- Let's give this gourd the gourmet treatment, pumpkin stuffed with everything good.

(pleasant music) I'm Trace Barnett, and welcome to "Garden Party."

Today, we are not carving this pumpkin up into a jack-o-lantern, but we're stuffing it with everything good instead.

So, first things first.

When you are looking for pumpkins to stuff, be sure and purchase pumpkins that have a really pretty, bright color.

You don't want dull pumpkins, because that means that they've been out in the sun and faded.

You also don't want to purchase any pumpkins that have any blemishes, bruises, or that are missing the stem, because that means that bacteria can go down in our pumpkin, and we don't want all that bad with everything good.

So, give your pumpkin a good, thorough wash and a dry, and be sure if you're using pumpkins off your porch you're not using any that have had any kind of varnish or a bleach bath or anything like that.

You're not also limited to just traditional yellow pie pumpkins, either.

Go for any kind of fun squashes, Casper pumpkins, mini pumpkins, acorn squashes.

They're all perfectly good candidates to stuff.

We're gonna approach these pumpkins just like we would a traditional jack-o-lantern, and we're gonna remove the top first.

I prefer, especially if I'm cooking with a pumpkin, you really want a good, even cut on the top, because we're gonna save that lid to put on our beautiful pumpkin later.

It's really a showstopper.

I use a serrated knife for this, and I'm not gonna dive into it normally like you would with a jack-o-lantern.

I'm gonna go in about two and a half or three inches from the top, just to give us a good top that's not gonna dry out in the oven.

It's also gonna give us a good, large cavity so we can stuff all of our ingredients into it.

And then here goes the good stuff, trying to cut a pumpkin on camera.

Once you make your initial cut into the pumpkin, it's gonna be a lot easier, but just be sure and watch your fingers.

You don't want to add an extra digit to the everything good inside.

(cowbell clanging) (soft music) Beautiful.

So, now comes the time that we'll scoop all the contents of our pumpkin out and throw them into a bowl.

I like to use a really good, sturdy spoon to go ahead and lift all of those guts out.

Take your spoon and go around the inside of the pumpkin and just barely scrape the walls.

You can see that the contents kind of ball up on the inside, and that makes it super easy just to plop out into a bowl.

(pumpkin squelching) You'll have a few stragglers in there too, and that's when your hands come in really handy.

Now, the pumpkin seeds are absolutely perfect to roast up or feed to your chickens.

And when you're using pie pumpkins, you don't necessarily have to worry about having any residual strings left, because they're gonna cook up and become really tender in the oven.

You can omit the top, but I suggest you cook it in the oven alongside your pumpkin.

Everything needs a little hat when it goes to the table.

So, I'm gonna do the same thing with our little Casper pumpkin here, and I'm just gonna cut it just above halfway, and the reason I'm doing that is because you want enough depth in your miniature pumpkin so that your filling's not falling out.

These small pumpkins are super fun, because they look really good on individual plates and they're perfect with a side salad or even as an appetizer.

Now, the smaller pumpkins are just a little bit harder to hollow out, so I'm gonna go in first with my hands and just kind of pull the contents out here, and then I'm just gonna take a small paring knife, sit that down, and I'm just gonna widen our circumference here, and just use a sturdy spoon and just scoop those contents out.

Look how cute that is.

It just don't get any cuter than a miniature pumpkin.

In addition to pumpkins, I also love to stuff squash.

This kabocha squash is a great option, because it has this really pretty green exterior, and it has this really pretty orange flesh, and the kabocha squash are rather hard, so instead of cutting off the top, I like to cut them in half and then scoop the contents out.

(squash squelching) Now that we've got all of our contents out, I'm gonna take my serrated knife again, if I can find it, and I'm just gonna remove a tiny portion of the bottom so that when we cook our half squash, it's not gonna be rolling around in the pan.

And when you're removing the bottom, just be sure and not cut all the way down into the cavity.

We're really just wanting a little small section that will be flat for when we cook our pumpkin.

And voila, it sits perfect, just like magic.

