Pumpkin Ravioli with Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage and Sauteed Kale

I'm getting the feeling this blog is going to slowly turn into a Trader Joe's blog... haha :) Here is a simple meal I cooked tonight, which sounds a lot more gourmet than it actually was...thanks to TJs. 

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage and Sauteed Kale

1 package Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli

a few big handfuls of baby kale, rinsed & dried

3 links Trader Joe's Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage

extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

chicken or vegetable stock

kosher salt

ground black pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Start boiling the water for the pumpkin ravioli. While water is heating up, slice the sausage into bite-size pieces and saute in 2 tbsp EVOO until edges are golden brown. Wrap in tin foil and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add a little more EVOO and saute the garlic until fragrant, but not colored. Add just enough stock to cover the bottom of the pan, and add the kale to the pan. Toss to combine, lower the heat, and cover.
3. Drop the pumpkin ravioli in the boiling water and let cook for 2 1/2 minutes. Drain and set aside, then toss together with sausage pieces.
4. Season kale with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Transfer to dish or platter. Place ravioli and sausage on top. Drizzle with a scant amount of maple syrup.
5. Enjoy!

I can't wait to try the chicken sausage with breakfast. It is SO good with some maple syrup drizzled on top. The sausage has little chunks of apple in it which add a delicious autumnal flavor. Yum!!

Cheers,
L

Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pancakes

So, this post concludes what I've officially named Pumpkin Week. Last night, thanks to Paul's suggestion, I made pumpkin soup to accompany our dinner of pierogies and roasted veggies. This morning, I made pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Amazing fact: all four pumpkin recipes I've written about in the last few days (pasta, bread, soup, and pancakes) were made from only one 29 oz. can of pure pumpkin puree. How's that for economical? Ah, the joys of cooking for only two!

This soup was absolutely delicious. Reminded me of a butternut squash soup I had at one of our favorite Philly restaurants, La Viola.

Pumpkin Soup
adapted from Cream of Pumpkin Soup, allrecipes.com

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 14 oz chicken broth
• about a cup of pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup 2% milk

1. Saute the onion in butter in a saucepan until tender. Add 7 oz. chicken broth, stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. By either transferring broth back & forth between a blender or food processor, or using an immersion blender in your saucepan, process until smooth.
3. (If using regular blender, return mixture to saucepan). Add remaining broth, pumpkin, hot sauce, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in the half-and-half and milk and heat through - do not boil. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg on top.

Now for the pancakes...

Morning sunlight makes for the best pictures. :)

GOOD morning!

Pumpkin Pancakes

adapted from Easy Pancakes, allrecipes.com

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts of your choice (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, milk, oil, and pumpkin. Whisk together just until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips or nuts.
2. Heat a non-stick griddle over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve with any of the following: butter, maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, chopped nuts. 

Sick of pumpkin yet?

Cheers, 

L

Pumpkin Loaf

Consider this a continuation of last night's pumpkin post. As mentioned previously, I've been craving a good pumpkin quick bread. After conducting extensive scientific research in order to locate the perfect recipe, I decided on smittenkitchen's pumpkin muffin recipe. With my own tweaks, of course. I obviously changed it to a loaf recipe, omitted the cinnamon sugar topping, and because I refuse to spend money on "pumpkin pie spice" when I already have all the individual ingredients on my spice rack, I changed -- and increased -- the spices. I like my autumn cakes/muffins with lots of spices, but not to the point of overkill.

As a habitual over-mixer of muffin/quick bread batters, I really liked Deb's advice in her post:

A large wire whisk, when mixing by hand, really allows you to incorporate all of the drying ingredients quickly without mashing them up too much. It’s made it much harder to overdo it, despite my better efforts.

I found this to be totally true. Despite my efforts to gently fold in the flour, I've always unintentionally over-mixed my muffins and quick breads, leaving them to fall flat (literally) or become a giant sinkhole. This whisk thing sure does the trick!

Pumpkin Loaf
adapted from smittenkitchen.com

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan or baking dish.
2. Whisk together the pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth and thoroughly combined.
3. Whisk in the flour and baking powder just until combined. Pour the batter into your loaf pan/baking dish, and bake until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

That last picture is the most flattering photo I could take of the finished product. I had a minor disaster while turning the loaf out of the pan -- things were not pretty (including the string of swear words that came out of my mouth in the process). But, although it doesn't look pretty, it is darn tasty, and that's all that matters. :)

Cheers,
L

Pumpkin! Pumpkin!! Pumpkin!!!

Welcome to autumn. It is officially that season where you see pumpkin (or the ever popular "pumpkin spice") everywhere -- muffins, quick breads, pies...all sorts of foods for that matter, lattes, coffee beans, coffee creamers, beer, candles, bath products, etc. For a few months, everyone deems pumpkin their favorite food and believes it is the best thing ever invented. Then the holidays are over and it seems everyone forgets about poor pumpkin until next year. I admit I am one of those people. I wish pumpkin was in season all year. Since October rolled around I've been dying to use it in the kitchen. I've had pumpkin spice coffee creamer on hand for the past month -- currently on my second bottle. When one store was out of said creamer, I went to another store to find it (success!). I am that desperate to grasp tightly onto the pumpkin craze before it disappears for another 10 months. Anyway, I haven't cooked with pumpkin yet this autumn. I have plans for pumpkin bread tomorrow, but tonight it was pasta.

