This recipe makes me want to bake a batch of homemade biscuits right NOW!! It is that good!! It cries out to be spread on a warm, moist homemade biscuit. Can't you just see it! Can't you just smell it! Ahhh!
If you are adventuresome, you could buy a pie pumpkin, bake it and puree the pumpkin for this butter . . . BUT since I was in a hurry, I dashed to my local grocery store and bought a large can of canned pumpkin (not the pie mix pumpkin). Besure to make sure you are getting pure pumpkin - you have to check the labels!
Another word of caution . . . this mixture has a tendency to splatter when cooking. So make sure you are wearing long sleeves AND that there are no little ones around to get hot butter splatters on them. Trust me . . . IT BURNS!!
This recipe is from the Blue Ribbon Preserves cookbook by Linda J. Amendt.
Pumpkin Butter
makes 6 half pint jars
3 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin (see note above)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
4 cups granulated white sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
1 3 oz pouch liquid pectin.
In a 8 quart pan, combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix until smooth and blended. Gradually stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add the butter.
Over medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved (again note above about splatters!!). Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the entire contents of the pectin. Return to a boil again (watch for splatters!!). Boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat.
Ladle the hot butter into hot jars, leaving about 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and threads with clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process half pint jars in hot water bath for 10 minutes. For pint jars, process for 15 minutes.
This is so good - now to find a good biscuit recipe!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tomatoes and Peppers, Oh my!
This has absolutely nothing to do with baking, so if you are looking for a recipe, I guess you should stop reading.
I am just feeling a little nostaligic. The weatherman is forecasting a possible frost this weekend which could mean an end to all the wonderful vegetables we have come to enjoy this summer. As you all probably know that I spend many of my weekends selling at the various local farmers' markets and I have met so many wonderful friends in the farmers that sell there. This impending frost not only means the end of wonderful produce but also means not seeing my friends again until next Spring. Yes, there is email and Facebook, but it really is not the same.
Anyway, back to the wonderful produce . . . today as I was making my salad for lunch I was thinking of the produce I used to make my salad. Lettuce . . . not just ordinary iceberg lettuce, but a variety of oak leaf, a pretty green lettuce moddled with some red in it, and a red ruffled lettuce - oh so pretty. Peppers - yellow sweet banana peppers, looked so nice in contrast to the lettuce. White carrots from my garden - yes, I actually grew carrots!! Tomatoes, my absolutely favorite - roma tomatoes. I don't know what it is about roma tomatoes, but I can't get enough of them! And there is so much you can do with romas!! Oh, don't get me started. And I topped it all off with my homemade goat cheese. Couldn't have bought a better salad than this in New York!! (Of course, I have never eaten in New York, so that is really a false claim - it just sounded good!)
While you have the chance, I hope you enjoy the wonderful produce that is still available - you won't regret it! Go visit a local farmer's market, meet the farmers, and buy the wonderful produce because it won't be around much longer.
I am just feeling a little nostaligic. The weatherman is forecasting a possible frost this weekend which could mean an end to all the wonderful vegetables we have come to enjoy this summer. As you all probably know that I spend many of my weekends selling at the various local farmers' markets and I have met so many wonderful friends in the farmers that sell there. This impending frost not only means the end of wonderful produce but also means not seeing my friends again until next Spring. Yes, there is email and Facebook, but it really is not the same.
Anyway, back to the wonderful produce . . . today as I was making my salad for lunch I was thinking of the produce I used to make my salad. Lettuce . . . not just ordinary iceberg lettuce, but a variety of oak leaf, a pretty green lettuce moddled with some red in it, and a red ruffled lettuce - oh so pretty. Peppers - yellow sweet banana peppers, looked so nice in contrast to the lettuce. White carrots from my garden - yes, I actually grew carrots!! Tomatoes, my absolutely favorite - roma tomatoes. I don't know what it is about roma tomatoes, but I can't get enough of them! And there is so much you can do with romas!! Oh, don't get me started. And I topped it all off with my homemade goat cheese. Couldn't have bought a better salad than this in New York!! (Of course, I have never eaten in New York, so that is really a false claim - it just sounded good!)
While you have the chance, I hope you enjoy the wonderful produce that is still available - you won't regret it! Go visit a local farmer's market, meet the farmers, and buy the wonderful produce because it won't be around much longer.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Blueberry Cobbler
This isn't exactly what you would consider a "Fall" type baking adventure and blueberries are definitely not in season. So how on earth did I end up making blueberry cobbler yesterday. Now that is the million dollar question. Well, get yourself a cup of coffee and pull up a chair!
