147/365 (May 27, 2010) – I’m outta time today. Was so busy sorting and editing about 3000 photos for printing that I just completely gave up on anything creative.
But I do have to say that I really do believe that every cook needs really good knives. They make life so much more pleasant in the kitchen. My big-ass chef’s knife is my favourite knife of all. My go-to knife of choice…if you will. I’ve had it since before I moved out from home. My Dad believed in good knives and bought me this one. Maybe it was a hint, although I don’t think he actually wanted me to move, after all, I did iron all his shirts for him.
Oh wow. Totally ignore those pumpkin bars I wrote about a few days ago. I mean, they are OK…. but this, this is amazing. Pumpkin Gingerbread. It’s a quickbread loaf and it is totally scrumptious. You don’t even need butter on it, at least not when it is freshly cooled.
So if you have a can of pumpkin in the cupboard and don’t feel like making a pie…try this, if you don’t have a can of pumpkin….go buy one!!
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Spiced Pumpkin Gingerbread
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1.4 tsp ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 large egg
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease bottom of 9×5-inch loaf pan.
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and mix well with a whisk.
Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, butter and egg in medium bowl; mix well.
Add pumpkin mixture to dry mixture; stir just until moistened (think “muffins”).
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. _________________________
OK, three cans of pumpkin and three cans of evaporated milk from the depths of the cupboard. Plus a can of pumpkin pie filling (stupid mistake at the grocery store) and another tiny can of evaporated milk. And then there are those three cans of condensed milk to deal with too.
One thing at a time though. First up is a recipe I found online. Pumpkin Squares!
Here goes! ____________
Pumpkin Squares
Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup quick-cooking oats
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
Filling
1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated Milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Topping
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Crust:
Beat flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in a small mixer until crumbly. Press onto bottom of an un-greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
Filling:
Beat pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in a large mixer bowl. until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Topping:
Combine brown sugar and nuts in small bowl; sprinkle over filling. Bake for an additional 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pile on the whipped cream!
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Basically, I think this is pumpkin pie in a rectangular pan over an oatmeal brown sugar shortbread crust…sounds good to me!
Do you ever look at your cupboards and realize that, for the most part, you live out of the first few inches? It gets scary to dig deeper because you never know what you will find. Long forgotten ingredients for something you thought you’d make, then forgot about, then lost the recipe for…
I knew I had two big cans of white beans back there somewhere, for a turkey chili recipe…that was in a book…. I realized I tossed recently. So I dug around on epicurious and came up with a recipe that I modified slightly (really, cooking is all about flexibility) to meet the ingredients I had on hand. And oh yum, on a crappy cold rainy day…this just hit the spot.
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Chicken and White Bean Chili
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 chopped onions
1 large red or orange bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb ground turkey thigh meat, or chicken breast meat (I used a combination)
3 ½ tablespoons chili powder (I only had 2 Tbsp left so I added a tsp of ancho chili powder to kick up the heat)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 15- to 16-ounce cans white beans, drained
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice (I only had one so I added some tomato sauce from a half a leftover jar in the fridge)
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (whoops, forgot to add that…I only had parsley anyway though so no matter)
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until chicken is no longer pink outside, about 5 minutes.
Mix in chili powder, tomato paste, cumin, and oregano. Add beans, 1 cup reserved bean juices, and canned tomatoes.
Simmer until chicken is cooked through and chili is thickened, about 25 minutes.
Season chili to taste with salt and pepper.
Mix in cilantro (or parsley…or nothing) and serve.
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Warmed up and sniffling now.
Next challenge is three cans of pumpkin, three cans of evaporated milk (don’t really know how many pies I planned to bake at some distant point in the past!), and three cans of sweetened condensed milk.
Pancakes. Comfort food. Even the word sounds comforting. Memories of weekend breakfasts at Granny and Grandad’s farm, at Grandma and Grandpa’s orchard, at our cabin, and at home too of course. Pancakes are awesome, easy, nourishing. Pancakes…cakes made in a pan. How can this “not” be a good thing?
Sure, I can see the argument for frozen pancakes, you know the ones, Eggo buttermilk pancakes in your frozen food aisle. I remember liking Eggo waffles, easy, in the toaster and waffles were suddenly an any day breakfast. Of course, home made waffles aren’t that difficult, but you do have to get the egg whites separated and whipped nicely, and if you have an old (my grandmother’s) cast iron waffle maker, count on tossing the first one out because it ALWAYS sticks.
But pancakes? From the frozen food section? No, can’t say I’ve ever done that. They are so darned simple to make.
Mix dry ingredients, make a well in the middle, add wet ingredients, mix until smooth.
Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake into the pan and cook until bubbles begin to form on top. Flip and cook other side until golden brown. Serve. Makes 8 servings.
Could that be any easier? One bowl, one pan, and a spoon or whisk to mix. Takes less than 5 minutes to mix and about 15 minutes to get them all cooked depending on the size of the pan and how many you make at once.
I suppose it could be easier. There are mixes out there, like Aunt Jemima’s or Bisquick. Or you could make your own mix (sans the wet ingredients) and then add the milk, egg and oil when you want to mix up a batch.
Or….as I discovered today…you can buy pancake batter in a spray can. Yes, you read that right. I was in Save-on-Foods picking up some ricotta and heavy cream to make some gnocchi tonight and I saw a spray can next to the butter. Ever the curious shopper, I wandered over to look and was flabbergasted to see what was on the label. It’s called Batter Blaster and it is pancake batter in a spray can.
I’m not making this up! It ranks right up there with spray cheese (remember that stuff!?!). Meet Batter Blaster! If I’d seen this video before seeing it in the store, I’d have thought it was a joke from The Rick Mercer Report or something. But here it is…..
Seriously, if this is something you want to do, I think it would probably work in an iSi Cream Whipper, you know, the thing with the CO2 cartridges that you can use to make your own home made whipped cream in a can….but know exactly what’s in it, and get to reuse the can over and over? I love ours…. but would never have thought of putting pancake batter in it….. whatever floats your boat I suppose….
