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)

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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.
Continue reading Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes & Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

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

Continue reading Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

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

Continue reading Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce

Pumpkin Spice Bread

I was really hoping to make actual pumpkin bread using Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale, but I couldn’t find pumpkin puree anywhere! Two years in a row of crop shortages are making it very difficult for me to enjoy my favorite ingredient. Anyways, I instead made a Pumpkin Spice Bread.

 

Ingredients:
1 Dogfish Head Punkin Ale (or other Pumpkin Beer)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, spices and salt to a medium sized bowl.

 

Mix to combine. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add the beer. It will fizz up a lot!

 

Fold the dry ingredients into the beer until just combined. You do not want to over stir it, or the bread will not rise.
Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and stir to combine.

 

Spray a bread pan with cooking spray and add the dough to the pan.

 

Cook for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

Allow to cool and then remove from the pan using a knife to loosen the edges.

 

Serve with butter sprinkled with cinnamon.
The bread has a subtle sweetness to it which makes it perfect for breakfast. I love crunch from the walnuts and the extra pop of sweetness from the chocolate chips.

 

Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

I didn’t grow up in a meatloaf household. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So when my boyfriend put in a special request for meatloaf I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But he rarely asks for anything specific, and is always willing to eat whatever I make (I jokingly refer to him as “I Can Eat That”) so I think he deserves this one request. I decided to try a recipe from Tyler Florence with a few changes.
Ingredients:
Tomato Relish:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely diced
4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 12 ounce bottle of ketchup
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Meatloaf:
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons milk
1 pound ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
2 eggs
Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and pepper
3 bacon slices

Continue reading Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

Godiva Coffee – Pumpkin Spice & Caramel Pecan Bark

I am in love with fall, it is by far my favorite time of year. It is the only time of year I can give into my love of all things pumpkins and not get funny looks. Sadly, I feel like the autumn season seems to be getting shorter and shorter, so I need to get as much “fall” food and drinks as I can. As a member of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program, I was lucky enough to receive two different limited edition fall coffees from Godiva: Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.
The coffees are based off of Godiva’s Pumpkin Spice Truffles and their  signature Caramel Pecan Bark. The Pumpkin Spice coffee has a wonderful pumpkin pie taste, with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. The Caramel Pecan Bark has notes of toasted pecan and caramel. I couldn’t wait to try them!

I decided to make two different recipes for each coffee to really test out their flavor. The weather in Philadelphia has continued to be pretty darn humid, so I made a few chilled coffee drinks. I also decided to use some of the coffee grounds to make my own Caramel Pecan Bark.

First to make the Caramel Pecan Bark. Making bark is really simple and makes a great gift or easy party dessert. I incorporated some of the coffee grinds to enhance the flavor of the chocolate.

 

Ingredients:
16 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Begin by chopping your chocolate. I was feeling particularly lazy so I just used my food processor.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Line a pan with parchment paper and spread the chopped chocolate evenly on top. Bake for 5 minutes or until melted. Using a spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly so that it is the same thickness throughout.
While the chocolate is melting, make the caramel. Add the sugar to a pan over medium high heat. As soon as it begins to melt, begin to whisk vigorously until mostly melted. (see photo) Take care not to burn the sugar!
Add the butter and whisk to combine. Be careful, it will bubble!
Remove from heat. Wait 10 seconds and add the cream, whisking to combine.
If you’re not feeling particularly gutsy, feel free to just purchase caramel sauce. Making the caramel can be tricky, it took me two tries. I burnt the first one so badly that my entire condo filled with smoke! Oops.
Chop the pecans. I used raw pecans; for extra flavor use toasted.

Sprinkle the pecans over the melted chocolate.

Sprinkle on the coffee grounds and top with the caramel.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow to harden.

Break into uneven pieces, so as to resemble bark.
Yum! I think next time I make this, I think I would add just a bit of sea salt to finish it off.  However, this was delicious on its own!
On to the drinks. First up is a Pumpkin Spice Martini, adapted from a recipe sent to me by Food Jaunts. She was nice enough to let me post it on here, so thank you very much! If you have a minute, be sure to check out her blog, it’s fabulous!
 
Ingredients:
3 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee, cooled
1 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
Ice

Begin by brewing your coffee. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Add ice to a shaker. Pour in the vanilla vodka, Godiva liqueur, and coffee. Shake and strain into a martini glass.
If you don’t have a shaker, you can use anything that has a secure lid. Just be sure to use a strainer over the martini glass so that no ice enters the glass.

I absolutely loved this drink, I wish more martinis tasted this good! The vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin spice flavors delivered a smooth and tasty drink.

You can add whole coffee beans to the martini glass for some extra flair if you’d like. They’ll float to the top!

