Spring is here!  Or so it seems with three days in a row in the upper 50s.  I’m wearing flip flops again, my friends!   And with the warm kiss of spring sunshine, I find myself distracted by thoughts of getting into the garden and going to shop for plants and seeds.  While it’s a good excuse, you fine folks still deserve a new delicious post so I apologize for the delay in putting up this last week’s post.  These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are worth the wait though.

I have this amazing local bakery just up the street from me.  Driving or walking by it and the unabashed aroma that flows from its doors is like scratching that last patch of dry winter skin…it smells sooo good, but it is also torture in a way.   I buy my dinner rolls there and love how they come in an old-fashioned brown paper sack  that crinkles as I take it from the baker’s hand.    On my last visit, I spied a gorgeous muffin in their sweets case and my instincts told me, correctly, that it was pumpkin in flavor.  What intrigued me was that there was a dollop of cream cheese that had been baked into the top of the muffin.  I had to try it so I naturally had it added to my paper sack.   As I expected, it was incredibly moist and delicious. 

While I loved the muffin from the bakery, I found myself thinking about how I might play with the recipe if I had it at my disposal.  Unfortunately, though I can’t say I blame them as what they make is pure gold, the bakery doesn’t give out their recipes.   So, left to my own devices with a concept floating around my head for a few days, I determined that I would make my own but increase the ratio of cream cheese  per muffin as I really loved that element in the bakery’s version.  I realized in the end that what I was really envisioning was a pumpkiny-remake  of the traditional black bottom cupcake. 

I felt sheepish taking what was probably a fairly healthy muffin concept and turning it into a rich decadent cupcake.  So, I worked hard to find ways to dial down the fat and calorie content without sacrificing that gooey cream cheese indulgence that has always made black bottom cupcakes one of my favorite desserts.  Initially I wasn’t all that wowed by the muffins (it really is much more of a muffin than a cupcake, though sweet and cakey still) when they came out of the oven and I had my first bite after breaking one open and letting the steam escape.  But then the next day, after having sat in the fridge, the flavors and richness were much more apparent.  

I suppose with spring in the air, I’ll have to give up my pumpkin-pushing ways for awhile in favor of fresh spring flavors.  But I still have some puree in the freezer so there might be one last pumpkin recipe on SFTF before we all jump into the joys of fresh straight-from-the-farm vegetables again!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (a.k.a. Orange Bottom Cupcakes)
A Straight from the Farm Original

Batter
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. salt 
3/4 c. granulated or raw sugar
1 C. pumpkin
1/4 C. water
1/2 C. nonfat Greek or plain yogurt
1 t. vanilla extract

Filling
2 egg whites, at room temperature
8 oz. low-fat (but not no-fat) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 C. mini chocolate chips (optional)

To prepare batter:  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a ziplock bag or bowl.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin, water, yogurt and vanilla and whisk briskly.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until moistened.  

To prepare filling:  In a small bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites just until foamy.  Blend in cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  If using, add chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed. 

To make cupcakes:  Preheat oven with 350 F.  Line cupcake or muffin pans with 24 paper or foil muffin liners.  Spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Fill each cup about half way with batter.  Top each with about a tablespoon of filling.   Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops spring back when pressed lightly with a finger.   Store in a sealed container in the fridge.

(makes 1-2 dozen，depending on the size)

The first day of March truly harkens of spring around here.  The mounds of snow we’ve been buried under for a month are beginning to drip hypnotically as they melt in the fantastically warm sunshine.  Oh that we would have seen the last of the white stuff for this year, but I haven’t let myself entertain such hopes seriously.  After all, March has come in like a lamb, and you know what they say about its exit in such a case.  I’m nearly frantic with the need to get into my garden to start preparing seed beds and fretting anxiously over my spring bulbs that would normally burst forth with blooms in just a few weeks.  

So in acknowledgement that spring may have come or it may equally be far away, I’ve got yet one more winter treat for you.  Kumquats hang heavy from the indoor trees here at the moment.   They’ve reached the end of their season and need to be picked and used up.  I was happy to oblige. 

The tropical combination of coconut and kumquats seemed fitting for a creating a recipe that bridges the winter and spring seasons.  It was awfully fun to create mounds of snowy coconut and roll sunny kumquats down them for this photo shoot.  Sometimes it’s good to play with your food.  

