Fall Flavors: Pumpkin

I love everything pumpkin, especially Pumpkin Pie, but these dishes were an attempt to really feature the flavor of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Risotto



The first is a basic risotto with some extra flavors. Because the pumpkin is so sweet, it's important to use other bold nutty flavors such as the sage and a good Parmesano Reggiano parmesan cheese.

1 onion (diced)
12-15 sage leaves (torn from stems)
1 c arborio rice
2c chicken stock (warmed slightly)
4 tbs butter
1c pumpkin
1c parmesan cheese

1. Cook sage leaves on low heat in 3 tbs butter until slightly crispy. Remove and reserve 4-6 leaves.
2. Add 1-2 tbs olive oil and add onions. Cook until translucent. Set aside.
3. Add 1-2 tbs olive oil and toast rice. Cook for 3-5 minutes and begin adding chicken stock in small batches. When stock is absorbed, add more. Until rice is soft, but still slightly nutty.
4. Stir in sage, onion, and pumpkin and dilute with remaining chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until pumpkin is well disolved.
5. Stir in parmesan cheese.
6. Serve and top with fried sage leaves.

The pumpkin flavor really brings out the sweetness of this dish and adds to the rich, moist texture: Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cranberries & Walnuts



1 box Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix
1 12oz can pumpkin
1c water
1c chopped walnuts
1c sweetened dried cranberries
1/2c white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking oil.
2. In a large bowl, gently stir together pumpkin mix, pumpkin, and water (being careful not to spill).
3. Stir in walnuts and cranberries.
4. Scoop into muffin tins until nearly full. Bake for 18-20 min or until muffins are cooked through.
5. Let muffins sit until cooled.
6. Heat chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second increments stirring in between heating until mixture is smooth.
7. Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over the tops of muffins (in a paint spatter motion) until each muffin is liberally coated.

Fall Flavors: Sage

My favorite flavor this fall was Sage! It makes all those Thanksgiving dishes taste that much more Thanksgiving-y.

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins



This recipe is from Claire Robinson of 5 ingredient fix, a concept I love. In fact, one of my favorite things about fresh Sage is that it can take the place of buying a million herbs and spices for your meals...thyme, rosemary, sage, even garlic are all optional if you've got one strong flavor. I prefer to buy a large pack of fresh sage and build my meal from there.

1 pound cornbread (store bought or homemade)
1 stick butter, divided
1 large Vidalia or Spanish onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, about 15 (stems removed)
2 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter; add the onions and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring often, until light golden, about 6 to 8 minutes and remove from the pan to a small plate.

3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the water, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and allowing the water to simmer just a couple of minutes to infuse in the onion flavor. Remove from the heat.

4. Put the cornbread in a large mixing bowl.

5. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat and let it bubble until the milk solids to start to turn golden. Add the sage leaves and briefly fry until beginning to crisp, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon, remove sage and put on top of cornbread to drain and crisp. Remove the butter from the heat. Reserve one leaf per muffin.

6. Add the eggs and cooked onions to the cornbread and pour the browned butter over the mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the onion infused water, a tablespoon at a time, gently folding, until cornbread is evenly moistened but not soggy.

7. Scoop the stuffing mix into muffin tin. Top each with a fried sage leaf. Bake until top is golden brown in color and the stuffing is set in the middle, about 18-20 minutes.

Another super easy, super delicious dish is Pan Roasted Chicken with Sage and Pan Gravy

This is a super easy and (even better) super fast way to get tender, delicious, flavorful chicken without having to roast for hours. It tastes great on its own, but even better with a quick gravy on top.



2 Chicken breasts (or breast & wing) with Skin
1/2 stick butter
8-10 sage leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbs flour
salt/pepper
garlic powder or granulated garlic

This meal is great to make in a skillet that can go in the oven, but if you're not sure if yours can, try this:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with oil and place in oven.
2. Prepare spices:
- Cut 4 tbs butter into pats (place on clean plate)
- In a small bowl or plate, add 2 tbs salt, 1 tbs pepper, 1/2 tbs garlic mix loosely
- Tear off 8-10 sage leaves (leave 4-6 separate)
3. Prepare chicken:
- Peel skin away from top to create a pocket
- Cut an incision between meat and breast bone
4. Season chicken:
- Season area inside of incision generously with seasoning mixture
- Season area under skin similarly
- Insert 2 tbs of butter and 1-2 sage leaves under skin. Press to distribute.
5. Add remaining butter to a skillet and cook gently with remaining sage leaves until slightly crispy. Remove sage from butter.
6. Add chicken, skin down. Cook for 3-4 minutes until skin is golden brown.
7. Lower oven to 350 degrees. Carefully transfer chicken to heated dish in oven skin side down, leaving remaining butter in pan. Cook chicken in oven for 7 minutes.
8. Flip oven chicken to skin side up. Cook 2 additional minutes or until juices run clear.
9. Meanwhile, prepare gravy:
- Heat stovetop to medium, add 1 1/2 tbs flour to chicken drippings in pan, whisk with a wire whisk until it becomes a smooth paste.
- Slowly add stock 2-3 tbs at a time to taste (might need to add to initial drippings to allow flour to incorporate).
- Continue adding stock until the mixture yields about 1 cup.

Remove chicken from oven and transfer to plates. Let sit 1 minute. Add gravy.