Last week's "bad guy," the pumpkin puree, is this week's star of the show. Despite my admitted coffee addiction, I who am not one of those who spends nine months of the year waiting for Starbuck's to begin making pumpkin spice lattes, but I do spend a good part of the year waiting for fall so that I can make pumpkin bread. There really is no reason that pumpkin bread can't be, as Cookie Monster says, "an anytime food," but I have always thought of it as a fall food, a fall food that I absolutely love. In fact, I prefer pumpkin bread to pumpkin pie always.
This recipe is one that was passed downto me from my mother. Perhaps I still associate pumpkin bread with fall because that is when my mom always made it. When I was in college, she always sent me a loaf in my midterm care package. I have no idea where my mom originally found the recipe. She gave it to me on a handwritten recipe card with no reference as to where she had gotten it. In all these years, I have never even tried another pumpkin bread recipe. To my taste, this one is perfection. And honestly, I have never tasted any pumpkin bread that beats this one. I'm sure there are some tweaks that could be made perhaps to make it a bit healthier, but I don't think I am going to worry about that. Some things deserve to stay the same; for me, this recipe is one of them.
INGREDIENTS
1 2/3 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup water
1 Cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.
Sift flour into a large bowl.
(Sifters are another of those kitchen gadgets that are kind of fun to photograph.)
Mix in the remainder of the dry ingredients - sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.
I failed to include the sugar in the photos of the ingredients. Maybe this is my subconscious self telling me that if it is not included in the pictures then the calories from the sugar don't count. Okay, I know. Wishful thinking. You can't blame a girl for trying!
In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients, oil, water, pumpkin and eggs.
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients stirring until they are mixed well. Add the vanilla.
Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan or pan(s) of choice. This recipe works well in mini loaf pans or muffin tins also. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove it from the pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.
As I was taking this week's photos, I kind of felt like a wedding photographer for food couples...
There is the couple that you know will never make it much beyond the honeymoon, if they even get that far...
I am lazy when it comes to washing dishes so it is always my goal to use as few vessels as possible when I cook. Since this recipe uses 1/2 cup each of water and oil, it is "efficient" to measure them both into the same measuring cup.
And there is the couple that you know is made for each other.
What is it about eggs that makes them so darn photogenic? Or is it just me that sees them that way?
Thanks for reading!
I
have to say, this recipe has challenged me from the start - it's not that it's
hard, it just seems like nothing went smoothly and it wasn't the recipe's
fault, lol. I made it when I was in the midst of a horrible cold (and it's
still lingering, though it's backed off a bit), and that just seemed make this
become a week long project instead of a day, lol. I think I did each of the steps
on a separate day for each! So, I want to say that although it's been the bane
of my existence, it's NOT a difficult recipe at all, just don't do it when
you're in a time crunch or dealing with an illness! LOL
So,
I'm moving right on to the process of making these things - and let me tell you
- they are yummy! Tasted like something I'd get in a restaurant, I was so
surprised it was something I made! LOL I did end up with lots of filling
leftover, no idea why, probably didn't get enough out of the dough as I should
have, but oh well. I had plans on turning it into a soup, but never got the
chance, the cold won that round, lol.
This
was even a challenge for me in the photography department, because that cold
had muddled my brain so much, it was a mess trying to get things in organized
and not forgotten and so forth. So, since I did mess up so much in forgetting
this or that, the ingredients for the most part became collages, lol. And the
collages became a real necessity as I ended up with something like 23 photos
total, which was a monumental task getting processed and ready for the post! I
can say I'll be glad when this one is done and under my belt, I've had enough!!
Ha ha ha! :-D Well, Kris and I did promise to keep it real, and well, this is
as real as it gets, lol.
So,
let's start with the dough ingredients, and there are only 3 involved - eggs
(there are 5 eggs in the dough, but I had a hard time wrangling 5 for the
photo, so 3 won), olive oil and flour.