Next, I'm gonna pour some heavy cream into a bowl, and this is what's gonna just marry together and bring all of our ingredients to just simmer like a stuffing inside of the pumpkin.

I'm gonna put just a pinch of nutmeg into our heavy cream there.

I'm also gonna do some ground sage, so you kind of get the flavors of the season.

Give that a good whisk and allow that to come to room temperature.

(whisk tapping) Next, I'm gonna take just a little bit of olive oil, just the tiniest amount, and I'm gonna pour it into our pumpkins, and I'm gonna brush it up the sides and just along the top.

That's really gonna hold our seasonings in and it's gonna give our pumpkin a really pretty color as it cooks.

I'm gonna do the tops, too.

Now that we've got our pumpkins all nice and greased up, ready for the oven, let's start making our filling.

You're gonna recognize a lot of these ingredients because they are that kind of traditional stuffing ingredients that you kind of want and crave during the fall season.

First things first to go into our stuffing will be some toasted walnuts.

Any kind of nuts that you have on hand will be perfect, too.

That's kind of the beauty of this recipe, is you can kind of tailor it to your own taste preferences.

If you have a certain stuffing ingredient you want to put in there, throw it on in.

Toasted walnuts right into the bowl.

I have some sausage that I went ahead and browned up and cooked thoroughly.

I'm using a mild sausage today, but if you like hot stuff, by all means, burn those taste buds with the hot.

I'm gonna throw in some bacon that I've already browned up on the stove.

However, I didn't brown this bacon up to where it's super, super crispy.

I kind of left it at that kind of almost chewy state, because it's gonna continue to cook inside the pumpkin, and I really want some of that bacon flavor to impart itself into our stuffing.

Throw in some apples.

It is apple season, after all.

And now comes the best part, a fourth of a pound of cheese.

You can use any kind of cheese that you want.

Today I'm using a combo of white cheddar and just regular sharp cheddar.

If you have smoked gouda on hand, that would be great, too.

Any kind of cheese preference that you like, throw the cheese in.

You can never have too much cheese.

This stuffing recipe also is gonna vary on the size of your pumpkin.

I typically go for pumpkins that are three and a half to four pounds.

It's really gonna depend on the amount of people that you're feeding.

Some french bread that is a couple days old, and if you don't have french bread that's a couple days old, let it sit out on your counter and then cut it up to throw into your stuffing.

If you throw in fresh bread, it's just gonna turn into bread clods in there, and we don't want that.

Some mushrooms, some sauteed onion and bell pepper that I did in that bacon grease, you know, just because I'm from Alabama and we like clogged arteries.

(bell dinging) Some green onion.

I have a combination of herbs here, a little rosemary, a little parsley and some fresh chopped thyme.

I chopped them all together just as a beautiful blend of herbs, and I'm gonna go ahead and just throw all of that in there.

And last but not least, some garlic.

I'm using four cloves today.

You can use as much garlic as you like to.

And now we just mix our stuffing together.

The great thing about this stuffing is, I'm gonna ditch the spoon too, because it's just best to go ahead and get on in there.

When you're stuffing stuff, you usually have to use your hands anyway.

So, this stuffing can be made up a few days in advance and stored in an airlock container in your refrigerator or a plastic bag.

You can also freeze this stuffing too, but don't pre-stuff your pumpkins and then store them for long periods in the refrigerator.

We just don't want any kind of gookiness to happen in there.

When you're chopping your stuff too, just kind of bear in mind that you want your apples, your onions, everything to kind of be at the same chop, just so that it all cooks at the same time and evenly inside the pumpkin.

Now let's stuff 'em, the best part.

I'm gonna take a little bit of salt, and I'm just gonna go ahead and salt our pumpkins just a tiny bit.

You don't want to over-season the pumpkins, or you don't want to over-season the filling either, because there's a ton of flavors inside this and we don't want it to be too salty, too sweet, too savory.

It's just the perfect taste.

I'm gonna go with the squash first.

You want to be sure and stuff your pumpkins and squash abundantly.

