Giving Thanks with Pumpkin Crisp and Preston & Steve

Thanksgiving dinner. The granddaddy of all traditional holiday meals! Whether it’s the escarole soup, the homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, one of the dozens of side dishes, or the turkey itself, there is some part of this meal that holds a special spot in everyone’s heart. Of course, the Thanksgiving meal would not be complete without the final act – the dessert. And in my mind there is no better Thanksgiving dessert than the traditional and classic pumpkin pie. I’ve tried many different pumpkin desserts, from pumpkin cheesecakes and pumpkin cream rolls to pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin trifle. But it’s the good, old fashion pumpkin pie that I prefer on T-day with a nice hot cup of coffee for dessert.

This year however, my wife (who again, is the baker of the household), found an interesting alternative to traditional pumpkin pie at myrecipes.com. It’s a pumpkin crisp, and I can not wait to dig into it after the big meal! What’s nice about this dessert is that it doesn’t stray far from traditional pumpkin pie, both in taste and texture. Actually, the filling itself is almost identical to pumpkin pie. What makes this dessert different and special is the  crispy and buttery topping. Think upside down pumpkin pie! It’s a subtle change from the norm, but the taste is outta this world. ‘Melts in your mouth’ is an understatement You’ll want to serve this warm or at room temperature. Goes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Happy Thanksgiving!

PUMPKIN CRISP
(Originally posted at myrecipes.com)

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 c. of evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 (18.5 oz) pkg butter-flavored yellow cake mix
1 c. melted butter

Optional:
1 c. chopped pecans
Ground nutmeg
Whipped cream
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350F.  Stir together the first five ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture (if you wish to add pecans, sprinkle them evenly over cake mix).  Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Bake at 350F for 60 – 65 minutes or until golden brown**.  Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  IF desired, serve with whipped cream, sprinkle of nutmeg or vanilla ice cream.

** If baking ahead of time, I baked for about 55 min then re-heat again for another 10 min before serving.

THE PRESTON AND STEVE CAMP OUT FOR HUNGER

Many of us are blessed to have a beautiful meal to share with family and friends on Thanksgiving day. Yet there are still so many who are in need of food and support, not only on Thanksgiving but all year round. Thanks to the Preston and Steve Show (Philadelphia’s top rated morning radio show), we all have an opportunity to help give to those less fortunate. Every year just after Thanksgiving, the P&S show launch their Camp Out for Hunger Campaign. By teaming with Philabundance, the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief foundation, the P&S show set up camp for an entire week at the Metroplex Shopping Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. This camp out (which is turning into more of a huge, celebrated event each year), is the perfect opportunity to not only meet some of your favorite local radio, television and sports celebrities, but to also donate in any way that you can to help those less fortunate. The P&S show will be collecting food and monetary donations throughout the entire week of November 28-December 2. You can also donate various ways through Acme Markets, either by making an online purchase or  placing items in the P&S drop-boxes located in various Acme supermarkets.

For more information on how to help with this very special and important cause, please visit this link.

Amatriciana Sauce

This week I’m highlighting a fantastic post from my favorite fellow food blogger, Una Mamma Italiana. It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure to share one of Una Mamma’s recipes with you. What better way to welcome her back to my blog that with a delicious rustic sauce that incorporates pancetta! Check it out and enjoy! And be sure to visit the Una Mamma Italiana for many more amazing recipes!
– Dom

Since I started blogging at Una Mamma Italiana over 3 years ago, I’ve noticed that readers really love the sauce recipes. Whether its my family recipe for Sunday Gravy, Vodka Sauce or Arrabiatta Sauce – these sauces are classics that can usually be made with minimal effort and a big wow factor.

Here is another classic Italian sauce recipe that boasts the amazing flavor of Pancetta! It gets its name from the town of its origin, Amatrice (a super small town in Northern Lazio. We’re talking central Italy, here – the countryside that literally divides the North from the South.) It is a very rustic style sauce.

Pancetta is Italian bacon that is cured with all kinds of salt and yummy spices. It is most often used in recipes for the flavor you get from the fat (who doesn’t love cooking in a good fat!?) on the meat. Some “Med-E-Gones“ substitute regular bacon in recipes such as these. I guess you could do the same, but then you run the risk of breaking my heart (and the hearts of Italians everywhere).

AMATRICIANA SAUCE
3 TB e.v.o.o.
2 oz. pancetta, finely cubed
1 med onion, minced
1 TB minced garlic
pinch of dried oregano
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped or hand crushed
1/2 tsp (to start) curshed red pepper flakes (adjust to your liking)
1 TB julienned fresh basil leaves
salt & pepper to taste

Start with only 2 TB of the olive oil. Use it to brown the pancetta. Once browned, add the onions and garlic, saute over medium heat until soft. Stir in the oregano, hot pepper flakes, and the tomatoes. Bring it to a boil. Simmer until sauce has thickened a bit (around 30 minutes)

At the end, stir in the basil leaves and add more hot pepper/salt/pepper as needed. Stir in the remaining TB of olive oil until emulsified.

Toss with your favorite pasta and top with lots of yummy grated pecorino romano cheese! (my fav) And MANGIA!!

