Pumpkin Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

It's autumn, and you know what that means: pumpkin recipes! 

Over the past few years, pumpkin-y items have become a massive trend in the food world. I've seen a plethora of pumpkin-flavored concoctions in various retail facilities that are available for a pretty high price. $5 for a pumpkin muffin? You have to be kidding me, right?

As delicious as these items may seem, don't throw away your hard-earned money -- unless you're purchasing Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte, my personal favorite guilty pleasure. Anyway, as I was saying, making dishes with pumpkin at home is spectacularly easy and definitely more wallet-friendly than going out and purchasing the pre-made seasonal trends. 

I know there are pumpkin purists out there who will only consume fresh pumpkin, and more power to them. For me, however, the canned puree is one of my best friends in the kitchen. It's such a versatile ingredient. You can add it to savory dishes like risotto or macaroni and cheese, and you can make just about any dessert imaginable with it. Once, when one of my mom's dogs was sick, my mom fed her pumpkin puree mixed with milk -- a recipe we'd found online for sick pets -- and our dog made a full recovery. By no means am I insinuating that pumpkin is a cure-all, but it is some pretty good stuff. 

I adapted this recipe for pumpkin cupcakes from a few recipes I found online. I find that a lot of autumnal baked goods are too spice-heavy for my taste, so I curbed the spices quite a bit in this recipe so that you can actually taste the pumpkin. While the recipe may seem like it incorporates a lot of ingredients, it's really just a matter of throwing things together and tossing them in the oven, so it's a pretty easy treat to concoct. If you don't want to make individual cupcakes, just throw the batter into a bundt pan.   

As for the icing, I've found over the years that cream cheese and white chocolate compliment the flavor of pumpkin very nicely. You may want to chill the icing before working with it, though; it's more "gloopy" and less fluffy than more traditional icings, but it's still absolutely delicious! 

All in all, this is a great treat for Halloween parties and other such autumnal gatherings, and it's surprisingly easy to prepare! 

 
Pumpkin Cupcakes

(Makes one dozen, can be doubled)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs

1/2 can of pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake can with paper liners and spray with non-stick spray.

Beat together butter, eggs, and sugars until thoroughly blended. Combine dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with wet mixture. Add pumpkin, and mix until all ingredients are blended together.

Divide mixture evenly amongst the cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean. Cool and reserve. 

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick of butter, softened

6 oz. white chocolate chips, melted

3 cups powdered sugar

Blend together cream cheese, butter, and melted white chocolate until thoroughly combined. Then gently add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Add to cooled cupcakes as desired. 

(A dozen cupcakes are always much better than a dozen roses!)

 

(They're a hoot! Get it? GET IT?)

Enjoy!

Eggs Baked in Avocado & Jalapeno Garlic Biscuits with Chorizo Gravy

I’ve noticed the recent foodie trend of baking eggs in avocados, and I wanted to try it out for myself. I like eggs, I like avocados, and the process is easy enough but possesses a wow factor in presentation.

In most of the recipes I’ve seen for this dish, the writer suggests serving it with tortillas. However, I wanted to one-up the foodie hipsters. Who doesn’t like biscuits and gravy? How about CHORIZO gravy? The flavor of the spicy Mexican sausage pairs beautifully with the richness of the egg and avocado. But why just stop at plain old ordinary biscuits? Jalapeno Garlic Biscuits, it is then!   

This is a great brunch dish, and it’s much easier to prepare than you might think. If you have trouble locating chorizo, or if you don’t want that much heat, you can still prepare this recipe using regular ground breakfast sausage (though you may want to remove some of the excess fat after browning). 

Jalapeno Garlic Biscuits

2 cups baking mix

2/3 cup milk*

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped*

2 tsp. garlic powder

*Believe it or not, when making biscuits from baking mix, you can substitute beer for milk. It’s quite delicious!

*If you like heat, feel free to leave some of the seeds in.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop portions of dough. The recipe should yield around 10 biscuits. Brush the tops of the uncooked biscuits with melted butter or olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and reserve. 

 (Hot and fluffy!)

Chorizo Gravy

(This isn’t a gravy in the traditional sense. It’s a milk gravy, which is the type usually served with biscuits.)

10 oz. ground chorizo

3 tbs. flour

2 cups milk

In a large saucepan, cook chorizo on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes looser and easier to stir. Stir in flour until it is thoroughly incorporated and cook for another 5 minutes. Add milk and stir. Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes or until very thick. Serve with biscuits.

Eggs Baked in Avocado

Ripe avocados

Lemon juice

Eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut avocados in half, and discard the pit. Leave the skin in tact. Brush them with a little bit of lemon juice. You will want to scrape a bit out of the center of each avocado half so that it can accommodate an egg. Crack an egg into each avocado. The egg whites will spill over out of the avocado, but that’s perfectly fine.

