"P" is for Pumpkin

You know that task you put off for a little while and then it gets increasingly hard to take the time to do it the more you put it off?  Like cleaning the refrigerator.  Every week I say I need to clean the refrigerator, but it has to be the day before I go grocery shopping, when the fridge is least full.  Then I keep forgetting and putting it off further.  Then the task seems even more daunting as the weeks pass.  (I am happy to say that I did clean my fridge Saturday night!  It was part of my pre-Thanksgiving task list and I wanted to do it before I lay a towel and the turkey on the bottom shelf to defrost.  I just reminded you to defrost your turkey.  You're welcome.)  Or organizing the top of my bureau--THAT'S something that just gets harder to do the more I put it off!  Or, of course, sitting down to work on this blog.  I'm simultaneously trying to set up my new website, which has been put on hold for quite some time, now, so keeping up this old blog just gets less appealing as time goes on; especially since I just get further behind on my daily recipe log!  In a recent post, "Letting Go of 'Supermom'", I simply listed some of the links to the recipes I used in the days captured in that post, which is what I think I'll do here, also.  As I looked back at my menu from the past 2 weeks, I realized that none of the recipes were new to the blog.  I've been researching new recipes to serve on Thanksgiving, so it's just easier if dinner is something I don't have to think about as much.  That's what good ol' stand-bys are for, right?  Randy worked late a few nights.  He went out one night, I went out another night, we both were out still another night.  The recipes I did use, though, I'll be sure to link to the bottom of this post.

Now, on to the point of this post.  The long-awaited pumpkin post.  I wanted to get this done before Thanksgiving and was hoping it would actually be sooner than this, but here we are.  At least I can cross it off my list when it's done!  Actually, I don't think I even wrote it on my pre-Thanksgiving list.  But I AM the type to write something on my list just to cross it off.  But I bet you already knew that.  So anyway, here's a collection of some pumpkin recipes to help carry you through the rest of autumn or to look forward to using next year if you're already onto your peppermint mocha lattes and baking sugar cookies.
 
Pumpkin Butterscotch Mini-Muffins
I got this recipe from a friend last year.  Randy calls these "crack-muffins" because they're so addicting and since they're mini, you feel like you can eat a whole bunch!  The nickname is fitting because just like a drug-addict may show signs of aggression during withdrawal, Randy can get pretty upset when he sees me making them and discovers that they're not actually for him.  I find it a little amusing.  Is that wrong?  ;)

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup canned pumpkin

6 oz butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.  Sift together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, numeg, baking soda, baking powder, and slat into a large bowl.  Whisk together the eggs, butter, and pumpkin in a separate bowl.  Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture.  Stir in the butterscotch chips; pour into each cup of the mini-muffin pan.  Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 10-12 minutes.  (If you want to use regular size muffin tins, you will have to increase your bake time.  Try 25 minutes and then just keep them in there until a toothpick comes out clean.)

 

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles 
I can't say enough about these waffles!  I made them once on an experimental whim and have made them weekly since!  I don't think I or anyone in my family will ever get tired of this goodness...

2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
2 TB sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 TB butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat the waffle iron.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until dissolved.  Add the vanilla, butter, milk, and pumpkin and stir.  Mix in the flour mixture and whisk just until blended, but don't overmix.  In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gently fold in the egg whites to the rest of the batter.  Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray and ladle the batter into the waffle iron as usual.  Cook 2-3 minutes.  Serve immediately with fruit garnish.

Pumpkin Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups canned pumpkin puree

Preheat the oven to 325*.  Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.  In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and fold in the shredded pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. Once the ingredients are all incorporated pour into a non- stick 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. If your pan is not non- stick coat it with butter and flour.  Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Or until a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

These are always a huge hit, no matter when I make them!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350*.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla until combined. Mix in the flour mixture until just moistened (do not overmix). Drop mounds of the dough (about 2 tablespoons each) onto the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake until golden and firm to the touch, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Spread a heaping tablespoon of filling on the flat side of half the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies. If soft, chill for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie 
I love this pie, by Bobby Flay.  The graham cracker crust makes this the perfect pumpkin pie!  The recipe for filling actually makes more filling than needed but that's not really a problem--just eat it out of the bowl! ;)


1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly warm
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Add all the ingredients for the crust to a food processor and pulse until combined; it should feel like wet sand, and just come together.  Spread the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, using your finger tips or the flat bottom of a glass. Firmly press the mixture over the bottom and sides of the pan.  Put the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until the crust is light brown and firm to the touch, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

For the filling:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.  Whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugars in a large bowl. Add the butter, pumpkin, cream, spices, salt and vanilla seeds and whisk to combine. Strain the mixture into a bowl.  Pour the strained mixture into the baked pie crust and bake until almost set, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove and let come to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled, if preferred.

