Hello everyone! It’s been a little while since my last post and at last….something NOT pumpkin! After making a New England style clam chowder in my cooking class, I wanted to try to make MY version at home so I could actually taste it- sans pork, and chicken stock. I used vegetable stock with a bit of fish sauce mixed in because I could not find fish stock. The soup turned out fantastic, though not quite as thick as the one we made in school, the flavour was very nice and my family and I enjoyed it for dinner!

Koko’s New England Clam Chowder

• 25 g butter
• 50 g onions, diced
• 100 g celery, diced
• 50 g flour
• 3/4 L vegetable stock, warm, with 1/2 tbsp- 1 tbsp fish sauce added OR fish stock
• 300 mL clam nectar
• 1 sachet (herbs tied up in cheesecloth and left to float in the soup while cooking) consists of 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp peppercorns-crushed, 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
• 75 g potatoes, diced
• 350 mL baby clams, canned
• 125 mL Cream, 35%, or milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onions with celery until translucent.

Add flour and cook roux until white/blond in colour.

Whisk in heated vegetable or fish stock until smooth.

Stir in clam nectar, add sachet and simmer 15 minutes.

Add potatoes and simmer until tender.

Stir in baby clams and their juice.

Return to simmer, add cream and adjust seasoning, enjoy!!

And now…back to pumpkin! You thought I had stopped!? Nooo…..try these pumpkin cheesecake brownies- they are SO rich you will only need one to satisfy your sweeth tooth, though they are absolutely delicious! The recipe comes from the Beantown Baker.

I have been dying to try pumpkin oatmeal for the longest time, and finally I decided on a recipe (there are so many floating around the internet to choose from!). The recipe comes from Give Me Some Oven and I chose it because it doesn’t contain a huge amount of sugar, and I was even able to reduce the sugar more. It was delicious topped with some soy milk and I love how it’s served in little individual ramekins.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Recipe (Adapted from Gimme Some Oven, originally adapted from GoodLife Eats)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook
• 1 Tbsp. whole flax seeds, optional
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup soymilk or almond milk or regular milk

Topping:

• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.  Grease 4 individual-sized ramekins.  Set aside.

Combine the first eight ingredients (oat thru salt) in a medium-sized bowl.  Stir well.  In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk.  Whisk thoroughly.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats, and stir until combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the four ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake and additional 7 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a splash of milk and raisins, if desired.

To everyone in Canada, I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend- eat lots!!!

Enjoy some delicious pumpkin scones like I did, with a great recipe from Pinch My Salt. These really embrace fall flavours and make a great treat on the weekend or for a special pick-me-up in the afternoon. I made some changes in the recipe, as I don’t usually eat cream or milk and I thought that dried cranberries would add more to the recipe than raisins. Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry for the short post but I’m working at way at getting my ‘Culinary’ section up and running, along with a pile of homework!!

Pumpkin Spice Scones

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose white flour)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4  tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup plain soy milk
• 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well.

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, soy milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Cut butter into pieces and put in bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the dried cranberries if you are using them.

Pour liquid mixture into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.
4. Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.

Cinnamon Glaze

Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp soy milk, 1/4 – 1/2 t. cinnamon (to taste). Again, adjust amounts to change consistency. Icing can be brushed on or drizzled.

The other day I randomly thought about making ratatouille- I had never made it before but I wanted to try it. That night, the movie Ratatouille (so cute) was on TV and  so, I was convinced. I adapted the Ratatouille Provencale recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Ratatouille is usually a side dish but is also great as a main meal. I chose to serve mine over quinoa for some extra protein instead of rice, or noodles. Though not usually a part of ratatouille, I thought some mushrooms would have been nice and I will be sure to add them next time. I used chopped tomatoes but I felt that using canned tomatoes might have provided a juicier ratatouille, which is what I was looking for. Either will work depending on your preference! I chose to add parmesan cheese to mine but omit for this dish to remain vegan.