In my attempt to be creative, I’m pretty sure I ended up making a chilled Caramel Pecan Bark Vietnamese Coffee. Either way, it was tasty!

Ingredients:
6 oz brewed Caramel Pecan Bark coffee, cooled
2 tablespoons condensed milk
2 tablespoons milk
A few ice cubes
Whipped cream
Extra coffee grinds or chopped pecans for garnish
Begin by brewing your coffee and allowing it to cool.

Add the coffee, condensed milk, and milk to a blender.

Add ice and blend until pureed. Pour into coffee mugs and top with whipped cream, coffee grounds, or pecans if desired.
Condensed milk is already sweetened with sugar, so I personally don’t think you need any more sweeteners in this. If you have a big sweet tooth, sub out the milk with more condensed milk.
I love how this tasted! It was more of a dessert drink than a coffee drink but I’m ok with that. The caramel and pecan flavors still shown through, making a really delicious treat.
No coffee post would be complete without Iced Coffee. This recipe takes some make ahead time, but is so worth it, so that your coffee isn’t watered down. I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman and was really impressed with the results!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Caramel Pecan Bark coffee grounds
2 cups cold water
Ice
Milk, cream, or half & half (whatever you prefer)
Sweetener, if desired

Note: you will need a cheesecloth for this recipe.

Add the coffee grounds to a container that has a lid.

Pour in the cold coffee and mix to combine.

Allow to “brew” for at least 8 hours. Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Place a few layers of cheese cloth over the strainer and pour the coffee mixture into the strainer. Give it a while to strain through. Use a spoon to press through the remaining liquid.
Add ice to a glass.

Pour the coffee into the glass, filling it just over half full.

Add your milk/cream/half & half. Stir to combine.


Sweeten the iced coffee if desired. (Note: the Caramel Pecan Bark coffee has some sweetness to it, so I didn’t think it needed any sugar)
This is perfect to serve with the bark!
I don’t think I will ever make iced coffee another way again. The flavor of this was amazing, not even a little bit watered down!
 
Last but not least, I decided to try a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right off of the GodivaCoffee.com website.

Ingredients:
6 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee
3 teaspoons pure maple syrup, divided
4 oz warm milk
Whipped cream, if desired

Begin by brewing your coffee. Add the coffee to a mug of your choice and keep warm.

Heat the milk over medium heat until warm. If you’re feeling fancy, use a whisk to whip the milk until frothy. Add 2 teaspoons maple syrup and the milk to the coffee. Stir to combine.

Top with whipped cream and drizzle with the remaining 1 teaspoon of maple syrup.

This is a great “fancy” coffee drink to make at home when, like me, you don’t own an espresso machine. The flavors are very similar to popular pumpkin spice lattes out there and is so simple to make!
I hope some of my experimentation will inspire you to come up with some of your own recipes. The Godiva fall coffees make for a great base. I am so excited to enjoy this coffee for the rest of the season!

Roasted Eggplant & Feta Dip

I am at a bit of a loss for what to do with eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan and Baba Ghannouj are the only two recipes I really know that use eggplant.  However, I found a tasty sounding recipe from Eating Well that includes a bunch of other ingredients from this week’s CSA.
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
The juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and mince
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your broiler. Line a pan with foil and place the eggplant on it. Poke a few holes within the eggplant so that it can let out steam while broiling. Broil for 14 to 18 minutes, turning the eggplant every 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the skin is charred a little and a knife goes easily into the part right near the stem. Transfer to a cutting board until it’s cool enough to handle.

Prepare your onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley.

Add lemon juice to a medium sized bowl. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.
Scoop out the inside of the eggplant into the bowl and toss with the lemon juice.
Add olive oil and stir with a fork until the oil is absorbed.
Add feta, onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil, parsley, cayenne and salt.
Taste and adjust as needed.
If covered, this recipe can be made up to two days ahead of time. The original recipe included a red bell pepper instead of a green one (I only had a green pepper), and that color would have really popped in this dish.
Serve with toasted pita. This would be a great addition to any mezze platter: tomatoes, hummus, grape leaves, etc.

Pesto

Nothing tastes as fresh as homemade pesto. It is surprisingly easy to make and really blows the store-bought stuff out of the water. With a whopping 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper), pesto is definitely something you need to try to make if you haven’t already! I made this to go with my gnocchi that I made for a food swap.

Ingredients (makes about 1 cup):
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the basil leaves and walnuts to a food processor.

Pulse a few times to combine.

Mince your garlic.

Add to the food processor.

Pulse to combine.

While the food processor is running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse to combine.

Season with salt and pepper.

You can add more of whichever ingredient you think you need more of at any time. I prefer my pesto to be relatively firm, so I don’t use a lot of olive oil to make mine. I also tend to add more cheese on top of my pasta anyways, so I limit the amount of cheese I put into the pesto. You can also use pine nuts instead of walnuts; I just prefer walnuts.
Be sure to use high quality ingredients for this recipe if you can. Because none of it is cooked, you want basil when it is fresh, high quality olive oil with a smooth taste, and a nicely aged cheese. A little pesto goes a long way when used as a topping on pasta, so this recipe can luckily be frozen to use at a later date as well!

Gnocchi

I have wanted to try to make gnocchi for some time now. Luckily, I am part of a food swap and they were willing to let me experiment on them. Here’s hoping they turned out well! I used this article as a base for my recipe.
Note: I actually made the gnocchi twice because I wasn’t happy with the original result. I used smaller potatoes the first time (see below photo) and I found that the normal Idaho potatoes were much better for this recipe. (Special thanks to my boyfriend for a lot of his help during the making of the gnocchi)

Ingredients:
3 large russet (Idaho) potatoes, scrubbed
1 egg yolk
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by pricking each potato all over with a fork. This will allow some of the heat to escape while it is baking in the oven.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half, or until the potatoes are soft.
 
After removing the potatoes from the oven, cut each potato in half to allow the steam to escape.
While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the insides into a potato ricer into a bowl.
Place the potatoes onto a clean work surface, like your counter, and form into a rectangle and allow to cool enough that they are not hot to touch.
Season the potatoes generously with pepper. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and drizzle the over the potatoes.
Measure 1 1/2 cups flour and sprinkle a bit of flour over the potatoes as needed (the less flour you use the better). Using a pastry scraper, mix the flour and egg into the potatoes by chopping everything up and folding it in on itself, until well mixed. The dough should sort of resemble coarse crumbs.
Bring the mixture together into a ball.
Sprinkle some on the work surface. Place the dough on top and flatten into a disk.
Dust the dough with more flour. Using your hands, fold and press the dough until the flour is incorporated. Do this two more times, incorporating the flour each time. If the dough still feels sticky, repeat once more.
Divide the dough into four equal parts.
Roll each section into a long thin roll, about 1/2″ thick.

Cut into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

Because I was making these for a food swap, I arranged all the pieces on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and put them in the freezer overnight.
I then divided the gnocchi into freezer bags and popped them back into the freezer.
To cook, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and top with whatever you prefer: tomato sauce, pesto, butter, etc. (I’m a big fan of tomato sauce with some pesto mixed in, yum!)

I tried a few of these and they were pretty good! I hope that they continue to get better as I make them but I thought this recipe turned out well, here’s hoping those in the food swap agree!

Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

When I first came across this recipe for Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup, I was intrigued by the ingredients. Never would I have thought to add jalapenos and ginger to a butternut squash dish. It seemed so odd, and yet so delicious as well. This weekend, the weather began feeling a bit more… autumnal. So I used this wonderful weather as an excuse to try out this recipe. I altered the original recipe a bit, but you can find the original here.

 

Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2-in. cubes
3 cups water
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk, plus more for serving
I’ve attempted to peel and cube butternut squash in the past. And it is absolutely not worth it. It takes forever and never seems to yield as much as you think it will. So I wimped out at bought the pre-packaged pre-chopped stuff. And I am so happy I did. I ended up using 3 20 oz containers of the butternut squash.
Begin by chopping your garlic and jalapeno and grating your ginger.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the cayenne pepper and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring.
Add the squash, chicken broth, brown sugar, and 3 cups water.
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
Add about 1/3 of the soup to a blender. Remove the top middle piece of the blender top to allow hot air to escape. Place a paper towel over the opening and puree until smooth. Add to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup.

Be very very careful doing this! I managed to burn my hand pretty badly when removing the top off the blender. Ouch!

Stir in the coconut milk and serve. I added a tiny bit more of the coconut milk on top of a poured serving and swirled it.

This was a surprisingly tasty soup. The smooth texture is really nice and the butternut squash taste shines through, with a hint of coconut milk. There is a very slight heat at the end from the jalapeno and cayenne, but is definitely not spicy. I honestly couldn’t taste much of the ginger, so next time I might add a bit more. This soup can also be frozen so I look forward to enjoying it in the colder months, but it only took maybe 40 minutes from start to finish so this can easily be made on a weeknight.

Mushroom Risotto

This past weekend, Kennett Square held it’s annual Mushroom Festival. I unfortunately didn’t get to go this year, but my parents dropped off a variety of mushrooms for me. When I have a lot of different types of mushrooms, my go to recipe is a mushroom risotto.

Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
  • 2 cups assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster, shiitake, portobello & trumpet)
  • 1/2 a small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Continue reading Mushroom Risotto

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