Nothing tastes more like fall than fresh baked pumpkin goods. I love just about anything with pumpkin in it. It definitely wasn’t always that way but it’s amazing how your taste buds change as time passes.
My original thoughts were to make some German pumpkin plachinda. It was one of those wonderful things my mother used to make that got pushed into the back of my memory.
It seems most recipes you find on the internet make plachinda as individual pastry turnovers with a pumpkin filling. I think I recall my mother making it in a rectangle casserole dish with the pastry on the bottom and up the sides and the filling showing.
I decided to do some ‘recipe development’ and try making some German streuseltaler and top it with a sweet pumpkin (plachinda) filling.
Streuseltaler was inspired by the round shape of the taler, a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in the currency called dollar.
Taler is a German word for coin, so the name of the dessert literally translates to streusel coin. Basically, a free form tart made with a yeast dough topped with a huge amount of streusel, sometimes filled with custard and often with a sugar glaze.
A traditional German streusel (streusel meaning something ‘strewn or scattered’ in German) bakes up into shortbread balls. It makes a crunchy, cookie-like top but is soft on the bottom where it meets the bread or fruit compote.
Streusel was first popularized in Germany. In its simplest form, it consists of flour, sugar and butter but gets even better with the addition of oatmeal, cinnamon and nuts …. just my opinion of course!
In the history of cooking, one could find recipes that have constantly changed and could be seen as a connecting link between modern times and our past. I guess this is my contribution to the evolution of plachinda.
For all of you who love pumpkin, here’s a treat you don’t want to miss!
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Pumpkin Streuseltaler
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Instructions
Dough
In a small bowl, add yeast, lukewarm water & 1 tsp sugar. Allow to sit about 10 minutes until frothy.
In a large bowl, combine yeast mixture, butter, salt, cinnamon, eggs & pumpkin puree. Mix well. Add flour, one cup at a time, until well combined. Knead dough for about 8-10 minutes or until smooth & soft. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel & allow to rise for about 1 hour or until double in size.
Filling
In a small dish, combine the filling ingredients, set aside.
Streusel Topping
In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
Assembly & Baking
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface & divide into 12 pieces. Form each piece into a ball & allow it to rest for about 5 minutes.
Space out the balls on parchment lined baking sheet. With fingertips or the back of a Tbsp., press out center of each ball to about 4-inch diameter. Add about a Tbsp of pumpkin filling to each dough piece & spread leaving a border around the outside.
Divide streusel topping evenly between the pastries. Allow to rise for about 15-20 minutes.
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Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. In the meantime, you can prepare the glaze.
Glaze
In a small dish, whisk powdered sugar & lemon juice to a thick glaze. When streuseltaler are cooled, drizzle with glaze.
Recipe Notes
- The picture at the bottom of the recipe is MY version of my mother's plachinda. I had posted it on a blog in October 2016. She used to serve this wonderful pastry when she made a white bean soup. At the time I thought it was an odd combination but it works! Another one of those 'taste of a memory' kind of comfort foods.
The Bedfordshire Clanger is a very unique and little-known meat pie recipe from England, specifically (not surprisingly) from the county of Bedfordshire, a small, low-lying and predominantly agricultural county nestled in the east of England.
In centuries past many of the working husbands of the area used to toil in the fields there. Their wives, knowing their husbands would need lots of protein and carbohydrate sustenance, came up with the brilliant idea of a doubled, loaf-shaped pie. One end contained a savory filling that used the famed pork of the area while the other end was filled with stewed apples (made from the famed local apples) as dessert. So, the two fillings didn’t combine, there was a ‘pastry wall’ in between blocking any flavors from mixing. A ‘secret code’ denoted which end was meat and which was dessert: two knife slits on one end of the pastry top means meat, three small holes on the other shows the sweet. This was brilliant, an entire meal for the hard-working man – handheld, portable and delicious
I guess you could say, the Bedfordshire clanger is not only a tasty treat but also a piece of culinary history that has stood the test of time!
