#FoodieFriday – Favorite Fall Recipes

For my very first official contribution to #foodiefriday, hosted by Carole at Piglet in Portugal, I thought I’d offer up a few of my favorite fall comfort recipes.

First, Fall is my favorite season. It is a time of pulling in after all of the activity throughout the summer months. It is a time of warm beverages, the first fire, and baking all the good things our hearts might desire.

Here in the USA, it is also Thanksgiving time, a holiday I personally have a conflicted relationship with due to our bloody past and the lies the holiday was built upon. Alas, it also falls directly between my Dad’s Birthday and my Birthday, so it’s always been a time for big family gatherings and more food than our bellies could ever hold.

I started hosting The Big Meal about 25 years ago and still enjoy it immensely. The menu has stayed similar to what my mom prepared, though I have fancified it all a bit, added in a local ingredient focus, and found or created recipes to make each item homemade instead of store-bought.

We raise our own turkeys, grow our own herbs and as many veggies as we can, and I make everything from scratch over the course of a couple days.

I’ve also learned to surrender a few things and happily enjoy my daughter’s desserts, my brother’s side dish, and my dad’s salad contributions to the table. One can only do so much.

A few years ago, I asked my little brother and my eldest daughter (both in their 30s now) what they would be devasted to not see on the table for our Big Meal and they both stated, emphatically, that my biscuits and muffins were integral to the enjoyment.

So, here we are. And here you are.

I’ve also added in a simple cranberry sauce because it’s my favorite 🙂 Yes, I could plop some out of a can, but I like it tasting fresh and fancy.

Herbed Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 4 tbsp ice cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp fresh sage
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil for brushing

Process

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
• In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and pepper.
• Scatter the butter over the top.  Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are no larger than peas.
• Add the herbs and buttermilk, stirring just to blend well.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then, using your fingertips, press the dough out into a circle about 1/2 inch thick
• Cut 2 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or use the rim of a drinking glass.
• Reshape any remaining dough and cut more biscuits
• Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet
• Brush the biscuits with olive oil and place in hot oven
• Bake 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown

Notes

This recipe is from The Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups cranberries, cleaned and halved (or dried and re-hydrated)

Process

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, allspice and salt.  Stir to mix well.
• Add the butter, pumpkin and eggs.  Stir until ingredients are just moist.
• Stir in cranberries.
• Spoon batter into 24 greased muffin cups and place in hot oven.
• Bake for 40 minutes, or until a tester (toothpick) comes out clean.

Notes

• I usually make 12 large muffins and 24 mini muffins.  This gives us plenty of muffins to eat over a couple of days and gives us some mini muffins to put out for guests as they wait for everything to be ready on Thanksgiving.  I bake the mini muffins for about 15 minutes.
• I did not create this recipe.  I found it online in January of 2005 (yes, I still have my original print off of the recipe), but the website no longer exists.

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 bags whole organic cranberries
• 1 organic orange
• 1 large cinnamon stick (or two small sticks)
• 1/2 cup sugar

Process

• Rinse, pick through, and drain your cranberries
• Zest your orange, then juice it
• Place your cranberries, orange juice and zest, cinnamon stick(s), and sugar into a pot and place over medium heat
• Stirring occasionally, bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, until cranberries have popped and the sauce begins to thicken
• Remove from heat and allow to cool
• Remove the cinnamon stick(s) and enjoy immediately or put it in the refrigerator for later consumption

Notes On Gluten and Dairy

We are now a Gluten Free family due to my autoimmune disease and my wife is Dairy Free for the sake of her belly. It’s been an adventure to adapt and find ingredients that work and that we like so I thought I’d offer up two pieces of our hard won knowledge.

I prefer to use Bob’s Red Mill one-to-one Gluten Free Flour and Melt Plant Butter in my baking these days. The end result is as close as I’ve found to my past gluten and dairy full alternatives so our bodies and hearts remain happy.

That’s all Folks!

I’d love to hear about any favorite recipes you make on a consistent basis, whether because you just love them or because they are part of a tradition in your family 🙂

Onward,

Melissa