It is good to end a rainy day with a hot bowl of homemade soup. This one turned out really tasty and I only added one leftover to it, baked Japanese sweet potatoes. Tree-grown chestnuts are hard to come by, mostly because the last three seasons haven't been good growing conditions for local chestnut growers. This years' chestnuts from the farmers market were really small. In previous years I'd gotten my chestnuts, fresh and dried, from the Allen Creek Chestnut Farm in Ridgefield, WA.
Steaming chestnuts rather than roasting allowed me to peel the chestnuts easier with less waste. For this soup, half were roasted and the other half were halved then steamed.
Ingredients
2 c. roasted or steamed chestnuts, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 1/2 Japanese sweet potatoes, cooked and coarsely chopped
1 tbsp dry sherry
1/2 tsp dried marjoram (optional)
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
1. In a 3-qt pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook vegetables for 25 minutes, or until the onions start to caramelize.
2. Add peeled chestnuts, salt, freshly ground black pepper, marjoram and water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer over low-medium heat for 45 minutes. Mid-way through cooking, add the Japanese sweet potatoes, if using. In the last five minutes of cooking, add the sherry.
3. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
4. Serve while hot. Can garnish with fresh cream.
Pan de los Muertos Bread Pudding
What to do with leftover bread? Why.. make bread pudding, of course. If it hadn't been shaped so oddly, I might have been able to make French toast out of it too. Because Day of the Dead Bread is a sweetened bread, there is less sugar in this bread pudding than what it traditionally calls for. The first batch just had added raisins, it also used two leftover egg whites plus one leftover egg wash and two whole eggs; the second batch had less bread to work with and used two whole eggs and six ounces of half-and-half cream with raisins and a random tart apple from the fridge.
I suppose I could have taken a picture of it. While bread pudding tastes good, it's just not that sexy to look at.
Ingredients
leftover bread cubes (do not use croutons)
4 large eggs
4 c whole milk (organic or rBST-free)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 organic tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced (optional)
1 tbsp rum (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Cube the bread. Depending on the size of your leftover loaf, you'll have plenty of bread to fill a 2-quart baking dish. You can nest an 8" x 8" baking dish inside a 9" x 13" baking dish for the water bath; but at the time the square dish was in use by another food item. I used a round baking dish inside a rectangular baking dish and that worked out all right.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, spices, vanilla, and rum (if using).
3. Put the cubed bread inside the smaller baking dish. Add raisins (and chopped apple). Stir to combine. Make sure that the raisins are not on the top layer on top of the bread, otherwise they will burn to a crisp when the dessert bakes. If you don't have enough custard liquid to submerge the bread, then don't put all the bread in. Pour in the custard liquid. Let this sit for 10 minutes.
4. Bake using a water bath method for 45 minutes, up to an hour, or until the custard has set. At the 45-minute mark, you can test doneness by pressing on the bread with the back of a spoon. If liquid comes to the surface, the custard has not set yet.
5. Remove from oven. Serve warm or cold.
I suppose I could have taken a picture of it. While bread pudding tastes good, it's just not that sexy to look at.
Ingredients
leftover bread cubes (do not use croutons)
4 large eggs
4 c whole milk (organic or rBST-free)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 organic tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced (optional)
1 tbsp rum (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Cube the bread. Depending on the size of your leftover loaf, you'll have plenty of bread to fill a 2-quart baking dish. You can nest an 8" x 8" baking dish inside a 9" x 13" baking dish for the water bath; but at the time the square dish was in use by another food item. I used a round baking dish inside a rectangular baking dish and that worked out all right.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, spices, vanilla, and rum (if using).
3. Put the cubed bread inside the smaller baking dish. Add raisins (and chopped apple). Stir to combine. Make sure that the raisins are not on the top layer on top of the bread, otherwise they will burn to a crisp when the dessert bakes. If you don't have enough custard liquid to submerge the bread, then don't put all the bread in. Pour in the custard liquid. Let this sit for 10 minutes.
4. Bake using a water bath method for 45 minutes, up to an hour, or until the custard has set. At the 45-minute mark, you can test doneness by pressing on the bread with the back of a spoon. If liquid comes to the surface, the custard has not set yet.
5. Remove from oven. Serve warm or cold.
Polvorones de Naranja (Orange "Dusts" Cookies)
These cookies aren't quite the same as Mexican wedding cookies and are somewhat more dense in texture. I adapted this recipe from the "Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook", and I must say, 25 minutes is far too long of a cooking time at 400 degrees F for any cookie, which is what the cookbook recommended. Made this for a Halloween/Dia de los Muertos potluck. It's not terribly scary nor is it made to look scary.
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| Orange Tea Cookies |
Ingredients
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar + more for sprinkling
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
2 large egg yolks
zest from 2 large oranges
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg yolks, orange juice, sugar, and zest. On low setting, add flour and unsalted butter. Mix until well combined and there aren't visible chunks of butter.
2. On a lightly floured surface (I used a bit of powdered sugar instead of flour), roll out dough to 3/4" thickness and cut out into 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" rounds.
3. Place cookie rounds on a greased baking sheet, parchment paper, or a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown.
4. Let cook on a rack before dusting with powdered sugar.
Pumpkin Fried Rice
This recipe is a homage to a dish of the same name from Ginza, a downtown Bellevue restaurant. I can only hope that I can get the presentation close to how Ginza serves this up (inside a cooked kabocha squash).
From looking and tasting the dish, it has these noticeable ingredients: green onions, bacon, short grain white rice, caramelized onions, and chunks of kabocha squash. It easily serves 2-3 adults. Except for the rind and stem, it's all edible. I only have one sugar pumpkin on hand for this recipe; so no fancy presentation for me. You'll need to have two small sized kabocha squash on hand to replicate Ginza's plating for this dish. I think Ginza finishes the dish in the oven or steamer for the last ten or so minutes of cook time.
