Americanized Pumpkin / Winter Squash Atole

[heavyhitterokra]

I couldn't remember where George's Americanized Atole recipe was located.  Hank found a copy of it somewhere and emailed it to me, so I started a new thread here.  That way maybe I can find it easier next time. 


 Americanized Pumpkin Atole

*To a blender add:

1 egg

a few glugs of molasses

some sugar (brown or white)

2 cups of cooked squash

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves

optional – 2 or 3 tablespoons of peanut butter

*Milk (at least a pint)

*Blend this all up and taste to see if it needs more sweetening.

*Pour the mix into a pot and heat until just boiling. I normally pour this mix into a two quart pot and add some additional milk before heating it.

*Serve and enjoy

Thanks George, thanks Hank, you guys pulled my fat out of the fire again.

[macmex]

Thank you Ron. I have been making it without the egg, since my wife had an allergy to eggs for a number of years. It works alright without egg too.

The history behind this recipe is that our family lived in Central Mexico for years. There, almost every Christmas time, one or more the the sisters at church would make squash atole (pronounced ah-tole-lay) for our Christmas potluck. They didn't use the ginger like I do but it was superb anyway.

When we moved back to the USA, in short order I realized that we were going to really miss the that atole at Christmas time. For that matter, I thought, "I could have of that right now. Forget about waiting until Christmas!" We didn't get a recipe from the sister at church so I decided to try and recreate the recipe. It turned out that I managed it quite well. Once I made it more or less like we had it in Mexico I thought, "Why not add the nutmeg and ginger to make it taste like pumpkin pie?"

We have been making it now ever since 2002.

Atole, at least in Mexico, is an extremely versatile food. They make it out of a wide variety of ingredients yet the base is almost always milk or corn starch. One time someone served me colostrum atole. That was the one that I didn't much care for. Still, I'm sure it was exceedingly good for a person.

In our culture we have "food" and we have "drink," more or less.  Atole is actually both. Traditionally it's served during the colder months of the year and is often accompanied with some kind of bread, which is dipped in it. I've often traveled by bus down there and found venders selling hot atole right in the bus terminal. It's just as much welcomed by the cold and weary travelor as the hot coffee and tamales they sell. Oh my! Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

For some time I was the only one in our home who wasn't allergic to milk! My wife still is. So now we mostly make our atole using coconut milk. I like goat milk or whole cow milk best but, hey, I want everyone to enjoy it!

[heavyhitterokra]

I know one thing, Atole is good stuff! Thanks for the recipe, George.

[macmex]

We just had pumpkin atole made from Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin!