Almond Cherry Coconut Granola

Ingredients:
5 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw, whole almonds
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup pepitas (unsalted hulled pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Slow cooker instructions:
Place the oats, honey, oil, vanilla, almonds and vanilla in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Leave uncovered and turn on high. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 20 to 30minutes. Reduce to low and add the coconut, pepitas and cherries. Continued to cook on low uncovered for about 4 hours, stirring every 20 or so minutes. The granola is done when it looks completely dry. Cool on baking sheets then store in an air tight container.

Oven instructions:
Preheat oven to 250. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients but the dried cherries. Divide among 3 baking sheets and spread to a thin layer. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Pour it back into the bowl, and stir in the cherries. Allow to cool on baking sheets then store in an air tight container.

My thoughts:

I hadn't made granola before and frankly wasn't too sure I liked it but I thought I'd give it a shot. While the slow cooker method is longer, I liked it much better than baking the granola. It cooked really evenly without over browning or burning. In the oven granola has a tendency to brown unevenly and if you have an oven like mine, you really can't bake more than one tray at a time which takes it into the slow cooker time range anyway. What I did was start the granola going in the slow cooker, set my time to 20 minutes and only came back in the kitchen to stir.

As for the granola itself? It was the best I've ever had and my husband agrees. It isn't the super clumpy type of granola (to make that you'd love to more than double the amount of honey and oil I used) but it is perfect to top yogurt, eat as cereal or have on its own. It is lightly sweetened and the coconut and cherries add lots of flavor.

Turkey with Red Mole

Ingredients:
1 1/2 turkey (about 6 lb)

for the dry rub:
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
1 teaspoon hot Mexican chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder


for the sauce:
8 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
5 dried pasilla chiles, stems and seeds removed
14 oz canned fire roasted diced tomatoes*
1 onion, cut into eighths
4 cloves garlic
1 plantain, sliced
1/2 cup pepitas (raw, hulled pumpkin seeds)
1 3 inch stick Mexican cinnamon
1 tablespoon dutch process cocoa (I used Guittard's cocoa rouge)
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt



Directions:
Warning: You must start this recipe at least one hour before you plan to roast the turkey!

In a small bowl, whisk together the spices for the dry run so they are evenly distributed. Rub over the skin of the turkey. Allow to rest at least one hour in the refrigerator.

Next, roast the turkey at 325 for about 2 hours for a 6 lb half. Roast until the internal temperature is 170 in the meatiest part of the thigh.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small pan. Add the pepitas and cook until they start to pop. Set aside. Heat a dry pan, add the chiles and pan-roast until fragrant. Remove to a heat-safe bowl and submerge in hot water for 15 minutes then drain, reserving the liquid. Then, in a food processor, blend the the pepitas, chiles, onion, plantain, garlic, cloves, tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, cocoa and cinnamon stick until smooth. If the mixture is very thick, add about 1/4 cup of the reserved chile broth. Pour into a saucepan and heat through. Allow the turkey to sit 10 minutes once it has reached the proper temperature, then shred the meat. Pour the sauce over the turkey and toss to distribute the sauce. Serve hot with rice and (white) corn torillas.

*Homemade roasted tomatoes would be great too, but tomatoes aren't in season yet.

My thoughts:

Despite their links to winter holidays, most stores sell turkeys, turkey breasts or in this case a turkey cut in half lengthwise year-round. While mole in restaurants seems to be paired mostly with chicken, traditionally it is made with turkey. Half turkeys are perfect for a more everyday meal and don't yield an overwhelming amount of leftovers. I like to roast them at a slightly lower temperature than I would the whole bird to avoid it drying out. Most mole recipes don't call for the meat to be treated with a dry rub first, but I think it imparts the turkey with a extra burst of flavor that is worth a bit of effort. Since I was using turkey, I shredded the meat before tossing with with sauce. If you were making it with chicken pieces, you could simmer the cooked pieces whole in the sauce if you'd prefer. This mole isn't super spicy but it is very well flavored and complex.

