October 12, 2018
Hello all!
My mother-in-law once made this wonderful fall meal once that was served inside a carved out pumpkin along with some fresh baked French bread. This is some comfort food that my Hubby still special requests from her to this day. I remember what a novel idea I thought that was and the stew-like surprise inside was delicious. So, you now have a new use for un-carved pumpkins this year. This FALL DINNER IN A PUMPKIN is not her exact recipe but it definitely comes close.
Ever wonder what all those different shaped squash are sitting in the produce bin? Scroll down for some help on what you can use those for.
Enjoy!
Marzee
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FALL DINNER IN A PUMPKIN
INGREDIENTS:
Medium sized pumpkin (4 pounds)
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 4-ounce can mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups cooked rice
Black olives
Steamed carrot
Whole cloves
Fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS:
Using a sharp knife, cut lid from pumpkin and scoop out
pumpkin seeds and excess membrane with a scraping tool.
In a large skillet, combine ground beef, chopped green
pepper, chopped celery, and chopped onion and cook over
medium heat until ground beef is browned. Add next seven
ingredients to skillet. Mix well and place mixture into
pumpkin cavity. Place lid on pumpkin. Place pumpkin on
a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for
1-1/2 hours. Just before serving, embellish pumpkin by
placing (with toothpicks) black olives to make eyes, a
steamed carrot to make a nose, and whole cloves to make
a mouth. Use fresh parsley leaves to make hair around
like opening. To serve, scoop out part of the baked
pumpkin, along with the meat mixture, onto each plate.
Categories: Main Courses, Seasonal
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Marzee's Corner
SOME OF THE POPULAR SQUASH VARIETIES & WHAT TO DO WITH THEM:
Acorn:
This is the most common variety, but there's also a yellow,
cream and multicolored acorn with green, cream, gold, white
and orange flesh. Its skin is hard and ridged, making it
impossible to peel before cooking, but its sweet, dry flesh
makes it ideal for baking and also great for stuffing.
Butternut:
The skin is thin, making it easy to peel. Especially good
cubed and baked, but its small cavity makes it difficult to
stuff. Has a delicious creamy, satiny texture. Good in soups
and stews.
Buttercup:
Its rich orange flesh is fine-textured and has a sweet,
nutty flavor. Prepare like you would an acorn squash. Good
for soups, purees and baked goods, especially cakes.
Delicata:
Try halving it and roasting with a sprinkling of butter,
fresh lime juice and chili powder.
Hubbard:
This one's a big boy, or can be, often weighing up to almost
40 pounds. The larger, irregular-shaped ones are sold precut,
but you can always find a nicely shaped smaller one. Comes
in a rich orange, dark green or a subtle sage shade. The
flesh has a tendency to be dry, but it's also quite sweet
and flavorful. Best when it's quartered, seasoned and baked
covered, then mashed with cream and butter.
Pumpkin:
For eating, select the pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin. Great
in pies, breads, soups and as a pasta filling. The miniature
Jack-Be-Littles are perfect for stuffing.
Spaghetti:
This squash gets its name from its flesh, which once baked
is scraped with a fork to produce spaghettilike strands.
Toss with some freshly grated Parmesan and butter, or dress
with a light tomato sauce.
Turban:
When you see this squash, you'll understand its name.
Sometimes called Turk's Turban, its brightly colored shell
makes a spectacular presentation, especially for serving
soup made from the rich flesh. Can be used in most recipes
that call for pumpkin or butternut. Also great in baked
goods or purees.
* Hope tht takes some of the guesswork out of these favorites for you!
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