Saturday, November 27, 2010

Things inside of pumpkins.

I know it's the new hotness, cooking things inside of pumpkins, but I never said I don't like jumping on band wagons. It's nice to serve up a filled pumpkin and have everyone go 'oooooh' and feel really appreciated for what you've done.

I had a pumpkin, and decided I would try this new thing, and I failed. I was going to cook up a 'risotto' inside a pumpkin, and it didn't work. I found out that you have to cook the rice before you put it in the pumpkin. Hours later, we had half cooked rice, and as it turns out the pumpkin is not an even cooking vessel.

I went and bought another pumpkin and I would try again. I will not be defeated by a pumpkin! Down with the horrible pumpkin regime, I will prevail!

As I opened my pumpkin and was scooping it out, I noticed a bad spot, it went all the way through. Well beep. I already had my rice ready, what was I gonna do? For a brief moment I almost thought about being one of those weird people who returns food. But then, I had cut the pumpkin and scooped most of it out. I rallied my spirits, cut the pumpkin in half, put it in a bowl and then cut up the half with the bad spot and saved what I could. It actually worked really well. The bad spot was on the bottom, so that made it easy, I just had a bowl of a pumpkin. The rest I cubed, mixed in and covered it all with foil and it worked so well! It also made it easy to add cheese at the end.

I cannot guarantee that your pumpkin will have a bad spot, so I'll give you directions for a non-defective pumpkin.

Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients:

1 C. brown rice
3 morningstar vegetarian sausage patties
1/2 C. sweet onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
2-3 tsp herbs de provence
1 Tbs. Organic chicken Better Than Bullion base
1 Tbs. unfiltered apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper
1/4 C. non-homogenized cream
truffle oil
low fat mozzarella cheese
1 scooped out sugar pumpkin

Method:

In a pan cook the onion and garlic. Combine in a rice cooker: rice, appropriate amount of water, chopped sausage patties, herbs, chicken base, vinegar, salt and pepper, onions and garlic. When the rice is done (being brown rice, it will hold up to the cooking, if you use white rice, only cook for 15 minutes), mix it with the cream and a little more water. Mix in the cheese, cut into cubes. Fill the pumpkin and drizzle a little truffle oil over the top. Place top on pumpkin and bake 350 for about an hour and a half. Be sure to bake in a dish. To serve, scoop out some of the pumpkin with the rice and if desired sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

What happens during snow storms.

It snowed here, in the Northwest, and when that happens everyone freaks out and hides at home. It seems silly, people put chains on their cars when there's no snow on the roads, but when the sky dumps snow and ice all over the place there are no chains to be found!

It did snow a lot, and the roads were like ice rinks, so I stayed home a couple days, not that my work was open anyhow, and cooked like a mad woman.

I had to start by cleaning my house well. There's nothing more enjoyable than sitting inside my nice clean house all warm and snugly with a nice cup of mulled wine or hot tea. I look out at the suckers who have to bundle up and go places, and think to myself, ahhhhhh.

With my husband around for a day, I decided I would cook a great breakfast. I made hashbrowns, eggs and bacon. Hashbrowns are easy to make if you follow a few simple rules: when you grate your potatoes, put them between two clean towels and then roll up the towels and step on them. You want to squeeze out all of the moisture from the potatoes. This method is clean and easy.

The other rules is easy: add more. If you think you have enough oil, add more. If you think you have enough salt, add more. If you think you have enough pepper, add more. The simple truth is that hashbrowns aren't good for you, because to make them properly you need more grease, salt and seasoning than you think. I used bacon grease in mine, I also like mine pretty crispy, so I turn them more often than most, but it seems to work out just fine. I let them crisp up, then turn them to expose more potato to the crisping of the bacon grease. I suppose I didn't use a ton of oil, but I did use more than I would if I were making potato latkes or potato cakes. I can't really tell you how to make them, because we all have different pans, different size graters and different ideas of what makes good hashbrowns. I can tell you that you should dry the crap out of them, cook them over medium high heat, and be generous.

The other thing I made was cookies. I love cookies, but not all cookies. I don't like oatmeal in my cookies at all. And to be honest, I firmly believe in one type of cookie, the chocolate chip. I however do understand that other people make different types of cookies and many of them are good. I don't mind the occasional snicker doodle. Ginger snaps are nice sometimes, and those nefarious girl scouts sell many types of insidious cookies. I was looking through a healthy cooking magazine that will remain nameless, and I found a cookie recipe. I should have known better.

