Saturday, November 17, 2012

Pumpkin Pudding from The History Kitchen

This looks good!!!

Thanksgiving, Lincoln and Pumpkin Pudding

Pudding Ingredients

  • 1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 pint (2 cups) pumpkin puree- cooked or canned
  • 8 eggs, beaten till frothy
  • 2 tbsp rosewater
  • 2 tbsp white wine
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp mace
  • Butter for greasing the dish

Cream Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pints heavy whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 tsp almond extract

You will also need

  • 2 quart baking dish

To Make Pudding

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cream and sugar.
  • Gradually add the pumpkin puree and beaten eggs alternately by the cupful, beating after each addition.
  • Whisk in the rosewater, wine, nutmeg, cinnamon and mace till well blended and smooth.
  • Grease a 2 qt. dish with butter. Pour the pumpkin batter into the dish.
  • Bake the pudding for 85-95 minutes till the center no longer wobbles. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The surface may crack a bit as it cools-- don't worry, it's part of the charm.
  • Serve pudding at room temperature or cold, topped with sweetened fresh whipping cream or a sweet cream sauce.
  • Note: you may substitute 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of melted cooled butter for the cream, if desired. The original recipe calls for ¾ cup of sugar; I have added an additional ¼ cup of sugar and cut down the nutmeg a bit to suit modern tastes.

To Make Sauce

  • Pour the heavy whipping cream into a small saucepan and heat over medium. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 1 ½ tbsp cold water. Slowly whisk the cornstarch mixture into the cream as it heats. Whisk in the sugar, nutmeg, and almond extract till well mixed. Stir the sauce constantly as it comes to a boil. Once it boils, remove the sauce from heat. Pour it through a wire mesh strainer and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve over Pumpkin Pudding.
  • Note: As written in the original text, this sauce is quite thin and somewhat bland. I’ve thickened it with a bit of cornstarch and doubled the sugar to better suit modern tastes.

Friday, November 16, 2012

German Pancakes





Homemade Peanut Butter




















For Christmas last year, SP bought me a wonderful book called Make the Bread,  Buy the ButterIt is written by Jennifer Reese the author of the blog The Tipsy Baker. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in cooking from scratch. As she describes on her blog.  
"About the Book
Should you bake your bagels or buy them? Is it really a good idea to keep chickens in your backyard for eggs? Is there any point in making your own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when you can buy them individually wrapped and frozen? When you can buy everything you eat already made, from bottled salad dressing to canned gravy, what does it make sense to cook for yourself?"

Our staple and the first recipe in  the book? Peanut butter. There is no turning back.  Simple and 80% the price of Jif!
1 pound unsalted roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut oil
salt

Combine in food processor and grind until a creamy paste. Add more oil as needed to thin.
We don't store ours in the fridge since we consume it so rapidly. It doesn't separate or harden. I love it. Thank you Tipsy Baker!

Now go out and buy the book!


Thursday, November 15, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Yum - inspired by a pizza we ordered from Portland Pizza.

Thyme Roasted Carrots

http://www.asweetpeachef.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/thyme-roasted-carrots.png
These look so good!
Thyme Roasted Carrots from A Sweet Pea Chef.

Thyme-Roasted Carrots

10-12 whole unpeeled carrots, split lengthwise
2 tbsp. fresh whole thyme leaves (no stems)
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
optional: balsamic vinegar, honey, fresh rosemary sprigs

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over carrots on the sheet pan. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Toss carrots until evenly coated with oil and seasonings. Arrange carrots on sheet pan. Toss fresh thyme leaves over carrots.
Roast in oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden and tender.
 
Enjoy!

Pumpkins stuffed with Everything Good

SP discovered this recipe while listening to NPR. It was the perfect recipe for us after we ended up with 5 un-carved pie pumpkins after our Halloween bonfire weekend!

Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good

Makes 2 very generous servings
1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 pound cheese, such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped
About 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
About 1/3 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment, or find a Dutch oven with a diameter that's just a tiny bit larger than your pumpkin. If you bake the pumpkin in a casserole, it will keep its shape, but it might stick to the casserole, so you'll have to serve it from the pot — which is an appealingly homey way to serve it. If you bake it on a baking sheet, you can present it freestanding, but maneuvering a heavy stuffed pumpkin with a softened shell isn't so easy. However, since I love the way the unencumbered pumpkin looks in the center of the table, I've always taken my chances with the baked-on-a-sheet method, and so far, I've been lucky.
Using a very sturdy knife — and caution — cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin (think Halloween jack-o'-lantern). It's easiest to work your knife around the top of the pumpkin at a 45-degree angle. You want to cut off enough of the top to make it easy for you to work inside the pumpkin. Clear away the seeds and strings from the cap and from inside the pumpkin. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper, and put it on the baking sheet or in the pot. Toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon, and herbs together in a bowl. Season with pepper — you probably have enough salt from the bacon and cheese, but taste to be sure — and pack the mix into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well filled — you might have a little too much filling, or you might need to add to it. Stir the cream with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and pour it into the pumpkin. Again, you might have too much or too little — you don't want the ingredients to swim in cream, but you do want them nicely moistened. (But it's hard to go wrong here.)
Put the cap in place and bake the pumpkin for about 2 hours — check after 90 minutes — or until everything inside the pumpkin is bubbling and the flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. Because the pumpkin will have exuded liquid, I like to remove the cap during the last 20 minutes or so, so that the liquid can bake away and the top of the stuffing can brown a little.
When the pumpkin is ready, carefully, very carefully — it's heavy, hot, and wobbly — bring it to the table or transfer it to a platter that you'll bring to the table.
Serving
You have choices: you can cut wedges of the pumpkin and filling; you can spoon out portions of the filling, making sure to get a generous amount of pumpkin into the spoonful; or you can dig into the pumpkin with a big spoon, pull the pumpkin meat into the filling, and then mix everything up. I'm a fan of the pull-and-mix option. Served in hearty portions followed by a salad, the pumpkin is a perfect cold-weather main course; served in generous spoonfuls or wedges, it's just right alongside the Thanksgiving turkey.
Storing
It's really best to eat this as soon as it's ready. However, if you've got leftovers, you can scoop them out of the pumpkin, mix them up, cover, and chill them; reheat them the next day.
Greenspan's Stuffing Ideas
There are many ways to vary this arts-and-crafts project. Instead of bread, I've filled the pumpkin with cooked rice — when it's baked, it's almost risotto-like. And, with either bread or rice, on different occasions I've added cooked spinach, kale, chard, or peas (the peas came straight from the freezer). I've made it without bacon, and I've also made and loved, loved, loved it with cooked sausage meat; cubes of ham are another good idea. Nuts are a great addition, as are chunks of apple or pear or pieces of chestnut.



Thursday, November 1, 2012

Lemon-Zucchini Cookies


These are fantastic!
Martha Stewart's Lemon Zucchini Cookies
  • Yield Makes 25 cookies
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
  • 1 medium zucchini, grated on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture is crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.
  2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown at edges, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.