Monday's Ménage à Trois

What an awesome weekend! My sister was 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.

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

Italian Style Breadcrumbs / Panko Breadcrumbs
Garlic powder
Pepper

2 pkgs of frozen broccoli spears, thawed & dried

Flour for dredging

4 eggs, whisked

Vegetable or olive oil enough for a shallow fry
Salt
Parmesan cheese

Add some garlic, pepper & whatever other spices you like to your breadcrumbs. I have used a combo of both style crumbs. The panko adds a little more texture but go with what you like best. You will have your pans lined up ~ flour, eggs, breadcrumb mixture.

Dredge the broccoli spears in the flour & make sure to shake off excess. Place in eggs. Then roll in breadcrumbs covering completely. Place on wax paper & continue with the rest.  Refrigerate if able for 1/2 hour. This will allow the breading to stay on better.

Heat oil about 3/4 inch deep for a shallow fry.

Fry until golden brown for 2-3 minutes, turn over for 2 minutes more. When it's golden brown the broccoli will be perfect on the inside. Drain on paper towel &amp. Lightly salt & dust with some freshly grated parmesan, immediately.

Food for Thought


May sound crazy but this leftover broccoli is amazing the next day smashed on an egg sandwich. Also, you can use fresh broccoli but you'd want to blanch it first before continuing on. I have used fresh baby broccoli and didn't need to blanch since the pieces were small enough to cook within the time frame needed for the breading to turn golden. I have used olive oil for frying instead of vegetable oil. Again, use what you like.

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