I have for a long time known, because I've tried to make them, that cookies aren't healthy. You cannot make a healthy cookie that tastes good. I mean you can make them so that they're not bad, or alright. However they will never be fantastic, phenomenal or mind blowingly good. If you don't want to eat a bad for you cookie, don't eat cookies. Dessert in general is meant to be a treat, and shouldn't be compromised because we think that cheesecake can be good for you. Cookies, cake, custards, these things should be heart stopping bad for you and taste divine.

Anyhow I don't know what these people were thinking, they have a cookie recipe, that's supposed to be light and they put two cups of sugar into it. Along with the normal two cups of flour, I was kind of shocked. Most cookie recipes call for 1 - 1.5 cups of sugar. I'm not saying that some don't call for a full two cups, but when you're trying to cut down on calories, isn't sugar one place to look? A cup of sugar has 770 calories in it. I usually cut down sugar in my cookies to one cup, just because otherwise they're too sweet for me. I mean, it's a generous cup, but I don't need equal parts sugar and flour to make kick ass cookies.

They also had paltry amounts of peanut butter, added other oils, took out one egg yolk (yeah, save those 50 calories!), and instead used two egg whites, what's the point? You save a calorie per cookie? BUT YOU HAVE ALL THAT SUGAR? I fixed it. I fixed the recipe. I liked where they were going, but not how. Now, mine is not a health cookie, it's just a peanut butter cookie with milk chocolate chips, but it's kind of like eating a Reese cup. Mmmm. Reese cup.

When I make cookies I do not use all natural peanut butter. I use Jiff, on a normal, I'm gonna make a pbj basis, I use organic ground peanuts. No hydrogenated oils, and no sugar. Just peanuts and salt. I think this has to do with my child hood, we always ate Adams peanut butter at home. Delicious. At my grandmother's house we did that too, but she put butter on her sandwiches and Jiff reminds me of that horrible combination. Cooking is different, use Jiff, and if you want they make a natural one, use a no stir peanut butter.

Peanut butter chocolate cookies.

Ingredients:

1 C. organic sugar
1 Tbs. molasses
2 C. creamy peanut butter
1/4 C. buttermilk
2 farm fresh eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. milk chocolate chips

Method:

In a bowl, combine with a mixer until smooth and creamy sugar, molasses, peanut butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Mix together the flour and leavenings. Stir into the peanut butter mixture until combine and then stir in the chips. Heat the oven to 350, shape the mixture into 1 Tbs. balls and pat down on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 14 minutes, remove to cool on rack or tea towel. Repeat with remaining dough, makes about 36 cookies.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

The most comforting of foods.

When I was a child my mother used to do what all frugal moms do. She made bread pudding. She said that it was you did when you had old milk, old bread and lots of eggs.

I loved those bread puddings, it is still one of my favorite desserts. The crusty top and the soft middle. The plump raisins soaking in the syrup that always forms at the bottom of the pan. There is no greater comfort food. Except for mac and cheese. It's a close call.

One of the reasons my mom's bread pudding was so good was she made it in a big bowl. No, wait that's two reasons! It's in a bowl so you get a nice moist middle (there's nothing worse than dry bread pudding) and then it's in a big bowl, so there's lots of it! It never lasted in our house, with three kids and two adults that pudding never made it past day two.

I have a friend who makes a good savory bread pudding, and that's also quite tasty. I don't make bread pudding like my mom, though mine's real good. She has a standard method, and I think she's lying about the proportions she actually uses. She claims that it's one slice bread, one cup milk and one egg. This can't be true, because I've seen her bread pudding and I think she does what I do.

I recently made a pumpkin bread pudding and it was ... amazing. I've tried chocolate, and that's not so hot. I suppose you could put whatever you want in it, but apart from the pumpkin one, I always stick to the basics. The classic bread pudding has white bread, or whole wheat, whatever, milk, eggs, sugar, raisins and cinnamon in it. Perhaps a bit of vanilla. I like to make a simple syrup and add rum to it to serve with the pudding.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

4 slices of good white bread
3 large farm fresh organic eggs
2 C. organic milk
1/2 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. organic sugar
1 Tbs. TJ's pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla
3.5 oz organic canned pumpkin
1/2 C Raisins
1 C. hard apple cider
1 C. Sugar

Method:

Cube bread into 1 inch cubes. In a oven proof bowl mix milk, buttermilk, sugar, eggs spices, vanilla and pumpkin. Mix in raisins and bread until soaked through. Bake 350 for 12 minutes. Stir up the pudding and bake another 12 minutes. Stir and then bake until done, about 20 minutes.

In a small pot mix the hard cider and sugar together. Heat until it boils and let boil for about a minute. Cool.

To serve pour a little syrup over the bread pudding. Serve warm.

Pumpkin, it's a fall thing.

