Holiday Soiree: Pumpkin Extravaganza

Holiday Soiree: Pumpkin Extravaganza
So, like last week, there wasn't a specific holiday for this week either, but I decided to continue with the use of autumn and Halloween-themed ingredients. This week was pumpkin, in canned form. I looked through my recipes and found a really interesting recipe for pumpkin French toast that used canned pumpkin in the egg wash. It called for a hearty bread, and when I ran across another recipe for pumpkin egg bread, I knew I'd found what I needed. Pumpkin French toast made with pumpkin bread? That so needed to be a thing! This turned out to be a great meal, and none of it was very difficult to do.

The first recipe is for the bread. Most pumpkin breads are quick breads, meaning there is no yeast and it has more of a muffin-like texture. Think zuccchini bread, or banana bread. This recipe was more unusual in that it was a traditional bread, with yeast. It was quite like a Challah bread, but with the addition of canned pumpkin,which gave it an amazing color, and pumpkin pie spice, which added more flavor than the pumpkin actually did. It also called for bread flour which I have never worked with before. I'm glad I had a chance to try it out because I think it created a superior product. Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Egg Bread
1pkg. active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
2-2 1/2 cups bread flour
Egg Wash-
1 egg
1 tbsp. water

1.) In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, brown sugar, butter, pie spice, salt, the yeast mixture, and 1 cup flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

2.) Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3.) Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into thirds. Roll each into a 16" rope.

Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid. Pinch ends to seal; tuck under. Cover with a towel; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4.) For egg wash, in a bowl, mix egg and water; brush over loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 loaf, 12 slices. 126 cal, 3g fat, 1g fiber per slice

As you can see, this bread looks really amazing when it's finished! It's very much like a Challah bread, but the color and flavor are different. It has an amazing flavor and texture and as far as bread goes, was pretty simple to make. The bread flour is the key. Bread flour has more gluten in it than regular flour, so it's really only suited for bread-making. It was tougher to knead because of the extra gluten, so don't worry if you are kneading it and wondering why it's taking a little extra strength to get it to work. And sorry to the gluten-intolerant folks out there, but this recipe isn't going to work for you...Though, if you are able to adapt it to gluten-free flours, please let me know, I'd love to her how it turns out!

The next recipe is for French toast that calls for a more heavy-duty bread than just regular bread. I thought the bread I made would work perfectly, and I was right! This is also a super easy recipe, and I actually have a source listed for this one. This is courtesy of this food blog. Since I have the link for it, I am not going to write it out here. I will share the pictures, though!

This is the egg batter once you've whisked it very well. The pumpkin takes a lot of whisking to break down and incorporate into the rest of the ingredients. It will look slightly like the filling for a pumpkin pie when it's mixed properly.

Here it is cooking on the stove. If you use white bread, it probably won't look quite so orange because the bread I used was orange to begin with.

The finished product! I served it with other breakfast foods for a delicious breakfast-for-dinner. The store had some awesome country-style bacon on sale. It looks very different from regular bacon and I highly recommend it! You could use syrup on this French toast, but I prefer a small sprinkling of powdered sugar on mine. It adds a touch of sweetness but doesn't drown out the flavors you worked so hard to create!

My sister ate this too and loved it. She doesn't normally like stuff like this, so that is saying something! I had a lot of fun making these two recipes and was really excited that they both turned out so successfully. I had enough bread and egg wash left over to make more for my lunch today too! And the rest of the bread will be used as regular toast. I haven't tried that yet, but I have the feeling it will make amazing toast!

Happy Baking!

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of America-Bristol, Rhode Island

 The Location: Bristol, Rhode Island

2010 census: 22,954; 94.0% white, 2% Hispanic. 2013 per capita income: $30,527.

Today, the city is home to large Italian, Azorean, and Portuguese-American populations, but prior to the European invasion, the land was home to the Wampanoag and Narragansett Native American tribes. Bristol was where the first battle in the King Phillip's War, a war between the Native population and the European settlers, took place in 1675. The Native Americans eventually lost this war, and this would lead to more wide-spread colonization of the area by Europeans.