Pumpkin Scones

So, I haven't quite perfected this recipe yet!  I like the way my one batch came out, but I didn't LOVE it--they weren't quite Starbucks-worthy yet, so I have to keep working on it.  But if you don't want to wait for my recipe to "publish" here are some tips: 1) Take your favorite scone recipe and swap out the cream/milk for pumpkin puree (in part or in whole).  2) Make an icing out of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.  3) Melt butterscotch chips and drizzle on top!

Links to recipes from the past 2 weeks:

chicken tetrazzini (and mocha brownies), whiskey-cream rib-eye steaks, tortellini soup, shrimp penne with tomato-cream sauce, roasted chicken

Day 84: Cheddar-Dill Scones, Roast Chicken, Mustard-Roasted Potatoes

Everyone needs this recipe!  It's a fantastic scone and a great way to use up an ingredient you may buy for one thing and then typically throw out the rest: dill.  I buy dill for very rarely.  When I do buy it, it's for salmon burgers or something, and I never use the whole amount in the package.  Here's a great way to use the rest and have a terrific breakfast item all week.  The original recipe belongs to Ina Garten, but I use much less dill than she does.  Where she calls for 1 cup of chopped dill, I used about 1/4 of a cup.  The flavor is more subtle, but we like it!

Cheddar-Dill Scones

4 cups of flour (plus 1 TB)
2 TB baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced
4 eggs
1 cup cold heavy cream or milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
1 egg, beaten, with water for egg wash

Combine 4 cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Carefully beat in the diced butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.  Mix the eggs and milk together and add them to the flour and butter.  Mix the cheese, dill, and remaining 1 TB of flour.  Add this mixture to the dough and mix just until combined.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few minutes.  Roll it out to about 1 inch in thickness and cut triangles out.  Transfer triangles to a baking sheet and spread with egg wash.  Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

For lunch we had another roasted chicken.  I will use the chicken stock to make homemade cous cous tomorrow night.  We also used the leftover chicken to make chicken salad for sandwiches this week.  I feel like I have posted my recipe for that before, but I couldn't find it.  So, I'll explain it easily here:

Chicken Salad
leftover white meat from the chicken (whatever's left)
a few spoonfuls of mayonnaise (to taste)
fresh chopped parsley
a few shakes of dried tarragon
salt, pepper

Most of the ingredients are to taste, everyone makes chicken salad differently.  These are just the ingredients I use.    

Day 49: Maple-Oatmeal Scones, Tortellini Soup, Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread

This morning I made scones again!  I actually haven't made this recipe in a while, even though it is one of our favorites.  Randy has requested that I attempt writing my own scone recipe for him, which will be a fun project for me to do in the near future. :)  For now, here's another Ina Garten inspired fool-proof recipe:

Maple-Oatmeal Scones
4 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oats, plus more for sprinkling
2 TB baking powder
2 TB sugar
2 tsp salt
1 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
1/2 maple syrup
4 eggs, beaten
1 egg + water for eggwash

Glaze:
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanillla

Preheat oven to 400*.  Combine the dry ingredients (stand mixer is good for this recipe) then add the diced butter.  Mix until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the buttermilk, syrup, and eggs and mix them with the dry ingredients.  When completely incorporated, dump sticky dough onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/2-1 inch thick.  Cut circles out of the dough and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Brush with egg wash.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  When cooled, drizzle the glaze over the scones and sprinkles with additional oats.  (Makes 14-16 scones.)

For Ina's exact recipe, visit http://barefootcontessa.com/recipes.aspx?RecipeID=188&S=0.

Tortellini Soup
This recipe is almost never the same when I make it.  I'm constantly changing amounts of ingredients or making minor adjustments as I go.  Here's how I made it tonight:

12-14 cups chicken broth
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6 carrots, sliced
1 small bag of frozen corn
1/3 box frozen spinach (or 1 bag fresh spinach--I will probably do it this way next time)
2 bags of frozen tortellini
salt, pepper
shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the onions, garlic, and carrots in the broth over medium heat until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the corn, spinach, and tortellini and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve.  Season again with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread (Ina Garten)
3 cups flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 TB baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb melted butter
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 scallions, finely chopped
3 small jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add the eggs, butter, and milk and mix until just incorporated.  Add most of the cheese, the scallions, and jalapenos, and mix together.  Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350* and grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Day 21: Roasted Chicken with all the fixings!

