The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

*This is the second blog in a series on food traditions

After nine months (not counting the nine days after his due date that he decided to hang out in the womb) and 27 hours of labor, our sweet little boy, Davis, entered this world at 3:42 am two years ago on July 17.


I like to think that he acquired his budding foodie tendencies during his nine month-plus stay inside me. I tried my best to eat healthy but I was pleased to sample the amazing food of Paris and of course engage in some sinful cooking during my pregnancy. I remember that whenever I ate something divine or cooked something that both my husband and I enjoyed, I wondered, “Will Davis love this dish as much as we do one day?” I gleefully interpreted every kick from the little person inside me as a sign of approval after a bowl of risotto or a particularly good crème brulee.

As he has moved from breast milk to formula to pureed food to the milestone cheerio experience and then beyond into the great foodie frontier of non-pureed foods, it is clear my son loves food.

THANK GOODNESS!

Hence, Davis’ request for his current favorite meal, noo noo’s and meatballs (translation: spaghetti and meatballs), for his birthday made me smile from ear to ear.

But I am realizing it is not just the food that Davis loves.

Over Davis’ birthday dinner, I was observing how he thoroughly enjoys eating with people and holding court while doing so. Generally, he likes to discuss the many diggers, dump trucks and garbage trucks he encountered during his day. Sometimes he will recount how he helped me cook the meal we are eating.

Davis becomes even more animated when he discovers he can draw a reaction from his dinner partners. In recent months, even a trip to the bagel store becomes a social experience as Davis eagerly visits with customers entering the store and the employees, who know him by name.

In my family, it is as much about the social aspect that accompanies our food consumption as it is the food itself.

Whether it is shopping for our food or eating it, even the best grocery store/market or the most fantastic meal is only average without good company.

As we ate our dinner of spaghetti and meatballs on Davis’ birthday and as I watch him grow, I think often about how much my dad would have enjoyed Davis. Although Dad passed away before Davis was born, it is remarkable the qualities they share. I’ve written quite a bit on this blog about Dad’s love of food and cooking and how for him, eating was a social experience.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree with his grandson who is embracing the social aspect of all things food-related.

Davis’ enthusiasm for the social side of food is reminiscent of Dad’s trips to an Italian grocery store in Milwaukee where after frequent visits, everyone knew him by name and vice versa. The family that owns the store still speaks of him fondly many years after his passing. Dad also frequented a small diner for breakfast on his way to work in Milwaukee. He grew to know the employees and the regulars at the counter where he sat and discussed sports and why the Packers were God’s gift to the world. Yes, it was good to “take nourishment” as Dad liked to say, but he loved the visiting while eating his plate full of eggs and bacon.

With my little family of three, it is likely that just as food played an important role in helping form memories from my childhood, it is just as important today in making new memories for Davis and for me in my role as a wife and mother.

After putting a very tired and satiated Davis to bed on his birthday, I was reminded that each day with my son is another beautiful reminder of the circle of life. While some people are taken from us sooner than we hoped, we are blessed to be given new life. It is through wonderful little people who carry on traits of those who have passed, that we are reminded of treasured memories, while at the same time helping create new memories to last the rest of our days.

Homemade Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
Recipe note: I found that by sautéing garlic and onion in olive oil and then adding it to the well-seasoned ground beef (kosher salt, pepper, oregano, Italian bread crumbs and plenty of grated parmesan cheese) made the meatballs full of flavor and less dry.

For the spaghetti sauce, I have found that you really must taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. I recommend using San Marzano crushed tomatoes when possible. But, you really should add a tablespoon of sugar to the sauce to help bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. It made all the difference. I also add a healthy amount of grated parmesan cheese to the sauce and on occasion, let the sauce simmer with parmesan rinds in it when I have them handy.

