Make Ahead | I Can Cook That

Homemade Pancake Mix

Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with store-bought pancake mix. However, are you aware of how easy it is to make your own at home? This recipe makes 16 pancakes; you can store the dry mix in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda

Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear

With the holidays fast approaching, we all need more quick appetizer recipes for when friends and family come to visit. This one for Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear from Southern Living intrigued me: pear, pancetta, honey, and goat cheese. I was interested to see how these flavors would all play out together. Because this can be served cold, you can do most of it ahead of time, pop it into the fridge, and bring it out right before you need it. Note: I only made 6 servings but naturally this can be expanded to fit any number of people.

Ingredients:

6 thin slices pancetta (I just asked the butcher to slice it thin, but not as thin as proscuitto)
1 anjou pear
1/4 (2-oz.) package goat cheese, crumbled
Cracked pepper
Honey
Thyme leaves and sprigs

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Arrange the pancetta slices on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.

Cook the pancetta in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.

Transfer the pancetta to a paper towel and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Use an apple corer to core your pear. This was surprisingly easy (I have no clue why I thought this would be a battle).

Slice the pear into equal sized slices. I got 6 slices, plus the top and bottom of the pear.

Add the pancetta on top of the pear. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Sprinkle with pepper and some chopped thyme. This is where you can stop and pop these in the fridge if you are making them ahead. Right before serving, drizzle with a bit of honey.

It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?

But… how does it taste? I actually really liked this! It’s flavorful, different, and easy to eat with one hand (crucial for a get together where most are walking and mingling).

The pancetta was a wonderfully salty contrast to the sweetness of the pear and honey, the goat cheese added a nice creaminess and the thyme added little pops of flavor that brought the whole appetizer together.

There were some awesome textures in this as well. Overall, a definite keeper!

It’s My Birthday & I’ll Make Cake Pops If I Want To

This year has flown by. I can’t believe we are about two weeks away from Christmas already! Which means I have a weekend of celebrations upon me, it’s my birthday!

I have been intrigued by cake pops for a while now. I have no idea how a little ball of cake could keep my interest, but I have been looking for an excuse to try these out. I wanted to focus on making the actual cake pop so I used the best from-the-box cake mix there is: Funfetti of course!

Ingredients:

Cake Mix

Eggs

Water

Vegetable oil

12 oz frosting

Assorted candy coatings

Wax paper

Lollipop sticks

Styrofoam, or a pop stand

Assorted sprinkles

Bake the cake according to box directions. Allow to cool. While its cooling, prepare to make the cake pops. Set out two cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Gather the lollipop sticks and place near the cookie sheets. Set out a large mixing bowl.

Finely crumble the cake in a large mixing bowl.

Add the frosting to the crumbled cake and mix to combine (This gets realllly messy, which is why I don’t have a photo). Roll the cake into balls and place on the wax paper. I got I think 28 cake balls from one box of candy, but I think I made them a bit big. Oops.

Pop in the refrigerator overnight, or for a few hours. To decorate, melt the candy coating according to directions in the microwave. (This was surprisingly more difficult than I expected. I managed to burn one of the batches!) Be sure to use somewhat deep bowls. You want enough melted candies so that you can completely submerge each cake pop in it.

When the candies are smooth, take out a few cake pops. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the candy coating.

This will work as a glue to keep the cake pop in place. Stick the lollipop stick into a cake ball Repeat with remaining cake balls. Allow to set (I left mine overnight, but if you return it to the fridge for maybe 30 minutes I think that would be just fine).

Take a cake pop and submerge in the melted candy coating. Do not swirl the cake pop, or they might fall off!

boooooo

Be sure to coat the entire cake ball. Remove from the candy coating by pulling straight up.

To remove excess candy coating, hold the cake pop over the bowl and tap the wrist holding the cake pop gently until some of the coating falls off. Place the completed cake pop into a cake pop stand or into some Styrofoam to set.

You now have a cake pop! If you want, you can add sprinkles or other decorations.

Soo… mine turned out so lumpy; and drippy. They are more like cake lumps, not cake balls. Who cares? They were delicious!

Here’s some of my “birthday-themed” cake pops:

and here’s some of my Christmas-y cake pops.

These cake pops take quite a bit of time, but I was pretty giddy with the results!

I made these over three days because I was making them during the week, so you can most certainly make these ahead of time. Just place the dried and finished cake pops in an air tight container or back in the fridge.

I hope all my friends like them!

Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Caramel-Pecan Drizzle

Today I wrote my first guest post over at A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis. His page is truly stunning so I am honored to be the guest post this week. Stop on by Chef Dennis’ blog to see my post on Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Caramel-Pecan drizzle!

I think you are well aware of my pumpkin obsession by now (I have twelve other posts on here using pumpkin!) so I really wanted to do something special to round out my bakers dozen of pumpkin recipes. The recipe does take some time, so this would definitely be a weekend choice. But you can refrigerate the dough or even freeze it once it is shaped into the sticky buns. I hope you enjoy my post!

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

My little sister loves deviled eggs. She loves them to such an extreme, that we chose a restaurant (Supper in Philadelphia) during Restaurant Week solely because they were known for their amazing deviled eggs of the day. (The rest of their food is awesome too, definitely worth checking out). During Restaurant Week, they were offering their Sriracha Deviled Eggs, which my sister devoured. So when I was offered to try Land O’Lakes eggs through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I knew I wanted to make them for her. Luckily, Supper took the guesswork out for me and shared their recipe with Meal Ticket a few years back.

Land O’Lakes eggs come from hens that are fed an all-vegetable, whole-grain diet with no animal by-products.

Courtesy of Land O’Lakes

Although I primarily use eggs for baking or as an ingredient in a larger dish, I wanted to highlight the eggs for this recipe.

