Pumpkin Bread

Nothing quite matches the smell of fresh baked bread. Especially sweet breads!! This bread is so moist and delicious. It  makes my favorite breads list :) One great thing about this bread is that it can be made on a whim. Keep a can or two of pumpkin on hand and your good to go!

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2  tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts and raisins (Optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease your pans.

2. Stir together pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs.

3. In another bowl stir together the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir until well mixed.

5. Pour into pans and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

6. Mini loaves 25 to 30 minutes, large loaf 45 to 55 minutes.


Blessings,

Sarah

Sesame Tempura

After talking on chat last night about food and our love of food I was inspired to pick up this blog where Amie and I left off :) Sorry for the sabbatical. Speech and debate, sickness, and some crazy busy activities took over our schedule.

This recipe is from the Rachael Ray show. The first time we tried it everyone loved it!

SESAME TEMPURA

Ingredients

• For the dipping sauce:
• 1 cup light Tamari
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 inch ginger root, thinly sliced or grated
• 1/4 tablespoon honey or agave
• 1/4 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• Peanut oil or other frying oil (some vegetable oils have Omega-3 and extra nutrients added to them)
• Your choice of: Shrimp, shitake mushroom caps, trimmed and blanched baby carrots, large spinach leaves, snap peas, green onions, thinly sliced sweet potatoes, thinly sliced radishes

For the batter:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 cups club soda
• 3 tablespoons regular or black sesame seeds

Preparation

In a bowl, combine ingredients for the dipping sauce and divide among 4 small ramekins.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat 3 inches of oil. Arrange shrimp and/or vegetables near the stove for quick dipping and frying.

Whisk the dry ingredients for the batter together then whisk in the club soda to combine. Stir in the sesame seeds. Using a slotted spoon or spider, dip shrimp and/or vegetables a few pieces at a time, into the batter then add to the hot oil and fry until golden. Remove to baking rack set over a baking sheet to drain. Allow oil to reheat before frying the next batch.

Serve tempura with dipping sauce alongside.

We especially loved the carrots, sweet potatoes, and green onions. Green onions were my personal favorite. We didn't really like the texture of the spinach.

This meal is also a great way to use up leftover produce. Whatever you have on hand dip and fry!

Till next time,

Sarah

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Fresh Berry Compote

This is a very fun recipe. It can be found under the category of dessert or brunch (we indulged and had it for breakfast). So quick and easy I love the recipe for it's simplicity. Every person in our family gave it a 4+ rating (scale of 1-5). Ryan said he would give it a 4.79 ;) When I told him that my recipe software only could handle whole numbers he said definantly a 5!

As I was looking for variations of this recipe; I stumbled across the meaning of Panna Cotta- Italian for "cooked cream".

• FRESH BERRY COMPOTE
• 1/4 C. water
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 1/2 C. fresh raspberries or other ripe berries
• 
  
• BUTTERMILK PANNA COTTA
• 1 3/4 C. buttermilk
• 2 tsp. powdered gelatin (1 envelope)
• 1 1/4 C. heavy cream
• 1/4 C. sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 
  
• Fresh mint sprigs or fresh berries, for garnish

Directions

First, make the Fresh Berry Compote: In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add 1/2 C. of the berries. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring and smashing the berries, until the mixture has a jam-like consistency. Remove the pan from the heat and gently fold in the remaining berries. Divide the compote evenly among 6 large martini glasses. Put the glasses in the refrigerator to chill.

For the Buttermilk Panna Cotta, pour the buttermilk into a medium mixing bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin powder evenly over the buttermilk and leave it to soften for 1 minute; then, stir the gelatin into the buttermilk. Set aside. In a small saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and the sugar. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, then remove immediately from the heat. Pour the hot cream mixture over the buttermilk. Stir to combine.

Stir in the lemon juice and the vanilla extract. Leave the mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Remove the martini glasses from the refrigerator. Spoon the room-temperature panna cotta mixture evenly among the glasses. Return them to the refrigerator to chill until set, at least 2 hours. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs or fresh berries before serving.

Some other serving suggestions for Panna Cotta that I found included drizzling syrup or flavored liqueur (like creme de menth and orange caracao) or serving along side fresh sliced fruit.

This can be modified in many ways - substitute milk or cream for buttermilk, omit  lemon juice, increase vanilla or other flavorings, stir in chocolate, espresso, liqueurs, eliminate berries, etc.

Enjoy!! We sure  loved it :D

~Sarah~

Wolfgang Puck is attributed with this recipe.

Fruited Roast

This is one of my favorite holiday foods. We have this usually during Hanukkah. It sounds a bit odd but it's a wonderful combination.