Homemade Meatballs Ingredients
Makes 6-10 meatballs depending on size

1 ½ lbs ground beef (I use 90 or 93% lean ground beef)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ yellow onion, chopped
2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
Oregano
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Details
Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil until the onion in soft. Stir frequently to keep the garlic from burning. Once done sautéing, remove from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside the garlic and onion in a small bowl.

Place the ground beef in a large bowl and season generously with kosher salt, pepper and oregano. Mix well (using your hands or even a fork) and season a bit more to ensure all the meat gets an even coat of this seasoning.

Next, add the onion and garlic to the ground beef and mix well to incorporate. Add bread crumbs, mix well and then the parmesan cheese. Mix well to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, beat the egg thoroughly and then add slowly to the ground beef mixture, mixing as you go to ensure the egg is evenly distributed throughout the ground beef.

Form ground beef mixture into medium-sized balls. In a large, deep sauté pan,over medium-high heat a generous amount of olive oil (enough to coat bottom of the pan thoroughly plus a little extra, make sure it is about ½ inch deep in pan) until you can see it smoking.

Place meatballs in the hot oil and turn during cooking to allow them to cook thoroughly and brown on each side. The cooking time will depend on the size of the meatballs. It can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. I generally reduce the heat to medium while cooking. This also seems to allow the meatballs to not dry out while cooking though it takes a bit more time. I recommend cutting open one meatball to see how it is cooking. Once it is no longer pink, it’s ready to eat!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Ingredients
Recipe note: I can’t emphasize how important it is to taste the sauce while it cooks and season as you go. Taste it here and there and add salt, pepper and oregano as needed. I would go easy on the pepper. Occasionally, I sprinkle in some garlic salt as well if the sauce needs a bit more flavor.

2 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes (San Marzano brand recommended)
½ yellow onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (more if you like the taste in your sauce)
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt
Pepper (use sparingly)
Oregano
Garlic salt (if needed … it never hurts to add a few shakes)
Olive oil

DetailsIn a large stock pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Cook until onion is soft.

Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar and parmesan cheese.

Season with salt, pepper and oregano to taste. I add a ton of oregano because I love the flavor.

Cook on low heat for 30 minutes to an hour.

Food for the Cheesehead's soul

In case you've been buried under a rock this week, tomorrow is the Super Bowl.

If you live in Wisconsin, you would have to be buried under said rock plus the 20+ inches of snow to not know that the state's beloved Green Bay Packers are playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow.

Growing up in Wisconsin, I was indoctrinated into the Cheese Head Nation by my dad.

Dad didn't love the Packers.  He LOOOOOVED the Packers.

He loved them when they were awful during the Don Majkowski era and when they were Super Bowl champs during the Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre era.  He was over the moon when he landed the Packers as a client during his days selling phone systems.  The only thing better for Dad was when his company purchased a luxury box at Lambeau Field and he was responsible for "hosting" the box.

Dad on the sideline at Lambeau Field.

Dad loved entertaining clients and watching the game from the box but most importantly, he controlled the ordering of food for the box.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, Dad loved food.  It isn't suprising that there was never a shortage of food in the box.  Shrimp, chili, hotdogs (and the list goes on).  And then, the desserts.  I seem to remember him being very focused on the mini cheesecakes.

He took the food duty very seriously.  Dad believed that no matter how good the game was, food was a critical element to truly enjoying football.

I couldn't agree with him more.  With that, I bring you a recipe for something green for you to make tomorrow in honor of the Green Bay Packers and their hopefully huge victory over the Steelers:

Split pea soup!

Even if your football team lets you down tomorrow, the commercials disappoint or there is an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction during the half-time entertainment, this soup will leave you satisfied and blissed out.

If you are a Steelers fan, I advise disregarding the symbolism of the color of the soup and still giving this a try.

If you really want to embrace the Cheese Head lifestyle, serve the soup with grilled cheese.  You can't beat this combo.

