Roasted Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding With Spiced Streusel

Waste not, want not it is said. When it comes to an ingredient that's fairly (to me) expensive, waste is not an option! Silly me, I thought an available-everywhere-this-time-of-year sugar pumpkin would be a reasonably priced ingredient. Not so. Am I the only one that thinks $12 for a small pumpkin is over the top? The good thing is that once purchased (yes, of course I bought one!), I had a lot of it to work with. 

You may remember the Smoky Pumpkin Vegetable Soup With Chorizo I shared with you about a month ago. Since I'd only used half of the roasted pumpkin flesh in the soup, I first made this recipe with part of what was left and froze the rest of the pumpkin. My frugal pumpkin bread pudding hit the spot and I filed the recipe away to use the rest of the pumpkin another day.

You know how sometimes an idea seems to percolate behind the scenes in your brain (is that only me?) until it seems to pop into the forefront of your mind fully formed? That's what happened. Apparently my subconscious was working in the background on pumpkin bread pudding possibilities. It must have gone something like this, "If roasted pumpkin in a bread pudding is completely wonderful, wouldn't toasted pecans make it even better?  Wouldn't streusel send it completely over the top?" I listened to that inner recipe voice and then totally gilded THAT lily with ice cream nestled cheek to cheek with the bread pudding. Nirvana.

If you want to make it really easy, feel free to use butternut squash in place of pumpkin and roast it...it would be less expensive than a fresh pumpkin, for sure. Or maybe you'd prefer it with roasted apples or pears. Those would work beautifully, too.

Looking for a homey Thanksgiving dessert? You may just have found it right here. 

Roasted Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding 

With Spiced Streusel

• 2-3 C roasted pumpkin cubes, cooled (spray pumpkin cubes with coconut oil and roast on a baking sheet at 425 degrees until the pumpkin is caramelized and soft)
• 5-6 C stale bread, cubed (I use the crust and all) - challah or a sturdy bread work nicely (I use Whole Foods Gluten Free Light White bread to make this GF)
• 2/3 C toasted pecans, chopped coarsely
• 4 T butter, melted
• 3/4 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1/4 C demerara sugar (or light brown sugar if you can't find the demerara - Giant Eagle carries it)
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• pinch of kosher salt
• 1 t pumpkin spice
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 T dark rum

Streusel

• 1/3 C toasted pecans, chopped coarsely
• 1/3 C dark brown sugar
• 1/3 C flour (I used gluten free flour to make this GF)
• 1/4 C oats (I used certified gluten free oats to make this GF)
• 1 t pumpkin spice
• 1/4 t kosher salt
• 3 T melted butter

Mix all the streusel ingredients together until all is wet and crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes and melted butter. Fold in roasted pumpkin and pecans and gently combine.

In a separate bowl, beat well the cream, buttermilk, eggs, sugar, salt, rum, pumpkin spice and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the bread mixture and gently combine.

Pour the mixture into an UNGREASED 9" X 5" loaf pan or 8" X 8" square pan - both with high sides. Sprinkle the streusel over the top evenly.

I used a loaf pan and baked mine for an hour and 15 minutes. If you use a square pan, the time may be less. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick or wooden pick into the center and when it comes out clean, that's it!

Serve with ice cream. YUM!

Hot from the oven!

Smoky Pumpkin Vegetable Soup With Chorizo

How do you welcome this perfectly wonderful Autumn season? In my kitchen, you know the Fall cool down has begun when there's a big pot of homemade soup simmering on the back burner of the stove. It's just so very comforting.

The "smoky" part of this brand new recipe comes from two sources. The beef broth was built on a base of leftover (planned over) beef ribs I'd smoked for dinner on Sunday and the addition of smoked Spanish-style chorizo doubled down the smoke factor. I used a good and spicy rub on the ribs to lend a subtle heat to the dish for my tastes. If you like heat, use a spicy rub, if not, then don't!

Fresh autumn roasted sugar pumpkin, ribbons of purple kale, and last-of-the-summer tomatoes and sweet red peppers really pumped up the color and flavor. The gold and red and green and purple colors in the bowl make me think of fallen leaves...and it's as beautiful in the bowl as it is warm, comforting and delicious in your tummy. 

Smoky Pumpkin Vegetable Soup With Chorizo

• 6 meaty beef ribs, rubbed with your favorite rub (use a rub with some heat to it if you like your soup spicy), smoked the day before - I remove the meat for other purposes (tacos!) and leave a bit of meat on for the soup
• 1 nice sized beef soup bone

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast the smoked ribs and beef soup bone for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get lots of deep beefy flavor from them for your broth.

