Tamale Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread

On Monday, I turned in my baby – my senior seminar project that I’ve been working on all semester. Sunday, it snowed. And Monday, I braved the icy roads to print out two copies of that project and hand it in. Not coincidentally, Monday was also the first night I made dinner in quite some time. This had been on the menu for a couple of days but kept getting pushed back in favor of something easier, like Chinese take-out. Or bourbon. Just kidding about the bourbon.

But this dinner was worth waiting for. Once I started chopping onions and bell peppers, I got in the cooking zone. Even Joe remarked how good it was, and it’s been a while since he’s complimented me on a vegetarian meal. The filling is well-seasoned and hearty, and the cornbread is tender and moist. The cinnamon particularly makes for a fragrant and unexpected addition.

 

Tamale Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread
source: Veggie by Season

Ingredients

1 package Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. skim milk
1/2 c. solid pack pumpkin
1 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 ears of corn kernels or 1 c. frozen corn kernels
1 yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes with jalapeños
2 c. cooked pinto beans
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper

Garnishes:
Chopped cilantro
Grated Cheddar
Sour Cream/Greek yogurt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350*
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp. EVOO, peppers, onion and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper, saute' for 10 minutes, until vegetables have softened. While veggies cook, in a mixing bowl whisk together egg, milk, pumpkin and honey.
Add cornbread mix, sprinkle of cayenne, and stir until mixture just comes together.
Drain tomatoes and add to vegetables along with the corn.
Add beans and spices to vegetables, stir well and taste, adjust seasonings.
Pour the cornbread topping over the vegetable mixture and spread to the edges of the skillet. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until cornbread is golden brown and set.
Spoon into a dish and serve with garnishes.

The Chewy

The theme of this month has been cookies and singing. This semester I’ve had a few seminar classes with really great people, so what better way to show my appreciation than to bake them cookies? Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies for the worship committee and various people in Bible and Sermon, and chocolate chip cookies go to my fellow Episcopalians in Readings in Anglican Liturgics. Besides, baking is a far more enjoyable way to spend a cold winter afternoon than huddling with a stack of books in a library carrel.

And the singing? Well, any musician knows that this time of year is stellar for cash flow. Between Lessons & Carols and performances of Handel’s Messiah, December is a great month for music. Between First Friday at the Cathedral, community worship at school, and Advent Lessons & Carols, I’ve been asked to sing quite a bit. It’s also a way of letting myself rest and tapping into the more creative side of my brain.

A couple years ago, a variety of recipes for chocolate chip cookies made their way through the blogosphere, and for my Anglican Liturgics friends, I wanted only the best cookie recipe, so I turned to Bridget, who in her delightfully scientific way had done a cookie comparison of all of the different recipes. Though each recipe had its pros and cons, she ultimately recommended Alton Brown’s The Chewy.

I can certainly see why. It’s my ideal chocolate chip cookie with crisp edges and a soft interior. They were particularly addictive fresh out of the oven, and Joe and I may have made some ice cream sandwiches with these cookies. Who are you accusing of stress eating? Joe said that these were the best cookies I’ve ever made. They didn’t seem to be quite as good the next day, but fresh out of the oven, these were nothing short of transcendent.

The Chewy
source: Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

On Saturday, we finally got our tree up and decorated. Weekends in December are a bit hectic. In addition to all of the fun holiday things, I’m also facing school deadlines. Because I’m going to be traveling quite a bit in the latter half of the month, we decided this year to do a fake tree. My parents always get a real tree, but I just wouldn’t be home enough to outweigh the frustrations and mess of a real tree. We won’t discuss how I spent a good portion of last January picking up tree needles by hand. Before we got dressed up for Joe’s department holiday party, we got a quick picture of the family in front of this year’s tree (LED lights!). Let it be noted that I will post unflattering pictures of myself on my blog.

Sunday morning, I woke up to make these cookies. These are the perfect fall-winter bridge cookie. They’re also freaking delicious. Chewy but soft and flavorful, with just the right amount of mix-ins. I love the wintery combination of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips but with the fall spices. It’s everything you could ever want in a cookie.

Seriously, until I made these, my favorite cookies are white chocolate macadamia nut and oatmeal raisin. I love the creaminess of the white chocolate chips and the chewy spiciness of oatmeal raisin cookies. These combine all of that, plus pumpkin. And who doesn’t love pumpkin?

Real or fake tree this year? Or what’s your favorite cookie?

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
source: Annie’s Eats
Yield 2 1/2-3 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
Dash of allspice
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt.  Whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  Beat in the pumpkin puree until well incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Beat in the oats until combined.  With a rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries until evenly mixed.

