Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Okay, I know.....its spring.....why am I making anything with pumpkin in it?? Because I can! How's that for an answer?? Oh....you want a real answer.....my mother. She loves pumpkin food as much as I do and she could not decided between having banana bread or pumpkin muffins for breakfast. So I told her I would do both. I had some pumpkin frozen. I had bought several sugar pumpkins this past fall and used them in decorating the house as well as for Halloween. Nothing is better for children to decorate than sugar pumpkins!

Awww.....aren't they cute? And yes I did some of them and no I cannot unfortunately blame them on Alex as he was deployed during the holidays. But see those little cute ones up front?? Those are sugar pumpkins. Those are the best pumpkins to work with. They are sweet and delicious. The bigger they are the less sweet and tasty they become. And stringy too. Who wants to eat a stringy pumpkin?? Not me! So the ease of roasting a sugar pumpkin should be your biggest selling point to doing it yourself. Cut in half, roast in the oven at 300 for one hour or until soft. Peel skin and puree the flesh. See!! Easy!! And people think I am superwoman when I pull out homemade sugar pumpkin puree. All it takes is some patience and thinking ahead.

So back to these muffins. I made this last October and my mother loved them and for me there is no season on eating pumpkin. I eat it year round!! Sometimes when you like something you do not set yourself up to only eat it once a year. You allowe yourself some in between! And this was one of those times. So heres your recipe:

2c sugar pumpkin puree
3c all purpose flour
2c sugar
2t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
3t ground cinnamon (my secret is Ceylon cinnamon)
2t ground nutmeg
1t ground allspice
1t salt
2/3c vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1/2-1c dried cranberries
1/2-1c rough chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat pumpkin, vegetable oil, and eggs in a medium bowl with a mixer. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients. Add your fruit and nuts at this time too. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.



These turn out nicely brown and moist and delicious! I like adding the nuts because it gives you a nice crunchy texture you otherwise would not have. They bring me right back to fall and all the smells and tastes you do not get in Las Vegas. There is no fall in Vegas. And I know people from Florida say the same thing, but trust me....theres a season there. It does get cool and you do get color changes in the leaves and they do fall. Out here it is at least 100 until the end of September and it goes straight to colder instead of cool like most places. So eating soups and pumpkin make me feel like there is a fall season. So if you are in a city like me with no seasons but hot.....have yourself a nice pumpkin muffin and use your imagination!!

Italian Wedding Soup

So my mom came into town this week. She was willing to go to San Diego with us and therefor I did not get much time to show off my culinary prowess. I like to make something spectacular when guests come to the house. Gives them something amazing to remember me by. And it varies from person to person. So Mom wanted soup. And I do soup very well. Everyone who has ever tasted my next soup has never been disappointed! It is calming to the soul, it is a feel better sick soup, it is "I love you so much" soup, and a comforting homey soup. So what is this magical soup for any and every occassion? Italian Wedding Soup! It is absolutely the best soup in the world.

This recipe started as a hodgepodge of various recipes and is now solely mine! I have perfected it with some personal touches and of course.....the secret ingredients!! Italian wedding soup is basically meatball soup with pasta, veggies, and spinach. This recipe does require some patience, time, and love. The meatballs are really where you want to spend your time.

Meatballs:
1lb ground beef or turkey
1/2c or so of breadcrumbs
1/4-1/2c grated parmesan
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2tsp or so of Italian seasoning

Mix ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Take a tiny pinch of mixture and roll into a ball. The key is to keep the meatballs about the size of a marble. You want to be able to spoon your soup and get meatball and pasta the fit into your mouth without cutting or choking. This is super important!!! Heat a large skillet on medium and saute your meatballs until browned on all sides. Do not worry if they are cooked all the way through, the soup will finish cooking your meatballs.

Me cooking those meatballs!

Soup:
2 small carrots, peeled and diced
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, pureed in food processor or diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6c chicken stock
1-2t italian seasoning
1/2 box ditalini pasta or other small shaped pasta
1c frozen spinach
salt and pepper
**special ingredients....for more info on that contact me

In a large pot heat 1T olive oil and saute vegetables until they begin to soften, Add chicken stock, seasoning, special ingredients,  and meatballs and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add pasta and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add frozen spinach and simmer until pasta is cooked and soup is hot. If the pasta is absorbing too much liquid, add 1/2c water at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Serve and enjoy!

