Pumpkin Bread Revisited

This is the same old bread I make every year.

In recent years I’ve made it as muffins, but this year I decided not to mess with the festive paper lining and I threw the batter into a 9×13 just to see what would happen.

It took a little longer to bake but gosh, was it easy and still so delicious!

Please make this bread.

If not for yourself, do it for someone you love.

Substitute seasoning of choice. This year I used Chinese 5 Spice, in that past I’ve used Garam Masala & Curry, Poudre Douce, and Pumpkin Pie Spice.

The Ginger Sugar is optional but highly recommended. If you choose not to use it simply use more plain sugar to replace it.

For pumpkin greatness:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons Seasoning of Choice (Pumpkin Pie Spice, Chinese 5 Spice (pictured), 1 tsp Garam&1tsp Curry…. let your heart guide you)

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Ginger Sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons molasses (optional)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional, raisins are also highly recommended, and maybe a handful of nuts if you’re feeling wild)

Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tray with cupcake liners – makes 24 muffins. OR butter a 9 x 13 dish or two square or circle cake pans.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

With your electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until well blended, scraping down the sides. Alternatively put your party pants on, whip out a wooden spoon & a fork and cream the butter & sugar by hand! This is easily done if your butter is at room temp!

Add the oil, eggs, molasses, and pumpkin. Mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides at least once if you’re using an electric mixer.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated, scrape down the sides. Mix in chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tray and bake 20 to 25 minutes for muffins, 45 to 50 minutes for a 9×13  or  50 to 60 for a loaf OR until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

And that’s it, let it cool and have at it! You’ll probably need to make this more than once cuz the first round is surely going to disappear!

XO

Caitlin

Pickled Watermelon Rind

Y’all.

These pickles are amazing.

Caitlin can’t stop eating them, they are weird and delicious.

Just give them a try.

Here’s what ya need:

2 pounds watermelon rind

1/4 cup pickling salt OR just plain ol’ flake sea salt

3 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

4 teaspoons pickling blend of choice (we tried it with savory and smoky but we’re sure it’d be good with spicy and sweet too!)

Prep your watermelon rind by trimming the pink and dark green parts from the rind. Cut it into 1 inch cubes until you have 7 cups.

Put the rind in a large ziplock bag with the salt and 3 cups of water. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Soak overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day drain and rinse the rind. Throw the rind in a sauce pan and cover with water ~ cook over medium heat until tender. While you’re doing this, in another pot, combine the sugar, white vinegar, 1 cup of water and the spices. Simmer this mixture for about 10 minutes. Strain and discard the spices and pour the liquid back into the pan. Drain your watermelon rind and throw it in with this liquid and simmer until the rind is translucent, about 30 mins.

Pour all this into your jars! If you’d like you can process them for storage or just throw them into the fridge when they’ve cooled down.

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Peach Sangria

We could probably call this Peach Punch for alliteration purposes but since we’re calling this summer The Summer of Sangria, we have to call this refreshing beverage Peach Sangria!!

We made this recipe simply by playing around with a Green Grape Sangria recipe we’ve had for a while now. It’s great because it is so versatile ~ don’t have an apple? Use a peach, or a pear. Don’t have the same color grapes? Use a different kind! It’s a very forgiving recipe, that’s why we love it.

So here’s what ya need:

8 oz sweet red seedless grapes (you can use just green seedless if ya can’t find a sweet seedless red)

1 peach (plus another for garnish, if ya wanna feel fancy)

1/8 cup mint

1/4 cup Ginger Sugar

1 oz fresh lime juice

1 750 ml bottle white wine (we use Cavit Pinot Grigio)

Puree grapes, peach, mint, sugar, & 2 cups of wine in 2 batches in a blender until smooth. Strain this through some cheese cloth into a bowl (we found that a cheese cloth was the best way to squeeze out all that juice, but if you have a fine mesh sieve you are more than welcome to give that a go!). Throw the resulting liquid into a pitcher and add the rest of the wine. Cover and chill at least an hour serve over ice with a fresh peach slice!

