Pumpkin Sour Cream Cake with Mock Butterscotch and Buttercream

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Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons butter extract (optional)
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups All-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon water
2 8″ or 9″ cake pans

Buttercream
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Dash Heavy Cream (or water if you want to, it’s what I used so it’s lighter)
Pinch Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
(This is a plainer Buttercream so there is no Vanilla Extract but if you want about 5 drops is more traditional)

Butterscotch Pudding (Kinda)
1 cup White Sugar
2 cups Water
Pinch Salt
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon Molasses
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoons Corn Starch and equal water (for a slurry)

Topping
Handful Toasted Almonds

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees, rack center oven

Cake
1) Lightly grease two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans
2)Beat together the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes
3) Add Pumpkin Puree and beat 20 seconds
4) Add the eggs two at a time until fully combined about 2 minutes between each addition
5) Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, then all of the Sour Cream, followed by 1 1/2 cups flour, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix just barely combined 6) Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, spreading it level as best you can
7) Bake the cake until the edges are golden brown — 30 – 40 minutes The center of the cake should feel firmish when gently pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
8) Remove the cake from the oven. Allow it to cool until you can pick up the pan without obvious heat in the pan, then quickly flip the pan over onto a cooling rack. The cake should loosen and fall in on swift movement. Confidence is key here, if you hesitate the cake will fall or break.
9) Once room temperature, tightly wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least 2 hours.
10) Once firm remove from freezer and unwrap one cake at a time.
11) On each cake using a sharp serrated knife cut off the very top layer (it will be very thin except for the edges which will be thicker, cut until the cake is mostly yellow). For the edges of the second cake place the first cake on top and use it as a template to cut the second cake to be the same size.
12) If the other components are not ready to go then re-wrap the cakes and place in the refrigerator.

Buttercream
1) Put Sugar, Salt, Nutmeg, and Butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and whisk until fluffy
2) Dash in Water/Heavy Cream and continue to beat about 1 minute until creamy

Butterscotch Pudding (Kinda)
1) Combine Sugar and Water, bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. It should look slightly thick ( think of half-set Jello vicious) but not enough to coat a spoon. Splash ( a 2-second splash from the faucet) with some warm water and swirl around in the pot.
2) Add everything but the Slurry (cornstarch and water) and Greek Yogurt and whisk.
3) Whisk in the Slurry til combined then bring to a boil for about 30-60 seconds over medium-high heat
4) Thoroughly whisk in the Greek Yogurt until smooth
5) Set aside and let cool

 

Tips:

If you don’t wrap the cake tightly before putting the freezer you run the risk of the porous sponge sucking up any foul odors and flavors that are in your freezer. Tightly wrapping it ensures that while it cools it doesn’t take on any unfortunate flavors.

 

Mushroom Polenta, Wilted Greens, and Beef Bolognese

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polenta

Ingredients:

Bolognese
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium Yellow Onion, minced
2 Celery stalks, minced
2 Carrots, minced
1-2 Bell Peppers, chopped
6 ounces Ground Beef (85% lean)
3 ounces Bacon, chopped
1/2 cup dry Red Wine
1 cups Beef Stock
1 can Crushed Tomatoes
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Wilted Greens
4 cups Spinach and Arugula
1 clove Garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 pinch Crushed Chili Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Polenta
1 cup Polenta (I like Golden Pheasant Brand)
3 cups Chicken or Beef Stock
1/2 cup Dried Mushrooms
1 tablespoon Parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bolognese
1) In a large pan season the beef with salt and pepper, then brown off. Strain out the fat and set aside
2) Combine Olive Oil, Yellow Onion, Bell Peppers, Celery, Carrot, and Bacon and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until onions are clear.
3) Add wine to deglaze and cook until almost dry.
4) Add the crushed tomatoes and stock.
5) Reduce over medium until very thick, stir in cream and browned beef.

Wilted Greens:
1) Heat the olive oil, chili flakes, and garlic until the garlic starts to sizzle, add in greens with a sprinkling of salt/pepper and toss quickly until the greens darken and wilt.

Polenta
1) Combine all but the Parmesan Cheese, Parsley, and Butter in a pot and gently simmer for about 30 minutes.
2) When the Polenta has reduced it’s liquid weight and thickened to your desired consistency stir in the Butter, Parsley, and Parmesan Cheese.

Serving: In a bowl or lipped plate add the Polenta then Greens then Bolognese, a drizzle of finishing Olive Oil if you want.

