Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 29, 2010
Kay's Cooking Corner
Kay Bona
Question: Why do jack-o-lanterns have stupid looks on their faces?
Answer: You’d have a stupid look too if you had all your brains scooped out!
OK. Ha-ha! Well, it was funny at 3:30 a.m.!
Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, and I am somewhat behind as far as planning my meal. Our youngest daughter, April, just had our second granddaughter, and Bobby, our oldest son just got married in Indiana, so I have been busy with babies and weddings and doing all the fun stuff preparing for those events bring! But I am in full swing now, and am thinking FOOD!
We usually celebrate Thanksgiving at our house. We seem to be the half way mark for the travelers. And now that we are official “empty-nesters,” we now have more room to offer. Yes, the last child living at home got his own place almost a year ago. (I think that he was a bit stunned that we had the painters painting his room the Monday after the weekend he moved out.)
Anyway, we always have a great celebration at Thanksgiving, and there is always a house full!
Back to food … I’m exploring new pumpkin recipes. While we were in San Francisco a few years back, I visited the Williams-Sonoma store – several times. (It was just a block down from our hotel!) Anyway, among other things, I bought a Pumpkin recipe book.
I have printed two of my favorite recipes below. I have another one I would like to share, but there isn’t enough room this week. Anyway, I have prepared both of these, and received rave reviews. I also fixed Duck Gumbo – I guess you could say we had an “Autumn Day” lunch.
Pumpkin Butter Squares
Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream
cheese, softened
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Oven to 350 degrees. Com-bine the cake mix, egg and butter; mix well. Pat mixture into a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Make the filling: In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla and butter; beat together. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and mix well. Spread mixture over cake batter. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Don’t over bake – center should be a little gooey.
Pumpkin and Pine Nut Risotto
1 lb fresh Pumpkin, seeded
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/3 cups Italian Risotto
Rice
2/3 cup white wine
3 3/4 cups hot chicken
broth
3/4 cup grated parmesan
cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Clean pumpkin and chunk into 3/4 inch pieces. Melt two tablespoons butter in large saucepan with the oil and sauté pumpkin for three to four minutes. Add nuts and continue sautéing for two minutes longer. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add onion to drippings in pan. Sauté until tender; add garlic and rice, stirring for about one minute. Pour in wine and let boil until evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of the hot broth, stirring until absorbed. Continue cooking and adding broth until the rice is thick and creamy but still has texture. (About 20 minutes). You might not need all the broth.
Add pumpkin and pine nuts and 1/2 the parmesan cheese to rice. Serve hot with remain-
ing cheese.
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