Categories
Breads Breakfast/Brunch Pumpkin Uncategorized

Spiced Pumpkin Drop Biscuits

    Pumpkin Biscuits
    Pumpkin Biscuits

    It’s day 5 of 31 days of pumpkin, and I’m excited to share this recipe for pumpkin biscuits with you. I grew up on the Eastern Shore of MD where sweet potato biscuits were popular, so this seemed like a natural next step. I was tempted to let the pumpkin stand on its own in this recipe, but in the end, I couldn’t resist adding just a hint of the traditional spices we’ve all come to expect with pumpkin flavor. I showed restraint though in both quantity and array, so that there is just a hint of the pumpkin pie rather than the full effect.

    In this version, I dropped the biscuits in spoonfuls onto a “greased” (nonstick cooking sprayed) sheet, rather than rolling out the dough and cutting the circles. I just don’t have the patience for such things, although I readily admit that rolled biscuits are much more beautiful. Maybe next time.

    Drop biscuits
    Drop biscuits

    Spiced Pumpkin Drop Biscuits
    Makes 12 large biscuits

    Ingredients

    2 cups all purpose flour
    2 tsp salt
    3 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp cinnamon
    1/8 tsp allspice
    pinch nutmeg
    5 Tbsp cold butter
    1 cup canned pumpkin
    1/2 – 3/4 cup plain yogurt

    Method

    1. Preheat oven to 450˚F. Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into tablespoon slices and then cut the butter into the flour mixture. Blend thoroughly.

    2. With a spoon, stir the pumpkin purée into the dry ingredients. Add enough yogurt so that a ball of dough forms. Do so by adding a couple of tablespoons at a time. Knead the ball of dough 8-10 times until everything is thoroughly mixed together.

    3. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Drop large spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet. There should be about a dozen spoonfuls altogether. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are just turning golden brown.

    Pumpkin Biscuits
    Pumpkin Biscuits
      Categories
      Breakfast/Brunch Dessert Pumpkin Uncategorized

      Pumpkin-Apple Spiced Bundt Cake

        Pumpkin Apple Spiced Bundt Cake
        Pumpkin Apple Spiced Bundt Cake

        Day 4 of 31 days of pumpkin and we arrive at a Bundt cake. I’m psyched because I actually bought this bundt cake pan today at Mollie Stones in Sausalito. It’s nonstick, so I really wasn’t worried when it came time to invert the cake onto a plate. And then I had so much fun sifting the powdered sugar on top. Can you tell I’ve been waiting a long time to make a Bundt cake?

          Categories
          Appetizers Pumpkin Soups and Stews Uncategorized Video How-to

          Pumpkin-Sage Soup

            Pumpkin-Sage Soup
            Pumpkin-Sage Soup

            Day 3 of 31 days of pumpkin brings us to a savory recipe.

            The secret to this pumpkin soup isn’t the sage (that’s in the title after all). It’s the fact that the onions are caramelized first. Caramelizing onions takes a bit of time (about 30 minutes, in fact), but it’s well worth it to bring out the sweet, nutty flavor hidden inside. The trick to caramelizing onions is to keep the temperature very low while they are sautéeing. Caramel is created when sugar undergoes controlled pyrolysis – the chemical decomposition that happens when organic stuff gets hot. If it gets too hot, then it gets charred. Char creates the familiar grill marks on a perfectly grilled steak. We’re not charring the onions, we’re trying to decompose the sugars in such a controlled way that they turn into caramel and that takes controlled temperature for a long time.

            Elise Bauer, from Simply Recipes, created a stop-motion movie to show onions caramelizing. Her post about how to caramelize onions is here.

              Categories
              Dessert Pumpkin Uncategorized

              Pumpkin Cardamom Crackle Custard

                Pumpkin Cardamom Custard Crackle
                Pumpkin Cardamom Custard Crackle

                Day 2 of 31 days of pumpkin and we come to a custardy pumpkin crème brulée with a hint of cardamom. I love making desserts that come in individual servings. Maybe that’s because I hate sharing. This way, everyone gets his own ramekin and no one has to fight over who gets the bigger piece.

