Ginger-Spiced Roasted Pumpkin & A Good Cook Twitter Party!

I am loving being a kitchen expert and blogger for Good Cook. I have the pleasure of playing with lots of great items and reviewing them. Recently we were sent a box filled with all of these amazing tools to help us get through the Thanksgiving holiday with items like a roasting pan, turkey platter, turkey injector, brine bag, and SO much more! Are you interested in winning this and more? If so keep on reading.

Come Join Me, Good Cook, TheFrugalMom and other Good Cook Kitchen Experts! The Ultimate Thanksgiving Twitter Party, Monday, November 25, 2013 at 6:00 pm to 7:00pm EST On Twitter with hashtag #Thanksgivingtips.

Join in as we talk about everything Thanksgiving from turkey prep to decorating the table.  Plus get a chance to win a special gift and one of three $200 Thanksgiving Baskets that will arrive in time for your dinner. Be among the first 500 to RSVP by November 23, 2013 and receive a free set of Turkey Lifters. Click here RSVP.

All of the experts were asked to create a delicious pumpkin dish to share with everyone. I’m not the biggest sweets fan so I went for a savory dish and really…it could be two dishes in one.  I work at a natural foods store here in Rhode Island – it is an awesome little shop owned by and amazing couple who have become like family. All produce is organic – and as often as it can be, local. There are no artificial colors, sweeteners, HFCS, or GMO’s anywhere in the store! We also have (in my opinion) the best selection of gluten-free and allergen friendly items on the island. Needless to say I get a bit spoiled working here, and I hope wherever I end up next I can find a place like this. One of the items that we brought in for the holiday season was ginger curd. When walking past it yesterday I knew I had to incorporate it some how…I could have easily done a pie with this but again, I wanted savory. So I bought that and a pumpkin and headed home after my shift to create a delicious side dish that is suitable for vegetarians as well. I cut up the pumpkin using the Pumpkin Scoop (available at walmart) and the Good Cook Brownie Pan roasted it off with a delicious glaze made from the ginger curd, and the house smelt amazing! Best part is – you can puree this up with a little bit of stock (vegetable or chicken) and it makes a delicious soup as well…like I said, two recipes in one!

The Pumpkin Scoop is awesome – Its round with one edge being smooth and another edge that is serrated, and the handle has a serrated knife it in. The scoop is also great for removing the seeds and cleaning out other various squashes as well, and of course for pumpkin carving. The Brownie Pan is non stick and is just wonderful…nothing and I mean nothing stuck to this thing (as with most non-stick items wash by hand, it is not dishwasher safe. This helps maintain the quality and longevity of the pan).  Check out the recipe below

Ginger-Spiced Roasted Pumpkin

Ingredients

• 1 2-3 pound Pumpkin
• 1/4 cup Ginger Curd
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (all depends on your spice level)

Method of Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Cut pumpkin in half
3. Using the pumpkin scoop, remove the seeds (roast or discard)
4. Cut pumpkin into quarters and peel skin off and discard
5. Dice pumpkin into 1 inch cubes and set aside
6. In a large bowl mix together the ginger curd, olive oil, slat, cumin, and cayenne pepper (adjust seasoning to taste), mix until well combined
7. Add diced pumpkin and toss to evenly coat.
8. Add the pumpkin to the brownie pan and roast for 25 minutes
9. Remove from oven and gently toss pumpkin
10. Return to oven and roast for an additional 20-25 minutes or until browned.
11. Serve warm and enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored review – I was provided products for review from Good Cook. Please note that the opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by outside sources of any kind.

Chai Pumpkin Cheesecake

I know that pumpkin flavored everything is everywhere right now but I received some amazing spices from The Spice House for a 37 Cooks challenge and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make another pumpkin recipe. This one combines two of my favorite fall beverages…a Tazo Chai Tea and Pumpkin Spice Latte. All I did was take my pumpkin cheesecake recipe and added a little bit of the The Spice House Chai seasoning – perfect combination. Great fall recipe and if made in the cupcake format (see below) they are a suitable portion size! Try these out instead of your traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

Chai Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

2 cups of gluten free gingersnap crumbs

6 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 8oz packages of 1/3 fat cream cheese – softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 15oz can of organic pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

1  teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 teaspoon chai spice

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins with paper liners. I only have one regular cupcake tin and an mini cupcake tin, so I used both.

