Pumpkin Recipes, With and Without Spice

Click image if you're basic.

I'd have my Basic White Girl card taken away if there weren't at least a dozen pumpkin recipes on the blog. No chance of that happening, as there are eighteen recipes (so far) using pumpkin as a main ingredient. Most of the recipes are sweet, of course, but a couple are savory. Pumpkin is a vegetable, after all. I am rather surprised that I don't have a recipe for pumpkin hummus here somewhere--a situation that will be rectified very soon. I recently found a yummy-sounding one on the Interwebs but haven't had a chance to whip it up. 

I've made more variations on pumpkin cheesecake (3) than anything else. There are also muffins, cake, cupcakes, breakfast items, plus soup and risotto. One thing I noticed while searching for pumpkin recipes: the older posts have some pretty horrible photography! Going from small digital camera to iPhone camera has made a big difference in the quality of my images. Good lighting makes an impact as well. So this post is recipe-heavy and photo-light. 

Curried Pumpkin Soup This recipe is stupid-simple. 

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chai Muffins This is clearly one of my more recent recipes, as I eat mostly gluten-free these days. Plus I'm hoping that the term will attract new followers to the blog....

mini pumpkin cheesecakes

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes Specialty pan alert! You need two 4-inch springform pans for this recipe. I suppose one 6" pan will do, but the cheesecake will need to bake for a bit more time. Don't ask how long. It's in your hands now.

Pumpkin Bread Just to be different, I added a bit of curry powder. 

Pumpkin Butter Don't spend $5 on a jar of pre-made pumpkin butter! Make it yourself for much less.

Pumpkin Cheesecake This is for a full-sized cheesecake to serve to family and friends. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies Rather than the usual cream cheese-swirled brownie, these are topped with a thick layer of pumpkin cheesecake. 

Pumpkin Cornbread There's actually no good reason to add pumpkin to cornbread. But I did it anyway.

Pumpkin Cupcakes Rich and moist, these cupcakes taste better after a day or two.

Pumpkin Fruitcake Don't be afraid--this is more pumpkin bread with dried fruits and nuts than actual fruitcake. Real fruit, not those awful red and green plasticized cherries.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle is a great dish for the upcoming Winter holidays. Make it easy on yourself and use boxed gingerbread and pudding mixes.

Pumpkin Oatmeal sure is cozy on a fall morning!

Pumpkin Pancakes are too!

"pumpkin" pie made with squash

"Pumpkin" Pie There are quotes around the word "pumpkin" because this recipe calls for fresh squash. Pretty much all canned pumpkin is actually butternut squash, and it can be substituted for the other squashes in this recipe. 

Pumpkin Risotto There are no "pumpkin spice" spices in this recipe!

Pumpkin Seed Brittle only uses the seeds, not the flesh. My late Dad said it was "like heaven" in his mouth. 

Pumpkin Spice Cake This is like a blondie, only pumpkin-spicier.

Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Compote Do make the compote! 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Shuck It, Shake It, Smoke It @Wit on the Water

If you've never been to Wit & Wisdom in the warmer months, they have a terrific 85-seat patio overlooking the Harbor. Chef Zack Mills and lead bartender Aaron Joseph have combined their considerable forces in creating a special Wit on the Water menu featuring the three things we enjoy most in the summer: shellfish; barbecue; and cocktails. "Shuck it, smoke it, shake it," as the menu is titled.

We were there recently and tried a number of things. We'll start with the shellfish, which included:
--Blue Crab Cocktails, Flying Dog orange ale vinaigrette, avocado
--Scallop Ceviche, citrus & horseradish vinaigrette
--Steamed & Chilled Half Maine Lobster, yuzu creme fraiche
--Court Bouillon Poached Shrimp, Old Bay Cocktail Sauce

Foreground: crab salad; Right: ceviche; scattered elsewhere: lobster and shrimp

From the "smoke it" portion of the menu, we tried:
--Oak Wood Smoke Catoctin Mountain Pulled Pork, House-made Barbecue sauce, corn bread
--Smoked War Shore Oysters, Herb & Old Bay butter
--Grilled Half Maine Lobster, drawn butter

We also tried several cocktails, including:
--Orchid Punch: Clyde May's whiskey, white orchid tea, apple-citrus syrup, lime
--Charm Peace: roasted tomato-infused Stoli Elite with basil-infused Dolin Blanc dry Vermouth
--Hon Punch: reposado tequila, lime juice, lavender mint tea, and kumquat sacrum
--Country Ride: roasted sweet corn-infused Blanco Tequila, lemon juice, and agave syrup with Old Bay rim and cilantro garnish
--Honeydew and Cantaloupe "boozy pops,"

Hon Punch, Orchid Punch

Country Ride

Charm Peace

Boozy Pops

The grilled items were our favorites. Somehow lobster is more lobster-y when it's grilled, and the grilled oysters topped with a slick of Old Bay-flavored butter were delish. In fact, we demurred at the idea of oysters to begin with, as we had dozens of them at home. But I'm glad we tasted the War Shores. Now I know how to treat oysters on the half shell next time we have some. The pulled pork, in a lightly sweet, very tomatoey sauce, was excellent, but my favorite part of that dish was the lightly lemony cornbread. Citrus was an unexpected touch that made it unique.

