Recipe - Beef Stew In A Pumpkin

1 Plump; very fresh 10 12 lb
pumpkin with a wide, steady
base.
4 tablespoon Olive oil
2 pound Beef cut in 1" cubes
2 tablespoon Brandy
1 cup Coarsely chopped green onion
One half cup Chopped green pepper
3 lg Minced garlic cloves
3 cup Beef stock
1 cup Madeira or dry sherry
3 md Tomatoes; chopped
1 Bay leaf
1 teaspoon Salt
One half teaspoon Oregano
One fourth teaspoon Pepper
1 One half pound White potatoes; peeled and
cut into One half " cubes
1 One half pound Sweet potatoes; peeled and
cut into One half " cubes
One half pound Zucchini; slices about 1/4"
thick
1 cup Corn
12 Dried apricots; up to 14
12 Pitted prunes; up to 14
One half cup Butter
One half cup Brown sugar
3 tablespoon Cinnamon
1 pn Ground cloves

by Katherine Dyson, 10/8/98 The Weston Forum

This was in the town newspaper; the presentation looked interesting so I am
passing it along. Seems like lots of ingredients and lots of work but it is
a onedish supper or a pretty addition to a fall party table. I have not
tried it yet.

Scrub pumpkin well.

Heat 3 TBSP oil in 5 quart casserole over medium heat. Add beef in batches
to brown on all sides. Warm brandy, ignite and pour over beef. Transfer
meat to platter and set aside. In same casserole pot combine oil, onion,
green pepper and garlic, cooking over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring
frequently. Add stock and madeira and bring to boil. Scrape sides and
return meat and juices to pot.

Stir in tomatoes, salt, oregano, pepper, bay lea,f and cloves. Cover,
reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Add potatoes and cook 15 minutes
more. Stir in zucchini and cook 10 minutes more. Add corn, apricots and
prunes and cook another 5 minutes. Keep stew warm on low heat while
preparing pumpkin.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pumpkin about 3 or 4 inches from top to
form a lid and do not remove stem! Scrape out seeds and string fibers from
lid and base. Brush melted pareve margarine (the paper says butter but...)
inside pumpkin and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Replace lid and bake
pumpkin in roasting pan about 40 minutes.

Pour juices from pumpkin into stew and stir well. Place stew into pumpkin
and bake about 15 minutes longer. Serves about 8.

Posted to JEWISHFOOD digest by judyrin@juno.com (Judy B Rin) on Oct 28,
1998, converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.