Frosted Pumpkin Cookies with Dried Fruit and Nuts





I decided to try my hand at making cookies this month. I read through several recipes, recipe critiques and came up with what I thought would be a good cookie. After mixing everything together, I divided the dough into thirds. To one I added golden raisins. To another I added craisins. To another I added dates and chopped nuts. I baked a few of each and after trying them, we decided the dough needed to be altered. Each one was cakey and needed "more stuff" to give the cookie some texture. With that change in mind, I grabbed the dried apricots, dried cherries and chopped pecans. I combined what dough I had left, which was the one with the golden raisins and the one with the dates and nuts. The batch with the craisins was already in the oven baking. Those would have to stay "as is". (Jim said, "we'll eat them anyway") I chopped a handful of apricots and cherries and into the dough went the chopped fruit and chopped pecans. After baking what I had altered, I frosted them and topped them with more chopped pecans. The frosting was a variation on what I saw on the Food Network with Ellie Krieger. She took whipped cream cheese and zapped it in the microwave until soft but not bubbling. Then she added confectioners' sugar and used that to squiggle on top of a chocolate ganache. She had specific amounts she used, but I didn't like the consistency of her end product for the frosting for these cookies, so I changed the amounts of cream cheese and sugar to get what I wanted. This is the best home made cookie frosting I have ever used. Easy to make and you make as little or as much as you need for your cookies. (You could also add lemon or orange zest to take the frosting up a notch if need be.) After adding the additional fruit and nuts, we ended up with a winner. It was suggested, by a family member, that whole wheat flour might have been a good flour to use instead of the all purpose - baker's choice! Here is the recipe after it was developed and altered.


1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed, dark brown sugar
1 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp Saigon cinnamon
2 tsp chopped, candied ginger
3 cups flour
2-2 1/2 cups dried fruit (dates, raisins, apricots, craisins, cherries) - whatever you like
1 cup chopped nuts


Melt the butter in the microwave. Cream the melted butter and brown sugar for 4-5 minutes - it will change in color from very dark brown to lighter brown and you will no longer see the butter. Add the extracts, egg, egg yolk and pumpkin. Mix until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add the dried fruit and nuts - stir into dough with a wooden spoon. Chill dough 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using a cookie scoop, drop dough on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer to rack and frost, top with chopped nuts (optional).


Frosting: Scoop some whipped cream cheese into a small bowl and microwave on high for about 10 seconds until the cream cheese is soft but does not bubble. Add confectioners' sugar to get the consistency you want to frost your cookies. Spread on cookies and top with chopped nuts (optional).

Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli with parmesan sauce and toasted hazelnuts

I’d been planning this recipe for weeks before I knew for sure the ingredient for October was pumpkin. Thanks, Scott - it’s one of my favorite things. I love pumpkins! I really wanted to work with a whole pumpkin – no canned pumpkin for this challenge. After tasting my ravioli filling, I made the right choice! Get ready for a party in your mouth!

Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli Filling:

1 sugar pumpkin

1 sweet onion

8-10 large, fresh sage leaves, chopped

Chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 boneless, skinless breasts cooked with poultry seasoning, salt and white wine)

olive oil

salt

pepper

1 Tbs. brown sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 450.

Cut pumpkin in half and discard seeds

Cut the pumpkin into wedges and peel with a veggie peeler

Cube pumpkin and sweet onion.

Toss with olive oil, sage, salt and pepper

Put veggies on a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Roast for 35 minutes, stirring veggies half way through.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with brown sugar. Put pan on a wire rack for cooling.

When cool, puree in food processor. Mix with chicken.

This will yield a boatload of filling.

Parmesan sauce:

4 Tbs. butter

4 Tbs. flour

2 Cups whole milk

1 Cup parmesan-reggiano cheese, shredded

In a heavy sauce pan, melt the butter.

Add the flour and cook for 4 -5 minutes, stirring until turning golden

Slowly wisk in milk. Cook until it begins to thicken.