I'm on a pumpkin kick. It's widely avaliable in fall, and it makes great food. Through the years I have made pumpkin breads, cookies and cakes. These are all well and good, but I'm looking to branch out.

I have seen the so called pumpkin bisque in the stores to purchase, and even sampled some, and they are good. I decided though, that they don't have to be nearly so bad for you.

I started out with a mild failure. My husband, upon sampling my creation look at me and said it was grainy. He then proceeded to tell me that I was lacking in the amount of cream I used.

The next morning I strained the soup and it did help, he was right it was grainy. I thought this weird, and it brings me to something that I should have realized a while ago. My food processor is not new. I've had it for over ten years. The same blade for all those years, it is probably time to get a new blade. I'm not going to buy a whole new processor, they may look more chic, but they don't really look much different and they cost $200. Not only that I do have a large guilty feeling of getting rid of a perfectly good item, just because it's not in style. Manufacturing these machines isn't the most earth healthy thing. Pitching on into the trash isn't the green thing to do. I know I could take it down to the Goodwill and feel better about myself, but I still feel like it's just tossing crap because it's 'old'.

Well so the blade doesn't puree things anymore, just finely chops. I have found that my blender (with easily replaceable parts) also does a fine job with soups. Blenders are good things to have around. You can get universal new blades for a few bucks, new o rings come in multi-packs and cost around three bucks! My sister in law recently got her first blender, and this prompted a discussion in the family.

How many speeds do you need on that blender? I say two: on and off. I don't ever use the slower speeds, which is good because my blender has two speeds. If you say "oh the splattering that happens" you are overfilling your blender. Start with half of what you think should go in there, just a little, blend it up and then add more while the blender is running. I have also found, that for safety, a kitchen towel thrown over the lid of the blender and held down keeps all splatter at bay.

This is a recipe that seems to have unnecessary steps. Don't doubt me, you need to do them all.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. butter
1/2 roasted sugar pumpkin
1 large sweet onion
2 honey crisp apples
2 tsp Organic Better Than Bullion Chicken base
6 C. water
2 tsp. TJ's pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp. garham masala
pepper and a pinch of salt (maybe 1/2 tsp)
1 C. organic non-homogenized 1/2 & 1/2
1/3 C. buttermilk
Creme Fraiche
several slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
honey chevre (if you can't find it to buy take a bit of honey and mix it into your goat chevre)

Method:

Cut your pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and roast for about 20-30 minutes at 450.

In a large soup pot melt the butter, roughly dice the onions and apple. Add these to the pot and cook for about 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the pumpkin, roughly chopped and the water along with the chicken base and some pepper. Cover and simmer for 12-20 minutes. In a food processor or blender puree a bit of the soup. In a separate bowl, run the puree through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth, pressing the mixture into the sides of the strainer. Discard anything left over from the mixture. Continue this way until you have pureed and strained all of the soup. Wash the original pot and return the soup to it.

Over the lowest heat possible, add the spices and test the flavor. If needed add up to 1/2 tsp salt. In a bowl mix together the half and half, buttermilk, and a few spoonfuls of creme fraiche. Cook the bacon until crisp, pat dry and crumble.

Put a few spoons of the hot soup into the cream mixture, and stir quickly, repeat until you have added 1 C. of hot soup to the cream, tempering it. Then add the cream to the soup. Do not boil or simmer! Once you have added the cream to the soup, you cannot ever heat it quickly, you will ruin the soup. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle a bit of bacon and chevre onto the top. Serve with salad and french bread.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Pumpkin on the go!

Just before this past Halloween I stole a party from a friend and invited people over for pumpkin treats and pumpkin carving. It was a byop party, so I only provided pumpkins for my husband and myself. I ended up with about seven pumpkins on my porch.

In an attempt to create a themed party I thought long and hard about the various things you can do with pumpkin. I scoured the interwebs and looked through cookbooks. I finally came up with a plan: caramel corn - while not pumpkiny, it is a fall classic; pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin curry empanandas, and a pumpkin pie martini.

The day started out well, it was pleasant enough outside, and I cleaned and cooked while my husband worked on various things. It was when I was making the caramel corn that the weather changed, and I realized I had made a tragic mistake. As I was stirring the corn I noticed that it wasn't very crisp, and wasn't getting any better. I thought that perhaps I hadn't cooked the caramel long enough, so I turned the oven up, just a bit and cooked it a little longer.

