Kaitlin | I Can Cook That

Bread Pudding with Peanut Butter-ROOT Sauce and Sliced Bananas

I have wanted to make bread pudding for a long time. But I’ve been too lazy to actually search for inspiration. So when the “How to Cook Like A Top Chef” cookbook literally showed up on my door step containing a recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bread Pudding, I knew it was time for me to finally make the delicious treat. I actually made this for a really decadent breakfast over the weekend, a little treat for making it through a long week.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

(adapted from Ash & Ashley’s Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bread Pudding)

3 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 brioche knots, cut into cubes (I got 9 cubes per knot)

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 oz ROOT liqueur

1 banana, sliced

Begin by whisking together the eggs and honey vigorously until combined and fluffy.

In a pot, add 1 cup heavy cream over medium heat until it begins to bubble lightly. Reduce the heat to low. Add a little bit of the warm cream to the egg/honey mixture, whisking vigorously so that the eggs don’t curdle. (This is called tempering). Add the egg mixture to the pot with the remaining cream, whisking constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare the brioche rolls, cutting into cubes. I bought the rolls at Trader Joe’s, they are the perfect size for individual servings of bread pudding.

Add the bread cubes and the custard to a large bowl, stirring lightly to coat. Add the chocolate chips. Allow to sit for at least a half hour at room temperature. If planning ahead, you can do up to this step the night ahead of time and allow the bread to soak overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the bread mixture to a loaf pan. Place the loaf pan into a cookie sheet with sizes. Add hot water into the cookie sheet so that the entire bottom is covered.

Cook for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Add 1/2 cup cream and the condensed milk to a pot over medium heat.

When it bubbles, reduce to low and whisk in the peanut butter, ROOT, and vanilla extract. ROOT is a flavored liqueur that slightly resembles the taste of root beer. I made an awesome chocolate cake with it before so I thought it would work great in a sauce for bread pudding. You can read my post and more information on ROOT here. (If you’re making this for kids, feel free to just omit the ROOT.)

Whisk until smooth. If you want it a bit thinner, add more cream.

Spoon the sauce over the bread pudding while still warm. Top with banana slices.

What an absolutely delicious bread pudding. I can’t believe I ate this for breakfast, but I’m not ashamed either, it was amazing! I’m glad I only made a serving each for my boyfriend and I, or I’d eat this all day!

I had some of the sauce left over, which I plan on saving for ice cream!

The flavors work really well together in this dish (and how could they not??): chocolate, peanut butter, banana, with a hint of root beer at the end.

Meatloaf Muffins

I don’t think I’ve ever had a craving for meatloaf. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So I never actively seek out making meatloaf, much to my boyfriend’s disappointment. However, we both had long, exhausting work weeks, so I thought he deserved a comfort-food meal. Cooking light had a recipe for Meatloaf Muffins that I thought would work great; he could eat as much as he wanted and then have perfectly portioned “muffins” that I could freeze.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
3 bell peppers (I used one orange, yellow & red), chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, cut out of its casing (I used 2 sausages)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your onion, carrot, garlic, and peppers. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil, parsley, garlic and peppers. (Note: I completely forgot about the peppers and had to go back and saute them on their own. Just pretend they are in the photos. Shh.)

Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the sausage, cut out of the casing, beef, 1/2 ketchup, sriracha, panko, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, eggs, and the cooled onion mixture in a large bowl.

Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Add the mixture to the muffin tins. (I used large muffin tins so there were only 6. This recipe also works with the standard size 12. For the large, 1 muffin is a serving. For the standard, 2 muffins are a serving.)

Top each with two teaspoons ketchup. (I got bored/creative)

Bake for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. (The larger muffins ended up taking about 35 minutes total).

Serve with sauteed green beans and baked potato wedges if desired.

So what’s the review from my boyfriend? Very good! There was a slight hint of sriracha without making the meatloaf spicy. The sausage added a smoky taste to the meatloaf, and the peppers added a slight crunch to the meal. He ate the meatloaf with a side of ketchup mixed with hot sauce and seemed to really enjoy it.

The best part of this dish is the remaining “muffins” can be frozen for future meals.

Yum

Meatloaf “Muffins”

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
3 bell peppers (I used one orange, yellow & red), chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, cut out of its casing (I used 2 sausages)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your onion, carrot, garlic, and peppers. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil, parsley, garlic and peppers.
Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the sausage, cut out of the casing, beef, ½ ketchup, sriracha, panko, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, eggs, and the cooled onion mixture in a large bowl.
Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Add the mixture to the muffin tins. (I used large muffin tins so there were only 6. This recipe also works with the standard size 12. For the large, 1 muffin is a serving. For the standard, 2 muffins are a serving.)
Top each with two teaspoons ketchup.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. (The larger muffins ended up taking about 35 minutes total).

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Creamy Asparagus Soup with Prosciutto

It’s about time I finished my review of Pomi! This time, I am working with their Alfredo Sauce. As a reminder, Pomi products come in boxes and are BPA-free.You can find them in most supermarkets (I was even able to find it in Reading Terminal, huge plus!)

The Alfredo Sauce would be yummy just over your favorite pasta with some fresh parsley, but I once again wanted to use the sauce a little differently to show how versatile the product is. (Don’t forget, I also have a giveaway to win a box of both the Alfredo Sauce AND the Vodka Sauce on my other post! Go check it out for details — ends Friday October, 21 12:00pm EST.)

Because it’s fall, and I cannot manage to satiate my craving for soup, I am making a Creamy Asparagus Soup topped with Crispy Prosciutto.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I am using Melt, a butter substitute)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried parsley

3 cups chicken broth

1-2 bunches of asparagus, woody ends removed

1 box Pomi Alfredo Sauce

3 slices of prosciutto, cut into thin strips

Salt, to taste

Garlic croutons, optional

Fresh parsley, chopped, optional

Begin by preparing your asparagus. Cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Take the tips (maybe about 10 of them) and reserve for a later use. Chop your shallot and garlic clove.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add ice water to a bowl.

In another pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots, garlic, and dried parsley. Cook for two minutes, stirring.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the asparagus (without the reserved tips) and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour the mixture in batches into a blender and blend until smooth.

Return to the pot. Cook for ten minutes over medium low heat, stirring occasionally.

At this stage, your pot of water should be boiling. Add the reserved asparagus tips to the boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes and drain. Move the asparagus tips to an ice bath to cool. Once cool, remove from the ice water and set aside.

While waiting for the soup to cook, add the thin strips of prosciutto to a dry saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until crisp.

Transfer to paper towels and allow to cool. When cooled, roughly chop the prosciutto and set aside.

Add the Pomi Alfredo Sauce to the pot and stir to combine. Depending on your tastes, you might want to just use half a box. If you want it cheesy, go for the whole thing; if you want it more asparagus-y (is that a word?) use between 1/2 and the full box. Cook for about 5 minutes.

To serve, top with crumbled prosciutto, 2-4 asparagus spears, and a few garlic croutons.

Oh my. This was delicious! I really wish I was able to make this in the spring, when asparagus is it’s freshest, I can only imagine how tasty this soup would be!

The Alfredo sauce complements the brightness of the asparagus and adds to the smooth texture. I loved the bites of prosciutto, which added a burst of saltiness to the soup. The asparagus spears and garlic croutons added nice crunch to an otherwise silky soup.

It’s quite nice looking too isn’t it?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway here for a chance to win a box of this alfredo sauce (plus a box of the vodka sauce) so that you can try these tasty sauces for yourself!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

At the request of a coworker (and by request I mean he brought in cans of pumpkin puree), I finally made a pumpkin classic — Pumpkin Bread. Although usually made with walnuts or pecans, I instead decided to use chocolate chips. I used a recipe from Cooking Lightas a base for the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Cooking spray
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to a medium sized bowl.

Combine using a whisk.

Add the sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a large bowl.

Using a mixer, beat on high until well mixed.

Add 2/3 cup water and the pumpkin puree.

Beat on low until blended.

Add the dry flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low until just combined.

Add the chocolate chips. Combine using a spatula. Be sure to not overmix.

Add batter into 2 9×5 inch loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Using a knife to loosen the edges, remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

You can either half this recipe, or freeze the extra bread for up to one month. Just tightly wrap it in plastic wrap before putting it in the freezer.

The original recipe topped the bread with pecans or chopped walnuts, feel free to do that as well before baking.

If you think the bread is browning too much on top, cover it with tin foil towards the end (with 10-15 minutes left).

This bread is so so yummy. I love when I can pass off a dessert-like bread for a breakfast also. (Shh.)

I limited a bit of the spices, more so than I usually would, so that the star would be the sweetness from the chocolate chips. Definitely a winner!

Tomato Seafood Chowder &Review of Pomi Vodka Sauce

We all have those nights where we are absolutely too exhausted to cook. I tend to go straight for pasta whenever these nights come up, but recently I’ve been running low on my homemade tomato sauce. Sigh. I will of course whip up a batch of my tomato sauce when I have time, but it takes a good three hours to make!

Luckily, Pomi must have sensed my tomato sauce drought, and asked if I’d be willing to try some of their new sauces, specifically the Vodka Sauce and the Alfredo Sauce. (They also have traditional Marinara and Tomato & Basil sauces.) Not only do I get to try theses sauces, but Pomi is also going to send one lucky reader one box each of the Vodka Sauce and the Alfredo Sauce! I will discuss the giveaway at the end of this post, so stick with me!

I was excited to try Pomi. Unlike most tomato sauces, Pomi products actually come in boxes and are BPA-free. BPA, or bisphenol A is a compound used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics are typically used in containers that store food and beverages, such as water bottles, and baby bottles. Epoxy resins are mainly used to coat the inside of metal products, such as food cans. The issue is there is evidence that BPA can seep into food and be absorbed into the human body, causing damage to the cardiovascular and reproductive systems, possibly leading to cancer, diabetes, asthma and obesity. Although more research needs to be completed, it has been suggested that consumers should try to limit their BPA exposure. Pomi also uses 100% natural tomatoes (no pesticides, herbicides or genetically modified seeds are used) and they do not add preservatives or artificial flavors to the end result.

Naturally, you can used these sauces just poured over freshly cooked pasta. But I decided to also test how versatile these sauces are. To save from a ridiculously long post, the Alfredo Sauce post will be coming shortly!

I decided to use the Vodka Sauce to make a Tomato Seafood Chowder. Pomi’s vodka sauce ingredients include: tomatoes, heavy cream, vodka, onion, cheeses, garlic, basil and parsley, which sounded like a wonderful base for a soup.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup orzo, uncooked

1 medium sized yellow onion, finely chopped

1 pound raw bay scallops

1/2 cup clam juice
1/2 cup chicken broth

1 box Pomi Vodka Sauce

1/2 can diced tomatoes, optional

1 dozen clams
8 oz crab meat

2 tablespoons sliced fresh basil, for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Cook the orzo according to package instructions on the package. Drain and set aside. While the orzo is cooking, prepare your ingredients: chop the onion, garlic, basil and parsley.

In a large pot, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion ,garlic, dried basil and dried parsley. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the scallops and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring.

Add the clam juice and chicken broth. If you want, you can sub out the clam juice for all broth. Add the Pomi Vodka Sauce, red pepper flakes, and diced tomatoes. If you do not want a chunky stew, you can leave out the chopped tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the clams and cover, cooking for 3-5 minutes or until the clams open.

Stir in the orzo and the crab meat and serve with day old French bread.

There is plenty of salt from the clam juice, chicken broth and Pomi Vodka sauce so you really don’t need to add any. Feel free to add a bit of ground pepper if you’d like.

The Pomi Vodka sauce added plenty of flavor to the soup. It created a wonderful base and tasted awesome with the clams, crab meat and scallops. I strongly suggest adding the red pepper flakes for a tiny bit of heat, it works so well with the tomatoes. My boyfriend, who was really wary of trying the chowder, ended up polishing off his bowl, and he doesn’t even like scallops!

