed to salvage most of the flesh, but I won't be doing it again in a hurry. The inside of the microwave was an awful mess.
Whoops... I'd blame the hormones! It's not your fault!
Posted by: kim | April 09, 2007 at 11:49 PM
It's a pretty satisfying boom though! Did the glass tray rattle a little just before ignition!
Posted by: John Curtin | April 10, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Kim's right....it's the hormones....strange things happen....I thnik Cathy declared war on somewhere or other if I remember rightly.
Posted by: clodhopper | April 11, 2007 at 06:11 PM
The pumpkin flesh made some very good pumpkin soup so I am not complaining ... and I managed to clear up the mess before my partner got home (he did see the photo though)!
Posted by: Jane Perrone | April 13, 2007 at 04:47 PM
Hahaha, wouldn't that be just like a potato? Always, always poke holes in them. Though, I've made my own microwave mistakes... including catching a damp washcloth on fire!
Posted by: Jessica Schessler | June 11, 2007 at 12:48 PM
I think you're supposed to cut a top out of the top of the pumpkin (which you place back on - after scooping out the seeds and bunging in a sinful amount of butter - prior to cooking). I'm trying to find out how long you microwave it. I heard of a fellow once who had the egg experience inside a caravan. Practically destroyed everything within two yards I'm told.
Posted by: Kevin Gray | July 01, 2009 at 03:33 PM