I could eat this all night...

Tonight was a yoga night. I got home at about 7pm - after a quick jaunt to the grocery (trip #2 of the week, and it is only Monday). We had really tasty fish tacos last night for dinner (wish I had a picture, but still forgetting about the camera more often than not). My issue with these tacos, which I have made before, is my serious dislike of wasting food. And, unfortunately, by my account so far, even the smallest red cabbage has got to yield 7-9 cups chopped. That's a LOT of cabbage. So, you ask, what's one to do with all the leftover?!? Well, I am glad you're wondering! Behold - the best salad ever (note: I did not say healthiest salad ever, though in an effort to cut the nut/apple to cabbage ratio to a more respectable amount, I will be adding even more cabbage to the leftovers).

So, back to the fact it was a yoga night...I had this salad, warmed bread, and italian sweet sausages for the MP (salad is never enough for that one) all thrown together in a half hour. That includes making the spiced pecans and dressing. Not to shabby if I say so myself. ;-)

Almost Better than Thanksgiving!

So, I thought that our Thanksgiving dinner was pretty fantastic...but I have to admit that we've had a couple of pretty great meals for leftovers since then. Most years, I feel pretty turkey'd out after the holiday meal. This year, I got MP to have a dinner salad one evening which was TAST-Y, and then last night was the coup de grâce....

Just look at all that yummy gravy, meat and veggies...and of course I did not use a prepared pie crust. I made my own! (recipe follows photos) ...and as you can see, I did a top and bottom crust (vs. the recipe calling for only a top crust)

It did taste as good as it looked!

Best Pie Crust Ever:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
5 to 7 tablespoons ice water

Cut butter into pieces. In a bowl with a pastry blender or in a food processor blend or pulse together flour, salt, butter, and shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 5 tablespoons ice water and toss or pulse just until mixture forms a dough, adding additional ice water, a little at a time, if dough is too dry. Divide dough in half and flatten each piece into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

I think I'll use the last little bit that was left over, along with some frozen berries and sugar to make a little mini cobbler pie tonight for dessert. Yum.

The Best Laid Plans

Well, I started this blog with every intention of at least a weekly update, but have been awfully preoccupied of late. Not to worry, we've still been eating well.

I have in the freezer the second helping of Pumpkin & Chicken Enchiladas - I'd like to use it this week (ever since putting this baking dish in the freezer, I have reached for it countless times), but am not hugely looking forward to having these again. The first time around, I thought I really liked them, but each time I ate them (maybe three servings in that casserole), they weren't as good as the last time. But - since I have cooked A LOT this past weekend, I am thinking I'll have to suck it up.

We had a fantastic holiday weekend. My parents came from Nashville to join us, and we had some friends stay overnight on Saturday night. The weekend was filled with good food.

Our thanksgiving menu consisted of turkey and dressing (I am the only Southerner I know who does not make cornbread dressing), gratin potatoes, cranberry sauce, cheese puffs, and green beans. Everything tasted great, though we still have enough cranberry sauce to enjoy with every meal for the next month - guess I should have cut that one in half or more! I even thought the gravy turned out well. I was also celebrating a birthday that day, and had my favorite cake for dessert rather than a pie.

Chocolate Velvet Cake

1- 4oz pkg Bakers Germans Sweet Chocolate
6T butter
3T all purpose flour
3 eggs, separated
4T sugar

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat, stir in flour, blend in egg yolks one at a time.

Beat egg whites until foamy, gradually beat in sugar, continue beating until soft peaks form.

Gently fold in chocolate mixture, blending throughly.

Pour into a greased & floured 8" cake pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until tester inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Top with Chocolate Glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:
Melt 1- 4oz pkg Bakers Germans Sweet Chocolate and 3T water over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in 3T butter, cool to thicken if desired.

