Pumpkin Gingerbread

I've posted two sweet bread recipes previously (Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread and Banana Gingerbread), which I would've sworn (and probably did swear) were the best ever! Well, they were good, but this amazing loaf is even better. I'd love to cite the original recipe source, but it's been languishing in my file too long to say where it came from! 

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Batter:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon ginger

Topping:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350  degrees and grease a 9x5x3" loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, sift together 1 cup of the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda.

3. Add pumpkin, molasses, eggs, butter, milk and ginger. Blend well.

4.Add remaining flour and beat well to combine.

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan. For topping, mix walnuts and sugar together and sprinkle over batter. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.

7. Cool on wire rack. Wrap in plastic wrap for storage. Though I didn't try it yet, this bread should freeze well, too.

My family is so-o-o-o glad I finally tried this one. It's their new favorite- and mine, too! Try it and let me know what you think.

Perfectly Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Every year I toast the pumpkin seeds from our jack-o-lantern. And every year I don't like the way they turn out- usually burnt. Until this year! I present to you my process, arrived at through much trial and error, for:

Perfectly Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

What you need:

rimmed metal baking sheet or pan

seeds from 1 pumpkin (probably somewhere between 1 and 2 cups)

olive oil

salt

Here's what I did:

1. I did not bother to rinse my pumpkin seeds. I just picked out the really big pieces and left most of the little stringy stuff. As someone else suggested, a little pumpkin goo never hurt anybody, and adds even more flavor. It dries up when you bake the seeds.

2. I read somewhere that it would be a good idea to spread out the seeds in a single layer to dry overnight. So I did. This seemed preferable to boiling the seeds in salty water prior to baking, as another website suggested. Both methods claim to make them easier to eat if you plan to eat the entire seed rather than cracking it open to get just the tender kernel inside.  I really don't think I'd go to all this trouble for a few tiny morsels.

3. When you're ready to roast, toss the seeds with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil (in my failed attempts I used regular vegetable oil) and salt to taste.

4. Place on a greased rimmed metal baking sheet or pan in a single layer.

5. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and bake until the seeds are lightly browned and fragrant.

For how long, you ask? 
I think this is the important part:

6. Depended on how many seeds you're toasting, how thick or thin your seeds are, how dark your baking pan is, how well your oven is calibrated, how much oil you used, and Lord knows how many other factors, this will probably take between 10 and 30 minutes (some say up to 45). I wouldn't believe any recipe or chef who presumes to give you an exact time. Mine took 20 minutes. About half-way through I took them out, shook the pan, and tasted one to check their progress. When they're done: they smell delicious, appear nicely browned, and taste crispy but are easy to bite into and chew. Sort of like an APGAR score for pumpkin seeds!

I think you can store these in an airtight container for about a week, but you won't need to!

And just to prove I'm a gourmet, the wine pairing for Perfectly Toasted Pumpkin Seeds is Lucky Duck Riesling ($3 a bottle at WalMart).
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CRAZY WEATHER, INDEED

Sandy didn't mess with us much here in the New River Valley, but it's just not right to wake up to snow on the day before Halloween!

Snow on the ground, leaves still on the trees... What the...?

Pumpkin Carving & Banana Gingerbread

We've always used a drywall saw and a kitchen knife to carve of jack-o-lanterns. They usually turn out cute.

Last year, since a friend recommended it, but mostly because I'm a sucker for any holiday stuff that's marked 75% off, we bought a stencil book and pumpkin carving set for a little less than a buck. The little plastic  utensils looked like they might fall apart or break during the first use, but we figured the stencils alone would be worth what we paid.

I was smart enough to pack it away with the Halloween costumes and decorations, so we actually remembered we had it! Well, the stencils were all a bit big for our pumpkin. So we made our own with white paper and a Sharpie. We notched each corner so it would fit better, and taped it on the pumpkin.

We tried a new technique this year which made the pumpkin easier to handle: carve the facial features first, then cut out the top opening!



I think he's our best ever jack-o-lantern! And our easiest. Those cheap little precision tools actually worked great, didn't break, and did a better job than the stuff we used to grab out of our toolbox! We got much smoother cuts with the little saws, and the tiny plastic "drill" made it easier to get started. The best tool of all was the flat plastic scoop/scraper we used to get the strings, pulp and seeds out of the pumpkin.

And, as a bonus, our orange friend held an abundance of seeds, which are spread out to dry for roasting tomorrow night!

"Don't forget about me... I'm orange, too..."

Milburn didn't like having orange competition, so he tried to get us to let him in through the kitchen window. Notice that his left ear is all torn up- he fights with an orange cat down the street that has only half a tail.

Freezing Bananas to Use in Baking

Madeline made Banana Gingerbread from a recipe I clipped from Better Homes & Gardens years ago. As always, my changes are in italics to make one large loaf rather than three minis.  Pictured here are both my "babies"- my KitchenAid stand mixer is in the background to the left of my daughter. The mixer's been with me a lot longer!

Bread/cake recipes work best with very ripe, brown-spotted bananas. We had some at that stage last Friday when we decided to go out of town for the weekend. So I threw them in the freezer, peel and all. Here's what they looked like when they came out.

You just peel them, let them thaw a bit, and bake with them. You can also peel them first and freeze them in Ziploc bags, but that just seems like an extra step to me. They come in their own packaging, after all.

