The harvest brings out some fantastic foods such as apples, pumpkins, different varieties of squash, sweet potatoes and yams and all sorts of great fall food. I love pumpkins and squash myself and especially the apples. Hand picked right off the tree and fresh, delicious! And Apple Cider! Always a fall favorite whether chilled, warmed, or spiced with cinnamon. Hot Apple Cider on a cold October day warms the soul.

I always loved picking pumpkins and enjoy taking my own kids to pick pumpkins too. I always end up spending too much money but we enjoy decorating them for Halloween and making crazy designs. I’m the pumpkin artist in my family too, I guess you could say. Every year I try to do one intricate carving and something different from previous years and I usually take a few pictures so I’ll try to post some when I take some new ones.

The pumpkin pie always tastes best this time of year too. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for some homemade pumpkin pie:

Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Servings: 10; Cooking Time: Prep: 25 minutes, Cook: 105 minutes

Ingredients:
2 deep dish, unbaked pie shells, thawed
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten (for the leaves)
1 can (or 16 ounces fresh cooking pumpkins) pumpkin puree
⅔ cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground allspice
1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Roll out one pie shell with a rolling pin.
2. Using a paring knife, cut out leaves (as best as you can) of different sizes and then a large pumpkin shape. Make vines by wrapping dough around rolled up strips of tin foil.
3. Place the cut-outs on a baking sheet. Brush each with the egg yolk and bake until browned, about 2-4 minutes.
4. Remove decorations with a spatula and cool. Carefully slide the vines off of the foil to avoid breaking them.
5. Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and increase the heat to 400 degrees.
6. Place the remaining pie shell in a deep dish pie plate. Line the crust with foil. Fill the foil with dried beans and then bake for 8 minutes.
7. Remove beans and foil and prick the dough with a fork. Bake an additional 6 minutes, then transfer the pie plate to a wire rack to cool (completely).
8. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Mix it well.
9. Stir in the cream, milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour into the cooled crust.
10. Bake until the filling is just set and a knife or toothpick, inserted into the center, comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
11. Arrange pumpkin cutout in the center of the pie. Arrange the vines and leaves around the pie in a decorative pattern, placing the leaves around the outside edge.

Bake the filling without the crust in a greased, rectangular pan. Serve squares with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon for a Harvest Custard. Also, when rolling the dough, lightly flour the rolling pan and work area to prevent the dough from sticking. You can also use wax paper on the top and bottom, and roll the dough between them.

You can print this recipe here: Harvest Pumpkin Pie

And here’s a recipe for some Candied Yams:

Candied Yams

Servings: 6-8, Cooking Time: Prep: 5-10 minutes, Cook: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 large cans of yams
2 cups of mini marshmallows
1 cup brown sugar
4-5 tbsp butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Drain the juice off of your yams and place into a well-buttered glass baking dish.
3. Sprinkle the brown sugar over top and then top with the marshmallows.
4. Melt 2 tbsp of the remaining butter and sprinkle overtop the of marshmallows.
5. Increase or decrease brown sugar or marshmallows according to taste.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the marshmallows are lightly browned.

Simple, easy recipe for Thanksgiving or anytime. To increase, you can easily make 1 ½ or double the recipe.

You can print this recipe here: Candied Yams

Here is the recipe for Irish Potatoes, which is our Featured Recipe:

Servings: 6-10

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8oz. cream cheese, soft
• 16 oz. coconut, shredded
• 2 lbs. confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tbs. vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon for topping and garnish or melted chocolate

Instructions:

• Mix together all of the ingredients, except the cinnamon, thoroughly.
• Roll into 1 to 1 & ½ inch balls (potatoes!)
• Roll in ground cinnamon, or melted chocolate according to taste!

This is our featured recipe on Professional Recipes, please vote if you like it!

You can print the recipe here: Irish Potatoes.

Serves: 2

Time: 5 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking time.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken breast, split and trimmed. If you wish, to cut the cooking time down, you can use a tenderizer to flatten the chicken some, reducing the cooking time in the oven.
• 1/2 cup champagne
• 1 cup orange juice, not concentrated
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• A pinch of fresh rosemary
• 2-3 drops of vanilla extract
• Salt and pepper to season the chicken, if desired
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil or whatever oil you desire (other oils add different flavors).