For a slightly runny yolk, bake for 10 minutes. For a more well-done egg, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and serve. 

(So easy, you can even make it with a hangover!)

 

Enjoy!

 

Beer-Battered Cod with Red Pepper Aioli

I’ve had an insane hankering for fried fish lately, and with fresh cod fillets being on sale at my local grocery store, I decided it was time to satiate that yearning.

Now, I’ve made Fried Catfish before, but this is a different (dare I say, more mainstream?) version of fried fish. Cod is an excellent fish for batter-frying, but any other meaty whitefish will do. As far as the type of beer to be used in this recipe is concerned, I would go for something with a lighter, more crisp flavor.

Also, now that summer is approaching, it’s time to revive one of my all-time favorite veggies: the red pepper! (Technically, a pepper is a fruit, but I’m not in the mood for a botany discussion.) Anyway, an aioli is one of the best ways to showcase the pepper’s spectacular flavor. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with aioli, I promise you, it’s not as pretentious as it may sound. The traditional aioli hails from the Provencal region of France and is made with garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and egg yolks. So essentially, it’s a glorified mayonnaise.

There have been many modern updates to this dish, such as the recipe I’ve concocted. I adore aioli with fish, as I think it has the perfect balance of richness and acidity to pair well with seafood. If you’re afraid that this will taste too mayonnaise-y, fear not. The fresh vibrance of the red pepper and the tanginess of the Dijon mustard help to cut the richness and brighten the flavor.

The fish can be served alongside fries (as pictured below) with the aioli as a dipping sauce, or it can be served with a fresh summer salad. The aioli would make a fantastic salad dressing!

Red Pepper Aioli

½ cup red bell pepper strips

3 tsp. + 2 tbs. olive oil

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tbs. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss pepper strips in 3 tsp. olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes or until soft and tender. Remove from the oven and cool pepper strips on a plate lined with a paper towels. Pat dry and reserve.

In a blender or food processor, add the peppers along with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Place aioli in an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready for use. 

(In a Mason jar: Southern style)

Beer-Battered Cod

Cod fillets

Salt & pepper

Canola oil

12 oz. bottle of beer

2 cups flour

Season the fish generously with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine beer and 1 ½ cups of flour. Pour the remaining flour in a separate bowl, and dredge the fish in it. Then coat the fish in batter, and dredge through the flour once more.

Heat the canola oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan until it reaches a medium-high heat. If you have a kitchen thermometer, you want the oil to be near 375 degrees. Gently place the fish in the pan. If you are cooking several pieces of fish, I don't recommend cooking more than two or three pieces at once, as the overcrowding will affect the temperature of the oil. 

Cook the fish for 5-10 minutes or until it has reached a rich golden brown color. You will want to turn each piece two or three times to ensure even cooking. Place the fish on a plate with paper towels to absorb the excess grease. Allow to cool for five minutes before eating. 

(Yes, I used frozen fries. Don't judge me! Everything else is from scratch!)

Enjoy!

PB2 Creation: Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce

I have made a marvelous culinary discovery: PB2. If you're unfamiliar with this product, you can read all about it here.

However, I will provide a quick overview for those of you who possess an intolerance for clicking links and opening new windows and the like. PB2 is essentially powdered peanut butter. No, you didn't misread that. Bell Plantation creates PB2 by slow-roasting peanuts and then pressing them to remove the oil. What remains is a substance that can only be described as "peanut powder." 

So why would anyone want to use PB2 in lieu of traditional peanut butter? Well, for starters, PB2 contains significantly less fat and calories than its creamy predecessor. You can create your own peanut butter by adding a bit of water to the substance and whipping it up into a peanut buttery paste. However, admittedly, I have not used this product in this manner; instead, I prefer to use PB2 as an ingredient in some of my recipes. About a month or so ago, I made a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter-buttercream icing that was phenomenal. I whipped up a traditional batch of buttercream (2 sticks of butter, 1 box of powdered sugar) and then added a cup of PB2, and the end result tasted exactly like the peanut butter icing I'd made before. The powder was easy to incorporate into the mixture, and I managed to save myself a few calories. (Granted, when inhaling cake, one probably relinquishes the right to worry over calories, but take it for what it is.) 

This week, I was itching to crank up my ice cream maker again, and I wondered how well PB2 would work in an ice cream recipe. Well, it's amazing. I was immensely pleased with how successful this peanut butter ice cream turned out, and the chocolate sauce adds the perfect finishing touch. Also, this recipe would be perfect for summer entertaining!


Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk 
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan and bring to medium-high heat. Whisk gently until all the ingredients have blended together. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 4 hours or until chilled. 
 

Once chilled, pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure to store the ice cream in a freezer-proof container with a tight lid. 

Chocolate Sauce

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

(NOTE: This should probably be prepared in a double-boiler, since you're working with chocolate. However, I made this recipe in a simple saucepan, and the sauce was excellent. Just make sure to keep stirring the mixture vigorously.)