I was so happy to be able to make this for my mom. I bought some rosemary foccacia and baked up to eat with the soup. I do not always make this soup because of the tediousness of the meatballs. Rolling, shaping, and sauting them is not always easy or fun.....but absolutely necessary! Do not attempt if you are not willing to do this. My mom you ask?? She loved it. Or at least she said she did. Alex always love it. And the kids.....well.....if you have to ask them you obviously have not met them!!

So in addition to the soup we had some fried calamari. And this folks is what I made my dear old mother try!! Muahahahaha!! She told me that I could make her try one thing and she would try it, maybe not like it but try it at least. So I decided on octopus!! YES! Now don't get too upset, but I do not eat the tentacly part of the octopus,just the tubes. But I will say here that I did not cut or marinate the calamari. My lovely neighbor brought us some that she had cleaned and seasoned. All I did was coat them in panko (a Japanese breadcrumb.....a MUST in my house!!) and fry them for 1-2 minutes on each side. But here's where my husband comes into the picture. These little suckers pop ALL OVER the kitchen. One popped and the grease flew into my eye.....not cool!! So my inventive husband found his dust goggles and put them on and turned the calamari for me! And what a calamari flipper he was. So props here to my sous-chef Alex!! Love you baby!!

So over all we had a fabulous Italian meal. And if was of course no hardship on me or my mother to eat Italian food. I mean who doesn't want to be Italian.....aside from my husband that is. But he did get to try some of Italy's finest beer. Who knew?? They actually drink beer in Italy....and here I was thinking it was all wine! But now you know!  Now it is probably cliche Italian food, but good food is good food.....end of story!

Tiramisu

So what is dinner wthout a little dessert!! And when you love Italian food what is the best one?? Oh yeah!!  TIRAMISU!! I adore tiramisu! I made this for my birthday dinner party and it was a big hit so I decided to make it for my mother. To be honest it's not all that difficult to make, it just takes advance preparation and planning.

2 containers marscapone
1/2c sugar
3 eggs, separated
ladyfingers
4c strong coffee, cooled
1/2-1c brandy (optional)
cocoa powder for dusting
shaved dark or bitter chocolate

*this makes a small casserole dish

Mix the marscapone, sugar, and egg yolks with a mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently incorporate into marscapone until fully mixed.

Put the coffee and brandy, if using, in a shallow bowl and dip both sides of the ladyfingers in the coffee mixture and layer on the bottom of the casserole dish. Pour 1/2 of the cheese mixture over ladyfingers and lightly dust with cocoa powder. Repeat. Refrigerate overnight. When serving sprinkle shaved chocolate on top.

                                                     

See....I told you it was easy!! Not a complicated or hard process, and tomorrow you get to enjoy delicious decadent tiramisu!! How awesome is that?? Just beware....if you are anything like me, there may not be much left after your first bowlful! I never want to stop when I eat tiramisu. Hope you have more self control than me!!

California Pizza Kitchen

Well if you are curious why I have not written in a week, here it is.....San Diego! Yep, San Diego. Once a year we have to take the kids to San Diego for doctor's appointments. Nothing serious, just developmental pediatrician to "make sure the kids still have autism". Stupid huh? It's a fun time where the whole family packs up and drives 6 hours to go eat in restaurants the kids don't like so they scream and fuss the whole time, stay in a hotel room where the kids make too much noise and stomp around causing lovely white noise for our unsuspecting neighbors. We get to take the kids to Sea World and other fun ventures where they may or may not make a scene. Fun times......

So on this particular trip I decided I wanted California Pizza Kitchen. Yes the same company that sells the frozen ones, but its a real restaurant. We ate at one in 2007 for our first San Diego trip and really enjoyed it. Last year I could not locate it and the GPS was no help at all. "You have reached your destination" in vacant parking lots gets pretty old after a while so we gave up. Well this trip I was determined to find it!! And guess what?? I did!! Go me!! It was on the top floor of a new mall.....go figure.

So after toiling all day in the car and walking around Sea World I was pretty stoked I do not mind telling you. While waiting for our table, we decided what we wanted to eat. We started off with Sesame Ginger Chicken Dumplings.

These were pretty good. Considering we got them at a pizza joint they were not bad. The ginger dipping sauce was a little too sweet for me, but overall not bad.


Then for our pizzas we ordered the White Pizza: A combination of Mozzarella, Fontina, Ricotta, Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheeses with fresh sautéed spinach and garlic and the Sicilian Pizza: THIN CRUST PIZZA: A spicy marinara sauce with sweet Italian sausage, spicy Capicola ham, julienne salami, Fontina, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Topped with fresh oregano and basil. We got Anthony a pepperoni pizza and Vinnie got grapes....which they cut in half!! Who cuts grapes in half??? So of course Vinnie didn't eat them.