• 1/2 medium sugar pumpkin, seeded & guts removed, rind peeled and cut into 1" X 1/2" chunks. Spray with coconut oil, season with salt & pepper & roast at 425 degrees until caramelized. Cool and set aside.

Roast the pumpkin chunks at the same time you roast the bones. While the bones and pumpkin are roasting, start working on the veggies.

• 12 oz. smoked chorizo - I used the Wellshire brand - cut into 1/2 moons
• 2 medium leeks (approx 2 C) diced small
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, diced small
• 1 1/2 C carrots, diced small

In a large skillet, saute the chorizo until it releases some fat and begins to brown. Then add the leeks, celery and carrots and saute until the veggies soften. Set aside.

• 1 lrg red bell pepper, seeds removed, diced (approx. 1 C)
• 1 medium zucchini, diced (approx. 1 C or so)
• 3 large Roma tomatoes, diced 
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 T or so Jane's Crazy Mixed Up seasoned salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 C (packed) purple kale, sliced across into thin ribbons

Beef broth: Put the roasted bones into a large soup pot and just cover with water. Add the sauteed veggies, and all the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT for the kale and roasted pumpkin - they'll go in at the end.

Bring the pot to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Once the broth has developed full flavor, remove the bones to a tray and cool. Remove any meat and add to the soup.

Bring the soup to a boil again and add the kale. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the kale is softened, then add the roasted pumpkin. Let the soup simmer another 10 minutes or so, remove the stems from the thyme springs and serve. A nice pan of cornbread goes great!

 

Angry Orchard Beef, Pumpkin & Apple Stew

Giant orange orbs are appearing everywhere these crisp, chilly and windy days, whether they're scattered across the hills and fields of our beloved local farms or piled high in grocery store bins. Pumpkins are everywhere! Even in my CSA box.

That big ol' sugar pumpkin presented a few possibilities. Should I just plunk it out on the porch with my other warty pumpkins, gourds and rusty mums? That would be the easy way out. I did briefly consider roasting pumpkin chunks and making a roasted pumpkin and cinnamon syrup for fall cocktails, but decided on a hearty and warming stew instead.

I just happened to have a nice chuck roast in the freezer, so I pulled that out and after it was thawed, cut it into nice sized cubes, browned them and started building the base for the stew. The hardest part of the stew? Cutting and peeling the pumpkin! Ugh. Maybe the porch sitting pumpkin idea was better after all. But no, I soldiered on and peeled that sucker! 

After browning the beef in batches and then putting just a little caramelization on the pumpkin pieces, I simply added peeled potatoes (also from my Dillner Farms CSA box), lots of onion, a nice big peeled and cubed apple (yep, CSA, too!), poured a bottle of Angry Orchard hard cider over all, put on the lid and simmered the mixture away for a few hours. Oh, it smelled wonderful all throughout the house!

Best of all, the pumpkin-y, apple-y, onion-y and richly beefy conglomeration of flavor was worth every bit of the pumpkin peeling process. Here's a little hint...don't feel like peeling a pumpkin? Try subbing in peeled butternut squash in those plastic containers from the grocery store instead. It works!

Angry Orchard Beef, Pumpkin & Apple Stew 

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, cut into stew-sized cubes
• Salt and pepper to taste - use to season the meat liberally before browning
• 4 C fresh pumpkin, cut open, seeds removed, cut into strips and the rind peeled, cut into cubes (or buy pre-peeled butternut squash at the grocery store - perfectly acceptable substitution!)
• 2 large onions, approx 2 C,cubed 
• 1 1/2 t fresh garlic, minced finely or pressed
• 4 C peeled and cubed red or Yukon Gold potatoes - don't use Russet potatoes as they have a tendency to fall apart
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) Angry Orchard Cinful Apple hard cider - or another variety, but I like the subtle cinnamon hint it infuses the stew with
• 1 1/2 C apple - peeled, cored, cut into cubes
• 2 t Beef soup base - I like Better Than Bullion, it's gluten free!

In a heavy bottomed enameled cast iron Dutch oven, melt the butter and oil together and bring it to high temp. Add the salt and peppered beef chunks - in 3 batches - and brown well on all sides. Remove each batch to a bowl as each is done.

When all the beef is browned, add the pumpkin pieces to the oil and brown, giving a nice caramelization to the edges. Then add the onions and garlic and stir well until the onions and garlic are softened. 

Add the beef back into the pot along with the potatoes, pour the bottle of Angry Orchard over all, stir everything up from the bottom, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it go for about an hour, then add the apple and the soup base. Stir well again, cover and let it simmer for another 2 hours or so until the beef is tender.

