The Great Pumpkin

Fall food. Love it. I think I've mentioned that a time or two on this blog...So pumpkins. They're pretty awesome. And they are good for a lot more than just making jack o lanterns. Here are a few things you can try with pumpkin.

Pumpkin Wedges with Sage

Preheat oven to 400. Cut a small pumpkin (such as a sugar pumpkin) in half; scrape out seeds. Drizzle pumpkin with olive oil, season with salt and black pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Turn oven to broil. Cut pumpkin into 2 inch wedges; poke fresh sage leaves into flesh. Drizzle with more olive oil. Broil until wedges are sizzling and sage is crisp, about 6 minutes. Serve.

Indian Spiced Pumpkin

Roast pumpkin in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes using the above method (you know, cut side down and all that). Scrape out pumpkin flesh. In a skillet over medium heat, warm about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1/4 tsp fennel seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pumpkin and 2 Tbsp maple syrup. Cook for 1 minute, mashing to combine. Add 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and stir. Serve immediately.

Or one of my favorite ways to have pumpkin...

Pumpkin Spice Bread

2 cups pumpkin

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup oil

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1. Combine sugar and wet ingredients in a bowl

2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add slowly to the wet mixture.

3. Divide between 2 greased loaf pans and bake 60-70 minutes @ 350.

4. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling.

This time around, I made my pumpkin spice bread into pumpkin spice cupcakes. It makes 34-36 cupcakes depending on how full you fill your cupcake cups. If you want to make cupcakes, they only take 20-25 minutes to bake. I topped mine off with some delicious cream cheese frosting. Here's the recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough frosting for 1 dozen cupcakes

3 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together

2. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for 10 minutes. No joke. Beat it for the full ten. That's how it gets so smooth and fluffy. :)

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Now that I have a post about quick pasta sauces, I find myself the possessor of a bucketful of tomatoes from my family's garden. I went home for fall break and my mom said, "Please take some tomatoes back with you. We have way more than I know what to do with. You can make some of that fresh pasta sauce for your roommates." Thanks mom, I will.

Making pasta sauce from scratch is a process, let me tell you. But it is SOOO worth it.

First you get lots of tomatoes.

Then you cut a little X on the bottoms of the tomatoes, plop them in some boiling water for about 30 seconds.....

And shock them in an ice bath!

Peel them, cut them in half and squeeze out the seeds, then throw them in a blender and whiz for a second. Then throw some fine diced mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery) in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook until tender. Blend the mirepoix, and combine in the pan with the tomatoes and about a cup of your blanching water (the water you used to boil the tomatoes), and simmer the snot out of it. Seriously, you simmer it forever. My sauce sat on the stove for three and a half hours. Salt and pepper it to taste and voila! You have achieved sauciness!

Jana Banana Fee Fi Fo Fanna....

...That's what my Uncle Dean calls me. Anyway. Bananas. We have about a zillion (okay, seven) of them in our freezer at my apartment. For some reason a couple months ago people felt inclined to give me their old, browning bananas. They were all, "Hey before you go, take these bananas! They're too soft for me to eat, but I'm sure you can make banana bread out of them or something right?" Well yes, indeed I can. So today I rescued our freezer from hostile takeover by brown bananas and made some banana-blueberry bread. :)

Banana Blueberry Bread

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

4 eggs

2 cups mashed banana

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup sour cream

About 2 cups blueberries *SEE NOTE

1. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given.

2. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Makes two loaves.

*NOTE* Unless you want blue bread it is pertinent that you gently fold in your blueberries at the very end. Also, I find that using frozen blueberries lessens the color bleeding, and makes them a lot easier to fold in without accidentally mashing them.

Cold Weather Food

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a desert girl through and through. I love the heat and I absolutely cannot stand humidity. Hot and dry, that's how I roll. So when the change of seasons rolls around I lament the onset of cold weather. Despite my dislike of the cold, I do love cold weather foods! I'm starting to bust out my arsenal of soups. Here's what I made for dinner tonight...

