Pumpkin Mania

Pumpkin Mania has taken over the food blogs and websites!  This past week I could not go cruising around the internet without running into pumpkin delights, crafts and decorating ideas for Halloween.

I will be featuring pumpkin recipes on this post as I did last year . . . I'll post them as I find them!

Fun Home Things has 10 pumpkin recipes posted!

In My Own Style wants to teach you how to carve a pumpkin with a hot knife for your Halloween decorating . . . use the pumpkin inside for your recipes :)

Pumpkin carving tips from HGTV

Pumpkin Butter from The Gracious Pantry

20 Ways to cook your pumpkin seeds from SusieQT Pies Cafe

Pumpkin Magic Bars from Bakers Royale

Starbucks Pumpkin Pound Cake from Something Swanky

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles from Key Ingredient

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars Recipe from Taste of Home

Pumpkin Cookies from HGTV

Skinny Pumpkin Muffins from I Should Be Mopping The Floor

SusieQTPies Cafe presents Top 10 Yummy Mummy Halloween Recipes and Halloween Crafts

Pumpkin Bread from Alexandra's Kitchen

Stuffed Jack O'Lantern Bell Peppers . . . one of my older posts

Click here to go last year's post on Lots of Pumpkin Recipes!

Bourbon Caramel Pumpkin Tart

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Pumpkin Croissant Bread Pudding with Pecans

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cinnamon Cream

Amy's Pumpkin Board on Pinterest

Ernesto's Random-Cut Pasta with Sausage Sauce

Taccozze con Salsiccia

PASTA

2 1/2 cups finely ground durum semolina flour, plus additional if needed
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm filtered water
1 teaspoon Filippo Berio extra-virgin olive oil

Place the four and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and whirl the mixture to blend. With the motor running, slowly pour the water through the feed tube. Add the olive oil and continue processing until a ball of dough is formed that is moist and holds together. If the dough seems too dry, add a few drops of water and pulse.

Gather up the dough and knead it for a few minutes on a wooden surface, adding a little flour only if the dough is sticking to your hands. Cover the dough with a bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into quarters and work with one piece of dough at a time; keep the remaining pieces covered.

Roll the dough out into a rough circle or rectangle shape approximately 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut across the dough so that you make strips about 1 1/2-inches wide. Then cut the strips into either squares, diamonds, or triangles. Put the finished shapes onto a floured towel, sprinkling them with a bit of flour to keep them from clumping together. Repeat the process until all the dough is used. Let the shapes dry for about 10 minutes before cooking.

Cook the shapes in salted water for about 4 minutes, just until al dente.

SAUCE

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage flavored with fennel, removed from the casing and broken up
1 small red onion, chopped
1 Little Devil hot red pepper, chopped, or more or less to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup prepared tomato sauce
Salt to taste
Pecorino cheese, grated, for sprinkling

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and add the sausage. Cook until the sausage is browned. Add the onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the hot pepper and cook for another minute. Add the wine and cook the sauce until most of the wine evaporates. Add the tomato sauce. Taste and add salt if necessary. Keep the sauce warm while the pasta cooks.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the sauce along with about 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Mix well to coat the pasta and serve immediately with the grated cheese for sprinkling over the top.

Ernesto used a 2002 Masserie Flocco, Chardonnay "Podere del Canneto" in this recipe.

item recipe is featured on Ciao Italia in Episode 1524 of Season 15.

Watch Ciao Italia

with Mary Ann Esposito

Click here to find your local station

Ciao Italia, Mary Ann's website

Spanish Tortilla

Growing up, the Spanish Tortilla was one of my favorite comfort foods.

It is not a tortilla like a mexican tortilla, rather, more like an omelette.

My nana had many variations.  She routinely used chorizo (I don't like it and never use it), she would also add peas and/or onions.  I have made it adding bacon or breakfast sausage and it was delicious . . . I always top mine with cheddar cheese.  Use your imagination and what you like!  Whatever you do, use lots of potatoes . . . that is what makes this dish magical.

I'm remembering how awesome it was in a sandwich made with cuban bread and mayonnaise . . . haven't had it like that since I was a little girl.