The white pizza was creamy and salty and delicious! The Sicilian was spicy and full of flavor. And after eating a piece of Sicilian, the White was cool and refreshing in your mouth. So overall I was completely excited to have California Pizza Kitchen again!!

Thai Chicken Salad

So I love Thai food. I love the sweet/sour/spicy combos they create. I have a friend with Thai roots and I wish when I was younger that I had paid more attention when I ate with her. I can remembering going to Ft. Walton, FL and eating at what I can recall as a good restaurant.....however I do not remember any of it!! What a complete waste of memory!! You know what I did take away from her food knowledge?? Sticky rice and beef jerky!! That's right.....you read right. And don't knock it until you try it.

But that is not what I did today. And if you, like me, have preconceived notions of what Thai food should taste like.....throw them out of the window! This meal will not live up to those. It really should not be called Thai, but rather Asian inspired dressing. By that I mean peanut butter accented by soy sauce!! Okay so not really Asian, but shhhh.......let's pretend!

Salad:
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 head of romaine, roughly torn
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, shredded
2c fresh bean sprouts
2c shredded or sliced chicken

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Dressing:
2/3c coconut milk
1T brown sugar
2T peanut butter
1T fresh lime juice
2T soy sauce
1/8t cayenne

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickens slightly, stirring occassionally.
*So I used the whole can of coconut milk and adjusted the other ingredients to taste. And instead of cayenne I used several drops of Sriracha. I also added a tablespoon of fish sauce. Fish sauce is such a staple in Thai cooking that in order to call this dish Thai...well....it needed fish sauce!
Remove sauce from heat and cool for 2 minutes. Pour over salad. Top with crushed peanuts.

We ate our salad with some Thai noodles. Just seemed like the thing to do. And besides....who doesn't like noodles? We found some and bought one in each flavor. Mine was the green onion and Alex had the roasted garlic and vegetable flavor. It was a nice accent to the meal. Asian soup and salad!!

So the verdict? Pretty good. At first I was disappointed because it didn't have the big flavors I associate with Thai flavors. I really only tasted spicy peanut butter dressing. But when you get the stigma of Thai out of your head and think of it as an Asian-inspired dressing, it was pretty good. It is a different way to eat salad. I get so sick and tired of the same ole salads you get everywhere and at everyones home. I like to mix it up. And this did just that. And the good news is that with all the chicken and peanuts it is filling.

So I think I will definitely make this dish again. Especially with my new mindset. So anyone looking to jazz up a boring lettuce, cucumber, and tomato salad will enjoy this. Different twists and turns and all the healthful nature of a salad. So be adventurous!! Go get some bean sprouts and pile them on your salad and crunch on down!!

Coconut Fried Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce

So are you following along from the bountiful basket?? Are you desperately wondering what I am going to think up first? Wondering which ingredient will be my first casualty?? Well wonder no more. I have chosen......the......MANGO! We had gotten pizza and boneless wings from Dominos last week and Alex really enjoyed their mango habenero sauce and wanted me to try and make one. And what comes in our basket but mangoes! It was fate!! So now what to make with this sauce? Well it seemed fitting to do some sort of chicken and then it hit me!! Coconut crusted chicken!! And to round out the meal a light spring green salad.

Mango-Chili Sauce:
2 mangoes, peeled and cut up
1T grated ginger
2 Japon dried chilies, rehydrated and cut in half
3T brown sugar
1T rice vinegar
1T canola or vegetable oil (mostly to help cut the heat some)

Place the ingredients into a small sauce pan on medium heat and cook for 10 minutes or until the mangoes are soft. Place into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Coconut Fried Chicken:
chicken tenders
flour for dredging
1/2c buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
1-2c flaked untoasted coconut
oil for frying

Mix the egg and buttermilk in a bowl. Dip chicken in flour and coat. Then dip in egg mixture. Finally dip into flaked coconut. Place in large skillet with preheated oil. Fry until golden brown and cooked through. Eat with mango-chili sauce.

So we ate ours with a mixed spring green salad with apricot dressing. The dressing is the same one from grilled turkey salad. It goes well with this dish with the sweetness from the apricot jam. It was the perfect thingto eat with the chicken. It was delicious!! We both loved it. When I made the chili sauce it was a little hot for my taste. So I was nervous. But after eating it with the chicken, it lost some of its intense heat. You could really taste the mango and ginger and I was afraid you would not be able to. I know Alex likes to taste his heat....and nothing but heat. But I like for it to have some flavor other than hot to it! So when I tasted the ginger and mangoes I was super excited. But what did Alex say?? It could have been a little hotter for him!! Guess you can't win them all huh??

