Pumpkin Bread

With Thanksgiving approaching, doesn't pumpkin bread sounds good? This recipe, adapted from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen, has a lovely flavor... much better than so many mixes, which have strong clove and allspice overtones. You'll get 2 large loaves, or quite a few minis, perfect for gift-giving. You could also use this for a trifle, alternating layers with whipped cream, vanilla pudding and pumpkin butter, drizzling a little caramel sauce over the top, as suggested in the November issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup water
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients; fold into dry. Add nuts, if desired.

Bake in two loaf pans for approximately 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean. For muffins or mini-loaves, begin checking after 20 minutes.

Roasted Chicken

I recently had the pleasure of reading Talking with My Mouth Full: Crab Cakes, Bundt Cakes and other Kitchen Stories by Bonny Wolf. She is a firm believer in the words of Julia Child, who once said, "You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken." Wolf has several suggestions for achieving something close to culinary perfection...

1. Buy a smaller chicken and brine it, or opt for a kosher bird.
2. Season the exterior, but don't bother trussing.
3. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.
4. Pre-heat the oven for at least 15 minutes.
5. Bake the chicken at 475 degrees until nicely browned and the breast reads 160 degrees and the thigh reads 165 to 170 degrees with a meat thermometer. Plan for 15 minutes per pound.
6. Resist the temptation to open the oven, baste or turn the bird while it roasts.
7. When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 15 to 30 minutes.
8. "Carve, serve and graciously receive compliments."

If you're not able to brine the bird, consider salting the interior and exterior amply, sprinkling plenty of black pepper and a simple seasoning mixture, such as herbs de Provence and grill seasoning, and drizzling with olive oil or cooled, melted butter. If possible, do this well before cooking, covering the chicken and keeping it refrigerated until meal preparations begin. Use even more salt than you think you should for optimum flavor. I also suggest squeezing a little lemon over the bird before roasting, then stuffing the lemon, a whole head of garlic cut in half and a handful of herbs into the cavity.

Delicious!

Mushroom Ragu

First, let me tell you, I'm not a mushroom person. But I love to make dishes for those that are. This sauce, adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis, is perfect served over egg noodles and a nice, pan-seared chicken. It's also ideal on top of polenta for an elegant dinner with your vegetarian friends (poor dears... more meat for the rest of us, though).

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 lb. chopped wild mushrooms, chopped such as cremini and oyster
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup Marsala (dry)
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
handful of basil leaves

Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth. Set aside.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion and garlic until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper.

Increase the heat to nearly high and saute mushrooms until tender and all of their liquid has evaporated, about another 8 minutes.

Stir in the Marsala (removing pan from heat first if using a gas range), reduce heat to medium-high and simmer mixture until the fortified wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken broth and simmer until sauce has reduced by half, about 30 minutes.

Remove sauce from heat and stir in cheese and parsley. Tear basil leaves over and serve.

Skillet Pasta with Chicken

On those busy nights, don't you just long for a simple meal without the mess? Rather than microwaving something prepared from the freezer, give this recipe from Cook's Country a try. This would also be delicious with asparagus. I've omitted the roasted red peppers to make it more kid friendly.

Skillet Pasta with Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, minced or grated
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic gloves, minced
8 oz. (2 1/2 cups) uncooked tubular pasta, such as ziti or rigatoni
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 lb. broccoli crowns, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat one tablespoon of the butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Set aside.

Add the onion, oregano and remaining butter or olive oil to the pan. Saute the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds.

Pour in the ziti, covering with chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium low. Stir in the broccoli and cook about 8 minutes, until bright green and still a little crunchy.

Stir in the chicken and any accumulated juices. Continue to cook mixture until pasta is al dente and broccoli is tender. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Penne with Steak

With the days becoming shorter and the nights cooler, perhaps you've been thinking about preparing a little more hearty fare. This recipe for Penne with Steak, adapted from Giada's Family Dinners, is perfect for an autumn evening. It's also a more budget-friendly way to serve a rib eye, New York strip or, my preference, top sirloin. For the sauce, I use only a few tablespoons of olive oil, instead of 1/4 cup, and puree the tomatoes without their juice to maintain their color and flavor.

Penne with Steak

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. rib eye, New York strip or top sirloin
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup red wine
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
12 oz. penne or other tubular pasta
3 oz. Parmesan cheese, shaved
salt and pepper or grill seasoning to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper or grill seasoning. Sear the steaks until browned but still rare, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate to cool completely.

Add the onion and carrots to the same pan and saute over medium heat until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano. Pour in the wine and allow to reduce slightly. Add the marinara and broth, and let mixture simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente (about 1 minute under the minimum recommended cooking time); stir frequently.

Trim the steak of any excess fat and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Drain the pasta. Add the pasta, steak and any accumulated juices from the meat to the sauce, allowing the flavors to come together over medium heat, about 1 minute. Serve with the shaved Parmesan cheese.

Giada's Quick Marinara Sauce

2 28 oz. cans whole plum tomatoes with juice
1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, cooking until very tender, about 12 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from their cans and puree with the basil. Stir in the tomato juice, puree, oregano and sugar and allow sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving or freezing.

Chocolate Pudding

After a less-than-successful experiment making vanilla pudding with egg yolks (more than a little soupy, but delicious), I wanted to try my hand at a chocolate pudding. This recipe, adapted from the August 2008 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, tastes wonderful and has just the right consistency. You could certainly serve it atop the peanut butter cream specified (1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/3 cup heavy cream and 1/8 teaspoon salt, combined). Although, I find that this pudding really needs nothing more than a dollop of whipped cream.

Chocolate Pudding

2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

In a medium pan, whisk together the milk, sugar, cocoa powder and cornstarch over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, continuing to whisk constantly, until nicely thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate (or mini chips) until completely incorporated. Spoon into serving dishes and and refrigerate until set, approximately 2 hours.

Dream Bars

My sister, Liddy, has never met a dream bar she didn't like. I usually make her the standard, 7-layer variety. But for her most recent birthday, I wanted to make her something a little different. I opted for one with hazelnuts and a shortbread crust, adapted from Y'All Come Eat by the Deen Bros. She pronunced them both, well, absolutely dreamy.

7-Layer Magic Cookie Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz.) butterscotch chips
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for a glass baking dish).

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture firmly on the bottom of a 13 by 9 pan, then pour sweetened condensed milk over.

Layer remaining ingredients evenly; press firmly down with fork.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Cool. Cut bars and serve. Store covered at room temperature.

Hazelnut Dream Bars

Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 chopped hazelnuts
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, pulse together the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse the butter until just combined. Press the dough evenly over the bottom of an ungreased 13 by 9 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and baking powder. Stir in the coconut, hazelnuts and chocolate chips. Spread the filling over the crust while still warm. Bake for 20 minutes.