This cake has been my top birthday dessert choice since I was about nine years old (as my mother is fond of telling anyone who will listen!) We had a great early dinner, followed by an early bedtime, since eating a HUGE meal at 4pm made everyone about to pass out by 7... :)

Friday, I made some delicious scones (I substitue dried cherries and almonds for the cranberries and walnuts) for breakfast, along with eggs and bacon. Saturday, when our friends came to visit I knew we'd be going out to dinner, so I decided to make a tasty lunch. I planned to have paninis with chicken, provolone, and spinach grilled on my new griddle (Thanks, mom!!) along with a beet, avocado, and pink grapefruit salad that looked amazing (I love grapefruit and have been wanting to try my hand at a salad which includes it). Unfortunately, upon getting the beets out on Friday night to roast, I discovered I'd waited just a liiiiittttle too long to use them. So, plan b was the sandwiches along with just a simple salad. Thank goodness for the salad, since I didn't know MP's buddy's girlfriend was a vegetarian - OOPS. I think we were able to make a veggie version of the panini that she enjoyed...though I need to learn to ask first, so that I make sure everyone can enjoy our meals. Finally, this morning, we had eggs, bacon (none for the veggie!), and my trusty blueberry pancakes.

I can't believe over the whole weekend, not one picture of our meals were taken...but hopefully I can get back on the wagon here!

I am hoping to sit down this afternoon and figure out what very fresh and light meals we can eat for the next week or so, since I have never felt so full. Perhaps the beet salad is just what we need (hope MP doesn't read this :))

My Sunday Routine

Everybody's got a Sunday routine. Some people head to church, others laze around reading the New York Times...me, I love to spend much of Sunday afternoons in the kitchen. Yesterday, I made banana bread for us to have for breakfast all week, the best oatmeal cookies ever (I added dried cranberries, walnuts, white and milk chocolate chips...yuuuum), a roasted chicken (for pumkin enchiladas later this week - still need to roast the pumpkin though), and coconut shrimp soup for dinner last night.

It took most of the afternoon and evening, but I love the warm kitchen and the radio on. It's my own little peaceful time of the week. I am still doing a horrible job of taking pictures, though I think I have one of the banana bread to upload (well, download from the camera, and then upload to the blog).

Tonight was a night off for me. The MP had dinner out while I was at yoga, and I had a bowl of Life cereal for dinner. That is so gourmet of me :)

Most uninspired week ever....at least it ends on a good note.

I am so disappointed in our dinners this week. I have no pictures to share because I couldn't even bear to take any. The MP gets best husband award for not complaining at all, and even telling me that he actually liked everything.

With my prowess in the kitchen, I wondered whatever could be to blame for this depressingly bland week. What have I come up with? Well, it's got to be the cookbook, of course! I am pretty bummed, because I got this cookbook as a wedding gift and had really high hopes for it. The beef stroganoff I made a few weeks ago was from here, but short of that recipe, I can't think of one other that I've actually found to be a keeper.

This week, we had Vietnamese Clay Pot Fish & Indian Lamb Curry with Spinach. Seriously, they were both so boring that I can't even take the time and effort to type out the recipes!

At least I've ended the week on a good note. Tonight, using the base from an epicurious recipe that I really like, I made a wonderful if I do say so myself stir fry.

First, I started some brown rice. Then, I chopped up some veggies we had on hand - about 1 1/2 c broccoli, 1/2 medium sized red pepper, and about 1/4 c shredded carrots and 3 garlic cloves. I sauteed these in about 1-2 tablespoons of peanut oil for about 10 minutes. Next, I added about 1lb of shrimp, and sauteed for about 3 more minutes until the shrimp were pink.

I scooped everything out of the pan in a bowl and set it aside, and added another teaspoon of peanut oil and some red pepper flakes to taste. After that cooked for a moment, I added about 1c orange juice and 1/4c soy sauce and let that cook down until it was thickened.

I finally added back in the stir fry veggies and shrimp tossing to coat. It was so tasty - a little sweet and a little spicy. This recipe would work justas well with any veggies or meat we had on hand.

Since I don't want a repeat of last week, I have gone back to old trusty and am looking forward to a couple tried and true dinners, with only one new recipe this week. On the menu:
Slow-Cooker Chicken Posole (not from old trusty, but tried and true nonetheless)
Coconut Shrimp Soup
Beef Bulgogi - recipe to follow later in the week.
and the newbie (since I have pureed squash):
Enchiladas with Pumkin Sauce

I'll definitely take more pictures this week, what's a food blog without pictures, anyway?!?!

