Williams Sonoma Pumpkin Butter

Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Butter

$10.00/jar at Williams Sonoma or you can make it at home for less!  This is such a simple recipe.  Uses a scoop in your pancake batter to make Pumpkin pancakes!  The possibilities are endless!


Ingredients:

½ Tbl. of Orange Zest

½ Tbl. of Lemon Zest

1 Large Can of Pumpkin (29 oz.) + ½ cup of water

2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons strained fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves

1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted and grated or very finely chopped (you can use a coffee grinder to do this!)

Makes about 5 cups

Combine in a heavy-bottomed stainless-steel or other nonreactive saucepan the pumpkin, water, zest, sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, allspice ginger, and cloves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; lower the heat and simmer the mixture, stirring it very often with a wooden spatula, until it has become very thick, about 15 minutes.

Sample the butter and add a little more of any or all of the spices, if you like (remember, the flavors will blossom in storage). Add more sweetening if your taste buds request it.

Stir in the nuts and continue to cook for another 2 or 3 minutes. Ladle the boiling-hot pumpkin butter into clean, hot half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Seal the jars with new 2-piece canning lids according to manufacturer's instructions. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Cool, label, and store for up to a year a cool cupboard. [Note: Instead of canning refrigerate or freeze for long-term storage.]

Cooking with Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkiːnoʊ.ə/ or /kwɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa): is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.

Sounds unappetizing, I know. Well, after running hours of errands before we head to Dallas tomorrow for OU/TX we ran to Central Market to grab a few items for shish kabobs. I grabbed a 1/2 pound of shrimp, zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, a red onion, and mushrooms. My usual accompanying side dish to shish kabobs is cilantro and lime rice. Much to my dismay when I got home there was no rice in my cupboard; however there was a container of quinoa that my roommate purchased months ago but never fixed.

The directions were the same as cooking rice: 2:1. Two cups of water, one cup of quinoa, simmer covered for 15 minutes. Boom, done. I added the juice of one small lime and a handful of chopped cilantro. I would usually add a Tbl. of butter to rice but the quinoa had such a good flavor it didn't need it.

Nutritional Benefits: The quinoa seed is high in protein, calcium and iron, a relatively good source of vitamin E and several of the B vitamins. It contains an almost perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. It is exceptionally high in lysine, cystine and methionine-amino acids typically low in other grains. The protein in quinoa is considered to be a complete protein due to the presence of all 8 essential amino acids. Some types of wheat come close to matching quinoa's protein content, but grains such as barley, corn, and rice generally have less than half the protein of quinoa. Quinoa is 12% to 18% protein and four ounces a day, about 1/2-cup, will provide a child’s protein needs for one day. The 6-7% fat of quinoa is relatively high when compared to other grains, but it boasts a low sodium content and also provides valuable starch and fiber. Quinoa also contains albumen, a protein that is found in egg whites, blood serum, and many plant and animal tissues.

In short, look for more quinoa recipes to come!

Food Network Chefs Are Horrible At Twitter « Food Network Humor

Food Network Chefs Are Horrible At Twitter « Food Network Humor

We’ve been following a few of the Food Network personalities on Twitter for the last few months, and boy, are they horrible at it. Their tweets range from boring and pointless, to self indulgent and strictly self promotional (which is considered REALLY LAME in the land of Twitter). Let’s look at some of the worst offenders.

MisoHungry Makes it with Moonshine: Calling all Chefs! Compete in Chefs under FIRE! Nov. 30th

MisoHungry Makes it with Moonshine: Calling all Chefs! Compete in Chefs under FIRE! Nov. 30th

This challenge was presented to me and I am all at once excited and nervous. I have already started cooking up some recipes in my brain, no pun intended. I am looking forward to getting in the kitchen and trying out some new recipes. I'll keep the blog updated with my successes and failures ~ Get ready, set, GO!

GourmetSleuth - How to Cut up a Chicken

GourmetSleuth - How to Cut up a Chicken

Adventures in Cutting Up a Whole Chicken

On The Menu Tonight: Smoky Paprika and Almond Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken

All Purpose Flour

Smokey Paprika

Salt

Pepper

3 Eggs

Milk

Almonds
Bread Crumbs
Flat Leaf Parsley

Season Flour with Paprika, Salt, and Pepper in one pan, plate, whatever. Beat eggs with a little milk in a separate pan, plate, whatever. Take two hand fulls of almonds, one handful of breadcrubs, and one handful of parsley and puree in a food processor until mixture is fine. Tranfer to a third a final pan, plate, whatever.

Set up an assembly line in this order: Dredge chicken in flour, shake off excess. Lightly dip in egg mixture and coat with almond crust. Lightly coat the bottom of your biggest frying pan with olive oil. Pan fry 5 minutes on each side or until cooked all the way through.

For this recipe I had a whole chicken in my fridge. It is easier to use chicken breast. I thought I would try something new and attempt to cut up the entire chicken. I would give myself a 7; it wasn't exactly pretty but at least I made it out without losing a finger. I finished this dish off in the oven becuase of the large, slightly uneven cuts of chicken.

Who wants to help clean the kitchen?!