My husband asked me if I'd ever tried pumpkin butter before. And while it sounded intriguing, I wasn't so sure that it sounded yummy and I was rather reluctant to try it. Although it's the season for pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING, I'm not that big on it. I like the first pumpkin spice latte of the season, and pumpkin pie when it's holiday time, but that's about it! It's really just not my thing.
Because I absolutely love my husband to death, I agreed to making him a batch of pumpkin butter and told him to call his mom for the recipe. My mother-in-love makes some pretty awesome food, including her own home made custards, which I really need to get the recipe to! It can't hurt to make something my husband grew up with, that Mum made, just for old time's sake.
Her original recipe was
1 15oz can of pumpkin
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 tsp each- clove, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon
I wasn't feeling it. It didn't even taste like pumpkin. It honestly was just blah!
So, I tweaked. I added a little bit of brown sugar, just a table spoon at first. Meh. Still wasn't what either of us thought it should be.
Part of the reason I think, was that there were lumps of butter and lumps of pumpkin and bits of seasoning that just wasn't incorporated.
I got a little experimental, cause well at this point, it could only get better, right???
I popped some of the mixture into the microwave on half power for a minute, and stirred it up well. It was nice and warm, and it melted all the butter and the pumpkin thinned out some. So I warmed up about half of the mixture, to warm warm. Not hot, but not just "eh, warm" either. I added the warm stuff into the bowl of my stand mixer, and started beating everything together. It turned such a pretty creamy color that smelled wonderful.
It still lacked in flavor though. Normally in my mind, I associate pumpkin with either savory, like roasted pumpkin, or sweet, like pumpkin pie. "Pumpkin butter" kind of struck an "it should taste sweet" note in my head, so I went searching in my cupboard. Agave nectar would be too sweet, and I don't think the pairing of pumpkin and Agave would taste real well. Stevia has too much of an artificial sweetener taste in my mind, and I thought it would surely ruin it. I already tried a bit of brown sugar, and traditionally brown sugar is what is paired with things in the gourd family like pumpkin and squash. What you don't necessarily see paired with pumpkin a lot, is honey. Quality honey is something you should always have on hand, and it never goes bad! (Yes, it crystalizes, but if you boil a pot of water, and pour it into a bowl that has your honey bottle/jar in it-always vent your lid- it softens it back up like it is fresh again.)
I decided to add a little of both, until it tasted like what my mind said it should. I also added just a smidge of cinnamon, about 1/2 a teaspoon more.
What we came out with in the end after adding another half stick of Salted butter- because unsalted is a crime in my house- was delicious...
1 15oz can of pumpkin
1.5 sticks (aka 3/4 cup) of salted sweet cream butter
1 teaspoon each of clove, ginger, and nutmeg
1.5 teaspoons of Cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
and 2 tablespoons of honey.
Cream 1 stick of the butter to a whipped consistency (Stand mixer, med speed 5 minutes, scraping the bowl a couple times) melt the half stick.
Add about half the pumpkin to the creamed butter, and once it's fully incorporated, add the melted butter.
If the butter wasn't warm enough to help the other to melt, pop the pumpkin in the microwave for a few seconds, just until warm, and then beat it in to the mixture.
Add in your brown sugar and spices, and then your honey. Beat for several minutes on medium speed, until everything is combined. Don't forget to scrape your sides down! :D
Put in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. It's delicious on a warm tortilla- found here.
I personally liked it spread on my morning bagel as well.
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Impromptu Mac and Cheese- With Sausage, Corn, broccoli cheese soup, and mexican seasoning
In our family, we do a lot of semi-home made foods, because they're quick. My husband doesn't get out of work until 5, and it's about 40 minutes home when you factor in all the traffic. I have a hard time in the kitchen with my little one, because lately, she's been doing pull ups on my stove handle, and I don't enjoy the screeching if I gate her out. So, I do stuff that can be baked, boiled, and sauteed quickly once daddy gets home. Last night, we were cleaning until all hours, and when baby finally fell asleep, we realized we'd not eaten since early that morning. WHOOPS. After rummaging through my pantry, freezer, and cupboards, only one thing stuck out. Mac and Cheese. Oh the ooey gooey deliciousness of easy to fix mac and cheese. <3 Naturally though, just macaroni and processed cheese sauce powder mix are not nutritious enough to keep our bellies full. I kept looking, and pulled out some sausage, and some frozen corn. That sounded good! But what about all the stinking dishes that I'd have to do the next day?! Well, one can only assume that I would try and make a one pot meal from the stated ingredients. AH-HA! I had it! I ran to the pantry and pulled a can of creamy broccoli cheese soup from the shelf. I'd make Mac and Cheese, with Sausage, corn and to spruce it up, some extra sauciness. ;)
I can't show you how delicious it smelled in my kitchen, because they haven't made smell-a-vision yet, but I can tell you that it made my hungry belly growl!
