The Best Pumpkin Muffins

From Vegan with a Vengeance By Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Reprinted with permission

Warm pumpkin muffins: heaven on earth. Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (Fresh or from a can; don't use pie mix)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a twelve-muffin tin.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, oil, and molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variations:

Fold in a cup of either chopped fresh cranberries or chopped walnuts, or a mixture of the two. 
Abbie’s note: This is my very favorite cold weather recipe. For chocolatey pumpkin bliss, fold in a half cup of chocolate chips.

You can see more recipes from Isa over at Post Punk Kitchen. Be sure to check out her newest cookbook, Appetite for Reduction. 

Glorious Garlic

What garlic is to food, insanity is to art. - Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Garlic, the heart and soul of so many savory dishes, requires some planning on the part of farmers and gardeners. Less than a week after the season end, staff and volunteers at DeLaney Community Farm were putting garlic in the ground for the 2011 season.

Bucket of garlic, ready for planting.

Faatma plugging elephant garlic into the ground.

Letitia follows, tucking in the cloves for winter.

Danielle covers the freshly planted rows with straw.

Kevin, a DeLaney volunteers, assists with straw mulching. Volunteers like Kevin are crucial to DeLaney's success.

With the garlic field ready to go, the DeLaney farm community can look forward to a delicious harvest in 2011. Craving garlic? Celebrate this Thanksgiving with garlic roasted winter squash, a quick, easy, and mouth watering autumn dish:

Garlic Roasted Winter Squash

Makes 2 servings

This recipe is great for smaller squash varieties that can be halved and then eaten as boats. Delicata, acorn, and small butternut squash work well.

1 small winter squash, halved and seeded

4 cloves garlic

Olive oil or butter

Salt

Optional: sage, oregano, or thyme

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the squash halves cut-side up on a baking sheet, and place two whole garlic cloves, and a sprinkle of herbs, if using, in the hollow space of each squash. Brush the flesh of the squash with olive oil or butter and then add about a tablespoon of oil or butter to the hollow space along with the garlic. Sprinkle with salt and roast until squash is tender when poked with a fork, and the garlic is soft and beginning to brown (roasting times depend on squash size). To eat, mash the garlic into the squash with a fork. 

Winter squash is here!

And you can always count on the DeLaney Farm Blog for some great recipes to fill your tummy and warm your heart. Check out Annie's recipe for Mashed Coconut-Ginger Squash, and a recipe from last year for a sage sauce that pairs well with just about every winter squash or root vegetable. 

Mashed Coconut-Ginger Squash
By Annie Miller

Ingredients:

1 large winter squash
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp. chopped ginger
2-3 garlic cloves plus 2-3 garlic cloves minced
olive oil
salt & pepper
fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.  Put on a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Put 1-2 cloves garlic in area where seeds used to be. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until soft when pierced by a fork.  Remove from oven and let cool. Scoop out squash from skin.

Heat olive oil in pan on medium and sauté chopped garlic and ginger until lightly browned.  Turn heat to low and add coconut milk and squash. Once warm, remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh cilantro (optional).

Click here for Annie's full post on eating with the seasons. 

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

This sauce is tasty, simple, and elegant, and is done in about 10 minutes. Serve with pan fried gnocchi, ravioli filled with mushrooms or butternut squash, or serve in the well of oven-roasted winter squash. 

4 T butter (Earth Balance is a great vegan alternative)
8 or so fresh sage leaves

Combine sage and butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Simmer butter and sage until the butter is browned and the sage leaves are slightly crispy. Spoon carefully over hot pasta, winter squash, or roasted root vegetables and serve.  

Winter squash from DeLaney Community Farm, DUG's community supported agriculture project in Aurora.

Herbalicious

Milan Doshi is a chef, the innkeeper of The Queen Anne Bed & Breakfast, and a member of DUG's Board of Directors. He recently taught a class at DeLaney called Cooking with Herbs, and we wanted to share his simple, fragrant recipes with everyone that wasn't able to attend. You can find hard copies of these recipes in the Summer 2010 issue of The Underground News. 

Roasted Potatoes with Fried Sage, Brown Butter Recipe
The nutty flavor of brown butter, coupled with the earthy sage is wonderful. Even just one teaspoon of the brown butter and fried sage provides an amazing amount of flavor to all those potatoes! Have fun with the fried sage brown butter and add it to your pasta or noodle dishes.

• about 2 lbs potatoes, washed, cubed
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste
• handful of fresh sage leaves
• about 2-3 tablespoons butter, if you have clarified butter- even better

1. Preheat oven to Roast 400ºF.

2. In large bowl, toss cut potatoes, about 3 sage leaves (minced) and enough olive oil to coat potatoes. Add salt to taste

3. Place potatoes on sheet pan and roast in oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn potatoes at least once during the roasting period.

4. In frying pan, gently melt butter. Don’t melt the butter too quick, or it will burn.

5. Once butter melts and starts to bubble, add the rest of the sage leaves. Fry sage leaves on both sides, until crispy.

6. Keep an eye on the butter as you fry the sage & the butter browns. Skim as needed (using clarified butter will reduce this step). Take butter off heat when it is nicely brown, think a rich caramel color, and strain the butter to remove any sediment.

7. Toss potatoes with the brown butter and fried sage leaves.

Mint Coconut Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1 - 2 tsp agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp gr black pepper
• Optional: 1 or 2 tsp cashew butter as a thickener

1. Strip the leaves off the mint sprigs until you have about 1/2 cup loosely packed leaves
2. Squeeze the lime and strain the juice
3. Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend on medium speed until well blended
4. Add 1 or 2 tsp cashew butter to thicken if desired
5. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dressing out into a bowl or storage container
6. Store unused dressing in a jar in the fridge for up to 3 days - warm to room temp and shake well before using.

Fresh Tarragon Salad Dressing

• ½ cup Italian parsley leaves, finely minced
• 3 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (This is the time to whip out the good stuff)
• 1 garlic, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground

Shake all of the ingredients together in a jar with a tight fitting lid. If you do not have such a jar then first whisk together all ingredients, adding the fresh herbs at the very end.

Toss the greens & the dressing in a large bowl, serve the salad on separate dish.

Makes enough to dress 4 side salads.

Basil Garden Pesto

• 3 cups fresh basil
• 4-6 cloves garlic
• ½ cup pine nuts
• ½-3/4 cup grated parmesan
• 2/3 cup olive oil, or more

Pulse basil and garlic. Add nuts and cheeses, then slowly add the olive oil.  Blend to the desired consistency, adding more olive oil if desired. Yields approximately 2 cups