Happy Halloween

French Saturday with Dorie: Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

What a crazy, busy week it has been. Even though this post is late, I simply could not miss making the stuffed pumpkin. I was so glad to have some down time today, and I am very, very glad that I made this recipe. 

This is one of the recipes I have been waiting to make ever since I bought Around My French Table. Luckily I had bought the sugar pie pumpkins last Sunday and had all the ingredients, so I didn't have to make a trip to the grocery store this morning. I used Gruyère cheese for the stuffing and added some dino kale that I sautéed in some of the bacon grease before adding to the bread and herb mixture. I baked them for an hour and then removed their tops and let them bake another 20 minutes to brown the stuffing a bit.

The heavy cream makes the stuffing just moist enough without being soggy and the herbs combined with the bacon, bread, and kale is just about the most wonderful flavor when you mix it with the cooked pumpkin. Dorie suggests two different ways to serve this: one is the pull-and-mix where you use a spoon to scoop some of the stuffing and some of the pumpkin out at the same time, and the other is cutting the pumpkin into wedges. I served it the pull-and-mix way and ate that smaller pumpkin all by myself. Yep. All. By. Myself. 

Don't forget to visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what creative ideas the other members came up with for this week's recipe. And if you haven't made this yet, you'll want to try it for yourself. It would be fantastic served along with Thanksgiving dinner. You can find the recipe at Epicurious. 

BAKED Sunday Morning: Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

I was so ready to make these chocolate mint thumbprint cookies for this week's BAKED Sunday Morning because I have been baking so much with pumpkin lately that I needed a little chocolate fix and when you throw in some mint, well, that's even better.

I used some Valhrona cocoa powder and since these seemed like they would be extra special cookies I even broke down and bought some Valhrona white chocolate for the white ganache filling.

The cookie dough was easy to make and it was the first time I used the little Andes baking mints and they melted nicely along with the dark Ghiradelli chocolate. I used the handle end of my cherry pitter to make the indentations in the cookies which I thought worked well.

But I must have made crater-size indentations because I ran low on the white ganache filling even though I made the amount the recipe called for and only made 1/2 of the cookie dough. I had just barely enough for 24 cookies. These are absolutely delicious cookies and I think they are special enough to make not only for holidays, but for any day you want to put a smile on someone's face. The mint with the dark chocolate and white chocolate is wonderful together.

This has nothing to do with the cookies, but I couldn't resist showing you a picture of our cat. Her official name is Sophie, but we have called her Little One since day one and it has stuck. This was one of those rare days that I was able to take a fairly decent picture of her. She is my husband's baby girl. Oh, she loves me too, but she loves him more. She follows him around like a puppy dog.

Be sure to check out the links of the other BAKED Sunday Mornings members to see if they made the chocolate mint thumbprints or decided to bake something else from BAKED Explorations. You can also find the recipe for these cookies over there.

French Friday with Dorie: Pissaladière

Pissaladière is basically an onion pizza with Niçoise olives originating from Nice. It has no tomato sauce, no cheese - nothing else. As much as I wanted to make it like the pizzas we are used to eating, I resisted the impulse and followed Dorie's recipe. 

I was happy when I found the Niçoise-style olives at Whole Foods because I had struck out at a few of the grocery stores and since we had never had Niçoise olives before, I wanted to include them in the pissaladière.

The dough was easy to make and while it was rising, I made the onions. The onions took all of the hour to cook and while I was chopping the anchovies I wondered how everyone was going to like this. We never eat pizza with anchovies - Never, so I decided not to adorn it with the anchovies because no one in my house would touch the pissaladière, including myself. There is something about those little fillets, besides the fact that we never eat them, that is off-putting and I didn't want everyone to be turned off and not try the Pissaladière, so I only mixed the anchovies in with the onions because I knew they would melt away and just flavor the onions.

All of us liked the pissaladière and although it will never replace the American-Italian pizza that we are used to, all of us thought it was good and were happy to have tried it. You can find this recipe on pp. 45-47 in Around My French Table and you can also find it online. Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what the other group members thought of this week's recipe.

leaf

Finally, a garden magazine has joined the ranks of the free online magazines with the launch of Leaf Magazine.

The premier issue of Leaf is full of garden inspiration and inspiration drawn from the outdoors. This issue includes articles on a little known, but prolific American landscape designer, Ellen Biddle Shipman; the wonderfully creative garden of landscape designer, Dustin Gimbel; and master basket artist, Kari Lonning, who weaves the Norwegian landscape into her baskets. 

Beautiful, right? 

the french chef birdhouse

How cute is this Julia Child-inspired birdhouse?! From New Inspiration Home Design. (via Words and Eggs)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

I have a penchant for quick breads, so it was a no brainer for me when Di from Di's Kitchen Notebook e-mailed about her autumn seasonal blog event and that she had chosen handmade loaves - we could bake anything that is made in a loaf pan - even meat loaf, if we wanted. When I made the pumpkin whoopie pies from the BAKED New Frontiers in Baking book a few weeks ago, I saw a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf that I thought would be perfect for Di's event.

I adapted the recipe from the original by using dark brown sugar in addition to white sugar. I liked the combination so much in the pumpkin whoopie pies and thought it would be good for the quick bread as well, and it was. The dark brown sugar gives the bread a rich, dark color. It is a delicious, moist bread and has just the right ratio of chocolate to pumpkin. This is a quick bread that I am happy to add to my autumn baking repertoire.

