Pumpkin (sorry Calvin) Cornbread Muffins

If you're like me, then on your day off you get out of bed at 5:30am (for your sake, I hope you're not like me). After attempting to keep myself entertained by reading for awhile, I needed a new activity. So this morning I am experimenting and making pumpkin cornbread muffins. I'm sure Calvin will be thrilled;). 

 

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

Dry ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup of cornmeal

1 cup of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of salt 

Wet ingredients:

1 egg slightly beaten

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil or butter 

3/4 cup of canned pumpkin 

1/2 cup of honey 

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir until just combined. 

 

Scoop the mixture into your paper liners (I use a cookie scoop because it guarantees the muffins are similar in size and it seems to be the easiest and cleanest method). 

 

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

 

Pumpkin Chili

As my husband says, "White people love pumpkin sh*t". And he's totally right. Today I'm using up the rest of our farm share vegetables to make a pumpkin chili in the slow cooker. Pumpkin chili may sound strange, but it's become a yearly staple in our house. The sweetness of the pumpkin is a perfect compliment to lots of spices. I usually make this chili without any meat but Calvin requested turkey.  I also don't normally use any root vegetables, but I wanted to put them to use before they went bad. 

Pumpkin Chili

1 can of Black beans

1 can of Kidney beans

1 cup of Roasted corn

2 Bell peppers

1 Jalapeño (if you want)

1 Onion 

1 small Butternut squash

2 Parsnips

1 can of pumpkin purée 

1 tablespoon of Cinnamon

1 tablespoon of Cumin

1 teaspoon of Cayenne

1 teaspoon of Chili powder 

Cilantro

Lemon or lime juice 

Salt and pepper 

1 cup of water 

Ground turkey 

Brown the turkey in a pan and add to the crock pot. Dice all vegetables. Here's the best part... Put everything in the slow cooker. Cook on low for about 4 hours. Serve with a sprinkle of shredded cheese, a fresh squeeze of citrus juice and some additional chopped cilantro.  

Zucchini Bread

As we get the last of these beautiful zucchinis from our farm share, I knew I had to make zucchini bread at least once. My mama used to make zucchini bread with zucchinis from the garden in our backyard. I don't have a backyard. I don't have a garden. I don't have her recipe. What I do have is this bread I just made, and it's pretty damn good.

Zucchini Bread

2 medium zucchinis 

3 cups of flour 

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of cinnamon 

2 eggs 

1 cup of sugar 

1/2 cup of brown sugar*

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of canola or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans. 

Trim the ends of the zucchinis and grate (I did this in the food processor but you can just use a box grater). Squeeze the zucchini in a dish towel to remove some of the moisture from them. 

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. 

In another bowl mix the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. 

 

Toss the grated zucchini into the flour mixture. Pour the wet ingredients over the mixture and fold until well combined. 

Evenly divided into the loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes (check them with a toothpick). 

 

The top should be golden and feel springy. Let them cool in the pan for about ten minutes before letting them cool on a rack  or of your a deadbeat like me and you don't have a rack, just let them cool on the counter. 

 

Store the bread in an airtight container or wrap in foil and freeze for up to three months. 

Roasted Tomatillo and Tomato Salsa

Our farm share this week was an end-of-summer treat. We ended up with a ton of tomatillos and tomatoes. So today's experiment is a roasted salsa. By roasting the heck out of all the ingredients they'll reach their full, sweet potential (and the smell coming from the oven is pretty delightful too). 

Roasted Salsa

tomatillos

tomatoes 

jalapeño

onion

2 garlic cloves 

lemon or lime juice 

cilantro

salt and pepper 

Preheat the broiler on high and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

How pretty does that look?

First husk and wash the tomatillos (they can be sticky). Cut and quarter the tomatoes and tomatillos. Dice one onion. Smash 2 cloves of garlic and add to the pan. Quarter a jalapeño (I removed the seeds and ribs for less heat but you can add them in if you like it hot). Drizzle with olive oil and generously salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until charred. 

