Pumpkin, won't you please come home?

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won't_You_Come_Home_Bill_Bailey
Most people associate pumpkin with Halloween or Thanksgiving. But in the Ini home, everyday is pumpkin day! That's right, this weeks baked babies were born from none other than Libby's own can. And we have to say, even with the sun shining and the temperatures rising- the pie, and other pumpkin based goods, were pleasing to our orange palates.
We made a Pumpkin Spice Cake sans frosting (Recipe below) and a small pie. We think Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe is the most reliable, but the search for the better recipe continues...

Pumpkin Spice Cake

http://www.joyofbaking.com/PumpkinSpiceCake.html

Mamma Mia!

As much as we love dedicating the day to Mommie dearest, this year's Mother's day was more of an excuse to sample some Haute Cuisine recipes we had bubbling in our broiler. Rather than a midday feast, we opted for a lighter yet still satisfying combination of flavours. Our main dish was a refreshing Lemon Glazed Salmon Filet, with a side of Roast New Potatoes, Boiled Asparagus and a tangy Mustard Cream Sauce. The Hors d'œuvre consisted of Puff Pastry, Roast Leeks, Goat's Cheese and Thyme. And the dessert was a delectable Moist Sour Cream Coffee Cake. All three dishes were successful, so we posted the recipes below, as well as pictures of our meal.

Salmon

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2200/salmon-baked-with-herbs-and-caramelised-lemons

Leek, Thyme & Goats Cheese Puffs

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/236614/leek-and-goats-cheese-tartlets

Coffee Cake

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moist-Sour-Cream-Coffee-Cake-2/Detail.aspx

Buttermilk galore

So we found ourselves with some leftover buttermilk from last week's endeavors, and as we hate to waste, the buttermilk was then recycled into a number of baked goods. Both our scones and fantails were successful, not to mention the Stromboli that followed (Recipes&photos below!) If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, or any taste buds at all, we recommend adding a few extra tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla to the fantails.

Buttermilk Fantails

(http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2009/02/buttermilk-fantails)

Ingredients (Fantails)

• 113g melted butter
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 59ml warm water 
• 1 tablespoon mild honey or sugar
• 375g all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 177ml cup well-shaken buttermilk

Method

• Preheat oven to 375°F 
• Butter muffin tins with 1 Tbsp melted butter.
• Stir together yeast, warm water, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Mix flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 Tbsp melted butter into yeast mixture
• Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for 6-8Minutes
• Put dough in an oiled large bowl 

• Cover bowl with plastic wrap/a kitchen towel and let dough rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve.
• Roll out half of dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch square 
• Brush dough with 1/2 Tbsp butter and cut into 6 equal strips. Stack strips, buttered sides up, and cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Turn each piece on a side and put into a muffin cup.
•  Make more rolls with remaining dough in same way. Separate outer layers of each roll to fan outward.

• Bake rolls until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush tops with remaining 2 Tbsp butter, then transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.

Buttermilk Scones

Ingredients

• 450g Self Raising Flour
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 100g Butter
• 85g Sugar
• 284ml Buttermilk
• 2Tsp Vanilla Extract
• Splash Milk

Method

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan
• Put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse (or rub in butter with fingers). Pulse in the sugar.
• Gently warm the buttermilk and vanilla 
• In a large bowl, tip in some of the flour mix, followed by some of the buttermilk mix, repeating until everything is in the bowl. 
• Mix together to form a dough
• Tip onto a floured surface and lightly bring together with your hands 
•  Press out gently to about 4cm thick and stamp out rounds with a cutter
•  Spread out on a lightly floured baking sheet 
• Glaze the top of each scone with milk and bake for 10-12 mins until golden and well risen.

Ini's Stromboli

Ingredients

Dough

• 500g strong white flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 sachet active dry yeast
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 300ml water

Filling

• 3 bacon rashers
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 mozzarella ball
• 3 tbsp ricotta
• 3 ham slices
• oregano&herbes de provence

Method

• For dough, mix flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl
• Make a well in the center and pour in olive oil and water
• Mix well
• Tip onto a floured surface and knead for 6-7 minutes
• Roll out dough into  a large circle or square
  
• Cook bacon in its own fat, remove and cook broccoli in bacon drippings
• Slice the mozzarella into 1 inch slices
• Layer the ham onto one side of the rolled out dough

• Next, layer half the mozzarella on top of the ham

• Arrange the broccoli on top of the mozzarella

• Layer bacon on the broccoli

• Add the rest of the mozzarella on top

• Sprinkle the herbs onto the layers

• Finish with a dollop of ricotta cheese on top 

• Fold the other side of the dough over

• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown