Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

As previously mentioned, I'm in the Fall spirit lately, cooking up a storm of pumpkin flavored yumminess. I decided to try making these, as it's always nice to have a unique brownie/bar in the repertoire. I've been loving all things "cheese-cakey" lately, so this sounded very good to me. Well, it is good. Not terrific, not out of this world, but a good solid flavor. My big issue with this recipe, is that the finished product was super moist and sticky, to the point of looking sort of horrible and sloppy. Basically, they were supposed to be baked in a 10x15." Um, does anyone have a pan this size? I baked it in a 9x13, and it was much more like a cake, than a brownie. Also, there was so much cream cheese topping, it was nearly impossible to create a pretty swirl (yes, I'm a sucker for pretty swirls). So anyway, the moral of the story is, "Tastes great, less pretty." Meh. Oh well. I have about 20 of them in my freezer. Maya loved them, but now she has no interest in the leftovers. I guess I'll be eating them for the next several months. I wish someone else would make these, because I can't understand why they were a sticky, ugly, tasty mess.



This is how they were supposed to look:


The recipe...

Please try this, and tell me how they turn out.

Swirled Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bars


These spiced pumpkin-cream cheese bar cookies with a creamy, tangy swirl are perfect for Halloween or any autumn get-together. You can chill them airtight for up to 3 days.


Yield: Makes 24 bars


6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature (yes, I used reduced fat cheese. Okay, I'm zipping up my flame suit, and getting ready for everyone to tell me that this is why they turned out sloppy...)

1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.

3. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.

4. Bake in a 350� oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per bar.


CALORIES 164 (38% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 4.2g); CHOLESTEROL 45mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23g; SODIUM 130mg; PROTEIN 2.6g; FIBER 0.4g

Sunset, NOVEMBER 2003

Pumpkin Soup - 2 Ways...

First of all, I do not understand why it's "unacceptable" to soup in the Spring and the Summer. Ridiculous. To make matters worse, people go pumpkin crazy in the Fall, and yet, barring a pumpkin shortage, one can buy canned pumpkin in the store, during all seasons. So what's this pumpkinsanity, during the month of October? I mean, how many people actually cook with fresh pumpkin? Seriously. If you cook with fresh pumpkin, leave me a comment, because I am dying to know if this is really a trend.

Okay. Rant over.



Now, onto the cooking. For the first time ever, I cooked with fresh pumpkin. My close friend, former roomie, and now neighbor to my parents, sent me a Harvest Pumpkin Soup recipe, which looked delicious, though I was quite intimidated by the use of fresh pumpkin and fresh butternut squash in the dish. In the past, I've tried cutting a butternut squash, and it was both messy, and extremely difficult. My knives are okay, but truth be told, I need a new set pretty badly, because cutting the pumpkin was a beast. Maya helped me by doing the "mixing," and we roasted some delicious pumpkin seeds after our project. Anyway, Liz's gave me some roasting tips, which really helped, and I ended up modifying her recipe, because Kevin is very skeptical about recipes with dairy in them. I found an alternate recipe, from Cooking Light (of course), and I married the two together, in the hopes of creating a masterpiece. Basically, I took Liz's recipe, and cut down on the butter, subbed skim milk for the cream, and did a little finagling of the spice combination.

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Okay, so the end result was a deliciously thick, yet smooth soup, that had a perfect blend of sweet cinnamon subtlety, and roasted cumin saltiness. We aren't usually fans of smooth soups, because we adore chunky soups that border on stews (Rachael Ray would call us a "Stoup Family"). This soup is an excellent companion to a grilled cheese (and tomato, of course) sandwich, or a grilled chicken salad. It's very light, and, in my opinion, it wasn't a meal by itself , but that may be because I didn't make it quite as rich as the recipe suggested. If you are in the mood for some tasty, Fall inspired, fresh pumpkin/squash yumminess, you should make this. It's worth the effort, even if you have old, dull knives!




Here is Liz's recipe, including my modifications, from the Roasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash Soup recipe I nabbed from Cooking Light.


Harvest Pumpkin Soup

~2-lb Sugar Pumpkin
~2-lb Kabocha Squash, or Buttercup Squash (I used a butternut squash)
Salt & Pepper
4 Tbsp Butter (salted) (I cut this way down, but I'm not even sure how much I used)
1 cup Sweet Onion, diced (I used 2.5 cups of onion)
1/2 cup Carrots, diced
1/3 cup Celery, diced (My celery was looking sad, so I didn't use it)
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp Tomato Paste (concentrated)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed (I cut this way down, too, but again, not too sure how much)
4 cups Vegetable Broth (I use the little squares that you mix with boiling water)
1 cup Half & Half (I used skim milk, because that's what I had)
I added a 1/4 tsp of pepper, and a 1/4 tsp of cumin
dash of clove at the end (I used allspice instead)

Preheat your oven to 400. Slice the pumpkin and squash from stem to bottom and remove seeds and pulp. Season with S&P and roast on a cookie sheet for 45 – 60 minutes, or until tender. (As Liz suggested, I put the halves face down in casserole dishes, with a dash of water, while they roasted. Yum.)

Ten minutes before the pumpkin and squash are done roasting, in a large stock pot, melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and saute until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add the ginger, cinnamon, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Stir to combine heat over medium until the sugar is dissolved. Add the vegetable stock and bring the pot to a boil. When the pumpkin and squash are tender (pumpkin may be more so than the squash), scoop out all of the flesh and add it to the pot, along with the Hald & Half. Return everything to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out as much as you can of the vegetables and pumpkin and squash, and liquify it using a blender (or if you have an immersion blender, that would be perfect for this). Return the liquefied veggies to the pot. You don’t have to blend the entire pot – just however much you want to that you’re comfortable with the consistency of the soup. When everything is smooth and heated through, taste and add salt or cinnamon as needed.

Pumpkin-Turkey Chili

Didn't I just say, about a week ago, that I would never need another chili recipe, because I had found chili perfection? Well, I guess I lied. I came across this "Pumpkin Chili" recipe, and I was intrigued. In case you didn't know, there was a pretty intense pumpkin shortage last year, and there hasn't been canned pumpkin in the supermarket in close to a year. Just a couple of weeks ago, it finally reappeared in stores, and I stocked up. Yes, I have 10 cans in my basement. Anyway, I've been using it in everything, and I got very excited to use it in our dinner last night. After reading the hundreds of comments about the chili, I adapted the recipe, according to what I thought my family would like. The end result was a really good, solid dish, that my family liked. It was not exceptional, particularly special, or very unique, but it was easy and tasty. I couldn't quite imagine what kind of difference the pumpkin would make, but it was actually a really fun and healthy addition. It adds a very subtle sweetness, and makes for a nice, thick textured chili. The thing is, if you like a salty and spicy chili, that also has that underlying sweetness, you have to doctor the recipe. Anyway, Kevin's first comment about this dish was, "Wow, this is sort of bland, but I like it." Hmmmm. I didn't think it was bland at all, and I liked it too, but I still think the other chili recipe was a little more to my liking.



Maybe you should try this.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (I used red)
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used Rotel, to make it spicy)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash salt
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I didn't use this)
1/2 cup sour cream (or this)

I added:
A can of black beans
A cup of frozen corn
A tsp of cumin

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.