My son has been asking me for the last several days to make him a cobbler. Yesterday, I had to go to the store to pick up a prescription for my husband, so I figured while I was there I would pick up some peaches and the necessary supplies to make peach cobbler. Everyone makes peach cobbler. When you think of cobbler, what comes to mind - peaches!! The two go hand in hand. Anyway, after picking up the prescription, I head to the produce aisle and there in the middle of all the produce is a HUGE sign that says SALE!!! BLUEBERRIES HALF PRICE. Now any red blooded female is NOT going to bypass ANY sale. So I pick up 4 cartons of blueberries and head on my merry way, completing forgetting about the peaches (until I get home and see the eager face of my son). So I made a mad dash to the computer, wildly searching the Internet hoping that there is such a creature as blueberry cobbler! It's a miracle!! There is!! And here is the recipe . . .
Blueberry Cobbler
3 cups fresh Blueberries
3 T white sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 t baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (I always use unsalted)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2; In an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan, mix blueberries, 3 T sugar and orange juice. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring until ingredients are just combined. Drop the batter by mounded spoonfuls on top of blueberry mixture. Try to cover as much of the filling as possible. I took a knife and smooth the batter a round a bit.
4. Bake in preheated over for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is a golden brown and filling is bubbly.
This is excellent with vanilla ice cream (well, isn't everything excellent with vanilla ice cream!!). My son is happy that he got his cobbler. I was a little hesitant about adding the orange juice, it does add a little bit of tartness to the berries, but it is a good tartness, not a overpowering sour tartness. This is definitely a keeper recipe.
Enjoy!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Pumpkin Fudge
Fall officially starts tomorrow. When I think of Fall, pumpkins and scarecrows come to mind. I love all the Fall colors - the oranges, browns, yellows and golds - so pretty. Everywhere you go you see pumpkins. So in keeping with the spirit of Fall, I have been making "Fall" type recipes.
Today I am going to make Pumpkin Fudge. Trust me - this is good!!! You will probably need to run to the store for the ingredients though.
Pumpkin Fudge
2 T butter
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cups evaporated milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow creme
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not the pie mix)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. line a 9 x 9 inch pan with almunium foil
2. In a medium size sauce pan, heat milk and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stiring occasionally with a spoon.
3. Mix in pumpkin and cinnamon. Bring back to a boil. Stir in marshmellow creme and butter. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 18 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until creamy and all chips are melted. Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Enjoy!!
Today I am going to make Pumpkin Fudge. Trust me - this is good!!! You will probably need to run to the store for the ingredients though.
Pumpkin Fudge
2 T butter
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cups evaporated milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow creme
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not the pie mix)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. line a 9 x 9 inch pan with almunium foil
2. In a medium size sauce pan, heat milk and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stiring occasionally with a spoon.
3. Mix in pumpkin and cinnamon. Bring back to a boil. Stir in marshmellow creme and butter. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 18 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until creamy and all chips are melted. Pour into prepared pan. Cool. Enjoy!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Creating your own starter
If you have been following this blog, you will remember, probably about a year ago, that we created a starter using pineapple juice (and, hopefully, it is still alive, well and kicking!). If not, do not despair!! Help is here! Here is another way to create your own sourdough starter. This is from my good friend, Old Camp Cook's website. Creating your own sourdough starter is so easy. Basically all you need is flour and water (and a jar, of course, to put the flour and water in!).
(for those that can't tell, that is a wooden spoon in the jar!).
Here is the recipe to create your own starter:
1. In a clean jar (I always use a quart size mason jar), place two tablespoons of flour (I am using plain ole all purpose flour here). Add one tablespoon of Spring water.
2. Stir well. Cover either with a lid with several tiny holes punched in it or with a closely woven cloth (cheesecloth). You want some air to get to your starter, but not bugs. Fruit flies seem to like developing starter really well
3.At 12 hour intervals, you need to feed the starter. This means you will take 1 teaspoon of starter (throw away the rest - I know this seems wasteful!), feed it 4 teaspoons of flour and 3 teaspoons of Spring water. Mix this all together in your jar and cover again with your lid or cloth
4. After about 4 days of this schedule, you should see bubbling action. That means your starter is alive and well. Continue this schedule for about 7 days to ensure that your starter is really alive and kicking!.
See! Wasn't that easy! Now go get your jars!
Here is the recipe to create your own starter:
1. In a clean jar (I always use a quart size mason jar), place two tablespoons of flour (I am using plain ole all purpose flour here). Add one tablespoon of Spring water.
2. Stir well. Cover either with a lid with several tiny holes punched in it or with a closely woven cloth (cheesecloth). You want some air to get to your starter, but not bugs. Fruit flies seem to like developing starter really well
3.At 12 hour intervals, you need to feed the starter. This means you will take 1 teaspoon of starter (throw away the rest - I know this seems wasteful!), feed it 4 teaspoons of flour and 3 teaspoons of Spring water. Mix this all together in your jar and cover again with your lid or cloth
4. After about 4 days of this schedule, you should see bubbling action. That means your starter is alive and well. Continue this schedule for about 7 days to ensure that your starter is really alive and kicking!.
