Adventures in Pumpkin

So today JB is home and wants Pumpkin Pie for dinner. I just bought a big can of pumpkin thinking that I would just make two whenever I made one. But since we're making one early, I had to figure out what to do with the rest. We're off to see family tomorrow so I decided to make the Libby's Pumpkin Roll from the inside of the label. Then I'm left with about 3/4 cup pumpkin, but I remembered seeing a recipe in a magazine for Pumpkin Muffins recently. So sure enough in Simple & Delicious there is a recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins that uses 3/4 cup pumpkin. It just doesn't get much better than that. So lots of baking today and JB has lots of dishes to do. That's what he gets for sending me out into the kitchen.

LIBBY'S® Famous Pumpkin Pie
Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 2 hrs cooling | Yields - 8 servings

This is the traditional holiday pumpkin pie. This classic recipe has been on LIBBY'S® Pumpkin labels since 1950. This pie is easy to prepare and even easier to enjoy. Just mix, pour, bake for a delicious homemade tradition.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
• Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

NOTES:
1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves; however, the taste will be slightly different. Do not freeze, as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.

LIBBY'S® Pumpkin Roll
Estimated Times:
Preparation - 45 min | Cooking - 13 min | Cooling Time - 1 hrs refrigerating | Yields - 10

Dazzle family and friends with Libby's® Pumpkin Roll; moist and creamy, with a tantalizing aroma and beautiful presentation.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions:
FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
“Here’s a recipe that your readers will love!” writes Jennifer Jackson of Charlottesville, Virginia. “It’s simple, yet filling and delicious.”
INGREDIENTS 2 cups all-purpose flour 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda Dash ground allspice 1 egg 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup canned pumpkin 2/3 cup milk 3 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips	SERVINGS 12 CATEGORY Breads METHOD Baked PREP 15 min. COOK 20 min. TOTAL 35 min.
DIRECTIONS In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Combine the egg, brown sugar, pumpkin, milk, butter and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Cheerio Cookies

Sorry, I'm a bad, bad blogger. Haven't been doing much cooking with recipes. It's been hectic and we've just been pulling things out of the freezer that we made before. Cook up some veggies and call it a meal. I could pretend I'll do better, but it's not likely. But for now here is a recipe for Cheerio Cookies from Cookie Madness. Some of the comments said they were crisp cookies. We tend to like a softer cookie, so I substituted 4 tbsp. shortening for half of the butter. I used a #40 disher to make just over 2 dozen cookies. The cookies turned off chewy with a bit of crunch from the Cheerios. I recommend them highly. So here it is with my modification.

Cheerio Cookies

4 tablespoons butter, room temp.
4 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups Cheerios
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (a little more if you like chocolate)

Cream the butter, shortening, and both sugars with an electric mixer. Stir in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; stir until incorporated. Add the oatmeal, cheerios and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Sorry, long time no post. Haven't been making much from recipes. Doing simple grilled fare and some meatloaves. Couldn't tell you exactly what I put in them. But they're good. The main thing is that I use bbq sauce instead of ketchup.

So to get to the burritos. We had a leftover grilled steak and some leftover rice from chinese takeout the other night. So I took the rice, added it to a pan with a can of refried beans. Added about 1/2 cup mild salsa, some chipolte powder (just a sprinkling), salt, pepper, and about 1/2 tsp. cumin. Then I diced the steak and added it to the pan and let it heat up fully. Then I put the mixture into tortilla wrappers with some shredded cheese. Add some more cheese on top and pop them in the oven at about 375 until the cheese melts. The cumin brought out the right Mexican flavor I was going for.

Taco Salad

Here's an easy one. I don't even need the recipe any more, but I'll post it so others can enjoy. We got this recipe from one of my aunts many moons ago. And we love it because it's salad with Doritoes. Who wouldn't like that. Okay, my boys don't like salad, but some day they'll change their tune. They're just too young to appreciate it.