Let the vegetables cool for a bit before adding them to a food processor. Add the juice of a lemon or lime and a big handful of cilantro. Purée until you get the texture you like. You can always add water for a thinner salsa if you prefer. Taste for salt and pepper. Store in a jar and enjoy!  

Party time

Today we are having a party, and for good reason (although selfishly, I am feeling a little bummed).  My dear friend Lauren is moving to Ohio, and so the girls are coming over to celebrate all our time together in NYC.  My friend Tarra did all the work, but I am contributing my apartment and a few treats.  I made meatballs, hummus and baba ganoush. (http://farmtoharlem.blogspot.com/2015/08/baby-ganoush-baba-ganoush-made-with.html)


Hummus is one of the easiest things to make.  You will save a ton of money by making your own and can also mix things up by using a variety of beans or herbs.  Today's recipe is the basic, but trust me its delicious.

Hummus
1 can of chickpeas
2 tablespoons of tahini (use as much or as little as you like)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of cumin
handful of parsley
salt and pepper
water
olive oil

Place chickpeas in a food processor with a tablespoon of water and puree.  Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse.  While the food processor is on, drizzle in a little more water and/or olive oil to get the hummus to the consistency that you like.  

I like to drizzle a little olive oil over the top and sprinkle with paprika before serving.


Meatballs

Ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup parmasen 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire 

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup of bread crumbs* 

handful of parsley

Salt and pepper 

*I make my own "lazy" bread crumbs.  All I do is toast two pieces of Udi's gluten-free bread, and then put them in the food processor.  

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Do not over mix but make sure all the ingredients are well combined. Roll into balls. (I am making mine ahead of time and leaving them in the fridge over night, but you can skip right to cooking). 

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking. 

Challah!!! (French toast)

After a challenging week, sometimes all you need is some good old fashioned comfort food. My mama used to make challah french toast, and so this morning it seemed like the perfect thing to do. It's really easy and there is nothing like the smell of cinnamon and vanilla roaming through your house.  Leave it to me to make this with out having syrup, which of course I did, but trust me, it didn't even need it.  

Challah French Toast

Challah (I had raisin challah on hand)

6 eggs

1 cup of milk 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon of honey

Place the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and honey in a baking dish.  

Whisk together all ingredients

Soak the bread on each side for about 2 minutes.

Place on a hot griddle and cook until golden on both sides. (Make sure to let the excess egg mixture drip off first.  As you can see I did not do this and made a mess of my pan.) 

All I have to say is, YUM!

Sunday Dinner

Calvin and I were talking on the train about traditions we want for our family and one of the things we both said was Sunday dinner. On this particular Sunday, Calvin is stuck at work all day so I thought I'd treat him to a Sunday dinner when he gets back. Today I'm making Moroccan inspired chicken in the slow cooker. It can hang out for a few hours and make the house smell divine for when Calvin gets home. 

Being the deadbeat that I am and not wanting to go grocery shopping, I may have substituted some ingredients on the list below.  In a perfect world, I would be making the recipe I am posting.  But in my not so perfect world, well, f that.  So I used chicken drumsticks, no apricots, no cilantro (I used some mint and scallions instead) and everything turned out okay.  No one was hurt and life went on. 

Moroccan Inspired Chicken 

Bone in chicken thighs

1 Onion

1/2 a cup of Greek olives 

Chopped tomatoes (most recipes call for chicken stock instead, but I like using tomatoes) 

1/2 a cup of dried apricots

Parsley 

Cilantro 

1 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 a teaspoon of coriander 

1 teaspoon of turmeric (less for flavor and more because I've been reading all about its anti-inflammatory magical powers)

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne

1/2 a teaspoon of ginger
1 bay leaf

Salt

Pepper

Combine the chicken thighs with the onion, cumin, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes and a bay leaf and cover and cook on high for 2 hours. 

Stir in olives and apricots (you can add chickpeas, but somehow I didn't have those either).  Cook for another hour.

Serve over rice, quinoa or couscous.  You can sprinkle some toasted almonds on or garnish with fresh herbs and a little lemon juice.