See! Wasn't that easy! Now go get your jars!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sourdough Starters!
Even though it is not "officially" Fall yet, I am so in the mood for baking. So I got a couple of my favorite sourdough starters out of the refrigerator and started feeding them yesterday. Hopefully, they survived the summer living at the back of my refrigerator! I love some of the names of the starters - Joshua (I am guessing someone name Joshua created it - this is my most favorite starter!), Family Jewels (hmmm - wonder how that name came about!!), Naples - obviously an Italian starter, Okie is from my good friend Old Camp Cook who lives in Oklahoma.
The starters that I am trying to revive are Joshua and Naples. So far Joshua is showing signs of life (yeah!!). I will probably bring my sourdough rye starter out next week. If Naples doesn't respond, I will throw most of it away except for a tablespoon or two and start from scratch to see if I can revive it. This is a good example why you should always make "back-ups" of your favorite starters. I have done this with Joshua.
To Create a Back-up Starter
What you want to do is create a dry starter that you can revive at any time. You will need parchment paper which you can get at any grocery store or Walmart. Line a cookie sheet with the parchment paper. Take about 1/4 cup of starter and dump that on the parchment paper. Add a little bit of water to the starter to make it slightly runny and smear it all over the parchment paper. Now put this somewhere to let it dry for the next couple of days. When it has completely dried, I crumble this up into a blender and pulverize it into a powder. Put it into a baggie with a label - now you have a back up. I keep this in my refrigeator so I know where to find it.
To Revive Your Dry Starter
Put one teaspoon of the dry starter in a clean container. Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of water. I have always used tap water without any problems. Some believe that you should use Spring Water that you buy in the store. Your choice. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a jar lid with a whole punched in the top.
You will "feed" your starter at 12 hour intervals which means you will take a teaspoon of the starter from the jar and throw away the rest. I know this seems wasteful. Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of water to the teaspoon of starter in the jar.
*I use all purpose flour for this.
Do not throw the excess starter down the drain - this is like paste. I just put it in a baggie and throw in the trash. Saves on plumbing bills!
Continue doing this until the starter is nice and bubbly, then you can start building up to the quantity you need for your recipe.(i.e, you don't need to throw away the excess starter).
The starters that I am trying to revive are Joshua and Naples. So far Joshua is showing signs of life (yeah!!). I will probably bring my sourdough rye starter out next week. If Naples doesn't respond, I will throw most of it away except for a tablespoon or two and start from scratch to see if I can revive it. This is a good example why you should always make "back-ups" of your favorite starters. I have done this with Joshua.
To Create a Back-up Starter
What you want to do is create a dry starter that you can revive at any time. You will need parchment paper which you can get at any grocery store or Walmart. Line a cookie sheet with the parchment paper. Take about 1/4 cup of starter and dump that on the parchment paper. Add a little bit of water to the starter to make it slightly runny and smear it all over the parchment paper. Now put this somewhere to let it dry for the next couple of days. When it has completely dried, I crumble this up into a blender and pulverize it into a powder. Put it into a baggie with a label - now you have a back up. I keep this in my refrigeator so I know where to find it.
To Revive Your Dry Starter
Put one teaspoon of the dry starter in a clean container. Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of water. I have always used tap water without any problems. Some believe that you should use Spring Water that you buy in the store. Your choice. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a jar lid with a whole punched in the top.
You will "feed" your starter at 12 hour intervals which means you will take a teaspoon of the starter from the jar and throw away the rest. I know this seems wasteful. Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of water to the teaspoon of starter in the jar.
*I use all purpose flour for this.
Do not throw the excess starter down the drain - this is like paste. I just put it in a baggie and throw in the trash. Saves on plumbing bills!
Continue doing this until the starter is nice and bubbly, then you can start building up to the quantity you need for your recipe.(i.e, you don't need to throw away the excess starter).
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Amish Friendship Bread Starter Revisited
For those of you that followed the thread on the Amish (Herman) Starter . , , you can freeze the starter at any time. Just take one cup of the starter, get a freezer baggie (label it so you know what it is months from now), pour the one cup of starter into it, and place in the freezer.
When you want to make the bread again. Just take the baggie out, let it thaw out and start with day one of the instructions by feeding it one cup of flour, one cup of sugar and one cup of milk - easy enough!
When you want to make the bread again. Just take the baggie out, let it thaw out and start with day one of the instructions by feeding it one cup of flour, one cup of sugar and one cup of milk - easy enough!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)