I will definitely make this again. It was super tasty. Even making the sauce again the dish was easy enough to make. I did take some to one of my neighbors and she and two of her daughters loved the meal. They devoured the little plate I brought over to them. It's always nice to know that your food is liked by people outside of your family. So I guess this was a keeper!!

Stir Fry

Ok, just between you and me.....it's tofu night!! Tofu stir fry to be exact! I meant to do this night a week or two ago and never got around to it. And then I would go to the grocery store, see a protein on sale and use it instead. Well enough is enough. Tonight is the night to make tofu!! I found a recipe in Cooking Light for a vegetarian stir fry. Although they used a different protein called tempeh in theirs. So I got it all together an started inacting my devious plot!!

So I went with the firm tofu instead of extra firm. Don't really know why.....guess that is what I was feeling like when I bought it. And then I cut it into strips  instead of cubes. I was hoping it would integrate into the stir fry better than big cubes.

Peanut Sauce:
1/4c water
1T brown sugar
3T peanut butter
1t Sriracha (asian hot sauce)
1t soy sauce

*I doubled because I like more sauce*

Combine ingredients and stir well with a whisk to unclump the peanut butter. This may take several minutes to get it all incorporated. Set aside.

So what is Sriracha??  It is a lovely hot sauce for cooking Asian foods. If you do not want to buy this, you can probably substitute you favorite red hot sauce (I would recommend Louisianna).

Stir Fry:
2t brown sugar
5t soy sauce
1t Sriracha
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1T plus 2t sesame oil, divided
8oz tofu, cubed or stripped
2c thinly sliced carrot
1c red bell pepper, cut in strips
1lb green beans, trimmed
1/2c water
3/4c thinly sliced green onions
6oz bean sprouts

*Again I doubled the dtir fry sauce*
Combine sugar, soy sauce, Sriracha, and garlic in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add 1T sesame oil. Add tofu and half of the soy sauce mixture. Stir-fry for 5 minutes or until tofu is browned. Remove tofu from the pan and keep warm.

Add remaining 2t sesame oil to the pan. Add carrot, bell pepper, and green beans to pan; stir fry 3 minutes. Add 1/2c water; reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the beans are tender-crisp. Stir in remaining soy sauce mixture, sofu, half of the green onions, and bean sprouts, cook for 2 minutes until the sprouts are tender.

Serve the stir fry mixture with the peanut sauce and rest of the green onions. Can serve over rice or noodles. If using creamy peanut butter, I suggest added some crushed peanuts on top.

I served mine with rice. I wish I had some Asian noodles though, I think it would have tasted better. I also added some yellow peppers for some more color. Over all the dish turned out really well. Alex knew I was making tofu so it did not go over so well. I was hoping by stripping the tofu it would get browner and crispier. I do not think I had the heat up high enough though. While the tofu had excellent Asian flavor, it was not all that crispy. It was slightly mushy when eaten by itself. Alex said he could tell when he got a piece of tofu in his dish though and he picked it all out. I could not always tell. I think the consistency of the tofu was about the same as the rice. So it blended right in for me.

I think that with Alex it was a mind issue. And I am not faulting him here, I have my own mind issues with food. But I think he already had it in his head he did not like tofu, and could not change his mind so that when he tasted it his mind already shut it down before he really had a chance to see if he liked it. And that is fine. All I asked of him was that he try the tofu with an open mind. He said the flavors were fine, but the texture of the tofu was not something he could deal with. But the rest of the dish was really tasty. I even got enough heat into the peanut sauce. There are too many peanut sauce recipes out there that have the peanut sauce too sweet for our tastes. So I made sure and add a little more Sriracha than it called for. This definitely heated the dish up nicely. But the star of the dish for me was the green beans. I do not think about green beans in stir fry's but man was it tasty! It gave the dish a lovely crunch aspect. But make sure you do not overcook the beans. Otherwise the effect is lost!! This means the beans need to be crispy without being raw. When they get too mushy, they are overcooked and completely brown. Not a good thing!!

So I think the dish turned out nicely. I will make it again. Although I will probably not use the tofu. I shall spare Alex. Maybe a little chicken or maybe I will just keep it vegetable. Its all good!