Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Posted on October 16, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

This week is flying by y’all! Tonight we are headed to see one of the Kiwi’s favorite bands, the Mountain Goats, and then just one more work day. The Kiwi is taking Friday off, so hopefully we have at least one day without crazy long lines.

Also on Friday, I will be over on the lifestyle blog, Charming Lucy, sharing the recipe for our favorite fall breakfast, Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. Yum!

Today, I thought I’d pop in really quickly to share an easy peasy topping for all of those pumpkin spice goodies you’re baking this month, including those pancakes I know you’re going to be whipping up this weekend.

{P.S. Have y’all made that pumpkin puree yet?! I want to hear about it!}

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds on Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Pancakes from Kiwi and Peach

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
1 tsp honey
big pinch of sea salt
little pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tsp butter

Start heating your pan on medium heat. While thats getting hot, mix your pumpkin seeds, honey, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Make sure it is mixed well or you might get a surprise clump of cayenne pepper. Ouch!

Once the pan is hot, melt the butter and then toss in the seed mixture. Stirring continuously, cook for about 5 minutes or until they are nice and toasted and most have popped. {Oh and watch out, they pop!}

Sage, Lamb, and Ricotta Ravioli with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Posted on October 9, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

The Kiwi and I are currently somewhere in the Sahara desert riding camels. {Clearly, I scheduled this to post.} If you want to keep up with our adventures be sure you’re following us on Instagram and Twitter.

Remember last week when I talked about making my own pasta? I mentioned that it all started because I was dreaming about ravioli. This, my friends, was the ravioli I was dreaming of.

It all started simple enough, flavors started building, and soon here was this idea. And it wouldn’t leave my mind, obsessive. I had to make it. So I did…

It’s earthy, it’s flavorful, and most importantly incredibly satisfying.

Sage, Lamb, and Ricotta Ravioli with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto from Kiwi+Peach

The Pasta
whole wheat pasta dough {I substituted 2 tbsp of the water for fresh pumpkin puree.}

The Stuffing
1/4 of a medium onion
4 ounces {125 grams} ground lamb
1 Tbsp sage
pinch of salt and pepper
1/3 cup walnuts, shelled
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

The Pesto
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/3 cup walnuts, shelled
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Before you get started on the stuffing and the pesto, roll out your pasta dough and go ahead and punch out your ravioli bases and tops. This will make your life a lot easier later. You can just set them to the side for later.

Start heating a pan on medium heat. Go ahead and dice up your onion {the smaller the pieces the better} and when the pan is hot toss them in there. Let them cook for about 5 minutes or until they’re soft and translucent. Add the lamb, using a spoon to break it up into small bits, and then sprinkle it with sage, salt and pepper. Cook for about 7-8 more minutes or until the lamb looks completely cooked. When it’s finished, transfer the mixture to a small mixing bowl.

While the onions and lamb are cooking, shell the walnuts. All in all I used about 12 walnuts. Break out the food processor and grind half of the shelled nuts {1/3 cup} into a meal and add them to the small mixing bowl. Add the ricotta cheese to the mixing bowl as well and then give the whole thing a good stir.

Boil your jug and start heating a large pot on medium high heat. Add the water to the pot and salt the water well.

Grab your ravioli dough and spoon a generous tablespoon of the stuffing onto each of the bases. Cover each base with a top and press the sides together with either your fingers or a fork. Once the water has returned to a boil, drop your raviolis in and let them cook for a quick minute. You’l know they’re finished when they start to float to the top. Drain the water and set the finished ravioli to the side because we need to make the pesto.

Combine all of the ingredients for the pesto in the food processor and grind it until you like the consistency {about 45 seconds on high for me}.

You’re finished. Plate it up and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

Posted on October 4, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

My soup repertoire is pretty limited. I’m not a fan of brothy soups and a while back, I sort of threw the baby out with the bath water. I just stopped making soup. Chili? Absolutely. But soup? Hardly ever.

Last year for our transition into an soup season, starting small I thought I’d try a new chili recipe I’d had my eye on for a while. Chili is a fall staple for us and I know we aren’t the only ones. In my completely biased opinion, I always thought my Mama’s chili was the best in the world. However, it’s magic comes in the form of a packet of seasoning that, apart from things like chili powder and cumin, also contains ingredients I can’t begin to pronounce and certainly don’t have in my kitchen.