My coworker recommended a Rachael Ray recipe and I'm glad I tried it. I altered the portions to serve two, and used half-and-half instead of heavy cream to cut the fat content, among other tweaks. The original recipe calls for sage, but I had none. So, if you have it, use it. But, word to the wise... follow Rachael's directions and USE WHOLE WHEAT PASTA! I only had regular semolina pasta on hand, and upon my first bite, my face lit up at the taste of the sauce but then I frowned a little. This pumpkin cream sauce needs the nutty richness of whole wheat pasta to bring out that autumn-y essence. Without it, the dish just lacks...something. I taste the pumpkin, the spices, but my palate is craving something else. One of the many reasons I love a really good quality (read: non-cardboard/sandpaper variety) whole wheat pasta is the depth of flavor it adds, and this is one of those cases.

I also want to mention that this would be a great main dish if you added chicken or sausage. Tonight, this was the "second course" of our dinner. Paul cooked the first course, and I cooked the second. I love when Paul cooks because his dishes always have his personality in them... from the seasonings he uses, to the tricks he's learned from his mom, to the very diligent, delicate, and patient way he chops up carrots into perfectly shaped little pieces. :) His first course was a salad consisting of romaine lettuce, carrots, apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries; topped with a pan-fried salmon fillet. Simple, yummy, and refreshing. This was a nice warm follow-up.


Pumpkin Lovers' Pasta for Two
adapted from Rachael Ray's Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

• 1/2 pound whole wheat penne
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
• 7 to 8 ounces pure pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
• a dash of ground cinnamon
• a dash of ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper, to taste
• grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a sautee pan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft.  Don't burn the garlic, like I did, and always will do.
3. Stir in the broth, pumpkin, and half-and-half. Add the hot sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Let simmer on low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Toss pasta and sauce together, and serve with grated cheese and a dash of cinnamon on top.

Shallots & garlic cooking in olive oil. One of my favorite smells ever.

Simmerin' sauce.

Bon appetit!

Cheers,

L

Hi.

The obligatory "first post"... how shall I begin?  Well, I've been thinking about starting a food blog for a while ever since I joined Allrecipes.com.  I review recipes and post pictures there all the time, but you have to be a paying member to have a blog there, so... no thanks.  My older sister, Jess, suggested that I start a food blog in a comment on one of my cooking pictures I had posted on Facebook (she has also repeatedly suggested I go to culinary school...hmmm).  My interest and enjoyment in cooking has increased over the past few years but I still consider myself largely a beginner. I would estimate 75% of my cooking is done without a recipe (this does not include baking).  I feel that's the best way to really learn how to cook...experimenting and creating on your own.  But of course, I do need (and greatly appreciate) help from the pros from time to time!

Literally a week ago, I relocated from Philadelphia (where I recently graduated from Temple University...go Owls!) to Delaware (where my boyfriend, Paul, will begin grad school this fall). I'm still unemployed (thanks, economy!) and when I'm not job searching, I'm slowly unpacking the apartment and getting back into cooking. I figured since I have all this free time now, it's the perfect time to take advantage of it and cook as much as I can... as well as start blogging. This is the state of my new, bigger kitchen now:

I love it; it gets plenty of sunlight and opens up to a big patio out back.  Quite an upgrade from our kitchen in Philadelphia.  As you can see, last night I finally unpacked (almost) all our kitchen boxes and unloaded everything onto the counters & stove.  Yikes...what a mess.  It hasn't stopped me from preparing a few meals, though.  Last night it was my favorite way to prepare chicken breasts: Melissa D'Arabian's Versatile 4-Step Chicken.  I love this recipe because you can switch out whichever poultry, aromatics, seasonings, citrus, and green veggie you want (last night I used chicken, onions/garlic, s&p, lemon juice, and American broccoli. In the past I've done pork chops pounded thin, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, spinach...the possibilities are endless).  And, in the corner near the microwave, you can see my mini-crockpot which currently has a batch of homemade tomato sauce simmering away (blog post about that coming soon).

Anyway, this is my little blog.  I hope to chronicle as many cooking adventures as I can, as well as our experiences dining out.  I may write about non-food related topics from time-to-time, as well. We'll see!  In the coming weeks I may back-track and do some posts about favorite meals I've made or enjoyed at my favorite restaurants in the past.  For now, here are some favorite shots of foods I've prepared:

Seared Ahi Tuna with Napa, Cucumber & Carrot Salad

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus with Spicy Mayo Dip

Bacon-Wrapped Salmon Fillet with a Balsamic Glaze (everything's better when wrapped in bacon)

Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing (icing recipe...so delicious, tastes like strawberry ice cream)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (recipe)

General Tao Chicken (recipe)

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Cheers,

L