So now, for the giveaway! As a reminder, one reader will receive one box of Pomi Alfredo Sauce and one box of Pomi Vodka Sauce, mailed to your home. Unfortunately, this is only open to U.S. residents.

To enter, please leave a comment below letting me know how you’d use one of the sauces (this one is mandatory).

For extra entries, you can do as many of the following as you please. Leave me a comment below letting me know you’ve done them, each comment counts as a separate entry!

Like I Can Cook That and Pomi on Facebook (comment saying you did so or let me know if you already do)
Follow I Can Cook That on twitter (comment saying you did so or let me know if you already do)
Tweet the following: “I just entered @icancookthat’s Pomi Sauce Giveaway! https://tinyurl.com/3c56eep” (leave a comment saying you did so below)

The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be announced Friday, October 21. All entries must be received by 12:00pm EST on Friday, October 21. Good luck!

Note: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for participating!

Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu

One of my friends asked me if I’d be willing to add some tofu recipes to my repertoire. I was pretty wary to try it. I don’t mind tofu, but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hankering for it. Well, for some reason, I picked up some tofu this week so I decided to finally make a recipe including it for my friend. I also received tatsoi in my CSA share, which is the perfect opportunity to use the tofu in this recipe for Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of tatsoi
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
A dash of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
4-6 oz tofu, cut into cubes

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ground ginger and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine and reserve.

Add 1 teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Cube the tofu.

Add the tofu to the pan.

Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Remove the tofu from heat. Cut the stems off of the tatsoi.

Add 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to the saute pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add the tatsoi.

Cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Add the reserved sauce to the pan.

Stir to combine. Mix in the tofu and serve.

This was so quick and easy! I actually ate this as a meal, but if you cut the tofu pieces smaller, this could also work as a yummy side.

I loved the subtle sweetness of the sauce. Tatsoi tastes very similar to bok choi, so the flavors worked really well.

I was really pleasantly surprised by the result. You might just catch me making another tofu recipe in the future!

Skinny Iced Pumpkin Cookies & Review of Melt Buttery Spread

One of the huge downsides of my pumpkin obsession is that most of the sweets made with pumpkin really should be eaten in moderation (something I am not capable of adhering to). So I am always in search of a way to lighten the calorie intake of those desserts so that I can still enjoy them without feeling terribly guilty afterwards.

Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny recently had a post trying out a new buttery spread called Melt with rave reviews. Luckily, Melt graciously sent me two packages of their organic buttery spread for me to try out as well!

So what exactly is melt and what makes it different from other butter substitutes? Melt contains virgin coconut oil, flax seed oil, palm fruit oil, and canola oil — all healthy cooking oils and “good fats.” Typical buttery spreads are made of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, which have been liked to obesity, heart disease, etc. Melt is also organic, gluten free, soy free, kosher, and has 50% of the saturated fat and fewer calories than butter. Whew.

Melt’s, well, melt point is close to original butter’s melting point, making it perfect for baking. Typical buttery spreads usually have a lower melting point, which means they tend to separate during the baking process resulting in a flat cookie. So what better way to really test out Melt’s best qualities than making a batch of Skinny Iced Pumpkin Cookies? I adapted this recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients (this makes 3 dozen cookies):

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Melt buttery spread
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing, for drizzling:

1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons 2% milk
3/4 teaspoon melted Melt buttery spread
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Continue reading Skinny Iced Pumpkin Cookies & Review of Melt Buttery Spread

French Toast with Maple-Apple Compote

I love French toast. I may or may not have had dreams about Sabrina’s French Toast (in the Italian Market in Philly) but I always have a bit of eater’s remorse when I realize how many calories I managed to consume before 10 am. I must not be the only one, because Cooking Light had a lighter French Toast recipe that takes advantage of seasonal apples in their most recent issue.

