Pumpkin Purée Curry with Saffron Rice

A pumpkin curry using leftover canned pumpkin purée (the stuff you use in pies, but unsweetened/unspiced of course!)

This is a vegetarian and (I think) vegan curry also. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it.

The recipe is more detailed in the video but if want a written version, I tried my best to write it out.


Pumpkin and lentil Curry with Saffron Rice

Prepare the saffron threads the night before by soaking them in a tiny glass of warm water. Let stand overnight.

For the rice, wash and soak 1 cup of basmati rice (not the parboiled kind for this recipe, I use Tilda) Soaking only requires at least 10 minutes to about 20 minutes.

- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 cup frozen pas
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup water
- Saffron mixture


For Curry:

Soak 1/2 cup yellow/orange lentils in about 1/2 cup water for 30 minutes, they will probably absorb all the liquid in the bowl.

Begin sauteeing the following with some oil (2 tbsps) in a small saucepan:

- 1 stalk tender inner celery, with leaves
-1/2 medium onion

Once tender add:

- 1 tsp of each curry powder, turmeric and garam masala
- 1/8 tsp mustard seeds

Allow spices to toast briefly then add:

- 1 tsp tomato paste

After a few moments of caramelization add:

-1 cup pumpkin puree
- Soaked lentils (with whatever water remains)
- Juice of half a lime

Stir in the following:
- 3 Minced, peeled and pureed or grated garlic cloves
- 1 piece of ginger, peeled and grated

Add 1/2 cup stock (vegetable or meat/chicken) and about 1 cup boiled water
If stock is not seasoned/salted add some salt and black pepper (optional) to taste.

Cover, simmer and it is done when lentils are soft and not "chalky" any more.   Before removing from stove add 1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves, stir in and remove from heat.

Curry will thicken when cooling down so allow it to be a little runny when removing it from the heat.

Sever with rice and lots of fresh cilantro for garnish.

And if you want to know more about that pumpkin streusel cake then check out the recipe here

Seafood Spaghetti with crispy garlic breadcrumb topping

There is something so satisfying about enjoying a fabulous lunch and knowing that it was whipped up entirely of leftovers.  This sort of food really excites me.

This dish came together from the leftover mussels I had steamed over the weekend, you can check out my easy saffron steamed mussels here and all that goodness that went into the original recipe like saffron, garlic, tomato, and stock got tossed with a fresh batch of boiled spaghetti and then just to take things to another level I sprinkled some of this crispy homemade garlic bread crumbs over top  (also made from leftover) 

To make the bread crumbs: 

Add some bread to the processor and  pulse until it's fine.  (Pulse a clove of garlic with it until it * disappears*)

I used the most unexpected bread that I had in the fridge from the night before, those large wheat flatbreads that come with the Afghan grilled Tikka and Rice dish from the restaurant.   Really did not know where it was going to go but other than spongy white "Bread" (toast bread, wonderbread? I don't eat this stuff, not even sure why it's in my fridge) I had nothing else on hand. 

Fortunately for me the Afghan flatbread was truly fabulous and crisped up beautifully when added to the sautee pan  with olive oil.

The smell from the kitchen was just amazing while toasting up these breadcrumbs.

Anyway, onto the pasta.  Other than the sautee pan it's a one pot meal (If I started out by using the saucepan to toast the breadcrumbs before stewing the sauce it would have truly been a one pot meal)

The sauce just requires a brief cooking of the tomato sauce with some olive oil and a clove of garlic on medium high with the lid on tight.  This will caramelize the small amount of tomato puree very quickly.  Once that smells lovely transfer into a bowl.

Now the kettle water is added to the pot with lots of salt (does not even have to be cleaned/wiped) and the spaghetti is boiled. 

Towards the end of the cooking time I strain the pasta, leaving behind about 2 tbsp of the starchy water and add in the sauce/liquid from the Mussels and let the pasta just suck up all that delicious goodness.

Now all that's left is to toss in those mussels to heat up and then all is added to the tomato sauce and plated.

Garlicy crispy bread goes over top and I'm ready to dig in! 

Crispy bread crumbs :

2 slices of bread

1 small- medium clove garlic

Couple of tbsp of olive oil

Salt 

Pulse bread and garlic until resembles fine crumbs and garlic.  Heat a sautee pan with some olive oil, add crumbs and brown on medium/medium high until toasted.  Season with salt to taste and once they are crisp set aside. 

