DINNER AND A MOVIE

What can be better than some good-ol Mormon comedy? Put your work away and enjoy the moment. If you like this bit, it's part of a DVD called Latter-day Night Live.


Now on to Dinner. This is a nice fall stew made in a pumpkin. It's got some crazy ingredients, but it's good.
CARBONADA CRIOLLA
1 large pumpkin
melted butter
sugar
2 lg. onions, chopped
4 lg. garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
3 lb. chuck steak, cubed
1 lb. tomatoes, peeled and chopped (canned tomatoes work equally well)
1 TBSP tomato paste
3 1/2 pints beef stock
Boquet garni
1 heaping tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 lb white potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 lb raw pumpkin, cut in chunks
2 cans sweet corn (frozen works)
12 canned yellow peach halves, sliced
syrup from canned peaches.

Prepare pumpkin by cutting a lid from the top. Scoop out the inside of pumpkin. Discard the fibers and seeds, and scoop away some of the solid flesh, leaving a sturdy wall of pumpkin, being careful not to pierce it.

Measure out 2 pounds of pumpkin flesh for the stew. Brush the inside with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Replace the lid and set the pumpkin on a baking sheet.

In a large saucepan, cook the onion, garlic, and beef, in a little oil until soft but not browned. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, half the stock, the poquet garni, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until meat is almost cooked (about 1 hour.)

Put the pumpkin shell in the oven at 375 and cook for 30 minutes or longer. Be careful not to collapse the walls.

Add the sweet potato, potato and pumpkin to the saucepan and cover with more stock. Return to a boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the meat is tender, the potatoes are cooked, and the liquid is thickened.

Stir in the corn and peaches and simmer for another 15 minutes. Taste, correcting the seasoning and adding a little of the peach syrup. Remove the bouquet garni and discard. Ladle the stew into the pumpkin an dput back into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes and serve. Serves 6 - 8.

OR: cook all ingredients in a crock pot or dutch oven as directed above, using pumpkin chunks, and omit using the pumpkin shell as a serving pot.