Baked Pumpkin Risotto

     Recently, I have fallen head over heels for my newest cookbook addition, Whole Grain Mornings.  If you don’t have it, go buy it because it makes breakfast and breakfast foods magical no matter what time of day you eat them.  I have challenged myself to try or create one new recipe a week, and this week I decided to try Baked Pumpkin Risotto.  Yes, I realize fall has come and gone, but I could eat pumpkin any time of year.  Megan Gordon, the cookbook author and blogger of A Sweet Spoonful, recommends eating this dish the day it is made.  However, I made this dish the night before it was to be served, and reheated it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  I also added an extra ½ cup of water on top before heating, so it wouldn’t dry out.  It was absolutely delicious and I served it alongside mini meatloaves.  This is the busy girl’s version of a balanced meal, with only two dishes:  Protein = Meatloaf, Vegetable = Pumpkin, Starch = Brown Rice.  I pulled the mini meatloaves from the freezer the night before.  When I arrived home from work, I popped both the meatloaves and pumpkin risotto into the oven to reheat side by side.  No fuss and a satisfying home cooked meal.  

Recipe adapted from Whole Grain Mornings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil, plus additional for greasing
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups long grain brown rice
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 teaspoons grey celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• 2 ¾ cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions

1. Heat the coconut oil in a medium-sized skillet, over medium-low heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
2. Fill a medium sized saucepan 2/3 full with water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Then add the rice, cover, and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Drain. 
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a large (13 x 9 inch) baking dish  with coconut oil.  In a medium sized bowl, stir together the pumpkin, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, caramelized onions, and drained rice.  Transfer this mixture to the prepared casserole dish and smooth out in one even layer.
4. Heat the chicken stock, water, and almond milk over medium-high heat, until it barely begins to boil.  Pour directly into the casserole dish over the rice.  Do not stir.  Bake for 40 minutes uncovered.  Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.  Stir.  Serves 8.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

     I am obsessed with pumpkin.  From the moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it.  I decided that Pumpkin ice cream would be our dessert at Sunday lunch.  My mom and I went nuts over this ice cream, but my Dad and J.T. would have probably preferred a slice of apple pie.  I have noticed that men (at least the ones in my family) seem to have some kind of aversion to pumpkin, butternut squash, and other “sweet” vegetables.  Oh well.  I borrowed my mom’s ice cream maker and prayed that it still worked (it hadn’t been used in over ten years).  Luckily, the ice cream maker powered up just fine and I successfully made ice cream for the first time in my life.  I don’t plan on making anymore ice cream this winter, but the warm weather last weekend turned out to be perfect for Pumpkin Ice Cream.    

Recipe adapted from Deliciously Organic

Ingredients

·         1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

·         1 cup coconut milk (not light)

·         2/3 cup honey

·         ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

·         1 ½  teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1.      With an immersion blender (or in a regular blender), mix together the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator. 

2.      Pour the chilled pumpkin mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer instructions.  Serves 6.  

Pumpkin Cornbread

     My parents traveled to Washington D.C. a few weeks ago.  During this trip they visited George Washington's Mount Vernon.  My mother brought back a bag of cornmeal and a tiny cookbook entitled "Cooking with Cornmeal."  While skimming through this tiny cookbook, I came across Pumpkin cornbread.  I immediately knew I had to make this.  Fall is slowly making its way to Alabama.  Although I hate it when the weather turns cold, I do love a few things about fall: pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and chili.  I actually baked this Pumpkin cornbread the same week I made Gluten-Free Whole Grain Pumpkin Muffins – my fall pumpkin love affair has officially begun.   I served this cornbread with big bowls of thick, hearty black beans.   I guess you could say that it was the perfect Halloween supper – black beans with orange tinted cornbread.

 

Recipe adapted from Cooking with Cornmeal

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups cornmeal
• ½ gluten-free whole grain flour blend
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• ¾ cup olive oil mayonnaise
• ¾ cup almond milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well in the center of the bowl. In a large glass measuring cup whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Pumpkin Muffins

      On Monday I felt as though the heavens opened up.  I am probably being a bit dramatic, but I ate a pumpkin muffin for the first time since 2009.  It may have been longer than that, but I do not keep records of stuff like "ate last pumpkin muffin June 12, 2008."  I was so excited about these muffins - singing and dancing with Otis (the dog) and downright giddy the rest of the afternoon.   Why am I so excited about muffins?  Well, I refuse to buy packaged gluten-free foods such as muffins, crackers, etc. because they do not taste very good.  I also do not want to pay for expensive gluten-free flour blends.  While I do purchase brown rice flour, I make my own oat flour.  My inspiration to find a whole-wheat flour substitution came from 100 Days of Real Food.  Many different recipes on this website call for whole-wheat flour, which is not an option for me.  After doing some research, I came across a blog post from Gluten-Free Girl.  She had formulated a gluten-free whole grain flour blend that I had all the ingredients to make!  Finding a gluten-free whole grain flour blend, opens up so many more recipe options to me and I could not be happier!

Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

 

 

(I am not sure how my kosher salt made it into this picture.  This recipe uses table salt only.)

 

  

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups gluten-free whole grain flour blend*
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup honey
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In a small glass measuring cup, whisk together the coconut oil, honey, vanilla, and eggs.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fold in the canned pumpkin puree.  Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to ladle the batter into the muffin tin.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and leave the muffins in the tin for 2 minutes.   Move the muffins to a wire rack to cool.  Yields 12 muffins.

* I made my own gluten-free whole grain flour, but you can also substitute whole wheat flour.  The recipe behind my whole grain flour blend came from here.  I used the following ratios:

• 150 grams brown rice flour
• 200 grams oat flour
• 150 grams cornstarch

This flour recipe makes more than what is required for the muffin recipe above.  Store any extra in the refrigerator.

 Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin Pie

recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

• 1 recipe  Pastry for Single-Crust Pie
• 1  15-oz. can  pumpkin
• 1/2  cup  sugar
• 1/4  cup  pure maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup
• 1  tsp.  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  tsp.  salt
• 3  eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  cup  almond milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare and roll out Pastry for Single-Crust pie.
2. For filling, in a bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs; beat with a fork until combined. Gradually add milk; stir until combined.
3. Carefully pour filling in pastry shell. Cover edge of pie crust with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.
4. To serve, if desired, top with Whipped Cream. Makes 8 servings.
5. Pastry for a Single-Crust Pie: In bowl stir together 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using pastry blender cut in 1/2 cup shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cold water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time (4 to 5 tablespoons total), until flour mixture is moistened. Form dough in ball. On floured surface flatten with hands. Roll dough from center to edges into 13-inch circle. To transfer pastry, wrap around rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into plate without stretching it. Trim pastry to 1 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry.


Note:  There is always more filling than is needed to fill the pie crust.  I make a mini-crust-less pumpkin pie for myself that is gluten and dairy free. 

Pumpkin Turkey Chili
recipe adapted from LoveandOliveOil.com

Ingredients

• 2 tbs. canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can red kidney beans
• 2 cups (1 14.5 ounce can) pumpkin puree
• 1 can chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 tbs. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
• 3 tbs. hot sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, bell pepper, sweet potato, and garlic until tender, about 15 minutes.
   
2. Meanwhile in a separate skillet, brown ground turkey and drain. Add turkey to sauteed vegetable mixture. Stir in canned tomatoes, beans, pumpkin, and broth. Season with chili powder, cumin, pepper, salt, red pepper and hot sauce.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Serves 6.

My helper in his new apron..."Real Men Wear Aprons"

Simmering Chili...

Almost done...

Let's eat!