The reason being is because as this cooks, the stuffing's just gonna naturally kind of settle down into the pumpkin, so it's always best to start off with a good mound of overfilling stuffing.

I always like it when it comes off and kind of spills over the side too, and those little crunchy bits that are on top, like the bread, the cheese, that's my favorite part.

I've preheated my oven to 350 degrees, so when we put these into the oven, you don't want to put them into an overly hot oven.

Low and slow.

You can't rush good, stuffed pumpkins.

So, now that our pumpkins are all stuffed up and ready to go, I'm gonna put them on a foil lined baking sheet, and you want to stuff your pumpkins on a board beforehand instead of doing it over your baking sheet, just simply because you don't want those bits that fall over to burn while they're cooking.

I'm gonna ladle our cream over our pumpkin here, and take your time when you're doing this, and if the cream runs over, don't worry about that.

It's just gonna make it prettier.

You want to pour enough cream into your pumpkins there to where you can just start seeing it come up to the top of the cavity.

So, you want to cook these uncovered, because we really want the pumpkin skin to brown.

We want all the bits and pieces of our stuffing to brown up and crisp up on top, and it's just gonna be beautiful.

I'm gonna throw on our little pumpkin tops here, and if you're cooking a variety of sizes of pumpkins on the same baking sheet, just kind of check that throughout the cooking process, just so someone's not cooking a little faster than the other.

These pumpkins are gonna take, depending on the size, about an hour, an hour and a half.

You can't rush a good pumpkin, so be patient.

It'll be worth it in the end.

I'm gonna pop these into our 350 degree oven, and be sure and set a timer, too.

If not, you'll be coming in and finding a burnt stink bomb and you'll be really sad.

Been there, done that.

(chickens clucking) (pleasant music) (bites chomping) What I really like about this dish is, you know, it's a showstopper with very minimal effort.

It's a dish that can be the main course.

Just simply add a side salad to it, a little bit of bread.

And other than cooking the bacon and the sausage, all you have to do, really, is just chop a few ingredients, and that's really the hardest part.

I like to go ahead and just have everything chopped beforehand, already prepped, and then you can just throw it in a bowl and mix it together and you're ready to roll.

I think most of the time now we just think of them as decor for our porches, for our fall scenes, but they actually are edible and they're incredible.

Just really envelops that whole idea of fall when you see a cooked pumpkin on your table.

(bites chomping) Our gourmet gourds are out of the oven and plattered up.

They've had just a little bit of time to cool down, not all the way to room temperature, just slightly warm.

You don't want to dive in and cut one of these when they're super, super hot, just because you'll end up burning yourself, and it's gonna cut prettier when they've sat just a little bit.

Let's cut into this.

I'm gonna take our top off there, and you just want to cut into your pumpkin through the flesh, and you want to think about like you're almost cutting a pie.

Cut all the way through the bottom, and then just use a spoon to lift it right out.

I like to kind of serve them on their side like that so you can see all of that wonderful filling.

If you have any that slips out there, be sure and add that onto the serving, too.

Just for a little extra prettiness too, just throw a little sprig of rosemary.

If you have some extra chopped herbs, of course, throw those on there, too.

And now comes the best part, and I hate that none of you are here.

You'll have to make it at home so you can get all that delicious goodness.

I want a good piece of bread that's crunchy.

Mm, it's so rich, it's so comforting.

It's everything you want in the season.

Mm, think that's a good time to cut.

Mouthful and happy fall, y'all.

(pleasant music) Let's (laughing).

Gourd gourmet.

The gourmet treatment.

This gourd the gourmet treatment.

This gourd the gourmet treatment.

Okay, let's see if I can get that.

You also don't want to have a drink before you do this, either.

I wish I knew what kind of squash this was.

The small ball.

I wish I had a Halloween finger to look like I cut my finger off.

I have a human finger bone, but it's in the little house.

Really hard to do it at this angle (laughing).

Kill that one ant, throw it in the stuffing.

Now comes the good... I can't stop.

Okay, now we can cut.

I have dried cheese in my beard.

(pleasant music)