Homemade Pizza Dough

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Ingredients:
3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus some for rolling
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups water, slightly warmer than room temp
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

 

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

1) Combine all dry ingredients in a stand mixer with the dough hook, mix til combined

2) Slowly add water and olive oil then let mix for about 1 minute, if it looks a little dry add some more warm water if a little wet add some more flour. You’ll want the dough to be about the same texture as your earlobe.

3) Put in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let sit for about an hour or until double in size.

4) Cut in half (or as many times as you like if you want to make mini pizzas) and roll out to desired thickness, top with whatever you like like sauce/cheese/meats/veggies whatever you like.

If using a pizza stone place in oven til hot then slide your pizza on top of some semolina. You can also use a lightly greased sheet pan (which I did).

5) Cook until stiff throughout, depending on your thickness it could take 8-12 minutes, just keep an eye on it.

Tips: If you just bake it then it won’t get a lot of coloring like the picture, I like to turn the broiler on high then let the crusts brown a bit.

You can add different flavors to your crust during the dry stage, favorites for me are garlic powder and dried parsley.

Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame and Chili

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Ingredients:
2 pint Sugar Snap Peas
2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 small pat of Butter, optional
1 teaspoon Chili Flake
2 clove Garlic, minced (if you don’t have garlic or don’t feel like chopping I’ve found that by omitting the Salt and using Garlic Salt doesn’t change the taste too much)
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
Salt to taste

Instructions:

1) Put a large sauté pan on medium-high heat with the sesame oil, butter, and chili flakes.
2) When almost smoking add in Sugar Snap Peas and let sit for about 20 seconds to brown. Toss a few times and add the garlic and soy sauce (garlic burns very fast so adding it at the end helps to prevent that burnt taste) Keep tossing until the soy sauce is cooked off and no longer pooling. Serve.

Serving suggestions:

1) I like to just cook these up for a quick snack any time, they’re light and flavorful (plus low cal).

2) You can place shrimp (seasoned with salt and pepper) in the pan before the Sugar Snap Peas and let cook til half way done then finish the recipe the same way as stated above. Serve over steamed rice for a quick filling meal.

Lemon Thyme Turmeric Chicken with Acorn Squash and Two Onions

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Chicken:
1 Whole Roasting Chicken
2 Tablespoon Thyme
2 teaspoon Black Pepper
2 clove garlic, microplaned (smashed up into a paste if you don’t have a microplane)
1 medium lemon, zested then juiced
1 teaspoon Turmeric
2 teaspoon Chili Flake
3 Tablespoon room temperature Butter

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Acorn Squash and Two Onions
1-2 Acorn Squash cut into rings, seeds removed
1 bundle large Green Onions, whole
1 small Yellow Onion, rough chopped
Salt, Pepper, Chili Flake to taste
Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

1) In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the Chicken except the Chicken then rub generously into the Chicken skin all over.

2) Toss the Acorn Squash, Yellow and Green Onions on Olive Oil and season with Salt, Pepper, Chili Flakes to your preference.

3) Lay the Vegetables in the bottom of you roasting pan in an even layer, place the roasting rack on top of this and place the chicken in the rack.

4) Place in oven for about 35-45 minutes until done. I take my chicken out when the internal temperature is about 155 degrees, it will carry over to 165 while resting. If you’re not comfortable doing so then take the chicken out when it hits 165 degrees, you will lose moisture in the meat as it will carry over to about 170-175 degrees while resting though.

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5) [optional] I like to take the juices and necks left over from all of this and mix into some mashed potatoes or steamed rice so nothing goes to waste.

Things I like to do when prepping a whole chicken.

1) Along the ribs on the back of the chicken poke through to the internal cavity. This allows built up juices and fat to drain out of the chicken and onto what you are roasting below instead of being poured out of the chicken later during carving.

2) Cross Hatch the fat along the back of the chicken, this helps the fat on the back to render out and drip down on what you have roasting below it.

3) Cut off as much excess fat and skin as possible from the neck and bottom opening, these deposits can slow down the cooking of the skin around them not letting them get to as crispy as possible.

4) Save all fat and skin trimmed from the chicken and freeze, at the end of the month put all these fat and skin trimmings in a pot of water (enough to cover with 1 inch) in an oven set to 275-300 degrees for 2-3 hours. This will render out the chicken fat (schmaltz) which can be used in many other recipes.