I should warn you that I’m still tinkering with this recipe.  The cupcakes were rich and moist, but a bit too dense for my liking.  Cake, cup-shaped or otherwise, should be fluffy, should it not?  I suspect that it was the extra juice of the kumquats that I didn’t account for that weighed down the crumb so I’ve tweaked the amounts of liquid below but haven’t actually had a chance to test it again to be sure.   Don’t mind my Miss Perfectionist attitude; those cupcakes from the first batch were gobbled down with rave reviews between greedy bites so there’s nothing to fear.  I wanted to be sure to share this recipe with you before fresh kumquats sadly disappeared from your local market for another year, if they haven’t already. 

If coconut’s not your thing but you’ve still got a pint of kumquats to use up, don’t forget about the delectable Cranberry Kumquat Cornbread recipe from a few weeks back.   Or, if you really aren’t that fond of eating kumquats at all, D has found that they make very good eyeballs for snowmen. 

Kumquat Coconut Cupcakes
A Straight from the Farm Original

Cupcakes
3/4 C. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C. of sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 1/4 C. cake flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1 C. coconut milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 C. sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 C. chopped kumquats*
4-5 whole kumquats, sliced very thinly

Frosting
1/2 C. butter, room temperature
8 oz fat free cream cheese, room temperature
1/2-1 C. of powdered sugar
1/2 C. lightly toasted sweetened shredded coconut

*To chop kumquats, rinse them well in luke warm water.  Slice in half and remove seeds.  Place in a food processor and give them a few pulses until they are chopped into small bits.  To toast coconut, place it on a cookie sheet in the 350 F oven while you are making the batter, being sure not to let it burn.

To Make the Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugar and mix until fluffy again. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Add the vanilla bean scrapings and mix until well distributed.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg in a bowl or ziplock bag.  Shake your can of coconut milk and then open it, measuring out a cup.   

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir, then add 1/3 of the coconut milk. Continue alternating until wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated; do not over mix.

Fold in the shredded coconut and chopped kumquats. Use a scooper or a set of spoons to divide batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes.  Cupcakes are done when a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, or when pressing lightly on the tops, they spring back. 

Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar, taste as you go, adding sugar until you have reached the desired sweetness. 

Assemble

Spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes and sprinkle toasted coconut on top and decorate each cupcake with a thin slice or two of kumquat.

(20-24 cupcakes)

Oh the humble onion.  How often I have overlooked thee in my winter local food stores.  You might ramp up the flavor in a soup or an omelet, nevertheless I just wasn’t thinking about what you might do as the star of the show.  But as we enter the “leanest month” – March – for locavores, I gave you a piercing stare as you hung there in your little mesh bags from a peg in my dry cool dark basement where you hold up indefinitely without a peep of complaint.   What can I do with you? 

Caramelized onions or French onion soup would perhaps be more predictable fates for a large stash of onions like that leftover from my plentiful onion harvest in the garden last summer.  And you may yet see both of those manifestations of onion goodness here this winter.  But I had a craving and a curiosity to satisfy first. 

I love onion rings with that crispy salty outside and that soft sweet onion on the inside.  They seemed to show up a lot at lunch during the summers when I was a kid; mom needed a quick side for my dad when he came rushing in at unpredictable times from working in the field.   My dad loves fried food.  Can you blame him?  

Unfortunately I don’t have the physique to get away with eating fried foods in any great quantity.  It stood to reason that my love of onion rings would be well served if I took some of those winter-stored onions and experimented with a healthier and homemade take on this fast food favorite. 

Besides burning the first batch, I declare these a solid success!  By putting a cookie sheet coated with a little oil in the preheating oven, you get the same crispy coating of fried onion rings without the saturated oily side effect.  I can’t take credit for that technique though: I saw Jamie Oliver (on the “telly”) use it once to cook up roasted potatoes faster.   Works like a charm, just be sure to let the cookie sheet get good and hot first, and then flip the onion rings once during baking to get the other side golden as well.

So, if you had a good dozen or so large juicy onions still in storage, what would you do with them?  Or, perhaps more importantly, what would you like to see ME do with them? 

