Drink: Pumpkin Cider Sangria

The fall-themed recipes continue this week with Pumpkin Cider Sangria! This is a fun twist on traditional sangria, which generally consists of wine, chopped fruit, sweetener, and brandy. I was inspired by this recipe for Apple Cider Sangria on How Sweet It Is, but wanted to tweak it a little bit. The combination of fall flavors and cool refreshment is a bit odd, but I think all of the elements come together quite nicely.

I should note that it is very, very rare that I am enticed enough by a drink recipe that I actually go about buying all of the ingredients to make it. Why? I don't know. I happily buy ingredients for food recipes. Whatever the reason, it apparently did not apply to this drink! I gathered the fixins within a few days and it was thoroughly enjoyed within a few days!

Pumpkin Cider Sangria
Serves 6-8

1 bottle of dry white wine
2-3 cups pumpkin cider (not hard cider)
1 cup club soda
1/2 cup brandy (traditional sangria calls for brandy but gin or rum can be substituted)
2 small apples, chopped
2 pears, chopped

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher. Refrigerate for at least an hour before drinking, unless all of your ingredients were already cold. Give the pitcher a good stir before serving.

This will last in the fridge for 2-3 days before the fruit gets soggy.

Eat: Pumpkin Spice Beignets

Oddly enough, one of my favorite things about travel is relishing the comfort that comes when I get home. I love our house and have enjoyed getting back into the swing of things. I'm not suggesting that I like heading back to work or tackling our mountain of laundry, but I gladly welcome the peace I feel standing in my kitchen, listening to NPR while chopping some fresh produce. I'd like to note that produce was given to us by my wonderfully thoughtful mother-in-law who stocked the fridge upon our return!

At the top of my list-of-reasons-I'm-happy-to-be-home ? Breakfast, of course! This weekend was a busy one, but not so busy that we couldn't enjoy a big breakfast together. Matt handled the coffee and scrambled eggs – both excellent and far better than when I make either. Meanwhile, I tried a new (modified by me) recipe for Pumpkin Spice Beignets. This was originally a recipe for baked donuts in the traditional shape, which would have been great except I don't have a donut pan. Matthew very smartly suggested we call them beignets, the French version of donuts. This perfectly tied together our recent visit to Montreal (where we actually ate some beignets) and National Donut Day.

The final verdict? Delicious, especially when served warm while the butter glaze is fresh. They are surprisingly dense but also very moist. As expected, pumpkin is most prominent flavor but the vanilla is quite strong too. I would not skip the cinnamon-sugar coating  – not because these aren't tasty when plain, rather it makes them more like true beignets.

Pumpkin Spice Beignets
Yields 12

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

For the Glaze
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven 350° F. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and all of the spices.

In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients (excluding the butter/sugar/cinnamon for glazing). Gradually add the dry ingredients into the blend. Stir until everything is combined, taking care not to over mix.

Fill each greased cup with the batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until they spring back when gently pressed. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove and place on wire rack. 

While the beignets are cooling, set up your "glazing station". Get two small bowls: one for the melted butter and another for the blended sugar and cinnamon. While the beignets are warm, dip in the melted butter then roll in the sugar/cinnamon blend. If possible, serve warm.

Voilà!

Eat: Muffins Galore!

 

Courtesy of Britannica ImageQuest

A few weeks ago, I shared a basic scone recipe that can be modified a number of ways depending on your mood and on-hand ingredients. Well, I've come to love that concept so much that I sought out something similar for muffins and quick breads. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination–or your online searching skills. This recipe is much quicker than my scones, since you don't have to cut-in butter (I task I strongly dislike and often leaves me with sore wrists). When I'm feeling particularly lazy, I opt for the loaf version of this recipe instead of muffins. The differing instructions and baking times are included below.


Base Muffin Recipe (Betty Crocker Cookbook, 2005 edition)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 18 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins or 1 (9”) loaf 

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
Extras (see below for ideas) 

1. Preheat oven to 375° F if making muffins OR 350° F if making a loaf. Grease your pan. 

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine the egg, milk and oil. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened and lumpy. Incorporate any extras (see list below). 

3. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups or loaf pan, (muffin cups should be two-thirds full). 

4. For muffins, bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.

For a loaf, bake 50 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. 

6. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to wire racks to cool a bit more.


Easy Muffin/Bread Variations

Apple Cinnamon: Stir in one chopped apple (with or without the skin depending on your preference) and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Substitute packed brown sugar for the granulated sugar.

Bacon: Add 2-4 strips of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled, to the batter.

Banana-Nut: Decrease the milk to 1/3 cup, stir in 2-3 mashed bananas (around 1 cup) and 1/3 cup chopped nuts with the milk. Substitute packed brown sugar for the sugar.