Cheers!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Berbere & Ginger Sugar

These ribs are so good. They’ve got this sneaky heat that warms you up and makes you want to eat more! And they are super easy to make, here are the guidelines:

1/4 cup flour for dredging

2 teaspoon Adobo

Oil and/or butter for browning

2-3 pounds short ribs

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup celery with tops, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

1 cup beef broth

1 can diced or crushed tomatoes

4 tablespoons Berbere

3/4 cup Ginger Sugar

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine flour and adobo on a plate and lightly coat your ribs with this combo. Once ribs are coated, throw into a pan with butter over medium high to brown. Throw browned ribs into your slow cooker.

In the same pan you used to brown the meat throw in onions, celery, and carrots and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over ribs and cook on low for 9 hours.

Remove ribs and pour the remains into a saucepan and cook until thickened ~ use as is or puree to create a smoother sauce.

Serve with grits and greens or anything else your heart desires.

Soy Marinated Eggs

These eggs are super tasty and super easy to make! We found this recipe a while back in Bon Appetit and decided to revisit it, we made some minor changes like adding more garlic and slicing it instead of leaving it whole (Our goal was to make soy noodles w the marinade and who doesn’t love sliced garlic and pasta? More on that later). And we used chipotle flakes… oh and we threw in some Worcestershire sauce because we didn’t have mirin…But other than all that, we followed the recipe!!

Anyhow here it is:

6 eggs

8 cloves of glarlic, sliced

3 tsp chipotle flakes

3/4 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp. rice vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 cups water

Bring a large pot of water to a boil ~ while you’re waiting for that magic to happen go ahead and slice up your garlic. Once the water is at a rolling bubble gently throw your eggs in and set your timer for 7 mins (if you want the eggs more runny set the timer for less, if you want them less jammy more solid set your timer for more time). When their time is up throw those bad boys in an ice bath. When they are cool enough to touch get peeling!

In a medium saucepan bring the last six ingredients to a boil ~ once this mixture is boiling reduce heat and let simmer for 5 mins. Remove from heat and if you haven’t already, peel those eggs. Throw your eggs into the soy mix for at least an hour.

Serve by themselves with a little sauce on top and some Shichimi Togarashi or throw them on top of a salad or ramen!!!

Whatever you do with these tasty treats, enjoy!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Harissa Shrimp!

To make these delightful tasty shrimp we used this Spanish Shrimp recipe but added Harissa & onions!

Be sure to serve with warm bread, you don’t want to miss out on all the juice at the bottom of your bowl!

Here’s what ya need:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 cloves of garlic, minced

half an onion, sliced

2 Tablespoons Harissa

2 pounds shrimp: peeled and deveined with the tails left on & seasoned with salt

a loaf of crusty bread (this is essential for sopping up all the tasty oil left in the bottom of your bowl)

In a large pan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, and Harissa and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Lay the shrimp into the pan. Once you’ve got them all in, flip them over. After one flip they should done so scoop them out into bowls and pour any remaining oil over them. Serve immediately with crusty bread!

 

Shredded Chicken with Latin Rub

This shredded chicken is SO EASY and so delicious. Use our Latin Rub for a fiesta or switch it up and use whatever seasoning you want! May we suggest Durango BBQ ;)…

Here’s what you need:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breast, we like thighs cuz they’re always so moist and delicious)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 Tablespoons Latin Rub

Coat your chicken thighs with Latin Rub. In a skillet over medium, heat up the olive oil then add the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip. Add the broth and cover the pan. Cook for 10ish minutes or until chicken reaches that magical internal temp of 165F that means it’s safe to eat! Now shred it! Using two forks pull that chicken apart!

Serve however your heart desires! We made simple and delicious tacos with a little guac, pico de gallo, y a spicy yogurt sauce!