Successfully making chili from scratch has been one of my proudest moments of this journey to eliminate processed foods.

And the fact that this delicious, healthy stew takes me back to curling up under a flannel blanket and watching football with my Daddy just like my Mama’s chili does makes it a winner. It’s a keeper y’all.

What about you? Is there a food that some of your favorite fall memories center around?

Quinoa Sweet Potato Chili from Kiwi and Peach

Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

inspired by Milk Free Mom’s Vegan Chili
{I don’t make many changes because the recipe is a great one as is. Besides reducing the recipe to serve 2, I substituted chicken broth for the veggie broth because that’s what we usually have, and I used a batch of black beans I had soaked and cooked instead of using canned beans. The Kiwi prefers it served it with a dollop of sour cream and a grilled cheese sandwich. Definitely not dairy free or vegan at that point.}

olive oil
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 oz can of tomato paste
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
pinch of salt and pepper
2 cups of broth {veggie, chicken, whatever you have}
1 1/2 cups black beans {canned or soaked and cooked}
1/2 of a sweet potato
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

Start heating a large pot on medium heat.

Adding your ingredients to the pot goes pretty quickly, so I find its best to have everything prepped beforehand. Dice the onions, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 inch-ish cubes, and go ahead and rinse the quinoa.

Once the pot is hot add just enough olive oil to cook the onions and toss in the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes or until they are soft and translucent then add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the tomato paste, herbs, and spices and mix well. Let it cook for a couple of minutes and then add the broth. Give it all a stir and deglaze the bottom of the pan, then add the beans and sweet potatoes. Cook all of this for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the quinoa and let the whole thing stew away for 20 minutes.

We enjoy ours with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt and maybe a grilled cheese if the Kiwi is good.

DIY Whole Wheat Pasta

Posted on October 2, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

Pasta is never something I thought I would make from scratch. The stuff from the groc was a-okay by me.

That was until I started hankering to make my own ravioli. It all started when I saw a recipe for a beet ravioli and from there it escalated into full blown ravioli mania.

I must make all the raviolis.

My first couple attempts at the homemade pasta weren’t exactly successfully. I couldn’t get the pasta rolled thin enough and it was far too gluteny {totally a word} and unpleasantly chewy.

So I stopped and simplified.

No egg. Just flour, water, and olive oil. Very little mess, and completely versatile.

So in other words, perfection.

The How-To Series {DIY Pasta Dough} | kiwi+peach

Here’s what you’ll need:

1/3 cup hot water {or 3 Tbsp hot water + 3 Tbsp warmed veggie puree}
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted

Step One
Whisk together the water and olive oil. If you want to make a specific kind of pasta {beet, pumpkin, etc.} you can substitute up to half of the water for the veggie puree, but be sure to warm the puree before you add it to the mixing bowl.

Either way, whisk it all together.

Step Two
Very slowly {a couple tablespoons at a time} whisk in the flour. This will prevent clumps and will keep it smooth and silky the whole time. When it starts getting too thick to whisk, just put sprinkle the flour on top of the dough and knead it in.

When the dough is no longer super sticky and all the flour is incorporated, cover the bowl and let it sit for at least an hour.

Now you can use it right away or you can wrap it up in some plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to use later in the week. I tend to do the latter.

Step Three
So, it’s pasta time! Grab your dough from the fridge. I take about half the dough at a time {because my workspace isn’t very big} and roll it out really thin on a well floured surface.

For ravioli, cut out your pieces, load them up, and pinch the sides together. {I use a 2 inch biscuit cutter for the base and the 2.5 inch one for the tops.}

The How-To Series {DIY Pasta Dough} | kiwi+peach

So your pasta is made. Your pasta is stuffed. Let’s cook it.

Boil your jug and heat a large pot on medium high heat. Add the water to the pot and salt your water {very important step}. Once the water is a boiling, drop the pasta in. It should only take a minute or two. For stuffed pasta like ravioli, you’ll know it’s done when they start floating. Then drain the water, serve it up with your favorite sauce, and enjoy your fresh, homemade pasta!

Be sure to check in next week when I share my recipe that made me bite the bullet and start making my own pasta. It’s the ravioli I thought about on a daily basis for a month. It’s the ravioli that dreams are made of.

