Lentils With Sausage And Roasted Butternut Squash

Does anyone else think it got cold really fast this year? I don't feel like we eased into it at all. I mean, I've seen snow twice already, and it's only November! (Of course, now we're getting a few days of warm weather, which I will not complain about at all! Yesterday was gorgeous!) The colder temperatures had me developing cravings for hearty, warming dishes like soups or bowlfuls of lentils. I seriously feel like I could eat lentils all late fall and winter long.

Goat Cheese Tart With Pomegranate And Mâche

I love cookbooks. If you came to my house and saw my collection, you might even call it an obsession. People see the books I have downstairs in the living room and think I have a lot of books. They don't realize there are so many bins of them in the office and basement too (we're hoping to do built-in bookshelves in the living room in the not-too-distant future so I can finally unpack them all). Even though I already have so many, that doesn't stop me from adding to my collection.

Recently I attended the launch party at Island Creek Oyster Bar for The New England Kitchen: Fresh Takes on Seasonal Recipes, Jeremy Sewall and Erin Byers Murray's new cookbook.

Mini Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

These should really be called mini baked apple cider doughnut muffin doughnuts, because I took a doughnut muffin recipe and adapted it to make doughnuts. But that sounded like too much of a tongue twister, so mini baked apple cider doughnuts it is.

Roasted Winter Squash With Cranberry-Sage Butter

Morning Glory's Farm Food: Stories from the Fields, Recipes from the Kitchen by Gabrielle Redner, a cookbook I recently received to review, is more than just a cookbook. Sure, it has recipes, but it's also filled with information and stories about the Martha's Vineyard farm, the farmers, the crops they grow, and even other farms on the island. For someone who cares about farms and farmers' markets, as I do, the book sends a great message about getting to know your food and where it comes from. It's all about respecting vegetables and taking the time to notice how much better local food tastes.

Farrotto With Butternut Squash, Sage, And Goat Cheese

If you couldn't tell from my Farro "Risotto" with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese and my Roasted Tomato Farro Bake, I love farro. I'd choose it over rice any day. Its nutty texture goes with so many different ingredients and flavors. It works well warm, as in a baked dish, or cold, as in a salad. It's even nice in soup. And if you desire a little creaminess to complement the nuttiness, you simply need to cook it risotto-style to make a farrotto. I love its versatility.

Pumpkin-Cranberry Yogurt Parfaits

You know how when you're playing Hearts, you have to wait until hearts have been "broken" before you can start using them? That's kind of how it went with me and pumpkin this year. I kept thinking maybe it was time to crack open my cans of pumpkin, but I was hesitant to kick off the season until one day recently when pumpkin was broken for me, in the form of a delightful pumpkin truffle from a chocolate shop near my work. The truffles were a new item, so the woman at the shop was offering samples of them. It took that one little bite (and the purchase of a second one) to throw me into pumpkin season. All bets are off now. Oh, and since pumpkin is in, naturally cranberry is too.

Pumpkin-Cranberry-Pecan Twists

I am obsessed with Iggy's cranberry-pecan rolls. I'm sure I've admitted this in the past. I usually have to buy one whenever I see one. Something about the toasty pecans and chewy tart-sweet cranberries just hits the spot. When I saw Stephanie's pumpkin-cranberry twists, I wasn't at all thinking about my beloved cranberry-pecan rolls. I just thought they'd be a perfect addition to Thanksgiving dinner. So I made the rolls.

Maple-Orange Roasted Fall Vegetables

While I love maple syrup year-round, something about fall usually has me craving it. And while I like pancakes or waffles slathered with butter and doused with maple syrup, I really love incorporating maple syrup in savory dishes. I think it pairs especially well with squash and other fall vegetables.

I've made ginger-maple baked delicata squash in the past and also some maple-glazed baby vegetables (Brussels sprouts, beets, and turnips). Thinking about these two dishes inspired me to make these maple-orange roasted fall vegetables.

