baked pumpkin doughnuts

Seriously. All things pumpkin lately.

I made these for our Halloween party a couple of weekends ago. This is an awful, embarrassing picture from my iPhone but it's the only one I have of them and I wanted to share the recipe.

Up until recently I had thought you needed a fryer to make doughnuts, so you can imagine my delight when I found out about the doughnut pan (thank you, said she said he). For only $10 you can get baked doughnuts and wave goodbye to fears of scalding yourself and burning down your house (again). I found this recipe by doing an internet search for pumpkin doughnuts, then made a simple cinnamon sugar glaze.

Super good.


Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
via Taste & Tell Blog

Doughnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the milk and vanilla. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 


Cinnamon Glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
1 T. milk
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg

Mix until smooth and creamy.  The glaze should pour easily from a spoon.  You may need to add additional milk or powder sugar to get the right consistency.

pumpkin + black bean soup

Loving all things pumpkin lately.

Last week my roommate and I had the idea to take food over to two of our friends and their baby who are having a tough time lately. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to make this soup.

The recipe is one my sister Sarah sent me years ago. I remember making it in my studio apartment, back when I first lived alone and considered heating up ramen a well thought-out meal. It would make me so happy, eating the soup on my floor, watching my tv/vcr combo. I hope it gave my friends a similar feeling. Good soup kind of does that, you know? Makes everything seem a little better.

A few notes on the recipe- I used whole milk instead of cream, because that's what I had on hand. Given the choice, I wouldn't do it again because it definitely lacked some richness to sort of balance everything. Also, I didn't use chives because my produce market doesn't sell them.

Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
via Rachel Ray

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups vegetable stock
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
2 cans (15 ounces) pumpkin puree 
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
Coarse salt
chives for garnish

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add onion. Saute onions 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt, to taste. Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve garnished with chopped chives.

farmhouse butternut squash soup

Fall officially set in. All last week was cold, rainy, and windy. Basically the most depressing weather you can think of. It sort of felt like Chicago was holding up it's giant, skyscraper of a middle finger, while every once in a while stopping to point right at me, then resume flipping me off. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Cold weather has a way of feeling so isolating and personal- like it's you vs. the world. So I fought back with food, of course. Nothing says, Hello, Fall. I'm so glad you could join us in your best fake smile like butternut squash soup. Paired with a salad using the last of summer's tomatoes and my new favorite dressing, I'm pretty sure this meal went a long way in working towards a weather truce- even if my heart isn't quite in it yet.

Farmhouse Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from Epicurious)

4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 pounds carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 thyme sprigs
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 4-6 qt heavy pot over medium heat, add garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is pale golden, about 1 minute. Add squash, carrots, apple, thyme, bay leaves, broth, water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and boil, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard thyme and bay leaves.

Purée about 4 cups soup in a blender, in batches if necessary, until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Return to pot and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar.

New favorite dressing

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp soy soy sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

1/4 tsp sesame seeds

Shake it up.

 

tomato, feta, & basil galette

Hi.

I just had possibly the most classic summer of my life. I fell hard for a boy who lives across the country (who went back there last week), I rode my bike everywhere, went sailing and exploring, and probably, maybe spent more days reading in the park than working.

It
was
awesome.

Farmers market visits were also made. I made sure to get tomatoes and zucchini as often as I could so I could come home and make this meal. The zucchini saute is so delicious it can hold up a meal just on its own, and the galette's crust is... well, it's really kind of hard to not eat all the dough before it's cooked.

So here are my two new favorite summer recipes. Hope you can make them before it's all cold and junk. Also, I hope you had a dreamy summer, too. I'd love to hear about it.

Summer Tomato, Feta, and Basil Galette (via Cooking Light)

Ingredients

3 2/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3 tablespoons ice water
1 pint jewel box tomatoes or multicolored pear tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
1/4 cup small basil leaves

Preparation

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor; process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add ice water through food chute, and process just until combined (do not form a ball). Gently press the mixture into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. Unwrap dough, and roll dough into a 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, on top of dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Fold edges of dough over tomatoes to partially cover. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, and sprinkle with basil. Cut into 8 wedges.

Quick Sauté of Zucchini with Toasted Almonds (via Smitten Kitchen)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced almonds
1 to 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/8-inch matchsticks with a knife or julienne blade on a mandoline
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Few ounces pecorino Romano or paremsan, in thin slices

Heat the oil on high in a large skillet. When it is hot but not smoking, add the almonds to the pan. Cook them, while stirring, until the almonds are golden-brown, approximately a minute or two.
Add the zucchini to the pan, tossing it with the oil and almonds until it just begins to glisten, about one minute. The idea is not to cook the zucchini so much as warm it.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, with or without cheese on top.

summer

Fresh strawberries, raw almonds, soy milk, and some honey.

Barefoot on the back porch.

Summer, I goddamn love you.