Bristol was originally part of Massachusetts before being transferred to the Rhode Island colony in 1747. Despite being a northern town, due to the fact that it was a successful port town, it became a center for the slave trade. During the Revolutionary War, Bristol was attacked twice by the British navy.

Claim to Fame: Bristol is the home of the oldest 4th of July celebration in the United States. It was started in 1785 by Reverend Henry Wight of the First Congregational Church. The parade that still happens today, was started in the early 1800's. Today, the celebrations begin on Flag Day in June, and last through Labor Day weekend. You might be asking me, why didn't you do this place for 4th of July? What a perfect opportunity that you missed! Well, there are two very good reasons. One, I didn't do a 4th of July post. And two, I didn't know about this until afterwards. This would have been a perfect location to do a 4th of July post. The other option was Delaware, which was the first colony of the United States. But I ended up skipping the 4th, so it doesn't matter now!

The Food: Rhode Island Johnny Cake with Raspberry Syrup, and Green Onion and Apple Sausage
Besides seafood, the one item I kept coming across for Rhode Island, was the Johnny cake. For those of you who are not familiar with the term or have never read the Little House on the Prairie books, a Johnny cake is basically a cross between cornbread and a pancake. They are a very simple, very basic, humble food that can be made quickly and with very little preparation. I had my pick of recipes, but chose one from a cookbook I have never had the opportunity to use before. One of the things I like to collect from used book stores is the Time/Life cookbook collection that came out in the 60's and 70's. Each one is a large, hardback book with various regions of the United States and the world. The one I used was specifically for Northeastern foods of the United States. These are fun books. If you can get your hands on them, I highly recommend them. I will write out the recipe the way the book says, but will add some notes based on my experience.

Rhode Island Johnny Cake
1 cup white cornmeal(I used yellow because that's what I had on hand. Some will say this isn't as authentic, but that's ok.)
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter, softened, plus 1/4 cup butter, melted, plus 4 butter pats
1 cup boiling water
1/4-1/2 cup milk
Syrup

Combine the cornmeal, salt, and softened butter in a deep bowl. Stirring constantly, pour in the water in a thin stream. When the butter melts and the liquid is absorbed, add 1/4 cup milk. (I made a half batch of this and noticed that the liquid didn't absorb very well into the cornmeal. I ended up having to add more cornmeal to absorb it all. It probably ended up being a 2:1 ratio of cornmeal to liquid, rather than 1:1.) Beat until the batter holds its shape lightly with a spoon. If necessary, add more milk by the teaspoonful.
Heat a skillet or griddle over moderate heat until hot. Brush the skillet lightly with melted butter. To form each cake, ladle 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Cook 1-2 cakes at a time, leaving enough space so that they can spread into 5" rounds. Fry them for 3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden and crisp around the edges. As they brown, transfer the johnny cakes to a heated plate and drape with foil to keep them warm while you cook the rest, brushing the pan with melted butter as necessary. If the batter thickens, thin it with an additional tablespoon of milk.

Top each cake with half a pat of butter and syrup. Serve at once.
Makes 8 cakes

These were so easy to make. There is no leavening agent in them, so I suppose technically, a person could make and eat these during Passover if they wanted to. They are also gluten free, and I would imagine you could use any alternative milk you wanted and use oil instead of butter to make them vegan. You could probably also fry these in bacon grease if you wanted to impart more flavor to them. They're a very plain, very basic food and I definitely think they were better with the syrup I made.

Raspberry Syrup
Ok, I'll admit, this was more of a sauce than a syrup, but it was really delicious! I just made it up as I went, so this is actually one of my own creations! Here is the recipe:
1 pt. raspberries, washed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Wash the raspberries, but don't drain all the excess water off. Keep some of it and place all of the berries in a small saucepan. Combine with the applesauce and heat on medium until the raspberries are hot enough to break apart when stirred with a spoon. Once they are broken apart, turn off the heat and add the cinnamon. Mix well and set aside until ready to serve the johnny cakes.