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Pork & Apple Bedfordshire Clanger w/ Cheddar-Sage Pastry
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Instructions
Pastry
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sage & salt. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour mixture & use your fingers to work them in. Alternately you could use a pastry cutter to do this.
When the mixture resembles cornmeal with pea-sized bits of butter remaining, stir in cheese with a fork until evenly distributed. Sprinkle 6 Tbsp ice water over mixture & stir with a fork until dough begins to come together. If needed, add an additional Tbsp or two of ice water.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface & knead for about three times. Gather the dough into a disk & wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Pork Filling
Bake potato in microwave, peel & cut into small cubes. Set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet & sauté celery, onion, garlic & bacon together on medium heat until veggies are soft & bacon is cooked. Add ground pork, breaking it up well. Stir in dried herbs & spices. Cover & simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & stir in cooked potato & cheese. Set aside to cool.
Apple Filling
In a small saucepan, combine butter, water, cinnamon & brown sugar. Bring to a simmer then add diced apples, raisins, lemon zest & juice. Gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat & allow to cool.
Assembly/Baking
Divide pastry into 5 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface (or dry wax paper) roll out each piece of pastry into 7 x 7 1/2-inches. The excess trimmed from the sides will be used for little pastry ‘walls’ dividing the sweet & savory fillings. Roll the excess into a 3-inch length.
From the top of each piece, LIGHTLY make a line across your pastry 4-inches from outside edge. This will help to place your fillings properly.
On the 3-inch wide section of the pastry, place savory filling to cover 2/3 of the area. Place one of the rolled strips after that then place sweet filling on the remaining 1/3 to complete the 'clanger'. The little rolled piece of pastry divides the savory & sweet filling.
On the sweet side make 3 holes for vents & on the savory side make 2 slashes. This is the 'code' to let the person eating the clanger which was savory or sweet.
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Brush the edges of each pastry with egg wash. Lift the pastry from the opposite side over the fillings & seal the edges with a fork.
Brush clangers with remaining egg wash & bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden.
Fall is that time of year that we can enjoy some more of those wonderful cherries from our own little tree. The fact that we live in the northern part of Alberta, Canada and can eat cherries fresh from our tree is such a bonus.
Cherries are not native to North America, in fact both the sweet and sour varieties were brought to Canada and the U.S. in the 1600s by French and English settlers. The plants, especially the sour varieties, adapted well to our climate.
Sour cherries are a hardier plant than the sweet variety and are well-suited to growing in slightly cooler climates. Even though these cherries are classed as a semi-sweet variety, there are still endless ways to enjoy them.
Unlike many fruits, which are at their best uncooked, sour cherries need a bit of sweetness and heat to reach their peak. Tart as vinegar, with a faint perfume of fresh fruit when raw, they need just a touch of sugar, then start them cooking and watch the tartness blossom. The aroma doesn’t fade, as one would expect; rather, the longer they cook the more it gains body and roundness, until the cherry fragrance becomes overwhelming, the fruit flavor more pronounced and the overall results unforgettable.
Most commercially produced cherry varieties, such as Bing do not cook well. These ‘sweet cherries’ may be wonderful eaten out of hand or tossed in a fruit salad, but they make bland preserves and flat, watery pies.
The tart bite of a sour cherry is glorified when transformed into any type of sweet preserve and can be used to good advantage in savory sauces where tartness is desirable. Chocolate and cherries are a classic marriage, so don’t hesitate to toss sour cherries into your favorite chocolate cake or brownie recipe as I did here.
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Chocolate Sour Cherry Donuts w/ Amaretto Glaze
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Instructions
Donuts
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 6 cup donut pan with baking spray. Set aside
In a large bowl, whisk the egg & sugars until well incorporated. Add in the milk, sour cream, melted butter & vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined.
Using a sieve, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. The donut batter will be pretty thick at this point.
