Shelly’s Pumpkin Ginger Muffins – I love Pumpkin

Posted on October 14, 2012 | 1 comment

My friend Shelly who is an excellent cook and baker gave this recipe to me back in 2012.  I wanted to try them because I love all things Pumpkin and ’tis the season. I was leaving Colorado for the season and  planned on freezing these delicious beauties so they would be here when we return. Shelly said that she freezes them, then takes them out for breakfast individually by putting the frozen muffin in the microwave  or toaster oven. A little butter and jam don’t hurt either. The list of ingredients may seem daunting. I had to shop for a few of the items, but don’t let this stop you because these are fairly healthy and a perfect brunch/breakfast item, or good for just mid-afternoon tea. They contain fiber and aren’t cloyingly sweet. I love ginger and I love pumpkin. If you don’t like the ginger spice you can cut down or eliminate the crystallized ginger. Wow, pumpkin and ginger. What more can I say? Thanks so much Shelly for your contribution.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups wheat bran

approx. 1/3 cup of crystallized ginger (very small pieces), available in Whole Foods and most supermarkets

2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling- be careful)

2/3 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs (room temperature please)

raw sugar to sprinkle on top

Muffin cups (the paper kind are perfect)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees .

Combine flour, whole wheat flour, wheat bran, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, then make a well in the center.

Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla and eggs, and whisk it all together until well combined. Add this mixture into the flour mixture and stir well until moist. Mix in the crystallized ginger.

Coat muffin tins with baking spray. I use a 12 muffin tin. Spoon mixture into cups. I used a large tablespoon and just dropped in. (See picture.) Sprinkle raw sugar on  top of muffins before baking (use as much or as little as you like).

Bake for about 16 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Mine baked for 17 minutes. Let cool down and remove from pan onto wire rack. If you have no wire rack just a baking sheet will do.

Enjoy! These are delicious and pretty nutritious. Serving size should make about 24 muffins.

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Posted in Baked Goods, breakfast, muffins

Farro with Roasted Mushrooms

Posted on October 12, 2012 | 1 comment

Farro is one of the oldest grains cultivated by humans. It was originally found in the Middle East, and is now primarily grown in Italy. Farro is delicious and a good source of fiber, as well as protein and iron. It is a perfect source of protein for vegetarians. Farro looks and tastes a bit like brown rice, but it has a more fibrous texture and a nutty taste with hints of oats and barley. It holds its texture better than arborio rice when cooked, which makes it a perfect alternative to risotto. It has a crunchy, nutty complex flavor and is low in gluten. This evening I prepared it like a salad at room temperature. I then added it to my Caesar salad and it was wonderful. It is great on greens or as a side dish. I am going to be making this wonderful grain more and more and I especially can’t wait to make it for my vegetarian daughter.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked farro (I used Italian pearled farro)

Kosher salt

1/2 lb. mushrooms (I used cremini, but a mix of wild or any kind you prefer would be good too)

Olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

* finely chopped or crumbled parmesan – this is totally optional but added a delicious flavor

* a little chopped fresh parsley (I didn’t have any so I didn’t use, but it would be nice)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan,  prepare the farro according to directions on bag.  I bought the italian pearled type and it didn’t call for soaking, but a lot of farro needs to be soaked prior to cooking. I would suggest buying the type that doesn’t unless you have a lot of time.

While the farro is cooking, wipe and trim the mushrooms. I gave them a rough chop but left a lot of larger bite-sized pieces, don’t chop too small.   On a rimmed baking sheet spread the mushrooms out and drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to your liking (you can always add salt at the end). Toss gently to distribute everything, spread the mushrooms out evenly on the baking sheet and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. I like the mushrooms crispy around the edges.

Once the farro is cooked, drain it well, and allow it to cool down. I took the mushrooms off of the baking sheet with a slotted spatula, just to remove a bit of the liquid. When the farro and mushrooms have cooled down to room temperature or barely warm, I combined them in a serving bowl. I then add the lemon juice and I added 2 tablespoons of olive oil, but if that is not enough, you can add more a little bit at a time. There is some oil that gets left on mushrooms and it is enough. If you’d like, add the parmesan and parsley and taste for salt and pepper at this time. I served at room temperature. I also think it would be delicious with some chopped vegetables added, completely up to you. Joel even ate it.