Drop in small scoops (about 1½-2 tablespoons) onto prepared baking sheets, spaced 2-3 inches apart.  Bake 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned, rotating the sheets halfway through baking.  Allow to cool on the sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin-White Bean Shepherd’s Pie

I seem to be about a season behind in the kitchen. Somehow, I made it through a relatively warm fall with a stash of pumpkin with which I kept meaning to bake and cook. Now that winter has reared its freezing cold head, I’m finally digging into it, particularly since quite a few of the recipes I had bookmarked call for pumpkin. All of this to explain why I’m using pumpkin in December.

After completely OD’ing on meat on vacation, I’m rediscovering my desire to take very seriously my move to pescetarianism. Though this recipe originally called for ground turkey, I subbed Morningstar Crumbles. With everything else in there, you hardly notice them anyway. Of course, when Joe asked me what I had added, and I responded, “Textured vegetable protein!”, he didn’t seem quite as excited. If you avoid fake meats, eggplant or additional mushrooms would be a good substitution.

As you might remember, I am a big fan of comforting winter meals that aren’t crazy heavy and loaded with starch and butter. Using the pumpkin-white bean puree really lightens up the typical mashed potato topping of Shepherd’s Pie. For a seemingly heavy meal, this was surprisingly light, while still being creamy and delicious.

Pumpkin-White Bean Shepherd’s Pie
source: Cara’s Cravings 
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 10 oz package baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 package Morningstar Crumbles or 1 lb ground turkey
freshly ground salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
14 oz can diced tomatoes
10 oz baby spinach
1 15oz can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup cooked cannellini beans
1 oz grated pecorino romano cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Heat a olive oil in a 9-10" cast iron or other oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for two minutes, until starting to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes more, until they have released their moisture. Add the minced garlic and veggie crumbles. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cook for several minutes, until crumbles are no longer frozen. Mix in the Herbs de Provence, tomato and paste, and flour; mix to coat well. Raise the heat to high, and add the diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add the spinach, a few handfuls at a time, letting it wilt down.Simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes, until thickened. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Meanwhile, puree the pumpkin or squash together with the white beans. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture over the filling in the skillet. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until hot and bubbling around the edges. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 5-10 minutes more, until lightly browned.

Holiday Wish List

Happy New Year! I know you think that I'm a month early, but I actually mean happy new liturgical year. This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, which kicks off another cycle of the liturgical year. In my denomination, we really try to hold back on Christmas. Advent is a time of anticipation, both of Christ's birth and of the second coming. We don't sing Christmas carols until Christmas Eve, and the greenery doesn't go up in the church until the week before.

However, I don't have that kind of discipline in my own home. Yes, I have an Advent calendar, but it's right next to the poinsettia. The Christmas tree (fake this year, BOO!) is up, and I'll start wrapping a few presents soon. As much as I try not to buy into the consumerist aspect of the holiday season, it is fun to dream of what Santa might bring, and I enjoy picking out and buying gifts for other people. As long as it doesn't get too out of control, giving gifts is certainly a way of showing you care about someone.

Here are a few things that are on my wish list this year:

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An electronic kitchen scale is a necessity for accurately weighing flour and other ingredients for baked goods. Volume measurements can add flour leading to dense breads and cookies. Using weight measurements is an easy way to determine accuracy, and with the use of ratios, you can even free yourself from the confines of recipes.

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When we were in Sonoma (blog posts to come!), we visited Kendall-Jackson, where the guy working the tasting room had us try a wine out of the bottle and the same wine poured through the Vinturi wine aerator. In a simple step, the aerator developed the bouquet and flavors of the wine. The same guy said that when he goes to a restaurant with a bottle of wine, he always takes his Vinturi and his own glassware!

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Speaking of glassware, when we registered for wine glasses when we got married, we only got one kind. No different glasses for red and white wines for us. But then, when we were in Sonoma, we had a lovely pinot noir in a pristine Riedel pinot noir glass, and there really was a difference! Since we purchased some very nice wines in California, including a few we are going to try to cellar, the glassware to enjoy them to their fullest would be a welcome gift.

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I don't want to cook all the time, and one of Joe's and my favorite ways of relaxing is to head out on the town to explore new restaurants and hangouts. We like it even more if we don't have to pay full price! And if you read this before Thursday evening, you can head over to Eat.Drink.Smile to win one. Go ahead and enter, even if you're not from Nashville because then you can give it to me!

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We're well into the realm of fantasy on this one, but a girl can dream. I think that this is a basic enough DSLR that I could actually figure out how to use it, and my point-and-shoot is getting a little beaten up. I do love the portability of my point-and-shoot, but I crave the pictures that people with DSLRs take.

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In lieu of the fancy camera, a portable lighting kit like this one would be really helpful for getting decent pictures on dark winter nights. And it's only about $450 cheaper.

There you have it, my dream/wish/gift list for the holiday season for a cook, blogger, and Nashville foodie.

What's on your holiday wish list this year?