First I sauteed the sausage to almost donenesss in my biggest, heaviest pot, and added in my frozen corn. Just that combination alone was enough, and I could have dug in- but alas, I really wanted macaroni! When the corn had just about finished cooking, I pulled it out of the pan and put it in a large bowl to sit while I boiled the water for the mac and cheese. I totally cheat and use boxed mac and cheese! Who has time or energy at nearly 9pm to make it from scratch? Definitely not me!
Once the noodles were done to my liking (I make them a little more done that most people) I strained them and began to build my sauce.
Into the pan went a stick of butter, about a cup of milk, the can of broccoli cheese soup, and the packets of powdered cheese. I mixed it all up with my electric hand mixer and let it heat through. Oh man did it smell fantastic.
Because the sausage I used was kind of a more mild/bland sausage, I added one of my favorites lately- The McCormick Mexican seasoning- just a couple teaspoons, and mixed it a bit more.
I folded in my corn and sausage mixture, and then the noodles. Turned the heat off and we dug in. OH MAN! Fantastic. I can't lie, it's horrible for you, but sometimes unhealthy just tastes great!
So if you're interested in trying it- here's the recipe!
2 boxes of your favorite mac and cheese
1 can broccoli cheese soup
1pound mild sausage
1 big bag of frozen corn-family sized is what I used
1 cup of milk
1 stick of butter
2 tsp McCormick Mexican seasonings
I hope you enjoy it as much as our family did! And for those that like left overs- TOTALLY left over worthy! It's great the next day for lunch too ;)
I can't show you how delicious it smelled in my kitchen, because they haven't made smell-a-vision yet, but I can tell you that it made my hungry belly growl!
First I sauteed the sausage to almost donenesss in my biggest, heaviest pot, and added in my frozen corn. Just that combination alone was enough, and I could have dug in- but alas, I really wanted macaroni! When the corn had just about finished cooking, I pulled it out of the pan and put it in a large bowl to sit while I boiled the water for the mac and cheese. I totally cheat and use boxed mac and cheese! Who has time or energy at nearly 9pm to make it from scratch? Definitely not me!
Once the noodles were done to my liking (I make them a little more done that most people) I strained them and began to build my sauce.
Into the pan went a stick of butter, about a cup of milk, the can of broccoli cheese soup, and the packets of powdered cheese. I mixed it all up with my electric hand mixer and let it heat through. Oh man did it smell fantastic.
Because the sausage I used was kind of a more mild/bland sausage, I added one of my favorites lately- The McCormick Mexican seasoning- just a couple teaspoons, and mixed it a bit more.
I folded in my corn and sausage mixture, and then the noodles. Turned the heat off and we dug in. OH MAN! Fantastic. I can't lie, it's horrible for you, but sometimes unhealthy just tastes great!
So if you're interested in trying it- here's the recipe!
2 boxes of your favorite mac and cheese
1 can broccoli cheese soup
1pound mild sausage
1 big bag of frozen corn-family sized is what I used
1 cup of milk
1 stick of butter
2 tsp McCormick Mexican seasonings
I hope you enjoy it as much as our family did! And for those that like left overs- TOTALLY left over worthy! It's great the next day for lunch too ;)
Friday, October 10, 2014
Homemade Flour Tortillas!
We all love tortillas in this house, especially me! After having weight loss surgery (WLS) in 2010, it became hard for me to tolerate regular breads, so to get my carbs, and my sandwich craving fulfilled, I use wraps!
I've purchased a lot of tortillas over the years, burrito style, soft taco, and "extra thick". Never ever did it occur to me to find my own recipe, and MAKE my own flour tortillas.