Ingredients:

6 Land O’Lakes eggs, hard boiled and halved
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon
2 teaspoons Sriracha

The juice from 1/2 a lime

The zest from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

Fill a large bowl with ice water. To hard-boil the eggs, add 6 eggs to a large pasta pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes uncovered. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the iced water for 30 seconds and remove. To crack the eggs, roll back and forth on the counter and peel the shell off of the egg.

Halve the eggs.

Scoop out the yolks and transfer them to a bowl. I used a half teaspoon so that the spoon was smaller than the yolks. They are pretty easy to kind of pop out.

Use a fork to mash the yolks. Add the mayo, Dijon, Sriracha, lime juice, zest, and cilantro to the yolks.

Mix to combine, try to work out any chunks that may remain, you want it as smooth as possible. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag. If you have a pastry tip, feel free to use it. If not, just cut off one of the corners and squeeze the mixture into each egg white.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of paprika.

I’m not a huge fan of hard-boiled eggs, so I let my sister and friends be the judge of these eggs. When I asked my sister what needed to be changed, she told me nothing, she loved them just the way they were.

My friends managed to eat a dozen deviled eggs within minutes! Some even said they were some of the best deviled eggs they’ve had –they clearly haven’t been to Supper yet. 🙂

The Sriracha adds some heat to the eggs but is not too spicy. The lime flavor does shine through, so if you are not a fan of lime, cut out the zest (the original recipe did not have zest in it).

Yum

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

6 Land O’Lakes eggs, hard boiled and halved
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon
2 teaspoons Sriracha
The juice from 1/2 a lime
The zest from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

Instructions

Fill a large bowl with ice water. To hard-boil the eggs, add 6 eggs to a large pasta pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes uncovered. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the iced water for 30 seconds and remove. To crack the eggs, roll back and forth on the counter and peel the shell off of the egg.
Halve the eggs.
Scoop out the yolks and transfer them to a bowl. I used a half teaspoon so that the spoon was smaller than the yolks. They are pretty easy to kind of pop out.
Use a fork to mash the yolks. Add the mayo, Dijon, Sriracha, lime juice, zest, and cilantro to the yolks.
Mix to combine, try to work out any chunks that may remain, you want it as smooth as possible. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag. If you have a pastry tip, feel free to use it. If not, just cut off one of the corners and squeeze the mixture into each egg white.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of paprika.

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Lemon Pound Cake with Mint Berries and Cream

I thought I’d step away from cookies and cupcakes for the moment to make… pound cake. I don’t know why I am on such a baking kick, but at least I have the chance to try a bunch of different new recipes! I found this recipe through MyRecipes.com, originally from Southern Living. The recipe sounded absolutely fantastic so I stuck to it for the most part, but I added blueberries because, well, I like blueberries!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 (12-ounce) jar lemon curd
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1 pint fresh blueberries

Barbecue Elk Brisket Sandwiches

I am having way too much fun trying out all these new meats through Arganica. This week I thought I’d try to conquer elk. Elk has a similar taste to beef and is low in both fat and cholesterol. I thought it was another perfect excuse to use my slow cooker, and to invent my own barbecue sauce! I decided to make a Chipotle-Guinness barbecue sauce.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (~12 oz) bottle of Guinness

1 (14.5 oz) can tomato puree

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of the sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo

1 tablespoon dijon

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 lbs Elk brisket (can substitute beef brisket)

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 Buns, toasted

Continue reading Barbecue Elk Brisket Sandwiches

Green Bean Casserole with Mushrooms

My goodness, can you really believe that Thanksgiving is in ten days? Thanksgiving is (not surprisingly) my favorite holiday of the year: it’s about coming together with the people you love for one absolutely fantastic meal. I do love turkey, but I always find the sides to be the best part of any Thanksgiving meal. In case you’re like me and you’ve begun testing recipes for the big day, I wanted to share this lightened up version of Green Bean Casserole with Mushrooms from Cooking Light. Although usually made with cream of mushroom soup, this version packs enough flavor that you won’t miss the lack of cream. And don’t worry, the fried onions are still there.

Ingredients
For the fried onions:

1 medium sized yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup milk
Canola Oil

For Green Beans:

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped sweet onion
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 (8-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms
1/3 cup dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Continue reading Green Bean Casserole with Mushrooms

Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I never seem to eat all my bananas before they get too ripe. I know the go-to saver for over ripe bananas is banana bread, but I wanted to use them for something a little different. Cooking Light had a great cookie recipe that used ripe bananas, so I tried it out.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
5 3/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray (or parchment paper)

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Venison Chili with Jalapeno-Cheddar Corn Muffins

I spent most of Saturday in the car driving to/from North Jersey in a freak Nor’easter snowfall that really made the ride quite an experience. After yesterday, it is clear that winter is (sadly) not too far away, so I better get started on some of my favorite cold weather foods. First up, chili.

I just joined a new farm club called Arganica, that just started delivering to Philadelphia. I actually joined it because my CSA share is ending and I still wanted to receive different vegetables during the winter months. However, as I was looking over their offerings, their meat and fish section is what really caught my eye. I decided to take a chance on a new type of meat I’ve never cooked with before: venison. When I mentioned I was planning on making venison chili to my boyfriend, his eyes lit up. Here’s hoping my chili can live up to whatever high expectation he has for this meal! To go along with the chili, I also made pepper Jack corn bread muffins.

For those a bit wary about venison, the meat is actually quite lean; venison is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, pork, or lamb.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 lbs ground venison

4 strips of bacon

2 cans red kidney beans, drained

1 can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon ground chili

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 jalapeno (or similar) pepper, seeds removed and chopped

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup weak coffee

Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Sour cream

Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

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!

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.