                Since starting this project, I’ve learned something about sugar: there’s more than one kind. Of course, I always knew there was brown sugar, and dark brown sugar, but I haven’t really gone beyond that sort of basic knowledge of sugar. This week, I discovered demerera sugar and I use it in this recipe.

                  Categories
                  Dessert Pumpkin

                  Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

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                    Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
                    Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

                    October is my favorite month. Halloween is my favorite holiday and today is the one year anniversary of my recipe blog, StreamingGourmet – The Blog and my culinary videosharing website StreamingGourmet. To celebrate, I’m kicking off a month of daily pumpkin recipe posts. Follow StreamingGourmet on facebook (look to your right) and you won’t miss a single recipe.

                    Today’s recipe is for a fluffy pumpkin cookie with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Since the recipe contains both baking powder and baking soda, the cookie dough dough puffs up to make a soft, cakey cookie. The interplay between pumpkin pie flavors and the chocolate chips is surprisingly yummy. I think you’ll be seeing a lot of chocolate/pumpkin pairings this month.

                    Fold in chocolate chips
                    Fold in chocolate chips

                     

                    Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
                     
                    Prep time
                    Cook time
                    Total time
                     
                    A fluffy, cakey cookie perfect for a Halloween party.
                    Author:
                    Recipe type: Dessert
                    Cuisine: American
                    Serves: 36
                    Ingredients
                    • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
                    • ¾ brown sugar
                    • ¾ granulated sugar
                    • 1 cup canned pumpkin
                    • 1 egg, beaten
                    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
                    • 2½ cups flour
                    • 1 tsp cinnamon
                    • ½ tsp ginger
                    • ¼ tsp ground cloves
                    • pinch freshly ground nutmeg
                    • pinch mace
                    • 1 tsp baking powder
                    • 1 tsp baking soda
                    • ½ tsp salt
                    • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
                    Instructions
                    1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
                    2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add pumpkin and beat well. Then add eggs and beat well. Finally add vanilla and beat well.
                    3. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, about ⅓ at a time and mix well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula.
                    4. Spoon batter onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lightly buttered. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let sit for one minute after removing from oven. Then cool on wire racks.

                     

                     

                    Ready to bake
                    Ready to bake
                    Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookie
                    Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookie
                      Categories
                      Dessert Produce Uncategorized Vegetarian

                      Grilled Peaches with Toasted Almonds

                        Grilled Peaches with Toasted Almonds and Vanilla Ice Cream
                        Grilled Peaches with Toasted Almonds and Vanilla Ice Cream

                        I know, it’s late in the season to do a post about peaches, but I swear, local peaches are still on sale here at Paradise Market, so I didn’t hesitate when the dinner party menu I was using from the Williams-Sonoma Dinner Parties book included this Grilled Peaches dish for dessert. Once again, I adapted the recipe and made it my own.

                        The method I used for each step of this recipe differed greatly from the one outlined in the Dinner Parties book, because I’m lazy and I like to keep the cleanup as simple as possible. Therefore, instead of using the oven and a cookie sheet to toast the almonds, I just toasted them in a sautée pan and rather than using my gas grill outside to grill the peaches, once again, I whipped out my All-clad non-stick grill pan. During the party, I had just grilled the Halibut, so I actually had to wash the pan between the main course and the dessert course before I could fire it back up, but because it’s a non-stick pan, washing it was a breeze and it was ready for another round of action in no time.

                        I have to say, the guests at the party went unexpectedly wild about this dessert. None of us were prepared for the peaches to cook all the way through in such a short amount of time, so we all took our first bite a bit tenatively. The peaches only grill for about 6-7 minutes, but they come out soft, warm and sweet – all they way through. Guests also commented enthusiastically about the contrast among textures with the crunch of the almonds, the creamy chill of the ice cream and the warm, soft texture of the peaches. A splash of Balsamic Vinegar lent tang and flavor. One guest, Steve, likes to make a Balsamic reduction for grilled fruit, because then it’s an amazingly sweet addition. See the links to other blogs at the bottom of this post to find out more about how to do that. For me, the Balsamic vinegar was a last minute thought, and I was just glad to have splashed it in.

