Pumpkin Bread

You can make many mini-loaves from this recipe and give them as gift at the holidays.  If you have a big enough bowl, doubling or tripling the recipe isn’t hard either – so that all you have to do is tend the oven and home made gifts galore. 

 

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 16 oz can of solid pact pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter and flour pans (9×5x3 or mini-loaf pans).  Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend.  Mix in eggs and pumpkin.  Shift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl.  Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. 

Divide batter between pans (2/3 full).  Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean (about 1 hour 10 minutes for full loaves and 50 minutes for mini-loaves).  Transfer to racks and cool. 

Citrus Pesto

3 cups of basil

½ cup of pine nuts, toasted

2 cloves of garlic

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 orange zested and juiced

½ teaspoons of salt

½ teaspoons black pepper

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan

 

Blend the basil, pine nuts, garlic, zests juices, salt and pepper in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped.  With the machine running gradually add the olive oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan. 

To be honest, I actually use a blender instead of a food processor.  My blender is smaller and easier to get down. 

This pasta can be used to marinade chicken, toss over pasta, or to make a fantastic grilled mozzarella cheese sandwich. 

Beef Stew

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 lbs stew beef cut into 1 inch pieces

8 garlic cloves, minced

8 cups of beef stock

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 bay leaves

 

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick ) butter

3 lbs russet or Yukon gold potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces

1 large onion

2 cups ½ inch pieces peeled carrots

 

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium high heat.  Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.  You may need to do several batches to do all the beef and not crowd the pan.  Add beef stock, tomato paste, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves.  Stir to combine.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, then cover and simmer 1 hour. 

 

Meanwhile, melt butter in another large pot over medium high heat.  Add potatoes, onion and carrots.  Sauté Vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes.  Again – you may need to do this in batches.  Add the vegetables to beef stew.  Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender about 40 minutes.  Spoon off fat (or refrigerate over night and remove the fat – beef stew really is better the next day). 

Serve with a salad and a nice crusty bread, and you have a great fall meal. 

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

2 lbs chicken breasts (if not using bone in, toss in an extra chicken leg or cheap cut)

2 quarts water

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 cups chopped onion

1 3/4 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onion

4-7 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 table dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

16 oz chicken broth

8 oz tomato paste

1/2 lb of smoked beef sausage (sliced)

 

Combine chicken and water in a large pan, bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered 45 minutes or until the chicken is done.  Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool.  Strain the broth  and set aside.  Bone and chop the chicken (if you used the chicken leg – just set it aside for a snack later). 

Place flour in a pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour (or until very brown).  Set aside

Cook, onion, celery, green pepper, green onion and garlic in oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat, until tender.  Add browned flour, and spices, stir until smooth.  Then add chicken broth, tomato paste reserved broth, chicken and sausage.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. 

 

As with any dish, taste often.  I actually make mine with a lot more spices than I have listed here.  Because this dish is served over rice, I taste it, and then once it is the right heat, I add an other round of spices.  The rice will reduce the heat when added. 

Corn and Tomato Salsa Salad

Another useful recipe for the boon of summer corn! And this is really versatile.

 Love the avacado to lend creaminess. And I like to use grilled corn cut from the cob and if you like heat, a little diced jalepeno or other pepper is good to.

You can also add grilled/sautes/poached shrimp to make a good main. 

Also will serve with microgreens or “baby” greens to up the healthy quotient!

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil, to taste
• 2 ears of corn, shucked, silks removed
• Sea salt and pepper
• 1 basket cherry tomatoes stems removed, quartered
• 1 scallion, ends trimmed, green and white parts finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion peeled, finely chopped
• 1 medium-sized avocado, pitted, peeled, roughly chopped

(Optional addition of fresh homemade crutons

 

 

Method

 

• Start up grill, if using charcoal, or wait until corn is ready if using a gas grill. Or preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small saucepan over a very low flame, reduce balsamic vinegar to 1 tablespoon, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
• Drizzle olive oil on corn and season with sea salt and pepper. Place on grill and cook until lightly browned. (Or roast in oven for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.) Remove, let cool and cut off kernels.
• Mix corn, tomatoes, scallion, parsley, red onion, and avocado. Season with reduced balsamic, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Toss well.

Creamy Basil Mushrooms

 

¼ cup margarine

2 tablespoons green pepper, chopped

½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt

1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons red pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons white wine

¼ teaspoon fresh basil, chopped

  

Sauté mushrooms and pepper in butter.  Remove mushrooms and pepper.  Add cream, wine, salt and basil.  Simmer until thickened; add mushrooms and pepper once more.

 

 This is one that I make, but I’m not a big fan of the mushroom, so I don’t eat it.  But other people seem to like it.   Can be great to put over top a steak (pretend its a fancy resteraunt steak), or can be a lovely little side dish.

soft peanut butter cookies (and ice cream sandwiches)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dark corn syrup

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups creamy peanut better

2 cups all purpose flour

 

Preheat oven to 325

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugars, corn syrup, baking soda, salt and vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the peanut butter, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Stir in the flour. 

Drop the dough by the tablespoon onto greased (or lined with parchment) baking sheets.  Bake the cookies for 15 minutes (until light golden brown around the edges).  Should be a soft cookie. 

 

After these cookies were cooled, I took chocolate ice cream, and made ice cream sandwiches.  Simply let the ice cream sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften.  Then place several small scoops of ice cream on one cookie, with a knife or a small spoon, smooth the ice cream (gently – don’t break the cookie), and place a second cookie on top.  Wrap each ice cream sandwich in plastic wrap and pop back in the freezer. 

Snappy Spinach Casserole

This is a popular choice from the my office’s cookbook.  It is one of the most popular fake vegetables that I occasionally make. 

3 10 oz. packages of frozen spinach; drained

½ onion; chopped

2 Tablespoons margarine or butter

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup Milk

9 oz. Pepper Jack cheese

½ cup Cracker crumbs

3 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

 

·        Heat oven to 350 degrees

·        Cook spinach 3 min. and squeeze dry.  Set aside.

·        Sauté onion in margarine, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thickened

·        Add hot pepper cheese and stir until melted

·        Combine crumbs and Parmesan cheese; top casserole

·        Bake 20  minutes

 

YIELD

10 Servings

Corn, Sweet Onion, Basil and Blue Cheese Salad

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 8 ears corn grilled then kernels removed
• 1 sweet onion (Vidalia, if possible)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
• 4 oz blue cheese crumbled

Combine the vinegar, basil, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt,  and freshly ground black pepper in a blender, and blend until smooth.

Combine the corn, tomatoes and onion in a bowl.  Cover with the dressing.  Toss with the blue cheese.  serve cold or at room temperature.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chippers

• 1 1/4 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 1/2 cups uncooked regular oats (I used quick cook)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups butterscotch morsels
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Beat shortening and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugars, and beat well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Combine oats and baking powder, add to shortening mixture, beating well.  Stir in butter scotch morsels, and chocolate morsels.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto silicon baking sheets (or ungreased ones)

bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes (with silicon sheets it was more like 12). 

Yield 6 dozen.