Orange Carrot Ginger Soup

8-10 large carrots, medium dice

1/2 onion, medium dice

1 1/2 quarts orange juice (no pulp is preferable)

2 TBS fresh grated ginger (may substitute 2 tsp dry ground)

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

1. In a large pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots and onions and cook until carrots are slightly tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2. Add orange juice, and boil until carrots are soft.

3. Puree in a blender or food processor.

4. Add ginger, salt, and pepper, and return to stove to keep warm until service

*NOTE*

If you are using fresh ginger, it is important to add it as the last step in your cooking process. Ginger has a tendency to turn bitter as it cooks.

Enjoy everyone! Happy fall cooking!

The Purpose of this Blog

I was discussing blogging with some friends of mine recently. One friend was interested to find out that I do indeed have a blog. She wanted to know more about it. I was about to tell her about my blog until another friend of mine interjected and said, "Oh, it's just about food."

JUST about food? JUST about food?! I was a little bit peeved by that statement. I asked him, "Well, what else would I blog about?" He replied with, "Ummmm....your life?" First of all, food is my life. Second of all, I don't blog just to record what I do. This isn't meant to be some digital archive of my life. Besides, I feel like there are plenty of whiny college students out there that blog about their lives (not to knock anyone else's blog. There are many that I very much enjoy reading). But I want to accomplish something with this blog. So I feel like maybe I should share with you my purpose in blogging.

I was raised in a family where food was more than just something you put in your body so you wouldn't keel over and die. My parents are incredibly passionate about health, so I was taught from a very young age to be conscious of the food I put in my body. Not just any old food would keep me operating at an optimum level. Even when I was a baby, I didn't eat baby food out of a jar. Oh no. My mom would take the time to cook food until it was soft, and she would puree it for me. Even from the beginning of my life I was eating real food. Also, my family has kept a rather large garden every summer since the time I was six years old. I worked a lot of long hours in that garden during my growing up years, and was so lucky to reap the benefits around harvest time. I've had the privilege of enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables as the majority of my diet.

Those factors have influenced my philosophy about food greatly. However, I think the largest contributor to my appreciation for food has got to be my mother. First of all, she is a wonderful cook. But more important than that is the fact that she never let me be picky. If I didn't want to try something that was on my plate, that was just too bad. If I left the table without finishing something, it would end up on my plate at the next meal. Also, because of my mother's abilities, I was able to experience a wide variety of flavors during my young life, which did a lot in refining my palate.

This is going to sound totally cliche, but I have a lot of fond memories of sitting down to eat a home cooked meal with my family. In fact, if I think about some of my best childhood memories, most of them involve people gathering together to eat. Think about it. Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, Easter dinner, birthday dinners, lunch dates with your mom, dinner and a movie with your girlfriends...food!

I guess what I'm trying to say is food brings people together in a way that not many things can. And sure, I guess people can be brought together by a box of pizza. But to me, that's not all that special. As much as I enjoy the creativity and the skill it takes to execute a meal with flair and culinary perfection, where I find the most satisfaction is in the happiness I can bring to others with the food I make. Few things are as precious to me as the way a person's eyes will close as they savor a bite of something I've made. Then they smile, open their eyes, and with a twinkle in them, say to me, "Jana. This is amazing." When I spend six hours making you a birthday cake, what I'm really trying to say to you is, "Hey! I think you are so awesome that I didn't just want to buy you any old generic birthday cake. I wanted to put my heart and soul into it and make it something special. Because to me, you are worth those six hours and so much more. You are worth my time and effort."

To me, food is an expression of everything good in life- energy, passion, creativity, and love. I want to share those ideals with as many people as I can. If I can do that by posting recipes, and helping people feel the joy that I feel when I make something delicious and share it with others, why wouldn't I do that?