* should serve 4 as a generous side dish

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Pumpkin Soup – Happy Fall

Posted on October 10, 2012 | 4 comments

Fall is here, and time to make soups, and hearty meals. Heartwarming and comforting is what comes to mind. This pumpkin soup is all of that–warm,sweet  and savory all at the same time. It contains cream; and I do use heavy cream, you can probably substitute regular milk or skim milk I figure there are 8 servings and only 1/2 cup of cream in the total so it’s not too too terrible. You can also substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth for a vegetarian style soup. It’s a smooth delicious soup, and served with a nice green salad and some crusty bread, it’s awesome! Happy Fall.

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken / vegetable stock ( either one)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 cups ( 2 cans) pumpkin puree ( not pie filling – be careful)

1 medium yellow onion chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme ( you can use fresh )

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup maple syrup

5 whole black peppercorns, or a few grinds of the pepper mill

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nice deep soup pot ( Le Creuset) add chopped onion and saute till translucent, add garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. When onion is translucent add stock, pumpkin, thyme, maple syrup and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low flame for at least 30 minutes uncovered.

With an immersion blender, ( if no immersion blender a regular blender or food processor will do, but then you need to do in batches of 1 cup at a time and let it cool down a bit)

Blend till well combined, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Taste for salt, the peppercorns get ground up and taste wonderful but you may want to add more pepper. Stir in heavy cream and stir well. Pour into soup bowls and enjoy!

You may want to sprinkle some fried onion rings on top. If I am pressed for time I take the onion rings right from the container ( French’s ) makes the best type and add to the soup for a little more flavor and crunch. Not too much just a taste. Of course a great crusty bread with butter and a delicious hard cheese needs nothing else but the soup.

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Posted on October 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Come on send me your recipes! There is still plenty of time but I have to start cooking the recipes!!!!! and judging!!!!!

cookingwithcandi's avatarCooking with Candi

I know that Thanksgiving is still a little far off, but I am always on the lookout for new Thanksgiving recipes, so I thought I would open it up to subscribers only. If you’re not already a subscriber, that can be easily taken care of! Just click “subscribe” on cookingwithcandi.com (it’s free). Once you’re signed up, enter to win a fun surprise CWC prize by submitting a Thanksgiving recipe entry. You can post the recipe directly on the site, or you can choose to email me. I will try the recipes, choose a winner and contact him or her to send the prize and I will, of course, post the winning recipe on the Thanksgiving blog. The deadline is November 5. You have plenty of time to plan and cook, so no rush and have fun with it! Good Luck! I look forward to hearing from all of you.

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Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake – I love Pumpkin

Posted on October 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s pumpkin time again! and I am clearly obsessed  with pumpkins. This is a pretty easy  to make bundt cake. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any time. You can make it ahead of time and freeze for another, or make two. While you’re making the mess anyway, you might as well bake two, and freeze one. Got this one from Gourmet Magazine. Just saying while I’m not a big raw cookie dough person I am a very big batter person and this batter was pretty delicious right out of the bowl!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan (or spray with Pam) I buttered this time

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can; not pie filling)

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs (room temp. is always best for baking)

Icing:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well shaken buttermilk

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

You will need a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter/spray bundt pan generously then dust with flour and knockout excess flour.

Whisk together flour ( 2 1/4 cups) , baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter ( 1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 – 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat another minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45 – 50 minutes. Cool cake on a rack for about 30 minutes, then invert cake , mine slid right out onto rack. I completely cooled cake for a few hours before I iced it. You can ice while cake is still warm however. I would let it sit for at least 1 hour before I iced though. It came out perfectly. Icing will get hard on the cake and be very white, it’s a beautiful presentation.

Icing:

While the cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container, I would ice it when I planned on serving it.