The seafood was all impeccably fresh and perfectly prepared. The scallop ceviche was tender and tasted like more, and the poached shrimp was some of the best I've eaten. As for the cocktails, they were full of innovative ideas, like corn-infused tequila. My favorite was the Charm Peace, which was like a Caprese salad in a glass...all it needed was a little ball of mozzarella....

It didn't hurt that we had the most gorgeous early summer day to enjoy the patio, that, coupled with good company and fine food made for an enjoyable evening outdoors. The only regrettable thing was not being there on the weekend and missing whole pig roasted on the new la caja china roaster. Next time....



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Jokers n Thieves

It took us a while to get to Jokers n Thieves. A media dinner had been scheduled a while back, but the curfew put the kibosh on that. Instead, we media types went in dribs and drabs on various weeknights; June 17th was our turn.

Formerly JD's Smokehouse, Jokers n Thieves is an attractive bar on the quieter side of Canton's O'Donnell square. Jesse Sandlin, who had most recently ruled the roost at Oliver Speck's and Vino Rosina, is running the kitchen and serving up quasi-lowcountry vittles with splashes of local color.

We started our meal with two drafts, a Southern Tier double IPA and Union Craft AM Gold (which had tasted strongly of coffee when I sampled it at the brewery but just tasted like beer at JnT) and a couple of appetizers. The "white trash tacos," (fried chicken, slaw, pickled jalapenos, queso) would be as comfortable in Dundalk as in the Carolinas. I thought they were perfect little bites, and appreciated that the fillings were encased in single corn tortillas, rather than doubles, which I think muffle the flavors a bit (and are better for juicy fillings).

We also had the poutine, a massive pile of fries covered in two kinds of cheese with little nubbins of fried chicken (the menu said smoked chicken, so I suppose they were out). This is a dish best served to a mob, as it's far too much for two people. It was salty and cheesy and would probably make a hell of a hangover helper with a fried egg or two on top.

I had seen photos of the soft crab waffle sandwich on Instagram, and determined that I HAD to have it. OMG, it was so good. Hands down it was the most tender soft shell I have ever eaten (and I've eaten so many of them in the past two weeks, you don't even know). The coating was crisp, but the crab was so plump and juicy underneath, I couldn't tell there was shell in it at all. And the accompaniments - house smoked bacon, green tomato, arugula, slaw - were perfect. The bacon was crisp and not too smoky, the tomato and slaw added just the right amount of both moisture and acid. And the waffle was really tasty. Of course, waffles get soggy fast and by the time I got to the second half of the sandwich, it was falling apart, but it was worth the mess.

Mr Minx opted for the 12-hour smoked brisket, which came elegantly presented as two toothsome slabs over a generous serving of slow cooked Carolina gold rice studded with bits of asparagus. It was nicely smoky and worked well with the bleu cheese butter on top. We also enjoyed the rice, which was not quite risotto, not quite congee. A bowl of it would be comforting on a cold winter morning. Or evening. Or afternoon.

We shared a dessert, the cornbread strawberry shortcake, comprising a nicely-crumbly, somewhat coarse-textured cornbread with sugar macerated stawberries and sweetened whipped cream. The edges of the cornbread had a little crunch, and the strawberries were just sweet enough. Really good.

So, only good things to say about Jokers n Thieves. The staff was incredibly nice, the food was really good, and we liked the ambiance of the place as well. I kinda hate that it's in Canton, because we'd prefer it to be closer to us, but we can't have it all.

If you're a fan of soft shells, GO NOW and get them while the getting is good. You won't regret it.





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Top Home-Cooked Meals of 2010

As a partner to my list of Top Restaurant dishes, I thought I'd do another list including of my favorite home-cooked concoctions of 2010. I experimented a lot with Asian flavors, and dishes with roots in Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand were some of the best of the year, including some Asian pork meatballs that were pretty terrific.

Korean BBQ Chicken Wraps

The Korean BBQ Chicken Wraps with Pineapple Relish were a big success, as were every iteration of Banh Mi I created. The Korean tofu with spicy sauce that Ruth Reichl demonstrated on an episode of Diary of a Foodie was so good, we made it several times, particularly in the hot hot summer.

Tofu with spicy sauce

Let's not forget the very delicious Thai-style seviche I concocted from a myriad of seafood products that were living in our freezer. Ok, not "living," per se.

