Nikki's Test Kitchen

We're back at my parents for like a week and I wanted to take full advantage of my Mom's kitchen.  I have a bundle of recipes I'm wanting to try out, and they're all Fall ones at that, so there's no time like the present.  I was seeing a lot of recipes for soups and chillis everywhere, thus I thought I would experiment with one of my own.  I call it Autumn Harvest Chili  

Really I just dumped anything I thought sounded good into the pot, so I'll try to come up with the measurements and all for it.


Autumn Harvest Chili
1 medium onion - chopped
3 carrots - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped
4 celery hearts - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 butternut squash - cubed and roasted
2 cups stewed tomatoes - (I had homemade, but you could use 2 -15 oz. cans)
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup roasted red peppers (I made these a while back & froze them, roasting your own is easy)
20 oz. can red kidney beans
8 oz. bag of beluga lentils (fully cooked bag from Trader Joe's)
15 oz. can corn
Spices  (Here's where it gets tricky...cause I just start dumping.  I don't measure.  I never feel recipes have enough.)
2 TBS. chili powder
1 TBS. cumin
1 TBS. oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 TBS. marjoram
sea salt to taste
1/2 inch knob of ginger (grated)
1/2 TBS. cinnamon

Directions:
 After you've chopped your onion, carrots, bell pepper, and celery, throw it in a pot with 2-3 TBS. olive oil and 3 cloves minced garlic, and saute.

Meanwhile, cube your butternut squash, removing skin, and toss in olive oil and bake at 400 on a parchment lined cookie sheet for about 20 minutes. 

Once your vegetables are sauted, add stewed tomatoes (undrained), tomato paste, about 1 cup water, beans, lentils, roasted red peppers, corn, butternut squash, and all of your spices.  Cook on low temp for about 45 minutes, just to heat through and allow all of the flavors to meld.

Enjoy!

But I also needed dessert.  After seeing Angela's Thanksgiving line up (she lives in Canada) there was one particular dessert I was eyeballing. 

Me oh my!  These were so delicious!  Check out what all is in this:

Yeah!  Now you're drooling.  Well here's her recipe with a few of my changes:
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Brownie Layer:
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sucanat
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
• 3/4 cup white kamut flour (or white)
• 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
• 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (I used carob)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Pumpkin Pie Layer:
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sucanat
• 3 tbsp almond milk
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)


• a layer of chopped carob chips

Pecan Topping:
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1/3 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a pie pan or muffin tin.
2. For brownie layer: In a stand mixer or by hand, mix together the coconut oil, pumpkin, vanilla,
and sugar until blended well. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking, soda, sea salt
and mix until incorporated. Place mixture in pie pan, or if making cupcakes spoon about 2 TBS. into muffin tin. Wet spatula and spread around evenly so it is smooth.
3. For pumpkin layer: In a large bowl mix together the pumpkin, vanilla, and milk. In a small
bowl, mix together the cornstarch, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add the dry ingredients
to the wet and mix well until all clumps are gone. Now add on top of brownie mixture. Garnish
with grated chocolate
4. For Pecan topping: Mix all ingredients until well combined and sprinkle on top of the pie.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F. Remove from oven and cool for 20-30 minutes and then
carefully remove from tins or serve from pie pan.


I spent all day in the kitchen yesterday and had so much fun making these delicious recipes.  It was perfect. Have you ever experimented in the kitchen or do you have to stick exactly to a recipe?  Any traditions you have every year around this time?

P.S.  I have to confess too...I've been meaning to tell you for a while.  But I'm still a coffee drinker.  I couldn't stay away.

It's just perfection!