Sprinkle over pasta or salad, whatever your heart desires! 

Pumpkin Pecan Gingersnap coffee cake

This is a pretty intense coffee cake.. a pumpkin "cake" base with a streusel topping made of ginger snap cookies and tossed with pecans. 

I had no gingersnap cookies on hand so I reached for my holiday gingerbread cookies, even though they were frosted with a lemon and powder sugar icing I crushed them all up and this went into my strusel. 

Here is the original recipe but some adjustments that I will make next time around is to not put the layer of streusel in the middle of the cake, it just seems to merge with the cake and make it dense.  I would maybe make half of the amount in total and just put it over top as it was enough to cover it generously.

The recipe called for almond milk, I just happened to have some on hand from some of the holiday vegan recipes so I used that up - I'm sure milk would be fine. 

Recipe adjusted slightly from Ambitious Kitchen

Brown Butter Pumpkin Coffee Cake topped with Gingersnap Pecan Streusel

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 tespoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup milk 

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin puree)

3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt or sour cream

For topping:

1 cups gingersnap cookies

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup  cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

pinch of salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 baking pan lined with parchment.

To make the streusel:

In a blender or food processor, add the gingersnaps and pulse until they resemble fine crumbs.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the cold butter pieces to the bowl and cut with a pastry cutter or rub together with your fingers until the mixture resembles a crumble texture. Stir in the pecans and set aside.

To make the batter:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, yolk, and vanilla together until combined. Whisk in the brown butter until combined. Fold in the pumpkin and yogurt. Gently stir in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Generously sprinkle streusel over the batter.

Bake about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10-15 minutes. 

Crispy mini lamb pita bites

Crispy mini lamb pita bites with herbaceous yogurt sauce

- 1 lb ground lamb

- 1 or 2 packages mini pitas (whole wheat or white) 

- 1 egg

- 1 bunch parsley

- 1 bunch cilantro

- 1/4 red or white onion, finely diced

- 4 garlic cloves, grated or microphlaned 

- Salt & black pepper

- 1 tsp dry mint

- 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses

- Juice of half a small lime or 1 tbsp lemon juice + zest if you desire

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tsp sumac (totally optional)

- Mix all of the above, set aside to marinade.

You will also need some oil for pan frying later, olive oil and a plane oil (about a few tbsp of each)

Meanwhile for sauce: 

- 1 1/2 cups plain bulkan yogurt

- 1 large bunch dill, finely chopped

- 1 clove garlic, grated

- 1 bunch cilantro (about 2 tbsp chopped)

- 1 bunch of chives, chopped

- 1/2 tsp dry mint or 1 bunch fresh mint 

Dressing:

Salt & black pepper

- Lemon or lime juice

- 1/2 tbsp vinegar or juice from pickle jar.

Blend the above together and let it sit in fridge and just before serving season with salt and add lemon/vinegar mixture.

For meatballs, prepare pitas by gently slicing the side open (if they crumble a little it's ok, it's easier to make this recipe with fresh pitas but I had bought mine in advance and threw them in the freezer and after thawing they crumbled a bit on me)

Take a handful of meat about the size of a golf ball and stuff your pitas by placing the ball of meat inside and then once the pita flap is closed just press lightly to create a sort of "burger"

Set aside and when ready to fry heat some olive oil along with a plain oil in a skillet on medium, it's better to get the olive oil really hot to sear the outside and then lower it to finish cooking the lamb inside.  I hope my video will better describe this part as it's a bit tricky but you should be able to achieve a nice crispy outter layer. 

Serve warm and fresh with seasoned yogurt sauce and enjoy!

It seems in this house there is no head chef, there is only a headless one because for some reason it seems I'm always adjusting my camera angle wrong and chopping my head off, haha.  I really need to pay more attention to this.  It wont happen again, I promise.  Twice is just enough!

Today was a super busy day with having my new windows installed throughout most of the house.  It did not help either that I haven't had a good night's sleep because one of my kitties got into the habit of chewing at my foot. ( excuse my tired appearance in the video and you'll see me glancing over to check on the guys coming in and out from time to time as they work)

This recipe was so easy and yummy, it's a keeper and will be making it again, especially if I can find those little pitas on sale again (they're usually so pricey!)

The kitties could not wait for the next morning to inspect the new windows that were installed.  They're just LOVING it!