This was really good. Just sweet and tart enough but not overpoweringly so. This could probably also act as jam for toast if you have any leftovers, like I do. Or over ice cream, if you like.

To go with the johnny cakes, I made homemade sausage. I found this recipe in my card collection, but I don't know the original source. It turns out it's not that hard to make sausage from scratch! I had ground pork last weekend that needed to be used before this week, so I actually made the sausage, formed the patties, and froze them last weekend, but didn't try them until tonight. Here's a tip I learned the hard way: When freezing them in one large package, put a layer of foil or plastic wrap between each patty or you'll have to thaw all of it and chisel them apart to use...

Green Onion and Apple Sausage
1 1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. white pepper(I don't have white pepper, so I left this out.)
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage, crushed
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cooking apple, cored, peeled, and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. butter

In a large bowl, combine pork, salt, peppers, sage, green onions, and chopped apple. Mix thoroughly and form into six 3/4" thick patties. (At this point, they can be wrapped and frozen, if you want.)

In a large, heavy skillet, melt butter. Cook patties in butter until sausages are brown on both sides, and centers are no longer pink (10-12 minutes total).
Makes 6

This recipe is also easy to cut in half, which is what I did. Since I had to thaw all of them, I will be having the rest over the next couple days, which is fine, because this was really rather tasty! I do think it could have used a smidgen more salt than it called for, and my sage is rather old, so it could have been "sagier" if I'd had fresher.

I served this with scrambled eggs topped with cheese for a really decadent and fancy breakfast for dinner. Making breakfast food is difficult because timing is so important. Everything has to be done all at the same time in hopes of serving it all hot on the same plate. The cakes were finished first, so I kept them under foil. A few minutes later, the eggs were done and then the sausage at the last minute. and it was all pretty darned delicious! I definitely don't have time to cook like this during the week for my breakfast, so this is a special weekend treat. I cooked everything in its own pan, so it does create several dishes to wash, but it was worth it!

I definitely recommend these recipes, but honestly, the real stand out was the raspberry syrup. It was ridiculously easy to make and tasted so good! You really do need to try it out!

Sources:
City Map

City Pic

Johnny Cake History

4th of July History

City History-This has some really amazing pictures in it

Change-it-up Breakfasts

So, I have been eating what I thought was a healthy breakfast of shredded wheat cereal and milk during the work week for about a year now, and healthy snacks of AkMak crackers and Trader Joe's brand Triscuits throughout the day. I would eat other stuff with it and for lunch, of course, but I noticed that almost daily I was having problems with feeling bloated and having heartburn. Sorry if that's TMI, but I finally got to the point where I realized I either needed to change my diet or medicate myself to take care of the problem. Heartburn over an extended period of time is not good for the body and can lead to cancer down the road, so I knew I needed to take care of the problem. I am not a fan of medication if I can alter my behavior/diet instead. What I wasn't sure of is the root of the problem, exactly: too much fiber or too much gluten? A little bit of both? I decided to cut all those items out of my diet for a while and replace them with gluten-free items. So, I am eating gluten-free crackers and popcorn/rice cakes with my snacks throughout the day, and finding them quite tasty, actually. My most exciting change, though is breakfast. What to do that isn't milk and shredded wheat, is low in sugar, and can be prepared quickly in the morning? I came up with a few options I thought I'd share here...

First, a bit on the prep: Buy a bag or jar of bacon bits. Not the fake junk, the actual stuff. And get some green onions and tomatoes and chop them up on Sunday, keep them in a leftover container for the week. Take a pound of bulk breakfast sausage, cook it, and divide it up into two ounce portions that you freeze and can take out on Sunday to thaw. Buy a pint size container of egg whites from the store to keep on hand. And shredded cheese, or a block of cheese that you shred yourself, is a must to keep on hand. I have a block of Monterrey Jack cheese that I cut up into 1 oz. cubes. I shred one cube on my grater, using the smaller holes so that it's finer and you get more with the same amount of cheese.