It was when I was giving up that I realized it was raining outside and told myself how stupid I am. You may not be aware, and my husband thinks it's silly, but you can't make candy in the rain. I don't know exactly why, but I have a theory. If you have ever bought brown sugar, which comes in the stupidest packages, you will notice that in a few weeks it's a hard little brick. The reason powdered sugar contains corn starch is to keep the sugar from absorbing water from the air. Sugar pulls moisture in from the air. Normally you keep your sugar in an airtight container, When it rains outside, the air is fully saturated with water. It's very humid. If you don't believe me that's fine, but you should try making candy in the rain and deal with the resulting mess. The best days to make candy are cold dry winter days.

At this point you might be wondering what I did with my grainy caramel corn. I served it anyhow. It tasted good, but wasn't as crisp as I would like, but I followed Julia Child's directions, and pretended like I meant for that to happen. Caramel clusters! yeah, that's it!

If you're going to make caramel corn I have one piece of advice for you. Use butter. Don't use margarine at all. Butter. Don't try to fancy it up, it's really good all on it's own.

The pumpkin empanandas were delicious, being that I cooked up a bunch of leeks in butter added canned pumpkin, buttermilk and garham masala. I also was a big cheater pants and used canned biscuits instead of making my own dough. I had enough to do without that.

My big success was the pumpkin martini. Let's talk for a minute about the so called 'pumpkin spice' crap that you see all over the place. Starbucks does it, you can buy liquor that is pumpkin spice, or candy, anyhow these things aren't pumpkin anything. They have a commonly used spice blend in them. Pumpkin pie spice is used in all kinds of things, it should just be called sweet mixed spices. I use it in zucchini bread, carrot cake, pancakes, green tomato cake, etc. etc. The word pumpkin is confusing, there's no pumpkin, or pumpkin flavor, in your pumpkin spice latte.


Anyhow when I looked on the interwebs for directions on how to make a pumpkin pie martini, I got a couple of suggestions: make pumpkin pie spice liquor, use Goldschlager, and the worst one yet: take canned pumpkin pie filling, mix it into your vodka and strain. Gross. I can't even imagine the nast that you would have to serve in a clear glass if that's what you did!

I went my own road and flew into a rage of cocktail making frenzy. I know, and some of you might, that canned pumpkin is not actually made from the pumpkin that pops into your brain when you hear the word. It's a similar gourd, but not the same. It's actually closer in taste to a butternut squash than to the pumpkins we see in the store. The reason for this is pumpkins in the store are grown for looks, and not taste. I even have my doubts about the flavor of sugar pumpkins. I think the canned pumpkin tastes much stronger than that from a 'pumpkin'.

Keeping this in mind I bought a butternut squash and went about the business of making my own cocktail. You will have to mix and taste to find the perfect combination, just as I did.

I am currently trying another batch made with sugar pumpkin, only because I'm wondering if I can up the pumpkin factor. Also I couldn't find a butternut squash at the store (weird I know). I don't think the color will be as good, and I think the flavor will be milder. The pumpkin has a lot more water in it than the butternut squash, so it didn't roast up so dry, and I think that was one of the reasons I got a good concentrated flavor, no added water.

It is important that you cook your chosen squash or gourd. The reason is, that you get that great cooked pumpkin taste when you roast the pumpkin. Fresh pumpkin, and gourds, have a distinct smell and taste. The reason pumpkin pie filling is so good on it's own is because it's cooked (come on, you know you always grab a spoonful.)

Pumpkin Pie Martini

Ingredients:

3 quarts of decent quality vodka (a big bottle)
1 butternut squash
1 whole nutmeg, cut up
7-9 allspice berries
1 pinch cardamom seed
9 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick or cinnamon oil
3 clean quart jars and lids
2 C. organic sugar
1 C. water
Baily's Irish Cream

Method:

Place all the spices into one jar and cover with 3-4 cups of vodka. Close lid and shake. Cut up the butternut squash, don't worry about peeling it. Remove all the seeds and roast at 450 for about 20-30 minutes or until the squash is tender and bit dry on the outside. Cut up the squash a bit and put into two jars. Cover with vodka. Place all your sealed jars into a dark place and shake them every day for two weeks. Strain and put into new jars. Let these sit for one week in a dark place. In a pan place the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Cool completely. Now comes the good part, using a tablespoon mix together varying amounts of the two vodkas, sweetener and Baily's until you get something that tastes like a pie. At this point write down how much of it you used. I would recommend that you put no more than one part vodka and one part Baily's together, as the Baily's will curdle if you use more vodka than Baily's. My proportions were: 1 part squash vodka, 1/3 part spice vodka, 1/3 sweetener. This I mixed and called the base mix. I then mixed a shot of this with a shot of Baily's. Garnish with nutmeg.

Note: I used cinnamon oil at the end to adjust the spice mixture, to ensure that it had enough of that ... cinnamon flavor infused.