Delicious!

Pumpkin, Sage, Sausage and Leek Stuffed Flank Steak

Pumpkins that look like giant orange full moons in a chilly nighttime sky, seemingly peeking through and over the trees while leaves rustle softly in the trees. Tiny grapefruit sized pumpkins piled high in local farm markets just waiting to become pie...or maybe fearing becoming the contents of said pie...hmmmmm. Autumn's orange-lobed edible gourd just screams fall, don't you think? (Or is that the sound of horror the pumpkin makes when it sees the plunging knife coming it's way to eviscerate it of it's slimy, seedy guts?)
 
Big pumpkins, small pumpkins and every type of orange, yellow, white, bumpy or smooth variety you might come across means autumn, cool weather and falling leaves are HERE! And all the delicious pumpkin dishes along with them. YUM!
 
Sunday's Pumpkin, Sage, Sausage and Leek Stuffed Flank Steak was a big hit. Normally, I use apples in my stuffing to give the mixture a little sweetness against the savory herbs and the richness of the sausage - besides that, my mom always used apples in her stuffing so that's good enough for me! But, let's think about that. What if I swapped out apples for roasted pumpkin? So I did. Sorry mom.
 
A little planning ahead was involved. Peeling, seeding and roasting a small pie pumpkin was done earlier in the day. No big deal and it gave me something to do while watching CBS Sunday Morning. Later, when it was time to stuff the flank steak, the pumpkin was cool and ready to go. 

Okay...one other little step to do ahead of time. If you don't have a butcher (or a friend in the back of the meat department at Giant Eagle) to cut a pocket into your flank steak for the stuffing, you're going to have to break out a nice sharp knife and do it yourself. But really, if I can do it...YOU can do it! No biggie.
 
Once the roasted pumpkin is cooled and the pocket cut into the flank steak, all that's needed are a few veggies -  a nice leek from the CSA basket this week, a little celery and onion, a few sage leaves picked from my pond-side herb garden, a little browned crumbled sausage and a couple of slices of a good firm white bread. (Of course there was no wheat bread in our house - Whole Foods makes a mighty fine firm white bread - similar to Pepperidge Farm and perfect for stuffing.)
 
The resultant big, beefy, rich roasted stuffed flank steak was superb! I'd bet the pumpkin-y stuffing would be equally wonderful in pork chops, chicken or turkey, too. You know, I'm thinking even my mom would have liked this new twist on her classic apple stuffing!

 Pumpkin, Sage, Sausage and Leek 

Stuffed Flank Steak

 

• 1 small pie pumpkin, peeled, seeded, diced and roasted - about 1 cup after roasting (see below)

• 1 large flank steak, pick one that is thick so your butcher or YOU can cut a pocket into it...a thin one is harder to cut without breaking through

• 1/4 pound sage sausage, crumbled and browned
• 10 small sage , fresh leaves, chopped

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup leeks (1 small), finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, WITH leaves - lots of them, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 slices white bread, a good firm white bread like Pepperidge Farm  (to make this gluten-free, use a good firm white gluten-free bread like Whole Foods GF white bread)

To roast pumpkin: Peel the pumpkin with a vegetable peeler, cut in half and scoop out the seeds and guts. Cut the pumpkin flesh into small dice. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil, spread out the cubed pumpkin, sprinkle with salt and pepper, spray well with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for about half an hour. Remove from oven and cover with foil - return to oven for another 10-15 minutes. Remove and cool.
 
Flank steak: If you can, buy a flank steak with the pocket already cut. If you can't find one WITH the pocket, ask the butcher to cut one for you...as a last resort, do it yourself. Starting at a narrow end, using a VERY sharp knife, slowly and CAREFULLY cut little by little down through the center of the steak being careful not to let the knife pierce through to the outside. Once you have a hollow steak, set it aside to make the stuffing.
 
Stuffing: In a skillet, crumble and brown the sausage well. When it's browned, add the fresh chopped sage and saute briefly. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, melt the butter and saute the leeks, celery and onion until softened. Don't brown them, just soften them. Add poultry seasoning. Let cool and add the roasted pumpkin. Crumble the bread and mix everything well.
 
Assembly: Lightly pack the stuffing into the pocket of the flank steak. If necessary, secure the opening with toothpicks to keep the stuffing inside. Salt and pepper the top of the steak and put into a roasting pan sprayed with olive oil.
 
Roast the stuffed flank steak in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour until well-browned and the stuffing is hot inside. Let rest and slice to serve.

Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

Look who is back (guest appearance?!) with a sweet and crunchy snack recipe that's easy to make and satisfies every pumpkin spice, fall-ish flavor craving that comes right along with October. Kimber brought us a twist on an old favorite...Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow!

I know it's been a while since I've contributed anything to Dinner Plan-it.  You know, life has been a little crazy between work and getting ready for my first NPC bikini competition.  With all the intense workouts and pre-competition meal prepping going on...and not the fun creative meals that I usually like...I had to make time for a little fun time mixing it up with spices!! 

 

I did something to torture myself this week, I made Pumpkin Spiced Puppy Chow. Mind you it is pretty much fall and I could eat pumpkin anything and everything and Puppy Chow is a long time favorite of mine!  I have not been able to even taste this with my prep going on, but I made a batch for work and another batch for a friend's birthday. You know what? One recipient thinks he may like this one even better than the original! 

I took my mom's recipe for puppy chow and kind of mixed that up with ideas for all sorts of pumpkin spice things out there. But come on, no matter what spices and ingredients you add or delete, it is and will always be puppy chow!

 

All tied up and ready to go - Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow!

Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

• 1/2 Stick Butter
• 1 1/2 cup Trader Joe's cookie butter - or other cookie butter ( I just used the whole jar, and it was approx 1.5 cups) 
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 17.9 box Crispix
• 1 lb box powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Reese's Pieces

Melt butter in saucepan, add cookie butter and pumpkin pie spice; stir until smooth.  Add chips and stir until melted, then stir in vanilla. 

Using plastic trash bag or other VERY large clean plastic bag, put 1/2 box of powdered sugar in the bottom, then cereal, then cookie butter mixture and then the rest of the powdered sugar and Reese's Pieces.  Shake and knead the bag until cereal is well-coated; cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy until you pumpkin heart is content!



Now that you've had a chance to see Kimber's original recipe, here's a gluten-free version. I tried to give the same flavor as the cookie butter (cookie butter is NOT gluten-free) only without the COOKIE part of cookie butter...hence, the use of almond butter and extra spices. 

(For those of you unfamiliar with cookie butter, it's the new hot item in hip grocery aisles. Basically, it's a spreadable "butter" made with almondy-y, ginger-y, caramel-y speculos cookies. What's not to love?!)

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

 

• 1/2 Stick butter
• 1 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup finely minced crystallized ginger
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 12 ounce package white chocolate chips
• 1 lb box powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Reese's Pieces
• 15 ounce box of gluten-free Chex - rice or corn variety

Melt butter in saucepan, add almond butter, crystallized ginger and spices; stir until smooth.  Add chips and stir until melted. 

Using plastic trash bag or other large clean plastic bag, put 1/2 box of powdered sugar in the bottom, then cereal, then the almond butter mixture and then the rest of the powdered sugar and Reese's Pieces. 

Shake and knead the bag until cereal is well-coated and let cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

Like Kimber said...enjoy until your little pumpkin heart is content!
 

Roasted Pumpkin, Apple & Cranberry Sangria with Dark Spiced Rum (aka Kraken)

This is what we're serving before dinner today.  Sweet, tart, with a hint of warm spices, caramel and fruit.  Perfect for Thanksgiving...or any fall or winter occasion.


After dinner?  Patron XO Cafe and Resposado Tequila Margaritas will be our evening's enjoyment!  Recipe for this one to come!

Roasted Pumpkin, Apple & Cranberry Sangria with Dark Spiced Rum (aka Kraken)

• 1 pumpkin, 5-6" high fresh pie pumpkin
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

• 2 bottles white wine, pinot grigio
• 2 apples, quartered, cored and diced LEAVE PEEL ON!
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 cup dark rum, Kraken 's my fave for this
• 4 tablespoons crystallized ginger, sliced
• 10 whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

A few days to a week before you want to serve the sangria, peel the pumpkin with a veggie peeler, cut off the top and scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff. (Do what you want with the seeds.)

Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and scatter on a baking sheet.  Scatter the cranberries around the pumpkin and sprinkle 2 T. brown sugar over all.  

Roast at 325 covered for about 40 minutes.  Uncover and roast another 30 minutes.  Stir and roast until golden & soft, but not mush.  Cool.
 

Pour wine into one large or two smaller containers large enough to hold the wine and the rest of the ingredients.  I used 2 large plastic bottles with lids.  If using 2 containers, pour 1 bottle of wine into each container and scoop half the pumpkin and half the cranberries into each container.  Be sure to scrape half the liquid in the bottom of the pan into each bottle...don't waste the yumminess! (If you're using a large container, put everything into that.)
 

