Party Pumpkin Squares

A pumpkin for your thoughts! Pumpkin is such a wonderful food, so loaded with health benefits, and available throughout the year, that it's a wonder we don't eat it more.  Now, during this season of pumpkin pies, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin casseroles, I pulled out an old favorite of mine from many years ago and decided to give it a few new twists by adding ground cloves and allspice.  The result was "Pumpkin Party Squares," great for a buffet dessert because, like brownies, they need no forks or spoons to eat them .... unless, of course, you put a dollop of freshly-whipped heavy cream on them, as I did, or vanilla ice cream.  The result is a sumptuous dessert and is a real treat on a cold October or November night. A great gift for your Thanksgiving hostess, too!

Ingredients


For the crust:

1 package store-bought pound cake mix
1 egg, slightly beaten with fork
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
2 tbsp. melted butter

For the topping:

8 oz. container of whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten with fork
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
1/3 to 1/2 cup of walnuts, or as desired

Process

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

(2) Mix crust ingredients in bowl and press into a lightly greased and floured 13" x 9" baking pan. Mixture will be crumbly but firm.

(3) Whip the cream cheese, eggs, condensed milk and pumpkin pie filling in a large bowl with an electric mixer or wire whisk until well blended.

(4) Add dry ingredients -- pumpkin pie spice, salt, cinnamon -- and stir to combine.

(5) Pour filling on top of crust. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Bake 45 minutes until set.

Cool, cut into squares, and serve with ice cream or whipped cream, or just as they are!

Italian Plum Cake - A Wonderful Late Summer Pastry

We've been enjoying this lovely European recipe for decades, which is best only at the end of the summer, when Italian plums are in season. Recently, we were delighted to learn that plum cake is a dessert widely eaten on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Seems all ethnicities do come together at the table. (Props to Barrie Rubinstein for this sweet culinary info.)

It's simple, light and airy. The plums are tart, the sugar is sweet. And dusted cloves and cinnamon on top of the cake will fill your house with an irresistible autumn aroma. Enjoy with ice cream, more dusted confectioner's sugar, or plain with a cup of tea.

Ingredients

3 lbs. ripe Italian plums, pitted and quartered
1/4 lb. butter
3 eggs, separated
1-1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1-1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Ground cinnamon for dusting
Gound clovves for dusting
Granulated or sanding sugar for dusting

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Butter and flour a half cookie sheet.
3. Pit and quarter the plums and set aside.
4. Cream butter, 3 egg yolks and sugar with hand mixer.

5. Mix in baking powder and flour.
6. Beat 3 egg whites and gently fold into batter.
7. Spread on prepared cookie sheet.
8. Place plums on top of sheet, sprinkle with cinnamon, ground cloves and sanding/granulated sugar.

9. Bake for 30 minutes in 350F oven.

Finished, baked and ready to serve!

FATHER'S DAY BURGERS

Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers

Not for the faint of heart or appetite, our blue cheese stuffed burgers, topped with caramelized red onion and sautéed cremini mushrooms, are a hearty dinner for Dads on their special day, and anyone else who loves burgers!  The magic of this meal is the complexity of flavors created by use of spices and herbs. It's easy! Here's how we did it:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1/3 c seasoned breadcrumbs

4 T crumbled blue cheese

Salt & pepper

1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 red onion, sliced very thinly

Butter and extra virgin olive oil for sautéeing

Pinch granulated sugar for caramelizing

Whole wheat hamburger rolls (optional)

Vine ripened or heirloom red tomato (optional)

Dry white wine for deglazing

Pinch each of oregano and thyme for seasoning

Onion and garlic salt for seasoning

Process

1. Mix breadcrumbs into beef. Divide into four sections.

2. Add 1 T of blue cheese into center of each patty, fold over and seal.

3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano. Set aside.

4. Heat sauté pan with 1 T butter and 1 T extra virgin olive oil. Thinly slice red onion, and add to hot sauté pan. Sauté until limp, then deglaze with white wine. When wine has evaporated, lower heat, and allow to sauté gently until brown and caramelized.

5. In another sauté pan, heat 1 T butter and 1 T extra virgin olive oil. Add chopped creminis, and sauté until until soft (about 7 minutes). DO NOT ADD SALT OR PEPPER until cooking is complete. It will rob the mushrooms of their natural flavor. When mushrooms are done, sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Set aside.

6. In third sauté pan, heat 1 T butter and 1 T extra virgin olive oil and add burgers to hot pan. Sprinkle with more salt, oregano, onion salt and garlic salt. AlsSear 6 mins on one side, flip and another 5-6 minutes on the other side.

7. Serve on toasted whole wheat buns. Note: Adding tomato slices on bottom of bun will absorb juices of burger and "cook" the tomato. Absolutely delicious!

Serve with a green salad and watch them disappear!