Split Pea Soup

(serves 6)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

4 slices pancetta

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup diced white onion

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

1 cup dried split peas

1 cup whole milk

1 large container chicken broth

Details

Melt two tablespoons butter in a large soup pot.  Add garlic, pancetta and onions.  Cook until pancetta and garlic are browned and onions are soft.

Add carrots and celery and cook until somewhat tender.

Place peas in a strainer.

Rinse split peas and add to the mixture in the soup pot.  

Add chicken broth to the mixture.  Cook on medium heat until the peas are tender.

Add one cup whole milk to the pot.  

Using an immersion blender, blend soup until chunky but not completely pureed.  Alternately, if you do not have an immersion blender, add the cup of milk to a small bowl and two cups of the soup mixture and use a masher until the mixture is chunky.  Add back in to the soup.

Cook soup on low and serve once it is warmed through and vegetables are tender.

A stretchy pants worthy Thanksgiving feast

Since moving into our new home in Washington, DC last week, my family of three has been settling in, unpacking boxes and hanging pictures in preparation for celebrating the holidays in our new digs. As if becoming first-time homeowners isn’t exciting enough, we are hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner which has left me in a state of unadulterated, total foodie happiness. I’ve been planning the details for weeks and plotting my cooking schedule vigilantly. The grocery shopping started last week. I took Davis with me to buy our first round of Thankgiving ingredients and most importantly, our first turkey. We walked away with a monster turkey and my little boy grinning ear-to-ear as he looked at the frozen bird in our cart.

In fact, why am I blogging right now and not cooking?

Thanksgiving was always my dad’s favorite holiday probably because it was a day devoted to eating.

And eating.

And then eating some more.

In fact, he even had special pants he wore on Thanksgiving. He would pull out his favorite “stretchy” pants (worn with a sweater and collared shirt of course), buried in his closet from the last Thanksgiving and sigh with happiness knowing that a food fiesta awaited. He could rest assured that his favorite “stretchy” pants would not fail him as the waist band could expand as he ate with abandon and pure joy.

You can imagine that I am wishing my dad was here to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in our new house and the first Thanksgiving dinner I am cooking. I know he would have been in the kitchen “sampling” along with Dan and Davis as the cooking went on Wednesday into Thursday. He would have supervised the roasting of the enormous turkey from the living room while watching football and cursing the Cowboys.

So I am setting out to make my dad proud and cooking a “stretchy” pants worthy Thanksgiving dinner.  I won't lie either; I am considering resurrecting my old maternity pants with the elastic waist-band from the attic.

I’ll be sure to post pictures of the food right after Thanksgiving but for now, here is my menu for the big day. I’ve made most of these recipes before with the exception of the salad. A lot of them are adapted or taken straigh from my favorite food magazines.  I like to experiment but I feel like Thanksgiving is not a time to mess around and potentially have a kitchen debacle. 

Back to cooking!  I may even try to brine my turkey if the big bird unthaws in time. Oh, so much to look forward to in the next 48 hours! Am I a nerd that I am excited to brine a turkey? Of course I am.  Oh well, so be it.

The kitchen can't handle me right now!

Colleen’s Thanksgiving Day Menu
(Any dish with an asterisk has a recipe included below)

First Course
Butter lettuce, Apple, Mandarin Orange, Pomegranate and Candied Walnut Salad **

Main Course
Hello?! Of course, it’s TURKEY!

Side Dishes
Homemade Simple Stuffing **
Sweet Potatoes with Butter and Brown Sugar
Mashed Potatoes (use a potato ricer ... you will have the smoothest potatoes EVER!)
Cranberry Sauce **
Parker House rolls
A fabulous vegetable dish courtesy of my dear friend C.

Desserts
Confession: with so much cooking to do, a toddler to chase after and guests to entertain, I am buying pre-made crusts ... yes, you read that correctly)

Perfect Pumpkin Pie **
Pecan Pie **
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce **
A non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert, Mocha Cake, courtesy of my dear friend C. because hey, everyone needs chocolate, even on Thanksgiving!