My, how time flies

Wow, time flies when you're preoccupied. I have still been cooking, though activity on the blog wouldn't indicate it. On Halloween, the MP and I decided to stay in and hand out candy to our n'hood trick-or-treaters (and someone wanted to watch the world series!!!). Unfortunately, we ran out of candy...but the Yankees ended up winning the Series, so who cares!?!? ;)

I decided to serve a fall-ish beef stew, apple spice cake, and try my hand at yeast rolls (ha ha ha). The apple spice cake starts this entry because it was definitely the highlight of the meal. I am definitely a fan of all things dessert, but this was great. I got the recipe in better homes and gardens magazine.

You can see that I made mine in 9" round pans (simply because I didn't have 2 - 8" square ones). I think next time, I'll cut the recipe in half, unless I am cooking for a crowd though, considering we're STILL eating this thing! We've eaten it with vanilla ice cream, but it'd be great with caramel too (or even just a little caramel syrup and whipped cream)

Dinner consisted of the pot-au-feu recipe that I'd seen in a Williams-Sonoma catalog. For starters, the one in the picture may look prettier than mine, but this stuff was really good. We did mix in the recommended horseradish and mustard when serving, which I think made it extra tasty. I will say it was not as unique as I'd hoped. (Not to mention, I now have 3/4 head of cabbage that I need to figure out how to use in the next couple days!) I can imagine not making this again.

Here are my poor yeast rolls on their second rise. They don't look so bad here, you say? Yeah, they really seemed to rise nicely, but they spread and flattened a lot during the second rise, and even more in cooking. They came out more like kind of dry yeast roll pancakes than the parker house rolls I was expecting.

I used a basic milk bread recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and thought I did a fine job following all the steps. I am really not sure what happened. I think for my next attempt, I will make rolls in muffin tins, so that they don't have anywhere to go and will perhaps be a little more bready. (I think I might ought to read up on breadmaking some too, to see if I can figure out why they were so dry.)

I've cooked several dinners this week too, and will include those in my next post.

Mystery Squash #2

Back in this post I showcased some mystery squash I'd picked up at the farmers market. I decided to bust out the second one for a very tasty looking dessert that I'll serve to some friends we're hosting for dinner tonight.

Creamy Pumpkin Rice Pudding

Ingredients

2/3 cup water
1/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2/3 cup Pumpkin Puree, or canned pumpkin
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 medium red apple and/or green pear, cored and thinly sliced (1 cup)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
2 Tbsp. honey


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In small saucepan combine water and rice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed, stirring once.

2. In medium bowl combine eggs, milk, Pumpkin Puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt. Stir in rice and 1/2 cup of the cranberries. Pour mixture into 1-1/2-quart straight-sided deep baking dish. Place dish in baking pan on oven rack. Pour boiling water into baking pan until water comes halfway up sides of baking dish.

3. Bake 30 minutes; stir. Bake 35 minutes more or until outside edge appears set. Remove dish from oven. Cool slightly on wire rack.

4. Meanwhile, in bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup cranberries and boiling water to cover. Let stand 15 minutes; drain. Just before serving, toss together apple, walnuts, honey, and cranberries. Spoon over pudding. Serve warm. Makes 6 servings.

5. To store, cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.



Last night, I roasted this mystery squash to substitute for the pumpkin. I yielded more than I'll need, so I'm guessing some pumpkin bread is also in our future :)

Oh, and if you're wondering what else is on the menu? Well, I typically get more ambitious when hosting dinner on Saturday or Sunday, as there's a lot more time to plan, shop and cook. But, with tomorrow being Halloween, we had to get together with our friends tonight, so I am going with a tried and true standby.