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
• In a medium skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium to medium-high heat.
• Add the chicken breasts to the pan and sear 5 minutes per side.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and place onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Using the same pan, over medium heat, add the champagne to deglaze the pan. Reduce by half.
• Add the orange juice, vanilla extract and rosemary and bring to a low simmer.
• Stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Remove the sauce from the burner and strain out the rosemary with a sieve.
• Return the sauce to the pan and bring it back to a low simmer.
• To thicken the sauce, use a tsp of corn starch mixed with water and slowly stir into the sauce to desired thickness.
• By this time the chicken should be cooked throughout. Serve the chicken over a bed of rice pilaf, or plain white or brown rice, and pour the sauce liberally over the top.

And there you have it. Simple, easy and it really does taste delicious! Feel free to omit the rosemary or vanilla extract, they just add a little extra, interesting flavor to the dish.

I submitted my Steak and Shrimp Kabobs recipe for inclusion into the cookbook. The way it works is the cookbook authors are going to try out each and every recipe submission and decide whether or not it’s worthy. I have a feeling they’ll be pleasantly surprised with this one. If not, I have a few more I might submit as well. Once I hear back, I’ll post an update here on the blog and pass along any information I find out about when it will be published.

Do you have a recipe that you think might make the cut? Send it in here: Philly Tailgate Cookbook.

This Valentine’s Chocolate Heart Cake is sure to do the trick. It’s the Featured Recipe and a nice way to say Happy Valentine’s Day to your special someone:

Servings: 12

Preparation: 30-45 minutes / Cooking: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
* 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
* 1 cup less 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
* 1/8 tsp salt
* ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter
* 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup, firmly packed, brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 ¾ cups buttermilk

For the Frosting:
* 2 cups prepared frosting
* 2 cups whipped cream
* 1 pint fresh raspberries

Tools:

* 9-inch heart-shaped cake pan
* 2 pastry bags with small star tips
* Waxed paper

Instructions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper. Grease the paper and all sides of the pan, and then dust with flour.
* In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
* Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla; mix until blended.
* At low speed, alternately beat flour mixture and buttermilk into butter mixture just until blended. Pour batter in prepared pan.
* Bake the cake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; cool for 10 minutes.
* Turn out and remove the waxed paper. Turn the cake topside up and cool completely.
* Frost the cake evenly with chocolate frosting. Run the tines (forks) of a fork across the top of the cake to form a wavy pattern south-to-north across the cake (from the bottom of the heart to the top).
* Spoon any leftover frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Starting an inch from the edge, pipe out stars in a heart shaped pattern, following the edges of the cake. To make a star – squeeze the bag and lightly lift the tip to form the star.
* Fill another pastry bag with the whipped cream, fitted with a small star tip. Pipe around the top, outer edge, and along the bottom of the cake, forming a scroll pattern.
* Garnish with the raspberries!

You could substitute the chocolate frosting with white chocolate frosting or whipped cream!

Serve this dessert as a romantic finale to your Valentines’ Day with your sweetheart. If fresh raspberries are not available, use fruits in season or what is available like strawberries or blueberries.

Print this recipe here.

Be sure to check out the Featured Recipe page on the main site and place your vote for the Valentine’s Day Chocolate Heart Cake!

The blog has been reorganized by Topics and there is a Topic menu on the right side in ABC order for easy browsing. You can find the Latest Recipes from the website are also listed on the left with an RSS icon where you can subscribe to the Latest Recipes Feed! And lastly the blog is integrated with our Twitter account and Facebook page as well.

If you have any comments or suggestions for the blog or the new site coming soon, please leave a comment!

Enjoy!

Making the Perfect French Fry:

1. Use Russet potatoes as these make the best fries in my opinion. Russet Nugget potatoes also make excellent fries. The Russet variety has less moisture and will crisp faster.
2. The first step is to thoroughly scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt and deposits. This should be common knowledge for any dish when using potatoes.
3. Peel the potatoes. Some people like to leave a little skin on, but I recommend taking off the skin as the oil does not penetrate well. This is more of a personal preference though.
4. Soak the potatoes overnight in water. This will remove the the starch from the potatoes, allowing them to cook faster and makes them crispier.
5. Cut the potatoes lengthwise about a half an inch in thickness to make a steak fry cut. Cut thinner if you want the typical Shoe String french fry, but be careful how long you cook them. Most importantly, make sure to keep your cuts even so that all of your french fries cook evenly.
6. Pre-heat the oil in a deep pan or a deep fryer (if you have one) to 325° F and use a thermometer to make sure the temperature reaches this point. This is the most important step – if the oil is not hot enough, the water cannot escape from the potatoes and will not crisp up, leaving them soggy.
7. Some time before serving, blanch in oil at 325° F until slightly firm. Allow the potatoes to drain and dry and keep them in the fridge.
8. When ready to cook, drop in oil at 325° F until golden brown. Do not overload the pan or fry basket!

