PUMPKIN LOVERS COOKBOOK
by Betty Gabbert
COOKBOOK SCORE: 4.18
Top Scoring Dishes: Curried Mexican Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin Spaghetti, and Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake
Lowest Scoring Dishes: Praline Pumpkin Pie
For October/November Cook Club, we decided to do something a little bit different... At the DC Cook Club party back in September, we talked about how much we loved PUMPKIN and how awesome it would be to cook many things PUMPKIN. Well, as luck would have it, our cook club member, Rachel, had a cookbook devoted to all things pumpkin -- the Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook. To further amp up the autumnal nature of this round, Rachel also offered her copy of the Maple Syrup Cookbook for us to use for this round. So we bring to you a flurry of fall flavors broken into two blog entries. This first one is devoted to all our pumpkin creations (and at times, butternut squash creations) (to check out our maple syrup reviews, click here). In addition to the recipes from the Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook, cook club members had the chance to make pumpkin recipes from our past cook club cookbooks. These reviews are at the end of this entry -- the scores were not averaged into the scores for the Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook.
The title of the Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook really speaks for itself. Chock full of straightforward and simple recipes that star the pumpkin with random bits of trivia ("Pumpkins grow faster when fed with milk or sugar water through a slit in their stalks. Some double their size in only a few days," "Morton, Illinois is the pumpkin capital of the world," and "One of the best varieties of pumpkin for pies is the Small Sugar.") and a listing of pumpkin events around the country and places to enjoy "fall activities." Who knew you could make so many things out of pumpkin?
Recipes from two of our top dishes for your cooking pleasure...
Ingredients
1/4 cup curry powder
1 1/4 cups water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. salt
juice 1/2 lemon
2 cups salted pepitas (Mexican pumpkin seeds)
butter
Directions
Mix together in saucepan the curry, 1/4 cup warm water, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and lemon juice. When well blended, add 1 cup water; then heat, stirring constantly until mixture simmers. Add the pepitas and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain (save curry mixture for currying more pepitas), spread pepitas out on a baking sheet, dot with butter, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and toast in very low oven, 275 degrees, for about 1 hour, until they are crisp. Yield: 2 cups. (To curry more pepitas, mix 2 teaspoons curry into the remaining mixture, add water to make 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and repeat as before.)
Ingredients
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup softened butter
12 oz. thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Mix pumpkin, cream, 1/2 cup cheese, and nutmeg in small pan. Bring just to simmer over low heat, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat. Add butter to spaghetti in large bowl. Toss till butter is melted. Pour pumpkin mixture over pasta. Toss. Transfer to serving dish. Season to taste.
APPETIZERS / SNACKS
Neena’s Creamy Pumpkin Soup
Score: 3.5
I chose this recipe because I have been looking for a quick and easy soup. And, this recipe ended up being perfect. The instructions called for the "cooking" to all take place in the microwave, so it was definitely a quick make. Rather than using orange juice from concentrate, I just used regular orange juice, and I also eliminated the chicken boullion granules from the recipe. The consistency of the final product was not perfect, so I used a little bit more milk. I also added a dash of nutmeg for a bit of a kick.
Neena’s Curried Mexican Pumpkin Seeds
Score: 5.0
I chose this recipe because I have been looking for a healthier snack while I study rather than the usual potato chips, granola bars, etc. And these pumpkin seeds definitely fit the bill. I absolutely loved this recipe-very easy and absolutely delicious. I altered the recipe a bit by using 4 cloves of garlic and about a tablespoon of paprika, and it turned out great! My guests were taking handfuls at a time!
ENTREES
Rachel’s Pumpkin “Spaghetti”
Score: 5.0
This dish is awesome. I will make it again and again for parties and potlucks. It's so simple - it takes less than 20 minutes to make, and it reheats well. It's not a healthy choice, so I'm going to try to lighten it up for everyday use by subbing in wheat pasta and lighter dairy ingredients, and maybe adding spinach. But the original recipe is perfect for special occasions.
And some thoughts from the DC contingent: “Delicious! Very creamy and good flavor. 4.5.” “LOVED! Perfect for a wintry day.” “Creamy.” “My new favorite version of mac & cheese. I want more! 5.0.”