Add 1 cinnamon stick to each container.  Refrigerate for a few days until it's time to serve. 
 

The morning you're serving the sangria, strain the liquid into a large pitcher.  Separate out the roasted cranberries and add to liquid, too.  Discard the pumpkin.  

Add 2 diced apples, the rum, cloves, 2 T. dark brown sugar, 4 T. sliced crystallized ginger and the Kraken or other dark rum.  Let sit at room temp until ready to serve.  

Pour into glasses being sure to get some of the apple and cranberries in each glass.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Tequila Pumpkin Pie Cocktail

It isn't just food that transitions gently into the fall, cocktails begin to taste of pumpkin, cider, cinnamon and clove...they start to echo the feeling of the season.  Think comfort food in a glass.  This lush, creamy cocktail is almost a dessert.  In fact, it makes a fabulous liquid dessert!  

Creamy with pumpkin and RumChata and a touch of heavy cream, made rich with vanilla-infused tequila and warm spices, the chocolate cookie rim makes a nice crunchy contrast.  It makes me think of Thanksgiving pumpkin pie in a decadent chocolate-y crust.  No wonder I like it as a dessert!

Vanilla beans transform tequila into a lush, rich new spirit.    Depending on the quality of your tequila, you might simply sip it on the rocks!  I'm working on using it in cakes, pies and frostings with fall flavors.  Pina Colada cupcakes with vanilla tequila, pecan pie, caramel tequila buttercream...you get the idea.  

And the infusion is very easy to do!  Split a few vanilla beans (I used four - use more or less depending on how deep a vanilla flavor you're looking for) and simply slip them into a bottle of your favorite tequila, let it rest for a week or two or more.  

The lovely liquid turns into the color of a good, sweet rum.  You don't have to break the bank, either, buying vanilla beans.  Reasonably priced Madagascar vanilla beans can be purchased at Amazon.com.  Definitely easier on the budget than the grocery store type...and fresher, in my opinion.

Vanilla Beans Soaking in Tequila.

Cozy up to a warm fire while the leaves blow outside the window.  Snuggle up with your sweetie or enjoy a good conversation and hearty laughs with friends...enjoy the evening with a pumpkin cocktail.  Here's a toast to fall.  And friends.  Cheers!

 Vanilla Bean Tequila Pumpkin Pie Cocktail

• 3 ounces RumChata
• 1 ounce vanilla-infused tequila blanco
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin butter (1heaping barspoon full)
• 1/2 ounce heavy cream
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup, cinnamon
• ice cubes

In a cocktail shaker, add RumChata, tequila, pumpkin butter, cream, simple syrup and shake until pumpkin butter is mixed in thoroughly.  Add ice 3/4 of the way up shaker, cap tightly and shake until the tin is cold and frosted.  

Strain into a cocktail glass or martini glass that has been rimmed with crushed chocolate cookies or gingersnaps.  Dust with pumpkin pie spice.

Where There's Smoke There's....Smoky, Spicy Pumpkin Hummus

It's Sunday. The game is coming up in just an hour. Question: What am I making after one busy (but FUN!) weekend with not much time to make something snack-ish?  Answer: Smoky, Spicy Pumpkin Hummus!  

Pumpkin hummus is football snacktime magic.  Rich and satisfying, yet relatively low in calories, high in Vitamin A, folic acid, protein, potassium, and fiber...it's practically a wonder food!  

If you promise not to tell, I'll share a little secret...feel free to use the same technique if you need to.  My hubby doesn't react well to the word "hummus."  To his ears, hummus means healthy and boring and it must not taste good.  So I went back to basics called it bean dip.  

Hey! I didn't lie!  Garbanzo beans ARE beans and you DIP things into the hummus, therefore it IS bean dip. He's always loved bean dip...and now he loves pumpkin hummus, too.  We all know it's all in how you market things.

Here's the recipe...you have just enough time to make it before the game!

Smoky, Spicy Pumpkin Hummus

• 14 ounces garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-oz. can of pumpkin, NOT pie filling - just canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper, dried powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt, non-fat Fage Greek yogurt

Process garbanzo beans in food processor until VERYfinely chopped.  

With motor running, add garlic and remaining ingredients and process until smooth.  Taste for seasoning adding additional salt and pepper if needed or more lemon juice.

Serve with corn chips to make it more dip-ish and less hummus-y than pita bread makes it seem. (Is that sneaky?)

NOTE:  If you like less spicy things, start with half the cayenne and half the chipotle...add a little at a time until it's just how you like it!