I am sure I have mentioned my favorite cookbook before, which is simply a collection of recipies from the Everyday Food magazine. I have never received this magazine before, though I have given subscriptions to it often as gifts (great gift idea for someone who loves too cook, but is also realistic about time committments in the kitchen!). This cookbook is full of flavorful, easy recipes, often with many ingrediants that most anyone who cooks regularly will have on hand. Many of the recipes also have some nutritional information included in an index (for those times when we're counting calories).

Anyway, tonight, I'll serve Braised Chicken with Mushrooms & Oven Baked Polenta

Ingredients
4 - 6oz boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (or Pork Cutlets)
Coarse salt, and ground pepper
2T olive oil
1 lb white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/2 in thick
4 garlic cloves, havled
1/2 c dry white wine
1 3/4 c reduced sodium chicken broth
2T chopped fresh parsley (more for garnish)


Directions
1. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with 1/4 t each of salt and pepper. Heat 1 T of the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken; cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

2. Add the remaining 1 T oil to the hot skillet. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and 1/4 t of salt. Cover; cook over medium heat until the mushrooms release their juices, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the lid. Cook over high heat, tossing occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden, 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Pour the wine into the skillet, cook, stirring, until evaporated, 1 minute. Add the stock and parsley; cook over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid has reduced, 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover; simmer over low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the cutlets and polenta topped with the mushrooms and a drizzle of the cooking liquid. Garnish with additional fresh parsley.

Oven Baked Polenta

Ingredients

3/4 c cornmeal
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 c milk
2T butter
1t fresh marjoram (or 1/4t dried)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. In a lidded baking dish, whisk together 3c water, cornmeal, 1 1/4 t salt, and 1/8 t pepper. Cover and bakefor 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

2. Remove from the oven, and add the milk, butter and marjoram, and whisk briskly until smooth. Serve immediately.


Getting hungry already!

Mid-week Bake-a-thon

I have started attending a yoga class on Wednesday evenings, leaving MP to his own devices for dinner...well sort of, we all know I am too controlling for that, so this really means, pre-portioned leftovers and a note with re-heating instructions (as if he's never used the toaster oven!).
So, since yoga doesn't start until 6:45, I have a couple hours between work and class to spend doing cooking other than weeknight dinner preparations. This week, I had a couple of very ripe bananas on the counter, and so I'd decided I would make banana muffins, and I knew these were the ones. I have a bag of wheat germ I have used all of one time, and why not take a chance to get some healthy grains into an otherwise unhealthy breakfast? I only had 1/2 the bananas I needed, so I had to cut the recipe in half, which is a bummer, because they turned out awfully tasty (nutty & dense).

We were also fresh out of sweets, and I don't think a meal can be considered complete with out a little taste of something sweet at the end, not to mention I've had this crazy peanut butter craving of late, so here was the ticket. I added about 1/3 bag of mini chocolate chips, and they're heavenly!

How I Spent my Sunday

Sunday was really dreary and rainy and chilly - it seems to be the norm, at least more often than not this fall. I decided to spend my afternoon in the kitchen. I started off with my new favorite cookies. These puppies are so good, I will never make a single batch again. I have been heating one up each night with just a few bites of vanilla ice cream, and think life may never be the same again. If MP tries to eat more than his allotted half, then he better watch out! Bless his heart, heaven knows how he manages to live with my and my "only child" weird food/eating ways.

Next up...I needed to use up some cauliflower that was about to bite the dust, so I tried this recipe on another blog I have recently discovered (thanks, facebook!). It was pretty tasty, but next time, I think I won't have the caraway seeds - I know they typically go well with curry, but I think it's one of those flavors that I will go ahead and admit is not one of my favorites. That said, this turned out as a great side dish. In fact, I think I could just add some cubed lamb to it and have a fantastic and easy dinner on my hands.

Next up - wheat muffins. Again, a recipe that I think will become an old standby. I am really going to try to make my own yeast rolls in the next week or so, but these guys are so quick and easy - not to mention the MP loves them. I know they're not a cibatta roll full of white flour and preservatives, but at $3.50 per 6 of those - not to mention the poor health of the grocery store option - I am going to try to provide most of our own bread in-house so to speak.

Finally dinner! From the farmer's market, Pasta Italia, the best ever fresh pasta. By the time the market closes for winter, this pasta will be available year round at HyVee and Schucks. I am so glad, I had been starting to hoarde it in the freezer, worried I wouldn't be able to get it. The spaghetti was coupled with a simple tomato/meatball sauce. I just sauteed some garlic in oil, added 3 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, a little oregano, basil and thyme. I let that cook down for about 20 minutes while I made the meatballs with an egg, about a third of a cup of milk, a cup of whole wheat crusty breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and 1lb of ground beef. I formed about 20 meatballs, and then dropped them into the tomato sauce, covering them, and cooked that for about 10 minutes. The leftovers for lunch today weren't bad either...

Time Travel

I feel like I have travelled back in time to 1959 - or at least taken a few pages from my mother's battered copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook from the same era. This week's dinners have been those old comfort food recipes.


On Monday, I had the day off from work, so I took the extra time to boil a whole chicken. When the meat was falling off the bone, I shredded it and used half to make some homemade chicken and dumplings. They were pretty fantastic. The dumplings came out beautifully. Though - it seems I could have used more room in my pan (even though this one is pretty big). Next time, I will make sure I don't reduce the sauce as much either - there's not really enough broth to dumpling ratio here...




I used the other half of the chicken to put together a Chicken Tetrazzini, which is sitting in the freezer now, waiting patiently until next week to be cooked. I used fresh penne pasta from the farmers market in the casserole, and think it's going to be pretty great.

I am trying to use up some of the meat that I have had frozen for awhile, so I used half of a beef chuck roast in Beef Stroganoff. If you ask me, there is nothing like a recipe that calls for over one stick of butter. I am thinking we're going to be in desperate need of some healthy meals next week.

Tonight, the MP is on his own in the kitchen while I head off to an evening yoga class. Luckily, (or maybe he doesn't think so...) there are lots of leftovers.

Dinner for Mom

My mom was in town from Nashville this past weekend. She treated the MP and I to a really good (but could have been better) dinner on Saturday night. On Sunday, it was my turn to treat...

Our menu was salad, turnip gratin (which came out tasting great, even though the turnips felt a little rubbery when I was chopping them), and scallops with a lemon dill cream sauce.

I have to say, the scallops came out fantastically. They were so buttery, and not overcooked at all...which has not always been the case for scallops served by yours truly. The key was taking them out of the pan a little bit before I thought I should. I dredged them in flour, and seared them in butter, then made the sauce in the pan drippings. I knew they would continue to cook a bit more after I pulled them out of the pan...though it was hard to trust that instinct.

The sauce was tasty and simple. When I pulled the scallops from the pan, I added 1c sav. blanc wine and let it cook down a bit. To that I added 2T chopped fresh dill, 1 T grated lemon peel and about 1T lemon juice. Then I added 3T of unsalted butter and about 1/4 cup of cream and whisked that mixture until it was heated through. The sauce was a nice, thick consistency. I warmed the plates - a great way to keep delicate foods like seafoods warm to the table - and plated the scallops, spooning some sauce on them to serve.

I had made our dessert earlier in the day. The chocolate pear upside down cake that I made for dessert was fantastic. The caramel, pear, and chocolate seemed an unlikely combination...but it turned out great. I could have cooked the cake for a little less than the 55 minutes or so that I did, but it did take longer than the 40-45 that the recipe calls for. The caramel took some time to make, and I was very worried about burning it, but all in all...I think this was worth the wait.

The only other thing I wish I had a picture of was our apple ebelskivers that we made on Sunday morning. They tasted great and were so pretty on the platter with sifted sugar and cinnamon on them. They were served with whipped cream with a bit of salt and 1/4c maple syrup added. The flavors blended so unexpectedly to me.

We had a great weekend - and a warm and cozy kitchen!

Always good to have a plan...

My mom is coming to visit from Nashville this weekend, and I am planning to have her take the MP and I out to dinner on Saturday night (don't think she knows this yet!). But the rest of the weekend should include lots of cooking.

