We had a house party of people staying over the weekend of Halloween which happened to fall on the Saturday. I took them all hunting during the day and wanted a simple, tasty dinner to prepare and cook for when we all returned, weary and tired in the afternoon. I'd previously bought a couple of pounds of quality stewing beef and minced it myself. I like to do it this way so that I'm in total control of what goes into my mince.......! Then I peeled and chopped a couple of onions and softened them in butter/oil mix in a large, cast-iron cooking pot, adding a couple of crushed garlic cloves as well. For the fiery spiceyness I tore up a last year's dried red chilli and pounded it together in a pestle with some freshly grated ginger and some fresh coriander seeds gathered from the garden. Gave it all good bashing and add to the onions then add the meat, turn up the heat and brown it all, grinding in some black pepper too. When beef all browned, I threw in a large spoonful of flour, cooked that into the mix for a couple of minutes before adding a pound of chopped-up soft tomatoes from the greenhouse. Cook it all up to a simmer adding water or stock until bubbling as you like it. Add a good handful of chopped flat mushrooms and some green herbs from garden. Put on lid and cook for sometime until all thick and amalgamated. Taste for seasoning and add salt as required.
Meanwhile slice "lid" off chosen pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Place in pan and spoon in the mince mix. Replace lid and secure with wooden cocktails sticks if necessary. Cover with sheet of silver foil and bake in a low oven for "hours"! Check for tenderness of pumpkin flesh as you go along.
To serve make a large batch of blue cheese sauce, I used the Ludlow Food Centre's new Ludlow Blue. A big batch of garlic bread and crisp green salad is just perfect!
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