Yes, that’s right, it’s another pumpkin recipe. It’s an obsession and I can’t help it. I have been dying to try this recipe for some time but I knew it would be a dangerous idea to have a bowl of pumpkin mixed with cream cheese and powdered sugar and only me to eat it. Tonight I had a end-of-rotation get together for my OB/GYN classmates so I thought that would be a good opportunity to taste this dip and still have other people to help eat it. I made it with honey wheat bread warm out of the oven. The combination was delicious and the dip was definitely a hit. This recipe is just irresistible because it is so simple to make (only 4 ingredients!) and it tastes soooo good.

Spiced Pumpkin Dip
Ingredients:
½ cup canned pumpkin puree
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine canned pumpkin, cream cheese, powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well. Spoon into a decorative bowl.

Source: The Fresh Market

This morning I came home from my fifth and final night of being on call for my OB/GYN rotation. Apparently I was meant to go out with a bang because we did 7, yes 7, C-sections during my shift (plus one regular delivery). I was pretty tired this morning but I always like to eat a good breakfast before I go pass out for a few hours so Ben and I decided to make these delicious waffles. I’ve been wanting to make them forever and we are really glad we finally did. These are a great breakfast treat.

The recipe with original dimensions is below but we just made a half-batch since there were only two of us. I made some very minor changes of my own which are reflected below but you can scroll down for the link to the original recipe. Also, I have never seen a recipe that specifies the need for double-baking powder. In case you are curious about the difference between single- and double-baking powder, this page from Joy of Baking explains it well. You learn something new everyday!

Pumpkin Pie Waffles
Ingredients:
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs. double-acting baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk
½ cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat a waffle iron. If you want to hold the finished waffles until serving time, preheat an oven to 200° F.

Melt the butter; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown and granulated sugar, and spices. Using a rubber spatula or electric mixer, mix together well. Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. The mixture will be thick and a little lumpy. Don’t try to smooth it out; just mix until the ingredients are incorporated.

In another bowl, beat together the milk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the melted butter.

Whether or not your irons grids are well seasoned or made of a nonstick material, it is best to lightly butter or spray the grids for these waffles because the batter is quite sticky. Brush or spray the grids again only if subsequent waffles stick.

Pour batter into waffle iron and cook according to waffle iron instructions. Cook until golden. Serve immediately or keep the waffles, in a single layer, on a rack in the preheated oven while you make the rest.

Source: Williams Sonoma

This was is the second risotto recipe I have tried at home, and it was another success. I just don’t understand why I never like risotto in restaurants, but I always enjoy it when I make it. Regardless, this is a very tasty dish. Like most risotto, it takes some time to prepare, but it is not difficult.

I halved the recipe since I was only cooking for the two of us (my dimensions are below – scroll down for a link to the original recipe). For the cooked chicken, I wanted something with more flavor than just poached chicken so I marinated a chicken breast for about 4 hours before cooking it in a skillet on medium heat. I was unable to find a leek in any of the grocery stores where I looked, so I just left it out. I also couldn’t find Madeira wine so I just used a soft red from a local winery. I think that I ended up using a bit more chicken stock than the recipe called for because the rice hadn’t quite reached the right texture. I just continued to add chicken stock and taste every few minutes until the rice was creamy enough.

Risotto with Chicken and Carmelized Onions
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 sweet white or yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ leek, white portion only, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup Madeira wine, at room temperature
4 ½ – 5 cups chicken stock
1 ½ cups Arborio (medium grain) rice
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, warm 1/8 cup of the olive oil. Add the onions and leek and sauté until the onions turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the Madeira and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer and maintain over low heat. Add ½ cup of the simmering stock to the onion mixture and continue to cook over medium-high heat until the liquid has reduced and the mixture is quite thick, about 15 minutes more. Set aside.

While the onions simmer, in another large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, warm the remaining 1/8 cup olive oil. Add the rice and stir until each grain is well coated with oil and translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes.

Add the simmering stock a half-ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed (but the rice is never dry on top) before adding the next spoonful. Reserve 1/4 cup stock to add at the end.

When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 20 minutes, stir in the chicken. Cook to heat through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, caramelized onion mixture and reserved 1/4 cup stock. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Source: Williams Sonoma

I don’t know how it is possible that I have never tried chicken marsala before, but until tonight that was the case. I always consider it at restaurants but then end up choosing something else. I have read many, many raves about this particular recipe on the cooking message board I frequent so I finally gave it a shot. It was delicious! Ben and I both really enjoyed it. It definitely has a unique flavor to it and it will be a great addition to my ever-growing list of dinners.

This recipe comes from Laura’s blog, and is her adaptation of the original recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. I really appreciate the detailed instructions in this recipe. I think I am going to have to investigate Cook’s Illustrated further, because people who cook from it really seem to love it. I chose to use turkey bacon rather than pancetta. I only made two chicken breasts (pounded thin) but the regular amount of sauce which worked out well.