Thai-style ceviche

Another Thai-inflected dish I really loved this year was my Coconut Gazpacho. My Thai dinner party guests really seemed to enjoy it, too. And speaking of the Thai party, the Tod Mun Mu - my porky variation of Thai fish cakes - were also a hit.

Veering away from Asia, I thought my Caprese Salad Stack was particularly successful. And while one of the versions of Chiles Rellenos I cooked up this year was a big hit, even better were the accompanying corn muffins. Another side that I really enjoyed was a dish of mushroom orzotto, served up for our 10th wedding anniversary.

It seemed that everything was fodder for tacos - it didn't have to have Mexican or Tex-Mex flavors, either. I prepared a couple of fish tacos for a recipe contest, and even though I used commercially-breaded, frozen shrimp for one of them, when combined with elements like bacon salsa and peanut butter crema, they were utterly delicious. (Those recipes will be coming up in a future post.)

I hope you enjoyed reading about my cooking adventures in 2010 and have tried some of my recipes. I plan to have more for you in the coming year.

Moroccan Chili and Pumpkin Cornbread

Mentally going through the contents of our small but over-stuffed freezer (Lap cheong, Mexican chorizo, chicken apple sausage, chicken stock, linguica, gumbo, precooked Italian sausage, salmon filet, ice cream, hot dogs, some weird Asian pork sausage, andouille...yes, I realize that is probably an abnormal amount of sausage to have at one time) I realized we had about a pound of ground lamb. At first I thought I'd make a meatloaf (that's a lie...my first thought was merguez, which of course is a type of sausage), but then I realized that chili would be a lot easier. And for some reason, "ground lamb" is now synonymous with "Moroccan" cuisine in my brain, so I wanted to make sure the chili had a nice North African touch. That was easy enough to achieve with some harissa and cinnamon.

I like to serve cornbread with my chili, and had recently seen a recipe for pumpkin cornbread on Photograzing. The recipe called for half a cup of brown sugar, plus molasses and spices, which I thought would make the dish more like a quickbread than a good accompaniment for a savory dish, so I cut back on the sugar and omitted the rest. The result was rather dry and crumbly, so I'm thinking the molasses helped a bit with the moisture content. It tasted fine, however, crumbled into the chili, which was pretty darn good.

Moroccan Chili

2 lb ground lamb
1 cup sliced onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons harissa
2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups beef stock
1 Tablespoon honey, or to taste
salt
1/4 cup green olives, chopped
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
cilantro

Brown lamb in a dutch oven over medium-high heat, using a wooden spoon to break it into bits. When meat is cooked through and browned, remove to a bowl. Discard any excessive fat left in the pot, leaving behind about a tablespoon or so. Add onions and season with a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat until onions turn translucent; return meat to pot. Stir in next six ingredients, cooking until the mixture becomes fragrant. Add tomatoes, red pepper, tomato paste, and stock. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour. At that point, raise the heat and reduce the liquid until it is no longer soupy. Taste for seasoning and add salt and honey.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped olives, scallions, and cilantro. Serve with pumpkin cornbread.

Pumpkin Cornbread, adapted from Sweetpea's Kitchen

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8" square pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pork Cobbler

Like a good, frugal, home cook, I hate throwing out leftover food. I'm also not a fan of eating the same thing over and over again so when I do something with leftovers, I like to change up the flavor profile a bit. That batch of pork ribs with barbecue sauce created a ton of left over porky goodness, some of which Mr Minx used in a pasta sauce. The rest I turned into what I'm calling "pork cobbler."

I wanted a more chili-like flavor, so to the 2 cups or so of leftover meat and sauce I added a 15-oz can of chopped tomatoes, a small can of chopped green chiles, half a cup or so of frozen corn, a tablespoon of chili powder, and dashes of dried oregano, chipotle, and smoked paprika. I let it all simmer together for an hour or so until the meat fell into shreds, then poured it into an 8" square baking pan. On top, I dolloped a kind of cornbread biscuit.

Cornbread Cobbler Topping (adapted from Epicurious)

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or bacon grease)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces grated or chopped cheese of your choice

Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together milk, egg, and oil in a small bowl, then stir into cornmeal mixture until just combined. Fold in half of the cheese.

Spoon mounds of the batter over pork, then sprinkle remaining cheese over batter. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of corn bread comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes.

So maybe it doesn't look so pretty, but it was pretty tasty. And it used up all of of the leftover pork.

A 30 Minute (or so) Meal

Since the 50s, the solution to making dinner fast has been to use pre-packaged meal helpers. Convenience foods have gotten so convenient, all one needs to do is tear open a package of frozen pasta, heat it in a skillet, and voila! Instant dinner. Wow - that's...lazy.