{Okay, now I’ve built it up way too much. It’s a’ight.}

Peach and Rosemary Polenta Cake with Honey Buttercream

Posted on September 25, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

One of the wonderful things about the expat community is how incredibly welcoming it is to newcomers. It’s easy to make friends in that kind of environment, especially for us wallflowers, but the community is also tends to be fluid. Most folks, at least here in Munich, tend to be on fixed term contracts and will be leaving after a year or two. So as wonderful as it is making friends from all over the world, you know that eventually they will be moving on to new places or going back to old familiar ones. It’s lovely having friends all over the world, but it’s also a bit lonely when all of your friends have left while you’ve stayed behind.

But then… they come back!

It seems like our house has been {and will continue to be for a few more months at least} a revolving door. Friends and family have made our sofa bed their home and lots of great visiting has been happening over a couple beers and a table full of food. These awesome people have also unwittingly been guinea pigs for lots of new recipes so for that, thank you.

Today one of my friends from my au pair year is arriving and, since food is my love language, naturally I made cake. So here’s to catching up, trips down memory lane, great conversations, trips to the Wies’n, and tons of great food.

Peach and Rosemary Polenta Cake with Honey Brown Butter{cream} from Kiwi+Peach

Peach and Rosemary Polenta Cake

{inspired by Adventures in Cooking}
The whole recipe is reduced to make a two layer cake instead of three only because I don’t have three pans. Aside from adding the peaches, I replaced the sugar in the cake with honey so some amounts of other ingredients also had to change to compensate for the differences.

The Dry
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour {I used spelt.}
1/3 cup uncooked polenta {or cornmeal. It’s the same thing. I can’t get cornmeal here, so I went with polenta}
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda

The Wet
3 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp apple juice {I used unfiltered.}
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 cloves, crushed and ground

To Fold
2 Tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
2 small peaches, cubed

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Sift the dry ingredients together into a medium sized mixing bowl and then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and honey. Then add the olive oil, apple juice, vanilla, and spices and stir until it’s combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients in batches and mix until it’s just combined. Don’t want to over mix it! Gently fold in the peaches and the chopped rosemary.

Pour the batter up into two 6 inch cake pans and bake for 30 minutes.

When they’re finished transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before icing.

Peach and Rosemary Polenta Cake with Honey Buttercream from Kiwi+Peach

Honey Buttercream

{from Adventures in Cooking}

1 stick {140g} butter
1 cup powdered sugar {icing sugar for the Kiwis}
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp cream {or in my case, soy cream}, optional but recommended

First step is to brown the butter. The short version is melt the butter over medium heat then let it keep cooking until it goes from light yellow to a rich tan color, little black bits start to form, and it starts to smell like nutty toffee. {Eva over at Adventures in Cooking explains this process beautifully, so if you’re unsure head over there and read up.} When you get to that point, set it off the heat to cool for a bit then pour it into a bowl lined with plastic wrap. Pop the bowl in the fridge until the butter is cooled and firmed enough to use for the buttercream.

When you poke it the butter should feel soft but your finger shouldn’t sink in. Let’s make some buttercream!

Sift your powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add them to the bowl along with the honey. Beat them all together until you like the consistency. If it’s a bit thick, add some cream to smooth it out.

Peach and Rosemary Polenta Cake with Honey Brown Butter{cream} from Kiwi+Peach

Sautéed Tomato and Garlic Fried Egg with Gorgonzola

Posted on September 19, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

If you’re thinking posting this week has been sporadic then you’d be right. Remember when I said that I thought we were on the mend? Well that only appears to have been half correct. I am much better. The Kiwi on the other hand got much, much worse. Between doctor’s appointments, pharmacy runs, working on the re-design that I really want to go live before Oktoberfest begins and trying to convince the Kiwi that he really must eat something, I’ve been on the struggle bus.

Something that makes all of this easier? Eggs. The Kiwi won’t eat much, but he’ll eat eggs. Needless to say, there have been a number of different egg combos whipped up in the kitchen this week, but the favorite has been this one.

