It's pumpkin time! Randy has a ton of pumpkins this year. We've given many away, but there's still plenty to carve up and plenty more for eating! So, I've listed here a few of my favorite pumpkin recipes. I've just made another variation of Amish Friendship Bread, this time using pumpkin, of course. Just cooked it up today, and it was superb. I'll upload a picture later. My pumpkin favorites are: Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Donuts, Pumpkin Bread, and Pumpkin Pie.
Savory Pumpkin Soup
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Chop pumpkin into even-sized pieces (larger pieces will require a longer roasting time). Place pumpkin and unpeeled garlic cloves in a baking tray/dish, drizzle with two teaspoons of the oil and toss to coat with oil.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the garlic so that it doesn't overcook. Continue baking pumpkin until tender and cooked through.
- Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for one minute.
- Add pumpkin and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until onion is soft and stock has reduced, about 20 minutes. The more the stock reduces, the thicker the soup will be.
- Peel roasted garlic and add to saucepan. We allow the soup to cool for about half an hour before pureeing in batches in a blender. Be careful if pureeing the soup while it is still very hot.
- Serve the soup hot. Top with a drizzle of cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg, if desired.
Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
I've just made this soup tonight. I made only one serving to try it out. Using the leftover pumpkin from my "Cat & Moon" jack-o-lantern, I just tossed in the oven with some pumpkin seeds and garlic cloves. Sprinkled on the olive oil, then after I was done feeding Chase, I took out the garlic and the seeds and put the pumpkin back in for another 30 or so minutes while I fed Chase again.
Then I went to check on the pumpkin, and it was tender enough to cut with a spatula, so I took it out. I then put a can of chicken stock on the stove and threw in the skinned pumpkin while Chase played in the exersaucer. After it came to a light boil, I tossed in the roasted garlic and let it boil for a few minutes before turning off the heat to let it cool. About this time, Chase was done in the exersaucer, he wanted to play. So I watched the season premiere of "Heroes" on NBC. When the show was over, Chase was ready to eat and take his nap. So I laid him down and went back to the kitchen with the baby monitor on. A quick whirr in the food processor and then reheating for a minute in the microwave and my soup was done. I seasoned it a little differently, added some Cajun seasoning, and omitted the onion (didn't feel like cutting and peeling and all that). Mmmmm, was this soup ever yummy. And with a batch of toasted and lightly salted pumpkin seeds to set it off. Definitely a very good low maintenance meal to make for breastfeeding moms who can't cook in the kitchen for more than 15 minutes at a time. The roasted garlic is superb. I want to eat it on everything. Tomorrow I plan to make the pumpkin pie. We'll see.Not-Mom's Pumpkin Donuts
Spiced sugar:
- Mix all ingredients in medium bowl to blend.
Dounuts:
- Whisk first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (mixture will be grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin in 4 additions. Using rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours.
- Sprinkle 2 rimmed baking sheets lightly with flour. Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.
- Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make donuts and donut holes.
- Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry donut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry donuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer donuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely.
Powdered Sugar Glaze:
For powdered sugar glaze:
Whisk powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons whipping cream to blend. Whisk in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form medium thick glaze. Can be made up to 3 hours ahead. Add donut holes to bowl of spiced sugar and toss to coat. Spread donuts on 1 side with Powdered Sugar Glaze. Arrange donuts, glazed side up, on racks. Let stand until glaze sets, at least 30 minutes.
Makes about 24 donuts and 24 donut holes.
Amish Pumpkin Bread
Using the Amish Friendship Bread recipe, I added pureed Pumpkin, used Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of cinnamon, and used ½ cu. Brown Sugar & ½ cu. Sugar instead of 1 cu. Sugar.
The Best Pumpkin Pie
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves (or use 1 ¾ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice) in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
- Pour mixture into pie shell.
- Bake in preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.
Don't freeze as this will cause the pie filling to separate from crust.
~Edit 10/09/2007~
As a note... Make sure to drain your pureed pumpkin. My pie ended up kinda squishy. Still tasty.
2 Recipe Feedback:
"Mom" who? I don't know who posted this... my recipe is different.
Ginny
Heh, well, not your recipe, per say... Rather you've made pumpkin donuts, so I looked up a recipe online.... I'll rename it "Not-mom's"
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