BOOK/A TABLE - Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin

Growing up in New England, a trip to Salem was part of the deal. I first visited with my cousin and aunt when I was in the fourth grade, already vividly obsessed with stories of Tituba, those fitful girls, and the riveting witch trials. Although the little town is more like an overwrought mall now, I’m still enamored with The House of the Seven Gables, that grand, mysterious edifice staring out onto the harbor (and featuring at least one hidden staircase).

As Nathaniel Hawthorne describes in his great Gothic tale, before the witchy Matthew Maule placed a curse on the Pyncheon family and that historic house with the seven gables, it was once a happier place, full of revelry and merriment...and food!

“The chimney of the new house, in short, belching forth its kitchen smoke, impregnated the whole air with the scent of meats, fowls, and fishes, spicily concocted with odoriferous herbs, had onions in abundance. The mere smell of such festivity, making its way to everybody’s nostrils, was at once an invitation and an appetite.”

Surely something as delicious as Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin was also on the menu. Adapted from a recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart, I can hardly think of a better way to usher in the fall season than with this recipe guaranteed to bring the house down!

Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin
Serves 6

Ingredients
6 sugar pumpkins - (about 2 lbs are the best)
5 tb butter
2 tb melted butter
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 lb pearl onions
5 tb all-purpose flour
9 oz peeled cubed potatoes
2 medium peeled sliced carrots
12 oz button mushrooms; quartered
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 c milk
4 1/2 c poached or roasted chicken
2 tb fresh thyme leaves
3 tb chopped parsley
2 tb chopped fresh sage
1 lg egg beaten with
1 tb heavy cream

Method
This recipe calls for pate brisee with thyme but spare yourself the trouble and work with a tube of Pillsbury dough instead and pound some thyme into it.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Slice the tops off the pumpkins. (Placing a pumpkin on a towel will help keep it from rolling around.) 

Scoop out the seeds, and discard them. Using a pastry brush, brush insides of pumpkins with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Season insides of pumpkins with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Place pumpkins on a baking sheet; cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add pearl onions, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold running water. Peel onions, and set aside. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a large, high-sided skillet set over medium heat. Add potatoes and onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to turn golden.

Add mushrooms and carrots, and cook 4 to 5 minutes more. Add flour, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add reduced chicken stock and milk, and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken, parsley, thyme, sage, remaining nutmeg, remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.

Remove from heat, and divide mixture among reserved pumpkin shells. Roll each piece of pate brisee to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

Pull center of dough upward to form a pumpkin-like stem. Place over the hollow of each filled pumpkin. Using the back of a small paring knife, mark the dough to simulate the lines of the pumpkin.

Brush top of dough with egg wash.

Bake until crust is golden, about 45 minutes.