The Apple Picking Aftermath

We must have come home with 30 pounds of apples after apple picking. That's my rough estimate, because after I made four apple pies (two double-crust and two streusel-topped), two apple cinnamon loaves, apple crisp (with maple dulce de leche instead of caramel), and applesauce, all of which required a total of about 15 pounds of apples, I still hadn't made a dent in the supply. I decided to make apple cider doughnuts, but I switched from my regular recipe and used one that didn't require any apples, so that didn't help diminish the supply but still made for a nice fall treat. Then I came across this amazing brown butter apple crisp skillet muffin bread and I made it right away, using up a couple more apples. Another went into a tuna melt. And I've still got a drawerful left!

Scenes From Apple Picking

A couple of weeks ago I asked my Facebook friends for recommendations for apple orchards within 2 hours of Boston... and they came through. I had no idea there were so many orchards around! Here are the suggestions I got: Applecrest Farm Orchards, Berlin Orchards, Carlson Orchards, Drew Farm, Honey Pot Hill Orchards, Russell Orchards, Shelburne Farm, Smolak Farms, Tougas Family Farm, and Westward Orchards (plus a couple of my old favorites in Connecticut -- Lyman Orchards and Rogers Orchards -- and a place in New Hampshire that's a bit more of a trek -- Alyson's Orchard).

Pumpkin Recipes For The First Day Of Fall

Fall is finally officially here. While some people have been scarfing down pumpkin treats since the day after Labor Day (not that there's anything wrong with that), I've been doing my best to hold off. Until now. Now, I'm perfectly content making every pumpkin dessert, main course, side, and salad I can find. And while I come up with some new things to make and share with you this year, here are some pumpkin dishes and desserts that have graced Delicious Dishings in the past.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal With Greek Yogurt
Chocolate-Pumpkin Tartlets
Fried Pumpkin Blossoms With Feta
Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake With Chocolate Crackle Glaze
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies With Chocolate Drizzle
Pumpkin Cupcakes With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Ice Cream Sundaes With Spiced Caramel Sauce And Gingerbread Croutons
Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Roasted Pumpkin, Sage, And Goat Cheese Pasta
Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, And Goat Cheese Salad

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

Maple Buttered Roasted Squash And Brussels Sprouts

Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery has a new cultured butter -- and it's blended with sea salt and maple. As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to try it. And VBCC generously offered me a sample. When the butter arrived, I was craving fall veggies and figured I could use it to dress them up.

I picked up a small delicata squash and a handful of brussels sprouts and got to work.



Maple Buttered Roasted Squash And Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 small delicata squash, halved, seeds scooped out, and sliced 1/2 inch think
4 large brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery Cultured Butter Blended with Sea Salt & Maple

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and drizzle some oil over the foil.

Arrange the squash slices and brussels sprouts (cut side down) on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with more oil.

Bake for about 30 minutes, turning vegetables over halfway through, until brussels sprouts are golden brown and squash is tender and browned.

Top veggies with butter.

And enjoy!

I love simple roasted veggie dishes like this during the fall, and having the maple and sea salt flavors from the butter kicked this up a notch, not to mention that the butter itself was so rich and creamy.

Note: The butter was complimentary but all opinions are my own.

What would you do with maple and sea salt butter?

Butternut Squash And Bacon Grilled Cheese

Plans to make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner plus a craving for something fall-ish inspired this simple but fulfilling sandwich.

To make it, I started by roasting a small butternut squash in what I call the Thomas Keller way, after making his butternut squash soup. Simply halve the squash, scoop out the seeds, rub it with canola oil, season it with salt and pepper, and stuff a sage sprig in each cavity. Roast the squash flesh side down at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender.

Butter the insides of two slices of bread (I used rye but think sourdough would be really good) with Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery's cultured butter with maple and sea salt. (They sent me a sample to try, and I've been putting it on everything.) Butter the outside of each slice with salted butter.

