Pumpkin Week - Pumpkin Scones

And so endeth Pumpkin Week. *Cue sad violin*

I have been so inspired and hungry from all the delicious pumpkin recipes this week. They really ran the course - from breakfast with Kirsten's Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, to dinner with Shanna's Pumpkin Risotto, to all manner of desserts and sweets including Mads' Pumpkin Spice Cake and Carrie's Pumpkin Pie Macarons. Be sure to check out the fill list below! I have been so inspired by pumpkin this week, that I've gone out and bought WAY too much pumpkin and now I'm going to have to eat it all. Oh darn. Woops? Can't wait!

To the scones... I was slow on the scone train. They just seemed so boring to me. And, for some reason, I always thought they were terribly complicated. I don't know where I got this impression. I made this batch of scones while having an indepth discussion with my mom about birthing plans. Not my birthing plan - I have nothing to birth right now. This is how rumors get started. About HER plans, from *mumble mumble* years ago. Never mind. If I can assemble while contributing and getting mildly horrified about all the creams that accompany pre and post-birthing side effects, then it is a terribly EASY recipe.

I really didn't think that scones had much taste when I first tried them. They were bricks. Dense. Not much flavor to speak of. Really just a way to get butter and jam into your mouth. But isn't that why we have biscuits? Plus biscuits are moister... right?

Turns out I was eating all the wrong scones. These scones, by Surly Kitchen, and inspired by the great and powerful Starbucks Pumpkin Scones, are tender, and flavorful, and like all things that pumpkin touches, are very moist. That's right, Megan. Moist. These scones are moist. One more time for Megan: MOIST. And just good. Good with butter. Good with Jeanne's Cinnamon Honey Butter. Good devonshire cream. Good with spiced icing. Dipped in coffee. Dipped in leftover donut frosting. Good in your mouth.

Check out all the great posts from this week!
Monday: Kirsten from Comfortably Domestic makes Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
I made Struesel topped Pumpkin Bread

Tuesday: Jeanne from Inside Nana Bread's Head makes Pumpkin Waffles
Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama makes Pumpkin Pie Macarons

Wednesday: Megan from Wanna Be a County Cleaver makes Pumpkin Cheesecake
Allison from Decadent Philistines Take Over The World makes Pumpkin Marshmallows
Shanna from Pineapple and Coconut makes Pumpkin Risotto

Thursday: Anne from From My Sweet Heart makes Pumpkin Donuts
Kat from Tenaciously Yours makes Marbled Gingersnap Tart
Mads from La Petite Pancake makes Pumpkin Spice Cake with Frosting

Friday: Madeline from Munching in the Mitten makes Savory Pumpkin Tart
Lauren from Climbing Grier Mountain makes Pumpkin Mousse
Kirsten from Comfortably Domestic makes Pumpkin Kiss Cookies

Saturday: Monica from The Grommom makes Pumpkin Ice Cream

Pumpkin Scones
Makes 12

Adapted from Surly Kitchen's Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
6 Tbl cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
3 Tbl buttermilk
1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 375*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Whisk together.
3. Add the cut butter into the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is a coarse texture throughout.
4. In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the butter and dry mixture.
6. As the dough forms a ball, turn it onto a floured surface. Fold the dough on itself two or three times. Pat into a large rectangle about 1" thick. (I didn't measure mine, but Surly says hers was about 7" x 11" in size).
7. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in half the long way (hot dog). Cut the dough into thirds along the long side (hamburger?). You should have six triangles. Cut these diagonally.
8. Place the 12 scones on the baking sheet. Try not to have them touch or crowd, but they shouldn't expand too much during baking.
9. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes, or until just starting to brown on top and corners.
10. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Optional Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 scant tsp vanilla extract
About 3 Tbl Soy Milk

1. Mix together. Drizzle lazily over the scones.

Shakshuka!

Let’s talk travel recipes.

Last March, I went to Israel. I had some mind-blowing food. I was absolutely struck by the simplicity and intensity of the regional flavors. Even the flavor of the raw produce had a different (better?) flavor – more concentrated. I can’t really explain the difference. At breakfast we would be offered eggs, potatoes of some fashion, and a fresh salad bar. There was some canned fruit, but mostly fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, salad, olives). I thought it was unusual to have fresh salad with my breakfast (but obviously I tried it). Basically it was like tasting cucumbers for the first time. My English skills are not advanced enough to appropriately describe the flavor explosion that happened in my mouth. And that seemed to happen with everything I tried.

About half-way through the trip, we stopped at our first market. There were baked goods and fresh produce and breads and olives and nuts and spices and ALL THE THINGS. All of them. It was like someone took Pike’s Place Market, put it on steroids, then put Bulked Up Pike’s Place on a flavor binge, and then rounded up Big Fat Pike’s Place’s fat friends and they all got together and staged a sit-in all over Israel. THAT much food. And things. And just… like whoa. (Did I mention I don’t really have the words?)