Transfer the donut batter into a piping bag. Fill the donut cavities with chocolate cake batter about 1/4 full then top each with some cherries. Continue to pipe remaining cake batter on top of cherries on each donut. When baked, the donuts will have a cherry center.
Bake the donuts for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the baked donuts cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before glazing.
Amaretto Glaze
Whisk together glaze ingredients until smooth & pourable. Drizzle over cooled donuts & top with a few more cherry pieces if you wish.
Recipe Notes
- Lor Ann AMARETTO FLAVOR is sweet, with a slight cherry taste and a hint of almond that adds an extra layer of flavor to the donuts.
It’s the fall season, so bring on the chai flavored recipes! Fall can encompass many different flavors including apple, pumpkin, maple, cranberry and ginger just to name a few. To me, baked goods and chai spices are a no-brainer. Traditionally, chai is made into a tea which consists of milk, spices, sweetener, and black tea. Chai spices can be used for so much more than just tea. Once you make your basic chai spice recipe, there are so many ways to utilize it.
Chai can include several different spices. Cardamom is the most common ingredient, followed by a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, star anise and cloves. Pepper and coriander, nutmeg and fennel are also used but they are slightly less common.
In the winter of 2011, Brion and I traveled Turkey for a month. We were meeting with the Trafalgar tour group in Istanbul. Arriving a day early gave us time to ‘snoop’ around a bit. Next to our hotel was a ‘Starbucks’, so we went in. When Brion ordered my coffee, they gave me a ‘Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte’ by mistake. That (pumpkin) chai flavor was just incredible. I have been addicted to it ever since.
A stay in Istanbul would not be complete without a traditional and unforgettable boat excursion up the Bosphorus, that winding strait that separates Europe and Asia. Its shores are a mixture of past and present, grand splendor and simple beauty. Modern hotels stand next to shore-front wooden villas, marble palaces in contrast to rustic stone fortresses and elegant compounds neighboring small fishing villages. Since Turkey actually straddles two separate continents, its culture features strong elements and traditions from both east and west. At that point in time, we found Turkey a relaxed country to travel in which made our time there very enjoyable.
These crescent rolls are a shortcut to making the classic cinnamon rolls using cream cheese pastry and that incredible flavor of the chai spice. Yum!
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Chai Cinnamon Crescents
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Instructions
Chai Spice Filling
Whisk together all chai spices with brown sugar. Set aside.
Crescents
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. With a pastry blender, cut in cream cheese & shortening until mixture resembles coarse peas. Stir in milk. On a lightly floured work surface, knead dough gently about 20 times.
Form dough in a ball then roll out into a 14-inch circumference. Spread butter over the surface of dough then spread spice/sugar combo (all but 1 tsp needed for drizzle) evenly over the butter.
Cut circle into 12-14 equal wedges. Roll each wedge from the outside edge to form a crescent shape. Slightly curve each one & place on baking sheet.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until pastry is baked. Remove from oven & place on wire cooling rack.
Drizzle
In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese & butter until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp chai spice mix, powdered sugar, salt & vanilla. Beat until well combined then add enough milk to make a drizzle consistency. When crescents are cool, drizzle & serve.
September is the bridge between summer and fall. The beginning of the fall season is just around the corner so it’s time to transition meals between the summer and fall. Turn the oven back on to embrace the changing season. For many, this means baking, but there’s also sautéing and slow roasting, braising and boiling.
It’s National Chicken Month which gives Canadians from coast to coast another reason to celebrate their favorite protein. It’s the time to cook and eat all sorts of chicken dishes in salute of all the hard-working Canadian farm families that raise the chicken we love.
This recipe for skillet chicken with grapes and caramelized onions is an easy recipe that makes a perfect pair for a crisp green salad, quinoa, or fresh bread. Quinoa is still very much a small niche crop in Canada. The search for seed to produce quinoa varieties that can reliably flourish in Canada continues, and it is entrepreneurs as well as research scientists who are leading these efforts. Quinoa is a cool-season crop and is particularly sensitive to heat, which limits the areas of potential commercial production in Canada.
Its popularity skyrocketed in 2006/7 when restaurants began featuring this ancient grain on their menus, and it quickly won over people’s taste buds with its unique flavor and texture profile.
Serving quinoa with this chicken meal really makes it special.
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Skillet Chicken w/ Grapes & Caramelized Onions
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Instructions
Caramelized Onions
Heat butter over medium low heat in a heavy ovenproof skillet. Add the onions cook for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. When the onions are a deep golden color, remove from the pan and set aside.
Chicken Thighs
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Combine the flour, salt, chili powder, thyme, allspice, & black pepper. Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
In the same pan as the onions, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add each piece of chicken & fry for a few minutes until golden brown; flip & cook for a few more minutes. Transfer to a plate (it will not be fully cooked at this point, just browned – it will finish cooking in the oven).
Turn the heat down & let the oil cool off a little bit. Add the wine – this will definitely bubble & sizzle! Add the broth & simmer until the mixture is thickened slightly. Add the onions & chicken to the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, add the grapes, baste with the sauce & bake for another 5-10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Recipe Notes
- To make without using wine:
- Use 3/4 cup chicken broth (instead of the 1/3 cup wine & 1/4 cup broth). Add remaining flour (leftover from dredging chicken).
- Make a roux with excess oil in skillet & dredging flour.
- Add chicken broth & cook until a sauce forms.
- Add the onions & chicken to the pan & bake as directed above.
Several years ago, Brion and I came across a deli we had never noticed before. It was called Chachi’s which proved to be a great find. After checking out the menu we decided on what they called a Cran & Brie Sandwich. OMG .. it was so good! Since then, we have had them numerous times so of course I had to see if I could come up with a copycat version.
Chachi’s Deli is a popular chain started in Calgary, Alberta and now has over 20 locations across BC, Alberta & Manitoba. The concept serves sandwiches with local ingredients, in a contemporary style butcher shop environment. They also serve mac ‘n’ cheese as well as other comfort food offerings. Known for sourcing high-quality ingredients from local partners, Chachi’s has built a reputation for delicious fast food and is raising the bar for ‘mall food’ although some find it a bit pricey.
In December 2006, the first Chachi’s opened in TD Square in downtown Calgary. Derek Brock and Jason Cunningham started the company because they felt there was a need in the marketplace for a premium sandwich offering, above what was being offered by the sub giants. The question that they were asking themselves was … what would happen if you made a sandwich with the best local ingredients possible? That’s how the first Chachi’s sandwich was made and that’s how the company started.
Derek Brock and Jason Cunningham first met over 20 years ago while working as managers at Starbucks Coffee. After forming a strong friendship, they partnered to open the first ever Jugo Juice in 1998. The Jugo Juice brand was a pioneer in the smoothie and juice industry and has since grown to a national chain with stores across the country.
Chachi’s Cran & Brie sandwich consists of roast turkey breast, brie, cranberry chutney, mayo, arugula, granny smith apple & rosemary. Here is my copycat version which I’m sure will never quite match the original but …..
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Copycat Chachi's Cran & Brie Sandwich
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Instructions
Ciabatta Rolls
In a small bowl, combine yeast & 1/4 tsp sugar. Add lukewarm water set aside until frothy.
In the bowl of your food processor or mixer (with dough hook), add flour, salt, remaining tablespoon of sugar and rosemary. Pulse once or twice to mix.
When yeast is foamy, with mixer running, pour the liquid into dry ingredients. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, continuing to mix until dough comes together in a ball. Add a little more flour if necessary, but your dough should by very sticky.
Turn dough out onto floured surface & knead until smooth & elastic, about 20 times. Shape into ball & place into oiled bowl. Cover loosely & place in a draft-free, warm area.