Banana Gingerbread

Yield/Servings: 3 loaves (I prefer to make 1 large loaf)
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
1/2 cup butter (sometimes I use 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce- just as good!)
1/2 cup molasses
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
Directions:
Combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add mashed bananas, butter and molasses. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, then on high speed for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour and eggs; beat until blended. Stir in nuts.
Divide batter among 3 greased 5 1/2 x 3 x 2-inch loaf pans (or 1 regular-sized loaf pan). Bake at 350 for 40 minutes (about an hour for 1 large loaf) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly on wire rack.

Wrap in plastic wrap when almost cool. Actually tastes better the next day, like most fruit/veggie breads.

Here's hoping Frankenstorm doesn't bring us a blizzard for Halloween! 

Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I discovered this recipe last fall, and was thrilled to share it with my sewing friend, Allison. She looked it over and started asking questions-

Allison: Where did you get fresh basil and sage?
ME: I didn't. I used a few dried herbs from my cabinet.
Allison: Did you get the pecorino Romano from Kroger?
ME: No, I used the Parmesan cheese in the shaker canister.
Allison: I thought Steve didn't like garlic.
ME: He doesn't, so I left it out. But I snuck in a little garlic powder.

You get the idea. So, I am pleased to pass this family favorite along to you, with my adaptations in italics.

Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Country Living/ October 2011

24 jumbo pasta shells (cook the whole box, they don't all survive intact!) 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I didn't use this, although it probably keeps them moister)

22 ounces (2 1/2 cups)  fat-free ricotta (my container was a few ounces more, but I used the whole thing)

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (I have used both puree and solid pack pumpkin, which is easier to find at the store. Both work.) 

2 1/2 ounces (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)pecorino Romano, grated (I used grated parmesan from the shaker canister)

1 large egg white

2 garlic cloves, minced (I substituted a little garlic powder)

1 cup fresh basil and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage (I used 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, basil, parsley and marjoram instead)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 (26 ounce) jar store-bought tomato sauce (I used a 24 ounce can of Hunt's Four Cheese spaghetti sauce)

1. Cook pasta shells according to package instructions; drain. Transfer to a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Set aside and let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, pumpkin, 3/4 cup of pecorino Romano, and remaining ingredients, except tomato sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Spread sauce in bottom of 9x13" baking dish. Fill each pasta shell with about 3 tablespoons ricotta-pumpkin mixture and arrange in pan. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining pecorino, and bake for 15 minutes more. (If desired, stuff shells the night before and refrigerate overnight in an airtight container, in between layers of plastic wrap; arrange shells on sauce right before baking.) This might be where the drizzle of olive oil would come in handy.

I refrigerate what's left over and microwave future servings as needed. It's just as delicious the second (and third) time around.

If you are intimidated by the idea of stuffing the shells, don't be! I was, too, but if I can do it I know you can. Figure out how 3 tablespoons of filling relates to a 1/4 cup measuring cup, and use that- it's easier than spooning out 3 separate tablespoons each time. Hold the shell in your palm, propping it open with your thumb and forefinger. Fill it with the measuring cup in the other hand. Since my larger container of ricotta makes a bit of extra filling, I am usually able to generously stuff about 28 shells, which is about how many usually don't fall apart before I can get them stuffed. 

For another great pumpkin treat, try my favorite Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread recipe. 

Be on the lookout for my upcoming experiments with Parmesan Pumpkin pasta sauce!

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

As mentioned in a previous post, I had promised my family pumpkin bread. Even they know it doesn't taste any better when baked in a $30 Williams-Sonoma pumpkin motif pan (which I don't own), but I wouldn't have blamed them for thinking that the $16.95 pumpkin-spice bread mix (which I also didn't buy) might have been just a little bit tastier than anything I could whip up on my own. But, as I mentioned, I have a few tried-and-true recipes in the "Fall bread/cake" category, so I pulled one out (changed it a little, embellished it a little), and out came a loaf of Cranberry Pumpkin Bread. Added bonus: Mabz came down the stairs exclaiming how delicious the kitchen smelled!

The original recipe called for two cups of sugar, and that's the way I've made it in the past, which was certainly delicious, but one cup of sugar is 774 calories! So I reduced the sugar to one cup this time, and added some chopped walnuts. We all thought the bread was delicious, but I should have known better than to mention my little sugar experiment... So today I made another full-sugar loaf, and at dinner we had a taste test. My husband chose the lower-sugar version as the better one, and my daughter admitted that she couldn't tell the difference. Ha!

Here's the recipe if you want to try it:

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

(adapted from Libby's canned pumpkin)

Makes 1 loaf.

2 slightly beaten eggs

1 cups sugar

1/2 vegetable oil

1 cup solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)**

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped cranberries*

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix well (with fork or whisk).  

Combine flour, spice, soda and salt in a larger mixing bowl. Make a well in the center.
Pour pumpkin mixture into well and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Stir in cranberries and nuts.
Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9"x5" loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for approximately one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

It's best to let it cool in the pan, then wrap the loaf in plastic wrap. It tastes even better the next day. This bread also freezes well, either the whole loaf or slices stored in baggies- great for lunchboxes!

*Cranberries may not be available in your area yet. My family likes cranberry sauce all year 'round, so I buy bags of them in-season to keep in my freezer. They'll last in good condition until the next holiday season.
** I also stock up on canned pumpkin beginning around Halloween, since it's often hard to find throughout the year.