Chicken Soup for a Winter that Won't End

"Snow is cold, rain is wet, chills my soul right to the marrow ..." Carole King

If you're suffering the slings and arrows of an outrageous spring, with snow and wind and weather that resembles January rather than April, here's a way to warm it up inside. Put on a pot of chicken soup! It is a perfect dinner, rich and delicious lunch, pairs perfectly with crusty bread, white wine and pasta/noodles. It's easy (easier than it looks!) and can serve six or more. Just put it into the pot and let it simmer! Top with grated parmagianno reggiano or your favorite oyster crackers.

Total cooking time – about 3-4 hours including prep

 Ingredients

1 whole air-cooled or air chilled chicken (about 3 lbs)

1 large onion, quartered

3 stalks celery, cut in half lengthwise and then into 3” pieces

1 lb. carrots, cut into 3” pieces (or get the small ones in bag)

1-1/2 cups College Inn chicken broth

3-4 chicken bouillon cubes

6 cups water (be sure the water is warm or hot before you add it to the pot – I use cold water out of the tap, put the bouillon cubes with the water in a measuring cup, and microwave it for a minute or two, then add to the pot)

Salt and pepper (I use French Sel de Mer and freshly ground pepper)

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. high quality organic olive oil

Bouquet garni – 6 cloves garlic, 10 sprigs fresh parsley, 4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme), 1 tsp. herbes de provence – wrapped up tightly in cheesecloth

Process

1. Into a large stock pot, heat butter and olive oil.

2. Salt and pepper chicken, and place whole chicken upside down in butter/olive oil,

3. Sear until browned. Turn chicken and sear on the other side.

4. Add onion, celery, carrots, broth, water, bouillon cubes, bouquet garni. Be sure the liquid covers the chicken almost completely.

5. Simmer on medium for about three hours. Watch the pot, maybe put a lid askew on it so that all the steam does not escape.

6. As it is simmering, you might want to add a little dried thyme to the top of the chicken and/or more salt and pepper.

If you use the air cooled chicken, there is (magically!) no scum to skim!! The best chicken ever!

7. When the soup is done, remove the chicken from the pot and debone it. Throw away the bones and put the chicken back into the pot. 

Serve piping hot with bread, buttered noodles, salad or just by itself. 

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Celebrate Pie Day with a Peachiful Pie!

A delightful long weekend at the Cape and overripe peaches brought us to yearning for a delicious sweet fresh peach pie. As with most of the Empty Nester Gourmet's recipes, this one is easy and quick ... and on your dessert table, warm and ready to top with ice cream, in less than 90 minutes.

Ingredients

3 cups overripe peaches, peeled, pitted and cut in quarters or sixths
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten slightly with fork
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup whipped butter, melted
1 pie crust/pate brisée (bottom and top for lattice)
Egg wash -- 1 egg + 1 tbsp. cold water, slightly beaten with fork
Sanding sugar -- approx. 1 tbsp.
Optional -- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Process
1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
2. Press bottom crust into pie plate, crimping edges decoratively.
3. Mix egg, sugar, flour, lemon juice and butter in a bowl until well blended. Set aside.
4. Peel, pit and slice peaches, and arrange in single layer on bottom of crust, then second layer.
5. Top with egg/sugar mixture.
6. Prepare lattice topping and layer on top of pie mixture, cutting edges and fitting snugly into crimped pie shell. (Use egg wash to seal edges.)
7. Brush top and crimped edges with egg wash, dust with sanding sugar, and cinnamon, if desired.
8. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 400F for 15 minutes, or until crust is browned. Reduce oven to 350F and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until filling is well set. If crust browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow to cool for approx. 1 hour before eating. Top with your favorite ice cream, or whipped cream.

SOUTHWESTERN POBLANO CORNBREAD

 

For our Super Bowl celebration, we are baking an easy batch of buttermilk cornbread, spiked with corn, cheddar and a chopped jalapeno, Less than an hour from start to finish, here's how we did it:

Ingredients

2 large eggs, beaten with a fork
1-1/2 c buttermilk OR 1 c whole milk + 1/2 c sour cream
4 oz corn
1 jalapeño pepper (chopped finely)
3 oz shredded white cheddar cheese
6 T melted butter
2 T butter for pan

1 c white cornmeal
3/4 c flour
1 T sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda


Process

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Grease a 9" x 9" baking pan with butter.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl.
4. Mix all wet ingredients except for corn in smaller bowl.
5. Gently fold in corn, jalapeño and cheddar.
6. Pour into baking pan and bake for 25 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Enjoy with your favorite chili or chicken 'n' ribs!

2-Napkin Wings for Super Bowl

Extra gooey, super spicy wings, on New Year's Eve

Super Bowl-inspired platter of sauce-laden BBQ wings, which we call "2-Napkin Wings." Put them on the table and they don't last too long -- why this photo is missing at least a dozen! Put out plenty of napkins, too -- enough to dab the sauce from cheeks, chin and fingertips.