I only had five slices of bacon on hand, and while I could have taken more out of the freezer, I didn't. This recipe ratio definitely needed ten slices of bacon for the amount of rice cooked and prepared diced pumpkin. I used 1/4 cup less water when making the rice since I wanted the cooked rice to have more texture when frying. I also stirred the freshly made steamed rice until it cooled.
Ingredients
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 medium white onion, small dice
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices of bacon, fried to a crisp then coarsely chopped
4 c. cooked white rice (2 c dried + 1 3/4 c water)
1/4 c. light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2+ c. diced sugar pumpkin (or kabocha squash)
Directions
1. With a rice steamer, cook two cups of rice in 1 3/4 cups of water. This will give the short grain rice a firmer texture for fried rice. Long grain white or brown rice can be used, if you prefer.
-or- Have four cups of cooked rice. White rice works better than brown rice. Long grain is the preferred American style of fried rice; while short grain is typically used in Asian cuisine.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, fry bacon over low-medium heat until all the strips are crispy. Pour out all but two tablespoons of bacon grease. Let the cooked bacon cool on paper towels before chopping up.
3. In the same skillet, turn heat to medium and saute onions and garlic until onions have turned translucent and begin to brown; about 5 mins. Add diced pumpkin and stir mixture occasionally until the pumpkin is fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.
4. If you intend to add a saltier taste to the rice by using soy sauce, add it before the rice and stir until the pumpkin is mostly coated with it; instead of adding it to the rice which gives the rice an uneven color. Then, add the cooked rice and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. To preserve the green color of the scallions, these should be added last and about 10 minutes before serving. Add bacon and green onions. Stir to combine.
5. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.
This is how my version came out. It really did need more bacon; and the pumpkin could have cooked for longer:
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| Ginza's Pumpkin Fried Rice |
I only had five slices of bacon on hand, and while I could have taken more out of the freezer, I didn't. This recipe ratio definitely needed ten slices of bacon for the amount of rice cooked and prepared diced pumpkin. I used 1/4 cup less water when making the rice since I wanted the cooked rice to have more texture when frying. I also stirred the freshly made steamed rice until it cooled.
Ingredients
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 medium white onion, small dice
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices of bacon, fried to a crisp then coarsely chopped
4 c. cooked white rice (2 c dried + 1 3/4 c water)
1/4 c. light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2+ c. diced sugar pumpkin (or kabocha squash)
Directions
1. With a rice steamer, cook two cups of rice in 1 3/4 cups of water. This will give the short grain rice a firmer texture for fried rice. Long grain white or brown rice can be used, if you prefer.
-or- Have four cups of cooked rice. White rice works better than brown rice. Long grain is the preferred American style of fried rice; while short grain is typically used in Asian cuisine.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, fry bacon over low-medium heat until all the strips are crispy. Pour out all but two tablespoons of bacon grease. Let the cooked bacon cool on paper towels before chopping up.
3. In the same skillet, turn heat to medium and saute onions and garlic until onions have turned translucent and begin to brown; about 5 mins. Add diced pumpkin and stir mixture occasionally until the pumpkin is fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.
4. If you intend to add a saltier taste to the rice by using soy sauce, add it before the rice and stir until the pumpkin is mostly coated with it; instead of adding it to the rice which gives the rice an uneven color. Then, add the cooked rice and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. To preserve the green color of the scallions, these should be added last and about 10 minutes before serving. Add bacon and green onions. Stir to combine.
5. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.
This is how my version came out. It really did need more bacon; and the pumpkin could have cooked for longer:
 |
| Pumpkin Fried Rice, first attempt |
Toasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash Seeds
Sure, nearly all squash seeds are edible, but some definitely yield larger seeds than others. These are edible seeds worthy of toasting:
butternut squash, kabocha squash, jack-o-lantern pumpkins (the ones that
usually get carved up into scary shapes), sugar pumpkins, and acorn
squash.
Basic Prep Method:
Remove seeds from the squash, and discard any strings or pulp. Wash the seeds and spread them to dry on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. I put mine in a salad spinner and then onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet to dry more. I don't recommend using paper towels or kitchen towels because as they dry, the seeds will stick to the paper or pick up lint from the kitchen towels.
If using flavorings, mix the flavorings with the seeds prior to heating.
Heating Method(s):
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the squash seeds and cook, occasionally shaking or stirring the pan. Once the seeds start to "pop", they are done. Do not let the seeds burn. Remove from heat. If using a spice mix flavoring, taste one before adding additional spices and/or salt.
-or-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake seeds for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are a light golden brown color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Flavoring Options:
1-2 tbsp olive oil + spices to taste (cayenne pepper or paprika, sea salt, black pepper)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil & 2 tsp kosher salt
Basic Prep Method:
Remove seeds from the squash, and discard any strings or pulp. Wash the seeds and spread them to dry on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. I put mine in a salad spinner and then onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet to dry more. I don't recommend using paper towels or kitchen towels because as they dry, the seeds will stick to the paper or pick up lint from the kitchen towels.
If using flavorings, mix the flavorings with the seeds prior to heating.
Heating Method(s):
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the squash seeds and cook, occasionally shaking or stirring the pan. Once the seeds start to "pop", they are done. Do not let the seeds burn. Remove from heat. If using a spice mix flavoring, taste one before adding additional spices and/or salt.
-or-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake seeds for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are a light golden brown color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Flavoring Options:
1-2 tbsp olive oil + spices to taste (cayenne pepper or paprika, sea salt, black pepper)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil & 2 tsp kosher salt
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