The Charmed Kitchen

Spiced Cauliflower and Carrot Soup

After unseasonably warm weather, today felt more like November. Drizzly and colder, I was in need of a nice bowl of hot, homemade soup.  I had a head of cauliflower I really wanted to cook up. I thought of soup right away. I often use cauliflower in soup. I also had a bunch of carrots, so I decided to use them together. The combination, paired up with some of my favorite seasonings, made for an excellent meal. I served it with a drizzle of hot sauce- to warm me up even more, and a little fresh parsley from the garden.. This soup freezes well, so I may save some for another day. While I ate it hot, this soup could be served cold, too.

Spiced Cauliflower and Carrot Soup

3 T. oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small to medium head of cauliflower, cut into flowerets
1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 c. diced fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, I used a pint of home canned tomatoes.
4 c. chicken or veggie stock*
2 T. curry powder
1 T. ground cumin
2 t. smoked paprika
2 t. ginger
Hot pepper sauce, to taste, plus extra for topping the soup
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped basil, cilantro or parsley for garnish, optional

Heat oil in soup pot and cook onions until golden brown. Add garlic and cauliflower and cook another couple of minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the rest of the veggies, the stock and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook soup, covered, until veggies are tender. I like the soup to cook at least an hour so the veggies are really tender. Puree soup until smooth. I use an immersion blender. If you are using a standard blender, and the soup is hot, puree in small batches and remove the middle piece from the blender lid. Place the lid on the blender and cover with a towel. Hot soup will splash up, and you need to be careful not to get burned. Adjust seasonings. Can be served hot or cold and freezes well. Drizzle some hot sauce on soup when serving and some chopped fresh herbs, if you like.

* You might need a little more stock, depending on how thick you like your soup. I often add extra stock at the end.

Apple Crumb Cake

I love apple season. I’ve gone to local farm markets and orchards several times, picking out different varieties. I’ve been eating plenty of them fresh, but I have also been cooking with them. This is one of my favorite apple recipes.

The tender cake and crunchy topping seem like the perfect combination. Most days I would rather have a crumb topping on a cake than frosting. This recipe hits all the right notes. Sweet with apple chunks throughout, a nice touch of cinnamon and that crunchy topping that I love.

Apple Crumb Cake

For cake batter:

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

½ stick (¼ cup) butter, softened

¾ c. sugar

1 egg

½ c. milk

2 c. chopped peeled, cored apples

For topping:

½ c. sugar

¼ c. flour

2 t. cinnamon

½ stick (¼ c. butter, chilled and cut into bits)

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and milk. Add flour mixture gradually until just mixed in. Fold in apples. Grease and flour an 8 or 9-inch pan and add prepared batter. Combine topping ingredients until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the batter in pan and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 35-45 minutes. Use toothpick to test.

Note: I used a 9-inch square pan and it worked fine.

Pumpkin Ravioli Soup

After cooking up one of my pumpkins, I was looking for a way to use some of it in a soup. I wasn’t in the mood for a pureed soup, so I decided to use the pumpkin as a filling for ravioli, then just put the ravioli in the soup. I played with the spices and added some butter to the filling, too. It needed that extra bit of fat for flavor. It worked well. I just cooked the ravioli right in the soup, but you could also enjoy them without soup at all.

You can cook the ravioli in water. Once they are tender, drain and top with the sauce of your choice. I like brown butter with a little sage, but even a red sauce would be nice with these ravioli. Here is the recipe- for both the ravioli and the soup.

Pumpkin Ravioli Soup

Ravioli:
24 round won ton/dumpling wrappers
Filling:
1 cup cooked pumpkin or winter squash
2 T. softened butter
1 T. chopped parsley
1 t. paprika
1 t. nutmeg
½ t. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne

Soup:
2 T. oil or butter
2 onions, peeled and sliced
6 c. stock- chicken or veggie
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 c. thinly sliced collard greens
Salt and pepper
Dash of hot sauce
Fresh chopped parsley

Combine ravioli filling. Adjust seasonings. Place a rounded tablespoonful of filling on one of the wrappers. Dampen edges with water and place another wrapper on top. Seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Continue with remaining filling and wrappers- you should have 12 raviolis in all. Set aside while making the soup.
Heat oil or butter in a pot and add the onions. Cook until onions are tender. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add carrots and collards and cook until veggies are tender. Add seasonings and bring soup to a boil. Add the raviolis and let the soup simmer gently until they are cooked- about 4 minutes. Stir a little to keep them from sticking, but gently. They get a lot bigger and are sort of delicate. Transfer gently with a large spoon to soup bowls and ladle over the soup. Serves 4- 6.

Pumpkin Chiffon

I fondly remember when my Mom used to make this dessert. I think of her whenever I make it. From a technical cooking standpoint, it’s not really a chiffon, but that is what my Mom called it, so I will leave it as  Pumpkin Chiffon. It’s more like a pumpkin pie, without the crust. Super easy to make and quite tasty. I bake it in a casserole dish but you could also make it in individual  ramekins.  This recipe is always a big hit when I make it for friends.  You could use canned or fresh cooked pumpkin or winter squash, like butternut or Hubbard. I always cook up and freeze pumpkin and squash for later use, so frozen would work, too. Because there is no crust, it is also gluten-free.  I sometimes serve it with gingersnaps and whipped cream. It is a lovely Fall dessert.