BREADS
Monica’s Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread
Score: 4.0
The whole wheat pumpkin bread uses a lot of honey (2.5 cups!), so don't think you can just whip this up when you're bored one day unless you're also a part-time beekeeper. The bread was moist and delicious, and it made three loaves, which is great if you're feeding an army. I am not, so next time I'll just halve the recipe. I think because of its moisture content it wouldn't keep very well for more than a few days, but that's okay because it was gobbled up in half a day by my small office and will probably have a similar result in your kitchen. You might try adding a little less moisture (honey? water?) if you want to avoid this. I think cranberries would be a nice addition to the recipe if you were feeling feisty.
And some thoughts from the DC contingent: “Just the right amount of sweetness and moist. 4.0.” “Nice pumpkin flavor, but would have liked more spice.” “Super moist and reminiscent of banana bread (good thing!) 4.0.” “Yum! Nice and moist. 4.0.”
Jackie’s Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Score: 4.5
This bread was a WINNER. Definitely fits under the banana bread family – a bit sweet, perfect for eating in chunks, and happily married with chocolate chips. The recipe made two loaves, which I divvied up, half a loaf to work with J, half a loaf to work with me, and one loaf to serve to my out of town guests. I admit that I added in chocolate chips… I can’t help myself with these types of breads to do that. In truth though, not sure how well the dried cranberries and chocolate chips worked with one another, but I could have devoured both loaves myself, so… The recipe itself was super straightforward – no mixer required, just a little elbow grease, and a handful of ingredients. Would definitely make again.
DESSERTS
Sonia’s Pumpkin Cheesecake
Score: 4.0
The Pumpkin Cheesecake was a big hit at the birthday party I attended. The cake had a subtle pumpkin flavor that was enhanced by the spices in the recipe. I made some changes to the recipe, including using gingersnaps for the crust instead of zweiback (I had to Google it) crumbs and nixing the sour cream topping. Instead, I drizzled the cheesecake slices with a whiskey caramel sauce, which complemented the other flavors very nicely. My only complaint was that the cream cheese didn't blend completely smoothly, resulting in a slightly lumpy texture.
Monica’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies
Score: 4.5
These are reminiscent of what I call "kitchen sink cookies" in that they combine a variety of different ingredients that work well together into one dessert buffet of a cookie. Double the chocolate, cook them for 15 minutes, and you've got a winner on your hands. It made a lot of cookies (the recipe ain't jokin' when it says 6 dozen), but I was eating them by the handful so the fact that they might not keep well (same problem as the whole wheat pumpkin bread -- super moist, almost too much so) shouldn't be a deterrent to your making them. I suspect the batter would freeze well if you only wanted to bake a few cookies at a time, but I can't be sure. Easy and a crowd-pleaser.
And comments from the DC contingent: “Moist and chocolatey.” “Could have eaten the whole plate – delicious! 5.0.” “These were AWESOME. Fantastically soft (as chocolate cookies should be…) and a great balance of pumpkin and chocolate.”
Jackie’s Frosted Spicy Pumpkin Bars
Score: 4.0
I love pumpkin baked goods… I was intrigued by this one because of the “spicy” twist. I think the “spice” was supposed to come from the ground ginger. I’m not sure if my ground ginger was a bit old, so less spicy, but nevertheless, these bars tasted delicious. They were quite moist and perfect for snacking on any time of the day. The “frosted” part was really more of a viscous icing – a spoonful of it would spread quickly on top and drip down the sides of the bars. Not that I’m complaining – there wasn’t a lot of sugar in the bars themselves, so anyone looking to satisfy their sweet tooth would enjoy the extra oomph of the icing. All in all, I would make these again!
Jackie’s Praline Pumpkin Pie
Score: 2.5
This was actually the first recipe of the bunch that I picked – I wanted to bake some sort of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and this cookbook offered a ton of options. I picked this one because it was (1) a little different and (2) J loves praline. The one hiccup was I couldn’t find the no-bake custard mix that it called for, so substituted it with a vanilla pudding mix. That apparently was not a good call. Although the pie itself tasted good, it didn’t set… and was really a pie of candied pecans on the bottom and pumpkin pudding on top. I think it would be better with the no-bake custard mix (which would have resulted in a firmer consistency), but I probably wouldn’t make this again.
Leanne’s Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake
Score: 4.8
Really easy cheesecake to make, and received rave reviews from everyone who ate it!
OTHER PUMPKIN RECIPES FROM PREVIOUS COOK CLUB COOKBOOKS
From Nigella's Christmas
Two of our lovely cook club members cooked up Nigella's Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Lasagna. Here were their takes:
Monica’s Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Lasagna
Score: 3.0
Very labor intensive, and Nigella way overestimates the cooking time of EVERYTHING! The pumpkin needs less than half an hour to become soft enough to put into the lasagna, and the lasagna itself dries out if you leave it in the oven for an hour -- I should know, I did it. I had none of the "shallow tomatoey cheesey pool" at the bottom of my pan. It was not "gorgeous." Solution? Extra pasta sauce served with each slice of lasagna. I omitted the sage and used pre-made pasta sauce, but everything else was according to the recipe, and it was yummy (though dry until I realized all it needed was more sauce). My advice would be to cut the cooking time in half on both the pumpkin cooking part and the baking part, and to cover the lasagna in the oven for the first 20 minutes it cooks so you don't lose any of that moisture. Also, this makes a HUGE batch of lasagna so I'll probably cut it in half if I make it again.
Leanne’s Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Lasagna
Score: 4.5
Also received rave reviews. Only thing was it didn't taste as good the next day--this one really needs to be eaten the same day it is made. Also easy to make. I used regular lasagna noodles instead of fresh ones, and it turned out fine.
From Giada's Kitchen
Anjali and Neena’s Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto
Score: 2.0
So it turns out Neena (my sister, newest member!) and I both picked this recipe, so we decided to make it as part of Thanksgiving dinner. I was super excited to finally be trying my hand and risotto, a dish that has previously scared me off due to its high maintenance. While the texture of the final dish was exactly has it should be, the resounding response from everyone was "Oh my, it takes like vanilla!" Seriously, the vanilla was borderline offensive. The final dish definitely needed something to balance the vanilla, perhaps more parmesean cheese or other savory ingredient. I probably will not make this exact recipe again, but I am glad I finally tried making risotto. (Neena approves this review)
From Molto Gusto (Mario Batali)
Sonia’s Butternut Squash and Mushroom Salad
Score: 4.0
The combination of cooked and raw mushrooms was a nice textural contrast and complemented the squash well. The dressing was simple, but really brought the dish together (the truffle oil didn’t hurt!). DC Cook Club comments: “I wish the mushrooms had been cooked, but otherwise quite yummy.” “Nice mix of the soft butternut squash against the mushrooms.” “Flavors were a little plain, even though I loved the veggies.” “Good flavors, maybe marinate the mushrooms more?”
Julie’s Broiled Pumpkin with Apples
Score: 3.5
Very simple (to make and also in terms of ingredients and flavours) and very tasty - I love butternut squash-sage combos and almost anything with apples so it was hard to go wrong here. The first time round, for my taste the squash was overcooked and the amount of dressing too much (a bit too overpowering/ acidic) but I had faith in the high potential of this dish and the second time round it was a lot better.
The title of the Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook really speaks for itself. Chock full of straightforward and simple recipes that star the pumpkin with random bits of trivia ("Pumpkins grow faster when fed with milk or sugar water through a slit in their stalks. Some double their size in only a few days," "Morton, Illinois is the pumpkin capital of the world," and "One of the best varieties of pumpkin for pies is the Small Sugar.") and a listing of pumpkin events around the country and places to enjoy "fall activities." Who knew you could make so many things out of pumpkin?
Recipes from two of our top dishes for your cooking pleasure...
CURRIED MEXICAN PUMPKIN SEEDS (PEPITAS)
Ingredients
1/4 cup curry powder
1 1/4 cups water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. salt
juice 1/2 lemon
2 cups salted pepitas (Mexican pumpkin seeds)
butter
Directions
Mix together in saucepan the curry, 1/4 cup warm water, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and lemon juice. When well blended, add 1 cup water; then heat, stirring constantly until mixture simmers. Add the pepitas and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain (save curry mixture for currying more pepitas), spread pepitas out on a baking sheet, dot with butter, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and toast in very low oven, 275 degrees, for about 1 hour, until they are crisp. Yield: 2 cups. (To curry more pepitas, mix 2 teaspoons curry into the remaining mixture, add water to make 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and repeat as before.)
PUMPKIN SPAGHETTI
Ingredients
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup softened butter
12 oz. thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Mix pumpkin, cream, 1/2 cup cheese, and nutmeg in small pan. Bring just to simmer over low heat, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat. Add butter to spaghetti in large bowl. Toss till butter is melted. Pour pumpkin mixture over pasta. Toss. Transfer to serving dish. Season to taste.