Ratatouille Provencale (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

• 1/4 cup olive oil + 2 tbsp
• 2 chinese eggplants (about 1 pound)
• 1 pound zucchini
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 2 large red bell peppers
• 3 garlic cloves, fienely chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes or one 14 oz can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 chopped fresh basil
• parmesan cheese

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add eggplant and zucchini and cook, stirring, until golden and tender (about 10-12 minutes).

Remove the vegetables and reduce heat to medium high. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and onions and cook, stirring until the onions are slightly softened.

Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook until tender (about 8-12 minutes). Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Add tomatoes, thyme and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the zucchini and eggplant back in and cook until everything is tender, about 20 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Stir in chopped basil, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve over quinoa, rice, noodles, or plain. Enjoy!

For the month of October, instead of having a Cookbook of the Month, I will be having a Flavour of the Month. This flavour will be the alllllllll too popular PUMPKIN! I adore pumpkin and could never get tired of it. I recently spent an entire day making everything pumpkin from oatmeal to scones and brownies and pie. I will be posting these recipes in future posts as well as others part of the flavour of the month. If you know of any interesting and unique pumpkin recipes, let me know because I would love to try them out!

Happy Mother’s Day! This weekend it happened to be my mom’s birthday on Friday followed by Mother’s Day on Sunday! I really wanted to try out a recipe (or two!) from this month’s Cookbook of the Month- The Joy of Vegan Baking. So, last night I made Baked Pumpkin Pudding and I accompanied it with Chocolate Almond Brittle. The Baked Pumpkin Pudding was nice but I really wished I had some vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream to go with it. The recipe suggested making the Tofu Whipped Topping to go with it, but since I am really the only one in my family adapted to using tofu in many different ways, I didn’t think they would enjoy that. I dug out my creme brulee torch because I wanted to add a nice burnt brown sugar topping to this dessert, but unfortunately I was out of butane! I still added brown sugar on top and stuck it under the broiler for about a minute- not quite the same, but oh well!

I really enjoyed the Chocolate Almond Brittle. It technically isn’t a brittle as it isn’t that rock-hard texture we all know. It was softer and contained chocolate, almonds and graham crackers. The best part for me were the bites that contained the graham crackers- next time I make this I will be sure to lower the amount of toasted almonds and up the amount of graham crackers!! I’m hoping to find the time to make some scones from this book soon, so stay tuned for that!

Say hi to yo mommas for me!!  

Here is a picture of me and my mom….unfortunately the only ones I have on my computer are from when I graduated high school!

Look how far I’ve come….from picking pumpkins (“it’s too heavy!!”) to baking with them!

For my first time participating in Magazine Mondays, I decided on a recipe torn from the pages of the October 2008 issue of Canadian Family magazine. The recipe is for Apple Pumpkin Butter. It is simple to make with very little prep work and lots of time spent in the oven. It is recommended to try the butter with ice cream, cheese and crackers, or toast. I have personally only tried it on toast, but I can tell you that it was great and provided something new and refreshing in exchange of regular butter, almond butter, or whatever you usually put on your toast!

Apple Pumpkin Butter (makes 1 1/2 cups)

• 2lbs assorted apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1lb baking pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (**I used a 15-oz can of pumpkin puree, as I did not have a baking pumpkin on hand)
• 2 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 whole star anise (or cinnamon stick if preferred)
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples, pumpkin, apple cider, and butter together in a large, shallow 12″ x 8″ glass baking dish. Cook in oven, stirring occasionally until apples and pumpkin are softened (about 30 to 35 minutes). Remove from oven, mash apple mixture with a potato masher or in a food processor for a smoother texture. Add maple syrup, star anise, allspice and ginger. Stir well. Return to baking dish and bake in oven, stirring occasionally until thickened and golden brown, about 2 hours.Remove from oven, discard star anise and let stand to cool. Tightly sealed and chilled, apple butter will keep 2 week; frozen, it will keep 3 months.