Scoop the squash from one half and spread it on the bread. (Save the other half for another use.*)

Crumble some goat cheese over the squash.

Top with three slices of crispy bacon.

Cook over medium to medium-high heat until golden brown and toasty.

Flip and cook on second side until golden brown and toasty.

Place on a plate, cut in half, and dig in!

This grilled cheese had the perfect hint of sweetness from the maple butter, savory depth from roasting the squash with sage, a nice salty crunch from the bacon, and a balancing tanginess from the goat cheese.

*To use up the rest of the roasted squash, I simply boiled some pasta, saving a little of the cooking water before draining it, and stirred maple butter, the squash, some goat cheese, and cooking water as needed to adjust the consistency into the pasta.

What would be on your perfect fall grilled cheese?

Guest Post: Pumpkin Risotto With Seared Sea Scallops

From Jen of Beantown Baker...

When Megan said she wanted guests posts to be Italian themed, I was stumped. You see, I don't generally like Italian food. I realize that makes me kind of a weirdo, but I'm ok with that. But then I remembered that risotto is Italian, so I was in the clear. I'm sure Megan is off enjoying some delicious cheese, wine, and gelato with Jeff right about now. Everyone I know who has been to Italy said they ate each of those things every day.



I blame lack of enthusiasm toward Italian food on my lactose-intolerance. While I can eat most aged cheeses like cheddar or parmesan, I can't come anywhere close to fresh mozzarella. And gelato? Forget it.

The other cheese I can eat is goat cheese. It pairs so nicely with sweet squashes in the the fall. I decided to make this meal on a week night, which was probably a mistake. Risotto always takes more time than I think it will. But this dish was definitely worth the wait.



First you cook a pumpkin puree risotto. The risotto gets topped with crumbled goat cheese, fresh thyme, and some candied bacon. And last, but definitely not least, seared sea scallops.

Every time we make sea scallops at home, I am reminded how easy they are and wish that we did it more often. Hopefully I follow through on that wish this time around!



Congrats again to Megan and Jeff! Hope you guys are having a blast in Italy.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

For the Pumpkin Risotto

• 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch ground clove
• 1/4 cup hot vegetable broth
• 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 4 to 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 2 Tbsp goat cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Seared Scallops

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more, if needed)
• 18 large scallops, cleaned
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Confetti Candied Bacon

• 4 ounces bacon, diced very small
• 2 Tbsp light brown sugar

Instructions

For the Confetti Candied Bacon

• Heat a heavy bottom skillet, over medium high heat.
• Add the bacon to the pan and cook until the fat has rendered off and the it has become crispy.
• Drain all but 2 teaspoons of grease from the pan and return to the stove, over medium heat.
• Sprinkle sugar over the pancetta and stir until the sugar melts and had coated the bacon.
• Spread the candied confetti bacon onto a sheet pan lined with parchment and allow to cool and slightly harden.

For the Pumpkin Risotto

• Stir together the first six ingredients for the risotto into a small pot and bring to a simmer.
• Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove mixture from the heat and pour into a blender with the broth, season with salt and pepper and blend.
• With the motor running, add 1/4 cup of butter into the blender, 1 tablespoon at a time. Blend until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into a bowl and set aside until ready to use.
• Pour the chicken broth into a medium pot and warm over low heat.
• Place a large pan over medium heat and melt the remaining butter and olive oil.
• Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes.
• Add the rice and sauté for 3 to 5 minute or until each grain of rice is coated in oil and there is a white dot in the center of each grain.
• Begin adding the warm broth to the rice, one ladle full at a time, stirring frequently.
• Each time the liquid evaporates, add another ladle of broth and continue to stir.
• Continue to add liquid and stir until the rice is al dente, 20-25 minutes.
• Stir in the pumpkin puree until completely combined.
• Stir in the goat cheese and parmesan until smooth. Fold in the thyme and season with salt and pepper.

For the Seared Scallops

• Heat the oil in a heavy bottom skillet, over medium-high heat.
• Season each scallop with salt and pepper.
• Sear the scallops, in batches, for 3-4 minutes on each side.

To Serve

• Fill six bowls with risotto. Sprinkle on some crumbled goat cheese and fresh thyme. Top each with three scallops; finish each bowl with a sprinkle of bacon. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon

Chocolate-Pumpkin Tartlets

I had been toying with the idea of making some sort of mini pumpkin pies since the start of fall, but I know that all the pumpkin treats can get overwhelming -- especially in the food blog world -- at this time of year, so I also wanted to find a way to make something a little different. Since I love combining pumpkin with chocolate, I thought I'd start there.

I came up with the idea to make a chocolate crust in my mini tartlet pans for the base of my pumpkin dessert, and then I concentrated on the filling. I knew I could just make some pumpkin pie filling and pour it in the chocolate shells, but that didn't seem super-exciting to me. While I was looking up another recipe one day, I came across a recipe for pumpkin pastry cream in Sugar Baby and knew I had found my filling. A little grated chocolate on top, and I had the perfect chocolate-pumpkin treat.

When Hilary from bakingbad.com invited me to participate in her Virtual Fall Feast, I thought these chocolate-pumpkin tartlets would be a fitting contribution.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Tartlets
Makes 50 to 75 tartlets
Print this recipe

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pastry Cream (adapted from Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar)
1 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Chocolate Sable Dough (adapted from The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own)
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled and cut in small pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg

Garnish
Small block of bittersweet chocolate

Preparation

To make the pumpkin pastry cream, in a heavy saucepan, combine milk and 1 cup heavy cream. Place over medium heat, and bring mixture to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.

Decrease speed to medium, and pour hot milk mixture down side of bowl. Once milk mixture is completely incorporated, increase mixer speed and let run for 1 minute.

Wash out the saucepan.

Scrape down sides of bowl to make sure everything is incorporated and pour contents into clean saucepan.

Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl.

Transfer the saucepan to the stove, and whisk constantly over medium-high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes, until pastry cream has thickened.

Pour the pastry cream into the sieve and use a rubber spatula to push it through.

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream, and refrigerate until cool (or up to 2 days).

Once pastry cream is chilled and ready to use, whip remaining 1 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Transfer to small bowl, and set aside. Wash stand mixer bowl.

Place the chilled pastry cream in clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, and add in the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Fold in the whipped heavy cream. Chill until ready to use.

To make the crust, in a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on low speed until butter is completely incorporated, about 3 minutes. Add egg and mix until incorporated.

Add flour mixture in three additions, incorporating each addition completely.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured countertop, divide in half, and form into disks.

Wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. (At this point, you can double-wrap the disks and store them in the freezer. Place them in the fridge to thaw the night before you intend to use them.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Set 25 tartlet pans on a rimmed baking sheet, and place another rimmed baking sheet alongside the first one.

Remove one dough disk from fridge, and unwrap.

Roll dough out on lightly floured counter to about 1/8-inch thick.

Roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll over the tartlet pans.

Take a small scrap of dough and wad it up into a ball. Lightly flour the ball and use the dough ball to push the dough down into each tartlet pan.

Roll your rolling pin gently and carefully over the tartlet pans to help them break through the dough.

Lift the tartlet pans out of the dough scraps, and gently press the dough down to line the pans with your thumb. Place the pans on the clean baking sheet.

Prick the tarts all over with a small fork.

Gather the scraps together, wrap them, and refrigerate them.

Bake the tartlets for 9 to 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. While the color won't clue you in to whether the tartlets are baked, you'll be able to smell the chocolate and the tartlets will look dry on the surface.

Transfer to a rack to cool. Once the tartlets are cool enough to handle, carefully slide them out of the pans and set them on a cooling rack.

Repeat the process of rolling out the dough, filling the tartlet pans, and baking the tartlets with the second disk of dough.

