Earlier this week I had a short conversation with Dr B, Surgery, Cooking, Art....Life. Passionately. She mentioned making pumpkin-apple soup, pumpkin gratin and (of course) roasted pumpkin seeds. I recalled having a recipe for turkey-pumpkin stew that actually uses the pumpkin shell for the serving bowl. Neither of us could find it on-line. I don’t recall where I got it. Most likely a magazine or newspaper back in the 80’s. I typed it up to share with Dr B and decided I would make it myself. Here is the recipe and some pictures.
Turkey-Pumpkin Stew Cooking Time: 2 hrs & 45 minutes Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
8"-10" pumpkin or squash
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tsp salt
1/8 Tsp ginger
2 lb turkey, cubed
2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp flour 2-3 thin carrots, quartered
1 cup yellow squash, thickly sliced
1/2 - 3/4 lb green beans
1 cup beef bouillon
INSTRUCTIONS:
Slice 1" off top of pumpkin for lid and reserve.
Scoop out seeds and pumpkin pieces from the sides, leaving shell about 3/4" thick; reserve pieces.
Combine flour, salt, and ginger. Toss turkey cubes to coat.
Heat oil in large skillet; brown turkey cubes.
Add reserved pumpkin pieces and remaining ingredients to skillet. Bring to boil, stirring. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Place pumpkin shell on baking pan. Turn turkey mixture into shell; cover with its own lid.
Add 1" hot water to baking pan. Bake in 350ºF oven until turkey chunks are cooked through, about 2 hrs and 45 minutes.
Cover pumpkin with foil about midway through cooking to prevent darkening of shell.
Pumpkin with turkey/veggies in roasting pan.
Pumpkin with lid after baking.
Stew ready to eat with cheese roll.
My husband and I both like this stew, but agree that it is a little bland for our palettes. So if you have any suggestions for added seasoning, I’d love to hear them.
2 comments:
My first thought was that a bunch of heavy cream would tie the flavours in nicely. Make it a cross between a stew and a pumpkin turkey gratin. It would also help thicken it.
And I'd add a bunch of fresh thyme and sage, a dash of maple syrup or a grated apple/pear, and possibly a few cranberries.
In addition to really browning the turky, I would also carmelize the onions, and brown the pumpkin cubes as well. I might even go as far as roasting the pumpkin and squash cubes before adding them to the stew.
I would also bake the stew with the lid off, to allow some browning and concentration of flavours. One of the problems may be that water from the pumpkin shell is leaking out into the stew and diluting the flavour.
Thanks for the comments. May have to try some of them.
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