Breakfast tacos: I was quite proud of these. Take one of the 2 oz. containers of sausage and use half of it for this recipe. In a small frying pan, heat the sausage, and add chopped green onions. When this is all heated, add 1/3 cup of the egg whites, which equals 2 eggs, to the pan and scramble them until your preferred doneness. In the meantime, take two corn tortillas and place them on a microwave safe plate. Wet a paper towel and don't wring it out entirely. Set it on top of the tortillas for a minute before microwaving it, with the paper towel still on it, for 30 seconds. This should be enough time to steam them properly. You only need about a half ounce of cheese for these since everything has so much flavor already. Place half of the cheese directly on the tortillas, then top with half of the scrambled egg mixture, then the rest of the cheese. Top with chopped tomatoes and more green onions and salsa, if desired. Or whatever other topping you might want. This is very filling I have found. It can also be done with bacon if you like.

Egg Bowl: This is one of my new favorites. This one requires some prep work the night before you plan on making it. Get a bag of the potatoes O'Brien, the hash browns with onions and bell peppers in it, and take one 3/4 cup portion, which is a single portion, and fry them up in a frying pan with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When it's done, place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until the next morning. Use 1oz. of sausage and reheat it in the frying pan with more green onions and tomatoes until heated through. Add 1/3 cup of egg whites and scramble until finished. Take the plastic wrap off the bowl of potatoes and reheat for about 45 seconds in the microwave. Again, you only need about a half ounce of cheese for this. Place half the cheese on the potatoes before topping with the scrambled egg mixture. Top that with the rest of the cheese and more tomatoes and green onions if desired. Mix these all together and there you go! Again, this can be done with bacon if you want.

Oatmeal: I had a hard time working this one out. I have a love-hate relationship with oatmeal. It's so good for you but I never find it lasted very long for me before I was starving again, and took so much brown sugar to make it palatable that I didn't want to eat it anymore. I read in a cookbook once about ideas for adding savory toppings to it instead and decided to experiment with that. The one I worked out seems to do very well for me. Take a serving of oatmeal, which is 1/2 cup oats and 1 cup water, and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle it with a little bit of salt and add one tablespoon of the bacon bits to it. One tablespoon equals one strip of bacon, not too horrible, really. Stir this together and microwave for 2.5 minutes or until done. And that's it, it's flavored enough to be palatable, but without the sugar. I might try this out with milk or half milk and half water, just to get a bit more calcium from it.

I have not done this one yet but I want to try out an egg McMuffin with Canadian bacon, the egg whites, and cheese on an English muffin. I might try topping it with sliced tomatoes and green onions too. This of course has gluten, but if done in moderation instead of daily, might not present too many issues. Plus, maybe there is gluten-free English muffins out there if I look for them. I can't vouch for it yet, but that's my game plan.

I have been doing the oatmeal Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the tacos or egg bowl Tuesday and Thursday. This way I don't eat too much eggs and sausage and I don't get sick of oatmeal. It's a good way to divide it up. My heartburn is much less than it was and I feel healthier. I definitely do better with a higher protein diet. I've even, oddly enough, actually lost some weight while eating like this. It takes some coordination and prepping on the weekend or the night before, but it can be done. Each of these takes less than ten minutes in the morning, significantly less time for the oatmeal. I would highly recommend this to anybody looking to change up their breakfast routine, or eat less gluten throughout the day.

Breakfast Casserole

Today was crockpot day. I had some leftover veggies, cheese, sausage, and bread to use up, and bought some new veggies to add to it. I cooked off the sausage and then sauteed most of the veggies in the same pan afterwards.
I did everything you'd normally do for a breakfast casserole but I put it in the crockpot instead of a pan. I cooked it on low for about 3 hours and then turned it onto high for another half hour to make sure it was all cooked through. It gathered some liquid at the top so I skimmed it off.
It was really tasty and the good thing is, the leftovers freeze and thaw out again really well.