I love Sundays.  Even though I only cook for Randy, myself, a 2-year-old, and an 8-month-old who is just starting to eat what we eat, I still go all out on Sundays whenever I can.  I just love the idea and feel of coming home from church to a nice, big Sunday dinner.  (My grandmother always made it clear that "dinner" was Sunday noontime and "supper" was at night.) :)  Randy and I want more kids and one thing I look forward to is gathering all the family around for Sunday dinners--hopefully even when they're all moved out with families of their own.  Most of my extended family has stayed close, and I hope it's the same for our family as it grows.

I make a roasted chicken pretty often on Sundays.  I make it with citrus and herb and Randy loves it so much that I haven't messed with my recipe at all since I started making it this way a few years ago.  He once told me that he "wouldn't mind" if I roasted a chicken every Sunday.  My response was, "Oh, how nice of you to give me permission." ;)  It's actually not that hard, the biggest job, I think, is the clean up afterward.  But I make it whenever I need chicken stock for future recipes, so that's fairly often!  I also make chicken salad with the leftover chicken.  Look for my recipes for stock and salad in a future blog--probably the next time I make a chicken in just a couple weeks!

I also use Sundays as my day to make a baked good for the week; either a sweet dessert or a breakfast item.  This morning I made cranberry orange scones with icing.  I only iced some of them because I plan to use the leftover scones for a stuffing recipe later this week.  It's gonna be good!   I'll start with my recipe for the scones, followed by our Sunday dinner. (Although it was supper today since Randy had a luncheon after church!) ;)

Cranberry Orange Scones (Ina Garten)
(makes 14-16)

4 cups plus 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 TB baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp orange zest
3 sticks of butter, cold, diced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg + water for egg wash
1/2 cup plus 2 TB confectioners' sugar
4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 400*.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix all of the dry ingredients (except the extra 1/4 cup of flour!) and the butter.  Mix on low until the butter is the size of peas.  (It's important to use cold butter and to NOT let it mix in fully--the cold butter "peas" in the dough will turn into air pockets in the oven, leaving the scones light and flaky.)  Combine the eggs and cream and pour into the batter while mixing on low speed.  Combine the cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour.  Fold into the dough.  While the dough is still lumpy, dump it out onto a well-floured surface to knead into a ball.  Roll it out to 1-inch thickness and cut 3-inch circles out of the dough to place on the prepared sheet pan.  When all the scones have been placed, brush the tops with the egg wash.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Allow the scones to cool, then mix the confectioners' sugar and orange juice for the glaze.  Drizzle on top of the scones.

 
Citrus-Herb Roasted Chicken
1 whole chicken
1 onion
1 lemon
1 orange
fresh thyme plus dried thyme
fresh rosemary
fresh parsley
1/2 stick of butter, softened
salt, pepper
chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400*.  Remove the gizzards from inside the chicken and empty any liquid.   Rub the softened butter all over the skin of the chicken.  (After washing your hands, of course) peel the onion and quarter it.  Zest the lemon and orange over the chicken.  Cut them in half and juice 1/2 of each over the chicken. Then cut the citrus halves in half.  Place a quarter of the onion, lemon, and orange inside the chicken.  Place the rest of the pieces around the chicken (you can stuff pieces under the skin for added flavor if desired, but after
having it with and without, I don't think it's necessary.  Chop the fresh herbs and sprinkle them over the chicken.  Place a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary inside the chicken as well.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Fill the pan with water or chicken stock 1-2 inches and place in oven.  Bake at 400* for 30 minutes.  Then baste the chicken and drop the temperature down to 275* and continue slow-roasting.  Baste every 30-45 minutes.  Depending on the size of the chicken, it will take 4-5 hours to slow-roast.

I serve with mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, biscuits, and homemade gravy.
Here's my gravy recipe:

Melt 2 TB butter in a small saucepan.  Add 2 TB flour and cook 1 minute.  Add about 1-2 cups chicken drippings.  (If you are using 2 cups of drippings, use more flour!)  Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil, whisking continuously.  Once it bubbles, drop the temperature down to low and simmer.  Add a little bit of milk or light cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  The gravy should be nice and thick by now.