Cooking on Global TV

In my kitchen with Global TV's Kevin Stanfield eating a hot-from-the-oven pumpkin muffin. Watch us cooking on Food for Thought.

Pumpkin Muffins
I clipped this muffin recipe so long ago I can't remember where I got it, but I make them every year in pumpkin season.

1 cup pumpkin puree *

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

2 1/5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp each cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and freshly grated ginger

Cane sugar for sprinkling

Stir together the pumpkin and baking soda. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture and the pumpkin mixture to the batter, stirring just until mixed. Spoon into 12 muffin tin. Sprinkle with cane sugar. Bake 375F for 20-25 minutes. 

* Turn your jack-o-lantern into pumpkin puree. Cut the hollowed out pumpkin into 8 pieces, place on a baking sheet and roast at 375F until the flesh is very soft. The time required will vary with the thickness of the pumpkin. Cool. Using a spoon, scrape the flesh off the rind. Mash with a fork or in a food processor until it forms a consistent puree. Now it's ready for baking. Also try pumpkin gnocchi.

Pumkpin Muffins

My Halloween pumpkin met a happy ending, first in pumpkin pie and then in muffins. Yes, that pumpkin went down smiling...

1 cup of pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Mix the baking soda into the pumpkin. Cream the oil and sugar, add the eggs one at at time and cream well.

Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour to the eggs and stir just until it's mixed and no more. Add the pumpkin and blend just until it's incorporated.

Scoop into muffin tins. (I line the muffin tins with silicone cups.) Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Jack-o-Lantern Pie

Our Halloween jack-o-lantern has become our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. American Thanksgiving, that is, since my better half is from south of the 49th. You can never be thankful enough...

That previous Saturday, America's Test Kitchen cooked the "perfect" pumpkin pie. I tried their recipe and it was the best pumpkin pie I've ever made. (The other one is a distant memory...) So, if you've still got a pumpkin hanging around, give it the pie treatment.

If you follow America's Test Kitchen, you know the recipes are long and detailed -- full of technique and the reasons behind it. So, follow this link for the full recipe. Note: I didn't use candied sweet potatoes, but instead used a good three cups of pumpkin puree. I baked the pumpkin and pureed it before using it in this recipe.

Further note: After pressing the pumpkin custard through a sieve, there was about a cup of pulp left over, which I will bake into pumpkin muffins this week.

CBC Radio calling - Pumpkins

As discussed on the radio today, here are the links to the winning pie recipes at the Pilger Pumpkin Festival. Take note, however, the winning pie makers added their own special "tweeks" to these recipes:

Winning pumpkin pie
Second place pumpkin pie

Here are links to my favourite pumpkin recipes on this blog:

Pumpkin Gnocci
Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Ravioli
My husband and I ordered pumpkin-filled pasta in a rustic restaurant in Italy. It was quite heavy on the cinnamon, which I have toned down for this version.

Cut the flesh off a pumpkin, wrap in tinfoil and bake until soft. Mash the soft pumpkin and measure 2 cups. Place in a sieve to drain excess liquid. Mix the pumpkin with 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, a few grinds of pepper and salt to taste. Whip an egg with a fork and blend into the pumpkin mixture. Use this mixture in ravioli or other stuffed pasta.

To serve, I made a sauce of melted butter sautéed with plenty of fresh chopped sage, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I recently had pumpkin tortellini with mushroom cream sauce in a restaurant which was also a very good flavour combination.

Thank You Rosthern Elementary

Thank you to Grade 3-5 students at Rosthern Elementary School for inviting me to talk to their class about Saskatchewan foods. They presented me with this gift basket and a beautiful handmade card. You can bet these vegetables are going to be turned into something special, so stay tuned for the results!

Frist things first, I roasted the pumpkin and made savoury pumpkin gnocchi. Then the carrots and potatoes went into a venison stew. I'm still mulling over what to do with the acron squash. Any suggestions?

I'm on my way to Pilger

I'm following my tasebuds to the Pilger Pumpkin Festival on Sept. 26. I'm not drawn so much by the giant pumpkins (although they are fascinating) but for the pumpkin pie. Okay, I am also drawn by the pumpkin shot put contest. The fun gets underway at 3 pm. Here's a great slide show of festivals past: slide show.

CBC Radio Calling - PUMPKIN GNOCCHI

I confess, I didn't carve pumpkins for Halloween -- I drew faces on them with a black marker. Partly because I'm lazy, but mostly because I wanted to save them for eating. My husband isn't a great fan of pumpkin pie so I've had to find a few other good uses for used pumpkin.

First, I quarted the pumpkins, scraped out the seeds and roasted them in the oven at 350F for about one hour and 15 minutes.

I tried a few recipes, such as a Pumpkin Chocolate Cake (recipe) and Maple Pumpkin Mousse (recipe). But my favourite isn't dessert at all - it's Pumpkin Gnocchi.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce
3 cups puréed pumpkin
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
pepper
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
Several fresh sage leaves (about 10)
Parmesan cheese for serving

In a bowl, mix the pumpkin and egg. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Knead briefly on the counter to incorporate all the flour. Wrap in plastic and place in the freezer for 30 min. (If you want to rest the dough longer than 30 min, place it in the refrigerator.)

Bring a pot of water to boil.

Using a teaspoon, scoop up a ball of dough, roll it off the teaspoon with your fingers and drop it into the boiling water. You must dip the teaspoon in a glass of cold water between each scoop to prevent sticking. When the gnocchi float to the surface, scoop them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Reserve in a serving bowl. Working in batches, cook the gnocchi until the dough is used up.

Meanwhile, melt the butter, oil, garlic and sage. Before serving, remove the garlic. Pour the butter mixture over the gnocchi and toss lightly to coat. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Comfort me with orange - PUMPKIN MUFFINS

I like the way winter narrows my selection of vegetables. Sure, the cornucopia of summer is wonderful, but there's something equally wonderful about a baked potato or a roast with carrots and beets or a squash soup. Winter vegetables are pure comfort food.

I get all my winter vegetables at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market. Why buy something 'imported' from the grocery store, when there is a better, fresher, local equivalent? When I think of those bland and bitter carrots one finds in the grocery store, I head straight for the juicy sweet carrots at the market. There is absolutely no comparison. After Halloween, the pumpkins went on sale so I made these muffins:

PUMPKIN MUFFINS
1 cup of baked pumpkin, mashed
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp mixture of cinnamon, ginger and/or nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix the soda into the pumpkin. Cream the oil and sugar, add the eggs and cream well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour and pumpkin alternately to the egg mixture, stirring just enough to blend after each addition. (If you are using walnuts, blend them into the flour mixture before adding to the batter.) Scoop into muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.