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Pumpkin Butter

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Betty Botter bought some butter, “But,” she said, “The butter’s bitter.  If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.  But a bit of better butter will make my batter better.”  So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter, and she put it in her batter.  And the batter was not bitter, so ’twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

Pumpkin butter is this delicious thing that tastes kind of like pie, a lot like fall, and is the perfect match for cinnamon raisin bread.  My intention when I decided to make pumpkin butter was to have something to add to my collection of jars on top of my kitchen cabinets.  But pumpkin butter can’t join those jars.  It’s too special.

As it turns out, home canning pumpkin butter is really dangerous.  You shouldn’t do it.  You could get sick.  You could get others sick.  Just don’t.

What?  You want reasons?  Oh… well, it has something to do with the texture of pumpkin and how difficult it is for the pumpkin to reach the necessary temperature to kill all those bad botulism spores.  I read about it last week.  If you don’t trust me, just look it up.  You’ll see.

But not canning the pumpkin butter is alright by me.  Because I have these super cute jars I got from world market.  You know… the ones where the lid is connected to the top and kind of swings around on this fancy metal apparatus.  One of them has a green ceramic lid.  I like it.  I just poured the pumpkin butter into a couple of these and refrigerated them.  I took one home to my parents’, and sent the other with the boyfriend for Thanksgiving.

The recipe is easier than you can imagine.  I adapted it from here.

Pumpkin Butter

  • 1 (29 oz.) can of pumpkin purree
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan.  Cook on high heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat; let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.  Pour into jars and refrigerate until serving.

Posted in Comfort Food, Gluten Free, Recipes | No Comments »

Last Night Jenny

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

You know when your past self did something that makes your present self really happy.  Like the way Past Jenny cleaned her room before leaving for vacation.  That made Today Jenny very happy when she got home from her parents’ house.

The worst part of coming back from a trip is unpacking all of the wires that are absolutely critical to my ability to live life.  The phone charger.  The laptop power supply.  The iPad charger.  Can we say “first world problem”?

But also, I’m determined not to take more than one bag when I travel to my parents’ house.  I mean, one bag for my clothes/toiletries.  I have a bag for kitchen tools/ingredients.  And of course, a bag for wii games, computer, etc.  And then usually a cooler.  No biggie.  But sticking to one bag for clothes/toiletries is no small feat.  I’ve left out pajamas and just borrowed from my sister before.  I also never take shampoo of my own.  But my sister has much drier, much curlier hair than I do.  And she has the shampoo to counteract her hair-type.  The kind of shampoo that makes my hair a little crazy.  I’ve missed my shampoo.

While I was home for Thanksgiving, I cooked lunch for my brother and his family.  I made the easiest baked “pasta” in the whole world.

My mom turned me onto this, and it’s delicious.  It’s gluten free on top of that, and you’d barely even notice.  It’s a super simple baked pasta without any pasta.  Use butternut squash for the noodles.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

I wish it were more complicated, and I could post some fancy recipe.  But basically…

Baked “Pasta”

  • peeled discs of butternut squash (or half moon shapes from the bottom)
  • your favorite spaghetti sauce (with or without meat)
  • mozzarella cheese

Layer the squash and sauce.  Top with mozzarella.  Cover and cook at 350 for about an hour and a half or until tender.  Uncover and cook until the cheese is just starting to brown.  Just like that.

Posted in Gluten Free, Italian, Pasta, Recipes, Veggies | No Comments »

A pecan pie of sorts

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

This decadent dessert weighs in at fewer than 20 carbs per serving.  And while 20 carbs may seem like a lot, when you consider that an apple is 21, it’s not too shabby.

Pecan pie is made from corn syrup.  And sugar.  And brown sugar.  There’s a lot of sweet going on in that thing.  And it’s no wonder, your average slice of your average pecan pie is going to cost you 65 carbs.  Cutting the number of calories per serving that dramatically probably means one of two things: 1) Artificial sweeteners; 2) Ew.  In fact, it means neither.  But I’m not miracle worker.  This isn’t really pecan pie.

