Monday's Ménage à Trois

What an awesome weekend! There was a lot of quality time spent with our families as both Terry's & my parents came over. My sister was also in town with her beau Duane. They didn't even put their bags down before they were playing with Tristan. It's so much fun watching him enjoy the company of others.

The weather was gorgeous so I had the patio doors open for most of the weekend. And I can't put my finger on it but church on Sunday moved us more than usual. There were moments when I was torn between laughter & tears of happiness. I am truly blessed!

I also cooked quite a bit & wanted to share a few things with you today. Now, I hope you know by now that when I post a recipe, it's because I believe in it 100%. I not only post it to share with you but I want to catalog it for my own use again. While the broccoli is a tried & true old family favorite, I am sharing the 2 pumpkin recipes today with slight reservations. I believe they can be awesome but with some modifications. So, here they are for you to check out. Please see notes.

GARLIC BREADED BROCCOLI

2 pkgs of frozen broccoli spears, thawed
4 eggs, whisked & seasoned with salt & pepper
Italian Breadcrumbs
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil

Cook spears in light salted boiling water for no more than 2 minutes. Drain & run cold water over them. When cool enough to handle, dip one spear at a time in eggs & then coat with breadcrumbs. Heat oil about 3/4 inch deep. When oil is hot add only enough of the minced garlic into the pan where it covers most of the oil. Add the spears right after since you don't want the garlic to burn.

Fry until golden brown for 2-3 minutes, turn over for 2 minutes more. Drain on paper towel & lightly salt immediately.

My Thoughts:

This broccoli is not supposed to have a very thick coating of breadcrumbs. I have tried using flour before the eggs in the past & while the breading stays on better it takes away from the taste. Also, I have not had many issues with burning the garlic in the oil but I always like to mince some extra just in case, especially if I am doing more than a couple of batches.

While I don't want to mess with a good thing I might suggest, or even try myself, adding the minced garlic to the breadcrumb mixture. You can place it in a blender or grinder to make sure it is evenly dispersed & mixed well with the breadcrumbs.

Also, we use olive oil because this is supposed to be a light fry rather than a deep fry.

Click Here to Print Broccoli Recipe

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE PIE

If you are interested in making this recipe, I would recommend a couple of things. Double the chocolate amount or at least increase by 50%. Also, make sure your chocolate is very small. I used little morsels & still felt they should have been smaller so they could've melted better & formed a nicer layer. FYI, there wasn't enough room left for the entire pumpkin mixture on top so you'll have some leftover. I was fine with that as more would not have been better!

Click Here to See & Print Pie Recipe

CURRY PUMPKIN SOUP

If you are interested in making this soup, I would highly recommend doubling up on the curry powder & pumpkin pie spice. You may even need to triple it, depending on your taste. And while I did not make the orange-cranberry topper I suggest you do because this could be bland without it. I also only pureed just half of this soup as I like it chunky. Tammy came over to do some taste testing. She suggested & I agree that this also could be nice as a curry sauce over some rice.

Click Here to See & Print Soup Recipe