                        Brush the peach halves with olive oil for grilling
                        Brush the peach halves with olive oil for grilling

                        Grilled Peaches with Toasted Almonds
                         
                        The perfect ending to a summer dinner party.
                        Author:
                        Recipe type: Dessert
                        Cuisine: American
                        Serves: 6
                        Ingredients
                        • ½ cup slivered almonds
                        • 3 large, ripe, yellow peaches, halved and pitted
                        • Extra virgin olive oil for brushing on peaches
                        • Vanilla ice cream
                        Instructions
                        1. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add almonds and toast, watching carefully so they don't burn. If the pan has truly had time to heat up, it takes about 2 minutes on the first side and then 1 minute after flipping them. Set almonds aside.
                        2. Brush both sides of each peach half lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Place peach halves in the pan, round side down and grill for about 3 minutes. Check one to see if grill marks have appeared. Turn them over and grill on the other side until grill marks appear, about 4 more minutes.
                        3. If peaches are large, place one half on each plate. For medium sized peaches, you could plate with two halves. Sprinkle with almonds and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

                        Grilled Peaches recipes from around the Food Blogosphere

                        Grilled White Peaches Recipe w/honey balsamic glaze & homemade Crème Fraîche from White On Rice Couple

                        Grilled Peaches & Cream from bell’alimento

                        Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Balsamic Syrup from Closet Cooking

                          Categories
                          Appetizers Uncategorized Vegetarian

                          Fig & Gorgonzola Crostini with a Honey Drizzle

                            Fig & Gorgonzola Crostini with Honey Drizzle
                            Fig & Gorgonzola Crostini with Honey Drizzle

                            In my most recent post, I wrote about hosting a dinner party on Sunday night and using an entire menu from the Williams-Sonoma Dinner Parties book. In this installment, I bring you Fig & Gorgonzola Crostini with a Honey Drizzle. I changed the recipe slightly, so the one you see here is my own, but I was inspired by the Gorgonzola Bruschetta with Figs recipe in the book.

                            This hors d’oeuvre was particularly convenient because I could toast the baguette slices ahead of time, chop the figs ahead of time and assemble the crostini before the guests arrived. I felt very little stress.

                              Categories
                              Salads Uncategorized Vegetarian

                              Heirloom Tomato Orzo Salad

                                Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil
                                Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil

                                Recently I decided to host a dinner party on Sunday night, hoping to stretch out the weekend a bit and squelch the Sunday night blues. It totally worked.

                                For inspiration, I turned to a book that has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of months: Williams-Sonoma Dinner Parties: Inspired Recipes and Party Ideas for Entertaining. I even found a menu that I wanted to cook from start to finish. I’m glad I decided to go all the way because it turned out to be the kind of menu that allows the cook/host to have fun at her own party, but it didn’t include a pot roast or a casserole. Au contraire. This menu was light, healthy, elegant AND easy. The main course was a Halibut fillet with herbed butter and that was served with this light, end-of-summer, orzo salad.

                                What I liked best about serving this salad with the fish is that it could be prepared ahead of time and served at room temperature, so I didn’t have to worry about making it at the last minute or reheating it at just the right time. Stay tuned for more recipes from this Sunday Night Dinner Party.

                                Heirloom Tomato and Basil Orzo Salad
                                (Adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Dinner Parties cookbook)
                                Serves 8

                                Ingredients

                                1 box (1 lb) of orzo
                                dash of salt for boiling water
                                1 Tbsp olive oil to coat orzo when finished cooking (to keep from sticking)
                                1 1/2 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (choose a variety of colors)
                                1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
                                2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
                                1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
                                1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
                                1/2 teaspoon salt
                                1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

                                Method

                                1. Boil the orzo according to package instructions for an Al Dente texture, about 9 minutes. Drain pasta into a large bowl and toss with olive oil. Once the pasta cools a bit, you can cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until its ready to mix in with the rest of the ingredients (up to several hours ahead of time).

                                2. Chop tomatoes and the basil and mix together in a large bowl.

                                3. In a small jar, mix the olive oil, white wine vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Close lid and shake until emulsified.

