Recipes of the Week

Pumpkin Espresso Bread with Pear Compote

Makes 2 loaves/ 32 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup Canola oil
2 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs
I teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup Espresso or very strong coffee
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
½ teaspoon Cardamom
¼ teaspoon Black pepper
3 cups flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 cup walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In an electric mixer beat the oil and the sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla. Beat well. Add the coffee. Combine the dry mixture together (flour, spices). Add one cup at a time to the sugar/egg mixture, add pumpkin and walnuts and mix well. Pour into 2 lightly oiled bread pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack for at least one hour

Hint: If you are in a hurry you can also bake this on a lightly oiled cookie sheet bake for only 30 minutes.

Serves: 32 Calories: 230 Protein: 3g Carbohydrates: 33g Total fat: 10g saturated fat: 1g Cholesterol: 25mg Fiber: 2g Sodium: 10mg

Pear Compote

4 pears, peeled, cored and diced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup water
1 juice of lemon
In a small sauce pan add all ingredients and slowly simmer until pears are tender

Journal entry 6:00 am.

It's 50 degrees in this old farm house I live in, but it is probably 10 degrees warmer outside. What to do? Make a fire in the stove, the first fire of the season or open the windows (thank goodness for logic)? A fire it is!

Even though it's 6 am I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner. I’m craving fresh baked bread and a hearty soup. A bread warm out of the oven with rosemary, garlic and feta cheese baked in, something I can cuddle up with and get warm. I am also thinking of a hot, rich, brothy soup packed with vegetables that I could swim in. I need something that will be quick and easy but delicious enough to fill my craving and be substantial enough for dinner. I’ve got it!

Recipes of the Week

Hearty Vegetable soup -Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon of cumin
1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon rosemary
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, sliced thin
2 red potatoes, diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
12 ounce can of diced tomatoes
16 oz chicken or vegetable stock

In a medium pot, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook on medium until onions begin to turn golden brown, add the spices and the garlic. Let this cook until you can start smelling the garlic and the spices. What’s happening is the oil from the spices are staring to activate, this will give a better flavor than if you just added in later. Tricky! Add all of your vegetables, the can of diced tomatoes and the stock. Cook on medium high a nice simmer but try not to boil. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes. The potatoes should be soft by then. Also, this is a great soup to freeze!

Simple Mini loaf with rosemary and garlic
Prep time is about 10 min, total rising time 45 minutes baking 15 minutes
1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
½ teaspoon honey
¾ cup warm water
In a small bowl combine and let yeast “bloom” (this means get foamy, it usually takes about 10 minutes). While you are waiting for the yeast mixture to bloom, in a large mixing bowl add:
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 red wine (the one you are drinking….yes pour it in!)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped feta cheese

After the yeast has done its thing add it to the flour mixture, combine first with a spatula or wooden spoon and use your hands to work the dough. Dump it out onto a clean work surface so you can really get into it. The end result you are looking for is a smooth, soft as a baby’s butt, perfect little ball. Really this takes about 2-3 minutes of wrist forearm work out. (it all counts, OK!) After you have this perfect little dough ball, place it in a bowl that you have “kissed” with olive oil. (this means the oil is rubbed on the bowl preventing the rising dough to stick). Now the dough is in the bowl, rising in a warm place and you are free to do something else for about 30 minutes.