Homemade Onion Rings
A Straight from the Farm Original

3 T. canola oil
3 large white or yellow onions
1 egg
1/2 C. buttermilk
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C. all purpose flour
1 C. toasted wheat germ
1 C. bread crumbs
1 t. dried marjoram
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Spread the oil on a baking tray and set inside the preheating oven to get hot. 

Cut the onions into a thick rings.  Separate the rings of the onion with your fingers and set aside.  In a large shallow dish, mix the egg, buttermilk, cayenne, salt and pepper until well combined.  Add the flour and mix until all lumps are gone.  In another large shallow bowl, combine the wheat germ, bread crumbs, marjoram, oregano , and basil. 

Working in batches and using your hands, toss the onion rings in the batter first and then in the bread crumb mixture.*  When you have all the rings coated,  carefully remove the hot baking tray from the oven and immediately place the rings on it in a single layer.  You will likely need to bake them in two batches unless you have a very large tray. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden but not brown, turning over once during baking.  Remove from oven and place on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.  Sprinkle generously with salt and serve immediately.

*You can stop at this point and freeze the coated rings on a cookie tray and then put them in a ziplock bag to use later.  Just pop straight on a hot oiled baking pan (no need to thaw) and cook as directed above.

(serve 6)

It’s hard to do justice to this recipe in words.  You really have to taste it to know how wonderful a cake made with honey, pumpkin, parsnips, carrots, buckwheat flour, buttermilk and dark chocolate can truly be.  I don’t think I’ve ever come across a cake that is so moist and flavorful, yet so packed with vitamins and relatively void of fat as far as cakes generally go. 

This little brain child of mine was inspired by a recipe two winters ago that I conjured up for Parsnip Spiced Cupcakes.   I had more parsnips in my crisper drawer this winter, and I remembered how big a hit those cupcakes were so I thought perhaps I should make another batch to bus us through this blustery winter.  As I was sorting through my root vegetable stash, I grabbed a few sweet carrots that are still going strong and thought I might as well add those to the recipe.   When I spied the frozen pumpkin puree in the freezer, I knew the wheels in my head were turning a different direction, though obviously a baked moist crumb was still on the menu, just now in rich dense {and healthy} bundt cake form. 

Now, I’m not one to often promote a product  other than the occasional cookbook or a local food item on this blog, but I do want to mention one that’s become a staple in my pantry (or rather fridge) and is a real lifesaver.  It’s a powdered buttermilk that stays good for ages and you can mix up just the amount you need for a recipe rather than buying a carton at the store and feeling preasure to use up the rest of it.   I found my red tub in the baking asile right next to the cake mixes and chocolate chips.   This snowy winter, it has saved me more than one trip to the grocery store when the weather is antagonizing my kitchen escapades. 

Should you be eyeballing the ingredient list below and raising an eyebrow, rest assured that you can use more conventional ingredients, such as white sugar and just all-purpose flour,  instead of the honey, raw sugar, and buckwheat flour in this recipe.  I opted to keep the ingredients as “wholesome” as possible to intensify the rustic wintery comfort dessert quality of this cake, a quality well-worth preserving if you can.  I also learned a lot about buckwheat flour.  I’d just used it before in pancakes and wasn’t sure how it would affect the texture of a cake.  As it turns out, I love how tender it keeps the crumb and the nutty flavor is a lovely boon.   Buckwheat lowers the gluten level in the cake so if you are trying to exclude gluten from your diet, I’m sure this cake could easily be made gluten-free.  In fact, I’ve made it a few times now and pushed the amount of buckwheat flour up to one and a quarter cups with no apparent consequences (though D didn’t like it as much that time because it was too “earthy” for him). 

Dusted with snowy confectioner’s sugar, Winter Harvest Bundt Cake is sure to bring a smile to everyone who has braved the cold to join you for a slice.  Even weary shovelers will perk up after just one bite.   And with all that vitamin C in there, one might even get away with calling this a flu and cold preventative medicine.  Maybe.   But, really, the flavor alone justifies that second slice. 