I created this recipe for red mole to incorporate all of my favorite bits of different red moles I've had over the years and used pepitas, plantains, roasted tomatoes and various chiles rather than making a super strict Coloradito Oaxacan mole (which normally has French bread in it and no pepitas). Which isn't to say it is totally inauthentic, just a slightly looser interpretation than the moles I've made in the past.

Suggestion: the recipe for the sauce might yield more than you need to coat the turkey. Reserve it and any leftover turkey for enchiladas the next day.



*If you are interested in learning more about traditional Mexican cooking, even if you are like me and not a recipe follower, The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diane Kennedy is an excellent resource of the spices, fruits, vegetables and flavors of the region.

Pumpkin Cornbread

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup pepitas (unroasted, shelled pumpkin seeds)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray one 8x8 baking pan or an 8 inch pie tin. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and soda, sugar and salt. Beat in the pumpkin until well combined. Fold in pepitas Pour into pan and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

My thoughts:

I made this cornbread to go with the chili I made yesterday. It is really moist and fluffy and very pumpkiny. The pumpkin seeds provide a pleasant texture contrast but aren't really necessary. Don't forget to vote for best food blog in the 2007 Weblog Awards.

Paprika Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sea salt
water
fresh from the pumpkin pumpkin seeds
oilve oil
smoked paprika

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place the pumpkin seeds in a large pot. Fill halfway with water. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil, more heavily with paprika. Stir to evenly distribute spice. Place in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Stir the seeds then bake for an additional 5 minutes or until they no longer look wet are instead toasted and crunchy looking. Cool and serve.

My thoughts:

This is my favorite way to make pumpkin seeds. Boiling them in salt water impregnates them with a light saltiness but doesn't effect the texture at all. Smoked paprika adds a subtle hint of smoky sweetness which really works with the natural toasted seed flavor.

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup pepitas (shelled, unsalted raw pumpkin seeds)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Place two large (baking sheet sized) sheets of parchment paper side by side on a flat surface. Have a rolling pin and a third and fourth sheet of parchment paper in reserve nearby. In a heavy pan, bring the sugar, salt and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Lower heat and cook, without stirring until you reach softball stage (238 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in the pepitas and chipotle pepper. Stir about 4 minutes or until the sugar crystallizes. Return to heat and, stirring continuously until the sugar melts again (it may appear to further crystallize before it begins to melt) and turns a dark brown. Pour immediately on the the parchment paper, placing the extra sheets of parchment paper on top of the brittle and using the rolling pin, roll smooth. Remove the top sheets of parchment paper and allow the brittle to cool completely. Remove parchment and break into pieces.

My thoughts:

For this recipe I used the same basic recipe and technique as I would to make nut brittle but subsituted pumpkin seeds and added some spice. The result: a tasty, easy treat with a hint of smoky spice.

One note: the spice makes the brittle appear slightly grainy when in actuality the texture is quite smooth.

Pumpkin Power Muffins

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup pepitas (shelled, unsalted raw pumpkin seeds)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
additional pepitas for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 1 12 well muffin tins In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, pepitas, flax seed meal, oats baking soda and nutmeg. In a large bowl, beat together oil, buttermilk and brown sugar. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Stir in pumpkin. Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Divide evenly amoung the 12 wells and top with additional pepitas. Bake 15-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center muffin or bread should come out clean.

My thoughts:

Two muffin posts in a row? Normally I wouldn't make two batches of muffins back to back much less post the recipes, but after I made my oatmeal craisin muffins, Matt said that maybe next time I could make pumpkin muffins. Who knew he even liked pumpkin muffins? Anyway, despite the fact that I have zero time to be baking, I took half an hour and made these muffins while I washed some dishes. I'm not going to be able to cook at all over the next three days or so, so I thought they'd be good for breakfast over the next couple days. They are really moist and light despite being loaded up with goodies and I love the pepitas on top!