Put
2 1/2 cups of flour in a large bowl (I used my mixer bowl because I used my
dough hook and the Kitchenaid to make the dough), make a well and add the eggs
and olive oil. Mix until it forms a ball, then turn out onto a floured board
and knead for about 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (again, I did my dough
in my mixer so I didn't do the on-the-board-kneading)
Now,
you let that sit and rest 30 minutes or so while you prepare the filling
mixture.
The
filling consists of fresh pumpkin, butter, shallot, fresh sage and whipping
cream. Thyme is also used - but I forgot to get a shot of it because I didn't
use it, as Harry doesn't really like the flavor, I do, but it was just as good
without it, so you can include it or not in my opinion.
In a large skillet you sauté the pumpkin and the shallot in the butter,
until tender. Add the sage, thyme, salt and pepper (also not photographed, lol,
forgot to get shots of the salt and pepper!)
Next, you move the pumpkin mixture to the food
processor, and puree until smooth. Return it to the pan and add the whipping
cream and bay leaf. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and then reduce heat
and simmer uncovered until thickened. Another real moment I should have
photographed - I stepped away from the stove for a minute or two to get some
things for Harry and pretty soon I smelled burning pumpkin, lol. The whole
bottom was black - but was totally savable as that was the only thing hurt - it
made just a burnt layer on the bottom of the pan and the rest of the pumpkin
mixture was fine! I was going to cry if I had to throw it away and start fresh,
lol, after all the trouble I'd been having getting this one done! LOL
Back
to the dough now... divide it into four portions - roll out one portion to
1/16-in. thickness. Keep the remaining dough portions covered until ready to
use. After you've rolled it out, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling about
1-in. apart over half of the rolled out pasta sheet. Brush around filling with
beaten egg, fold sheet over and press down to seal.
Cut
into squares with a pastry wheel. I
didn't have a pastry wheel, so I still cut into squares, but used the tines of
a fork to seal, and it added a little decoration, lol. Repeat with rest of
dough and filling.
Bring
a large pot of water to a boil, add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and
cook 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top. Drain and keep them warm
while you prepare the cream sauce.
The
sauce consists just of whipping cream, butter and sage. You bring the whipping
cream to a boil and cook uncovered until reduced to about half. Add the butter
and sage stir to combine, and then spoon
over ravioli to serve!
Pumpkin Ravioli
courtesy of: Taste of Home
Dough:
2
1/2 to 3 c flour
5
eggs
1
tbsp olive oil
Filling:
1
small pie pumpkin (about 2 1/4 lbs), peeled and cut into 1-in. cubes
4
tsp chopped shallot
1/3
c butter cubed
2
tsp minced fresh sage
3/4
tsp minced fresh thyme
1/4
tsp salt
1/4
tsp pepper
2/3
c heavy whipping cream
1
small bay leaf
1
egg, lightly beaten
Sauce:
1 c
heavy whipping cream
3
tbsp butter
2
tsp minced fresh sage
1)
Place 2 1/2 cups flour into a large bowl; make a well in the center. Beat the
eggs and olive oil together; pour into the well. Stir together, forming a ball.
Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10
minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover
and let rest for 30 minutes.
2)
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté pumpkin and shallot in butter until
tender. Add the sage, thyme, salt and
pepper. Transfer to a food processor, process until blended. Return to the pan;
stir in cream and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat,
simmer, uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf.
3)
Divide pasta dough into four portions; roll out one portion to 1/16-in.
thickness. Keep remaining dough portions covered until ready to use. Working
quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1-in. apart over half of the
pasta sheet. Brush around filling with egg. Fold sheet over and press down to
seal. Cut into squares with pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and
filling.
4)
Bring a large pan of salted water to boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle
simmer and cook 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top and are tender.
Drain and keep warm.
5)
In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil; cook, uncovered, until reduced by
half. Stir in butter and sage. Spoon over ravioli. Serve.
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