Taco Salad

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2 heads lettuce, cored and torn or chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped (I like to seed them too)
1 lb colby cheese, cubed (the texture is nicer, but you can use a shredded cheese if you prefer)
1 bag Doritoes, crushed a bit (flavor of your choice, I use nacho cheese, but Ranch is good too)
1 bottle Catalina dressing

Brown ground beef with onion. Prepare with taco seasoning as directed. (I usually do this step a day ahead and leave the meat cold, but you could use it hot.) Just before serving toss together the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, taco meat, and Doritoes. Add as much dressing as you like and toss. (I like to make half of the taco salad at a time and put more together as needed. Soggy Doritoes are just not good.) Enjoy.

French Toast

I've gone and done it. I made Alton's French Toast for the first time in a good while. Found a loaf of Italian Bread for $.80 at the store and thought it would work. I have had trouble finding the challah or brioche in this area, but I usually get a loaf of French bread and use the whole thing with a double batch of the custard. I used a double batch of custard this morning with the Italian bread and had enough for all but one slice of bread. This is a fussy recipe so I don't make it much, but oh my is it good. We could really taste the honey in this batch. And the texture is unmatched. We like to serve this with maple syrup, but I think you could get by with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

French Toast
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter

In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

Smoked Pork Chops

Another winner from Cook's Country. This may be my favorite cooking magazine, followed closely by Cook's Illustrated. We've made these pork chops twice now and really like the smoke flavor. The only issue is that the rub becomes a dry crust that is not great. So this time we spritzed some water on the chops during the last few minutes when they go over direct heat. But we're thinking apple cider or apple juice would be better. We had thick cut chops the first time, but they were boneless. They cooked up nicely though. This batch was a more standard cut chop, boneless also. And since I didn't have ground fennel I left it out. Really didn't miss it at all. They were done in about 30 minutes. They were nice and juicy and had a great smoke flavor.

Smoked Double-Thick Pork Chops on a Gas Grill
6/2007

Ground fennel can be found in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. We prefer blade chops, which have more fat to prevent drying out on the grill, but leaner loin chops will also work. These chops are huge and are best sliced off the bone before serving.

Serves 6 to 8

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground fennel seed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 bone-in blade-cut pork chops (20- to 24- ounces each), about 2 inches thick
2 cups wood chips, preferably hickory

1. Combine sugar, fennel, cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and pepper and rub mixture all over pork chops. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

2. Soak wood chips in bowl of water to cover for 15 minutes, seal in foil packet (cutting vent holes in top), and place over primary burner. Turn all burners to high and close lid, keeping grill covered until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Scrape cooking grate clean. Turn primary burner to medium and turn all other burners off, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain average temperature of 275 degrees. Position chops over cooler part of grill, cover grill.

3. Arrange chops, bone side toward fire, on cooler side of grill. Cover, positioning lid vents directly over meat, and cook until chops register 145 degrees, 50 to 60 minutes (if your chops are less than 2 inches thick, start checking them for temperature after 30 minutes). Slide chops directly over fire and cook, uncovered, until well browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and let rest 20 minutes. Serve.

Creme Brulee

So on Sunday we finally used the ramekins we got oh probably a year ago. We got them to try Alton Brown's Creme Brulee. The creme was wonderful, but we had problem with the brulee. The instructions said to get the dishes out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before caramelizing the sugar. Then we were to use 1/2 cup sugar over 6 ramekins, so 4 tsp. for each. The creme became thin because it was too warm and the caramel layer was too thick. We only used 4 on the first try, so on the remaining 2 we put on the sugar and poured off whatever didn't stick. And we caramelized it straight out of the fridge. Then the creme was cold and thick and the layer of sugar was thin and crisp. The only problem was that the creme layer seemed too thick for the amount of sugar. So next time we'll probably divide the creme into 8 cups so the creme to sugar ratio will be better. Either that or we need oval shaped ramekins.

Creme Brulee
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.