Saving Some Recipes

This is merely one of three in my freezer

Graham Cracker Chewy Bars
Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars
Thanksgiving Twofer Bars
Pumpkin-Pecan Pie Candy
Russian Teacake Cookies
Pumpkin-Pecan Spice Bread
Macaroons Speculoos
Roasted Delicata Squash with Panne Cotta
Butternut Squash Pudding
Praline Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Almond and Polenta Cake

Recipes to Save

Pot Pie #1
Pot Pie #2
Pot Pie #3
Pot Pie #4
Pumpkin Apple Bread Pudding
Banana Bread Pudding
Steak with Fondue
Bacon, Onion, Cheddar Biscuits
Make Ahead Muffin Melts
Black Ginger Blondies <--- I should make these for my coworkers at LUSH for Christmas! yay for vegan food blogs!
Irish Cream liqueur
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Spicy Caramel Apple sauce and Vanilla Creme Anglaise

Making More Toasted Seeds

Remember when I made pumpkin seeds using this method? Well, the time has come yet again. I had the seeds from this pumpkin and the seeds from this squash just hanging out in my fridge, and I don't want them there any longer! I want to be able to eat them!



Look at how many cute little seeds I have! They're just BEGGING to be used!

After boiling, and then popping them in the oven, I hopped in the shower. Upon getting out of the shower, I kept hearing this POP from the kitchen. Some of my seeds were hopping out of the pan! As they'd be roasting for 12 mins, I decided that was good enough, and took them out to cool (eating the 5 that had leaped to their deaths).





I cannot wait to devour them!

Recipes to keep track of

Since I have nothing better to do than drool over cooking blogs, here are some things that are cluttering up my browser.

Fried Plantains with Coconut Caramel Sauce
Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Walnuts, which is remarkably similar to...
Bacon Sprouts
Taiwanese Pork (Lo Ba)
Roast Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Bread
Hachis Parmentier (similar to Shepherd's Pie)

And to top it all off, Tasty Kitchen and Pioneer Woman are having Pie Week! What's a girl who's not celebrating Thanksgiving to do?!

Pumpkin Curry

So, R, as promised, here is the post on Indian food!

We had had a pumpkin at work. I drew a cute face on him, and had a sign next to him that said "Ask me about pumpkin ice cream!" Well, a couple of days ago, I noticed that he was falling in on himself at the top. (I had previously noted that the stem was turning purple with mold :-\) So, at the recommendation of a coworker who clearly thinks faster than I, I chopped the pumpkin in half, and cubed the usable parts of him. This sat in my fridge for a few days.

Last night, I was to have a cards night, and I had every intention of cooking that pumpkin. But cards night got cancelled (Mister and I have had a few late nights in a row, and weren't up to hosting), and I made pumpkin curry for a comfy night in.

Ingredients:
pumpkin
onion
shallot
olive oil
coconut milk
chicken stock
carrots
parsnip
spices

The pumpkin was already cubed, so I just cut off the rind. While I had the knife out, I also chopped a red onion, and a shallot. Heating olive oil in a large frying pan, when it was hot, I threw in the onion and cooked until the onions were translucent. At that point, I threw in the pumpkin. I fried the pumpkin for probably close to 20 mins, turning regularly with a spatula. Some of the pieces got the most beautiful caramelizing on them.

When the pumpkin was fried to my liking, I poured in the contents of a can of light coconut milk, probably 3 c. of chicken stock, the shallots, chopped carrots and parsnips, and my spices. I used two bay leaves, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and pepper. I let this reach a boil, then let simmer (with a lid) until the veggies were cooked through -- perhaps an hour and a half (I took a nap and let Mister handle it from there :-P).

When the veggies were the proper consistency, I made a pot of rice, and we served the curry over rice. It was very tasty.

Pumpkin Seeds

Making some pumpkin seeds a la this method. I'll post a pic of the finished product.

Pumpkins as Food!

So we all remember my pretty little pumpkins sitting in a row on the window-sill. Sad to say, their numbers have been decreased by one.

I had intended on baking and pureeing all three pumpkins, but then realized that that's a lot of work just to have some pumpkin. So I cast around the internets for a good recipe that couldn't be subbed with canned pumpkin. As this was to be a bit healthier than the average pumpkin muffin/cake/yummy, I went to Heidi Swanson's site to check out her pumpkin options.

No surprise at all, she has quite a few tasty looking options. After looking at them all, and with varying degrees of heartbreak as I realize that I don't have the ingredients (damn this abbreviated kitchen/pantry!), I decide upon one.

This one, to be precise. Now, yet again, I do not have much of the ingredients -- but I can improvise here! If you'd like the original recipe, by all means follow the link above. But I shall list the ingredients and steps for my variant.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for the dish
3/4 - 1 cup rice
1 small pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup dried cranberries (or whatever one has left after snacking on them for two days...)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
oregano
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup walnuts

Pick a pretty lamb for the slaughter.



Here she is all chopped and ready for cooking!



Preheat the oven to 375F, and generously grease with olive oil a 9x13 pan. Heat some olive oil (about 2 Tbs. worth) to toast the rice.



Toss about 3/4 c. - 1 c. of rice into the heated oil, and forget to take pictures of it toasting. But stir it all the while for about 3 minutes, or until the rice is popping out of the pan.



Put the toasted rice into the prepped baking dish, and top with the pumpkin, cranberries, and spices.



Dribble the maple syrup over the dish. Mix the hot water and the orange juice together, and slowly pour it over the ingredients. Cover tightly with tin foil and pop in the oven for ~45 mins.

Remove pan, carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F. As discreetly as possible, sneak a taste and adjust the seasoning. If it looks too dry, add a spoonful or two of water or stock. As mine was fine now but was to cook for longer, I threw a little more water over it. Sprinkle the nuts on top, and return the dish to the oven.



Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned, another 10 minutes or so. Serve piping hot or at room temperature.



Verdict? Delicious. I keep telling Mister he needs to come home and eat this and not his company Hallowe'en potluck...

Tasty Recipes

I swear, I love fall cooking more than any other. And I'm not alone in this. Fall just makes you want to buy pumpkins.



And apples galore.



And save fall recipes to try.

Carrot, Potato and Cheese Soup
Baked Coconut Custard
Creamy Carrot and Chickpea Soup
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro/Pepita Pesto

I am so hungry now...