Blueberry: Gently stir 1 cup fresh or frozen berries and, if desired, 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon zest into the batter.

Raisin Bran: Pour the milk on 1-1/2 cups whole bran cereal and let stand for 10 minutes. Add this to the egg and oil. Decrease the flour to 1-1/4 cups and add 1/2 cup raisins. Optional: add 1/4 cup of molasses.

Cheesy: Stir 1/2 cup shredded cheese. into the flour mixture. Great options include Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Feta.

Double Chocolate: Stir in 2-3 T cocoa powder and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. You can also add a splash of vanilla or almond extract.

Cornbread: (Do not use whole wheat flour.) Decrease flour to 1 cup and stir in 1 cup cornmeal with the flour.

Cranberry: Combine 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries (fresh or dried) and 2 tablespoons additional sugar. Gently stir this into the batter. You can also add 1 T finely grated orange peel.

Date Nut: Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates (or raisins) and 1/3 cup chopped nuts.

"Donuts": Stir in 1/2 cup ground nutmeg with the flour. Once baked, immediately dip the hot muffins in about 1/2 cup butter, melted, then in a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Oatmeal: Decrease flour to 1 cup and stir in 1 cup quick-cooking oats, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with the flour.

Pecan: Use 1/4 cup sugar. Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter. After filling the cups, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and more chopped nuts. 

Poppy Seed: Increase sugar to 1/2 cup and add 1 tablespoon poppy seeds to the flour mixture.

Pumpkin: (Don’t use whole wheat flour.) Stir in 1/2 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 cup raisins with the milk and 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice with the flour. Sprinkle the tops with sugar before baking if desired.

Spiced: Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and a pinch of ground cloves and ground nutmeg with the flour.

Zucchini: Stir in 1 cup grated zucchini (squeezed dry to remove excess moisture) and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts with the milk.

Many of these ideas can be combined, like Spiced Pecan, Blueberry Poppyseed, or Chocolate Oatmeal. So far, I've only tried the Double Chocolate (with a handful of oats thrown in), but I'm planning to make a batch of Spiced Pecan this week!

Eat: Scones, Scones, Scones!

Our family recipe binder is bursting at the seams, so lately I've been focusing on simple "base" recipes that I can easily build on or diversify. This scone recipe is a great example. I would not recommend making this recipe as-is, that is to say without "dolling it up" a bit (unless you enjoy plain baked goods). No, these scones are meant for a dash of this and handful of that — whatever you fancy or have in your kitchen!

See below for a variety of "dolling up" ideas; just incorporate the additional ingredients as you prepare the base recipe.

Simple Scones yields 8-10 scones
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

2 cups self-rising flour
     OR 2 cups all-purpose flour with 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons butter
2/3 cup milk

Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Gradually add the milk and mix into a soft dough. Place on a floured (or greased) baking sheet and roll into a flat circular shape. Cut the dough into wedges (like you are slicing a pizza) but do not try to separate the scones. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400°F.


Variations

Bacon Cheddar: 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 cup grated cheddar, 8 slices of bacon (cooked, crumbled), 2-4 green onions (sliced), leave out the sugar!

Spinach & Feta: 4 ounces feta (crumbled), several handfuls of fresh spinach, salt & pepper to taste, leave out the sugar!

Mediterranean: 3/4 cup roasted red peppers (diced), handful of kalamata olives (sliced), 2 ounces feta (crumbled), salt & pepper to taste, leave out the sugar!

Lemon Blueberry: 1-2 tsp lemon juice, 1 cup blueberries

Cinnamon Sugar: Mix together 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp milk. Spread on scones prior to baking.

Honey Raspberry: 1/4 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 cup raspberries

Pecan Streusal: Mix together 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup oats, 1 T all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 T melted butter, 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Sprinkle on top of scones prior to baking.

Pumpkin Pie: 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, a pinch of cloves, and a pinch of ginger. Also, substitute the white sugar with brown sugar.

If all else fails, throw a handful of chocolate chips into the dough!

Make: Book-Pumpkin

I sometimes fall into the trap of drafting a crafty to-do list that is so long I end up making nothing at all. In an effort to combat this, a few weeks ago I prioritized which projects deserve the little free time I possess. This exceedingly cute book-pumpkin quickly rose through the ranks.

I adore fall decor (as you will see in a future post) and I love books, so this guy was a no-brainer. Once finished, I kept finding excuses to walk through my dining room and look at it.

I anticipate that house guests will ask me (with shiny hope in their eyes) from what book my darling pumpkin was made. The answer is a very boring United States Code Annotated, 2011. Upon closer inspection, onlookers will find decidedly unsexy text like:

Fees,
     Attorneys, ante
     Dockets and docketing, C4R 15(a)
     Extraordinary writs, prisoners C4R 21(c)
     Transcriptions, filing, sanctions, C4R IOP 11.1

As unromantic as that is, I just could not bring myself to ruin a perfectly good book!