Sautéed Tomato and Garlic Fried Egg with Gorgonzola | kiwi+peach

Sautéed Tomato and Garlic Fried Egg with Gorgonzola

olive oil
1 tomato, cubed
1 clove of garlic, pressed or minced
2 eggs
2 ounces gorgonzola, crumbled
2 large crackers or a piece of toast
basil optional

Start heating your pan on medium high heat. When it’s starting to get hot, add your oil and wait a quick minute for it to heat up too. Cube your tomato and prep your clove of garlic to press. When the oil is hot, add the tomatoes and press your garlic. Give it all a stir and leave it to cook for a couple minutes.

Push the tomatoes to the side and crack your eggs into the pan. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt and pepper then let them cook on one side for about 2-3 minutes or until the whites are looking pretty firm. Very carefully {you don’t want to break the yolk!} flip them. I’m a runny yolk fan, so I tend to only leave it on this side for 45 seconds to a minute, but you be the judge.

Transfer the egg to the cracker then top with the sautéed tomato and garlic, gorgonzola crumbles, and, if you’re so inclined, a bit of basil.

Sautéed Tomato and Garlic Fried Egg with Gorgonzola | kiwi+peach

Couscous with Tuna and Tomatoes

Posted on September 16, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

Until 2012, I think it is safe to say that I had never had couscous, which is absurd. It’s now one of our pantry staples. While it might not be a whole grain, it is the perfect vehicle for lots of tasty dishes and a staple in a number of cultural cuisines.

The first time I had couscous was on an evening when the Kiwi had volunteered to cook. At the time I had an hour and a bit commute to and from work every day, so I never hesitated to take him up on that offer. The thing is though that whenever he volunteers to cook, he refuses to tell me what he is making. {I have come to realize that this is because he has no clue what he’s making until about 6pm, but that’s beside the point.} The point is, I had no clue what I was going to be walking into.

The first thing that hits me when I walked through the door was fish. Really, he hit me with a fish.

No, that didn’t happen. I’m just kidding. The whole house did smell like fish though, and I was a bit skeptical. I had no reason to be.

The Kiwi is a great cook, and that is because he follows directions well. He likes to have a recipe and generally sticks to the recipe pretty closely {as opposed to me who views recipes as mere suggestions}. Following a recipe from the free e-cookbook by Jules Clancy called Stone Soup: Minimalist Home Cooking, he had made a warm, garlicky tuna and cherry tomato salad over couscous {pg. 59}. It was outrageously delicious, and {bonus} the fish smell didn’t even linger.

Despite my best efforts, I’ve yet to come up with anything that improves this recipe. It is pretty perfect and so is the book. The whole book is full of simple recipes that use 5 ingredients {or less} that you probably already have in your panty. There are very few processed ingredients to be found in the book which is absolutely the type of recipes we like. Oh, and have I mentioned it’s free?

Couscous with Tuna and Tomatoes from StoneSoup | kiwi+peach

{Just as a disclaimer, we aren’t being paid to promote this. We are just fans, and we thought that you, our dear reader, would benefit from the knowledge that this wonderful, free product exists. Go, download it, and see if we’re not right.}

DIY Pumpkin Puree

Posted on September 11, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

In terms of motivating me to not rely on processed goods, there are definitely benefits to not being able to find the processed things I’ve relied on in the past here in Germany.

Last fall, motivated by a ~~need~~ want for all things pumpkiny and no canned pumpkin puree to be found, I was left with no choice but to figure out how to make it on my own.

Now, I won’t go as far as to say that the canned stuff isn’t good for you because it’s fine. Most of the time it is 100% pumpkin with no additives or preservatives save salt {but even then only in a few cases}. But the taste folks. Oh, the taste. If you’ve ever had a pumpkin pie with the real stuff… I’ll just say that there is a difference. A delicious, delicious difference.

The How-To Series {DIY Pumpkin Puree} | kiwi+peach

Step One
Lob the top off the pumpkin and then cut it in half. {I enlisted the help of the Kiwi. Dull knives make this hard work.}

The How-To Series {DIY Pumpkin Puree} | kiwi+peach

Step Two
Scoop out the seeds and guts. {Once you get the pumpkin in the oven you can go back and pick out all of the seeds for making pepitas!}

The How-To Series {DIY Pumpkin Puree} | kiwi+peach

Step Three
Cut it into quarters and place on a baking sheet. Pop it in the oven on 350°F/175°C for an hour.

Step Four
After an hour, take the pumpkin out of the oven and let it cool for a bit until you can touch it comfortably.