APPETIZERS / SNACKS
Neena’s Creamy Pumpkin SoupScore: 3.5
I chose this recipe because I have been looking for a quick and easy soup. And, this recipe ended up being perfect. The instructions called for the "cooking" to all take place in the microwave, so it was definitely a quick make. Rather than using orange juice from concentrate, I just used regular orange juice, and I also eliminated the chicken boullion granules from the recipe. The consistency of the final product was not perfect, so I used a little bit more milk. I also added a dash of nutmeg for a bit of a kick.
Neena’s Curried Mexican Pumpkin SeedsScore: 5.0
I chose this recipe because I have been looking for a healthier snack while I study rather than the usual potato chips, granola bars, etc. And these pumpkin seeds definitely fit the bill. I absolutely loved this recipe-very easy and absolutely delicious. I altered the recipe a bit by using 4 cloves of garlic and about a tablespoon of paprika, and it turned out great! My guests were taking handfuls at a time!
ENTREES
Rachel’s Pumpkin “Spaghetti”Score: 5.0
This dish is awesome. I will make it again and again for parties and potlucks. It's so simple - it takes less than 20 minutes to make, and it reheats well. It's not a healthy choice, so I'm going to try to lighten it up for everyday use by subbing in wheat pasta and lighter dairy ingredients, and maybe adding spinach. But the original recipe is perfect for special occasions.
And some thoughts from the DC contingent: “Delicious! Very creamy and good flavor. 4.5.” “LOVED! Perfect for a wintry day.” “Creamy.” “My new favorite version of mac & cheese. I want more! 5.0.”
BREADS
Monica’s Whole Wheat Pumpkin BreadScore: 4.0
The whole wheat pumpkin bread uses a lot of honey (2.5 cups!), so don't think you can just whip this up when you're bored one day unless you're also a part-time beekeeper. The bread was moist and delicious, and it made three loaves, which is great if you're feeding an army. I am not, so next time I'll just halve the recipe. I think because of its moisture content it wouldn't keep very well for more than a few days, but that's okay because it was gobbled up in half a day by my small office and will probably have a similar result in your kitchen. You might try adding a little less moisture (honey? water?) if you want to avoid this. I think cranberries would be a nice addition to the recipe if you were feeling feisty.
And some thoughts from the DC contingent: “Just the right amount of sweetness and moist. 4.0.” “Nice pumpkin flavor, but would have liked more spice.” “Super moist and reminiscent of banana bread (good thing!) 4.0.” “Yum! Nice and moist. 4.0.”
Jackie’s Pumpkin Cranberry BreadScore: 4.5
This bread was a WINNER. Definitely fits under the banana bread family – a bit sweet, perfect for eating in chunks, and happily married with chocolate chips. The recipe made two loaves, which I divvied up, half a loaf to work with J, half a loaf to work with me, and one loaf to serve to my out of town guests. I admit that I added in chocolate chips… I can’t help myself with these types of breads to do that. In truth though, not sure how well the dried cranberries and chocolate chips worked with one another, but I could have devoured both loaves myself, so… The recipe itself was super straightforward – no mixer required, just a little elbow grease, and a handful of ingredients. Would definitely make again.
DESSERTS
Sonia’s Pumpkin CheesecakeScore: 4.0
The Pumpkin Cheesecake was a big hit at the birthday party I attended. The cake had a subtle pumpkin flavor that was enhanced by the spices in the recipe. I made some changes to the recipe, including using gingersnaps for the crust instead of zweiback (I had to Google it) crumbs and nixing the sour cream topping. Instead, I drizzled the cheesecake slices with a whiskey caramel sauce, which complemented the other flavors very nicely. My only complaint was that the cream cheese didn't blend completely smoothly, resulting in a slightly lumpy texture.
Monica’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Drop CookiesScore: 4.5
These are reminiscent of what I call "kitchen sink cookies" in that they combine a variety of different ingredients that work well together into one dessert buffet of a cookie. Double the chocolate, cook them for 15 minutes, and you've got a winner on your hands. It made a lot of cookies (the recipe ain't jokin' when it says 6 dozen), but I was eating them by the handful so the fact that they might not keep well (same problem as the whole wheat pumpkin bread -- super moist, almost too much so) shouldn't be a deterrent to your making them. I suspect the batter would freeze well if you only wanted to bake a few cookies at a time, but I can't be sure. Easy and a crowd-pleaser.
And comments from the DC contingent: “Moist and chocolatey.” “Could have eaten the whole plate – delicious! 5.0.” “These were AWESOME. Fantastically soft (as chocolate cookies should be…) and a great balance of pumpkin and chocolate.”