INGREDIENTS

3 large potatoes

5 large eggs

handful of cheddar cheese

butter

salt to taste (I love using kosher salt)

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the potatoes.  Before I get into the making of the tortilla, I want to share how I prepare the potatoes, no matter what dish I use it in (other than mashed potatoes).  Great method for preparing home fries for breakfast!

Wash and dice the potatoes. You can peel the potatoes or not . . . whatever you prefer . . . I don't.  Place in a microwave container with a lid, add salt to taste and I like to add little pieces of butter on top of the potatoes throughout the container.  Cook in microwave about 5 minutes or until tender (you'll have to experiment with the time, it depends on the microwave).  That's it!  Your potatoes will brown in the frying pan in no time at all.  So much better than starting with raw potatoes!

To make the tortilla . . . place cooked potatoes in a buttered pan and fry until they brown, stirring often.  When the potatoes are as brown as you would like them, pour in the scrambled eggs (I season with salt when I scramble the eggs).

Some people like to use a plate to turn the tortilla, but I cut it in four pieces to make it easy to turn.

Top with your desired amount of cheddar cheese (optional), cover the pan and lower the heat.  Since I use stainless steel pans, I take it off the heat and let it finish cooking off the burner to prevent burning.

The gauge I use that the tortilla is done . . . 

when the cheese is all melty and gooey.

It is a quick, easy and delicious meal that I make often!  Hope you make it and enjoy it :)

Photo source and another Spanish Tortilla variation

with photos of the different steps


Recipes from Spain

Rice and beans

Rice and beans is one of my favorite meals, even when there is enough money to buy whatever food there is a craving for . . . it is one of those southern meals that can be varied in so many ways.  The meal is not complete without a batch of corn bread that I love to crumble in the rice and beans.

Today I was on a quest to find different variations of rice and beans and I ran across the AandE Channel's pages for Duck Dynasty, which includes some of the Robinson family's recipes.  You can find the link to Miss Kay's recipes at the end of this post.  

The Captain and I are Duck Dynasty fans and I always love their references to food . . . except that I would never ever, even if offered huge sums of money, eat squirrel.  Squirrels are like little outdoor pets for me!  The Captain, on the other hand, tells me it was a favorite childhood meal after a day of hunting down squirrels in the woods and bringing them home for Mom to cook.  

Here is an excerpt from the write up on this recipe, followed by the recipe . . .

"The family subsided on rice and beans, cornbread, and whatever fish and game the boys could catch. Rice and beans was a staple dish at the Robertson dinner table. A hundred-pound bag of rice and several cans of beans would last for weeks. There are dozens of ways to prepare rice and beans, and the recipes could be altered by adding a simple gravy or squirrels, quail, or fish so it was a perfect meal for the struggling Robertson family.

You can be creative with this. Don't worry about doing it exactly the way it is written, try stuff, if you don't have an ingredient make it anyway. I make beans every time we make or buy a ham — the ham bone is the key. You will find hunks of that ham when it cooks off the bone that you never knew existed and they are delicious. NEVER throw ham bone away!"

INGREDIENTS
• 1 pound dry kidney Pinto beans
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 6 cups water
• a couple of slices of bacon, cut up
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you are feeding kids)
• 2 bay leaves (if you don't have it in your cabinet don't worry about it)
• a pinch of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Phil Robertson's Cajun Style Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes (again, don't sweat it if you don't have it)
• 1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced (Add more if you like sausage, or a different kind if this is too spicy.)
• Ham bone with as much ham left on it as you want (I buy one that is honey glazed, take the ham off for sandwiches, then use what's left for beans)
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• Louisiana Hot Sauce

DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse beans and transfer to a large pot with ham bone six cups of water. Make sure the water is covers all the beans.
2. In a skillet, heat olive oil and cut up bacon over medium heat. Sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery for three to four minutes.
3. Stir cooked vegetables into beans.
4. Season with bay leaves, cayenne pepper, parsley, and Cajun Style Seasoning.
5. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook 4 to 6 hours, or until beans are soft and done. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
6. Cut sausage into slices and brown in skillet on medium heat with a teaspoon of olive oil.
7. Stir sausage into beans towards the end of cooking time and continue to simmer for thirty minutes.
8. Add a pinch of brown sugar to taste.
9. In a saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for twenty minutes. Serve beans over steamed white rice and add plenty of Louisiana Hot Sauce.

For more family recipes, visit our Kay's Recipes page.