I got this as a wedding gift, and know my mom thinks she wants one too. So, we'll definitely be making Ebelskivers at least once this weekend. I am thinking we'll try apple-filled ones for fall...plus I get overly enthusiastic at the farmers market most weeks, and so I am still trying to use up stuff from last week, since I am headed back tomorrow!

On Sunday, we'll definitely spend some time in the kitchen. My dad isn't a big seafood fan, so I think we'll make scallops, which my mom loves. I would usually serve with vegetable risotto, but I think I want to try some more fall veggies, so I am going to make Turnip Gratin. For dessert, we'll have this tasty looking Upside Down Pear Chocolate Cake.

After she heads back on Monday, I am going to try my hand at one of my all time favorite comfort foods, which I have never attempted making...Chicken & Dumplings. At a meat & three, if chicken & dumplings is on the menu, I may as well not bother looking at it, because my decision is made. I am pretty excited to see how these turn out. It seems to be a pretty time intensive process with cooking a whole chicken, shredding it, making the broth, and the dumplings.

Tuesday, we'll have Beef Stroganoff (again...raiding the freezer of meat I've had for a bit) and I am going to also make the MP's very favorite cookies. I use the recipe as a base and add about any combination of mixings you can think of (dried cherries or cranberries, nuts, white or milk chocolate chips, etc). A batch never lasts more than two days, unless I hide some of them!

Wednesday, I have yoga class in the evening, so it'll be leftovers for the MP.

I can't think of what to have Thursday, so I think I will hold off on the hope that we have leftovers still by then - or else see if there's something at the market tomorrow that strikes me. Usually, as I am walking around I remember something I haven't had in awhile that sounds good (maybe some pork loin or chops...).

Guess I am going to head off to the gym for a little pre-emptive workout considering I am going to consume more than my fair share of heavy creams, cheeses, pastas, desserts over the next few days.

Freezer Burn

Well, whenever I cook soup-ish foods I try to freeze half for eating later on. I hope to sometime get more comfortable with freezing other types of food. I do love being able to just pop something out of the freezer and have a meal basically ready to go.

It's been a cold, rainy week in CoMo, and I have had a few more extracurricular activities than normal, so I haven't been making dinners. MP had weekend leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday. Today he learned that mini-deep dish pizzas don't reheat too well in the microwave...

Tonight, I had a yoga class after work, so this morning I tossed some frozen chili in the fridge to thaw and made this great cornbread recipe:

Cheddar-Buttermilk Corn Bread Bon Appétit December 2002


Yield: Makes one 8x8-inch bread


1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly


Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in cheese. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter in another medium bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated; do not overmix. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cover with foil and store at room temperature.)

Notes:
1. This is a great recipe, it only takes about 15 minutes to throw together, barely more time than finding that old box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix in the pantry and tearing into it...
2. I add some frozen corn kernals and a diced jalapeno pepper or two to the batter
3. It takes about 30 minutes to cook in my oven

We had the chili, cornbread, and tossed salad with leftover pumpkin/pecan pie for dessert.

Pumpkin Overload?

...never!!!


But, I did need to use up the leftover pumpkin puree from making the pie on Sunday, so this morning I decided to whip up some muffins. I kind of combined two recipes - one I found included dried cranberries, walnuts, and chopped apples, but seemed like the muffins would turn out dry (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/2851), so I decided to use the one below, and rather than 3/4 c dates, and 3/4 c walnuts, I would just use 1/2 c each of chopped & peeled apples, dried cranberries, and walnuts. I doubled this recipe in order to use the rest of my puree, and I'll freeze 12 of the muffins for later.


Pumpkin Walnut Muffins
Gourmet November 1997
Yield: Makes 12 muffins


1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour or all-purpose flour *
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pitted dates (about 4 ounces)
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (about 3 ounces)

*I used whole wheat flour


Preheat oven to 400° F. and grease twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups. Melt butter and cool slightly. In a bowl whisk together butter, pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, molasses, and vanilla. Into a large bowl sift together flours, baking powder, spices, salt, and baking soda and whisk in brown sugar. Make a well in center of flour mixture and add pumpkin mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in dates and divide batter among cups. Sprinkle walnuts evenly over batter in each cup and bake muffins in middle of oven 20 to 25 minutes, or until puffed and a tester comes out clean. Cool muffins in cups 5 minutes and turn out onto a rack. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.


Once they're cooked and taste tested - I'll update on how they turned out...



UPDATE:
1. Next time I will mix the brown sugar into the wet ingredients rather than the dry. I feel like it would have been better incorporated.
2. Doubling the recipe still only used 1 large apple
3. The batter seemed too dense and thick, but the muffins turned out really well
4. 20 minutes was too long, 18 was more like it
5. Doubling the recipe made 29 muffins
I am trying to resist eating more than the one I had to try them out...so I guess that means it's a success. I know MP will like them.

Fall at the Farmer's Market

So, last weekend I went to the Farmer's Market on a windy but sunny (and hopefully unseasonably chilly) Saturday morning. I knew we were going to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival later that day, but I still could not resist all the beautiful squash I saw around the market. I had seen the Weeknight Kitchen recipe for "Fabulous Fall Roots Soup" by Lynne Rossetto Kasper of the Splendid Table earlier in the week, and had sought out a rutabaga at the grocery store so I would know what it looked like, and I was hopeful to find one at the market. Unfortunately, my search was in vain, but with all the other fall squash, I figured I could substitute out the "roots". I came home with three mystery squash, some apples, pears, goat cheese, bread, herbs, and probably some more stuff I don't remember. But, doesn't all of this look beautiful?!?

I ended up substituting the bright orange squash on the left for the rutabaga in the soup recipe (I also added one sweet potato and used heavy cream rather than crème fraîche). I did not roast the veggies first as suggested in the final tip, but definitely would like to do this next time:

Fabulous Fall Roots Soup

Excerpted from Sunday Soup: A Year's Worth of Mouthwatering, Easy-to-Make Recipes by Betty Rosbottom (Chronicle Books LLC). Copyright © 2008 by Betty Rosbottom.
Makes 8 servings

A trio of fall root vegetables — carrots, leeks, and a rutabaga — forms the savory foundation of this soup. Puréed and enriched with crème fraîche, this potage, with its velvety, smooth texture and glorious orange hue, is always a hit — whether it's a first course or the main attraction.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2-1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only (3 to 4 medium leeks)

1-1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium rutabaga (1 to 1-1/2 pounds), peeled and diced

8 cups chicken stock

Kosher salt

1-1/4 cups crème fraîche

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Heat butter in a large, heavy pot (with a lid) over medium-high heat. When melted and hot, add leeks, carrots, and rutabaga. Sauté vegetables until softened, for 10 minutes or longer. Add stock and bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are very tender, for about 30 minutes.

2. Purée the soup in batches in a food processor, blender, or food mill, and return soup to the pot. (Or use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot.) Whisk in 3/4 cup of the crème fraîche. Taste soup and season with salt, as needed. (The soup can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat.)

3. To serve, ladle soup into shallow soup bowls. Garnish each serving with a generous dollop of the remaining 1/2 cup crème fraîche and a sprinkling of parsley.

LYNNE'S TIPS • Rutabaga is an often overlooked root vegetable member of the cabbage family. Its pale yellow flesh is slightly sweet. Choose ones with smooth skin and firm flesh that are heavy for their size. • A sliced yam added to this soup would bring out a sweet touch and play well with the rutabaga. • This soup can be made ahead and its flavor will only improve. • When you have time, try roasting the vegetables before cooking them into a soup. Toss the chopped vegetables with a little olive oil, spread them out on a shallow pan and roast at 425 degrees F until they begin to soften and caramelize. Flavors will be more intense.

The soup turned out wonderfully, we've had 5 bowls of it already - and I still have over half of it in the freezer. I served it with warm cheese toasts (goat cheese once and sharp white cheddar the next time) and salad.

My new husband recently informed me of his love of Pumpkin Pie (his sweet way of asking me to cook something in particular), and so when we headed to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival last Saturday afternoon, I knew we'd be searching for pie pumpkins. We got two (a great deal, at a dollar apiece) - along with our Jackolantern - and brought them home.

I had looked at various pumpkin pie recipes on marthastewart.com, williams-sonoma.com, and epicurious.com. As an aside, I love epicurious, because not only can you create an account and save recipes to your own recipe box, but you can create folders to organize them. I have slowly been trying to move my favorites into folders on that site. Williams-Sonoma also offers the ability to save recipes (but not to organize them).

I settled on this pie recipe, knowing that MP loves pecan pie as well (hoping to kill two cravings with one stone!). I love Stephen Pyles' restaurant in Dallas, that is actually where we had dinner the night of our engagement, so I was happy to see this was from one of his books.

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie with Whiskey Butter Sauce
Epicurious April 1993
by Stephan Pyles
New Tastes from Texas

yield: Makes on 8-inch pie

This dessert was inspired by my good friend and great Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme. He prepares his with sweet potatoes, which are available year-round, and hence, give his version a longer seasonal shelf life than mine. If there's anything better than pumpkin pie or pecan pie, it's the two of them together. The whiskey butter adds a thoroughly Cajun twist to this sweet ending.

Ingredients

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Pumpkin Filling
1 cup cooked pumpkin purée
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, beaten until frothy
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pecan Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 small eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
3/4 cup pecan pieces

Whiskey Butter Sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon very hot water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon whiskey

Preparation

Pie Crust

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and incorporate with your fingertips until the mixture resembles very coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture in tablespoon increments, stirring continuously with a fork. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Pumpkin Filling

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Pecan Syrup

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Assembly

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch springform cake pan.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to 3/16 inch. Very lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it into quarters. Carefully place the dough in the greased cake pan. Press firmly in place and trim the edges. Chill for 15 minutes.

Spoon the Pumpkin Filling into the pan, spreading evenly to distribute. Gently pour the Pecan Syrup on top. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool and serve with Whiskey Butter Sauce.

Whiskey Butter Sauce

Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler set over gently simmering water.
Beat the sugar and egg in a small bowl until blended. Stir the egg mixture into the butter. Add the hot water and stir until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes. Remove from the double boiler and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the cream and whiskey.

(My notes - I made the crust in a food processor, and it used more ice water than the reicpe calls for here. I didn't chill the crust for the additional 15 minutes after putting it in the pan. I also ended up cooking the pie for shortly over 2 hours. Finally, I left the butter sauce unattended when cooling, and the egg white cooked a little bit - next time, I will stir it as it cools too.)

This recipe may seem like it has a lot of steps, but really it was very easy. There's not much to to other than mix and measure. Besides, what else is there to do while the pie pumpkin cooks and cools?!? Which reminds me...to make the pumpkin puree, I cooked a whole medium sized pie pumpkin on a cookie sheet at 350 for an hour and a half. I then let it cool for about an hour and then cut it in half and scooped out the strings/seeds, then scooped the flesh into a food processor and pureed it. It yielded about 2 1/2 cups of puree.

I guess I've got to start somewhere

I LOVE to cook. Reading recipes, planning menus and meals, shopping for groceries, chopping, measuring, stirring and even dish washing make up the top of my list of favorite passtimes. I am hoping this blog will be a place that I can simply catalogue what I am making each week, whether or not we liked it, and any special notes on ways I have modified the recipes I am using.

First of all, I am definitely a planner. I try to sit down every week on Thursday or Friday nights and plan out each meal for the coming week. I look through cookbooks, magazines, and websites to find a mixture of oldie, but goodies, as well as a few new things to try. I write down everything I plan to cook, and when I plan to cook it. Then I make my list. I love shopping for food. Wandering the aisles of the supermarket, or better yet, the Farmer's Market (which is fantastic here in CoMO) is so relaxing for me.

I rarely see cooking as a chore. The process of putting together and then serving a meal to loved ones is something that I think should be cherished. As silly as it sounds, it's one way I show people how much I love them. Plus, we all usually get a pretty good meal out of it!