So, I found a recipe that I kinda liked, but I really didn't like that the fat/binder in it was shortening. Being that I has WLS, I sometimes have to look for the least evil ingredients to replace the most evil ingredients with. So I experimented! I tried variations of shortening and olive oil, and it just didn't taste good, and they were far drier than I wanted. Naturally, I wanted to try going with butter. Butter is my one true cooking love. I try to replace the worst fats with butter, because it's natural, and I never, ever use margarine.
Butter was the magic ingredient!
So here's what I came up with! A delicious, melt in your mouth, makes just enough for today's dinner, and tomorrow's lunch- for a family of 3-4!
3 cups of all purpose unbleached wheat flour.
1/2 tbs Salt
1/2 tbs baking powder NOT SODA
2 Tbs Olive Oil- canola would work too, but we always have EVOO in our house
1 stick of softened butter-room temp
1.5 cups of boiling water.
In a medium to large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, mix your dry ingredients. (If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment)
Cut in the butter, a chunk at a time, it should get crumbly, then pull together to a thick ball.
Add in the Olive oil.
Once all the flour and fats have come together, add your boiling water a little at a time. It gets slightly sticky, and may not take all of the water.
When your dough has come together, make sure to cover and let it rest. Letting it rest to develop the gluten is crucial to the tortillas being tender and fluffy. 15 minutes is optimal resting time, can be more, but I don't suggest any less than 10.
Flour your rolling board/counter top/wax paper, and remember to flour the rolling pin too! I found even a foot long section of 2" PVC pipe works awesome for rolling these too! Break off a ball of dough about 1.5" across for a decent size tortilla- just smaller than a golf ball. Pat a little flour on both sides, and roll it out. If you've eaten a tortilla before, you know just about how thick it needs to be.
Once you've gotten it rolled out, you're ready to pan sear it.
Heat a good sturdy skillet, cast iron works best because it heats evenly, and do not oil or grease it. You don't want to deep fry your tortilla.
Once the skillet is nice and hot, flop your tortilla in, and about 30 seconds on each side, twice will cook it through!
I can't wait to see how yours turn out! Send me pictures!
I've purchased a lot of tortillas over the years, burrito style, soft taco, and "extra thick". Never ever did it occur to me to find my own recipe, and MAKE my own flour tortillas.
So, I found a recipe that I kinda liked, but I really didn't like that the fat/binder in it was shortening. Being that I has WLS, I sometimes have to look for the least evil ingredients to replace the most evil ingredients with. So I experimented! I tried variations of shortening and olive oil, and it just didn't taste good, and they were far drier than I wanted. Naturally, I wanted to try going with butter. Butter is my one true cooking love. I try to replace the worst fats with butter, because it's natural, and I never, ever use margarine.
Butter was the magic ingredient!
So here's what I came up with! A delicious, melt in your mouth, makes just enough for today's dinner, and tomorrow's lunch- for a family of 3-4!
3 cups of all purpose unbleached wheat flour.
1/2 tbs Salt
1/2 tbs baking powder NOT SODA
2 Tbs Olive Oil- canola would work too, but we always have EVOO in our house
1 stick of softened butter-room temp
1.5 cups of boiling water.
In a medium to large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, mix your dry ingredients. (If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment)
Cut in the butter, a chunk at a time, it should get crumbly, then pull together to a thick ball.
Add in the Olive oil.
Once all the flour and fats have come together, add your boiling water a little at a time. It gets slightly sticky, and may not take all of the water.
When your dough has come together, make sure to cover and let it rest. Letting it rest to develop the gluten is crucial to the tortillas being tender and fluffy. 15 minutes is optimal resting time, can be more, but I don't suggest any less than 10.
Flour your rolling board/counter top/wax paper, and remember to flour the rolling pin too! I found even a foot long section of 2" PVC pipe works awesome for rolling these too! Break off a ball of dough about 1.5" across for a decent size tortilla- just smaller than a golf ball. Pat a little flour on both sides, and roll it out. If you've eaten a tortilla before, you know just about how thick it needs to be.
Once you've gotten it rolled out, you're ready to pan sear it.
Heat a good sturdy skillet, cast iron works best because it heats evenly, and do not oil or grease it. You don't want to deep fry your tortilla.
Once the skillet is nice and hot, flop your tortilla in, and about 30 seconds on each side, twice will cook it through!
I can't wait to see how yours turn out! Send me pictures!
Loaded Grillers
In honor of National Taco day
last week, we made loaded grillers. I got the idea when we went out for a
quick dinner before youth group one night, and hit up Taco Bell. They
have a fantastic loaded griller selection, and I had to recreate them!