~

Winter Harvest Bundt Cake
A Straight from the Farm Original

6 egg whites
1 C. raw sugar
1 C. honey
1 vanilla bean, split in half and scraped
1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 C. pumpkin puree*
1  1/4 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C. buckwheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. grated carrot
1/2 C. grated parsnip
3/4 C. dark chocolate chips/chunks
confectioner’s sugar for dusting

*As the pumpkin is being used as a moistening agent in this recipe, it is recommended that you use homemade pumpkin puree as it contains much more moisture than store-bought puree.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Prepare a 9 inch bundt pan with cooking spray, and dust with flour.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.  In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, vanilla scrapings, oil and pumpkin puree until well combined.  Fold into the stiff egg whites.

In another bowl or ziplock bag, mix the flours, baking soda, salt, and spices. Alternately mix the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the egg mixture until smooth.

Fold in the carrot, parsnip and chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Bake 45-60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.  Let cool before serving.  Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

(serves 12)

Well, I don’ t know about where you are, but here it’s proving to be the perfect weekend to tuck in and get some things done around the house because, well, there’s really no other choice.  In my humble opinion, a couple dozen inches of snow are a wonderful excuse to be a little lazy and perhaps a little bit productive too as your mood suits you throughout the day.   Cups of tea and bowls of soup are also necessary amenities for snow days, and I’ve had plenty of both. 

But while the rest of the city was running rabid to the store last night, desperately nabbing food to get them through the weekend of snow drifts, I was able to just walk down the steps to my basement and look over my shelves of preserved goodies that have been such a treat over this entire winter:  pears, peaches, beans, jams, and pickled beets.  That’s right…pickled beets.  Ever had such a thing? 

I suspect pickled beets are a culinary colloquialism, part of my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, but I could be wrong.  All I really know is that I love them, though that wasn’t always the case.  When I was a girl, my mom would make large batches of jars full of bright pink chunks of pickled beets, and it was my job to cart them down the narrow stairs to our root cellar to fill the cupboards there.   I’m not sure if it was resentment for all the lugging or just the underdeveloped tastes of a kid, but pickled beets equaled “yuck!” in my young mind.    Oddly enough, I don’t think we ever ate fresh beets, roasted or otherwise, when I was growing up. 

Somewhere along the way, I got over my foolish hang-up about pickled beets and grew to appreciate them for what they are: a delicious sweet and savory treat that, when eaten in a snow storm, reminds me of the sunny autumn days when I plucked those very same beets out of the warm fragrant earth.  In a few months, all this snow will have been melted away and it will be time to plant more beets again.  They make a perfect spring crop to put in your garden as soon as you can get out there and start scratching out some rows.   Be sure to buy plenty of seed so you’ll have enough for a second crop in the fall to make jars full of jewel-toned pickles of your own for next winter.  

Pickled Beets

Begin by cleaning and trimming your fresh beets.  Place in a heavy saucepan and cover with water.  Boil until fork tender.  Remove from heat and let cool enough to make handling them easy.  Slip the skins off and chop the cooked beets into evenly sized wedges.

Sterilize pint jars and lids either in the dishwasher or in a boiling water bath on the stove.  Let jars cool enough to handle and then pack them full of cooked beets. 

In a saucepan on high heat, make a boiling syrup of:

2 C. sugar
2 C. water
1 C. vinegar
1 1/2 t. salt

Pour hot syrup over the beets in the jars until they are covered and there is about an 1/8 inch of “head space” left at the top.  Seal tightly with lids.  Place jars in a big kettle/pot and fill with enough water to cover the jars by a 1/2 inch.  Place over high heat and process until the water has been at a boil for five minutes.  Remove jars from water and allow to cool on a kitchen towel.  Test the seal of each lid by pressing on it – if it gives at all, it hasn’t sealed and will need to be stored in the fridge.   Label jars with date and store for up to a year. 

(makes 6 pints)

Alright, after all the recent pumpkin recipes (and, yes, there is still more to come…hopefully there are no collective groans to be heard out there, unless they are hungry bellies voicing anticipation), it’s perhaps time for a palette cleanser.  I had hoped to actually pull off a savory dish of some sorts for you, but as it turns out, my mind is consumed with baking these days.  I attribute this constant craving for sugar and butter to the dull gray of winter and a fundamental instinct to put on pounds and hibernate.  Damn you, Mother Nature! 