After visiting a few vendors, and completely gorging on outrageous baked goods (the highlight of the day being the fresh-from-the-oven chocolate rugalach. I could literally write a book on how good this pastry is, but it would be lots of “really really really really really really really good, like you don’t even know how really really really really really really really really really baller moist and delicious it is” and that gets boring in 1 sentence, let alone 200 pages) I set out on a spice mission. It was getting close to our meeting time to head back to the bus, but I happened upon our tour guide and another group leader having a snack just outside the plaza. First of all, the tour guide sent me back out IMMEDIATELY because I had failed to buy any za’atar. When I came back, I was able to try a bite of the left over shakshuka from our leader’s lunch. It was divine. I’d had baked eggs before, but never like this. And paired with the flavorful bread (of course it was flavorful) it was (not to be repetitive) a flavor explosion in MY MOUTH. Later on the bus, our fearless tour guide gave us his own personal recipe on making shakshuka at home. Believe you me, it did not take me almost 6 months to make this dish. In fact, it was one of the first things I made for myself during my stint of funemployment. But I did hoard the recipe and eat lots of it secretly under the table away from you because I didn’t want to admit how much this tomato-loathing Westerner had been shoveling this hand-over-fist. (…Oh and I kept eating it so fast I forgot to take pictures.)

Shakshuka is really a simple, rustic dish. In Israel it was on the menus for all times of day, but it seemed to be mostly a breakfast dish. I’ve eaten it at all times of day and am never mad at it. It’s savory enough to play with dinner - probably a flavor palate most of us Westerners are used to having with dinner. But it’s a great day starter – protein from eggs, fruits from the tomatoes, carbs from the dipping bread, and quick to throw together. The eggs poach right in the sauce, and it’s encouraged to eat directly from the pan it’s cooked in – family style! I recently made this for my family in California – I accommodated a large crowd by cooking the sauce on the stove, then putting it in a bake-ware pan and finishing the eggs in the oven. It took a little longer this way, but was easier than cooking in batches. Everyone, from my gluten-free little cousin, to my picky big cousins, enjoyed it.

Crusty bread is best to dip, but you could probably use just about anything. As a bread connoisseur, I recommend a French loaf or sourdough as your first pick. A focaccia or ciabatta would also be a great.

Shakshuka

Serves 3ish

Adapted from my Israeli tour guide

1 Tbls olive oil

1 Tbls butter

1 small onion, diced (yellow or sweet)

1 tsp salt (ish)

A few cloves of garlic, minced (more or less, depending on your taste. I like ALL OF IT)

28 oz can San Marzano crushed tomatoes (fresh tomatoes are great, too)

A few generous pinches of za’atar (available in exotic spice sections or Middle Eastern markets. Fresh parsley may be replaced)

6 eggs (the fresher, the better – I use farm fresh because I know a guy)

Feta, if you’re getting crazy

1.      Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and butter (you can use just olive oil if you prefer) and allow to heat up. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onion is translucent, but not yet browned.

2.      Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

3.      Add the tomatoes and za’atar (or some parsley – be sure to reserve some). Stir, and then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook without a lid until the sauce reduces slightly. If it sputters, turn down the heat. If it reduces too quickly, losen it with a few spoonfuls of water. Season with salt and pepper.

4.      Add the 6 eggs evenly throughout the pan. Add a lid and cook 5-6 minutes, until the whites are set. You make cook longer if you aren’t wildly about loose yolks.

5.    When the eggs are set, remove from heat. Sprinkle a little feta (to taste) and some za’atar or parsley. Maybe a salad on the side. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and A Seasonal Rant

 I am fully aware that what I'm about to say will be wildly unpopular. That's okay. I've come to terms with it, but I just think it needs to be said! And it's far enough into the holidays and out of fall that I feel the hype has died down enough to avoid getting egged for the following words:

I. Hate. Like, seriously hate. Pumpkin spice lattes.

And here's the biggest reason: I think it's inappropriately named. And I'm serious. To me, the term "pumpkin spice" indicates the same thing that the little jars of "pumpkin spice" in the spice section mean: cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc. What Starbucks and the look-a-likes are actually serving is Pumpkin Pie Lattes. Without the crust. Maybe Pumpkin Custard Lattes? But pumpkin spice is literally (yes, literally) spices used to spice your pumpkin pie. And if that's what the lattes were, then that would be the tastiest thing this side of Nutella crepes. But it's not. It's a mug of lies!! That said, I completely respect everyone is enjoys their mug of lies. I don't have to like everything that Starbucks makes. But the very least they could do is rename it, and stop filling me with false hope at every turn.

Was that a bit much? Are you still with me? Wow - congratulations. Seriously - thank you for sitting with me through that rant, I think we're all a little better for it. Go ahead and unfollow me, that's fine. But my premise is valid.

Now, I'll tell what won't fill you with sad and bitter remorse of wasted seasons sat in the office: these pumpkin cinnamon rolls (not pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls - they're appropriately named).

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and didn't change a thing. However, I did have trouble with the rise. I'm not sure if it's the Pacific North West working against me, or that the yeast wasn't fully awake (it was within the expiration date on the label)... I've made them twice and had trouble both times. On the second round, I was making them for family after Thanksgiving and couldn't wait for a longer rise. I thinned the dough with an extra egg, some oil, and some milk to make it into waffle batter. It made fan-TAS-tic waffles. We topped them with the same cinnamon roll icing. The batter made exactly 8 waffles for the group. And exactly 8 cinnamon rolls on the first attempt.

Check out the link here for the printable version of the recipe at Smitten Kitchen's website. These rolls are fantastic. But I need to continue tweaking to get these as fluffy as other rolls I've tried. The flavor is great, though. And perfect for New Year's morning after a night of partying!