The alchemy of these sweet yet spicy wings is simple -- use a base of your favorite BBQ sauce, but amply sprinkle garlic salt, chili powder, fresh-cracked five-pepper peppercorns and hot Hungarian paprika over them before saucing up.

Roast in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes, turn, re-season, and brush on more sauce. Repeat two more times, reducing oven to 325 for last 20 minutes.  The sauce will be the consistency of molasses and turn from ruby to a glistening mahogany reddish brown.  Pile onto a platter with a 1/2 cup of your own homemade bleu cheese dressing, and watch them disappear!

Creamy Dreamy Cream of Mushroom Soup

Creamy dreamy soup, just the thing for a really cold winter day. With props to The Barefoot Contessa, we created our own hearty brew for Saturday lunch with a few original twists and turns to add to the mushroom flavor and broth complexity. Big tip: Williams Sonoma has a line of "stock starters" in different flavors, which we've used this mushroom soup. They are superb and well worth the cost. Adding only 1 tsp. to your stock or gravy will give it a depth that you cannot get easily in any other way. https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/mushroom-caramelized-shallot-soup-starter/?pkey=s%7Cstock%20starters%7C246


Here's how we made the cream of mushroom soup:

Ingredients

For the Stock
10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced, caps removed
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced, caps removed
4 oz. any portabello or other mushroom, sliced, caps removed
1 tbsp. Willliams Sonoma mushroom stock starter
1/2 c. carrot, chopped
1/2 c. onion, chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
5 cups water
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For the soup
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
2 leeks, only light green and white parts, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c. flour
2 beef bouillon cubes
3/4 c. good quality dry white wine
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. half and half
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

Process

For the stock

1. Sauté the onion, shallot, carrot and mushroom stems in 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter. Add fresh thyme, Williams Sonoma mushroom gravy starter and water, simmer and skim as it cooks, for 30 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, strain.
3. Reserve broth and solids.

For the soup

1. Sauté leeks in 3 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil, until well wilted, about 20 mins.
2. Add mushroom caps and sauté 10 minutes more.
3. Add flour. Cook for a minute or two, to cook off the flour taste. All will "come together" in a loose ball. Stir well.
4. Add wine, dried thyme, bouillon cubes, and strained stock broth.
5. If desired (we did), add in some of the solids from the broth -- carrots, mushroom stems, onions, etc.

6. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently, using a wooden spoon, to pull up anything on the bottom of the pot. (Note: If more white "foam" appears, skim it gently and discard.)

7. Reduce heat and add cream, half and half, fresh parsley, stir well.
8. Chill and reheat before serving, as this process renders the soup creamier and more flavorful.

Serving suggestion: Crisp mixed greens with vinaigrette dressing, crusty Italian bread, ice cold glass of Pinot Grigio or Chablis.  Serves four generous servings.

"Thyme" for Beef Stew

This recipe was originally posted in November 2010. Here now in the dead of winter, posting it again. It's a wonderful winter stew. Note: If you don't have fresh thyme, dried thyme will do. Enjoy!

The nights are turning crisp, the heat is kicking on at 5 a.m., and the thyme in our garden has never been better. This richly-seasoned beef stew is authentically French, more of a Boeuf Bourginon, and straight from Ron's mom, our favorite French cook.

The stew's complex flavors come from the layering of deeply browned beef (the first step in creating a fond) rich red Burgundy wine, spices, sautéed mushrooms, and -- of course -- butter.  Serve over buttered egg noodles with a salad and you have a meal fit for a "roi"!

Ingredients
2 lbs. lean beef chuck cubes
1 large or 2 medium sweet onions, sliced
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
Butter and extra-virgin olive oi
Salt and pepper to taste
Slurry of 2-3 tbsp. flour + 1/4 c. hot water
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 lb. carrots cut into 1-1/2" slices
2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 package frozen peas or 1/2 lb. fresh peas, hulled
1/2 - 1 cup red Burgundy wine (or any good French or Italian red wine)(Remember, cook only with wine that you would drink.)

Process
In sauté pan, sauté mushrooms in 1 tbsp. butter with 1 tbsp. olive oil until deeply browned and they have given up all of their water. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In dutch oven large enough to fit entire stew, brown beef cubes in 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter until well-browned.  Remove beef and set aside.  Add onions and garlic, more olive oil if necessary, and sauté until wilted and soft.

Make a slurry out of 2-3 tbsp. flour and hot water. Add to onions, deglaze pot, stir well to combine, and add 1/4 c. red wine. Let simmer about 10 minutes, adding water if necessary.

Return meat to pot.  Add mushrooms, carrots, fresh thyme, another 1/4 cup red wine, salt and pepper to taste, and lower heat.

Simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, stirring frequently and adding wine as needed.  After one hour, add peas, simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare egg noodles and serve.

Note: You can substitute lamb for beef. Choose a tougher cut (a loin chop with bone in works really well), and add four Idaho potatoes, cut into 1-1/2" cubes, at the same time you add the carrots.  Mmmm. Your house will never smell so good!