                                Final preparation: About 1 hour before the party, gently fold the orzo, tomato/basil and vinaigrette together and spoon into a serving bowl. Cover with a paper towel while salad reaches room temperature. Toss again before serving and garnish with fresh Basil leaves.

                                Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil
                                Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil

                                Other Orzo Salad Recipes from Around the Web:

                                Orzo Salad and The Influential Power of Simple Food from Week of Menus

                                Miss Mary’s Orzo Salad from Erin Cooks

                                Orzo Salad (this one’s got Feta, people) from Dlyn

                                Spinach and Tomato Orzo from Southern Grace Gourmet

                                  Categories
                                  Dessert Uncategorized

                                  Just Another Cupcake

                                    Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting
                                    Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting

                                    I really have no business posting anything about cupcakes given what’s out there about cupcakes these days, but I had fun baking and icing these with my son today, so there.

                                    We used a boxed vanilla cake mix and added a couple of teaspoons of vanilla for good measure. Then we made a traditional butter icing with 1 box of confectioner’s sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1/4 cup of milk and a couple of teaspoons of vanilla. We added 5 drops of red food coloring and 1 drop of blue to get this version of pink icing. Iain was excited to add sprinkles we had leftover from Christmas. Red, green, and pink: my favorite color combination.

                                    For cupcake inspirations with a lot more heft than mine, check out:

                                    Sprinkles Cupcakes – The original cupcake bakery. Located in Beverly Hills, it is credited with igniting the craze. The site has truly inspired gift ideas.

                                    Dainty Cakes LA Blog – An online cupcake delivery company. They sell homemade style gourmet cupcakes, cakes, cookies, pound cakes, and other desserts. The photos are to-die-for!

                                    Cupcakes Take the Cake – Most likely, the #1 blog about cupcakes, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Nichelle Stephens and Stacie Joy keep you coated in sprinkles with the latest in cupcake trends, news, recipes and more. They have a link list with virtually every cupcake bakery in the world. Incredible.

                                    Cupcake Project – When Stef volunteered to make cupcakes for her friends’ wedding, she didn’t know she would become one of the leading baking bloggers out there, but she did. She’s fearless. She’ll make a cupcake out of almost anything.

                                    Or check out this video from the Culinary Institute of America demonstrating how to make a Cupcake Bouquet.

                                    Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting
                                    Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting
                                      Categories
                                      Breads Breakfast/Brunch Uncategorized

                                      Zucchini Bread

                                        Zucchini Bread
                                        Zucchini Bread

                                        I’ve been making this Zucchini Bread recipe my whole life. Although, it has been awhile . Zucchini was on sale for $0.49/lb the other day, so I knew that I was going to revisit this old favorite. I’ll never forget making this recipe in France in 1987. I was a 16 year-old student staying with a French family for the summer and I was eager to share my American culinary culture with them. I made Maryland Fried Chicken one day and another day, I made this zucchini bread. Their impression of it? Trop sucré. (Too sweet). I was baffled at the time, but my adult taste agrees and I’ve cut 1/2 cup of sugar from the original recipe. My French hosts also couldn’t understand why I wanted to spend time cooking for them, when I had an opportunity to experience French gastronomy for six weeks. Well, then as now, I guess I just couldn’t help it.

                                        My Childhood Recipe Notebook
                                        My Childhood Recipe Notebook

                                        Zucchini Bread
                                        Makes 2 medium loaves

                                        Ingredients

                                        3 eggs
                                        1.5 cups sugar (in 1987 it was 2 cups)
                                        1 cup vegetable oil
                                        2 cups grated zucchini
                                        1 Tbsp vanilla extract
                                        3 cups flour
                                        1 tsp salt
                                        1 tsp baking soda
                                        1/4 tsp baking powder
                                        1 Tbsp cinnamon
                                        dash of freshly ground nutmeg

                                        Method

                                        1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, zucchini, oil and vanilla. Mix lightly but well (with a spoon).

                                        2. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.

                                        3. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture (in batches) until blended. Don’t over mix.

                                        4. Bake for 1 hour.

                                        Zucchini Bread
                                        Zucchini Bread
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