Ingredients (4 servings):

Compote:
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon butter
3 sliced and peeled Fuji apples
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
French toast:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 knotted challah rolls
2 teaspoons butter, divided
Powdered sugar (optional)

Prepare the apples. Peel the apples and slice into somewhat even sizes so that they cook evenly. If you cannot find Fuji apples, Cooking Light suggests substituting Liberty, Pink Lady, or Jonahold apples because they will maintain their shape while cooking.

Heat a saute pan over medium heat and coat the pan with cooking spray. Melt 1 teaspoon butter and add the apples. Cook for 8 minutes or until tender. Be sure to stir so that all sides of the apple get evenly cooked.

Stir in the maple syrup and cinnamon and keep warm.

In a medium bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Add milk, vanilla extract, salt, and eggs and whisk until blended.

Slice each of the challah knots in half.

Add the challah pieces 1 or 2 at a time to the milk mixture, coating them well on each side.

Using the same saute pan you used for the apple compote (this will give the French toast a slight apple flavor), melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in the pan over medium heat. Add 2 bread slices and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. (Because of the knot, press down on the slices so that it can cook evenly). Repeat with remaining butter and slices.

Serve topped with compote and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

This was a very satisfying breakfast, but didn’t weigh me down. The apples caramelized, bringing out their sweetness which was a nice addition to the French toast. I loved using the individual rolls of challah, you end up with an already portioned for you meal.

This recipe was so good, I actually made it again the next morning!

Stuffed Pumpkin with Cranberry Raisin Bread Pudding

When I came across the title of this recipe, I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure if this would actually be a success, but it sounded so interesting I had to give it a try. So behold, Stuffed Pumpkin Cranberry Raisin Bread Pudding.

Ingredients:
1 pie pumpkin, about the size of your hand
1 stick of butter (1/4 cup) plus 1 teaspoon butter, melted and divided
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup half and half
1/3 chopped pecans
1/2 a raisin bread loaf, cut into smaller pieces
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
Lemon-Vanilla Sauce, to taste
1 vanilla bean, split
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the butter to a pot over low heat to melt. Cut off the top of the pumpkin. Reserve the lid.

Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and pulp.

Brush the inside of the pumpkin with 1 teaspoon melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon brown sugar.

Cut the bread into similar sized pieces.

Top with the lid. Add the egg, sugar, half and half, pecans, raisin bread loaf pieces, and the remaining melted butter to a bowl and stir to combine.

Pour the pudding mixture onto a cookie pan sprayed with cooking spray. Add the pumpkin to the cookie sheet as well.

Bake the pumpkin and bread pudding for 25 minutes. Allow to cool enough to handle and add the bread pudding to the pumpkin.

While the pumpkin and bread pudding are baking, make the lemon-vanilla sauce. Split the vanilla seed down the middle.

Add vanilla bean, water, corn starch, sugar, and salt to a saute pan over medium heat. Stir until smooth and thickened. Add the butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Remove from heat when the mixture is warm.

Pour the lemon-vanilla sauce over the bread pudding as desired.

Have you ever been in possession of a recipe that is so good that you almost don’t want to share it? Well, this is one of those recipes. It took a lot of internal debating before I finally decided to share this recipe with you. (Yes, it is that good).

The bread pudding is sweet and slightly toasted, adding a little bit of a crunch to the dish and the cranberries add a pop of tanginess. The lemon-vanilla sauce is citrusy and sweet at the same time.

But the best part is that the nifty presentation has an additional enhancement: you can eat the pumpkin! Yay!

The pumpkin roasts and softens in the oven, making it easy to scrape away at it bite by bite.

You can make this recipe in individual sizes if you’re really looking for a dessert presentation that wows. Just use smaller pumpkins and distribute the bread pudding among them.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

I have had quite the hankering for Mexican recently, so I was so happy that the October issue of Cooking Light included a bunch of delicious sounding Mexican inspired vegetarian meals. I decided to go for the Black Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, because they can easily be frozen for future lunches and dinners. I substituted a few of the ingredients for what I already had, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

2 Cajun peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

The juice of 1 lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups pre-shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided

3 thinly sliced green onions, divided

Cooking spray

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

5 tablespoons light sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare the peppers, onion and garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over high heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 cups broth, parsley, tomato paste, and cumin.