FRUITED ROAST

 

4-5 lb roast

1 ½ C. beef broth

2 medium onions

2 C. mixed dried fruit (I like raisins and apricots)

1 C. wine

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Season the roast with salt and pepper. Brown on all sides in a large pot.  Add the onions and cook over medium low heat until softened and lightly caramelized, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the wine, broth, and dried fruit; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2 ½ hours or until fork tender.

Remove roast from pot to cutting board and allow to set for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, skim fat from gravy.

Arrange roast on a serving platter and ladle the fruit and gravy on top.

 

*White dry wine was the recipes original recommendation. I've made it with everything including cooking wine and it's still fabulous no matter which type.

whole Baked Pumpkin

This is a fun and somewhat unique recipe to add to your fall menu. This makes a great side dish or dessert. Absolutely wonderful scooped out while warm with vanilla ice cream!

A whole baked pumpkin makes for a fun way to present and serve this dish.

 

1 medium pumpkin

6 Granny Smith apples- peeled, cored and chopped

1 C. chopped walnuts

1 (16 oz) can cranberry sauce

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained (I have yet to add this so tell me if you try it how it tastes)

¾ C. packed brown sugar

½ C. golden raisins

½ C. dark rum (optional) (I added a little rum flavoring instead- a tsp. to a Tbsp.)

2 tsp minced fresh ginger root

1 Tbsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position rack in the center of the oven.

Cut out top of pumpkin, and set aside. Scoop out seeds.

In a large bowl, stir together the apples, walnuts, cranberry sauce, pineapple, brown sugar, raisins, and rum. Season with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the cleaned pumpkin and replace top.

Set pumpkin directly on a baking stone or baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or  until the pumpkin begins to soften. Remove from heat and stir, scraping the sides gently, so that the pumpkin falls into the apple mixture.

Comfort Food Chicken Pot Pie (Homemade :D) and Cream Biscuits

This is one of my favorite comfort foods to make. I love it when fall and winter come back around and I can start making all the meals that warm the kitchen as well as those who share in dinner.

One of the reasons that this is my favorite to make is that it is a quick dinner. This recipe can be doubled or tripled to easily feed a crowd.

Chicken Pot Pie

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 C. chopped onion
7 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary (I like it with more)
S & P to taste
3 C. chicken broth
3 C. cubed cooked chicken (or turkey, Thanksgiving leftovers anyone?)
1 10-oz package frozen mixed vegetables
1 batch SECB (below), also can use refrigerated biscuits

In a large saucepan melt butter. Add onion and cook till tender. Stir in flour, salt, rosemary, and pepper. Add broth; stir to mix well. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and veggies; heat till bubbly. Meanwhile make biscuits and bake them.
When chicken mixture is hot and bubbly pour into individual serving dishes or one large casserole serving dish. top with biscuits and serve.

Sarah's Easy Cream Biscuits

1 3/4 C. flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. Stir in just enough whipping cream so that the dough leaves the side of the bowl (note: this may be less or more than the recipe calls for). Fold dough over a couple of times in the bowl till well mixed. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

These biscuits are amazing and amazingly simple. The above recipe is how I make them for Chicken Pot Pie below are some other variations or uses.

For cut biscuits after adding the cream turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 times and then roll and cut.

Another fun thing to try is to add a 1/2 cup to a full cup of cheese and a sprinkle of seasoning.

The chicken pot pie is a variation from one I found in the BHG cookbook. Every time I make it I make it differently. This is a great way to use up extra tidbits of meat and vegetables in the fridge. It is also good when you don't have chopped chicken or turkey. I just add extra veggies. Also instead of rosemary you can use poultry seasoning or any other seasoning you love in chicken dishes.

Rhubarb Pie

This is an amazing dessert with or without a pie crust. I like to make it without crust and serve it with Ice cream. It becomes more of a souffle this way :). Another reason I love this dessert (besides the fact that I love rhubarb) is that the hands on time is so short.

Rhubarb Pie

3 eggs                                    1/4 C. flour
1 1/4 C. Sugar                         2 1/2 C. Chopped rhubarb
1/4 C. butter (softened)             1/4 tsp. salt
1 10-inch pie shell (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Separate yolks from egg whites. Beat whites and slowly add 1/4 cup sugar until stiff; set aside. In a blender or food processor mix egg yolks, butter, salt, remaining sugar, and flour. Add rhubarb and pulse until it is mixed well (should still have lots of chunks). Fold together the rhubarb mix and the egg whites (gently). Pour into a buttered dish or pie shell. bake for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 325 and bake for 30 minutes more.

Enjoy :D one of my favorites!!

~Sarah~