Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins/

Batter

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 2 cups white sugar
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 2 eggs
 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
 1/3 cup oil
 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. white chocolate chips, chopped coarsely

Cream Cheese Filling
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
 1 egg
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 3 tablespoons brown sugar

Streusel Topping
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 4 tablespoons white sugar
 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 3 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.
For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.
Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
Bake at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Beer and Mushroom Mac and Cheese

http://tideandthyme.com/porcini-and-pumpkin-ale-mac-cheese/

Porcini and Pumpkin Ale Mac & Cheese
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 shallot, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound (16 oz.) small pasta shape, such as shells
6 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup Pumpkin ale (such as Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Fontina cheese, grated
1 cup breadcrumbs or panko
kosher salt
Boil water and 1 tbsp kosher salt in a large stockpot. Once boiling, add pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Drain, rinsing pasta with cold water, and set aside until ready to use.
Place the dried mushrooms in a microwavable-safe bowl and cover with water. Cook on high for 30 seconds, and let sit and rehydrate for 10 minutes. Strain, and rougly chop.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 6 tablespoons of the butter. Add the cremini mushroom and shallot, and saute for about 3 minutes, until starting to brown on the edge. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, and let cook, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the beer, as well as the milk, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens. Add in cheese and chopped porcini mushrooms, and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add pasta to the saucepan with the cheese sauce, and mix to combine. Place in 2 quart cassarole dish, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the top, and bake for 1 hour or until browned and bubbly.

Pumpkin Beer Ice Cream

http://www.scoopadventures.com/home/pumpkin-ale-ice-cream.html

1 3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed well
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 cup pumpkin ale (dogfish head or other)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine cream, milk, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and warm over medium heat.  Stir occasionally until sugar melts, then add cinnamon, ginger, and salt.  Whisk to combine.  Continue to heat mixture until it comes to a low boil.  Boil for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent mixture from boiling over.  Remove from heat and pour milk mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Cool to room temperature.

Once milk mixture is at room temperature, add pumpkin puree, pumpkin ale, and vanilla.  Whisk to combine.  Chill the mixture thoroughly (at least 4 hours or overnight). Once chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Place plastic or parchment over ice cream (to prevent ice crystals) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Risengr0d - Danish Rice Pudding

Risalamande for six

300ml water
1 liter milk
180g grødris or arborio rice
100 g slivered almonds
2 vanilla beans - corns removed
4 tbsp sugar
¼ liter 35% cream

1. Bring the rice and water to a boil in a pot stirring for about two minutes
2. Add the milk and cook at a low temperature for about 10 minutes stirring to prevent sticking
3. Take off the heat and leave in the pot for about half an hour
4. Place in a container and let cool
   (If you want to have julegrød for the nisse, take a scoop of rice out now and serve it with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar on top.)
5. Mix the rice, almonds, sugar, and vanilla together
6. Whip the cream, and fold into the rice mix. Add one whole almond as a prize.
7. Put rice in a serving bowl and let set for 2 hours.
Your guests should help themselves from the bowl and add the warmed cherry sauce to their liking.
 If you can't find ready made cherry sauce, you could use a good quality cherry pie filling thinned out with water, lemon juice and some brandy.

Pumpkin Stew with Sour Cream

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkin_stew_with_sour_06174

Ingredients
40g/1½oz butter
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
3 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
400g lentils
1.2litres/2pints 2fl oz vegetable stock
600g/1lb 5oz assorted pumpkin or squash (total chopped weight)
small bunch parsley, chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp sour cream

Preparation method
In a large pan melt the butter and then add chopped onions, carrot and celery. Tear in the rosemary and a couple of bay leaves and after a few minutes add the chopped garlic. When all have nicely softened, tip in the lentils and pour over 1litre/1¾ pints of vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer whilst you tend to the pumpkin.
Using a variety of pumpkins and squashes gives the stew a more complex flavour. Here I use acorn squash and Cinderella, but you want to end up with about 600g/1lb 5oz of peeled pumpkin in large chunks. Add them to the stew, season and then pour over enough water to just cover all the ingredients. Put a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes.
When the stew is almost ready, add the chopped parsley.
To make the stew creamier, remove a small bowlful to a food processor and blitz it with 200ml/2fl oz of stock. Pour it back in and the stew becomes instantly more velvety.
Serve the stew in bowls, finishing each helping off with a cooling spoonful of sour cream.

Danish PebernØdder Cookies

http://klappekage.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/pebernodder-madness/

So today I decided to make pebernødder (pronounced [something like] pey-wa-nudler), as the second half of the “double feature.” I have to admit, I usually have a bit of an obsession with them, especially when sitting and writing exam papers so I’m super excited that it’s Christmas and they’re all over the stores. They’re an awesome snack while studying and I usually just eat the whole bag when I have them sitting next to my computer. Before today, I’ve always bought them and was surprised to find that they’re actually quite easy to make and, furthermore, you can make a ton of them for quite cheap!

The recipe I used for pebernødder is as follows (with the English in parentheses):

Ingredienser:

250 g. smør (250 grams of butter)
250 g. sukker (250 grams of sugar)
2 æg (2 eggs)
2 tsk natron (2 teaspoons of baking soda)
1 tsk ingefær (1 teaspoon of ginger)
1.5 tsk kanel (1.5 teaspoon of cinnamon)
2 knsp hvid peber (2 pinches of [white] pepper)
500 g. hvedemel (500 grams of flour)

1) The first step is to mix the sugar and the butter together. An awesome thing about it being so cold and snowy is that it’s super easy to get really soft butter by setting it for a few minutes on the heater. That way, mixing it with the sugar was really easy. Blend together until the sugar and butter are completely mixed.

2) Once you’ve mixed the sugar and butter, it’s time to add the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing the egg in with the sugar and butter mixture well.

3)After you’ve mixed the eggs in, add the flour and other spice ingredients in a separate bowl. Though the directions call for certain amounts, how you do this here (except for the baking soda) really just goes with your taste. If you really like ginger, add a bit more. If you like a peppery taste, add a few more shakes of pepper. The recipe calls for white pepper – I used black but not too much of it as I’m not too crazy about the pepper flavor if it’s too strong, but again – it’s up to you!

4) After mixing the spices with the flour, add that mixture in with the egg and sugar.

5) Once you’ve mixed all the flour mixture in, take the dough and roll it out into finger sized or so logs.

6) After you’ve rolled them out, cut them into small pieces. The recipe calls that you cut them in 1/2 – 2 cm pieces, and I think it works great when you cut them into varying sizes.

7) After you’ve cut them out, place them on a baking sheet and bake them for about 10-15 minutes at 200°C (400°F).

8) After around 10-15 minutes, take the pebernødder out and let them cool.

9) Once they’ve cooled, place them in a bowl and enjoy this Danish Christmas snack!