Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Ok, so I have been on hiatus from writing for a week or two. Life got busy and between running from jobs to projects, getting to the gym and back, and lets be honest- Netflix, the blogging lost out. I have been cooking a lot, things like soups which turn out well, but I took no photos of the process because...its just a soup and I was hungry. So I am back, and here is a weekend pancake recipe to kick off the Thanksgiving week with ingredients like cranberries, pumpkin and spices. Happy weekend before thanksgiving, which means menu planning and planning all the planning ahead we can do. Like, what day should I make my pie crust? As of now, still undecided. 

It is paleo, and thus low sugar. Wanting more sweetness in the pancakes, but not having any sort of sweet juice in the house I used an unusual technique of soaking dried fruit to extract some of the sugary flavors. Prunes, figs, or dates work well as they have a high sugar content. I used prunes here. So take about a 1/4 cup of dried fruit (9 prunes) cover with boiling water, let steep for 5-10 minutes, while you whip together the rest of the pancakes. You will want 1/4 cup of this fruit juice to put into the pancakes, the now soft dried fruit can be eaten or used on oatmeal tomorrow, or chopped up and put into quickbread, stuffing, or whatever!

So grab a can of pumpkin, some coconut oil, eggs, and your favorite "milk" product and lets go. Melt your coconut oil, I throw the jar into the microwave for 30 seconds and that does the trick. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, "milk", and oil together.

Measure the arrowroot and almond meal into a bowl, break up any lumps before adding it into the wet ingredients. Add the spices and other dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. (spices from top, clockwise are: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and clove.)

Then add anything we missed, like maple syrup, prune juice, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. The batter is thick and custard-like.

Fresh cranberries are easily run over with a knife for chunks and bits which cook quickly in the batter. I always have some fresh cranberries in my freezer, which can easily be sliced up while still frozen. Stir the beautiful red berries into the batter and away we go.

I find success in a medium low heat, number 3 on my stove. And in my cast iron griddle pan which takes up two burners. I use coconut oil to grease the pan, since there is already coconut oil in the pancakes themselves. And because it is tasty and makes pancakes brown nicely. (Yes, butter is awesome too, I'll leave this choice up to you.)

Pour batter onto the griddle in 2"-3" rounds. If it does not flow easily, add more "milk". Cook slowly, bubbles will appear across the surface of the pancake when it is ready to flip. These can be delicate and my favorite tool is a fish spatula, it has an angled tip and is very thin, so it slides right under the pancakes. 

Once flipped over, they PUFF up, and when the pancakes reaches a puffy stage which is at the maximum puffyness and just before it begins to deflate...this is when it is done. Remove the pancakes from the griddle and begin to pile them up. Pour, cook, flip, cook, pile up. Repeat until done. 

Call everyone to the table and serve pancakes with maple syrup and cut apples.  

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Serves 3-4

Wet ingredients: 
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2.5 T coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or 1 packet stevia)
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup fig juice (something sweet)
1/2 cup hemp or almond milk (more as needed)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup arrowroot flour (or potato starch)
1 cup almond meal (or quinoa flour)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 t salt

Fruit:
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
Sliced apple for serving
maple syrup for serving


Enjoy! ;)

Parsnip, Mushroom and Sage Soup, vegetarian and dairy-free

Parsnips, mushroom, celery, onion and sage. I never have a recipe for vegetable soup, it always comes together magically, a little of this and a little of that. I share this parsnip soup more for the idea then the exactness of anything. There is no great story here, just some chilly evenings and this one reminded me how much I love eating soup. I find it satisfying, and comforting. Soup is a good meal for when you are eating alone, with our schedules that is most meals of the week. It uses hardly any dishes that need to be washed, there are lots of leftovers!  

I decided to puree this soup from the get go. So, it does not matter what the veggies look like when you chop them. Except, this is an important thought, celery. Celery doesn't puree up very well, the stringy parts always stay stringy. So if you cut the celery thin to begin with, the strings disappear!

Put all the veggies into the soup pan with olive oil. Heat, until everybody is sizzling nice and hot. Then pour in a good dose of white wine. Give this time to cook off, leaving just the flavor behind. 