Baked Sausage and Peppers

Of all the different dishes that I’ve made over the years, it’s the the traditional, simple comfort foods that I still enjoy making the most. Italian soul food – as my good friend Lorraine Ranalli fondly calls it – has been the staple to many Italian-American households for generations. Hearty dishes like pasta and peas, potato and eggs, peppers and eggs, [fill in the blank] and eggs, giambotta…they all bring a smile to my face and a craving to my belly.

This week, I’m sharing a recipe for one of the most famous and versatile Italian comfort foods, Sausage and Peppers. Traditionally, this is a dish that is cooked on the stove top in a frying pan. Although Italian sweet or hot sausage are the most common sausage used, any kind of sausage that you prefer will work well. One of my favorites to use is a chicken sausage  from Tori’s butcher shop. The BEST! Just fry up the sausage links (whole or sliced), add some chopped onions and peppers to the mix halfway through cooking, and voila, peppers and sausage.

I’m gonna put a slightly different spin on this classic dish by baking it in the oven. I prefer the baking method because it’s less oil (pork sausage will create some very tasty juices in the oven), and it frees up some time for you. Because you want the sausage cooked throughout (no pink inside), you’re looking at a good hour of baking in the oven, especially if you’re using a pork sausage. You’re also combining all ingredients at once, so all of the flavors marry together and there is no stirring or mixing needed.

You’re going to have a decent amount of juice in the baking dish once it’s done, and you have a few options on what to do with the juices:
• you can serve the sausage and peppers it in its juices;
• you can drain or extract the juice with a baster;
• you can let the dish bake uncovered for a few extra minutes to allow it to dry out a bit;
• or as I like to do, you can add some Italian seasoning and a few tablespoons of sauce/gravy, mix it in and let it heat for a few minutes.

Once done, you can serve it as a side dish, as a topping on pasta, or my personal favorite…..on a crispy Italian roll with provolone cheese and greens.

Whichever method you prefer, it’ll be a guaranteed delicious and enjoyable meal.

BAKED SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

1lb sausage, cut into pieces
4 bell peppers (red and green work best, you can mix them up)
1 large white onion, chopped

(optional ingredients)
1 tbspn Italian seasoning
2-3 tbspn red sauce/gravy

Preheat oven to 400˚. Place sausage, peppers and onions in a baking dish, mix, cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 60-65 minutes, until sausage is completely cooked. You can serve in its juices, drain the juices, or add the optional ingredients and allow to cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve as a side dish, on top of pasta or in a crispy Italian roll topped with provolone cheese and greens.

Pumpkin Recipes Part 2: Coffee Can Pumpkin Bread

One of my favorite projects that I remember doing when I was kid (aside from restoring an old bike and building monster models, that is), was making pumpkin bread in a coffee can. We did this as a Campfire project, and sold the loaves at our school’s Christmas Bazaar. I remember finding this to be so much fun because not only did I love pumpkin bread, but we got to make it in a way that didn’t seem ‘cutesy’ or ‘girly’. Normally, my friends and I would just use a coffee can to kick around the street and chuck pennies into. But now, we were allowed to crack eggs, mix it into a goopy batter, pout it into the cans and load ’em into this big, monstrous industrial oven in the school hall’s kitchen. We were like 8-year old mad scientists!!!

Pumpkin bread can be very versatile. Dry, moist, raisins, nuts, chocolate chips or coconut shavings….the choices are endless! While doing research for this post (and every variety that just mentioned was easily found), I came across a great recipe for coffee can pumpkin bread at a nice food blog called The Dutch Bakers Daughter. Cathy, the owner of the blog, not only allowed me to share her recipe, but was also gracious enough to allow me to use her coffee can photos as well. Thank you, Cathy!

Although coffee can pumpkin bread tastes almost the same as a traditional loaf, the coffee can method does offer is a really nice presentation. You get a perfectly rounded loaf with neat little grooves around the sides (this was the big selling point at the Christmas bazaar – the perfectly round loaves of bread). The coffee cans also make for great storage…just pop the lid back onto the can and you can store them in the freezer for future usage! It’s also a fun and nostalgic project to do with your kids this time of year.

If you do decide to give coffee can pumpkin bread a try, there are a few precautions that you should be aware of:

1. Use the proper type of coffee can
You want to make sure that you are using a steel coffee can. Years ago, when baking bread in coffee cans was more common, the cans were made of steel. Some of today’s cans are made of aluminum, and may have a coating on them that is not healthy to digest. And of course the plastic containers will melt in the oven. Steel cans are the way to go.

2. Prepare the can
In order for the baked bread to slide out of the can, there has to be no lip on top of the can. If there is, you can use a can opener to remove it. Once you are done doing that, smooth out the edges with a brillo pad. Then make sure to thoroughly wash out the cans and let them dry. Be sure to flour and grease the cans before adding the batter. Fill the cans no more than 2/3 full, to assure that there is no overflow when baking. You can also check out the following video on how to prepare the coffee cans for baking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nA8fVAGWoU

3. Don’t forget oven mits!
Just like a traditional pan, the coffee can will be hot when done baking. Be careful when removing it and let it sit until completely cooled. Do not place the lid back onto the hot can until it is cooled.

COFFEE CAN PUMPKIN BREAD
Recipe and photos courtesy of The Dutch Baker’s Daughter
(click here for the original post)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
1 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon cloves
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour