Pumpkin Recipes and Red Beans!

Pumpkins are a seasonal favorite and for me I've always used actual pumpkins just for carving and canned pumpkin puree for anything kitchen related beyond roasting pumpkin seeds. This year I decided to buy an actual pie pumpkin and see what I could get out of it. I bought a fairly small pumpkin that had no weight on it but it was about the size of a medium mixing bowl (much smaller than most carving pumpkins). First I cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out all the seeds. I then covered each half in tin foil and roasted them at 350 degrees for 1 hour. I scooped out all the pumpkin meat and since I was making 2 sweet dishes I immediately flavored all of it at the same time. I put in: about 3 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon, 2 tsp. Ground Cloves, a pinch of Kosher Salt, 2 tsp. Allspice, and grated in about 2 tsp. of nutmeg and about 1 Tbsp. of Ginger (which I keep peeled and frozen so it's ready to be grated!).
Pumpkin pie was the first project I had in mind.


Pumpkin Pie
1 1/2 c. of Seasoned Roasted Pumpkin
1 Tbsp. Honey
2 Eggs
1 c. Milk
1/4 c. Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 c. Eggnog
1 c. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 9" pie crust (if you prefer to make it homemade I use Martha Stewart's recipe
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Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine Pumpkin, honey, vanilla, and sugar. Mix until blended. Add eggs and mix until yokes are broken. Add milk, sweetened condensed milk, and eggnog. Stir until fully combined.
I recommend baking your pie crust for about 3-5 minutes before putting the pumpkin mixture in so your crust doesn't get too soggy.
Add pumpkin mixture into pie crust and cook at 450 for 15 minutes.
Lower temperature to 325 degrees and cook an additional 55 minutes or until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean.
Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
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Once I finished the pie I was left with 1 1/4 c. of Roast Pumpkin so I made Pumpkin muffins.


Pumpkin Muffins
1 1/4 c. Seasoned Roasted Pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil ( I use Smart Balance Oil)
1/2 c. Honey
2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 c. Dried Cranberries (Optional)
1/2 c. Chopped Pecans (Optional and you can use whatever nut you like!)
1/2 c. Sugar
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
If you are not using Baking Cups (I use the Foil cups) Grease your pan.
Mix together pumpkin, honey, eggs, oil, and sugar in one bowl.
In a seperate bowl mix together Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Soda, and Baking Powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.
Add Dried Cranberries and Chopped Pecans and mix until blended.
If you're using Baking Cups I recommend adding about 1/4 c. of mixture in each cup. If you're using the Muffin pan I suggest using about 3 - 3 1/2 Tbsp.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the muffin clean.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
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The last bit of pumpkin I had left were the seeds so I made sure to rinse them off well and let them drain in a strainer for about 30 minutes before I spread them out on a cookie sheet and let them dry another hour.


Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Seeds from 1 Pumpkin, cleaned and dried.
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Melted Butter
2 tsp. Kosher Salt
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Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
Melt 1 Tbsp. of Butter in the Microwave.
Drizzle Olive Oil over seeds and then drizzle melted butter.
Sprinkle with Kosher Salt.
Bake for 40 minutes.
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The pumpkin recipes were very simple and very tasty. Before I started cooking the pumpkin goodies I also wanted to make something heart and savory for dinner. I decided to make Red Beans and Rice as there was still a slight chill in the air.
I soaked my Dried Red Kidney Beans overnight in about 8 cups of water. I drained them and rinsed them with cold water before adding them to the pot.


Red Beans
1 lb. bag of Dried Red Kidney Beans, soaked and rinsed
1 lb. of your favorite sausage (I used Kielbasa since I wanted it mild, but also recommend using Andouille sausage or Italian sausage).
2 small yellow onions, diced
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp. White Pepper
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp. Dried Thyme or 3 sprigs of fresh Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
1 c. White Wine
32 oz. Low-Sodium Chicken Stock
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Cook sausage over medium heat in a Stockpot until bottom of the pot is oily.
Add onions and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add beans and spices and stir until combined.
Add chicken stock, white wine, and bay leaves.
Let mixture simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours over medium heat. Remove Bay Leaves.
Then let simmer on Low heat for an additional 6-7 hours or until the liquid has reduced by half and is cloudy and thick.
Serve with either rice, egg noodles, crusty bread, or by itself!