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Very Nutty Pasta – Vegetarian (can be Vegan) – Foriana Sauce

Posted on October 7, 2012 | 1 comment

This pasta dish is a sweet, salty, nutty, think out of the box kind of pasta.  I made it alongside chicken for dinner and it is a most delicious side dish which is completely vegetarian and if you leave out the parmesan it can also be completely vegan. It is perfect as a main vegetarian dish, too. Did it all in the food processor, cooked the pasta and tossed the nuts in some olive oil with raisins. The nuts have a lot of substance and add a lot of flavor to the spaghetti. Something a little different  and a rather adventurous pasta for sure. This recipe could probably yield enough for 2 boxes of pasta depending on how much sauce you like. I made 3/4 of a pound of pasta and didn’t use all the Foriana sauce. Original recipe is from Food52 Blog.  It can also be made with anchovies if you’re so inclined. (I would add about 5 and chop them up but I left them out this time.) If you are going to keep nut mixture in fridge without pasta I would put a thin layer of olive oil over it. It would keep like this in refrigerator for at least a week. When you’re ready to use it, bring it to room temperature, and heat it up well. You may need to add a little more olive oil to the pasta later; you’ll have to check the consistency. Think Nut Pesto.

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup pine nuts

10 cloves of garlic (nice size cloves)

3 teaspoons dried oregano

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup golden raisins

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3/4 lb. spaghetti (I used linguine fini but anything will do just fine)

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, if you like

Directions:

Place the walnuts, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and pulse to a fine chop. Add the oregano and pulse a few more times until combined together.

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, add the nut mixture, along with the raisins, and salt and pepper to taste (you will need a fair amount). Cook for about 5 minutes, being sure not to burn. Set aside.

I cooked pasta, reserving about a cup of pasta water in the event I needed to add liquid to my sauce. After cooking pasta according to directions on box ( al dente), I put pasta back in pot and started to add nut mixture to pasta; I also added a little pasta water till I got the consistency I wanted, tasted for salt and pepper and plated it up. I added Parmesan at the table as well as red pepper flakes. It was a very comforting, different pasta meal. The anchovies would certainly give it more bite but I  decided to keep it vegetarian.

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Cookie Dough with Nutella and Peanut Butter

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 1 comment

Fall is in the air , there is that little bit of crispness in the morning and for some unknown reason I feel like baking cookies.  This is a great cookie dough which is easy to prepare and contains  Nutella and Peanut Butter, so really how bad can this be? anything with Nutella and Peanut butter has to be good in my book. As I said I was in  a bit of a mood for baking cookies and made this recipe, baked up some of the dough and left the rest in freezer. Luckily I am not a cookie dough eater because this dough is pretty good. You can make this dough and leave it in the freezer for when you’re ready to use it.  Original recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. I left out the M&M’s but will add when I make for the kids. This is just simply a great little cookie. Perfect Halloween cookie, and the beauty of this is that whenever I feel the urge to bake up some cookies, I take out the dough and slice off what I need and return the dough to freezer! I love it! 🙂 Make them as small or large as you like. M&M’s make them more festive. Should store in freezer for a few months. (wrapped tightly)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup ( 2 sticks ) Salted Butter, softened at room temperature

1 1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar ( I used light brown sugar)

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

2 whole eggs (room temperature)

1 tablespoon Vanilla

2 Tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons Nutella

*1/2 cups very finely chopped Pecans

*3/4 cups M&M’s roughly chopped or mini M&M’s which would not require chopping

Directions:

Combine flour, instant coffee, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Cream together the butter with the sugars, scraping the bowl once down while mixing. Add eggs, mixing in one at a time, and add vanilla. Add peanut butter and Nutella and mix. Add in dry ingredients in stages, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl once and mix again. (Don’t overmix)

Add chopped pecans and M&M’s if you’re using them and mix gently with spatula (rubber) to combine.

Spoon dough on a long piece ( or 2 shorter pieces) of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Carefully roll the dough inside the wrap, pressing gently to get it to form into a firm cylinder. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours or place into the freezer for 20 – 30 minutes.

To bake the cookies:

when you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 degrees . Slice off as many cookies as you’d like and lay the slices on a baking sheet, I love the silicone mats. Thicker slices will need to be placed further apart. The cookies will bake up flat. Bake for 10 minutes, or until nice and golden brown. I sliced off rather thin slices and only baked for about 7 minutes, you’ll have to check depending on how thick you slice dough. These are just such nice cookies to serve made delicious by the chocolate/peanut butter flavor. How awesome to  have the dough in your freezer to slice off whenever you’re in the mood for a home baked cookie?

Enjoy!

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CWC Contest – win a prize for your recipe

Posted on October 1, 2012 | 3 comments

I know that Thanksgiving is still a little far off, but I am always on the lookout for new Thanksgiving recipes, so I thought I would open it up to subscribers only. If you’re not already a subscriber, that can be easily taken care of! Just click “subscribe” on cookingwithcandi.com (it’s free). Once you’re signed up, enter to win a fun surprise CWC prize by submitting a Thanksgiving recipe entry. You can post the recipe directly on the site, or you can choose to email me. I will try the recipes, choose a winner and contact him or her to send the prize and I will, of course, post the winning recipe on the Thanksgiving blog. The deadline is November 5. You have plenty of time to plan and cook, so no rush and have fun with it! Good Luck! I look forward to hearing from all of you.

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Posted in contest, Holiday, Holiday Recipes, Holiday/ Thanksgiving Recipes

Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Citrus Glaze

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 2 comments

Whenever I bake with cream cheese I never get a dry cake. It moistens the cake like nothing else.  I got this recipe out of Bon Appetit and it is nothing short of amazing. It is fairly simple , has a lot of citrus ingredients, lime, orange, and lemon but nothing exotic or difficult to obtain.  You’ll need a standard size loaf pan, I like the glass ones, but any kind will do just fine and you will need a zester that zests finely. (not a grater, a zester which you can buy at any kitchen supply store)  You can bake this cake a day ahead , and do the glaze before you’re about to serve. I cut the cake into 1/2 ” thick slices.

Ingredients:

parchment paper

nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs , room temperature

5 oz. ( 2/3 cup cream cheese) , room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Glaze:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar ( confectioner’s sugar)

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

1/4 tsp. finely grated lime zest

2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat loaf pan generously with nonstick spray. Line the bottom and long sides with parchment paper (see picture) you’ll want to leave about 1 1/2 ” overhang. Coat the paper with nonstick spray.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium size bowl, set aside. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and all the zest in another medium bowl, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese till blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture, beat on high-speed until very light and fluffy , 3 -4 minutes. Reduce speed to low setting, add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low-speed, gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend ( do not overbeat or cake will become tough) Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan; smooth top.

Bake cake until golden brown color and it springs back when gently pressed with your fingertips and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 – 70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool down in pan for 30 minutes at the least.

Meanwhile prepare glaze, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup. Using parchment paper overhang as an aid, remove cake from pan, peel off and discard any paper. Place cake top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. ( see picture) Using a skewer, pierce top of cake all over, inserting skewer about halfway through the cake.

Using a pastry brush , ( I love love the silicone ones) baste with lemon syrup. Use all of the syrup plus any that may have dripped onto baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.

Glaze:

Whisk all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that may have drpped into baking sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Spread over top and sides of cake. Let cake stand at room temperature until icing is set, this should take about 30 minutes or so.

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Posted on September 24, 2012 | 1 comment

Wonderful addition to the Yom Kippur breakfast table. Blintz Souffle. If you didn’t catch this recipe last time around here it comes again. It’s an oldie but goodie, have been making this one sine 1975. Super easy and a lovely addition to any breakfast/brunch table.

cookingwithcandi's avatarCooking with Candi

Here we go again…another holiday to cook for. Most of breaking the fast is taking in bagels, fish, etc. Easy to do. But I still try to make a few dishes and this recipe is an oldie but a goodie. I have been making this recipe since 1975 and it never gets old.  This dish can be assembled ahead of time, kept in the refrigerator and baked right before eating. This is a keeper and a tradition in my house. Always delicious. You can buy almost any of the frozen blintzes. Some stores have homemade ones, but it doesn’t really make that big of a difference with this recipe. Enjoy! This is super easy, with excellent results.

INGREDIENTS:

6 blintzes (you can use cheese or fruit-filled, whichever you like. Depending on how many people I’m feeding, I usually make 1 fruit and 1 cheese tray)

2 eggs

1/4 cup…

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