Wine
Beaujolais Nouveau ( a nice young red that goes beautifully with the whole meal ... though I am not a sommelier but in my humble opinion it is pretty darn good)
Diet coke (yes, I don't give it up for Thanksgiving)

RECIPES

Butter lettuce, Apple, Mandarin Orange, Pomegranate and Candied Walnut Salad
(serves 6)

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 8-ounce Fuji apple, halfed, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips
6 cups butter lettuce
6 mandarin orange slices, peeled
Pomegranate seeds
Candied walnuts

Details
Whisk first four ingredients in a small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Place apple in medium bowl and mix in 3 tablespoons of dressing.

Place butter lettuce in large bowl.  Add apples.  Toss, adding more dressing to taste.  Divide salad among 6 plates.  Garnish each with 1 mandarin orange slice and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and candied walnuts.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, September 2004

Homemade Simple Stuffing
(serves 8-10)

Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 large onion, diced
1.5 cups celery, diced
12 cups bread cubes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes and toasted
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon thyme
1 cup chicken stock

Details
Toast bread cubes in oven until light brown.

Melt butter in a medium saute pan.  Add onion and celery and cook until tender. 

In a large bowl, place the toasted bread cubes and mix in the onion and celery.  Add salt, pepper, sage and thyme and toss until mixed.  Add chicken stock and toss until blended.

Place stuffing in lightly greased casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees until heated through about 30 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce


Ingredients
12 oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Details
Place water and sugar in a sauce pan and boil until sugar dissolves.  Add cranberries and cook over medium heat until cranberries pop.  Stir in orange zest and cool.

The sauce can be made up to 2-3 days ahead of tie.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie
(serves 8 to 10)
**Please note I am using a pre-made crust this year

Ingredients
9-inch pie crust
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin (I like the Libby's brand)
3/4 cup (packe) golden brown sugar)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cloves
3 large eggs
1.25 cups heavy whipping cream

Details
Cook pie crust according to directions.

Puree pumpkin in food processor.  Mix in next 6 ingredients.  Add eggs 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition.  Gradually add cream, processing just until blended.  Process 5 seconds longer.

Pour filling into warm crust.  Bake at 350 degrees until center is set, about 1 hour.  Cool completely on rack.  This pie can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and chill.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit, November 2006

Pecan Pie
(serves 8)
**In the past, I have doubled the filling for this so that the pie is heaping with pecans.  The recipe below is for a single round of filling but feel free to double.  I think it makes the pie much better.

Ingredients
9-inch pie crust
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1.25 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves (1/2 pound)

Details
Cook pie crust according to directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add brown sugar, whisking until smooth.  Remove from heat and whisk in corn syrup, vanilla, zest and salt.  Lightly beat eggs in a medium bowl, then whisk in corn syrup mixture.

Put pecans in pie shell and pour corn syrup mixture evenly over them.  Bake on hot baking sheet until filling is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour.  Cool completely.

Pie can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled.  Bring to room temperature before serving.
 
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet, November 2009

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
(serves 6)

Ingredients
Bread Pudding
2 cups half and half
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1 cup (packed), plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 cups 1/2 inch cubes egg bread (about 10 oz)

Caramel sauce
1.25 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Powdered sugar

Details
For Pumpkin Bread Pudding:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk half and half, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla extract in large bowl to blend.  Fold in bread cubes.  Transfer to 11x7 inch glass baking dish.  Let stand 15 minutes.  Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

For caramel sauce:
Whisk brown sugar and butter in saucepan over medium heat until butter melts.  Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Sift powdered sugar over bread pudding.  Serve warm with caramel sauce.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit, November 2000

A soup to exist on

I fall into the category of people who could exist on soup. Not a watery, sad can of Campbell’s soup with mystery meat they call chicken but rather hearty, homemade concoctions packed with vegetables.