Chicken Marsala
Ingredients:
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
kosher salt
ground black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 slices of bacon or pancetta, chopped
2 cups white or cremini mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. minced shallot
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ½ cups Marsala wine (sweet)
1 ½ tbsp. fresh lemon juice (1 small lemon)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Place a large heatproof dinner plate on the oven rack, and heat oven to 200° F. Heat a 12” heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Pat chicken breasts dry. Meanwhile, place flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Season both sides of chicken cutlets with salt and pepper; working one piece at a time, coat both sides with flour. Lift breast from tapered end and shake to remove excess flour; set aside.

Add oil to hot skillet and heat until shimmering. Place floured cutlets in a single layer in the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets and cook on second side until golden brown and meat feels firm when pressed with finger, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to heated plate and return to oven.

Return skillet to low heat and pancetta; sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits until pancetta is brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper-towel lined plate. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium-high; sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and shallot; sauté for 1 minute.

Add cooked pancetta and tomato paste. Stir while sautéing, until tomato paste begins to brown, about 1 minute. Off heat, add Marsala; return pan to high heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from pan bottom until sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 1 ¼ cups, about 5 minutes. Off heat, add lemon juice and any accumulated juices from the chicken. Whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Source: A La Carte by Laura

So any dessert that starts out with “1 lb. chocolate” has to be good, right? Right! Tonight my best friend Amanda and her husband Travis came over for dinner and I decided to give this dessert a shot. I think it is safe to say that everyone really enjoyed it. I was concerned before serving it that it wouldn’t be sweet enough, but the raspberry sauce is a perfect accompaniment to this not-so-sweet chocolate cake. I think the sauce was my favorite part of the whole thing, but that’s probably just because I love raspberries so much.

I used bittersweet chocolate for the cake, and opted not to use the raspberry liqueur in the sauce but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. I did run my sauce through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds for a smoother and prettier result. Delicious!

Chocolate Decadence
Ingredients:
For the raspberry sauce:
2 ½ cups fresh or thawed frozen unsweetened raspberries
½ cup superfine sugar
¼ cup framboise or other raspberry-flavored liqueur

For the cake:
1 lb. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
10 Tbs. (1 ¼ stick) unsalted butter
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
whipped cream, for serving

Directions:
To make the raspberry sauce, place the raspberries, sugar and framboise, if using, in a blender or in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Puree until smooth. If you prefer a seedless sauce, pass the puree through a sieve.

To make the cake, position a rack in the middle of an oven and preheat to 425ºF. Butter an 8 or 9-inch springform pan or a layer cake pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper or waxed paper cut to fit precisely. Butter the paper and dust with flour; tap out any excess.

Place the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl or the top pan of a double boiler. Set over a pan of gently simmering water but not touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted and combined completely. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat until light, fluffy and tripled in volume, 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg mixture into the chocolate to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg mixture, taking care not to deflate the batter. Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for exactly 15 minutes. Let cool completely to room temperature. Do not refrigerate or the cake will stick to the pan. Invert the cake onto a flat serving plate and peel off the paper.

Cut into small wedges and serve each wedge atop some of the raspberry sauce. Top with whipped cream. Makes one 8 or 9-inch cake.

Source: Williams Sonoma

I’ve always loved strawberry banana-flavored yogurt, so when I saw this muffin recipe I knew I had to try it. These turned out really well! This is not a very sweet muffin but has a good combination of flavors. One of these with a handful of leftover strawberries can make a great breakfast.

One cool tip I learned from this recipe is that if you have overripe bananas and don’t want to use them for baking immediately, you can mash them up as you normally would and then freeze them until you are ready to use them. Just thaw in the microwave before use. I did just that for this batch of muffins and they still had a strong, delicious banana flavor and I didn’t notice a difference. I followed this recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing. Very tasty!

Strawberry Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries (cut into small pieces)
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold in the strawberries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan and/or overbrowning of the muffins. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Source: Joy of Baking

Happy birthday to Ben, part 2! Yesterday evening we had birthday cookout for Ben at my dad’s house, and lots of Ben’s family was able to be there. It was a really great time and I’m so glad his family was able to celebrate with us. The whole cookout was great, but for me the highlight was definitely the cake. I was so proud of how this turned out because I used a few different recipes and a bit of my own creativity to come up with the end result, and it turned out exactly as I imagined. My original inspiration was this cake from Ashleigh’s blog. My final product isn’t that different from hers, but I did use a few of my own ideas to make it what I wanted.

I made a classic yellow cake recipe, but instead of making two layers I measured the batter out into three equal parts (approx. 2 1/4 cups each) and baked three layers instead. Between the layers I spread approximately 1/3 cup of cream cheese frosting, covered with sliced strawberries, and then topped the strawberries with a bit more frosting to help the next layer stick. One recipe of the frosting ended up being the perfect amount to fill between the three layers and frost the outside of the cake.

Some tips I think were helpful in assembling: first, I patted down the strawberry slices with paper towels before putting them on the cake. I think this helped to minimize the berries releasing juices and making the frosting watery or less sticky. Next, I worked in stages in order to allow the frosting to “set” some in the refrigerator. I refrigerated between adding both layers and several times while frosting the outside of the cake. I think this really helped keep things together. Finally, I didn’t add the strawberries on top until an hour or so before serving in order to prevent them from oozing and messing up the appearance of the cake.

Yellow Cake
Ingredients:
¾ cup butter, softened
3 eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ cups milk

Directions:
Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour two 8” or 9” round cake pans or one 9×13” cake pan. Set pans aside. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, beating on medium speed until well combined and scraping sides of bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes more. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition (about 1 minute total). Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spread batter into the prepared pan(s).

Bake in a 375° oven for 20-25 minutes for 9” pans, 30-35” for 8” pans, 25-30 minutes for a 9×13” pan or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans; cool thoroughly on racks. Frost with desired frosting.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, Meredith Books, 2002

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Source: Allrecipes

WOW. These cookies are every bit as good as the name might lead you to believe. It may not quite be fall just yet, but since fall is my favorite season and I love all things pumpkin, it is never too early to be getting into the fall spirit (if there is such a thing). These are really, really delicious and I feel that all pumpkin-lovers should give them a try. You won’t be disappointed!

The only change I made to this recipe was to omit the nuts, as usual. I just added extra raisins to make up for it (I ended up using about 1.5 cups total). The original recipe is below.

Iced Pumpkin Raisin Cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 Tbs. (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins

For the glaze:
2 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ tsp. milk, plus more as needed

Directions:
Have all ingredients at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the cookies, over a sheet of wax paper, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium-low speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the brown and granulated sugars, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the pumpkin mixture in two additions, beating well after each addition and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Reduce the speed to low, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the walnuts and raisins.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared pan, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.

To make the glaze, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth, adding more milk as needed. The glaze should be thick but pourable.

Set the rack over a sheet of waxed paper. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the cookies. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving. Makes 36 cookies.

Source: Williams Sonoma

I can’t believe my sweetheart is 25! It seems like just yesterday we were only two silly 16-year olds :) Of course, we still act that way a lot, so it’s okay ;) Originally I was supposed to be on call tonight for OB/GYN, but thankfully another student wanted to switch call nights with me. I’m so happy that worked out because I was able to spend all evening with my wonderful hubby!

I did my best to make him a special dinner, and we both really loved all of it – especially dessert. We had baked apple and brie canapés as an appetizer, chicken stuffed with spinach and goat cheese as a main dish with baked garlic rice pilaf on the side, and molten chocolate cakes for dessert. All the recipes are below with my comments. I would highly recommend all of them!

Baked Apple and Brie Canapés
serves 6-10

Ingredients:
3 tart apples, cored and sliced into eighths
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 (400 gm) wheel Brie
24 baguette slices

Directions:
Toss apple slices with melted butter and brown sugar. Bake or microwave until tender. Arrange the Brie evenly over the bread slices and top with the apple slices. If desired, broil briefly to melt the cheese and brown the apples.

My comments: I made a third of the original recipe. I’m not sure how much brie I ended up using, but it was probably half as much as the recipe actually calls for. I zapped the apples in the microwave to make them tender and it worked great! It only took about 45 seconds. Then I just popped the assembled pieces in the oven at 375 for about 3 minutes to melt the cheese.

Source: Whole Foods

Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf

Source: Jessica’s blog
I made this exactly as she did in her blog, so I have nothing to add except that it is awesome!

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
1/3 cup goat cheese, softened
1/3 cup frozen spinach, thawed
1 tbsp. chopped basil
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
3 chicken breasts
milk
bread crumbs

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine goat cheese, spinach, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Butterfly the chicken breasts. Evenly divide the spinach mixture between the chicken breasts and stuff between the two halves. One by one, dip each chicken breast in the milk and then bread crumbs. Let sit for 5 minutes to help bread crumbs stick. Use toothpicks to secure the open edges of the chicken breasts.

Bake at 375° for 35-38 minutes.

My comments: The recipe above is with my modifications. The only real changes I made were to bread the chicken, and butterfly to stuff, rather than roll the chicken. I also changed the dimensions slightly because I wanted a little more stuffing in each chicken breast. This is absolutely delicous.

Source: unknown Nestie from the What’s Cooking? board on The Nest (tell me who you are and I will credit you!)

Molten Chocolate Cakes
yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. cake flour

Directions:
Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler. Whip eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla with a mixer for about 10 minutes on high speed. Fold melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture. Fold in flour until just combined. Butter and sugar four 6-oz. ramekins, then spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Bake at 450° F for 9-10 minutes. The center will be quite soft, but the top and sides will be set. Let sit out of the oven for about 5 minutes, then unmold onto a plate. Serve with a few raspberries and whipped cream.

My comments: Go buy the ingredients, and make these NOW! This recipe is easily halved so I made two cakes instead of four. I think this may be a recipe where a stand mixer is essential – it definitely came in handy.

Source: Ghirardelli