Pumpkin-Apple Butter with Honey, Ginger & Cardamom

Pumpkin-Apple Butter with Honey, Ginger & Cardamom 
(the link to the original creator of this recipe no longer works and I can't find a working link to the original recipe)

Other spices, such as cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, can be substituted for the ginger and cardamom.

1 15-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
1 medium-large tart apple (e.g., Granny Smith), peeled, cored & grated
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger (I added about 1/2 T fresh ginger)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of salt

In a medium, heavy saucepan combine the pumpkin, apple, juice, honey, ginger, cardamom and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 and 1/2 hours. Cool completely in pan, then transfer to an airtight container (It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 months). Makes 3 cups (serving size: 2 tablespoons).

Nutrition per Serving (2 tablespoons):Calories 35; Fat 0.1g (sat 0.1g, mono 0g, poly 0g); Protein 0.2g; Cholesterol 0mg; Carbohydrate 9.2g; Sodium 11.1mg.
(Note: nutrition analysis using Diet Analysis Plus 7.0.1)

I made 2 batches at the same time, with about 5 cups roasted butternut squash, 1.5 cups apple cider, 1.5 apples,  and 1/2 cup honey.  Then I split it in 2 pots and in 1 added fresh ginger and cardamon, and the other all ground spices of  cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and vanilla.  I added 1 T raw brown sugar to both.  Next time I would use sugar and not honey, as the honey has a distinctive taste I'd rather not have in this.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

I loved Adirondack Creamery's Pumpkin Pie ice cream and want to make a homemade version. AC's ingredient list is: Cream, Milk, cane sugar, non-fat dry milk, egg yolks, pumpkin, pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice.  I found two recipes online that are close, but not quite, so I will try my own method. Since I have only made real ice cream twice before, I hope I don't  mess it up.

The recipe David Lebovitz posted has too many steps that don't seem necessary and a cinnamon stick seems to get lost in his recipe.  I do like his proportions of milk and cream and white and brown sugars. The Williams Sonoma recipe seems like it will come out two thick and too sweet with 2 cups of heavy cream and 3/4 cup brown sugar, but the recipe order is simpler, although there is no need to add cold cream to the eggs, so I will heat all the milk and cream.

1. Mix squash with vanilla and chill.

• 1 cup roasted butternut squash puree (or canned pumpkin)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2. Heat and stir in saucepan:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 and 1/4 cup gingered sugar (otherwise combo of white and brown cane sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
• If not using ginger sugar, use 1/2 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp freshly grated
• scant 1/16 teaspoon cloves
• 4 allspice berries, crushed and a pinch of ground (or 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice)
• scant 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3. Whisk 5 large egg yolks into a bowl

4. Whisk 1/3 to 1/2 the cream into the bowl of egg yolks and pour back into cream pot.
5. Heat and stir until 170 degrees- slightly thick-can run finger through it on back of spoon and it doesn't run back:
6. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl nestled in a larger bowl of ice water.  Whisk or stir a few times.  
7. Whisk in the pumpkin.  
8. Pour through fine mesh strainer again.  
9. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.  
10. Churn in ice cream maker according to maker's directions.

Original sources or inspiration:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/11/pumpkin-ice-cream-recipe/
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/pumpkin-ice-cream.html

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Casserole

Several times I have made variations of a vegan recipe I had found when I was searching for an easy oven-baked recipe for butternut squash and black beans a few  years ago.  It is so easy-no sauteeing of the onions first-everything cooks together in the oven. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/10/pumpkin-and-black-bean-casserole.html

I liked tonight's version best, but with raw milk and cheddar cheese, it was not vegan, but it sure was tasty!
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray olive oil in casserole dish (approx 8 x 11 or so size)
2. In a large bowl, combine and set aside:

• 1 1/2 cups black beans
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1 medium onion, diced (any kind, I used red)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ancho chili powder or other mild chili powder
• 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
•  a shake of cayenne pepper, maybe l/8 tsp
•  1 quart canned tomatoes, chopped, liquid reserved

3. Peel and slice a medium butternut squash into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Need enough to make 2 layers in the casserole dish.

4. Combine reserved tomato juice (I had more than 1 cup) with 1/2 cup milk (used raw milk tonight) and spices:

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground dry mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
• Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
• Sprinkle of black pepper
• 3 T cornstarch

5. Grate about 1/4 cup cheddar cheese (to lightly (not quite) cover top layer of casserole)

6. ASSEMBLE

• Layer half the squash in casserole dish. Follow with half the bean mixture, then 1/2 quash, 1/2 beans.
• Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
• Pour tomato juice mixture to cover layers.
• Cover with aluminum foil tightly.
• Bake 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes.

This could easily be made 50% larger by adding a third layer of squash and beans.  Would need to add more liquid too.