If you are following Weekend Gourmet, you’ve seen a few of my favorites like Perfect Chicken soup, Lentil soup and Tortilla soup. These have been in my soup repertoire for a few years but this fall, I decided to experiment with a few new soups to change things up.

Without further ado, please welcome Potato Pancetta soup to the blog. I could exist on this soup.  The broth alone, which is enriched with the smoky flavor of pancetta, is to die for.

Cream of Potato soup has always been one of my favorites. In my opinion, this perfectly lovely soup has been bastardized by chain restaurants into a clumpy mess most commonly called Baked Potato Soup. Now, I am not one to hold back when it comes to adding cream to soup but seriously, the most commonly found version I alluded to is like a heart attack in a bowl. And the worst part is, it’s not even that good! The potatoes get lost in a mess of gloppy cream and there isn’t any complex flavor to the broth.

On Sunday, I set out to create the perfect potato soup. I started by melting butter in my favorite soup pot along with two cloves garlic that I minced and half of an onion, chopped. To the browning garlic, I added five slices of pancetta which I had chopped to smithereens. This was a nice way to take out some post-election aggression.

 There is no better smell than that of pancetta browning in a pan with garlic and onion. My mouth was watering about two minutes into this new recipe which couldn’t be a bad sign.

Then, I added in carrots and celery and sautéed the mixture until the vegetables started to soften.

Next to the pancetta, the main star of this dish would be the buttery yukon gold potatoes.

I peeled (okay, I missed a few spots here and there because I absolutely detest peeling potatoes) and diced five to six potatoes. Then, I added them to the vegetable and pancetta mixture and threw in one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper.

Finally, I added one and a half containers of chicken broth. I prefer the Progresso brand (low sodium) if I don’t have time to make my own.

Let the soup simmer on the stove and once the potatoes are soft, strain out half the potatoes from the soup and place in a small bowl. To the potatoes, add one cup of whole milk. Mash the potatoes in the milk. Then, add the mixture back to the rest of the soup. You are left with a pot of creamy potato and pancetta goodness.

Can life get any better? Not really.

Perfect Potato Pancetta Soup
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
5 slices pancetta, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
5-6 yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 large container chicken broth (add another half of a container of broth if you want a thinner soup)
1 cup whole milk

Details
Place a large soup pot over medium heat and melt butter.  Add garlic, pancetta and onion and cook until lightly browned.  Add carrots and celery and cook until slightly tender.  Add diced potatoes to the mixture.

Add chicken broth.  Allow soup to cook over medium heat until potatoes are soft.  Once soft, strain half of the potatoes (there may be some of the other ingredients mixed in and this is okay) and place in a medium bowl.  Add milk to the mixture and mash. 

Return the mashed mixture to the remainder of the soup in the pot and stir.  Cook for five more minutes and serve.

Zuppa and Lucca

Almost four years ago when my husband and I set out for Italy on our honeymoon, I had no idea the adventure and gastronomical delights that awaited us.

And Italy didn't disappoint on either count.

We started out our honeymoon in Rome, seeing the major sights and settling into large lunches every afternoon where we occasionally ended up with three entrees instead of two. Damn that language barrier ... but not really since it worked to our advantage enabling us to sample more of the local delicacies.

Lunch in Roma circa November 2006.

Lunch was capped off by my daily visit to a gelateria. Occasionally, I even had gelato for dinner.  Is there anything more gluttonous?  After several days in Rome, we drove into Tuscany to a beautiful villa that was awaiting us.

There was only one problem.

The villa didn’t exist.

Details, details.  (It's a long story and if you're ever over for dinner, we'll recount it for you but for now, back to the blog post.)

Ah yes, an early test for our very young marriage. After driving around for two hours looking for the villa and discovering it did not exist, we headed back in the direction we had come from trying to re-calibrate our plans.

We rebounded nicely and settled in the charming small town of Lucca for two days as we figured out our game plan for the rest of the honeymoon. I also introduced Dan to a McCarthy family rule of thumb: when all else fails, EAT!

And so we found ourselves in a small trattoria in Lucca for dinner after a very long day of driving on Italian roads with me navigating which was a debacle in and of itself given my very poor map-reading abilities. It was a slightly chilly November night and the restaurant was bustling with families and young couples. At this point, I think we were both a bit homesick for the States given our tough day.

As I eyed the menu, my eyes lit up when I discovered Zuppa di Lenticchie on the menu. Lentil soup!  My mom makes the most wonderful lentil soup and a bowl of it was just what I needed to put the day behind me and make me feel at home in this town we hadn't expected to be in.

The soup was divine.  It was thick and stew-like.  The lentils were cooked perfectly and the soup smelled and tasted of herbs including rosemary, just like my mom's.  I can't even tell you what the rest of the meal consisted of because I was so taken by the soup.

As it turned out, that dinner was the start to a terrific two days in a town we would have never visited but for our villa catastrophe.  I credit the Zuppa for getting us back on the right track.

A bowl of Zuppa di Lenticchie alla Diane I made recently.

Zuppa di Lenticchie alla Diane
This soup freezes well and is delicious on a cool, fall or winter's day.

Ingredients:
2 celery stocks, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 large container Chicken Broth
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup dry lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup barley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary crushed (you can use fresh if you want)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup parmesan cheese

Details
*In a large soup pot, melt the butter and saute the celery, onion and garlic until tender.
*Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, lentils, barley, oregano, rosemary and pepper, bring to a boil.
*Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils and barley are almost tender.
*Once cooked, you can garnish each bowl of soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

Operation Pumpkin Indoctrination

Like so many of you, I was a fan before it became cool and everybody was seeking it out.

What, you may ask, am I speaking of?

Skinny jeans?

No.

Ballet flats?

No.

Lady GaGa?  Cosmospolitans?

No and No.

Pumpkin?

Yes!

Before Starbucks made pumpkin cool to eat on days other than Thanksgiving and in items other than pumpkin pie by serving the pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin scone, pumpkin cream cheese muffin or pumpkin bread, I was obsessed.  I could have eaten just pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and been perfectly happy without the turkey or the other dishes.

The proliferation of pumpkin to the reaches of the coffee counter and bakery case at Starbucks and beyond has only fueled my obsession and made it easier for this pumpkin junkie to get her fix.

After discovering the first pumpkin scone of the season last week, I declared to my husband that all was right with the world.  I also found myself inspired to produce some pumpkin goodness in my own kitchen.  Plus, I wanted to give my son a chance to experience pumpkin without all the additives and preservatives of the store-bought pumpkin treats.

The weather in D.C. turned cool late last week and with the arrival of a crisp, feels-like-fall morning, I set out for the grocery store with my son, Davis.  Both of us had our hoodies on as we embraced the cooler temperatures and you could see he was as excited about the mild weather as I was.  Little did he know, he was about to experience the delights of pumpkin post-nap.  We picked up the ingredients for pumpkin bread and once home, Davis took a nap and Operation Pumpkin Indoctrination commenced in the kitchen.

The batter took about 15 minutes to put together while the oven preheated to 350 degrees.  I used fresh ginger this time, but you could easily use the powdered form found in the spice aisle.

Since the recipe made six mini-loafs and I had four pans, I used my mini-muffin/cupcake pan (as featured in my cupcake recipe from last month) to create some pumpkin mini-muffins that were perfect for a snack or for a special and easy to manage treat for Davis and his small hands.

If you have children at home or you simply can’t polish off a whole loaf of pumpkin bread before it has that not so fresh taste, I highly recommend purchasing a set of small loaf pans.  Not only are these perfect for a quick snack for a small family but I find that bread cooks more evenly in the smaller loaf pan.  Less chance for the middle of the bread that just won’t cook as I often encounter when using a standard loaf pan.

