Put Pumpkin in Your Chili (and Make this Cake)!

We're well into fall, and I know I'm not the only one spending more time in the kitchen, baking and making pots of stew.  Complex aromas floating through the house, radiant heat from a hot oven, and the first bite of spicy chili topped with stringy cheese and cool sour cream, or, the first bite of a rich apple cake that is so moist it hardly holds its shape...all fine reasons to relish the traditional pairing of fall and food.  If you're looking for some new foods to try this fall, might I offer a few tasty suggestions.

I went to my favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com, and did a search for gingerbread waffles.  I often get an idea in my head of something that would be awesome to eat, then I search for it on allrecipes.com.  I can't remember one time that I didn't find a recipe for exactly the idea I dreamt up.  The gingerbread waffles had that perfect mix of bite and sweetness that comes from sugar, molasses, and ginger.  They were dense to chew and a deep brown color.  Topped with melty butter and warm maple syrup, the stack on the center of the table shrunk and shrunk until our bellies had sufficiently filled to the brim.  The batch was so big, we took some over to our neighbors, one of our favorite things to do with the leftovers of a particularly delectable dish.  Don't keep all that good stuff to yourself!  Here's the link to the recipe I used (I doubled it and used white whole wheat flour):  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gingerbread-Waffles-2/Detail.aspx.  I didn't have allspice, so I just looked it up online and made it from spices I had, and I didn't have cream of tartar, so I just used some baking powder in its place.  There are a few other similar recipes with slight variations, so if you decide to go for it, check all the options for what suits your family's tastes or ingredients you have on hand.

While searching for the waffle recipe, I saw another one highlighted on the home page.  The title caught my attention:  Pumpkin Turkey Chili.  Hmmm... I love pumpkin.  I love chili.  The combo enticed me.  This sounded right down my alley.  I looked over the ingredients, read the reviews, found that others had posted several recipes which I examined, then I gave it a go. 

I decided it was one of those dishes that had enough novelty that it ought to be shared.  It was delicious, it was healthy, it was easy, and it was satisfying.  Using typical chili ingredients and spices, it tasted like chili, but using turkey made it leaner than using beef.  Adding pumpkin thickened and darkened it up, and the taste was so subtle that no one would guess it was there without being told.  The texture was thick, the veggies added color and crunch, and the corn gave each bite a little pop.  I have enough ingredients to make another batch, and this time I'll leave out the corn, only because I'm not used to corn in my chili.  Some reviews said it was sort of bland, so I added one jalapeno, hoping it wouldn't be too hot for Levi, who does like spicy food, and I added some Lawry's seasoned salt.  Next time, I'll definitely use two jalapenoes, but I wouldn't change much else.  Give it a try!  It's fun to use seasonal ingredients in new and healthy ways.

In the spirit of fall food talk, I have to share one more recipe.  We went apple picking in October, a great northeastern tradition and big fun for kids and grown-ups alike.  We brought home a bag full of Macintosh apples, and I was sufficiently equipped to try many favorite dishes.  One was my Aunt Nimi's absolutely delectable Apple Cinnamon Puffs:  apple slices in a sugary syrup topped with homemade biscuit-type breading with butter, cinammon, and more sugar.  I cannot fully express how scrumptious this is.  Actually, that was a digression and was not the recipe I was going to mention.  Sorry!  If you do want this recipe, let me know. 



From Pillsbury's
"Easy Weeknight Meals"

The other apple recipe I made is awesome.  If you are looking for that great dessert to take to a pot luck, try this Glazed Fresh Apple Cake.  It is so easy.  It's almost wrong how easy it is.  It uses cake mix, and it's sure to be a crowd pleaser.  With about 5 apples, pudding, and cinnamon in the cake itself, it stands on its own pretty well.  But then you top it with a glaze of butter, brown sugar, and a touch of apple juice that all run down and into the warm cake, and it just melts in your mouth.  I used some of the Macintosh apples from apple picking, but I prefer it with Granny Smiths.  I get so many requests for this cake, usually from men.  It's from a Pillsbury cookbook, and as I cannot find it online, here's the recipe:

CAKE
3 cups finely chopped peeled apples (about 4-5 medium apples)
1 (1 lb. 2.25-oz.) pkg. moist yellow cake mix
1 (3.4-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding and pie filling mix
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs

GLAZE
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut up (yes, everyone, that is one whole stick!) 
1/4 cup apple juice

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan (if you don't have one of these, just use what you have!).  In large bowl, combine all cake ingredients; beat at low speed until moistened.  Beat 2 minutes at high speed.  (I think the two minutes at high speed really matter.  They cause the pudding to thicken up a bit.)  Pour batter into greased and floured pan.
2.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 - 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 15 minutes.
3.  In medium saucepan, while cake is cooling, combine all glaze ingredients.  Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Boil 1 minute.  Reserve 1/4 cup glaze; keep warm.
4. With cake still in pan, pour remaining glaze over warm cake between cake and edges of pan so glaze runs down sides of cake.  Let stand 15 minutes.
5. Invert cake onto serving plate; remove pan.  Slowly pour reserved 1/4 cup glaze over top of cake.  If desired, sprinkle cake with powdered sugar (I've never done this; seems like you can have too much of a good thing!).  Serve warm or cool.

If you eat the whole thing, you will gain 500 pounds and get fat.  If you eat just a slice or two, I believe you'll actually lose weight due to the energy you spend thinking about how amazingly delicious it is. 

Have fun and let me know how they turn out!