Pumpkin Wantans

Wow, it's totally winter (north of the equator) I realize...But let's just rewind back a minute to fall and pumpkins. These pumpkin wantans are delicious, slightly sweet and would be great for appetizers, snack, or even main course. The ingredients are fairly simple, but the time to assemble them and boil can take up to 45 min. If you have some time, they turned out pretty nice for me.

The original recipe and idea is over here. And now for my rendition!

Yep. This is pretty much all you need: 

wantan wrappers (from Asian market) // pumpkin puree (recipe here) // a little water for sealing wrappers

If you put a pot of water to boil while you're putting the wantans together, it's more time-efficient. 

Moisten two sides of the wantans with water. 

A little dollop in the middle of the wantan and fold it over. Make sure you don't over-stuff the filling or it will be difficult to seal up. Take out some if it starts seeping out.

Tightly hold the folded sides together and use your finger to 'iron' over the corners. 

I kind of made up this method of wantan-folding. You can go with it or look for another way too! I fold the two adjacent corners into the center...

...and pinch with a dot of water to close it.

Lovely wantans ready to go!

When water is good and boiling, carefully slide in prepared wantans. When you first put them in make sure to give a stir so they don't stick to the bottom. You really want to take care of them in this stage because if they break or leak it's a sad story and you'll end up with empty wantans. So if you're just starting out, it may be a good idea to try this recipe with more solid fillings - I was very successful with broccoli and onion. Some others that would be nice: Spinach and garlic, cheese and bacon, sausage and broccoli, etc.

They will sink at the beginning and float when they are ready. And also change from white to an almost see-through color. Use a spatula with holes or a grid so the water can drain. They're kind of delicate, so I took mine out one at a time.

Now you've got some lovely cooked wantans! Add some soy sauce for a sweet-savory combo or sesame seed oil for a mild flavor. Yum, enjoy!

A Fall Smoothie: Pumpkin Pie

Hey fall faeries! I've got a few more pumpkin recipes to share - pumpkin bread and pumpkin wantons (coming soon!). Really, pumpkin puree seems to be the gift that keeps giving. Just freeze it and defrost when you've found a good pumpkin recipe {some ideas here and here}. Anyway, here's how to make this delicious Pumpkin Pie Smoothie.


Collect all your ingredients: pumpkin puree, bananas, milk, water, sugar, cinnamon, ginger powder, vanilla extract. (I would have liked to use nutmeg or pumpkin spice as well.)

Add a few ice cubes and blend it up!

All that's it: easy peasy, pumpkin-squeasy!

A smoothie in fall? I realize that's a little atypical. I still like it as a refreshing start to the day...but you can also leave out the ice cubes and it will be more of a juice, and still really good.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Hey there! I've been on the pumpkin kick for the last week or so. Maybe you've noticed it's been quite pumpkin-y? It's so awesome I can pretend it's fall here in Peru :) 

While looking for pumpkin pie recipes, I stumbled on this pumpkin cheesecake recipe over at The Crunchy Moose by Ashlee and I decided it was an even better idea! Her post has pictures of the steps so I didn't include those here. 

Ingredients

- 2 cups of vanilla cookies (or graham crackers)

- pinch of cinnamon

- 3/4 cup butter

- 6 oz. of cream cheese

- 2 tbsp corn starch

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 eggs

- 1 chia egg or an egg white

- 1/4 cup evaporated milk*

- 1/4 cup sugar

- 2 cups pumpkin puree

* The original recipe calls for heavy cream but I used evaporated milk and it still turned out. 

** These are approximate measurements

Prepping...

the crust

Blend cookie crackers well in a food processor until they're fine crumbs. Here you could also blend in some kind of nut, if you'd like. Mix in the cinnamon.Then melt butter until liquid and mix into the crumb mixture. Form crust evenly into an greased pie tin.

the filling

Mix the following in a blender: cream cheese, sugar, corn starch, vanilla, eggs, and chia egg. 

(In this step it's really important to make sure the cream cheese is went blended. I don't have an electric/hand blender, so I just mixed by hand. I learned that it doesn't melt into the cake, as I thought it would. You can see what I mean in the photos.)

Then hand mix the milk and puree into the mixture. 

Now, pour the filling into your pie tin.

Bake...in oven for about an hour. I'm not sure what temperature (our oven is only on or off. really.) but I imagine it would be around 350*. It should be lightly browned around the corners, the crusted baked, and the filling slightly jiggly. 

Let it cool for a bit, then pop in the fridge for an hour or 2 to finish it off. 

For my first ever cheesecake, it turned out pretty taste-y. The crust is sooo delicious! The filling was good too, but I learned that the cream cheese really needs to be blended well. Here are some photos:

Thanks for stopping by :) Have you made any pumpkin recipes this season??

Keeping the Pumpkin Recipes Rollin'

Hello all! So I've been cooking up a pumpkin storm these days...and still have about 4 cups of pumpkin puree to go. Soooo - keep the pumpkin coming!

Here's a little recipe update:
First Rafa and I carved the pumpkin/made puree. Then I made a pumpkin cheesecake (recipe to come) and toasted the seeds (just with salt and some garlic powder). Sunday morning was a good day for pumpkin chia pancakes. And yesterday I actually tried making these Pumpkin Wonton Ravioli's (which I'll post soon too!) and they turned out really nice. 

Ok...so to keep me going with the pumpkin, I found a few more recipes to try (plus a few non-pumpkin ones since it won't last me that long).

These are my new fall recipe picks:


1. S'mores popcorn balls at Club Narwhal. This gal Amy makes mouthwatering culinary creations and I'm all about trying this one!

2. Curried Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk @ Curry and Comfort. This has been on my to-make list since this post in mid-September. I may just have to splurge for coconut milk soon.

3. Pumpkin bread at Tastes of Lizzy T. Classic pumpkin bread is a must. I just wish there was pumpkin spice in Peru!

4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Wantans at Peas and Crayons. Google-ing 'wantan recipes', there weren't many sweet options that came up. But this one definitely stands out. Anything cookie dough-y - I'm in! 

5. Pumpkin Pie Frozen Yogurt at Emily Bites. This looks perfect - yummy and simple! 

Didya notice that most of these are sweet things? I think I'd choose sweets over salty, most days. What about you?

Pumpkin Chia Pancakes!

Hello lovers of fall... today the pumpkin fun continues! Since we carved a pumpkin and made puree the other day, I have been trying lots of pumpkin recipes. Which means, you'll be seeing some on them right here, on this little blog!

This morning was the perfect day to experiment with some pumpkin chia pancakes. I put together this little recipe to share. Let me know how yours turn out :)

Ingredients:

I really made it by feel, so these measurements are rough estimates

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup pumpkin puree {from can or make it yourself}

1/2 cup milk

1 egg (oops, not shown in photo)

1 scoop chia

pinch of cinnamon powder

pinch of ginger powder

add sugar or vanilla extract for more sweetness

and an egg!

To Make: 
Mix all the ingredients together. 

Get your pan really hot and add a little butter. Use a spoon, cup, or - I used an ice cream scoop - to get a consistent size. I made mine small because...aren't small things are always cuter? They're like little orange pumpkins :)

Cook until lightly browned and voila ~ there you have them! With a little melted butter and sprinkle of sugar on top, they are even better...They have a subtle pumpkin flavor and are just the right sweetness. Plus, they're a little healthier with the chia. For some more chia recipes head over here! 

Thanks for stopping by! I wish you a lovely, restful, adventurous or (fill in the adjective you'd like) Sunday!