While the loaves of pumpkin bread took about 45-50 minutes to cook, the mini-muffins were done in approximately 18-20 minutes.

And, neither disappointed.  I froze a loaf of bread and sent the others to family.  I also froze half of the muffins and kept more out and we snacked on the muffins throughout the weekend.  I placed the muffins to be frozen in an air-tight plastic bag and for the loaves of bread, I took each out of the pan and wrapped it in plastic wrap and then foil before depositing in the freezer.

As the muffins and bread cooked, I took a moment and enjoyed the cool breeze coming in through the windows and the smell of pumpkin and fall filling our home.  To say it was delightful, is an understatement.

Upon waking from his nap, Davis’ pumpkin indoctrination began.  He grabbed a muffin from me, took a small bite and then proceeded to shove the rest in his mouth as he pointed toward the plate with the remaining muffins, asking for more.

With that, another pumpkin junkie was born and Operation Pumpkin Indoctrination was declared a success.

Mission accomplished.

Perfect pumpkin bread and pumpkin mini-muffins

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups canned pure pumpkin (about 24 ounces)

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger or the powdered ginger found in the spice aisle

3/4 cup buttermilk

Details

*Preheat oven to 350°F.

*Spray mini loaf pans and/or mini-muffin pans with nonstick spray.

*Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl; whisk to blend.

*Using electric mixer, beat pure pumpkin and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Gradually beat in oil, then eggs 1 at a time, then minced ginger. Stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternating between each.

*Pour batter into loaf pans or use a small scoop to deposit batter in mini-muffin pan.

Baking time

*Baking time for bread will be 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean.

*Baking time for mini-muffins will be 18-20 minutes.

*Recipe adapted from Bon Apetit 2001, Miniature Pumpkin Breads

Crumblies -- they're not just for dessert!

I’ve discussed my affinity for crumblies as part of a dessert before on the blog.

But, crumblies are not just for dessert.

Thank goodness!

Lovers of crumblies, fear not as there are way to incorporate savory crumblies into many dishes. Early last week, I was looking for a quick dinner to make. My husband and I both work full-time and therefore when we get home at night, we want to spend as much time as possible with our son yet still be able to have a delicious dinner. As many of you know, this is sometimes easier said than done.

This mission led me to the recipe below.  I recently discovered my son enjoyed tortellini and I purchased a bag of tortellini at the store which turned out to be quite delicious. I sampled the tortellini as he ate his dinner and decided that I was going to make them for dinner but rather than the parmesan and butter that topped his dinner, I decided to integrate bread crumbs and sage as well as omitting the butter for olive oil.

And thus, my tortellini with savory crumblies was born.

If you can boil water and mix together parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and olive oil, you have a great and easy dinner! I also added a bit of chopped sage from my new herb garden (thanks to L and family for the herbs). Once you sprinkle the crumblies over the tortellini, you can also put the dish in the oven for a few minutes to crisp the topping much like you would for a sweet dessert with crumblies.

Use as much or as little of the crumblies as you wish. Within minutes, you are left with tender tortellini with a flavorful topping. Trust me, this is much better than warming a jar of pasta sauce!

C’s Tortellini with Savory Crumblies
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 cups tortellini
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (more or less to taste)
Fresh Sage, finely chopped (1-2 leaves)
Olive oil

Details
*Measure out 4 cups of tortellini and boil until tender. Drain, rinse and place in serving bowl.
*In a separate small bowl, mix breadcrumbs, chopped sage and parmesan cheese together. Add olive oil until the mixture is slightly mushy and binds together.
*Drop spoonfuls of the mixture over the tortellini.
*Place in the oven heated to 375 degrees for a few minutes to crisp the crumblies.

A Cheesehead's Delight, With Less Calories!

