Aunt Diane's Pumpkin Roll

1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. baking soda
3 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾ cup flour

Mix all ingredients together well. Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Pour the pumpkin batter on the wax paper making a rectangle shape (do not spread to the edges) and spread evenly. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Use lint-free all cotton dishtowels only (do not use fuzzy towels). Spread the towel out, and as soon as the pumpkin batter is finished baking, take it by the wax paper and turn the dough upside down on the cotton towel. Moving quickly, remove the wax paper from the back of the dough. Roll the dough in the towel jellyroll style while the dough is hot. Let this set in the towel until the roll is completely cool. Remove from the towel and proceed with the filling.

You can make 3 rolls from the can of pumpkin, so you could make the other 2 rolls and let them cool, then proceed to make filling for all 3.

FILLING
2 tblsp. butter
8 oz. Cream cheese
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Crushed nuts (optional)

Put all ingredients, except nuts in a bowl and mix with mixer until creamy. Spread evenly, edge to edge on unrolled pumpkin dough. Sprinkle with crushed nuts. Begin rolling jellyroll style from the long edge of the rectangle. Seal in plastic and refrigerate before slicing. Can be frozen.

Diane Jamison
10/01

Firecracker Salmon

Sauce:

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. chili sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 t minced parsley
1/4 t. ginger (or 1 t. fresh minced ginger root)
1/4 to 1/2 t. cayenne pepper, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients. Grill salmon, brushing occasionally with sauce. FYI: I usually brush Salmon at least one hour prior to grilling – using it as a marinade.

Penne a la Vodka

2 TBL olive oil
1 onion, very finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
14oz can of crushed tomatoes
½ tsp crushed dried chilis or crushed red pepper
½ cup good quality vodka
1 cup heavy cream (no substitutions!)
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook pasta to al dente while preparing sauce. Heat wok or pan, add oil, onion & garlic, sauté 2 minutes
Add tomatoes
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes
stir in vodka, simmer 5 minutes
Add cream and half of parmesan, simmer 3 minutes
Stir in pasta and other half of cheese and parsley, toss to coat
season with salt and pepper, heat through.

Tomato Bisque

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (fake is ok)
1 Tablespoon minced bacon (not for Beth)
1 Spanish onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups chicken (vegetable) broth
1 28 ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes with liquid roughly chopped
3 parsley sprigs
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 cup heavy cream
1 ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat butter and if using add bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towel. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and cook until soft about 8 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook stirring for 3 minutes. Pour in broth and tomatoes bring to boil while whisking constantly. Tie fresh parsley, thyme, bay leaf with twine and add to pot. (we use dried spices and just add them into the tomato mixture) Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Fyi – I add hot pepper flakes.

When soup is cooked, remove herb bundle if using. BE sure to REMOVE BAY LEAF. Working in batches pour mixture into blender. We often only blend about ½ of the mixture and leave some chunky. Return the puree to pot and reheat.
Whisk in the heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Try not to boil the cream. Just bring to heat. Serve immediately.

Cut Out Cookies

2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
Cream together butter & sugar
Dissolve baking soda in milk
Add milk, vanilla, eggs, then flour 1 cup at a time
Chill dough
Cut out and bake at 350 for 8 minutes.
Frost with buttercream frosting and decorate if desired

Butter Cookies

2 sticks of butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3 tsp. vanilla
Cream together.
Add
3 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Chill dough.
Roll to 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out and bake at 425 for 5-7 minutes.

Pasta Primavera

PASTA PRIMAVERA

Ingredients

8 medium asparagus spears (cut on a bias)

2 small zuchinni (1/4 lengthwise then cut into 1/3)

1/2 lb string beans (cut in 1/2)

6 tbl pine nuts

2 tbl olive oil

1/2 lb white mushrooms (thinly sliced)

1 2/4 c. whipping cream

2 medium shallots (minced)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

zest of 1 lemon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

5 tbl butter

2 tbl lemon juice

1 lb thin linguini

1/2 c grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

1/2 c shredded basil

Prep

- cut all veggies

- start a big pot of extremely salty water

- fill a large mixing bowl with ice water and place colander atop

- line a smaller mixing bowl with paper towels

- zest lemon

- put shallots, garlic, lemon zest, cayenne pepper, few grinds of black pepper and a small bowl and hold

Cooking

1. cook the asparagus, string beans and zuchini in boiling water until tender (3-4 minutes) DO NOT OVER COOK. as each vegetable is finished transfer to ice water adn when all are done transfer to bowl with paper towels.

