Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are delightful little muffins! My friend Megan shared this recipe with me years ago & we love to make these around our house.  I especially crave these in the Fall, but I made them the other day & decided that I like them any time of year.  :-)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups flour

2 Cups sugar (or 1 Cup of honey)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder (1/4 teaspoon for high altitude)

1 teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon for high altitude)

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3 eggs

2 Cups pumpkin puree

1 Cup chocolate chips (or broken up chocolate bar)

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees.  Grease 30 muffin liners.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar (if using it), baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.  In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin puree and honey (if using this).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until smooth.  Add the chocolate chips.  Bake 25-35 minutes.

Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin Puree is easy to make & easy to freeze.  You start by cutting up one large pumpkin into pieces.  You don't want any of the peel or the green part next to the peel (if there is any) to be mixed in with the pieces you cut up.  There are several ways to cook the pumpkin.  I like to steam it (picture below) until it is nice and soft.

The other options are:

1. You can boil the pumpkin pieces in water until they are soft.                                               
2. You can roast the pumpkin pieces on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven until the they are soft and tender.

Once the pumpkin pieces are nice and tender, you can use a mixer or a fork to mash them up - until there are not any chunks left in the pumpkin puree.  I sometimes have to add a little water to the pumpkin mixture to make it smooth.

I like to freeze my pumpkin puree in 2 Cup portions.  It can last for months in the freezer.  

Ina's Chicken Chili

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups chopped onions

1/8 Cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded & diced

2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded & diced

1 teaspoon chili powder (this gives it a kick, if you don't like much heat you can add less of this)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons salt

4 Cups of tomatoes, diced

2 teaspoons basil

2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

2 Cups of water

1/2 of a chicken - diced

 This is one of my "go to" soups. Cook the onions in the oil over medium heat until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, bouillon and water.  Heat to a boil.  Crush the tomatoes in a blender or food processor.  Add them to the pot along with the basil.  Bring to a boil.

In another pan, saute the raw chicken in some oil.  Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt and pepper.  Saute until the chicken is cooked.  Add the chicken to the Chili.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Garnish with chips (we used the ones from the NGO Bazaar), cheese, onions, avocado, etc.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's Chicken Chili. It serves 4 large servings.  I have my house worker cut the onions, tomatoes earlier in the day.  I usually cut up an entire chicken and then freeze it raw in 2 batches so all I have to do is pull the chicken out of the freezer.  With all that prepared in advance, this dish pretty quick to cook at dinner time.

(Half a chicken cooking - I froze the raw meat in advance. You could cook the meat in advance and freeze the cooked meat).

Resurrection Rolls

I posted this last Easter, but thought I'd post it again since Easter is this weekend.  This is a fun recipe to make with the kids!

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We made these Resurrection Rolls at Easter and since Ethiopian Easter was this past weekend, I thought I would go ahead and post this.  This is a great activity to do with your kids on Easter Weekend.  The sweet roll recipe is adapted from the sweet roll bread machine recipe on allrecipes.com.

 Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of warm water (110 degrees)

1 Tablespoon yeast

1/2 cups warm milk

1 egg

1/3 cup of butter, softened

1/3 Cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

Dissolve the yeast in the water for 5 minutes.  In a bowl, mix the milk, egg, 1/3 cup of butter, sugar, salt and flour.  Add the yeast mixture to the main mixture.  Mix the dough together and then knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes. 

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and place in a warm place (I put mine inside my oven with the oven turned off).  Let it rise for 1 hour.

Punch the dough down.  Divide the dough in half.  Roll each half into a 12 inch circle.  Cut each circle into 8 wedges.  In a small bowl, melt 1/4 cup of butter.  In another small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  Take a large marshmallow (you can get these at Bambis) and roll it in butter.  Dip the marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Place the marshmallow in one wedge of dough and wrap the dough totally around the marshmallow.  Make sure you pinch all the holes together because if there are any holes, the marshmallow will leak out while it is cooking.  I used a little water to help pinch all the holes together.

Place the rolls on a baking sheet, cover with a cloth and place it in a warm place and let it rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

When I did this I used this story with my kids:

When we punched down the dough, it represented the soldiers beating Jesus and hanging him on the cross.  After he died, the people put spices on his body (sugar/cinnamon mixture) and wrapped him in cloth (the dough).  They put him in the tomb (we covered the rolls with a cloth and put them in an unheated oven).  After you cook the rolls, the marshmallows will be melted, so the rolls will be empty on the inside (representing the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection).

Chicken Fried Steak

This recipe came from Alton Brown.  It is one of my Husband's favorite dishes!  It takes a bit of time to prep, but it is well worth it.  

I start with a package of Veal Top Side from Bambis.  I've bought something similar at Fantu & it worked just as well.

Lay the pieces out separately.  Mix together 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.  Sprinkle it on both sides of the meat. Dredge the meat in 3/4 Cup of flour.  Using a fork, poke lots of holes in the meat on both sides.

I usually cover the meat at this time and let it sit in the fridge until I'm ready to cook it (however, you don't have to let it sit at this time).  Dredge the meat in 1 Cup of flour, then in 3 eggs (beaten) and then in 1 Cup of flour.  Move the meat to a wire rack and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Cover the bottom of a frying pan with a thin layer of oil.  Heat the oil a little before adding the meat.  Cook the meat 4 minutes on each side.  When done, place the steaks on a wire rack in a 250 degree oven.  Serve with cream gravy.  YUM!!

Bread Sticks

I experimented with Bread Sticks today.  I wanted to make something that was kind of like Little Caesar's Crazy Bread.  I thought this turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough - I used this recipe

1/2 Cup butter

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

I started with a batch of this pizza dough.  I let the pizza dough rise and then I pulled a little bit of dough out and rolled it like a snake to form the bread stick.  I placed the bread sticks on a well oiled cookie sheet and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

I then heated the butter and the Garlic Salt on the stove.  I brushed the butter on top of the bread sticks and then I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on top.  Delicious!

Bierock

Bierock's are a labor of love in that they take a lot of time to make.  They taste really good though!  I always double this recipe and freeze the leftover Bierock's.  They are great to pull out of the freezer and warm up for leftovers or a quick on the go meal.

This recipe came from this blog:  http://americankhanna.blogspot.com/2012/08/bierocks.html

Dough Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 Cup warm milk

1/4 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

4 Cups flour

Filling Ingredients:

1/2 Cup onion

1/2 Cup chicken, cut in small pieces

2 Tablespoons of oil

4 Cups of cabbage, cut fine

4 pieces of Laughing Cow cheese

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Salt, Pepper and Cayenne Pepper to taste

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.  In another bowl, combine oil, salt and eggs.  Add the yeast mixture.  Beat in 1/2 Cup of flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides.  Knead about 8 minutes.  Place in a well oiled bowl, cover and let it rise for 1 hour.

To make the filling, brown the meat and the onion.  Add the cabbage and cook until it is wilted.  Add the cheese and Worcestershire sauce.  Season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.  Let it cool. 

Punch the dough down.  Let it rest for 5 minutes.  Divide the dough in half.  Roll each half into an 8x11 inch rectangle.  Cut the dough into 6 squares.  Spoon 1/4 Cup of filling into each square.  Seal.  Make sure there are no holes or the filling will leak out and make a mess. Place on a cookie sheet seam side down. Cover with a dish towel and let them rise 20 minutes.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  We like to serve Bierock's with this gravy.

(I made this one with beef, but I think it tastes much better with chicken)