Mom’s Pumpkin Chiffon

½ c. applesauce
1 c. cooked or canned pumpkin or squash
¾ c. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. salt
½ t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cloves
4 eggs, well beaten
1 c. half and half or evaporated milk
Stir together first seven ingredients. Beat in eggs and stir in milk. Place mixture in 1 ½ quart casserole and bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve alone or with cookies. Serves 6-8.

Pumpkin Squares

With the Indians getting ready to take on the Chicago Cubs tonight, I have been thinking a lot about these pumpkin squares. In their own way, they may have had a role in helping the Indians go to the World Series in 1997. OK, that may be stretching it a bit. But they did help them win at least a few games. At least according to some….

My friend, Mary Buynak, fell in love with these the first time I made them for her. Her husband, Cy, worked for the Cleveland Indians back then. He managed the visiting team clubhouse and Mary would bake for the visiting team.  The Detroit Tigers were in Cleveland for a weekend series and Mary made these for them. The Tigers ate them up, so Mary made more. A lot more…

We swept the Tigers that weekend. Mary felt all that cream cheese frosting had made the Tiger players a little slower than usual. She felt, that in a small way, her pumpkin squares had helped Cleveland to win that weekend.  She even mentioned it to Mike Hargrove, the manager at the time.

I like that. It made my mom smile, for sure. She was a big Indians fan. When we had these at Thanksgiving dinner later that year, we were sure to tell our Michigan relatives about it. From that point on, the pumpkin squares were always known as the food of the losers. Wish I knew how to get a batch to the Cubs.

So here is the recipe. Maybe bake up a batch and enjoy them while watching the game. Play Ball!!!

Pumpkin Squares

1 c. sugar
½ c. oil
16 oz. cooked pumpkin, canned, fresh (preferred) or frozen
4 eggs, beaten
2 c. biscuit mix (homemade or Bisquick or Jiffy Mix)
2 t. cinnamon
½ c. raisins, optional
Grease a jelly roll pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat first 4 ingredients for 1 minute. Stir in mix, cinnamon and raisins. Pour in prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Cool and frost. Frosted cake must be kept refrigerated between servings.

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
2/3 c. butter
2 T. milk
2 t. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar, or more
Beat together until smooth.

Halloween Quesadillas

OK, maybe I’m taking the whole Halloween theme too far. I was making quesadillas for a dinner with friends, and realized that the ingredients were black, orange and green. Thought the combination would be perfect for a Halloween party. They are a fun party food already, and by using black olives, orange sweet peppers, green chilies, onions and cheddar cheese  they fit in well with the color scheme for Halloween. They taste great, too, which is always the most important thing in the end. I pan fried these, but you can also bake them in the oven. They can also be made ahead, and warmed up for serving.

Halloween Quesadillas

Large flour tortillas

oil

sliced or shredded cheese

sliced black olives

chopped orange sweet peppers

chopped sweet onion

diced green chilies, fresh or canned

Mix olives with veggies and set aside. Place tortilla on work surface and spread one half with some of the veggie mixture. Top with some of the cheese and fold over. Press slightly. Repeat with remaining ingredients.  Heat oil in skillet and cook quesadillas over medium heat until golden on both sides and heated through. Remove to cutting board and cut into wedges before serving. Serve on a platter with sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Note: If you would rather bake the quesadillas assemble as directed above. Place on a baking sheet and brush with a little oil. Bake in a preheated  425 degree oven until golden, about 15 minutes.

Flaming Ghost Cake

I have posted this recipe before, but thought it might be a good time to post it again. This one is fun for Halloween. You start with a baked 9×13-inch cake. Frost it with chocolate frosting and then use white frosting to draw a ghost on the cake. You can make all sorts of images- cats, bats, pumpkins. When ready to serve the cake, the eyes are set on fire. Fun effect. Kids and grown-ups both will get a kick out of it. Just be sure to have proper adult supervision for the kids. The picture doesn’t do it justice. Very cool blue flames. Don’t forget to turn down the lights!

Flaming Ghost Cake

1 prepared 9×13- inch cake, any flavor

2 c. chocolate frosting, I prefer homemade

1 c. vanilla frosting, I prefer homemade

3 oz. semi sweet chocolate, optional

2 empty eggshell halves, washed well and dried

2 sugar cubes

Lemon extract

Frost cake with chocolate frosting, then spread vanilla frosting in the shape of a ghost. Melt chocolate in a small plastic bag. When chocolate is melted snip off the corner of the bag and use to outline ghost. Place eggshell halves in cake, round side down where the ghost’s eyes would be. Soak sugar cubes in lemon extract and place in eggshells. When ready to serve light sugar cubes and turn off the lights. Serve 12-16.

Variations: You can use the flaming eyes effect on cat shapes, pumpkins or even bats. Practice drawing the shape on paper before frosting the cake. If you bake a larger round cake the whole thing can be the pumpkin. Just frost it with orange tinted frosting.