Dinner in a Pumpkin

This time of year one can't help but think about pumpkins. Most kids look at a pumpkin and see all sorts of fun or scary faces and quickly jump to trick-or-treating. I look at a pumpkin and see possibilities. One of my favorite fall dishes is Dinner in a Pumpkin. Yes, you read that correctly...the dinner is made IN the pumpkin. Besides being a fun serving dish, the pumpkin adds a delicious fall flavor and lots of nutrients. Fortunately for me, my kids LOVE it. In fact, this year when they saw pumpkins at the grocery store, they asked for this dinner instead of "what face are we gonna make?"


Although it takes a bit of a time commitment to make, it is VERY easy. I promise, you won't be disappointed!



Dinner in a Pumpkin


1 small to medium sized pumpkin

1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 zucchini
1 cup carrots cut
1 cup frozen corn


• Preheat oven to 375*

• Wash then remove the top from the pumpkin as if you were going to carve it for Halloween. Clean out all the "goopy stuff" and rinse the inside. Set aside.

• In a medium sauté pan, brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic.

• Chop zucchini into bite size pieces and mix with carrots, corn and soup in a large bowl.

• Add the beef mixture to the vegetable mixture and stir until well blended.

• Add everything to the inside of the pumpkin and replace the lid.

• Place the pumpkin on a jelly roll pan and bake for approximately 1 to 1-1/2 hrs. The pumpkin should be soft on the inside and all the veggies cooked well.

• Stir to incorporate the juices.

• Serve. Be sure to scoop some of the pumpkin with the filling!

Pasties (Meat Pies)

Pasties are one of my favorite grab-n-go meals. It's like a tiny steak dinner in your hand. As I mentioned before, every time I make them I am reminded of my childhood.
This "recipe" has been handed down from my grandmother. Although she used suet in her pie dough and I never learned to apply that ingredient, the outcome is still fabulous.  These are not the same as the gravy-laden pasties you can find at an English Pub. These are drier, but lend themselves to be eaten hot or cold.  I really don't have a preference!

Since the crust for these should be fairly sturdy, don't panic if you haven't worked much with pie dough. This is a great start as overworking the dough a little will make it tough, but will be just fine to hold up to the handling and weight of the filling.

Pasties (meat pies)

Makes about 15

4 medium baking potatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
1 round steak, fat trimmed and cut into small cubes
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
salt & pepper
1 Egg, slightly beaten

Savory Pie dough, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cut potatoes, onions, and steak into their own  bowls. Season the meat with garlic, salt and pepper.

Roll pie dough until it is 1/4" thick. Cut large circles, 3 1/2"-4" in diameter, in an even amount.  On one circle, layer potatoes, meat, and onion leaving about 1/4"-1/2" edge. Flatten a second circle so it is just slightly larger than the first. Cover the filling and seal the edges with a fork. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. When baking sheet is full (approx. 6-8 per 1/2 sheet size), brush with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Make a little vent slice at the top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown.

Let rest for 5 minutes before removing from pans.
Try not to burn your fingers or tongue when taking the first bite!

Savory Pie Dough
From Julia Child's Baking with Julia

5 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 TBSP salt
1 1/2 (6 oz) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 3/4 (11 oz) solid vegetable shortening, chilled
1 cup ice water

Using a mixer with paddle attachment: Put the flour and salt into the bowl and stir to mix.  Add the butter and mix on low until it is cut into the dry ingredients and the mixture looks coarse and crumbly.  Ad the shortening in small bits and continue to mix on low. When the mixture is clumpy and curdy and holds together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers, add the water and mix only until it is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold it over on itself two or three times, just to finish the mixing and to gather it together.

To make dough by hand:  Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and using a pastry blender cut it into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Break up the shortening and add it in bits to the bowl. Still working with the pastry blender, cut in te shortening until the mixture has small clumps and curds. Switch to a wooden spoon and add the ice water, stirring to incorporate it. Turn the dough onto a work surface and fold it over on itself a few times. The dough will be soft but will firm up in the refrigerator.

Chilling the dough:  Divide into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours or for as long as 5 days.

Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 days or frozen for 1 month. It's a good idea to diide the dough into quarters for freezing since one quarter of the recipe is generally enough for one pie crust or tart shell. Defrost, wrapped, in the refrigerator.

Cooking Hodge Podge

Saturday was a rough day for me. I spent the afternoon studying for a grueling test that I'll be taking in a couple of weeks and then got sick on the way home from the session...not my idea of a good time!  So, Sunday, when I was feeling normal again, I wanted to cook...a lot.  I wound up narrowing it down to 3 dishes. Two were new and one was an old favorite.

I love "old favorites" since they bring back so many memories.  This one brought back memories as far away as elementary school. My mom use to make Pasties and I would love to take them for lunch. All the kids would look at me like I was crazy--and why wouldn't I be? How many fourth graders bring cold meat pies to school for lunch?  Regardless, I loved the attention and I loved the lunch.  I remember that whenever I make them.

The new dishes I made I found out of a bargain cookbook from Border's: Appetizers Finger Food Buffets & Parties by Bridget Jones. (Not of the Bridget Jones' Diary fame, I'm sure...anyone remember blue soup?) The first was Smoked Salmon and Rice Salad Parcels and the other was Cold Lemon Souffle with Almonds.  Let me tell you they all turned out great!  Other than a little time consuming, they are all easy to make.  Still, 4 hours in the kitchen doesn't seem all that bad when the therapy aspect is considered.  It was the ideal therapy session, indeed.  I made dinner and felt giddy by the time the plates were filled. Seeing the happy faces of my kids trying something new and hearing the comments that follow, well, that just makes my heart soar.

Smoked Salmon and Rice Salad Parcels

Serves 4

1 cup mixed wild rice and basmati rice (I used Near East without the seasoning packet)
8 slices smoked salmon, approx. 12 oz. worth

4 inch piece of cucumber, finely diced

8 oz. feta cheese, cubed
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup diced onion

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. chopped curly leaf parsley

salt & fresh ground pepper

Lime slices & parsley for garnish

1. Cook the rice according to package directions. Drain any excess liquid and transfer to a bowl to cool completely.

2. Line 4 ramekins (or small cereal bowls) with plastic wrap, then line each with smoked salmon, allowing the ends to overlap the edges of the dishes. (I had extra salmon, so I used about 3 slices each.)

3. Add the cucumber, cubes of feta, and tomato quarters to the rice and stir in the mayonnaise, lime juice and parsley. Mix together well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Spoon the rice salad mixture into the salmon-lined bowls. Carefully fold over the overlapping ends of the salmon so that the rice mixture is completely encased.

5. Chill the parcels in the refrigerator 30-60 minutes, then invert each parcel onto a plate, using the plastic wrap to ease them out of the bowls. Carefully peel off the wrap, then garnish with parsley and lime. Serve.

Note: The extra rice mixture can be served as a separate salad.