In a saucepan, bring chocolate chips and cream to medium high heat. Stir vigorously until the chocolate has melted and the cream is thoroughly incorporated. Remove from heat, and store the sauce in an air-tight container. 

(Who wants a Reese's cup when you can have this?)

Enjoy! 

Easter Celebration - Part 2: Chicken & Artichoke Casserole, Homemade Macaroni & Cheese, and Roasted Asparagus

I posted the recipe for my Fresh Strawberry Cake yesterday. Now, here is Part 2 of my Easter celebration: the rest of our festive bounty!

My mom found a chicken and artichoke casserole recipe in an old church cookbook she was perusing and wanted to try it. It looked good, but I tweaked it and made a few changes here and there. The end result was fantastic! This is a very hearty and flavorful casserole that would be a definite crowd-pleaser. 

Chicken & Artichoke Casserole

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tbs. lemon juice

1 small container French fried onions

To prepare the chicken, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and greased. Coat liberally with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, shred or cube the chicken as desired.

Combine the prepared chicken with artichokes, onion, garlic, soup, mayonnaise, and lemon juice, and mix evenly. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture becomes bubbly. Top with French fried onions and allow to bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and serve.

This casserole would also be excellent with spinach or mushrooms added! 

---

I’ve posted other macaroni and cheese recipes before, but this is my recipe for the traditional, basic version. Homemade mac-n-cheese is VASTLY superior to anything out of a box, and once you get the hang of it, really isn’t all that hard to prepare. If you’re a fan of this classic comfort food, give this recipe a try! It’s easier than it looks, and it’s so, so good.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz. package pasta, cooked and drained*

2 tbs. butter

2 tbs. flour

2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 ½ cups grated cheese*

*You can use any type of pasta you like. I usually prefer cavatappi, campanelle, penne, or rigatoni, but if you want to be traditional, just go with elbow macaroni.

*You can also use just about any kind of cheese you like, but you’ll want something very flavorful like sharp cheddar because the flavor of the cheese will be less intense once added to the sauce. However, never use a really cheap, oily cheese, as it will give the sauce an odd, unpleasant texture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, on medium-high heat, melt the butter and stir in the flour until the mixture forms a paste. Add the salt and pepper and cook for two to three minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook the sauce for 5-10 minutes until it becomes thick. Remove from the heat and gently stir in 2 cups of the cheese until it melts.

Combine the sauce and cooked pasta, and pour the mixture into a greased baking dish. Top the mixture with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese topping becomes bubbly and slightly browned. Remove from oven, cool, and serve.

---

I adore roasted vegetables because they’re so easy to prepare and are so much more flavorful than when they’re boiled! You can roast just about any vegetable by following these steps, and you can also add whatever herbs or spices you like. I’m particularly fond of adding dill, thyme, or curry powder. My favorite vegetables for roasting are asparagus, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and parsnips.

Roasted Asparagus

1 lb. asparagus

2 tbs. olive oil

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the woody ends from the asparagus and discard them. Evenly coat the asparagus with the olive oil and seasonings. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet and roast them for 20-30 minutes or until they have reached desired doneness. Cool and serve.

(So much better than an Easter basket!)

Enjoy, and Happy Easter!

Easter Celebration - Part 1: Fresh Strawberry Cake

Before you prepare the meal, you always have to ready the dessert – which is why Part 1 of my Easter celebration features our Fresh Strawberry Cake. I prepared the cake today in advance for tomorrow’s lunch, but my mom and I couldn’t help but sample it a little early.

Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for the recipe. I found it in the February/March 2013 issue of eat. drink. Mississippi magazine, and it was created by a lady named Annie Massingale Crimm.

It’s an absolutely marvelous cake, much like a decadent version of the classic strawberry shortcake. Also, it’s surprisingly much lighter than you would imagine it to be.

Fresh Strawberry Cake (a.k.a. "Miss Annie's Strawberry Cake")

Cake:

1 box white cake mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

1 2/3 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

4 eggs, separated

2/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the egg whites until fluffy and reserve. Combine the other ingredients and gently fold in the egg whites. Bake in two greased 9-inch round pans for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and reserve.

Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

16 oz. whipped topping

2 tbs. butter (room temperature)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

Sliced strawberries

Combine all ingredients (except strawberries) until evenly blended. Spread between the layers of the cake and add the desired amount of sliced strawberries. Then spread the icing on top of the cake and on the sides. Add more strawberries to the cake as desired. Make sure to store the cake in the refrigerator. 

(I apologize in advance for the sub-par quality of the photos. I'm at home, and the only camera I have on me at present is my cell phone camera. And no, I don't have a fancy, newfangled iPhone, so just deal with it!) 

(Berry good! ...Sorry... I watched far too much Strawberry Shortcake as a child...)

Enjoy!