Pumpkins not in pie

Pumpkins are now piled high at farmers' markets, either sold by weight or piece. Understandably those who need a Jack O'Lantern for Halloween aren't rushing to buy just yet. And those who hate pumpkin pie--I've met four people in the last few months--aren't rushing to buy either. But they're missing out. Pumpkins are great for a lot more than pie.

For starters, a big one--even with a shape more cylindrical than round, when hollowed out makes a perfect container for displaying a pot of mums in the house. The combo is especially delightful as a buffet table centerpiece.

A hollowed out pumpkin with a good shape makes a terrific seasonal serving bowl. I use a very round one to pass marinated mushrooms around, because at a stand-up party, it's easy to stick the necessary toothpicks for grabbing them right into the exterior of the pumpkin. It's also eye-catching filled with chili, particularly black bean chili. and if you still have one at Thanksgiving, use it as a colorful bowl for the stuffing.

A hollowed out pumpkin makes a great cooking vessel. In South America stews are made in it.
Essentially on top of the stove, you make a beef stew almost to completion, then pour it into the cleaned pumpkin, put the top back on the pumpkin and bake it on a cookie sheet at 350º until the pumpkin is soft. When served, the pumpkin flesh comes out with the spoon, becoming part of the stew. A beef stew with raisins, cinnamon and onions, Greek style, works really well in the pumpkin.

You can also bake the pumpkin until it's soft, let it cool, hollow it out and fill it up with hearty corn chowder. Inevitably in serving, small pieces of cooked pumpkin will become part of the chowder.

A medium to large pumpkin, hollowed out, can also be used to cook bread pudding in the oven. Since the bread pudding needs as much time to cook as the pumpkin does, you can put it into a raw pumpkin and follow the pudding's baking instructions.

 In Thailand, a small pumpkin is hollowed out, filled with the simple makings of coconut custard and steamed on top of the stove. When the pumpkin is soft, the pudding should be firm. Sangaya, Thai coconut custard, is made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar--a boon to the lactose intolerant.

Finally,Turkish style, a large pumpkin or equal size red squash can be baked at 400º until it's almost soft, cooled, and stuffed with a cooked mixture of butter, rice, lamb, celery, raisins, pistachios, onions, parsley, dill and cinnamon.Then you bake it another 15 minutes until everything is warm. This is served by cutting 1/2" thick ring shaped slices from the pumpkin, putting one slice on each dinner plate and filling the ring's hollow center with the rice mixture. Vegetarians, there's a similar recipe in a blog post from last March about winter blahs.