You might be wondering what the best kind of oil to use for deep frying and this can be more of a personal choice due to taste but here are my suggestions:

• For the highest heat and best flavor, use Peanut Oil or Grapeseed Oil (expensive).
• Soybean Oil also will provide a lot of heat, but can add a different flavor.
• Canola Oil will fry well, but it leaves a distinctive taste that some do not like. It is the healthiest type of oil to use however, so if you are going for healthier french fries, use Canola, but try it with a small batch first to make sure you like the taste.
• Vegetable Oil and Corn Oil are fine to use, but has a lower smoke point than Peanut Oil and might make your fries come out browner than you’d like.
• Whatever oil you use, do not use Olive Oil!
• Make sure to change your oil often if you use a deep fryer. Dirty oil will result in darker fries and more of a burnt flavor.

I hope these tips help you make the best possible French Fries! Enjoy!

Here are some more tips I found on cooking temperatures, times and potato facts: French Fry Cooking Guide for Potatoes

My Charmglow Grill

It’s important to clean your grill before cooking. While some believe that keeping some of the burnt food on the grill irons adds flavor, it’s simply not true. That will cause more headaches instead as food sticks to the burnt leftovers and chars the outside of the food before the inside is cooked, which forces you to keep it on longer, burning the outside even more. Make sure to oil down your grill before cooking on it as well so that food doesn’t stick and always remember – SAFETY FIRST!

Check out some of these great grilling tips from my site: Grilling Tips from Professional Recipes

On the menu this weekend, I’ve got:

• London Broil with a smoky mesquite marinade
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• BBQ Chicken marinated in my near-famous barbeque sauce (not giving out that recipe yet)
• Steak and Shrimp Kabobs
• I might do these again this year too: Grilled Chicken with Walnut Sauce

Are you looking to try something different this year, like a gourmet hamburger? I might give these a try, from 2 chef friends of mine:

• Greek Burger with Beetroot Relish
• Chef Newmans Newman Burgers

I wrote some posts last season as well for Memorial Day and Tips for Grilling in general and keeping the grill clean, check them out if you get a chance:

Memorial Day Weekend, so What’s Cooking on the Grill?
Grilling Tips for the Backyard Gourmet

I found this article today about enjoying wine at the backyard BBQ, check it out:
Burgers and Beyond, Wine Comes to the Barbecue

This smart guy comes into the bar and starts bragging that anywhere he goes, the wings are never hot enough. He and bartender get to talking and the wonderful barkeep says, Jeff can make you some seriously hot wings. The guy brags that he can eat anything I can cook up and orders a dozen wings as hot as I can possibly make them. Into the kitchen comes the barkeep with the order along with a few other items for his friends. He tells me about the guy and says to make them as hot as I possibly can. I said, “Are you sure about that? Are you really, really sure? I told him to go back and make sure the guy would agree not to sue us or get angry. He comes back and says “do it up!” Ok buddy, you asked for it!

So I base the hot sauce with pure Tabasco first – it had to have some flavor and some actual sauce to it – anyone who has used Dave’s Insanity knows that it’s nearly as thick as molasses. I fry up his wings in the meantime and cook the other orders. Out comes the Dave’s Insanity and into the sauce goes about 10 drops of the stuff. Enough to make me tear up cooking it!!!

To make a long story short, the guy, to his credit, ate about 5 or 6 of the 12 wings and then proceeded to run to the bathroom and I think he got sick from pounding beer to make the burning stop! Bad idea! Carbonated beverages only make it worse – milk is the best thing. I grabbed a gallon of milk out of the back and gave it to the bartender and told him to make the guy a smoothie or something. The guy did not get mad, did not sue the restaurant and complimented me on the hottest wings he had ever eaten, no comparison. He even left the bartender a nice tip!

Here is the link to the story:
The World’s Spiciest Foods