Pickled Red Tomatoes

I harvested more then 60 pounds of San Marzano tomatoes on Saturday and then Phil ripped the plants out because we think the plants had early blight and we didn't want it to spread.  I used about 23 pounds tonight canning 7 quarts of tomatoes and 3 pints of pickled tomatoes.  The San Marzanos were so large the jars wouldn't hold more than 1 whole tomato, so I had to cut the others to slide them in.  They did not need to be canned as they would have lasted a few months in the refrigerator, but I don't know how much call there will be for pickled tomatoes.  I never even heard of them before. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/pickled-red-tomatoes-recipes.html

Spiced Tomato Ginger Chutney

This is how I made it the first time (8-18-2012).  Everyone that ate it the next day loved it, so I want to make it again in little jars to give away.  A little goes a long way. It was good with sirloin steak (why I made it in the first place), but was also good with raw veggies, crackers or chips, and it would be really good with cheese too.   I used a variety of really ripe tomatoes from the garden that needed to be cut up and used immediately.

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced

2 pounds or 4 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, (raw turbinado)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/4 cayenne
1/4 cup dried cranberries

In heated oil, cook onion, garlic, ginger about 5-7 minutes until softened.
Add tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, spices, and cranberries, cook until starts to boil.
Simmer and stir occasionally until thickened, about 45 minutes.  It reduced to about 2.5 cups.
Chutney keeps 3 months in refrigerator.

Recipes I consulted to come up with my version both used twice as much vinegar as I do (red or cider) and twice as much sugar (brown or white).  They also used raisins and/or currents instead of the dried cranberries I had.  One had lemon zest, mustard seed in addition to these spices with no ginger and the other recipe had the ginger, but none of the other spices.  One recipe sauteed using olive oil, the other skipped the oil and saute step.

CANNING CONSIDERATIONS
Having reviewed a number of other chutney recipes to see if I it was safe to can my tomato chutney recipe, the only other recipe I saw that used olive oil (roasted the tomatoes and onions with 2 tsps oil) noted that this chutney could not be canned, only frozen.  However, this was also the only chutney recipe I saw that did not have vinegar, so it seemed more like roasted vegetables than chutney to me.

To be safe to can my recipe, I am going to leave out the oil and saute step and boil everything together until thick and then ladle into 1/2 pint jars and process in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

I found 1 canning recipe that used as little vinegar as mine (3 cups tomatoes to 1/4 cup vinegar), so I have convinced myself that my recipe is safe to can.  It was Sun-Dried Tomato Chutney in the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving that my niece gave me for Christmas a few years ago.

Later I made a tomato chutney using Thai spices that was fantastic but I did not write down what I used.  I did find one recipe years later, but it is not the same. http://zaikazabardast.com/2012/05/21/bruschettawiththaitomatochutney/
2015- did this version http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spicy-tomato-chutney-100732

Beet Hummus and Eggplant Hummus

I've been making beet hummus for several years now based on inspiration from Elise at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beet_hummus/.  I use twice as many beets as Elise.  The eggplant recipe is a combination of ideas from Elise and David Lebovitz. It is easy to make these 2 recipes at the same time because they both beets and eggplant can roast in the oven at 400 degrees and they use almost the same ingredients, in a food processor.  Whip up the eggplant hummus in the food processor first, scrape it into another bowl, and you may not even have to wash the processor before using it to make the beet hummus.

Beet Hummus Recipe

Roast Beets First
Preheat oven to 400 degree.  Cut beetroot from greens leaving about an inch of stem with the beets. Place 1 pound (or more) of washed beets in a roasting pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cover tightly with foil. Roast until done.  Most medium sized beets are ready 60 minutes, large beets take about an hour and half.  Let beets cool.  Slip off beet skins while running under cold water (helps minimize staining hands red. (You may want to wear gloves).  You can also roast by tightly wrapping each beet in foil and placing on oven rack.

Add to Food Processor:

• 1 to 2 lbs quartered cooked beets
• 1-2 large garlic clove, chopped
• 5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used lime juice once by mistake and that was good too)
• 1/4 cup of tahini (sesame paste)
• 2-3 teaspoons cumin
• salt and pepper, a little 

Run processor until smooth.  Adjust lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt and pepper to your taste.
I usually use about 2 bounds of beets, but I don't increase the rest of the ingredients much or at all, and it still tastes really good.

Each pound of beets will make about 2 cups of hummus.  Freeze what you won't eat within a week in small containers.

Eggplant Hummus (aka Baba Ganoush)

Poke several japanese or globe eggplant several times with a fork (about 2 pounds raw).  If the globe eggplant are large, cut them lenthwise in half first.  Roast on cookie sheet at 400 degrees about 40 minutes until they collapse insides are very soft.  You cannot overcook eggplant, but if you undercook it, you won't be able to mash it with a fork.  You can also roast the eggplant on the grill.

Scrape cooked and soft eggplant into food processor.  Add the following ingredients and pulse until it is the consistency you like.

3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (or lime, which I used last time)
1/4 to 1/2 cup tahini
1 - 1.25 teaspoons coarse salt (use half if you use regular salt)
1/8 -1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/2 -1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
regular pepper if not using cayenne
1 T olive oil (or more for consistency) (I did not use any last time)
flat leaf parsley, chopped

Use any combinations of the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne that appeals to you.  Most baba ganoush recipes garnish with parsley, but I like to put the parsley right in the mix, although if freezing, I wonder if it is better to leave out the parsley.  Update:  I froze it with parsley and it was fine when it defrosted.
Eat within 3 days or so, or freeze some for later.