Food: Light up fall menus with pumpkins

When you’re buying pumpkins this year, you might leave the jack-o’-lantern job to the big guys and choose a smaller variety, the sugar pumpkin, which is cultivated for cooking. It makes a beautiful casserole. And it works well in pumpkin juice, the beverage of choice for Harry Potter and the other young wizards at Hogwarts.

PUMPKIN CASSEROLE

Bake this entrée in a sugar pumpkin, then move it to your dinner table, where it becomes a striking centerpiece.

1 medium sugar pumpkin

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 cup wild rice, cooked

1/2 cup white rice, cooked

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2 ears of corn, cut in 1 1/2 –inch lengths

2 ribs celery, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 cup sliced round steak, browned and cut into bite sizes

2 scallions, diced and sautéed until soft

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon red curry powder

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons bread flour

1/2 cup beef broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut a circle 4 to 5 inches in diameter around the pumpkin stem. Remove the stem, the stringy pulp and the seeds. Set the seeds aside for later.

Prick the inside of the pumpkin with a fork. Rub with salt and dry mustard.

In a large bowl, mix the wild and white rice, the green and red pepper, corn, celery, carrot, steak, scallions, allspice and red curry powder.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When it bubbles, sprinkle the flour over it and stir until the mixture turns golden brown. Add the beef broth, stirring until all the lumps are dissolved.

Fill the pumpkin with the rice/vegetable mixture. Spoon thickened beef broth on top.

Set the pumpkin in a baking pan with about 1 /2 inch of water in the bottom. Bake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the pumpkin is tender but retains its shape. Add water to the pan as needed.

As you serve each guest, include bites of pumpkin by scraping the baked inner wall of the “bowl.” Makes 3 to 4 servings.

-- Adapted from online sources

PUMPKIN JUICE

If this version is too thick, you can strain it through cheesecloth.

1 cup fresh processed pumpkin (or 1 cup canned pumpkin)

2 cups apple juice

1/4 cup apricot nectar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 ground cinnamon

Lemon discs or wedges

4 cinnamon sticks

In a blender, combine pumpkin, apple juice, apricot nectar, lemon juice, nutmeg and ground cinnamon. Whip. Serve over ice, garnished with lemon and a cinnamon stick. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

PUMPKIN CASSEROLE

Bake this entrée in a sugar pumpkin, then move it to your dinner table, where it becomes a striking centerpiece.

1 medium sugar pumpkin

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 cup wild rice, cooked

1/2 cup white rice, cooked

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2 ears of corn, cut in 1 1/2 –inch lengths

2 ribs celery, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 cup sliced round steak, browned and cut into bite sizes

2 scallions, diced and sautéed until soft

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon red curry powder

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons bread flour

1/2 cup beef broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut a circle 4 to 5 inches in diameter around the pumpkin stem. Remove the stem, the stringy pulp and the seeds. Set the seeds aside for later.

Prick the inside of the pumpkin with a fork. Rub with salt and dry mustard.

In a large bowl, mix the wild and white rice, the green and red pepper, corn, celery, carrot, steak, scallions, allspice and red curry powder.

Fill the pumpkin with the rice/vegetable mixture. Spoon thickened beef broth on top.

Set the pumpkin in a baking pan with about 1 /2 inch of water in the bottom. Bake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the pumpkin is tender but retains its shape. Add water to the pan as needed.

As you serve each guest, include bites of pumpkin by scraping the baked inner wall of the “bowl.” Makes 3 to 4 servings.

-- Adapted from online sources

PUMPKIN JUICE

If this version is too thick, you can strain it through cheesecloth.

1 cup fresh processed pumpkin (or 1 cup canned pumpkin)

2 cups apple juice

1/4 cup apricot nectar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 ground cinnamon

Lemon discs or wedges

4 cinnamon sticks

In a blender, combine pumpkin, apple juice, apricot nectar, lemon juice, nutmeg and ground cinnamon. Whip. Serve over ice, garnished with lemon and a cinnamon stick. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

SIDEBAR

Seed Snacks

Pumpkins are handsome members of the gourd family, but that squishy mess inside -- eww. Well, it’s time to get a grip on your gag reflex: Pumpkin seeds are worth it.

A small sugar pumpkin yields about half a cup of mature seeds. If you shell them, you’ll have pepitas, often used in Mexican cooking. But shelling isn’t mandatory. Just clean away the strings and pulp, rinse the seeds and let them dry.

Combine the seeds with 1 teaspoon of canola oil, 1/4 teaspoon of celery salt, 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Roast the seeds in a 350-degree oven, stirring them midway through. Remove the seeds from the oven and toss with another 1 /4 teaspoon of sugar. You’ll have about four servings.