But really, I should keep my curses to a minimum as being obsessed with the oven and flour in a season of limited local ingredients leads to wonderful concoctions that I might not otherwise try.  Case and point:  Cranberry Kumquat Cornbread.  I have to confess, I didn’t dream this one up on my own for a change.  I had dear reliable Martha’s help and the scrumptious pictures in one of the fall issues of her magazine to get the mental cogs turning. 

Time for a word about the star ingredients of this loaf:  the cranberries are still from the stash in my freezer that I horded away when cranberries were easily had from the local bogs in New Jersey back in the autumn.  The kumquats are a different story.  Rarely are kumquats local fare when you come from a climate that experiences deep freeze winters.  Jewels of the sub-tropics and tropics, kumquats are one of my favorite citrus treats.  Fortunately for me, my present position at a large public garden with a greenhouse dedicated to fruit production allows me a chance to indulge my kumquat cravings with local sensibility.   The fragrance of both the blossoms and the fruit on the trees is intoxicating;  I make a point to pass by them every day.

For those unfamiliar with kumquats, they look like very small oranges and come into season usually around Christmas and last for a couple months.  Sometimes there is a second flush of fruit later in the year if you’re lucky.  In any case, there are many different cultivars and each has a varying ratio of sweet and sour.  You see, to eat a kumquat, you must eat the whole fruit, rind/peel and all!  The rind is actually the sweet part of a kumquat and is very tender compared to other citrus.  The flesh and juice of the kumquat is typically very sour.  I equate it to the fruit version of a piece of “sour patch kid” candy.  You need to be careful of seeds though when swallowing a kumquat whole (though some varieties don’t have any).  Eat one carefully before you eat a whole handful in a hurry. 

The wonderful thing about kumquats is that they are relatively compact plants/trees and they make for good house plants if you have a sunny south-facing window and some patience when it comes to hand-pollinating.  I think it’s worth the effort as I absolutely adore cooking with kumquats; they’re so distinctive.  Adding them to this recipe for the cornbread further accentuates the juxtaposition between the sweet buttery dense texture of the bread and the powerful burst of tart juicy flavor from the fruit on top.  Really, it’s just lovely.  The one sad part though is that the carnberries stain the kumquat red so you can’t tell what is what once it’s all said and done.  I had hoped for a speckling of orange and red flecks.

I liked the bread very well as it was.  But I thought after eating a few slices that it could be improved upon by layering the fruit a bit more in the loaf.  So, I’ve adapted the recipe below to indicate this, and I wanted to be sure to mention it here because the photos obviously only show the fruit on top (per the original recipe I was following).   Don’t be confused if yours looks different after using the recipe below. 

Cranberry Kumquat Cornbread
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

4 T. (half a stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C. raw sugar
2 C. fresh or frozen cranberries
10 kumquats
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. fine yellow cornmeal
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. fresh orange zest
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 C.) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 T. milk
1/2 t. freshly grated ginger

Rinse the kumquats well, dry, and mince with a sharp knife or in a food processor.  Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 a stick) of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the raw sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add the cranberries and kumquats and cook until the cranberries begin to pop, about two minutes.   Pour *half* of the cranberry mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 5 x 9 inch loaf pan, spreading the mixture evenly.  Set the rest aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cloves.  Set aside.

Beat the remaining 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter until fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and mix on high until incorporated into the butter, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs and milk and beat well.  Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add the flour mixture, beating just until combined.  Batter gets fairly thick so you may need to finish it by hand.  Mix in the ginger and fresh orange zest.

Do your best to carefully pour/plop *half* of the batter into the loaf pan, trying not to displace the cranberry mixture on the bottom too much.  Use a spatula to smooth the top.  Now pour the remaining cranberry mixture over the batter in the pan, spreading evenly.  Finish by placing the rest of the batter in the pan and once again carefully smoothing.

Place pan in preheated oven and bake it for about 45 minutes.  Check it at 35 minutes though to be sure the edges aren’t burning too much.  If the edges are burning, lower the heat to 325 F and continue to bake until it springs back when gently pressed or when a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Let loaf cool for 10-15 minutes and then run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen.  Invert pan on a serving dish or cutting board.  Let cool completely before serving.  Store, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, in the fridge for up to a week. 