Visit Di's Kitchen Notebook to see what she baked for the event and in a few days she will be posting a round up of the loaves of the other bakers who participated in this event. Can't wait to see what everyone baked!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf
(adapted from BAKED New Frontiers in Baking)


Makes one loaf

1-1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup room-temperature water
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a loaf pan and dust with flour; knock out excess flour. (I used Baker's Joy and it worked fine).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and oil until combined. Add the sugars and whisk again. Whisk the eggs into the mixture, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add 2/3 cup room-temperature water and whisk until combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Gently knock the bottom of the pan against the countertop to even out the batter. Use the spatula to smooth the tops.

Bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. I tested my loaf at 45 minutes and it was done and already getting dark around the edges. The recipe in the book is for two loaves and it said to bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. You should adjust the time depending on your oven.

Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a wire rack and cool completely before serving.

The loaf will keep for 3 days (if it lasts that long), wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.

BAKED Sunday Morning: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

If you have ever wanted to turned your breakfast of oatmeal into a cake, then this week's BAKED Sunday Mornings recipe is for you. It is a super moist, delicious cake that is good at any time of the day.

There were a couple of interesting steps to this recipe. When I first saw the recipe, I thought it would just have rolled oats as an ingredient, but I didn't realize until I read the recipe through that you actually make oatmeal with a stick of butter, the rolled oats, and 1-1/4 cups of boiling water. After letting it set and cool for 30 minutes, you add it to the rest of the ingredients to make your batter.

Another interesting step to this recipe is that you add bourbon, Scotch, or other liquor to the semi-sweet chocolate chips. I used a 1/2 teaspoon of bourbon and per the recipe's instructions added the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat them so the chocolate morsels wouldn't all settle to the bottom of the cake pan. The only change I made was the recipe suggested baking the cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, but I decided to use 9-inch square pan and reduced the baking time to 35 minutes.

I didn't make this cake with the cream cheese frosting because you-know-who prefers his cake without, but I had some leftover cream cheese frosting from the pumpkin whoopie pies I made, so spread a little bit on my piece. It was good with a thin layer of frosting, but really it is the kind of cake that needs no frosting and tastes better without. The oatmeal and chocolate chips make this cake so moist and since some of the rolled oats didn't soften totally there is a bit of texture to the cake which is quite wonderful. It is a perfect 'snacking' cake and disappeared in no time. 

I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! I hope you have a Thanksgiving filled with love and many blessings!

French Friday with Dorie: Olive-Olive Cornish Hens

It's hard to believe that it is another French Friday with Dorie and that we have been cooking together together for over a year now! I have learned so much this past year of cooking through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. There have been so many good recipes and meals this past year that have brought me and my family so much pleasure and have certainly helped me hone my culinary skills. I don't often fix a whole chicken or bird and even though I have seen the technique, I have never fixed a bird en crapaudine, or spatchcocked, but it is a wonderful way of cooking the bird evenly.

For this recipe, you make the olive tapenade. I used California black olives and even used half of an anchovy, a little rosemary and thyme. Added a pinch of cayenne pepper, some lemon juice, and extra-virgin olive oil. You put the tapenade under the breast skin of the cornish hen after you have removed its backbone and flattened it to put in the pan.

Twenty-five minutes later, you have a perfectly cooked cornish hen. Even though I served it rustic-style, it made a delicious and elegant dinner.

I served it with some roasted vegetables and green lentils (recipe from the October issue of Whole Living) which went perfectly with the cornish hen and olive tapenade. One bird was just enough for the two of us and John thought it was a great meal. This is definitely something I will make again. I can't wait to read what the other FFwDorie members thought about this week's recipe. You can check out their olive-olive cornish hens by visiting the French Friday with Dorie link.

Roasted Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup

The first rain storm of the season arrived last night, so a hot bowl of soup was in order for dinner. This soup takes only about 15 minutes of time to prep and 50 minutes or so longer before you have it to the table. The sweetness of the butternut squash is balanced perfectly with the flavors of cumin and coriander. It's a thick and chunky soup that is so very satisfying on a cold, rainy autumn evening.

Roasted Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup (from Everyday Food)

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 medium butternut squash (about 2-1/2 lbs.) peeled, seeded, and diced
1 small yellow onion, medium diced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet, toss together chicken, squash, onion and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer and roast until squash and chicken are cooked through, about 30 minutes. (I used two pans and roasted my chicken on one and the squash and onions on the other)

2. Transfer chicken to a plate and let cool. Transfer squash and onion to a medium-size pot and add broth, cumin, and corinander. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. With a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon, mash some vegetables until soup is thick and chunky. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Cut or shred meat into small pieces and add to soup. Stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh cilantro, if desired.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I've been craving pumpkin for weeks now and finally found some cans at my grocery store, so when I got home I decided to make pumpkin whoopie pies. This recipe is from Matt Lewis's and Renato Poliafito's first book, BAKED: New Frontiers in Baking. The extra dose of cinnamon and dark brown sugar make these special and I can understand why Time Out New York named these one of the top 100 tastes of 2007.

These whoopie pies are moist little pumpkin cakes and are super delicious. It didn't take any time at all to whip up a batch with the cream cheese filling. My craving has finally been satisfied. You can find the recipe online here.