Cook for 10 minutes, or until it thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, add the extra cup water and the chopped peppers to a food processor. Pour the onion mixture into the food processor when finished cooking. Blend until smooth. Stir in lime juice and cayenne.

Combine the beans, 1 cup of cheese, and half the green onions in a bowl.

Add 1/2 of the sauce to the bottom of a cookie pan coated with cooking spray. Add 3 tablespoons of the bean mixture to to each tortilla.

Roll up, placing the seam side down.

Add to the cookie pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas.

Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining green onions and serve with sour cream.

This recipe has so much flavor! I was really pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I am pretty sure I didn’t allow the sauce to reduce enough, but it thickened up in the oven and still tasted wonderful.

A serving is two enchiladas, so I actually have 4 meals left over after making this. As I mentioned before, enchiladas freeze really well, so 3 are going into the freezer and one will be my lunch tomorrow, win!

To make this recipe more effective for a weeknight, you can make the ranchero sauce ahead of time an refrigerate it until ready to use. The recipe took about an hour from start to finish.

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

After making pumpkin pie milkshakes this weekend, I thought it was time to make a savory dish using pumpkin. The weather changed literally overnight giving Philly a very November-like day, so I was craving a warm soup that also would deliver some spicy heat. This recipe for Curried Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Pumpkin Seeds from All You seemed perfect. I kept the recipe mostly intact, adding more ginger and switching out the chili for cayenne.

Ingredients:
Pumpkin Seeds:

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

Soup:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 15-oz. cans pumpkin
1 13.6-oz. can light unsweetened coconut milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

Continue reading Curried Pumpkin Soup with Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes & Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

After visiting several supermarkets in search of pumpkin puree only to find they were sold out, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Amy’s Cooking Adventure had instructions on how to make my own puree using pie pumpkins so I tried it out. To test out my finished product (and as a nice pat on the back) I made pumpkin pie milkshakes to celebrate.

Southwestern Burgers with Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries & Chili Aioli

The high humidity continues in Philadelphia so I decided to just give in and have a summery meal. I made this inside on a grill pan, but the burger can be made on an outdoor grill just as easily. I will focus more on making the fries, because the burger is mostly stacking ingredients.

Ingredients:

Burger:

4 hamburger patties

4 slices of pepper jack cheese

1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado

4 hamburger buns

Sweet Potato Fries:

4 larger sized sweet potatoes, cut into wedges

Salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 teaspoons chipotle powder

Chili Aioli:

1/3 cup mayo

1 tablespoon chili sauce (like Sriracha)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. I honestly don’t think I succeeded in actually getting “wedges” but oh well. Place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter, either on a stovetop or in the microwave.

Drizzle the melted butter and sprinkle the chipotle powder over the sweet potato wedges.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning each piece over half way through so that they cook evenly.

While the fries are cooking, combine the Sriracha and mayo in a bowl.

Cook the burgers to desired degree of doneness. Toast the buns on the grill as well. Add about 1 teaspoon of the aoili to the tops of each bun. Top each burger with one slice of cheese, a slice of red onion and 1/4 of the avocado.

Serve with the fries and the aioli.

I am in love with this dinner. I seriously considered making this again the next night. The sweet potato fries were the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, especially when paired with the aioli. I could eat the fries and aioli by themselves! I always love avocado on burgers, and the addition of pepper jack cheese and red onion made it even more delicious. This is a must try meal!

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

4 thin chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped

For Bruschetta:

4 medium roma tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella

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Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce

I love mashed potatoes. I love them so much that my Aunt and Uncle usually ask me to come over the day before Thanksgiving to help peel all of the potatoes so that there are enough for me (I could probably eat just a bowl of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and be happy.) I found a new method of making mashed potatoes on MyRecipes, but modified it a bit and added a mushroom sauce to make this vegetarian recipe for Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce.

Ingredients:

8 medium-size red potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Mushroom Sauce:

2 teaspoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 container of sliced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Salt and pepper, to taste

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