(makes 1 large loaf)

Well, hello there!  Great news…SFTF is featured on Design*Sponge today!  Welcome, all D*S readers!  If you’re an SFTF reader (not to drive home any ideas of “camps” here among you all) who has yet to stumble upon D*S, it is a site full of amazing inspirational posts from some of the most creative minds in the world.  The topics and projects featured there never cease to amaze me!  And I’m addicted, checking in on the D*S divas at least twice a day. 

My recipe on D*S for Perfect Pumpkin Risotto is one that I conjured up many months ago, and I’ve been biting my nails ever since, anxious to share this heavenly and comforting winter dish with you.  Unfortunately, the season for buying local pumpkins is likely passed in most parts at this point.  But perhaps you’ve been holding on to one or two in your cellar, hoping to carry memories of glowing autumn days just a little deeper into the pale dimness of winter.  Or, as you all are probably well-aware of by now (am I driving this point home too much?),  pumpkin puree is a miracle ingredient and if you’ve got a stash, this risotto is well worth a cup or two.  To replicate the “chunks” without any fresh pumpkin on hand here in the depths of winter, you could cube and roast sweet potatoes instead. 

Please be sure to click over to Design Sponge to see the post there and perhaps leave some SFTF love for me?  M’wah! 

~

Perfect Pumpkin Risotto
A Straight from the Farm Original

Pumpkin
1 large or 2 small eating pumpkins
2 t. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. coarse sea salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. finely minced fresh rosemary
pinch of white pepper
1 firm ripe pear

Risotto
3 C. vegetable stock
3 T. butter
1/2 C. diced onion
1 1/2 C. aborrio rice
1/2 C. white wine or sherry cooking wine
1/2 t. finely minced fresh rosemary
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 C. pumpkin puree (above)
1 C. roasted pumpkin cubes (above)
1/2 C. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 C. heavy cream
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
sprigs of rosemary to garnish

* The pumpkin portion of this recipe can be prepared in advance and stored in sealed containers in the fridge for 2-3 days before making the risotto or frozen for several months.  Just thaw completely before making the risotto.

Begin with making the pumpkin puree and roasted cubes.  Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Cut the pumpkin(s) in half with a very sharp knife (be careful!) and scoop out the seeds with a large spoon.  Place one half of the pumpkin cut side down in a baking dish and put about a half inch of water in the bottom.  Place in oven and bake until a fork slides through the skin easily and the flesh is very soft, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and use tongs to place the pumpkin cut side up on a cool surface to let off some of the heat.   When pumpkin can be handle (use a dish towel if you’re in a hurry), scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon and place in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.  Set aside.  You can freeze any extras in a freezer bag for use later. 

While the first pumpkin half is baking, prepare the second half of the pumpkin by using a good vegetable peeler to remove the skin and cutting the uncooked flesh into small cubes.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place pumpkin cubes on it.  Drizzle with oil and toss to coat evenly.  Add the nutmeg, salt, cinnamon, rosemary, and white pepper.  Wash the pear but do not peel it.  Halve, core and dice the pear into smaller pieces than the pumpkin.  Add the pear to the pumpkin on the sheet and toss everything with your hands to combine all the ingredients.  Place in the oven and bake until tender and golden at the edges, about 25 minutes. 

Once the pumpkin is well on its way to being done, begin to work on the risotto. Put the vegetable stock in a medium saucepan over low heat to come to a simmer. 

Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat.  When it is melted, add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the rice and stir for about two minutes so it can absorb the butter and toast a bit.  Add the wine and let everything simmer for another minute or two until the wine is absorbed. 

Set a timer for 18 minutes.  Add about half a cup of hot stock to the risotto and stir constantly until it is absorbed.  Add another half cup of stock and repeat this process until 18 minutes is up.   Add the pumpkin puree, nutmeg, rosemary and a final half cup of stock and stir vigorously to combine.  When risotto has once again become thick and creamy, add the roasted pumpkin cubes and grated cheese and stir again to combine.  Finally, finish the risotto by stirring in the heavy cream and adding pepper and salt to taste.  

Serve immediately while hot, garnishing with addition grated cheese and a sprig of rosemary on each plate. 