I've recently invested in a Panini press and thought that it would work fantastic for them... I was right ;)
I have recently been introduced to the wonderful world of uncooked tortillas. They are FANTASTIC for this. I even made my own! They're so easy, and I'll record the recipe for them in the next post.
What you'll need:
Ground meat of your choice- we chose turkey, and it was FANTASTIC
McCormic Mexican seasoning
Salsa
Frozen, or fresh corn
cheese-the shredded kind
Black beans and rice
cooked peppers and onions are also optional
First, I always make a huge batch of black beans and rice, and I keep it in the freezer.
1 pound rice, 2 to 3 cans of black beans (15.5 oz) cook rice to "al'dente" add your beans, and cook the rest of the way through. I drain and slightly rinse my beans, but that's all in the eye of the beholder. Personally the purple slime doesn't appeal to me. ;)
Brown your turkey in a small amount of oil/fat, be it butter, EVOO, or even some bacon grease. Just needs some fat, because turkey is extremely lean. Add in a teaspoon per pound of meat. It's pretty strong stuff. If you like your taco meat strong, by all means, add a little extra, it won't hurt the flavor at all!
Now, here comes the fun part! ;D
To assemble these, I put a raw tortilla on a cutting board (flour it a little first, they may stick) and put a spoon full each of the some what cooled meat, rice and beans, cool corn, a tablespoon or so of shredded cheese, and about a half tablespoon of salsa. Just pile it all together. It all combines and marries together in the press.
Roll it up carefully, taking the sides, and crossing them together, then pulling the bottom up, and slowly, carefully rolling the tortilla and it's contents upward.
Slightly butter your panini press, and put the almost ready to eat griller in. Shut the lid, and wait! About 2-3 minutes in the press and you're golden brown loaded griller is ready to eat!
Now, don't worry if you don't have a press, what you can do, is take two skillets, the larger on the bottom, and the smaller on the top. Wash the bottom of your smaller/top skillet well, and dry. Put them together, stacked, to heat on the stove. Once you can feel the heat coming from the top one, lift it, butter lightly the bottom of the top skillet, and put your wrap in the bottom one, press down the top skillet on your griller and let it heat through! :D
I hope you find this as super delicious as we did! :D Enjoy!
I've recently invested in a Panini press and thought that it would work fantastic for them... I was right ;)
I have recently been introduced to the wonderful world of uncooked tortillas. They are FANTASTIC for this. I even made my own! They're so easy, and I'll record the recipe for them in the next post.
What you'll need:
Ground meat of your choice- we chose turkey, and it was FANTASTIC
McCormic Mexican seasoning
Salsa
Frozen, or fresh corn
cheese-the shredded kind
Black beans and rice
cooked peppers and onions are also optional
First, I always make a huge batch of black beans and rice, and I keep it in the freezer.
1 pound rice, 2 to 3 cans of black beans (15.5 oz) cook rice to "al'dente" add your beans, and cook the rest of the way through. I drain and slightly rinse my beans, but that's all in the eye of the beholder. Personally the purple slime doesn't appeal to me. ;)
Brown your turkey in a small amount of oil/fat, be it butter, EVOO, or even some bacon grease. Just needs some fat, because turkey is extremely lean. Add in a teaspoon per pound of meat. It's pretty strong stuff. If you like your taco meat strong, by all means, add a little extra, it won't hurt the flavor at all!
Now, here comes the fun part! ;D
To assemble these, I put a raw tortilla on a cutting board (flour it a little first, they may stick) and put a spoon full each of the some what cooled meat, rice and beans, cool corn, a tablespoon or so of shredded cheese, and about a half tablespoon of salsa. Just pile it all together. It all combines and marries together in the press.
Roll it up carefully, taking the sides, and crossing them together, then pulling the bottom up, and slowly, carefully rolling the tortilla and it's contents upward.
Slightly butter your panini press, and put the almost ready to eat griller in. Shut the lid, and wait! About 2-3 minutes in the press and you're golden brown loaded griller is ready to eat!