In case you do not know, I work in law library which means that on a weekly basis we recycle volumes of publications that have been superseded. That is to say, if anyone were to use them for legal research they would be up a creak awful fast as the information is inaccurate. I'm just throwing that out there in case someone reading this cries foul, "Oh, how can a library throw away precious books!? For shame!". So I rescued a few of these books from the recycle bin and lugged them home for a bit of a makeover.

Supplies:
Book, cover removed
Cardboard
Pencil
Scissors
Stick (my husband gallantly found me one in the yard)
Ribbon
Broom (to clean up the mess of paper shards this project will leave on your floor)

Begin by creating a cardboard stencil. Think about how large you would like the pumpkin to be and draw the vertical half of that.

Then trace this shape on the first page of your book and cut through as many pages as you can at a time.

Repeat, repeat, repeat until you have made your way through the entire book. Of course, I chose a very thick book so I had to give my little wrists a few breaks along the way.

Glue a small stick to the spine of the book while also gluing together the front and back of the book. Secure it with clothes pins while it is drying, like so:

Once you are sure the glue is dry, you can jazz up the pumpkin with a cute bit of ribbon. The texture of my book's paper was very thin (like a phone book), so it required a lot of fussing over to make it sit nicely. If you use a regular book, I'm confident it will splay out naturally.

And that's it! You can make a single large pumpkin, a set of smaller ones, or a mix of sizes.

Eat: (not your average) Pumpkin Soup

Earlier this week, after narrowing down my recipe choices, I called my husband to ask if he had a preference. The first option: spiced apple cake. The second option: pumpkin soup. Before I could even finish the sentence, Matthew eagerly declared “pumpkin soup!”. Thus began this culinary adventure. I was intrigued by this particular recipe because it includes several ingredients that I had never before seen in pumpkin or squash soup, like pureed black beans, balsamic vinegar, cumin, and shallots. Suffice it to say, this is not your grandmother’s pumpkin soup. What it lacks in appearance (dark brown instead of the soft orange I had imagined), it makes up for in rich and savory flavors. In the end, we both agreed (as did our dinner guests) that this soup does not actually taste like pumpkin at all. However, that does not mean that we didn’t like it. In fact, we loved it!

The original recipe, found in the November 1996 issue of Gourmet, uses Sherry and Sherry vinegar. Since I am not a fancy-pants lady, I did not happen to have either of these on hand. Fortunately, I found there are several alternatives. In place of Sherry, one can use dry white or red wine, vanilla extract (1 tsp for every 2 tbsp), apple cider vinegar, wine vinegars, or even citrus juice. I used apple cider vinegar but would only recommend it if you don’t mind the strong kick of vinegar. Should I make this again, I will try white wine instead. Similarly, in place of Sherry vinegar one can use red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or cider vinegar.

TIME: 1 hour
YIELDS: 9 cups
MY SOUNDTRACK: Steve Martin & the Rare Bird Alert

three 15oz. cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of diced tomatoes, drained
1 ¼ cups of chopped onion
½ cup minced shallot (or ¼ cup dried)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
½ stick of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
4 cups of beef or vegetable broth
16oz. can of pureed pumpkin (not pie filling!)
½ cup of apple cider vinegar
3-4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Optional: ½ - 1 pound of cooked ham, diced

1. In a food processor, combine beans and tomatoes. Puree coarsely.

2. Heat a large (at least 6-quart) pot to medium heat. Stir together the butter, onion, shallot, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. I added the butter first and let it melt before putting in the other ingredients.

3. Once the onion has softened and begins to brown, stir in the bean-tomato blend. Next add the pumpkin, broth, and apple cider vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for approximately 25 minutes. Stir the dish occasionally to avoid burning along the bottom of the pot. You can check its progress by dipping a spoon into the pot; the soup should get thick enough to coat the spoon.

4. Before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and ham (if desired) and cook until heated through. You may garnish the dish with sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.

 

Eat: Praline Pumpkin Cake

Everyone has their preferred season and autumn is definitely mine. What's not to love with all of the changing colors, unpacking of long forgotten sweaters, and multiple federal holidays? Not to mention that the season contains my birthday and wedding anniversary. Here in St. Louis, though, we’ve been enjoying an “Indian Summer” with average temperatures in the eighties. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. I'm certainly glad to bask in the extended heat but it just doesn’t feel like fall yet. I have taken a few measures to battle this, including a significant collection of harvest décor in and around my home. I also brought my autumnal motivation to this week’s dish: Praline-Pumpkin Cake. Yes, it is as good as it sounds. Pureed pumpkin, candied pecans, pumpkin pie spice, and caramel sauce should definitely get you in the spirit of fall. Before you know it, you will be whipping up some apple cider and reaching for your warmest slippers and Snuggie.