(serves 6)

So, you all made the pumpkin bread from the last post right?  The ingredients are at least on your shopping list for your next trip to the store, right?  At the very least, you’ve put it on your to-do list for the upcoming weekend, right?  If you haven’t done any of those things, I’d venture to guess you will as soon as you see what I’ve done here with that very same loaf of pumpkin bread.  

You’ll no doubt need to make a double batch of the bread, by the way.  One loaf will quickly disappear right out of the oven.  It can’t be helped.  The second loaf is the one you cut into thick slices and coat with a batter of farm fresh egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to cook up in a heavy skillet to make THE MOST DECADENT French toast you’ll ever have! 

Nothing could be lovelier for a brunch with friends and family.  Or, Valentine’s Day is heading our way once again and this would be a wonderful wake-up for the one you love.  And I tell you, if you happen to own a B&B, I can only imagine how your guests will stampede the dining room when you put this on the menu.   This is a very special dish great for grand occasions.  But bake a bunch of loaves and stash several in you freezer (double wrapped with cling wrap and foil and in a ziplock bag) and you’ll be all set to make it any old day of the week. 

This Pumpkin French Toast is especially good comfort food for a snowy day.  My friend Anne {of Eat Feed Autumn Winter fame} over at the Eat Feed blog, is doing a creative and useful series of posts on winter dishes.   So often winter is a lonesome time for those striving to eat as local as possible.  Inspirational moments and ingredients are few and far between.  Anne’s set out to put a little love back into winter eating by pooling together readers’, guest bloggers’ and her own ideas for heating up the cold months.  Please stop by and let her know what some of your best winter dishes are.   In the case against winter cooking blahs, I’m submitting Exhibit A: Pumpkin French Toast.   Many more Exhibits to follow.   

Pumpkin French Toast
A Straight from the Farm Original

8 slices (about an inch thick) of pumpkin bread
3 eggs
1/3 C. milk
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
a bottle of real maple syrup

Heat a large skillet (cast iron if you have it) over medium heat.  Grease the skillet with no-stick cooking spray or a pat of melted butter.

In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and spices.  Use a fork to dip the bread slices into the egg mixture, carefully turning the slices over to coat all sides.   Place the coated slices in the hot skillet in a single layer (you’ll have to work in batches).  Cook on one side until golden brown, about 3 minutes and then carefully flip to cook the other side until golden, about 2 minutes.   Repeat dipping and cooking process until all slices are done. 

Plate up and serve with warm maple syrup and a dollop of fresh whipped cream if desired. 

(serves 4)

I’m having a perfectly lazy weekend, one about which I’m determined to not feel guilty.  Too often these days I find myself driven nearly to the point of distraction by my “to do” lists and a need to reach some continually elusive goal.  As such, I’m a manic list keeper.  I’d type one out here for you, but I fear it’d be a bit too embarrassing.  

It is a blessing and a curse, as you well know if you too are a compulsive list complier.  On one hand, I am very organized and, in theory, more efficient as I rarely find myself scratching my head and wondering what to do next.  On the other hand, I am by times paralyzed by the magnitude of my self-assigned tasks.  Since I feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction when crossing off completed items on the list, I think I tend to add more and more to my lists to keep the good times rolling.  But then I realize that my list for just one day  fills an entire notebook page and I experience instant exhaustion.   Does this happen to anyone else?  Is there a twelve step program for my kind? 

Long list, err, story short, I’ve decided I need to reign in my urge to constantly be “on task”  and focus more on savoring the things I love simply because I want to, not because they fulfill some item on my to-do list.  So, at least for the remainder of the winter, weekends are finally going to be the way they were meant to be:  time with D, watching movies, taking walks, sleeping late, knitting, reading, eating a hot breakfast instead of a granola bar, snuggling with my cats… all those good things.

One of those things that I love is making bread.  I really find my stride in the kitchen when working with both quick and yeast breads.  I particularly enjoy kneading yeast doughs; so therapeutic.  But this time, I decided to make a quick bread as I still haven’t completely satisfied my craving for all things pumpkin.  And to add to the indulgence, both in flavor and in just enjoying myself on a lazy weekend, I actually then turned this delicious loaf into a breakfast/brunch favorite that you’ll just have to wait to discover in my next post.  Trust me, it is a wonderful way to spend some relaxing time in the kitchen and making a delicious dish for those you love and want to indulge!

