Hi.
My name is Deena and I’m a foodie. It’s almost an apology these days, isn’t it? Food blogging is past en vogue … it’s almost passé. And yet, I have a food blog. http://www.stayathomefoodie.com
Oh, it’s almost cliché – a stay at home mom writing a food blog.
I know. But the thing is, I love food. I have professional training (with two diplomas to prove it) and I have two kids that have learned:
- Not to touch dinner until I have properly photographed the food
- To roll their eyes when I bring home something that “looked too good to pass up”
Yup. That’s me in a nutshell. A stay at home FOODIE.
FALL FOOD
Can you believe that it’s technically Fall? I can’t. I like to say that here in SoCal, we’re one season behind the rest of the country. September may be the start of fall, but here in Beverly Hills were in the throes of summer.
But despite the temperatures outside, it’s Fall – the new television season has started, Disneyland has it’s Halloween decorations up (already?!), Pumpkin Lattes have hit Starbucks and all of the magazines are featuring orange, red and yellows. So, it must be Fall.
One of the only ways we can really enjoy fall out here in LALA land is to bring in the season through food.
Add a little cinnamon and nutmeg and voila! instant Fall. (Even Disney uses the pumpkin pie smell in their Haunted House ride to make you feel like it’s really Halloween.)
That’s why – despite the weather, it’s the perfect season for apple pie [please link to: http://stayathomefoodie.com/cooking-school-confidential-good-ole-fashion-apple-pie/] or pumpkin bread.
Pumpkin bread just screams “Fall” – I think it’s the combination of the color, the nod to Halloween and the spices. And this version, with browned butter and nutmeg is heavenly. It makes my home smell like autumn. It’s perfect for an after school snack and it’s divine toasted with some butter on top.
The best part of this recipe is that it makes TWO loaves, which means you can devour one today (like I do) and freeze one for next week (if you can wait that long).
Browned Butter Pumpkin Bread
yield: 2 loaves
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups of canned pumpkin
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 350F, and grease two (9 inch) loaf pans.
- In a large frying pan, heat the butter over medium high heat. It will melt first, and then start to foam. Turn the heat down to medium. Stir the melted butter almost constantly, scraping any browning bits from the bottom of the pan. When the butter has turned a brown color and smells rich and nutty, remove it from the heat. (This should take about 7 minutes). Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar on high speed for several minutes, until the color has lightened. Drizzle in the browned butter and beat for another couple of minutes, until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the pumpkin to the wet ingredients and beat until smooth and uniformly mixed in.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on low until fully incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly into the 2 prepared loaf pans and bake for about 50 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
- Enjoy!
More about Deena, the stay at home FOODIE: Deena is a stay at home foodie, obsessed with food and intent on changing her finicky family into a foodie family. She lives by a set of FOODosophies and has pledged to get her kids into the kitchen to teach them how to cook and love good tasting food. It's not always pretty and there are nights when the kids go hungry. But, for her, it's all for the greater good. She blogs at http://www.stayathomeFOODIE.com.
