Menu Monday: P is for Pumpkin Chili

'Tis the season:

I PROMISE.  There is pumpkin in there.  :)

With the cooler weather this weekend, I was craving a soup.  Or a stew.  Or a chili.  *ding ding ding*  But I wanted to mix things up and try something a bit different than my vegetarian, three-bean chili with chocolate syrup.  (And I just realized I have never posted the recipe for that.  How silly of me!)

I was pleased when I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Chili.  It turned out DELIGHTFUL:  half-gourmet, half-cowboy, and 100% autumnal.  Let me know what you think!

PUMPKIN CHILI

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/3-1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 to 1 lb. ground beef or turkey

2 cups tomatoes, chopped

1-4 oz. can green chilies

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup pumpkin puree

dash each: cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed

2+ Tbsp. chili powder

1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed

sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese

-Saute bell pepper, onion, celery, and garlic for about 5 minutes.
-Add ground meat and cook until done.
-Add tomatoes and green chilies and simmer for 5 minutes.
-Mix in broth, pumpkin, spices, and beans.
-Simmer for 20 minutes.
-Top with shredded cheddar and sour cream.

Menu Monday: P is for Peach Tart

We bought some locally grown peaches this past week, but then we both got sick and didn't quite feel like eating much, much less healthy snacks.  Some of them were getting a bit soft, so I decided I need to make something with them.  I thought about my peach cobbler, and then peach pie, but settled on peach tarts.  However, I didn't feel like making small ones, so I decided to try a RUSTIC PEACH TART.

RUSTIC PEACH TART

1 pie crust (I use the recipe in my KitchenAid mixer cookbook.)

3 cups peaches

1/4 sugar

4 tsp. flour

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. sliced almonds

milk

-Preheat oven to 375.

-Roll out pie crust on a cookie sheet so that it is close to 13 inches.

-In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and nutmeg.  Add peaches and lemon juice; toss to coat.

-In the center of the crust, pile the peach filling on, but leave two inches around the edge.

-Fold up edges over filling, crimping as you go, so that it is flush.

-Sprinkle almonds over filling and brush milk onto the crust.

-Bake for 35-42 minutes until crust is brown.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 30 minutes.

[serves 8]

This was so good and only took about 30 minutes to prepare, and then I could pop it in the oven and go about my business!  The nutmeg flavor was subtle yet definitely left me dreaming of fall.  Next time, I think I will make a praline pecan topping to add as I saw that many of my peach pie recipes combined those flavors.  YUMMY!

What have you been baking lately?

Photo a Day in July #11

11.  Letter

I've posted this on Facebook before (once with the "P" by itself and once in the frame collage I'm working on), and I got the funniest comment about it.  A friend asked why we had a "P" on our wall...until she realized that "Pharr" starts with a "P" and not an "F."  *lol*  Another funny story?  The night I met Zach, he told me to look him up on Facebook.  So I scurried home and hopped on my computer and typed in "F-a-r-r."  There was no Zach Farr!  I assumed he was just another guy in a bar...until he added me a week later!  :)

When I got this "P" on clearance at Hobby Lobby, I was so excited to cover it in yarn.  I thought it was such a cute looking "P."  But I paid for its cuteness because it was very hard to wrap the bumps on it!

Also, I am not sure why that line appears on that photo every. single. time.  It's not there in person.

P is for POTATOES

Have you ever had purple potatoes?  They really freaked Zach out, and if I am being honest, they freaked me out a bit, too.  ;)  It reminded me of the colored ketchup they used to have, or may have still; you just expect it to taste differently, and when it doesn't, it throws you off.  You would think you would be happy something tasted the way it was supposed to taste--like a potato that happens to be purple--but it's just...weird to eat a purple potato.

I did try to be the adult and insist to Zach, "There's nothing weird about a purple potato; they taste just like the red skinned and golden skinned potatoes."

But then I kept imagining purple mashed potatoes, and...ewww.

Anyway, it was fun to have multi-colored potatoes since they were so pretty together.  I really wish I had taken a picture of a cut purple potato because they are truly purple.  Really purple.  Weirdly purple?  *tehe*

Potatoes have a bad rap for offering far too many bad carbohydrates.  But I don't think potatoes are so bad when you eat them in moderation; we just happen to LOVE our potatoes here in a America.  You know, we have French fries (or freedom fries, if you are silly), baked potatoes, twice-baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, smashed potatoes, potato skins, scalloped potatoes, potatoes au gratin, hash browns, fried potatoes, etc.  In China, fast food items are served with corn, which isn't much better (FYI, it's a grain, not a vegetable), but we would probably consider this option to be better.  BUT potatoes are chock full of vitamin C (we must need LOTS of vitamin C since it's in everything healthy *lol*), potassium, and vitamin B6.  This last vitamin is essential in glucose and lipid (good fats and fat-soluble vitamins) metabolism, and it is needed for the skin and nerves and affects sleep patterns.

I really love roasted potatoes with some olive oil and herbs.  Basically, I scrub the potatoes before drizzling and tossing them in some olive oil (1-2 tablespoons) and sprinkle with my preferred spices (I looooove rosemary, which is what I used here), and bake at 325-350 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the potatoes or potato slices.  You can peel the potatoes and slice them if you choose; I kept the skins on since most of the vitamins and minerals are in them, and I only halved a few of them because they were larger than the rest.  (These were bite-sized potatoes.)

I highly recommend making your potatoes with rosemary, but I think I am going to start mixing things up next time.  :)

P is for PEPPERS

I've learned that many of my friends have a haaaaate relationship with peppers and onions.  :(  I don't understand that because I LOVE them!  They are so good and say Mexican (as in, fajitas) to me!  I can understand people's negative views on onions a bit more because they do cause bad breath, but I can eat an onion, especially a purple onion, like an apple.  :)

I won't say anymore about onions since today's letter is "P," which means this post will talk a bit more about a "p" food peppers, bell peppers specifically.  Apparently, these lovelies are called capsicum in Australia.  Who knew?  I already knew that they are sometimes called sweet peppers because they don't provide much of a spicy kick.  (Another reason why I don't understand why people loathe them!)  Anyway, bell peppers come in a variety of colors, including green, red, yellow, and orange.  Whenever I made pasta primavera in the past (when I lived in central AR), I always would pick up Kroger's Stoplight Peppers because they contained one each of red, yellow, and green bell peppers--just like a stoplight!  In researching bell peppers, I also learned that red bell peppers are just ripened green ones.  AMAZING!  I liked a mix of peppers because of the color combo and taste variety.  The green ones are less sweeter than all of the others on the color spectrum; I'd say most people prefer the green ones to the rest, probably not just because of taste but because they are the cheapest.  ;)  Bell peppers are rich in lycopene, carotene, and vitamin C with red peppers having the highest amounts and green ones having the lowest.

I made some sweet and sour lemonade chicken from Six Sisters' Stuff, and I decided to serve it with rice, peppers, and onion for a pseudo-Chinese meal.  I'm not much on Chinese, but I did LOVE this chicken!  Zach said it was a bit too lemony for him, so next time I won't use as much lemonade.  I know white rice isn't the healthiest, but it is my favorite and easier for my tummy to digest.  I haven't had peppers and onions in FOREVER, so these were a real treat!

To make the peppers (and onion), I remove the caps from two peppers and slice out the white insides to remove the seeds.  (I've also found that holding a pepper half or quarter over the trashcan with the inside facedown and taping the back with a utensil helps the seeds fall out.)  Then I slice them into strips and half the strips.  I slice the ends off the onion, remove its peeling, and then slice it into strips.  I heat 1-2 Tablespoons of vegetable/olive oil into a skillet over medium-high heat, add the peppers and onions, and sauté until the onions are translucent and the peppers are tender and browned.  So good!