When dough has doubled in size, turn onto lightly floured surface & knead just a few times to deflate. Do not over knead. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces & shape into 6-inch long rolls. Place rolls on parchment paper. Press down & outward to flatten them to about 1-inch thickness. Cover loosely with plastic wrap which has been sprayed with cooking oil spray & set in a warm place until doubled in size.
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When rolls have risen & oven is hot, Remove plastic wrap, poke top of rolls with fingers to create slight indentations. Drizzle olive oil lightly & evenly over rolls. Sprinkle with coarse salt & dried rosemary if you wish.
Slide parchment onto baking sheet bake for 20-25 minutes, until light golden brown.
Cranberry Chutney
Place all chutney ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer & cook on low heat until cranberries pop & fruit is soft, about 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings or sweetness to your taste. Remove from heat & cool slightly.
Place chutney in a food processor & pulse a few times to puree ever so slightly. I like it to still have a nice texture but your not seeing specific chunks of apple.
Assembly
Slice the ciabatta rolls in half lengthwise. On the bottom half of each, spread cranberry chutney & top with deli roast turkey slices. Layer brie cheese over the turkey. Next lay slices of Granny Smith apple. On the top halves of the ciabatta rolls squeeze some mayo.
Place all prepared bottom & top halves of the rolls in a toaster oven to toast slightly & melt the brie cheese. When slightly toasted & brie is nice & melted, remove from toaster oven & top with arugula & bits of fresh rosemary (if you wish).
Recipe Notes
- Brion & I used a 'smoky bacon mayo' on our sandwiches & it was real good!
While there’s still time to enjoy summer, it’s definitely prime time for eating some satisfying summer squash.
Zucchini, also known as courgetti, belongs to the same family as pumpkin. The most widely known version is green, though golden varieties exist too, which are yellow or orange.
While zucchini is treated as a vegetable in the culinary sphere, it’s technically the fruit of the zucchini flower (which can also be consumed).
Scallops are buttery, delicious, and easily likeable. This special kind of seafood has won our hearts in the casual and fine dining setting. We continue to ask ourselves how we can enhance the flavor of this seafood treat even more. Since scallops are briny and sweet with a relatively subtle flavor profile, they’ll complement everything from crunchy sweet corn to zippy citrus salads and summer or winter squash.
They’re one of the more sustainably sourced seafood because they are typically harvested from places, they are endemic to. This means that scallops don’t feed off other marine life unnaturally and they’re not placed in areas foreign to them.
I think you will find this scallop and zucchini quiche is nice served as a hot or cold summer entrée.
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Scallop & Zucchini Quiche
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Ingredients
Scallop & Zucchini Filling
Ingredients
Scallop & Zucchini Filling
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Instructions
Pastry
In a small bowl, combine sour cream & ice water; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar & salt. Using a pastry blender or fingertips, cut in butter until mixture resembles both coarse crumbs & small peas. Sprinkle the cold sour cream mixture over dough, 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it.
After you have added all the sour cream mixture, dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed; if not add additional cold water, 1 tsp at a time. DO NOT overwork dough. Press dough into a disk & wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Filling
In a saucepan, fry bacon until cooked but not real crisp. Remove bacon & place on paper towel to drain. In the same saucepan, sauté onions, zucchini mushrooms & garlic in remaining bacon drippings until tender but not over cooked. Add scallops during the last few minutes of sautéing. Remove from pan & combine with bacon; cool slightly.
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Grate cheese. Whisk together eggs, milk, Old Bay seasoning, salt & pepper. Halve the cherry tomatoes.
Roll out pastry to fit a 9-inche quiche pan. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with uncooked beans or rice. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven, remove the beans (or rice) & paper. Sprinkle half of the grated cheddar on the quiche shell. Place filling mixture on top; form a ring of tomato halves around the outside edge. Sprinkle with remaining cheese then pour milk mixture over the quiche.
Sprinkle half of the grated cheddar on the quiche shell. Place filling mixture on top; form a ring of tomato halves around the outside edge. Sprinkle with remaining cheese then pour milk mixture over the quiche.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until set.