I want people to be able to have the same kinds of experiences with food that I was so blessed to have in my childhood. But so few people know how to cook. How are they supposed to find that joy that I found when each member of their family shuffles off to their corner of the house with a piece of frozen lasagna that says, "Our family isn't important enough for me to make time for family dinner." That's bogus. Other people say, "I just don't know how to cook." Also bogus. Learn. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to teach people a skill that was central in making my childhood great. Something that has shaped who I am today. That's why I blog about food. Because food is about so much more than sustenance. It's about joy.

Molto bene!

As a culinary fanatic the question I get the most is "What is your favorite thing to cook?" I hate that question. I seriously cannot answer it. The sheer joy I find in cooking cannot, CANNOT be delegated to one item alone. So I usually tell people, "I can't pick a favorite. Wanna know my specialty though? It's Italian."

I have been so fortunate to have interned and worked in an Italian restaurant in Albuquerque. It's called Vivace (if you ever visit Albuquerque, check it out! It's great. Tell them Jana sent you). Because of my three years of experience there, I have grown to love Italian food and Italian food philosophy so much more. And I feel like I'm quite proficient in the cuisine as well!

Anyway, the point of this post. My lovely stake relief society sisters started up a monthly cooking class and I signed up to teach today's class. I love opportunities to share my passion with others. Especially because I feel like cooking is a dying art. So few families sit down to a home cooked meal anymore, and many people lack the skills in a kitchen that I always assumed were common knowledge. I feel so blessed to have grown up in a home with a mother who is a fabulous cook, and one who taught me a love of good food as a child. Anyway, I wanted to find something simple, delicious, and quick to teach these sisters. As college students, we don't have time to spend all day making dinner (unless you are me, in which case I MAKE time). So I decided to teach them a few simple pasta sauces, and one really simple pasta dish.

Alfredo Sauce

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Black pepper

Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Heat heavy cream over medium-low heat. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with pepper. Toss gently with hot pasta. Garnish with fresh parsley.

*NOTE* If you would like a lower fat version of this recipe, here are some ideas. Instead of using heavy cream, you can use milk. However, you will have to find a way to thicken your sauce. You can accomplish this by mixing equal parts butter and flour in your saucepan before you add milk. Cook the butter and flour mixture (called a roux) for about 2 minutes so the flour taste cooks out. Add your milk and whisk the snot out of it. Then proceed with the recipe as above.

Quick Marinara Sauce

Most old world Italian sauce recipes that you find require at least a day to produce. The sauces require such long hours of simmering --that's why they have such phenomenal flavor! This recipe (courtesy of Cook's Illustrated) is the best way to get the flavor of hours of cooking in 30 minutes or less!

2 TBS unsalted butter *See note

1/2 an onion, grated *See note again!

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp sugar *see note once again! Sorry, I like notes!

2 TBS coarsely chopped basil leaves

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar; increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium low and simmer until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and oil; season with salt and pepper. Serve over hot pasta.

*NOTES, Notes, Notes!* If you would rather substitute olive oil for butter, feel free. The reason this recipe calls for butter is because butter naturally caramelizes as it cooks which deepens the flavor of the sauce. For this reason, the recipe also calls for grated onion. When onions are grated, the surface area is increased, so they caramelize faster. I prefer to just finely mince my onions (I have terrible luck with box graters. I always end up with grated knuckles). About the sugar. Don't add it if you don't wanna! If you like your sauce with a little more sweetness, the sugar is there. If you like it more savory, leave it out.

Pesto alla Genovese

"Alla" means in the style of. This pesto hails from the region of Italy known as Genoa (hence pesto alla Genovese!) The olden day Italians came up with this sauce as a way to ensure that they could have the fresh flavor of basil year round.

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup spinach

2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add garlic, parmesan cheese and pine nuts to a food processor or blender and pulse until a paste forms. Add spinach and basil, pulse to combine. Add lemon juice. With the machine running, add a stream of oil until desired consistency is achieved. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss with cooked pasta!