Growing up in the land of all things dairy in Wisconsin and home of the Cheesehead (for the record, I do not own one), I am inherently skeptical of anything that is reduced-fat when it comes to dairy products for desserts or comfort food dishes like macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes. If I am going to indulge, I am going to do it right. Part of the reason for my vehemence for not using reduced-fat ingredients in desserts or hearty food is that I don’t want to sacrifice the taste to spare myself the extra calories. I definitely inherited this from my dad who refused to sacrifice taste for less calories. In fact, he would usually draw an amused look from waiters at restaurants when he would order an enormous breakfast and then order water for a drink saying, “You have to cut back somewhere.”

But these days, I am often looking for ways to eat healthier. After my son went to bed last night, I was paging through Cooking Light Magazine and came across a great article on using reduced-fat versus full-fat dairy in cooking. Since the link isn’t online for this article, the tips they gave are below. Picking and choosing when to use reduced-fat versus full-fat ingredients is the key.

Thanks to this article, I will no longer be fearful of having the cream cheese frosting of my favorite carrot cake recipe taste like it is “reduced-fat.” Or, having my Timeless Tart filling not taste like the real thing.

In fact, this article made me think about my mother-in-law’s sinful (but not really sinful when it comes to calories) macaroni and cheese. When you take the first bite, you will swear it must have about 5,000 calories in each bite because it is so delicious. However, she has a secret ingredient that cuts the calories and lends to the creaminess: to create the creaminess of the sauce that the noodles are usually soaked in, she uses evaporated milk in place of heavy cream and cheese which are usually the base of the white sauce for homemade macaroni and cheese. This makes it easier for you to use full-fat cheese as a topping for the dish (since you are saving the calories with the filling) instead of reduced-fat cheese which will get rubbery when heated. We had a half-used bag of shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese so I used that as a topping for my macaroni and cheese. You could easily make this a bit more sophisticated with more "luxurious" cheeses like goat cheese, gouda or a good, aged parmesan.

For parents, this is a wonderful dish to make for yourself that your children will also come to love. My 10 1/2 month old son LOVED this dish. It is also incredibly economical. I can remember making a four cheese mac and cheese a while ago that became incredibly expensive due to the exotic cheeses in the dish. It was delicious but not practical to make on a regular basis. And, it was incredibly time consuming but not this macaroni and cheese. It takes slightly longer than making it out of a box but it is worth the extra minutes when you take that first gooey bite of macaroni and cheese out of the oven!

Indulgent food that still tastes good but with less calories is TRULY indulgent!

Here are Cooking Light Magazine’s helpful hints on this topic from the June 2010 issue:

Cheese

Use reduced-fat …

*In recipes where cheese is just one component. In this case, let it melt into the sauce, soup or casserole instead of using it as a topping as reduced-fat cheese becomes rubbery when heated.

Use full-fat …

*In recipes where you only need a small amount such as for a topping on a dish.

Milk

Use reduced-fat …

*When other ingredients will provide flavors or textures that round out the dish. Consider using flour or egg to thicken a sauce instead.

Use full-fat …

*To give recipes body and richness. Use a splash of whole milk to soups or sauces to give the dish a luxurious taste.

Cream Cheese

*Good news! The full-fat and reduced-fat cream cheese products are interchangeable and behave identically.

The above tips are excerpted from Cooking Light Magazine, June 2010 Issue

And, here is the delicious recipe for macaroni and cheese from my mother-in-law, JoAnn:

JoAnn’s Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 4 if used as a side dish

Ingredients

*2 tablespoons unsalted butter

*1 tablespoon flour

*1 cup elbow noodles

*1 cup evaporated milk

*Cheese of your choice to top the macaroni and cheese

*Salt and Pepper to taste

Details

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

*Boil noodles until tender, drain and place in casserole dish.

*In a small sauce pan, melt butter and then stir in the flour and finally the evaporated milk to form the white sauce for the dish. Take care not to let the butter and flour mixture overcook or burn.

*Pour the sauce over the noodles and top with cheese.

*Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until bubbling and top is golden brown.

Recipe courtesy of JoAnn Turrentine