Pumpkin Pancakes

This is such a cheater recipe!

Make your favorite pancake batter. 

mix in:
 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla

yep, it's that easy!

I have no pretty plate photos because they were gone that fast!

Chocolate Raspberry Souffle

1 pint raspberries, pureed and strained

8 eggs, separated
4 ounces sugar
3 ounces all-purpose flour
8 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces Chambord liqueur - (I would omit this)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sugar for dusting remekins

Heat the raspberry puree to lukewarm in a heavy saucepan.  Whisk the egg youlks with 3 ounces of sugar in a large mixing bowl; whisk in the flour and raspberry puree, and return the mixture to the saucepan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick.  Do not allow it to boil.  Remove from heat, and stir in the chocolate until it is completely melted.  Mix in the liqueur.  Cover the base mixture with plastic to prevent a skin from forming.

Meanwhile, butter six ramekins and dust with sugar.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with the remaining ounce of sugar.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate.

Spoon the mixture into the ramekins, just 1/4 inch shy of the rim.  Bake immediately.  The souffles are done when they are well risen, golden brown on top, with edges that appear dry - about 20 minutes.

But do not be surprised if, whenyou remove them from the oven, they sink under the weight of their own promise.

* from Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

SPARKLING CANDY CORN COOKIES

These bite-sized treats resemble candy corn and have a hint of orange flavor.
Preparation time: 45 min (I didn't keep track but I don't think it was this long)
Baking time: 7 min
Yield: 15 dozen miniature cookies


1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color
Yellow paste or gel food color
(I used liquid food color and added about 1T flour while mixing in the coloring)

1/2 cup sugar


Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Invert loaf pan to remove dough.  Peel off waxed paper/plastic wrap.  Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary (I didn't trim the edges...those were my samples!). 

Cut each slice into 6 wedges.

(oops I did 7 in this photo, but you get the idea)

Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned (only took 5 min for my oven, so CHECK). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl with sugar; roll in sugar to coat.  Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

I liked the look of the sparkling sugar, but it made the cookie a little too sweet for my taste.

Store in loosely covered container.


CHOCOLATE VARIATION:

Chocolate Candy Corn: Prepare dough as directed except stir 1 (1-ounce) square melted semi-sweet baking chocolate into one-third of white dough (I substituted 1oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips).  Tint one-third of dough orange and one-third yellow.  Place chocolate dough into prepared pan; layer with orange and yellow dough. Cut and bake as directed.

* recipe from here

Creme Patisserie

2 cups whole milk

6 egg yolks at room temperature

5 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cornstartch

Bring the milk just to a boil in a nonreactive saucepan. In a stainless steel bowl, wisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Temper* the yolk mixture with milk. Put the milk and yolk mixture back on the heat, wisking constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken, whisk faster until it boils, them remove from heat. Add vanilla and pour into a stainless steel bowl. If you like at this point you could add some lemon or orange zest for a little flavor other than vanilla.  Sprinkle with a bit of sugar, and place plastic wrap directly on top of the creme. Put in fridge and chill before serving.

This can be used as a filling for fruit tarts, napoleons, cream puffs, eclairs, et cetera.

* from Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

*temper - slowly add hot liquid in small amounts

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

After our annual outing to Oak Glen, we came home with a HUGE box of apples.  50 pounds worth.  After the initial excitement I started feeling faint.  What to do?  Could we really eat all those apples?  Were they going to be any good?

To quickly use up a large quantity I decided to try canning (first time ever!) and canned 12 quarts of apple pie filling.  I found the original recipe here.  But thought (before tasting) it needed a little extra "kick".  You can find my tweaks in red!


Canned Apple Pie Filling
Sauce for 7 qts.

Fill a large pot with 10 cups cold water.

In a large mixing bowl combine the following:

4 1/2 c. sugar (could be reduced to 3 1/2 cups if you don't like super sweet pie)
1 c. cornstarch
3 tsp. cinnamon (after tasting could be increased to 4tsp)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Slowly add to pot of cold water, whisking to prevent clumping.  Mix well.  Heat and bring to a boil whisking frequently.  This will look cloudy until cooked, then it will look clear and glossy.  Cook until slightly thickened.

Add:

3 Tbs. lemon juice and mix thoroughly.


You will need a little over 1lb of apples per quart jar for the filling.

Sterilize all canning jars and lids.

Peel, core and slice apples.  Place into a large bowl with cold water and about a tablespoon of lemon juice until all apples are peeled.  Fill jars with apples wiggling the jar so they fill with apples (if there aren't enough apples, after processing you will be left with several inches of juice in the bottom of the jar with the apples "floating" on top instead of a nice full jar of filling).  After the jars are filled pour the sauce over the top leaving about one inch of space on top.

Wipe down all jar rims then process in a hot water bath for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool.  Give as gifts, or enjoy yourself!

Taco Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (10.75 oz.) can tomato puree

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 cup beef broth

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can mild green chiles

1 package taco seasoning mix

salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a medium stock pot brown beef and onion, drain grease if needed.  Season.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, beef broth, beans, corn and taco seasoning. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add chiles cook until heated thru.

Top with cheese, corn chips, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, olives and lime juice.

French Onion Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 onions quartered, then thinly sliced

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 (14.5oz) cans beef broth

2 cups water

6 slices French bread, toasted

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a medium sauce pan saute onions in butter until soft, approximately 20 minutes. Stir in flour and gradually add broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast French bread slices.

Pour soup mixture into oven proof bowls.  Top with toasted bread and sprinkle with Parmesan and Swiss cheese.

 
Bake for 10 minutes.
 
Makes 6 small servings 

This was super quick and easy.  Definitely not a "restaurant" soup but a tasty dinner just the same.