Step Five
Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin and put it in a food processor. Add a 1/2 cup of water and pulse, scrapping the sides occasionally, until its pureed to a consistency you’re happy with.

Step Six
You can use it immediately, or you can spoon it into a baggie or tupperware container and freeze it. I do about a cup of puree per bag so that I can defrost just one at a time. It will keep in the freezer for about 9 months I hear, but I’ve never tested it. The stuff is gone pretty quickly around here. The Kiwi loves him some pie.

There you have it folks–fresh pumpkin puree you can use to get your beta carotene fix in things like hummus, ravioli filling, pancakes, etc. Really, the possibilities are endless, so get to roasting and pureeing while the pumpkin gettin’ is good!

Rosemary and Maple Bourbon Lemonade

Posted on September 10, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

Last week I mentioned making a spiked lemonade to go with the shrimp tacos we had for our Labor Day celebration. Well folks, here it is!

We have loads of rosemary at the moment. It is quite literally taking over our herb garden, so I’ve taken to throwing it in everything: drinks, cakes, even the pumpkin ravioli I’m making tonight. Along with the slightly herby taste that the rosemary gives the simple syrup, I feel like the maple syrup compliments the bourbon beautifully. In my world, lemonade is a very summery drink, but the maple and the bourbon give it just a hint of Fall, making this the perfect accompaniment to a Labor Day feast or really, any feast this time of the year.

Rosemary and Maple Bourbon Lemonade

{makes about 4 drinks}

Rosemary Maple Simple Syrup
2 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup maple syrup
5 sprigs of rosemary, washed and leaves striped

The Spike
1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice {about 3 lemons}
1/3 cup bourbon

Boil your jug and start heating up a pot on medium heat. Once the jug boils, measure your water into the pot and then whisk in the maple syrup. Add the sprigs of rosemary {stalk and leaves} and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

While the syrup is simmering, you can be juicing your lemons. Remember to roll them really well before you try to juice them. This will break up all the little membranes, and you will get so much more juice!

After a couple minutes of simmering, strain the syrup to remove all the rosemary bits. In a pitcher, stir together the juice, the bourbon, and the simple syrup. Pop it in the fridge for a few hours to cool.

Serve over ice. Extra rosemary optional but oh so pretty.

Kickin’ the ’cocks Boneless Buffalo Wings

Posted on September 6, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

{Disclaimer: I am aware this title is a bit on the edge. We are playing South Carolina this week and they’re the gamecocks. Come on, you know it’s funny. The twelve year old inside you is laughing right now.}

It’s Friday friends! It’s finally here. This week has been d.r.a.g.g.i.n.g. Why? Because the Kiwi’s parents are coming to town! We love having folks over, but we especially love it when those folks are our folks.

But before I run pick them up at the train station, I wanted to share a quick game day recipe for your tailgate this weekend. Last week was close, but my dawgs didn’t finish the drill. Hopefully they can make it happen this weekend, and hopefully I will be able to convince the crew that what they really want to do on their only Saturday night in Munich is watch an American football game.

Kickin’ the ’cocks Boneless Buffalo Wings

The Chicken
2 chicken breasts
buttermilk

The Breading
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp chili flakes
salt and pepper

To Cook
1/2 cup canola oil {enough for there to be about 1cm of oil in your pan}
1 cup hot sauce {or for the lightweights, BBQ sauce}

Get started by slicing your chicken breasts into strips. Put the strips in a tupperware container and pour in the buttermilk until the chicken is just covered. Let the it soak in the buttermilk for at least an hour, but if possible, overnight is best.

When you’re ready to eat, start heating the oil in a frying pan on medium heat and preheat your oven to broil {or grill for the Kiwis}.

Mix together all of the breading ingredients in a shallow bowl. When the oil is hot, coat the chicken strips with the breading and pop them in the oil. Shallow fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side. When the breading is crispy, transfer the chicken to a paper towel and let some of that grease drain off. Discard the used cooking oil that’s still in the pan.

Grab a bowl and pour your hot sauce {or BBQ sauce} in it. One by one dip the chicken strips in the sauce and then return to the frying pan. Once all of your chicken is back in the pan, pop it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. This will finish cooking the chicken and crisp that breading even more. Yum!

Serve it up with some blue cheese dipping sauce and dig in!