Pumpkin & What!?

Initially posted some 7 years (!!) ago, I'm sharing this again because the weather this week is perfect for a bowl of this really delicious dish.  Nevermind that we are usually mocked when we tell people about it.  I get it, I get it...it doesn't fall into the "normal" category.  But that's okay.  Dinners are about being tasty, not normal.  So here you go, friends.  Enjoy! 

Another shout out to Rachel Ray for her culinary expertise on this dish.  It sounds like a strange combo, but it comes together in a cozy, yummy, rich meal that tastes, smells and feels like fall.  Look beyond the odd pairings and give it a shot--I bet you'll add it to your favorites list like we have!

We've tweaked it here and there, too.  We've omitted the wine and lessened the amount of cream.  Works out just fine.  Maybe a tad more chicken stock, but it still comes together without the wine and cream.  We've also used various pastas; orrichette being our favorite.

 

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano, for grating


Directions
Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Elementary School Upgrade!

When it came to lunch, all through school, I was a brown bag kid.  I suppose, to be more accurate, I should own up to the fact that I was first a fabric-covered pail kid.  Then I was a Smurfette lunch box kid.  And then I was all about the anonymous, simple, plain brown bag.

But that didn't mean, just because I packed my lunch daily, that I didn't check out the monthly menu from the cafeteria.  Mondays were usually pizza, Tuesdays were chicken nuggets.  It seemed like Fridays were the surprise day of the week.  To my more mature mind today, I suppose Fridays were "whatever we have on hand and didn't use Monday through Thursday" days.  But when you're in 2nd grade, you didn't use that kind of logic.

Sloppy Joes was one of those items that'd show up to mixed reviews.  Was it fun to eat messy food?  Was it gross?  Were they ooey and gooey and good or were they to be avoided at all costs.

I never tried them, so I can't tell you.  I can, however, tell you that this grown up version is quite delicious.  Ooey, gooey, messy...they combine all of that with a little sophistication, flair and attitude.  Especially when paired with the slaw.

Tonight, take a break from the brown bag--or, the adult version of the brown bag: TAKE OUT--and toss together a batch of Sloppy Joes.  And if in so doing, you're stuck singing the Adam Sandler song, I can't apologize enough!

                              Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 pound ground beef (or chicken or turkey)
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 small head cabbage; thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 4 sesame hamburger buns, split

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and ginger and cook, tossing, until softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce, tomato paste, sugar, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ½ cup water and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute more.
2. Toss together the cabbage, carrots, cilantro, lime juice, sesame oil, the remaining tablespoon of canola oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Fill the buns with the meat, dividing evenly, and serve with the slaw and lime wedges.

Shrimp & Potato Chowder

As I type, there are kids running around the cul-de-sac outside my window with shorts and tank tops on.  It is October 6.  In Pittsburgh, PA.  Who knew?  The weather has been spectacular of late; unseasonably warm days, impossibly blue skies and perfectly cool nights.  Apparently Mother Nature's second helping of summer is about to expire, so we'll soak it up while we can.  And when it's gone, we'll soak up this yummy dinner instead.

I love how easy this soup is to toss together.  It's got a bit of a bite, and lots of coziness.  Pair it with a crusty sourdough bread and you've got a quick---and pretty healthy---dinner.

Shrimp & Potato Chowder
2 TBS butter
1 medium onion; chopped
2 cans cream of potato soup*
3 1/2 cups milk**
1/4 tsp ground red pepper--more or less, depending on your preference
1 1/2 lbs fresh shrimp (peeled)***
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Saute onions in butter until tender.  Stir in soup, milk and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Add shrimp and reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often (about 5 minutes).  Add in the cheese and serve immediately.



*I've tried making my own to avoid buying a can of cream of whatever.  See below.
**I use skim and it's just fine
***I buy frozen shrimp; thaw them, take the tails off and toss 'em in!
 
Homemade Cream of Potato Soup
Yield/Servings: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, diced
1 quart milk
3 slices onion
3 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour 1 tbs. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. celery salt


Cook the potatoes until very soft, using the 2-qt. sauce pan and just enough water to cover. Cook, covered, reducing the heat to avoid scorching, after boiling starts. Scald the milk and onion in another sauce pan over moderate heat. Melt butter in Dutch oven, blend in the flour and add the milk, stirring to make a smooth sauce. Cook for 7 minutes.

Lift out the onion slices so that they do not go into the soup. Add the seasonings and the potatoes, which should be whipped to a granular consistency or rubbed through a colander-strainer. Cover and leave over very low heat until thoroughly hot.