2. in a large sautee pan, over medium heat, add pine nuts and shaking the pan occasionally allowing them to toast (3-5 mins) set aside.

3. add olive oil to the pan, add mushrooms adn cook until tender (5 mins) add shallots garlic, lemon zest, cayenne pepper. set aside

4. in a small sauce pan, over medium high heat, bring cream to a boil and reduce to a brisk simmer (add salt to taste) Wisk in butter until creamy. Add parmesan cheese melt together. Wisk in lemon juice and simmer wisk to thicken you about one minute. i would add a small amount of flour or corn starch to thicken the cream. remove from heat.

5. (while making the sauce) boil linguini (or spagetti) in large pot. strain, then toss veggies, nuts, sauce and basil.

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon, chopped (optional, test batch was vegetarian and delicious)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 purple onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups chicken stock (i used vegetable), or enough to cover potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan, and set aside. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
2. In the bacon grease remaining in the pan, saute the celery and onion until onion begins to turn clear. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cubed potatoes, and toss to coat. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Return the bacon to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to just cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
3. In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream, tarragon and cilantro. Bring the cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir the cream mixture into the potato mixture. Puree about 1/2 the soup, and return to the pan. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli

1 or 2 carrots chopped

1 onion chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

1 garlic clove chipped

Olive oil to cover bottom of the pot

28oz can of crushed tomatoes

16oz veg or chix broth

½ cup water

19 oz can of cannellini (white kidney beans)

Half pound of ditalini pasta

Parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder

Sauté veggies in olive oil.  Add tomatoes, water, broth, seasoning, simmer 15 minutes.

Add beans and simmer for another 15 minutes.  Add uncooked pasta until done.

Butternut Squash Soup

3 ½ cups squash

¾ cup carrots

½ cup red onion

1 TBL butter

Saute 12 minutes

Add 2 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock

Simmer ½ hour

Add ¼ cup half and half or a little bit of butter

¼ tsp salt

Blend.

Peanut Butter Caramel Corn

Peanut Butter Popcorn
makes about 8 cups

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
Vegetable oil 
Fine salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup sugar 
1/2 cup peanut butter (natural-should be free of added sugar) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare a clean paper shopping bag or oversize mixing bowl. Heat a large heavy pan over medium heat and film the bottom with vegetable oil. Add the popcorn, shake to distribute, then put a lid on the pan. Leave a small crack for steam to escape. When the popcorn starts popping, shake vigorously to make sure the kernels pop evenly. When the popping slows, take the pan off the heat.

Pour the popcorn into the paper bag or bowl to cool, being careful to leave any unpopped kernels in the pan. Coated with peanut butter caramel, the unpopped kernels are a serious tooth hazard. Lightly salt the popcorn to taste.

Mix the honey and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for a couple minutes, then remove from the heat and add the peanut butter. Stir vigorously until all the peanut butter is melted, then mix in the vanilla.

Immediately pour the peanut butter caramel over the popcorn and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until it's all coated. Once it's mixed you can put it in a serving bowl. Cover tightly after it's cooled.

Banana Oat Cookies

2 cups rolled oats
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup vegetable oil
teaspoon of vanilla extract
very small pinch of salt (like 1/8 tsp)
pinch of sugar

mash bananas
add oats, vegetable oil and vanilla
*add dates/dried fruit*
bake for 15 minutes @350 or until a little brown

It is cold and snowy on January 19, 2012 and I finally made a batch of these banana oat cookies in the LSHT test kitchen.  I amended the original recipe after I tasted the batter, I felt it needed just the tiniest pinch of salt, and for good measure I added a teaspoon of sugar.  I also thought adding some dried fruit was a good idea after I tasted the batter, so I added a nice amount of raisins. I let the batter sit for 5 or 10 minutes, and the first batch I baked at 375 for 15 minutes, and the bottoms were a bit brown (but still tasty), so the next batch I lowered the temp to 350 and lined the pan with parchment paper and they turned out perfectly.  My 7 year old took and bite and said, "Mommy these are so yummy!"

WW Yogurt Pancakes

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

pinch of salt (if desired)

1 Egg

1 cup milk (add more for thinner pancakes)

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup blueberries

sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bow. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and yogurt together. Add dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. (fold in blueberries if desired) Fry pancakes on a hot greased griddle, turning once. Makes 6 pancakes.

Beth's Favorite Chili and Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped (or red and yellow)
• 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained
• 2 (12 ounce) packages vegetarian burger crumbles (optional) 
• 3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Directions

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.

• Mix the tomatoes into the pot. Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in the corn, and continue cooking 5 minutes before serving

BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.