big day. little clogs.
montana: guns & beer
pumpkin cookies
Tonight, tomorrow, this weekend. Sometime soon you need to make these. Of course I'm biased, but then again, I'll tell you if a recipe isn't the best, needs more spice, etc. Well, this recipe has been a good base. I didn't use raisins or nuts like it originally said I could, and I added more spice and modified that for you in the recipe below. The icing is great (can you go wrong with butter and sugar?) and these are the type of cake-like pumpkin cookies you and your friends have been wanting all season. (All 3 weeks of the season...)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup cooked, pureed pumpkin
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached allpurpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Icing:
- 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir into butter mixture until well blended. Drop by teaspoonful onto parchment covered baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake about 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool.
Icing: Cream confectioners' sugar and butter. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
I think the best compliment I received on these was by two people who said, "these taste like the pumpkin scones at Starbucks!" Now, I'm not one for their baked goods usually, but the pumpkin scone is pretty wonderful. Thanks friends.
sweet and sour chicken with couscous
Ingredients & Recipe thanks to Martha
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 skinless chicken breast halves
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 8 jarred peperoncini, drained
- 1/2 cup couscous or orzo
Directions
- Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook until soft and translucent, 10 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until soft, 2 minutes. Add chicken, orange juice, vinegar, currants if you have them (I couldn't find them!), sugar, and peperoncini. Bring to a simmer; cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add couscous, and cook until al dente. Drain. Serve chicken with sauce over couscous.
cincinnati turkey chili
When my mom was in town we went through a lot of magazines and decided to make this Cincinnati Chili and also the corn muffins that were paired with it in the magazine. The chili was a hit. I like chili's where you add a little chocolate in at the end. If you haven't tried this out, you should. It gives it a bit of a mole sweeter sense, without it being too sweet of course. I just used some chocolate chips and it works out quite well. I've frozen some of this which I also like when it comes to chili. If you're not making it for a crowd, chances are you don't want to eat heavier chili for the next 5 days. Freeze a couple cups and there ya go- meals when you want them.
So- the thing with Cincinnati Chili is you eat it over pasta. Well, it was fine but I don't think you need it. I like my chili just how it is, with cheese in there. That said, it's worth trying this out and knowing it's a variation you can make!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked spaghetti
- 8 ounces lean ground turkey
- 1 1/2 cups prechopped onion, divided
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 1/2 tablespoons chopped semisweet chocolate
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Preparation
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey; cook 3 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add 1 cup onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in chili powder and next 5 ingredients (through allspice); cook 1 minute. Add broth, beans, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate and salt. Serve chili over spaghetti; top with remaining 1/2 cup onion and cheese.
i'm cooking.
honey chili butternut squash bisque
I discovered this recipe while flipping through the cookbook "Small Parties" so appropriately given to me by my last roommate Hilary. Our place was tiny and well, all we could have was "small" parties. I made this soup and Danielle said it was her favorite creation from the garden. Since there have been many, I think that's proof enough you should try this.
2 butternut squash
4 tb. butter
1 large leek
2-3 carrots
6 cups chicken broth (or water)
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup honey
kosher salt
recipe
Cut the butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. In a dutch oven melt the butter, saute the leek and carrots for 3 minutes. Add the squash, broth, ginger, chili powder, honey, and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes until squash is tender. Use your handy dandy immersion blender and get it nice and mixed up. Delicious.
buttermilk pancakes
the weather, and the economy sure have people staying in more these days. it seems as though all the 'rage' on foodie sites and magazines is telling home cooks what they can make at home- and how much less expensive that is than eating out. well, consider me a member of that train and consider this a recipe for buttermilk pancakes you should make this weekend, instead of going out and dropping $15 on breakfast.
Pancakes
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons golden brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
curried vegetable soup
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower- cut up into florets
- 1 14-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 14-oz. can vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp. curry powder
- 2 cups frozen baby peas-vegetable blend
- 2 leeks
- 2 carrots
- 1 pasilla pepper
- 2 celery stalks
Directions
1. Heat broiler. In Dutch oven heat some olive oil then cook the leek, carrot, celery until translucent. about 10 min at lower heat. combine cauliflower, coconut milk, broth, and curry powder. Bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.
2. Once the soup had been cooking a bit, I took my immersion blender and got the cauliflower a bit blended. I didn't want the whole soup to blend, but I did want some texture to come from the florets. Once it was at the consistency I liked, I added frozen peas and got it all hot again. Make sure you season the soup and taste it as you're cooking to make sure it's just right.
an ode
arugula pesto
thanks, cooking light.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon walnuts (or pine nuts)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 cups loosely packed arugula
- 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
1. Cook pasta- as much as you want- according to directions. Drain the pasta but keep a little bit of the water. Pasta water is excellent to put back into the pasta, just a little bit, if you need to make it more saucy. If you don't use all the pesto- freeze it in ice cube trays for perfect personalized pasta sauce whenever you want it!
2. Place 1 tablespoon nuts and garlic in a food processor; process until minced. Add arugula and the next 5 ingredients (through black pepper), and process until well combined.
3. Add arugula mixture and reserved cooking liquid to serving bowl; toss well to coat. Serve with cheese.
corn soup with fresh tomatoes
Recipe- thanks Martha.
Ingredients
Makes 8 cups; Serves 12
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, diced (2 1/2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 10 cups fresh corn kernels (from 8 large or 10 to 12 medium ears corn)
- 4 to 5 cups water
- 3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice (3 cups)
- 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Melt butter in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onions, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in corn and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.
- Use your immersion blender to blend this to your liking. Thin with up to 1 cup water if desired. Reheat soup before serving. Toss together tomatoes, basil, and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish soup with tomato mixture, and drizzle with oil.
mystery melon
Sorry this post has something to do with summer, but think of the melon as orange and maybe your mind will come back to all things fall. Regardless, this summer I planted, "melon" and when anyone asked me what kind, and even as it was growing, I had no idea what it was. Mystery melon. Well, the other day I had at it and it was good. Really good. I'm going to go with cantaloup. I really don't like cantalope. It's one of the only fruits I don't really like and pick around in a fruit salad. But, melon from my garden ripened in the Santa Barbara sun? Oh, it was good. Very good.
kale chips
I digress. Jacques Pepin says this snack is "completely addictive" so maybe that'll get you excited. Take a head of kale and remove it from the rib. Tear it into pieces, sprinkle with 1 T olive oil and a little salt. Spread on wire wrack on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 20-25 minutes- removing when crisp but still green. I had this to accompany soup. Danielle and I couldn't figure out how we felt about it, but then again we did consume it all so let that be your judge. Lick your lips, and enjoy.
chocolate peanut butter cupcakes
hello comfort food season. It's a good time to make something people are going to want to get cozy with, along with their blanket and remote control to flip the channels this fall. My friend Jess made these at a dinner a couple weeks ago and I loved them so much I had to try them out for myself. I used crunchy peanut butter for the frosting and ended up making them for a friend to welcome her new roommate with. I'd say they were a winner. The cake is really wonderful and moist, and the frosting- well you really can't go wrong here. Make these and enjoy!
Ingredients- thanks to Ina Garten nocoupons
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup good cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Directions
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (or half and half)