 

The Big Apple...no, not THAT one

Shrimp cakes, shrimp kebabs, shrimp salad....you know the drill.  The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company offered a plethora of ways to enjoy shrimp.  I feel a little like Bubba when it comes to apples.

After picking our own apples and attending the apple festival (yes, two separate fall outings), we decided to make good use of our bounty.  First up--homemade apple sauce.  Peel, chop, simmer, season eat.  That one is a breeze.

The we moved on to my favorite: Apple squares.  Oh these bad boys are delicious.  And they remind me of home, which is a memory as sweet as one of these tasty little bites!

Apple Squares

1 cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peeled, chopped apple


Mix together the sifted flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Beat the sugars, egg and vanilla into the melted butter with a wooden spoon.  Mix in the dry ingredients, then fold in the apple*.  

Spread into a greased 8x8 pan, sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar and bake for 30 minutes at 350.  Enjoy them plain or with a dot of vanilla ice cream.

*Batter will be really stiff and not look like enough; you'll have to work it into the pan a bit.

If It All Lines Up

I've been driving my husband's car lately because I'm racking up miles like crazy and we figure with gas $7,687,383 a gallon, let's be smart.  His car (super fancy and all) has satellite radio which is super fun---because, I mean, let's face it; playing Radio ADHD with 934,397 channels is exponentially more fun than doing so with only 439 channels on terrestrial radio.  

Anyway...I'm Howard Stern one minute (what?  he's actually got some interesting guests sometimes) and music from the 40s the next.  And then, I'll find my way to the 80s.  You know you, too, would totally rock out to some Def Leppard or Madonna with little to no shame!  Of course, as I belt out every single word to Salt 'n Pepa's Push It, I start ask myself for the umpteenth time how it is that I can remember all of the words to that song and yet certain passwords I use on a daily basis elude me.

Okay, I'm getting somewhere with all of this preamble, honestly.  I listened to Martha Quinn serving up classic 80s hits and sprinkling in random "remember this" tidbits.  One such tidbit; the Rubik's Cube!  I know you remember this--even if you don't remember (wink wink) the lyrics to Push It (it's fine; there's no judging here). 

My sister had one--and we'd fight over it.  Of course we did.  And we had a neighbor who would twist that thing in seconds and have it totally perfect.  I'm sure he's an engineer making millions at this point.  I never could get that darn thing to cooperate.  There was always a group of misplaced squares; too much red in the yellow.  Blues where there should only be orange and a nearly perfect green side save for those couple of pesky white squares.

Life feels like that to me right about now.  All the aspects trying to line up perfectly...and then there's some random red square.  All things cannot be all good all the time.  That wouldn't be a game, right?  I'm not complaining.  Or maybe I am a little.  Sometimes you just need to complain a little and then move on.  It's not the end of the world.  And frankly, an "everything is always hunky dory all the time never a care in the world ever whatsoever" attitude seems a little unnatural to me.

Abby's doing well at school, work is great for myself and Mark...but I feel like the house is a mess.  The house gets cleaned up, work gets caught up and then I miss submitting a book order for Abby's school.  Menu's planned out, food is prepped and then work blows up and we get home too late to make the meal we planned.  You get the idea.  Sure, we can roll with the punches.  Sure we can be flexible.  And, just as surely, we can allow ourselves a moment of "what the hell, really?" when things get out of whack.

Sometimes I just want all the red to line up, all the orange etc.  But life isn't perfect like that.  The juggle rages on and we scurry around, doing our best to keep the balls in the air.  Best to do it with a smile, but even that isn't always the case.  Bad news creeps in, stress sets up shop in your head, chest and gut and 24 hour days somehow feel like 2POINT4 hour days.  It happens.  And it's not fun---real, but not fun.  

Today, when I had yellows mixed with blues and reds where there were supposed to be only greens, I got a pep talk/text from a friend, took 3 minutes to sit quietly in my car to count my blessings and committed myself to making a positive impact on someone's day---however I could.  Find what works for you to get back to the right frame of mind.  Hell, I will seriously join in if what works for you is a dance party in your car while you're blasting a little Michael Jackson, Debbie Gibson (yes, yes I did!!) or Poison. 

When your Ruik's cube of life is kind of wonky, take a step back.  Put it down, and look at it differently.  Sure, it'd be awesome if it all lines up.  But sometimes*, mixed up things can be pretty awesome too.  Or, to translate that into 80s-speak, "It can like be like totally gnarly, like for real." 

*not always, 24/7, without fail, 100% of the time...see earlier comments