Be forewarned that this dessert is seriously sugary. Depending on how sweet your sweet tooth is, you may want to skip some of the optional toppings or remember to cut thin slices. I opted to make a round two-layered cake for a more elegant presentation, but this cake could easily be modified for simpler construction in a 9x13-inch baking pan.

TIME: 2 hours & 15 minutes (including baking/cooling time)
YIELDS: 16 servings (small slices)
MY SOUNDTRACK: The Avett Brothers

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (see below to learn how to make your own)
1 container cream cheese frosting
Optional: caramel sauce, additional chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Stir together the butter (I cut it into smaller portions), whipping cream, and brown sugar. Cook over low heat in a 1-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Pour praline blend into two ungreased 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Sprinkle each evenly with the ¾ cup of pecans.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, water, oil, eggs, and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice. If using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until moistened then on medium speed 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir for several minutes, taking care to break up any lumps.

3. Carefully spoon batter on top of pecan-praline mixture in each pan. The batter will be too thick to pour.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cool approximately 5 minutes in pans, then remove the cakes and transfer them to a cooling rack. Let them sit for about an hour, cooling completely.

5. Stir the remaining ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice into frosting. Place one layer on a serving plate, praline side up. Cover the top with frosting. Top with the second cake layer, praline side up, and ice the entire cake with remaining frosting. The rough texture of the pecans will make it difficult to frost the cake completely (as you would a traditional cake) but it still presents nicely. An alternative is to use half of the frosting for the middle layer between cakes and the other half on the top of the cake.

Optional: drizzle the cake with caramel and sprinkle additional pecans on top.

This week's recipe can be found on Betty Crocker's wonderful website.

How to make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice…

Mix together:
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground all spice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Yields 1 teaspoon

Eat: The Tasty Challenge of Pumpkin Ravioli

For this week’s dish I wanted to up the ante. I began looking for a seriously challenging recipe and boy did I find it! My first impression of this recipe for pumpkin ravioli was that it must be a sweet twist on traditionally savory ravlioi. This was due to all of my previous interactions with pumpkin dishes: pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, even pumpkin cookies. However, I quickly learned that pumpkin in its purest form is not even remotely sweet. In fact, as far as I could tell (or rather, taste) it does not taste like much of anything by itself.

An interesting aspect of this recipe is the use of wonton wrappers in place of pasta. The upside to this is the drastically shortened preparation time. Wonton wrappers function like ready-made pasta without any cooking. The downside to this trick is that after putting so much effort into making perfect little pockets of cheese, many of them opened up while boiling. So if you give this dish a try, be emotionally prepared to watch some of the fruits of your labor burst open. Otherwise, it was a fun challenge with tasty results! I particularly enjoyed the tomato and ginger sauce, which would also pair well with traditional pasta.

TIME: 1.5 hours
YEILDS: 6-8 servings
MY SOUNDTRACK: She & Him, Mates of State

Ravioli...

1 teaspoon oil
4 oz. onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz. pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 egg (1 will act as "glue" for ravioli)
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
12 oz. (approximately 50) wonton wrappers
cornstarch for dusting pan

Begin by heating oil in a small skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes until softened.

In a large bowl, beat one of the eggs with salt and pepper. Stir in the pumpkin and ricotta cheese. Add the onion and garlic mixture. Blend thoroughly, scrapping the sides and bottom of the bowl.

To make the ravioli: Prepare two baking sheets by dusting them with the cornstarch. Put one teaspoon of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper (which is fairly delicate, so handle gently gentle). Dip your index fingers into a beaten egg and line the edges of the wrapper. Fold diagonally into a triangle and press the edges firmly to seal the pocket. Place on baking sheet. Repeat for each wonton wrapper.

To cook: Bring a large port of water to a boil. Add a few teaspoons of water to prevent the ravioli from sticking together. Gently add each ravioli to the pot and bring the water back to a boil for a few minutes.

To serve: This is where things can get a little dicey. If some of the ravioli have opened while cooking, I would not recommend draining the water. All of the filling will escape into the sink leaving you with a pile of plain cooked pasta. Instead, remove the ravioli from the pot using a slatted spoon. You can then spoon out any of the filling in the pot and add it to your plated pasta. Top with tomato ginger sauce (see recipe below).

Tomato Ginger Sauce...

1 tablespoon oil
6 oz. onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger or 1-2 teaspoons of dried
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, with juice (do not drain!)

In a medium saucepan or skillet, heat oil. Cook the onion and garlic until tender. Add the ginger and tomatoes. Bring to a boil briefly and simmer for 10-15 minutes. If it is too thick, you can add a pinch of water. For a smoother texture, puree the sauce.

This week's recipe came from my husband's own collection. Unfortunately, he cannot recall where he originally found it.