Crust:

Crumble the ginger snaps either in a plastic ziplock back with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the brown sugar and butter to the crumbled ginger snaps in a medium bowl and mix until all crumbs are moist.

Scoop about one table spoon into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down (I used the bottom of one of my spice jars…it fits perfectly for the regular tins, for the mini tin I used the back of my coffee scoop).

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, let cool in pan on wire rack.

Filling:

In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth, add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, pumpkin spice, chai seasoning, and salt. Mix well. Add one egg at a time. Continue to mix until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.

Scoop the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners. I used the same coffee scoop that I used to press the crust into the bottom to do this. It was the perfect size – three scoops for the regular tin and 1 1/2 – 2 for the mini ones.

For the regular tins bake for 40 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through. For the mini tins bake for 30 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through.Cool in the pan on a wire rack until completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least six hours.

Top with whipped cream, caramel sauce or candied pecans if you wish. I hope you enjoy these tasty little treats!

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is here! My favorite time of year. At school we have a Starbucks on each campus I see everyone enjoying the pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffees etc. and it drives me crazy that I can just run in and grab one of those delicious looking muffins with the cream cheese on them…you know the ones I’m talking about!

I am always stuck for breakfast ideas during the week because I’m usually up by 4am and out of the house by 5 so making a big breakfast or anything just doesn’t work for me. I needed something new, something besides my lovely quinoa muffins, which are delicious but its time to mix it up a bit.

So here is my attempt at those beautiful looking pumpkin muffins that you are seeing out right now – we should all be able to enjoy the lovely tastes of the fall, gluten-free or not. I gave one of these to a co-worker and she said you can’t tell they are gluten-free so I’m going to say that this was a success! These are super moist and delicious. I think it has just the right amount of spice to it.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins with Maple Agave Cream Cheese Filling

Muffins:

1 Cup Brown Rice Flour (Bob’s Red Mill)

1/3 Cup Potato Starch (Bob’s Red Mill)

2 Tablespoons plus 2 Teaspoons of Tapioca Starch (Bob’s Red Mill)

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

3/4 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum

1 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

3/4 Teaspoon Allspice

1/2 Teaspoon fine Sea Salt

2 Large Eggs

3/4 Cup Sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners)

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

1/4 Cup Almond or Soy Milk

1 Cup Pureed Pumpkin (Fresh or Canned – not the pumpkin pie filling if you use can)

Maple Cream Cheese Filling

4 Ounces 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese – room temperature

1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners)

1 Tablespoon Maple Agave Nectar (Wholesome Sweeteners)

Method of Prep:

• Preheat oven to 350•
• Line a cupcake pan or muffin pan with liners and set aside
• In a bowl add brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt – mix until well combined.
• In another bowl add the Sugar and Eggs and mix until smooth.
• Add the oil, milk, and pumpkin puree – mix until very smooth.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet slowly and mix until fully blended.
• Fill each muffin liner about 3/4 of the way with the pumpkin mixture, set aside.

• For the filling: In a stand mixer (or small bowl and use an electric hand mixer) add the cream cheese and beat until smooth – about 1 minute.
• Add in the powdered sugar and beat well.
• Finish by adding the maple agave nectar and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin tin – you can leave it as it is, or press them down a bit, or even add a little bit more pumpkin over the cream cheese. Either way you do it, its delicious!
• Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center with just a few crumbs on it.
• Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
• Enjoy!
• Store in the refrigerator!

Pumpkin Seeds

I’ve carved two of my three pumpkins for the season. When carving the second one I thought I should save the seeds and roast them…something I’ve never done before. I had no clue what I was doing but I guessed and they came out pretty darn good I must say. A tasty little snack!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

When cleaning out the pulp and seeds from your pumpkin before carving it separate the seeds from the pulp.  I think the best way to do this is to run them under cold water and discard the pulp.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, lightly oil the seeds and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Roast in a pre-heated oven set at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  About half way through mix the seeds around so they don’t over cook on one side.  Cool and enjoy.  Store in an airtight container.

Below are some pictures of the pumpkins so far…only one more to carve and not sure what it will be just yet…