It doesn't really take all that long to make a good meal from scratch. Maybe 30 minutes. And you don't even need Rachael Ray to hold your hand if you have nifty ingredients in the fridge like...leftovers.

The other night, I tossed some bone-in skin-on chicken thighs in a bit of stock and set them to simmer. While that was cooking, I crushed up the leftover corncakes that were hanging out in the fridge. I sautéed some chopped onions and mushrooms with a bit of celery and added the cornbread crumbs, then drizzled in a bit of chicken stock to make some yummy dressing. Who needs a box of Stove Top Stuffing when it's so easy to make from scratch?

After the chicken had simmered for about 25 minutes, I drained the stock, yanked off the skin, and tossed in some minced onion, chopped ripe plum, seasonings, and a bit of half and half to make a sauce. While the sauce was thickening and reducing, asparagus went into the microwave for 3 minutes.

In about half an hour I had this:

The chicken was moist and tender, with a slightly spicy and fruity sauce, and the dressing was a nice change from the usual rice/noodles/mashed potatoes starch.

You could make things even more quickly by using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cutting them into chunks or strips, and stir frying them in a bit of oil until lightly browned on the outside but still tender inside. Thin pork chops would work nicely too and only need 4 minutes or so per side.

Plum Sauce

1 large plum, diced (peach would work too - and the riper the fruit, the more quickly it will break down during cooking)
1 T minced onion
1 t sambal oelek (or sriracha, or a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, or half a seeded, fresh jalapeno, anything to add a bit of spice)
1 t honey
1 t light soy
vegetable oil
salt

half & half (optional)

Sauté the onion until lightly browned in a tiny bit of oil and a sprinkle of salt. Add plum, sambal, honey, and soy. Cook until plum breaks down and mixture seems "sauce-y." Add about a tablespoon of half & half if you want a creamy sauce, or omit it entirely.

Fast & Easy Dressing

leftover cornbread, crumbled
celery
mushrooms
onions
vegetable oil
salt and pepper
stock

I eyeball everything, depending on how much bread I have to use. Dice some onion and celery, chop some mushrooms, and sauté them in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt. When the veg are soft, toss in the crumbled bread and stir well. While stirring, dribble in stock until dressing seems moist enough for your liking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Season with whatever you like - onion or garlic powder, paprika, thyme, chile powder - depending on what sort of flavor profile you're looking for. I also tossed some chopped walnuts in for crunch - it would also be good with other nuts, and chopped dried fruit (apple, cranberry, cherry, apricot, raisin) as well. The sky's the limit, really.

Chicken + Waffles

I thought I'd continue tying Top Chef into most of my posts here at MinxEats by cooking one of the recipes from this season. Stefan has won most consistently, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with one of his. I didn't want to make anything too complicated, so I decided on his chicken pot pie recipe from the amfAR Christmas party episode.

A couple of weeks ago, Mr Minx and I discussed having waffles for dinner, and that stuck in my head. So instead of waiting for puff pastry to thaw, I whipped up some savory waffles instead.

No real way to make this look appetizing. Sorry.

The recipe on the Bravo site is pretty weird. It calls for a pound of eggs (?!) and far too much butter and flour for the white sauce.  And it called for celery.  Like chef Jamie Lauren, I'm not big on celery (I know it's essential in mirepoix and trinity, but I don't want to taste it).  So I altered the recipe to make it work for me.  Sorry, Stef. ;)

Creamed Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

2 T vegetable oil

2 cups chicken stock

1 small sprig rosemary

pinch of sage

pinch of thyme

1 bay leaf

3/4  cup of light cream

1/2 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup parsnip, diced

2 T butter

2 T flour

salt and pepper

Heat veg oil in large skillet. Saute chicken pieces until lightly browned on all sides and remove from pan.  Add veg to pan and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.  Add chicken stock and herbs and simmer until veg are soft.  Strain off liquid and reserve.

In another pan, melt butter.  Stir in flour and add the reserved chicken stock, whisking well. Simmer this mixture until it's thickened.  Add cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken and veg back to sauce and cook for an additional 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Yield: a lot. A quart and a half or so.

Cornmeal Waffles 

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 T sugar

1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 T butter, melted and cooled
1 cup milk, more or less as needed

3 scallions, both green and white parts, chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, minced

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended. Add the eggs and butter. Gradually add the milk, mixing well until a thick batter is formed.  Stir in the scallions and jalapeno.  Cook the waffles as specified by the manufacturer of your waffle iron.  Keep warm in a 300° F oven until all waffles are cooked.

Makes 10-12 depending on the size of your iron

Serve creamed chicken over waffles.

It turned out really well - the chicken was tender and I liked the addition of parsnips (which I've never cooked with before).  As I was eating, I was thinking that a creamed seafood sauce would be even better over the waffles - something decadent with lobster, perhaps.  I'm definitely going to try something like that in the future.