Jackie’s Frosted Spicy Pumpkin Bars
Score: 4.0
I love pumpkin baked goods… I was intrigued by this one because of the “spicy” twist. I think the “spice” was supposed to come from the ground ginger. I’m not sure if my ground ginger was a bit old, so less spicy, but nevertheless, these bars tasted delicious. They were quite moist and perfect for snacking on any time of the day. The “frosted” part was really more of a viscous icing – a spoonful of it would spread quickly on top and drip down the sides of the bars. Not that I’m complaining – there wasn’t a lot of sugar in the bars themselves, so anyone looking to satisfy their sweet tooth would enjoy the extra oomph of the icing. All in all, I would make these again!
Jackie’s Praline Pumpkin Pie
Score: 2.5
This was actually the first recipe of the bunch that I picked – I wanted to bake some sort of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and this cookbook offered a ton of options. I picked this one because it was (1) a little different and (2) J loves praline. The one hiccup was I couldn’t find the no-bake custard mix that it called for, so substituted it with a vanilla pudding mix. That apparently was not a good call. Although the pie itself tasted good, it didn’t set… and was really a pie of candied pecans on the bottom and pumpkin pudding on top. I think it would be better with the no-bake custard mix (which would have resulted in a firmer consistency), but I probably wouldn’t make this again.
Leanne’s Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake
Score: 4.8
Really easy cheesecake to make, and received rave reviews from everyone who ate it!
OTHER PUMPKIN RECIPES FROM PREVIOUS COOK CLUB COOKBOOKS
From Nigella's Christmas
Two of our lovely cook club members cooked up Nigella's Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Lasagna. Here were their takes:
Monica’s Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Lasagna
Score: 3.0
Very labor intensive, and Nigella way overestimates the cooking time of EVERYTHING! The pumpkin needs less than half an hour to become soft enough to put into the lasagna, and the lasagna itself dries out if you leave it in the oven for an hour -- I should know, I did it. I had none of the "shallow tomatoey cheesey pool" at the bottom of my pan. It was not "gorgeous." Solution? Extra pasta sauce served with each slice of lasagna. I omitted the sage and used pre-made pasta sauce, but everything else was according to the recipe, and it was yummy (though dry until I realized all it needed was more sauce). My advice would be to cut the cooking time in half on both the pumpkin cooking part and the baking part, and to cover the lasagna in the oven for the first 20 minutes it cooks so you don't lose any of that moisture. Also, this makes a HUGE batch of lasagna so I'll probably cut it in half if I make it again.
Leanne’s Pumpkin and Goat Cheese LasagnaScore: 4.5
Also received rave reviews. Only thing was it didn't taste as good the next day--this one really needs to be eaten the same day it is made. Also easy to make. I used regular lasagna noodles instead of fresh ones, and it turned out fine.
From Giada's Kitchen
Anjali and Neena’s Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto
Score: 2.0
So it turns out Neena (my sister, newest member!) and I both picked this recipe, so we decided to make it as part of Thanksgiving dinner. I was super excited to finally be trying my hand and risotto, a dish that has previously scared me off due to its high maintenance. While the texture of the final dish was exactly has it should be, the resounding response from everyone was "Oh my, it takes like vanilla!" Seriously, the vanilla was borderline offensive. The final dish definitely needed something to balance the vanilla, perhaps more parmesean cheese or other savory ingredient. I probably will not make this exact recipe again, but I am glad I finally tried making risotto. (Neena approves this review)
From Molto Gusto (Mario Batali)
Sonia’s Butternut Squash and Mushroom SaladScore: 4.0
The combination of cooked and raw mushrooms was a nice textural contrast and complemented the squash well. The dressing was simple, but really brought the dish together (the truffle oil didn’t hurt!). DC Cook Club comments: “I wish the mushrooms had been cooked, but otherwise quite yummy.” “Nice mix of the soft butternut squash against the mushrooms.” “Flavors were a little plain, even though I loved the veggies.” “Good flavors, maybe marinate the mushrooms more?”
Julie’s Broiled Pumpkin with ApplesScore: 3.5
Very simple (to make and also in terms of ingredients and flavours) and very tasty - I love butternut squash-sage combos and almost anything with apples so it was hard to go wrong here. The first time round, for my taste the squash was overcooked and the amount of dressing too much (a bit too overpowering/ acidic) but I had faith in the high potential of this dish and the second time round it was a lot better.
No comments:
Post a Comment