Stir in cheese.

To toast hazelnuts place raw nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast in an oven preheated to 27

5 for 30-35 minutes. The skin will begin to crack and the meat will be starting to turn gold. Remove from oven and place nuts on a kitchen towel. Gather corners of the towel up and twist closed. Holding the towel closed with one hand, knead the bundle of nuts with your other hand. The skins will come right off. Coarsely chop nuts.

I intended to use fresh lasagna sheets from Whole Foods to make the ravioli. I pulled them out and attempted to make the ravioli. I realized, as soon as they were out of the package, that I would have to do something to get them to stick together as they were fairly heavily floured. As I was attempting to assemble the pasta I realized that the sheets I had were too thick and heavy. The weight from the top sheet was causing the filling (which wasn’t very dense or heavy at all) to seep out the sides of the pasta. I tried to make 4 and realized the dough was just not going to work.

I ended up making a basic pasta dough (the recipe) and while it was sitting, I ran to Bed, Bath and Beyond and picked up a pasta maker. When I got home, my dough was ready to be rolled out. My friend, George, was coming over for dinner and he was put to work as soon as he got here. He helped me feed the dough into the pasta maker. I rolled the pasta “whisper thin” (as my cousin Michael would say) because the filling was quite delicate.

When it was all rolled out and George and I had started in on the wine, bread, and olive oil, I put George to work. He was in charge of cooking the pasta while I made the parmesan sauce to go on the top. When it was all done and plated, it had the potential to appear very bland since it was all the same color. Plating the salad and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top helped a lot.

It was a smashing success. The ravioli was incredible. The filling was a light and a little sweet. It worked really well with the saltiness of the parmesan sauce. The hazelnuts added some texture, which the dish needed. I served it with a green salad with goat cheese and cranberries and a zinfandel. The wine paired nicely with it. I tend to enjoy zin with fall meals regardless of the meat and / or sauce color. It went quite well.

Will I make this again? YES! Will I make any adjustments to my recipe? NO – it was fabulous. George and I sounded like the old Sanka commercials that used to play when I was growing up. There was a lot of mmmmm-ing at the table. It was a fabulous fall dinner that deserves another showing soon.

Thanksgiving meatloaf with turkey, mushrooms, and pumpkin

When I learned this month’s ingredient was pumpkin, I thought about a turkey meatloaf recipe I’d seen in the October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit. The original recipe called for two kinds of ground turkey, but I thought having chunks of turkey would make for a better texture. Then I decided to add chunks of pumpkin and more stuffing-type of spices, so that it would be like having your turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin/squash all rolled into one big comfort food. The pumpkin also adds some moisture to what is typically a dry dish.

My adventures (What I learned): I bought two turkey thighs, thinking the thigh meat would be more flavorful and less expensive than breast meat. This was true, but deboneing almost two pounds of turkey thighs to get a pound of meat was labor intensive, and usually when you are making meatloaf you want easy preparation. I

would suggest looking for already boneless thighs, or spending the money on the boneless breast meat. I felt like, in an effort to avoid the connective tissue on the thighs, I left too much meat behind on the bones. When I first made this, I also had upped the salt to 3 tsp, thinking I’d need more because I had more ingredients, but it was too salty. I’d stick with the 2 tsp I wrote in the recipe, below.

Prep time: 30 min (or more if you have to debone the thighs)

Bake time: 45 minutes

Special items: 2 loaf pans or one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing

2 cups of torn, crustless, day-old bread

8 oz of sliced cremini mushrooms

3 large eggs (or 2 extra-large)

½ cup diced shallots

1½ cups peeled, cored, and diced sugar pumpkin or butternut squash

2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp ground sage

½ tsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp coarse kosher salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 lb. ground turkey (15% fat)

1 lb. boneless turkey thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush two loaf pans or one 8x8” pan with olive oil.