Meanwhile, this bread is super moist with a perfect crumb and hints of the warm spices that compliment pumpkin so very well.  It’s a lovely little loaf for breakfast just the way it is, served warm and heavily buttered.  But like I said, I have an extra special way to put it to good use that I’ll tell you about in the next post… stay tuned (and relaxed).   

Pumpkin Bread
A Straight from the Farm Original

1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/8 t. ground allspice
1/3 C. margarin, room temperature
2/3 C. sugar
2 eggs, room temp and beaten
1 C. pumpkin puree

*If you don’t have all the spices in the recipe on hand and don’t feel like buying them all, you can use a pumpkin pie spice blend instead.  Use 1 t. of cinnamon along with 2 t. of pumpkin pie spice. 

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease one large or two small loaf pans.  Set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices (I put all mine into a ziplock bag and shake it around). 

Cream together margarin and sugar until fluffy.  Add beaten eggs and mix well.  Add a third of the dry ingredient mix, then a third of the pumpkin.  Continue to alternate these two until all is just combined in the batter.  Do not overmix. 

Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for an hour or until golden brown and springy to the touch.   To store for more than two days, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in fridge.  You may also freeze it. Delicious warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or turned into French toast.

(serves 12)

I’m snickering to myself  a little bit here as I write today’s post.  You see, I’ve been up to no good (or rather “oh-so-good”) in the kitchen again using my weapon of choice, pumpkin, in decadent preparations.  And I would really love to share those recipes with you right now, but I’m desperately trying to behave just a bit and offer you vegetables while we all are still sorting through our New Year’s resolutions.  Veggies are good too, especially these tasty Rosemary Cumin Glazed Carrots and Parsnips. 

I’m rather traditional when it comes to my savory side dishes on the dinner table.  I like them to be straightforward in their savory classification, and glazed carrots have always been a little too sweet for me.  I know, I’m being a stickler, but that’s just the way I feel about basic glazed carrots.   When I want my carrots sweet, I put them in deliciously moist cakes. 

To resolve my “issues” with glazed carrots, I decided to add distinctively savory notes to them to balance the flavors to be more to my liking.  Cumin has always been a favorite spice of mine; the smoky undertones it gives to dishes being one I find highly addictive.   Rosemary, of course, is always alluring with its powerful oil and fragrance.  There’s a reason Shakespeare aligned rosemary with remembrance in the lines of Hamlet; just the slightest whiff of this herb and it carries me away on warm breezes to  sunny afternoons tending my garden or the hikes I took while traveling in Portugal where rosemary grew wild. 

The inclusion of parsnips also adds more depth to the savory side of these glazed carrots as I find parsnip to have a hint of dark anise in their flavor.  I find that parsnips often baffle cooks that are new to them, but they are rather easy to include in any dish that calls for carrots.  I bought my parsnips at the farmers market at the end of the season but the carrots are those that grew in my garden both last spring and fall.  It’s amazing to me how long carrots will last in storage.  What a treat to have fresh locally grown vegetables in January! 

Rosemary Cumin Glazed Carrots & Parsnips
A Straight from the Farm original

1 lb. medium carrots
1 large parsnip
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. finely minced fresh rosemary
2 small green onions, sliced thin
2 T. unsalted butter
2 T. wild flower honey
salt

Begin by washing and peeling the carrots.  Use a sharp knife to slice the carrots in half lengthwise and trim off the thin ends so they cook evenly.  Place face down in a single layer in a large skillet or saucepan.   Add just enough water to cover the carrots completely.  Set over medium high heat on the stove.   Sprinkle in the cumin, rosemary, and just a very small pinch of salt.   Add the butter in a big hunk that will then melt down into the carrots.  Drizzle the honey over the carrots and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is just about evaporated and carrots are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.    Still working over the heat, toss the carrots in the skillet a few times to make sure they are getting evenly coated with the glazing that was produced by the evaporated liquids.  Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and toss some more. 

Remove from heat and serve while hot.  Can be stored in the fridge and reheated over low heat. 

(serves 4-6)