Catching Up

I guess it's time to catch up on my long delayed (ok, less than a week still) Thanksgiving post. My family came to my house for the meal because I had the most space--a real dining room, the largest kitchen of them all--and because, frankly, I wanted to control the side dishes. My mother did threaten at one point to throw butter in the beans and mashed potatoes...thanks mom. Mind you, my family isn't huge by any sense of the imagination. The guests were my mother, my brother and his wife, and two of my friends who wanted to have a bigger dinner than one or two dishes shared between themselves.

We had quite a spread, and I would have taken more pictures but I was tired of being ridiculed, so I don't have more. My mother brought the turkey for her and my brother and his wife (somehow a 12 pound whole turkey was cheaper than a turkey breast...I bet they're still eating turkey today, actually), stuffing (vegan and non) and a pumpkin pie. Josh and Amy brought Quorn Chickn reubens (which I did eat, swiss cheese and all--yes, I'm a bad bad vegan) and a bean and nut salad. I provided the rolls, carmelized onions and green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, millet pumpkin casserole, and a shmlove pie.

So. Much. Food.

Shmlove Pie

I'm not going to give you the Shmlove Pie recipe--go buy Veganomicon for that. It's worth the whole book. I've made it twice and it gets better every time. Seriously, go buy the book, even if you love meat and can't abide the thought of cooking vegan food. It's seriously the only recipe source I'm using right now and I couldn't possibly be happier with any other book.

But here's the recipe for my take on Mark Bittman's Autumn Millet Bake Recipe which I found on Heidi's site, 101 Cookbooks. Forgive the photo. The lighting in my dining room was horrid and I had to take the picture without any styling.

Autumn Millet Bake

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for the dish
1 1/2 cup millet
1 small pumpkin, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used half of a medium sized pumpkin)
1 cup fresh cranberries
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1 cup vegetable stock or water, warmed
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 2-quart casserole, a large gratin dish, or a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the millet and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes (hs note: don't overdo it). Spread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Scatter the pumpkin cubes and the cranberries on top of the millet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the sage and drizzle with syrup. Carefully pour the warmed stock over all (cp note: I did about 1 cup stock & 1/2 cup soy milk ). Cover tightly with foil and bake without disturbing, for 45 minutes.

Carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F. As discreetly as possible, sneak a taste and adjust the seasoning. If it looks too dry, add a spoonful or two of water or stock. (hs note: This is key! The millet should be close to being cooked through at this point, if not you need to add liquid and keep it moist and cooking ). Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top, and return the dish to the oven. Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned (hs note: and the millet is cooked through), another 10 minutes or so. Serve piping hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4 to 6.

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Remember how I said I made pumpkin squares for the Monday Night Vegan Potluck? Well, here's the recipe (finally!).

The recipe is from Veganomicon (I'm in a rut, a happy tasty Veganomicon rut!) and everyone loved them. I talked to my friend Stuart yesterday and when I mentioned I still had a few left over he immediately asked if I happened to have any in my messenger bag because, really, that would make his day.

I must admit that I've breakfasted on these this week and eaten slivers all throughout the day. They remind me a lot of banana bread...except pumpkin, and the pecan streusel is uber tasty (even though I bought the salted pecans instead of plain roasted pecans by accident).

Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel

Pecan Streusel:
1/4 c all purpose flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 c coarsely chopped pecans

Cake:
1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree
3/4 c soy milk
1/4 c canola oil
1.5 c granulated sugar
3 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 c all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

For the streusel:
In a small bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, and spices. Drizzle in the canola oil and mix with your fingertips until crumbs form. Add the chopped pecans.

For the cake:
Combine the pumpkin, soy milk, oil, granulated sugar, molasses, and vanilla. Mix well. Add half the flour, the baking powder, salt, and the spices. Use a fork to fold everything together. Add the remaining flour and mix gently until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Scatter the streusel on top as evenly as possible.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Pumpkin Ricotta Pasta

Our Monday Night Vegan Potlucks disappeared for a month or so due to me being out of town and everyone being busy. Last night we brought it back!

I'd planned on making pumpkin squares (from Veganomicon), but I realized that the savory food might be a bit lacking (like it usually is), so I threw together a creamy pumpkin sauce from leftovers in my fridge.

It's a lazy lady's sauce--required very little work, just add to a sauce pan and warm until creamy. If I had been feeling more creative, I'd have made a pasta bake out of it, layering pasta, sauce, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and red and green peppers. However, I'm lazy and the dish had to fit in my messenger bag anyway.

The dish was a hit, even though the picture is not so swell--the tupperware was wiped clean with Phil's delicious bread. The creamy ricotta part mixed with the spicy pumpkin part was perfect. I still have some ricotta and pumpkin in my fridge--I think I'm going to have to make myself a batch!

Vegan Pumpkin Ricotta Pasta

1/2 c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 c vegan ricotta
1 c soy milk
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt

Simmer the soy milk, pumpkin, and ricotta at medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add spices.

Serve over pasta.