Pecan Creme Brulee

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

One of my father’s favorite desserts is pecan pie, and who can resist eating that around Thanksgiving.  My main goal then was not to make him pecan pie.  I knew that couldn’t be done well.  Instead, I set out to make something reminiscent of pecan pie, something decadent, and something without anywhere near that amount of sugar.  And the roommate seal of approval says this recipe is ready for the Thanksgiving table.

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Pecan Creme Brulee:

For the custard:

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar.  Add in the cream and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  Now strain through fine mesh strainer.  Pour into 4 ramekins.  Now bake in water bath at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.  When just set on the edges, remove from oven and let chill in the refrigerator for at least a few hours (I usually go overnight).

For the pecan topping:

  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

In a large skillet, toast the pecans over medium-low heat.  When aromatic, add in the butter and sugar.  Stir until coated.  Pour into a bowl and refrigerate.

To assemble:

Take the custard and top with about 1/2 teaspoon of dark brown sugar.  Set your kitchen torch to low, and torch them babies (keep moving… it’s easy to burn).  Then top with the sugared pecans.  Serves 4.

In the absence of a kitchen torch, you can totally use your broiler.  Just be careful not to burn the tops.

Posted in Desserts, Gluten Free, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Gluten Free Holidays

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Thanksgiving is coming, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what all the hubbub is about.  Being gluten free at Thanksgiving isn’t so hard.  First, gluten free cornbread might be better than glutenful.  So cornbread stuffing can only be improved, really.  Second, I’ve got a ton of goodies in store for you.

Today, let’s talk pie.  Pumpkin pie.  Remember my old recipe?  It’s been revamped, and you won’t miss the gluten a bit.

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Crust:

  • 2 1/2 c. Bob’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
  • 1 T. xanthan gum
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1 T. molasses
  • 2 t. ground ginger
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. salted butter (cut into 1 cm cubes, very cold)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 c. cold water (more, if necessary)

Mix first six ingredients together. I like to use a pastry cutter to really work in the molasses. Then, cut the butter into the flour mixture until shaggy. (I never understood that term until I started working on this recipe. Trust me when I say that you will too.)  Now pour the dough out onto the counter and create a sort of volcano.  Drop the egg and the vinegar into the middle and mix it all up.  Add cold water as necessary, but be stingy.  It may seem dry at first, but keep working it.  Refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours.  (Let’s be honest: I usually can only tolerate an hour, and it doesn’t turn out so bad.)

Filling:

  • 1 pkg. cream cheese
  • 2/3 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 can pureed pumpkin
  • 1 t. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 t. ground ginger
  • dash of ground cloves

With electric mixer, mix thoroughly cream cheese and brown sugar. Stir in condensed milk, eggs, and pureed pumpkin. Finally, mix in cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Putting it together:

Adding flour if necessary, push a tablespoon of dough into each muffin cup and up the sides. It’s important to make sure there are no holes in the mini pie crust. Spoon filling into crusts until full. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes. You want the filling to be nice and puffy and the crust to be golden brown.

Posted in Comfort Food, Desserts, Gluten Free, Recipes | No Comments »

You won’t believe…

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

… it’s not gluten!

It’s really not, though.  I promise.

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

Curious, aren’t you?

These babies are chewy.  They’re chocolatey.  They’re peanut buttery.  They’re good is what they are.

Lots of people had this idea where you make gluten free peanut butter cookies.  I’ve done it before.  And plenty of others have adapted that recipe to use nutella.  I was sad to not be more original, but it’s the sad state of things.  Unfortunately, people seem to be putting too much sugar into them.  And that makes me sad.  How would you taste the peanut butter?  Better yet, the nutella?

Peanutella Cookies:

  • 1/2 c. peanut butter
  • 1/2 c. nutella
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix the ingredients together.  Chill in fridge for an hour or so.  Place by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes.

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Recipes | 1 Comment »

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