Enjoy!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Curry Coconut Broth

This broth is a building block for greatness. Throw it on some ramen, use it to make baked chicken & rice, add some roasted veggies and call it soup…. get wild, go crazy, let your heart guide the way!

Here’s what ya need:

1 can of coconut milk

1 can of water (empty that coconut milk can and fill it with water…)

1 quart of broth/stock (you choose: vegetable, chicken, beef…)

1 heaping tablespoon Hot Curry

salt to taste (start with a teaspoon or 2 and go from there)

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat, give it some time to think about what it’s going to become. And that’s it, use it however your heart desires.

I know, I know, some of you are thinking, Caitlin, I came here for a recipe not for you to tell me to do whatever I want, I don’t know what I want, that’s why I’m here!  Soooo here’s an example of what to do with this broth:

For the following photo, after we put the broth together we chopped up some veggies (sweet potatoes & brussels sprouts) coated them with olive oil and a little Garam Masala & Chimayo Chili, then we roasted them at 450 for about 25 minutes.  Once that 25 minutes was up we boiled up 2 pots of water to cooke some ramen & boil some eggs. We divided the ramen into some bowls, poured on the curry broth, topped it with the roasted veg and called it a meal!

Enjoy!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Revisited

It’s not fall until Caitlin makes some sort of pumpkin muffin and, by golly, for a few days we felt the faint kiss of fall in the morning breeze!

So Caitlin made her classic chocolate chip pumpkin muffins but instead cinnamon she threw in some Chinese 5 Spice!

If you’d like to add a hint of intrigue to your fall and winter cooking we dare you to use Chinese 5 Spice, it will bewilder your friends and possibly leave your relatives speechless!

Here’s how to make these muffins (if you prefer to play it safe, substitute Poudre Douce (that’s our pie spice) or cinnamon for the Chinese 5 Spice):

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons Chinese 5 Spice

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Ginger Sugar (Optional, it adds a nice bite! Of course, you could just use all plain sugar)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons sorghum or molasses

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional but highly recommended)

Preheat oven to 350° and line your muffin tins with festive liners ~ this recipe makes about 18 muffins.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a small bowl. Using your electric mixer or some serious elbow juice mix together the sugar and butter until it looks a bit like wet sand. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add oil, eggs, molasses, and pumpkin. Mix thoroughly and scrape the sides down again. Add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides at least once. Throw in the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into your prepared muffin tins. Fill each to about two thirds full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean! Let cool in the tins for a few minutes then move to a wire rack to continue cooling. At this point, it is highly likely that they will start disappearing. However, if you manage to have some at the end of the day, they should last for a few days in an airtight container.

Happy fall, friends!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.

Citrus Polenta Cake

This cake is truly delightful! Not too sweet it can be dessert at any time of day ~ brunch, lunch, dinner, tea time!

We topped ours with peaches but any fruit medley would do! Oh, and maybe some whipped cream too!

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temp

1/4 cup Hibiscus Citrus Sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs, room temp

1/2 cup buttermilk

zest of one lemon

For peach topping:

4-5 peaches, sliced

2 Tablespoons butter

1/4 cup Hibiscus Citrus Sugar

juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Generously coat a 9-inch round baking pan with shortening and lightly flour the pan.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

With your stand mixer beat butter until it is light and airy. Add the sugars and continue to cream until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add buttermilk and lemon zest, mixing until smooth. Gradually stir in flour mixture until just incorporated, don’t over mix.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden and cooked through ~ 25 to 30 minutes ~ check it by sticking it with a toothpick, if it comes out clean you’re good to go. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Flip cake out onto the rack then flip it onto your serving plate to let cool completely.

At this point, you can make your topping! We used peaches but anything goes! Maybe some ice cream, or whipped cream.

For the peach topping melt the butter in a saucepan and then add all the other ingredients. Let them hangout together over medium heat until the juices thicken then they are good to go!

Stay sweet, friends!

XO

Charleston Spice Co.