Gather those dough scraps and combine them with the other dough scraps. At this point you can double-wrap the scraps and freeze them to use for a future recipe, or you can continue making more tartlets with the remaining dough once it has re-firmed up in the refrigerator. (I just made 50 tartlets.)

Pipe (or spoon) the pumpkin pastry cream into the cooled tartlet shells. (You'll have some leftover.)

Using a Microplane or rasp-style grater, grate the chocolate over the tartlets to garnish. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Note: I had never made pastry cream using the method in Sugar Baby -- usually it involves some tempering -- and I found it much easier to just throw everything in the mixer. When whisking the mixture on the stove, it may take a while to notice any thickness, but the pastry cream will just turn all at once, and you'll notice it coming together under the foamy surface. Remove the pan from the heat at that time. I had some leftover pumpkin pastry cream, and I'm thinking of some other fun uses for it.

I was so happy with the way these tartlets turned out. The pumpkin pastry cream is nicely spiced and has a smooth, yet thick consistency and pairs well with the rich, chocolaty shells and bittersweet chocolate garnish. They're a nice, sweet ending to a fall feast.

Head over to Hilary's blog to check out the rest of the Virtual Fall Feast contributions!

What would you make for a fall feast?

Fun With Fondant Plus A Giveaway

Have you guys ever worked with fondant? Emphasis on the word worked!

Jen from Beantown Baker and I got together a couple weekends ago to work on some fondant-based projects. King Arthur Flour happily supplied us with the fondant. We decided to tackle a couple different projects, and we have some Halloween treats in store for you soon, but meanwhile I want to share the cake I decorated with you.

Jen made the cake layers, and I whipped up some buttercreams for us. I wanted to do a fall cake, so I chose the caramel-apple cake recipe in Baked Exporations for the cake layers and its accompanying caramel buttercream for the filling and crumb coat.

We each assembled our cakes and spread a thin layer of buttercream over them (the crumb coat), and then we dove right into covering them with fondant. I kneaded the fondant for a bit to make it more pliable and workable, and then I rolled it out into a large circle (using confectioners' sugar to keep it from sticking to the counter).

In order to move the fondant circle over the cake, I thought it would make sense to fold it in half like I would to move a pie crust. While the fondant didn't tear, this did leave a crease in it. (I probably should have done some research before taking out the fondant because I learned afterwards that a little shortening would have solved this problem.)

I carefully smoothed the fondant over the top of the cake and down the sides with my hands, and then I trimmed the excess fondant from the bottom of the cake and the excess that collected at the back of the cake and made a seam in the back.

With my cake decently covered, it was time to get to work on decorations. I thought it would be fitting to do a fall theme, so I broke out my fall cookie cutters and some food color pastes. I dyed some of the fondant red and some of it yellow, and then I twisted some of the red and yellow together to swirl the colors.

I rolled out the colorful fondant, cut out some leaves, and then kneaded the scraps of fondant into orange fondant.

Then I twisted orange, red, and yellow fondant together and rolled it out for even more color variation.

In addition to the leaves, I cut out a few pumpkins, acorns, and apples and made a band to wrap around the bottom of the cake.

To adhere my decorations to the cake, I just dabbed a little water on the back of each one. I was pretty happy with the final product, considering I'd never worked with fondant before, but I know it will take a lot more practice to get something close to perfect.

I love when Jen and I get together to do baking projects because we both challenge each other and teach each other. It's much easier to tackle something like this with a friend!

So I did mention a giveaway... I bet you can guess what it is. One of you can win your own tub of fondant from King Arthur Flour and try decorating a cake yourself, or maybe hold onto it until Jen and I post our Halloween treats, which also use fondant.

To enter to win, please like King Arthur Flour on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Then leave a comment on this post telling me anything about fondant -- a time you saw it on a cake that really impressed you, something you made with it, something you would make with it...

You have until October 7, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. EST to enter. (You must live in the U.S. or Canada.)