*NOTE* Please, use this recipe as a guideline. If you like more garlic, add more garlic. If you don't like cheese, don't use any. Play around with it. Don't be constrained by my recipe. Also, feel free to make substitutions! Try adding walnuts instead of pine nuts. Maybe make a pesto out of cilantro and parsley instead of basil and spinach. Make it your own creation. Experimenting is the best way to learn what flavors blend well together.

Special thanks to my roommates Melissa and Bekah who were my photographers and plated my pastas! You ladies rock!

The Burque Bunch

I am a proud native of the fabulous city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I love everything about that place. The climate, the sunsets, the topography, the things you can do, places you can go....but I think what I miss the most about Albuquerque when I'm up at school is the people! Fortunately for me, this year a lot more people that I know from back home are up here in Utah. That and I've decided to be more proactive about organizing activities between friends. So a few weeks ago I decided to get a group of Albuquerqueans together for an impromptu dinner! Considering I invited people the afternoon before, it was a great turnout. Because I didn't want to spend a fortune on this dinner I assigned a few people to bring some food. I provided the entree, a side, and dessert. One friend brought drinks (actually he brought the ingredients. I made the drinks), another brought rolls, someone brought salad, and one brought mashed potatoes. For my contribution I made three lovely maple glazed pork tenderloins, some oven roasted asparagus, iced chai, and a delicious caramel apple cake.

Dinner was fabulous! I was so glad to share good food with such good company. I missed my friends from back home. I didn't realized how much I missed them until I actually started spending time with them again. Thank goodness I have started spending more time with them. I feel less homesick now that I have little bits of Albuquerque conveniently located in Orem and Provo. :)

Pork tenderloin and roasted asparagus

Our table scape plus Taylor and 90% of Bryce

Caramel Apple cake with green apple rose

Want some recipes? Okay, here you go! :)

Caramel Apple Cake

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup milk

1. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to one bowl and stir to combine.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with vanilla and milk.

3. In a third bowl or in a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.

4. Beginning with the milk mixture, alternate adding the milk and the flour mixtures to the creamed butter and sugar. Do this in three additions, making sure to scrape the bowl between additions.

For the Caramel

4 TBS unsalted butter

3 cups sugar

5 TBS light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

1. Cook the sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is dark amber, 7-10 minutes.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Carefully add cream and butter (it will splatter -- don't freak out!), stirring until combined, about 3 minutes.

Assembly

1. Peel and core 2 granny smith apples

2. Slice the apples into rings, and press into the bottom of a greased 9 inch cake pan, overlapping slightly.

3. Pour half the caramel mixture over the apples.

4. Pour half the cake batter over the caramel.

5. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the cake batter and swirl through with a butter knife.

6. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top.

7. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to an hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

TO UNMOLD THE CAKE - after the cake has cooled (to allow it to set further), run a clean knife along the edge of the pan. Warm up the bottom of the pan (you can do this on your stove or dip the bottom of your pan in hot water) to soften the caramel. Place a plate on top of the pan and flip over so the cake unmolds onto the plate. Voila! Beautiful caramel apple cake. :)

*NOTE* When I made this cake I doubled the cake batter recipe and had a little too much. However, 1 recipe is not enough, so I would recommend making 1 1/2 the recipe.

Maple Glaze -This is great for pork, chicken, or duck!

*NOTE* I did not include measurements in this recipe simply because I feel it unnecessary. I feel that experimentation in the kitchen is very important and you should make this glaze to suit your tastes. Use this recipe as a guideline and an inspiration -- not as a absolute directive.

Maple syrup

Ginger

Dry mustard (don't use a lot!)

Cayenne pepper (a little goes a long way!)

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Cornstarch

Water

1. Bring maple syrup, ginger, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally.

2. After the mixture has reduced slightly, make a slurry (Add about 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch to 1 1/2 tablespoons of water and mix) and pour into the sauce, stirring.

3. Allow sauce to return to a boil and let thicken to desired consistency.

4. Serve with pork, chicken, or duck!