SPICE with SUGAR — theCULINARYIST

SPICE

/spīs/

1. an aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor food

SUGAR

/ˈSHo͝oɡər/

1. a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink.

2. make more agreeable or palatable

3. term of endearment or an affectionate form of address

My favorite time of the year is HERE!! There’s a chill in the air that requires a scarf and jacket; it even smells different~! After living in the Pacific Northwest, the South, and NYC, I always look forward to even the slightest indications of the weather changing in SoCal (Los Angeles). And food is a great way to bring on the feels of Autumn. It’s when it’s socially accepted to be a bit lazier, eat heavier foods, and pack on a few pounds…you know, for Winter survival.

It isn’t uncommon for me to be longing for Autumn or humming holiday songs mid-summer, especially when I smell or eat something that have certain spices. Cinnamon, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cloves, saffron…list goes on. SPICE with SUGAR is my way of bringing some seasonal cheer to my East Coast friends living in LA.

Roasted Corn & Jalapeño Pepper Cheddar Corn Bread
Pumpkin Chicken Pot Pie
Stuffed Steak Pinwheel – provolone cheese, prosciutto, arugula
Roasted Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds
Candy Lace Apple Pop bites with an “Autumn’s Kiss”

simple ingredients make a great meal!!

bone and all~

yes, it’s more work but chicken with skin and on the bone keeps in the flavors and juices more. It’s worth it. Coat & massage EVOO, salt+pepper, garlic, onion powder, parsley, rosemary into the chicken breast. Set aside to let all the flavors infuse

there’s no such thing as too much garlic!! unless you’re a vampire…

In a deep pot on medium heat, saute largely chopped carrots, celery & onions in oil until translucent & lightly brown

place the chicken breasts into the pan. Brown on both sides then cover with a lid and lower the heat. Cook for about 30 minutes and remove to cool. Once cooled to the touch, remove the meat from the skin/bones and chop the chicken into a separate bowl.

Roux...very good place to start

in a pan on high heat, saute chopped onions & garlic in butter (1-1/2 sticks or so) until translucent. Add 3/4 cup flour incrementally while mixing. It’s going to look too dry but it’ll be fine once the broth is added.

add in approx. 5 cups of chicken broth…and whisk whisk whisk until smooth. If you like your filing to be more like chowder, put in less broth. Add and test out as you go~

add chopped carrots, celery & chicken to the mix. I generally don’t like soft mushy vegetables so I add in the veggies at this time…cooking it for about 20 minutes. It’ll lightly cook and it’ll cook again when placed into the oven later. It’s all up to you~

what represents Autumn more than pumpkins?!? Pumpkins AND pot pie~ be still my stomach!! We’re using pie pumpkins for the higher sugar content (hence why they’re baked into pies) flavor and perfect size for serving.

carefully cut the tops off and pull out all the guts!! So slimy and theraputic~

who knew that small pie pumpkins housed so many seeds??

all this from just 2. Wash them away from all the stringy pulp and towel dry them for later. I found that the easiest way of cleaning them was to put them into a very large/deep bowl, fill it with water & massage the pulp off. The freed seeds will float to the top.

pre-seasoning

season the skirt steak with EVOO, freshly minced garlic, salt+pepper, onion powder, parsley, rosemary & thyme. Set aside for infusion.

Coat the insides of the pumpkins with EVOO, salt+pepper & minced rosemary. Cover the entire pumpkin with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees in the oven. Remove and let sit for about 10 minutes then uncover to cool.

time to make the steak pinwheel!

lay the pre-seasoned skirt steak flat on a surface & layer on the provolone cheese, proscuitto & arugula.

from the edge closest to you, roll the steak & layers. Remember, the layers will shift as it’s being rolled up so make sure you tuck and roll the ingredients.

after it’s all rolled up, you can use butcher’s twine to tie the steak so that the shape keeps while cooking. I had forgotten mine so I had to improvise and use skewers (cutting to necessary lengths). It worked better than I had thought and was very easy to take out.

not a baker

So…I don’t bake. It’s too much of a science to me and I always fail at it. Need to practice more but for tonights meal, the corn bread comes from a lovely box from Trader Joe’s. Add in 1 egg, milk & oil then mix and voila! There’s the extent of my baking skills.

a bit of spice

Add in chopped jalepeno peppers and sharp cheddar cheese.

in the meantime...

while everything is cooking/baking, I get ready for dessert! Using a melon baller, scoop out small balls from a peeled granny smith apples. I found that I can get about 4-5 per apple.

using a candy thermometer, bring 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of corn syrup, 1/2 cup of water and vanilla extract (to your liking) in a pot on high heat.

Take the pot off the heat when the thermometer reads around 290 degrees. Yes, the thermometers calls out 300 degrees for hard candy but even off the heat source, the temp goes up higher for a bit. Keep an eye on it…it may seem to take a bit of time but once it reaches around 225, it jumps up quickly to 300.

FAIL~

So…I thought it would be good to pre-make the candy apple bites ahead of time and found that the candy dissolved fairly quickly. Since the apple was peeled, then it got dipped into the hot candy, the apple got cooked. The sweating process made the hard candy coating dissolve. Funnily enough, I had the disgraced apple and it tasted like cooked apple pie!!

more improvising

decided that the cut out apples should be covered in chocolate instead, with a candy accessory. Keep scrolling and you’ll see the end product~

The pumpkins are filled with the pot pie filling, openings covered with puff pastry, brush on the egg wash and baked for 20-25 minutes until golden brown at 375 degrees.

Steaks are grilled on a hot pan (approx. 2-3 minutes) until brown on each side. Place into the oven for about 15 minutes…depending on how well you like your steak. Keep in mind that the skirt steak is thin so it doesn’t take much to cook all the way through.

my serving skills~

dinner is served! bring on the convo~

pumpkin seeds are covered in melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. Then roasted in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until crispy. Once cooled down, it becomes like a brittle!!

I want candy!!

and to end the evening…here’s my candy laced chocolate covered apple bites and an “Autumn’s Kiss”. Perfectly mixed cranberry apple juice, fresh OJ (orange juice), Everclear & Disorrono~ YUM!! Perfect Autumn pairing

a beautiful way to end a meal

Perfectly timed, as if by the cooking saints, I got to meet one of Francis/RJ’s east coast friend Mikee, who was forced (hopefully not too harshly) to become a taste tester for our Autumn meal. It was great to have someone who’s currently living in Boston to join in our festive meal and give us his thoughts on the season, food, friends & life. It really is amazing how people, whatever the level of familiarity, can connect through smell & taste. And TASTE we did!! As much as I enjoyed cooking this meal, I loved eating the foods and having great conversations with new+old friends. The flavors and dishes made it feel so cozy, warm, and for a moment it made me feel like I was back living in NYC where the wind is chillier & I could almost expect snow to start quietly falling outside on this Saturday night.

Thank you Mikee for being such a wonderful addition and hope you enjoyed the meal!! Always appreciative of Francis, RJ & Jordan for always being great hosts and fr-amily!! A special thank you to RJ for his artistic eye and beautiful photography (you can get more info at www.typeintypeout.com).

Ever grateful to myTERI for being so supporting and encouraging on my journey to culinary happiness.

Happy meals and onward to our next food adventure!!

theCULINARY·IST