You have made Pumpkin Puree, now what do you do?
If you are like us, you don’t want food to go to waste. You take what you have in the garden, prep it, process it and use it throughout the year, hopefully having it gone by the next harvesting seasons. We do this with regularity, not knowing exactly what we are going to create with the food we’ve stored. However, this year is different.
With postal prices on the rise for sending perishables through the mail to others, we have decided to not do this at Christmas this year. Last years bill for postage during the season was close to $500.00. That’s a lot of money to send out your hard work to people who may not cherish those kinds of gifts. We are just adding to the food waste when others reject what you’ve given them and throw it away. It’s just a fact.
Because we are not sending perishable items out this year, unless requested, we are left with full harvests of deliciousness in the cupboards. So what do you do? We have 55.1 pounds of processed pumpkins in pure purée form. We took into consideration that it would all be ours and so we chose to freeze it in measuring cup denominations for easy grabs and exact recipe measurements. We did 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 cup cube or round sizes.
We also did, what I call, “slab” sizes for soups and stews, chili, things of that nature which don’t require exact measurements when cooking like I do. If said dishes require exact measurements, eyeballing will be required. To look at the ‘slabs’ it will be pretty easy to tell which are 2 to 2.5 cups, 3 to 3.5 cups and 4 cups respectively. Opening a package of puree that has more than you need can always be used for a second dish so nothing goes to waste. With exact measurements in the other packages you can take out exactly what you need while it is still frozen and vacuum seal the rest even using the same bag. That’s what I do. You do what you feel is best and safest for you!!
So what to do with the now processed Pumpkin Purée that stares at you every time you open the freezer. Today, I am going to make my version of Pumpkin Chili, which is a variation of my regular chili. I’m also going to compliment the dish with Gluten Free/ Dairy Free Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins. Together with a small side salad of red grapes and deep greens, this dish will keep you filled up and warm on a cold Autumn night when the sky darkens early.
I added sour cream and cheese to Mike’s but it’s totally optional if you are wanting it completely Gluten and Dairy Free. You can make GF/DF sour cream from cashews. Let me know if you want the recipe and I’ll post that.
So let’s get started with WHAT YOU NEED for the Pumpkin Chili recipe:
Dutch Oven with lid or Cooking pot with lid
Bamboo Flat Front or a Wooden Spoon Flat Front - (these are cooking tools that are flat not rounded like a spoon.) You CAN use a wooden spoon or any other kitchen tool you like to cook with. There are no rules.
Either your stove or a single burner like we have, Induction Burner. I use this when blogging as I can take better pictures along the way.
Hot pads and a Ladle.
INGREDIENTS: The following are approximate measurements only. I do not measure when making this recipe because measurements are not needed.
1 lb Ground Hamburger
1 lb Ground Pork
1 medium Onion chopped (or 2 t garlic powder)
Garlic (or 2 t onion powder)
64 oz Tomato Sauce (home canned or store bought)
6 oz Tomato Paste (home canned or store bought)
Pumpkin Puree (home canned or store bought)
Chili Beans (Kidney Beans soaked in chili spices. Home canned or store bought) -Do NOT drain.
1 15oz can Black Beans - drained
1/4 cupDark Red Chili Powder
1/4 cup Cumin
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Brown the ground beef and ground pork in your dutch oven or cooking pot until thoroughly cooked through.
2. Chop onions and garlic
3. Add chopped onions and garlic to meat mixture and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Takes about 5 -7 minutes.
4. Add all the Tomato Sauce, Tomato Paste and Chili Beans, plus Black Beans. Bring to a very low boil over. Stirring to mix it all together. Turn burner down to medium low.
5. Fold in Pumpkin Puree and bring all ingredients to a low boil over medium heat.
6. Add in Salt, Pepper, Chili Pepper and Cumin, giving the chili a good stir. PLEASE waft and taste test at this point. Adjust the spices to fit your taste buds. The measurements are approximates and probably an UNDERESTIMATE.
7. Although you could eat your chili at this point, I recommend that you turn the burner to low, with the lid on your Dutch Oven or Cooking Pot, let your Pumpkin Chili cook for 45 minutes to an hour so the flavors can marry. Stir occasionally.
***Cooking the Chili with the lid on will also add liquid into the recipe. Welcome this!
SIDE NOTE: If you want to skip the spices, you can always purchase McCormack’s Chili Seasoning Packet instead - I recommend you use 2 packets. DO NOT ADD WATER! The pot’s condensation will do that for you.
While your Pumpkin Chili is cooking, make your Gluten Free/Dairy Free Muffins. What you will need:
1 Mixing Bowl or KitchenAid
1 Whisk
1 Rubber Spatula
1 Muffin Tin (one that holds 12 muffins will do the whole recipe in one batch.)
Measuring Cups and Spoons
INGREDIENTS and INSTRUCTIONS: We use Bob’s Red Mill products because they are not cross contaminated in their processing. They guarantee it which we need because of one son having Celiac Disease and the other being allergic to certain tree nuts.
In your mixing bowl, add and whisk together the following:
1 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Cornmeal
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour
2 tsp Bob’s Red Mill Baking Powder (do not leave out this amount of BP.)
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon - up to you
1 pinch of Salt
Once whisked, add the following wet ingredients to the bowl using the whisk or spatula to combine with the dry ingredients:
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
2/3 cup Silk Dairy Free Whipping Cream (Give the whipping cream a quick shake before opening,)
1/3 cup water
2 eggs (large or 3 small)
1/4 cup pure honey or maple syrup (Used maple syrup for the batch pictured below.)
2 T Avocado Oil, melted Earth Balance or Ghee
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray the Muffin Pan with Olive Oil to other form of spray oil
Scoop the mixture into the individual muffin spaces
Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes or until center is done. We checked the muffins at 15 minutes and they needed two more minutes in our gas oven before being done.
Cool out of the muffin pan on cooling racks.
**Serve as a compliment side to the Pumpkin Chili with warm honey or maple syrup drizzle.
Let me know in the COMMENTS BELOW if you try these ingredients or what you did to make it your own!
Enjoy this Yumminess in Love, Light and Peace