This is one of the most popular soups I have ever made. Good luck finding the praline liqueur! It is not easy to find but is available with some work. Not in CT where I live but in NY. I typically leave out the cream and nobody seems to notice.

Reviewed On: Oct. 31, 2011

This has to be one of the best recipes I have ever seen for a party or large dinner party. I have made it twice and it is always a huge hit. People are blown away by the presentation and taste. Five stars all around. As others have noted the directions are a bit sketchy. Cover the stew while cooking on the stove and the pumpkin's top while in the oven. Also, feel free to add nearly anything you like to the beef stew. I increased the vegetable count some. Just make sure that you do not add so much that the resulting stew no longer fits inside the pumpkin you have. About the pumpkin: I have no idea where you would find a 12 pound sugar pumpkin but it would not work. You need a standard "jack-o-lantern" pumpkin. A jack-o-lantern pumpkin contains quite a bit of water; making it unsuitable for use in most recipes. But, the stew you create in the first part of this recipe is too thick on its own. However, when you move it into the pumpkin to finish cooking the water from the pumpkin fixes that problem and adds a wonderful flavor as well.

Reviewed On: Oct. 2, 2011

Great recipe. I pulled it up as an alternative cooking clams in white wine. Make sure you use a brown beer or similar. Like another poster said you can skip the cornmeal step if you purchased your clams already cleaned up at a fish market. In my view the olive oil does not add much to the overall flavor and I reduced it to two tablespoons which was more than enough to fry the garlic. The sausage will add enough oil of its own to fry everything else. Finally, you do end up with a LOT of broth.

Reviewed On: Jun. 12, 2010