Mix together all ingredients (including two tbsp olive oil), and place in the loaf or brownie pan. Because I’m just cookin’ for me and Jesus, I used two loaf pans, so that I could freeze the extra for later. Bake until thermometer inserted into the center registers 170°F, about 45 minutes. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Conclusion: I served the meatloaf with glazed baby carrots, sautéed purple beans (which turn green when cooked – hence their mottled look in the photo), and cranberry sauce.

With the appropriate adjustments (using 2 tsps of salt, not 3, and finding either boneless thighs or breast meat), I would definitely make this again. I would also consider doubling the amount of pumpkin, because it worked well with the meatloaf and could have played a stronger role.



Apple Brandy Pork with Pumpkin Risotto

This is a comfort-food winner. Right up there with mac and cheese or meatloaf, the apple brandy pork tenderloin with pumpkin/gruyere/bacon/fried sage risotto on a cold rainy night was just about perfect.

I learned a few things along the way, too. I thought that the recipes this month would be a good way to use up the leftover jack-o-lantern flesh at the end of the month. Wrong. Those pumpkins aren't good for eatin'. Sugar pumpkins are the way to go. I also learned how awesome fried sage is. I mean, truly awesome. If you have some sage, by all means fry it.

You'll need about 75 minutes to complete this (ten of which were devoted to cutting the pumpkin), but it's totally worth it.

On to the recipe:

Pumpkin:

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut one small sugar pumpkin in half. Place cut-side down in a shallow dish with about 1/2 c. of water. Roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, the flesh should separate from the shell easily.

Pork Tenderloin:

• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. apple brandy
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 pork tenderloins (because that's how they're packaged at the store)

Marinate the pork in the above mixture for at least two hours before cooking. Let the meat come to room temperature before baking at 425 degrees for 28 minutes (medium) or 30 minutes (medium-well). Let it rest upon removal, just before serving.

Sage:

• Ten or so sage leaves
• Vegetable oil

Heat oil over medium heat. Toss in a few sage leaves at a time, fry for about 20-30 seconds. Remove to a paper towel.

Risotto:

• 1 c. pumpkin (about half of what was cooked above), cut into small chunks
• 1/3 c. gruyere, broken into small pieces
• 2 strips pre-cooked bacon, cut into small pieces
• Fried sage leaves
• 1 c. arborio rice
• 3.5 c. chicken broth
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil or butter

A note about the chicken broth: I use a bouillon mixture for this, which has salt in it. You'll notice that there isn't salt anywhere else in this recipe. If you're going to use broth, you'll need to add salt to taste. Also, you may not need all of the broth, but prepare it just in case. You'll definitely need three cups, maybe not 3.5.

In a saucepan, boil the chicken broth. In a skillet, heat up olive oil and butter over medium heat, and add garlic, sauteeing for a few minutes. Add the rice for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Ladle in a cup or so of broth at a time, stirring constantly, until most of the water is absorbed by the rice. Keep adding more as you go- the process should take about 20 minutes. I may have mentioned this before, but Stir Constantly. Is it a lot of work? Yes. It is worth it? Yes.

Once the rice is to your liking (al dente for me), add the gruyere until melted. Then add the pumpkin chunks, the bacon, and few of the sage leaves, broken up.

Serve the pork and risotto, with an extra sage leaf or two for garnish. Tasty, tasty garnish.

Results:

Make this. Tonight. It's 9:30 on Sunday morning, which means you have plenty of time to go to the grocery store, marinate the pork, cook and eat. Trust me. All of the flavors worked perfectly together- the fried sage really made it delicious. The one thing I would change is adding some brown sugar to the pumpkin when roasting it. Otherwise, this was great. "And I would change 'great' to 'awesome'" - Annie.

October: Pumpkin

By the end of the month, we'll all have leftover pumpkins on our front porch, the inside singed from candle flames. We'll need to have a plan for what to do with the pumpkin once trick-or-treating is over, thus the inspiration for this month. Go!