Pumpkin for presentation:Choose an attractive pumpkin, with nice color and smooth skin. It should have a nice, flat, stable bottom. Wash outside of pumpkin, gently and thoroughly. Wipe dry. With a sharp knife, cut a circular top (about 5-inch diameter) out of pumpkin. Save this top for lid. Scoop out seeds and scrape inside clean, removing stringy membranes. Rinse inside. Shorten stem if too long. Set aside.Chilie filling:
- Middle sized orange pumpkin, 8 to 10 inches in diameter
- Butter
- 1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 can (16 oz) Hormel less sodium chili with beans (or a similar can of chilie)
- 1 can (15 or 16 oz) reduced sodium pink pinto beans (any brand will do, low sodium preferred, but not necessary)
- 1/2 can (15 oz) El Paso refried beans fat free
- 1 can (11 oz) Del Monte summer crisp whole kernal sweet golden corn, no salt added
- Seasoning as desired may include powdered garlic, rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme, onion, kelp
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground peppercorns (sometimes a mixture of black, red, and white, other times just black peppercorns)
Cook ground meat in skillet until cooked throroughly. While cooking, some spice may be sprinkled directly onto the meat. (I urge people to add spices "to taste" and to remember that your canned foods will have some seasoning already in them.)
When meat is finished. Remove skillet from heat. Drain excess grease. Transfer cooked meat to a plate with paper towel to absorb extra fat.
Place pumpkin in rectangular or square glass baking dish. Lightly brush pumpkin with butter or oil. Place pumpkin into oven at medium heat for 15 minutes.
Open cans and add chilie, pink pinto beans, refried beans, and corn into a large pot. (If you could not get low sodium pink pinto beans or corn, separately rinse each the beans and corn in a strainer under running water.) Add ground meat to pot. Use empty chilie can to measure one can of water into pot. Set pot over medium heat and stir. If chilie is too thick, add more water as needed.
Remove pumpkin from oven. Ladle and pour cooked chilie mixture into pumpkin. Place lid on top and return to oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Presentation:
Bring to feast table in glass baking dish. Remove lid. Place serving spoon or ladle into pumpkin. Serve with sour cream and cornbread.
If you are going to a feast where it is not possible to deliver the dish to the participants while still hot, this same chilie recipe does well when dumped into a crock pot. Unfortunately, it lacks pizzaz of being served in a pumpkin.
Variation:
Thoron suggests keeping the chilie hot in the crock pot and serving it in a clean, prepared but uncooked, pumpkin shell. We did this once, but it's not as good as the cooked pumpkin shell.
copyright 2011 Myth Woodling
Meat in the Moon
Practical Celebration Recipes and Preps
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