Add water to cover the veggies by an inch or so. You can always add more. Simmer your soup for about 30 minutes, it will be ready when the parsnips (the hardest vegetable in there) are soft and can be shushed with the back of a spoon.

This is a job for an immersion blender if you are ok with a "country style" puree, meaning with some variety of texture still there. For a super smooth soup, send batches of it through a traditional blender for the best texture. If you are trying to impress somebody, you can send it through a strainer, a la French. 

Serve hot in soup bowls, with something crunchy on top. I like to toast pepitas in a small frying pan with a tiny bit of oil and salt. They sizzle like crazy when spooned onto the soup, and make a nice crunch. 

• Parsnip Vegetable Soup
• 
  
• 1 head celery
• 2 pounds parsnips 
• 1 red onion
• 8 oz sliced brown mushrooms
• 5 leaves of sage (or 2 teaspoons powdered)
• salt and pepper

Make soup, as directed above. Puree before serving. Keeps for 1 week in the fridge. 

Pumpkin spice has gone too far! And a real autumn treat, Apple and Maple Paleo Crisp

Fall has arrived in all seriousness, My fridge is currently home  to 5 varieties of apples. The mornings are chilly and chai sounds like a good idea again. I ate a cider doughnut, technically 3. Its official. 

If I was still not sure, say I had awakened from a lengthy Rip Van winkle sleep, I would know it was fall by the endless ads for "pumpkin spice" Or I may be confused about this "pumpkin spice" which has nothing to do with pumpkins. And everything to do with artificial flavored spice syrup.

I don't go in for this "pumpkin spice" flavor which the marketers seem to think can sell more of anything. ...Pumpkin spice is back! Pumpkin spice latte... pumpkin spice pringles... pumpkin spice coffee... marshmallows...vodka....I think I saw a pumpkin spice iPhone. Its gone too far. 

We all know by now that except for in the case of pumpkin beer, most of these things contain no pumpkin, which in real life tastes like squash. The flavor blend is a synthetic approximation of spices. If you dont believe me lookey here.

Nobody understands the pumpkin spice scented maxi pads. Im hoping those are a good internet photoshop joke, but it could not be confirmed one way or another. I think it makes a point.

This is all to say, I made an apple crisp last night, and  I used some spices. No way am I calling it a pumpkin spice apple crisp, its just spices! I hope next fall, the pumpkin trend blows over, they have ruined one of our comforts of fall, taking all the soul out of it.  

It may be a homely looking apple crisp, perhaps because it is paleo. It is certainly delicious. With allspice and nutmeg, omitting the ubiquitous cinnamon makes the dessert less than predictable. 

I left it on the counter to cool. When I had returned from dinner with a girlfriend, my husband looked at me, and said "I ate a little bit of that apple thing, its so good, too bad its not paleo." I reassured him that it was indeed. And I went to have a bite myself,  finding he had eaten about half of it. Ha, a little bit. Thankfully I took photos before. 

The sliced almonds approximate the texture of oatmeal in a typical crisp. Which is why he was fooled. 

Apple and Maple Paleo Crisp

Apples to fill a pie pan. (Mackintosh is good) peeled and chopped off the core.

Juice from 1/4 of a lemon

2.5 ounces sliced almonds

3 ounces sunflower seeds (unsalted)

pinch salt

3 Tablespoons (1 ounce) coconut oil

3 Tablespoons (3 3/4 ounces) maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Peel and slice apples, place directly into the pan. Sprinkle lemon juice on top of the apples.

Mix together the sunflower seeds, almonds, salt. Work the coconut oil into the mixture so all combined. Add the maple syrup, allspice and nutmeg.

(This is what real nutmeg looks like, you can grate it on a microplane directly into your baking, its the best!) 

Give the crisp topping a good mix up. Dump it on top of the apples without any fanfare. There is no way this will ever look chic, so don't waste your time. This is a homely and delicious crisp, loved for what is on the inside, thats what counts.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes. Spin midway to promote even toasting of the topping. The apples should have softened, with some bubbling at the edges, the topping will be toasty golden brown. Try not to burn this one, burnt nuts taste icky.