Now, don't worry if you don't have a press, what you can do, is take two skillets, the larger on the bottom, and the smaller on the top. Wash the bottom of your smaller/top skillet well, and dry. Put them together, stacked, to heat on the stove. Once you can feel the heat coming from the top one, lift it, butter lightly the bottom of the top skillet, and put your wrap in the bottom one, press down the top skillet on your griller and let it heat through! :D
I hope you find this as super delicious as we did! :D Enjoy!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Thick and fluffy buttercream frosting
I've got a tried and true butter cream, that is just too good not to share! I've tried it on cupcakes, cookies, and cakes! It's thick, so it's piping bag friendly, and it hardens well to do sugar cookies with! In fact, I just made my daughter's first birthday cupcakes with this, and made them with Raspberry and Mint extracts instead of Vanilla, and they were FANTASTIC!! It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.
First, you need a few simple ingredients, that I've always got in my pantry.
Powdered sugar - 5 cups- Sifted
Heavy Cream or Whole Milk Room temp - 2-4 tablespoons (add/subtract to alter frosting consistency)
Vanilla extract - 1-2 teaspoons
Unsalted butter - 1 stick- Softened
Small pinch of salt- about 1/4 teaspoon
Tools you'll need:
Medium to large mixing bowl
Electric mixer
Rubber scraper
Here's how to!
Put your softened, unsalted butter in a medium to large mixing bowl. Beat it on high for no less than 5 minutes. You need the butter to be a whipped consistency for this to work. Once the butter is whipped (You'll notice the color go from the dark yellow it normally is, to a pale, creamy, white color) add in about half of your confectioners sugar in small batches. I like to add a half cup at a time, just because it flies all over the kitchen in my mixer if I don't ;) It doesn't take long to get it all in, I promise! Now, add your flavoring and scrape down the sides. For traditional buttercream, use Vanilla Extract. You can use vanilla essence if that's what you have, but it takes more to get that rich vanilla flavor. I've use everything from mint, to almond, to orange. It's so versatile!
Add your salt, and about two tablespoons of the cream. Beat the mixture on high for about a minute, just so the salt dissolves, and the cream is fully incorporated. Make sure to scrape the sides down! :) Time to add more sugar! Again, just a bit at a time. Once all your sugar is incorporated, Beat on high for five minutes. Check the consistency- It should be nice and thick. It should stay on the spoon firmly, and need some help getting off- it takes a good flick. If it seems too thick for what you're after, feel free to add a couple more tablespoons of cream and beat again. If you're piping, keep it kind of thick. If you're frosting cookies, make it a little thinner- it does harden if you leave it open to the air overnight, or at least 2 hours.
I hope you enjoy it! It has made a lot of happy people in my family!
First, you need a few simple ingredients, that I've always got in my pantry.
Powdered sugar - 5 cups- Sifted
Heavy Cream or Whole Milk Room temp - 2-4 tablespoons (add/subtract to alter frosting consistency)
Vanilla extract - 1-2 teaspoons
Unsalted butter - 1 stick- Softened
Small pinch of salt- about 1/4 teaspoon
Tools you'll need:
Medium to large mixing bowl
Electric mixer
Rubber scraper
Here's how to!
Put your softened, unsalted butter in a medium to large mixing bowl. Beat it on high for no less than 5 minutes. You need the butter to be a whipped consistency for this to work. Once the butter is whipped (You'll notice the color go from the dark yellow it normally is, to a pale, creamy, white color) add in about half of your confectioners sugar in small batches. I like to add a half cup at a time, just because it flies all over the kitchen in my mixer if I don't ;) It doesn't take long to get it all in, I promise! Now, add your flavoring and scrape down the sides. For traditional buttercream, use Vanilla Extract. You can use vanilla essence if that's what you have, but it takes more to get that rich vanilla flavor. I've use everything from mint, to almond, to orange. It's so versatile!
Add your salt, and about two tablespoons of the cream. Beat the mixture on high for about a minute, just so the salt dissolves, and the cream is fully incorporated. Make sure to scrape the sides down! :) Time to add more sugar! Again, just a bit at a time. Once all your sugar is incorporated, Beat on high for five minutes. Check the consistency- It should be nice and thick. It should stay on the spoon firmly, and need some help getting off- it takes a good flick. If it seems too thick for what you're after, feel free to add a couple more tablespoons of cream and beat again. If you're piping, keep it kind of thick. If you're frosting cookies, make it a little thinner- it does harden if you leave it open to the air overnight, or at least 2 hours.
I hope you enjoy it! It has made a lot of happy people in my family!
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