Carrot mousse topped crackers

Last year, we got a pasta machine for Christmas.  We've used it once, and made some delicious butternut squash/goat cheese raviolli. Since then, we haven't even taken it out of the box.  With Erin in Thailand, I needed something to do, and I've been discussing using the pasta machine to make crackers with my father for a while now.  I finally got off the couch and tried it.  Turns out, it was quick and easy.  But, I wanted more than just crackers, and having just made the roasted red pepper mousse, I had some extra gelatin.  I also had some carrots from the parents' garden.  I then thought, why not make a roasted carrot mousse.  We also had leftover goat cheese and smoked salmon.  And, voila, my dish was decided.

Roasted Garlic and Chive Crackers

2 C Flour
6 Tbsp butter, room temperature (can use less, or substitute olive oil?)
1/4 tsp salt
1 C milk (about, and I used almond milk)
1 head of garlic, roasted,
1/4 Chives, minced

Preheat oven to 300°F.

In a food processor, using the chopping blade, mix flour and butter until the mixture is finely mixed, add all of the garlic.  Switch blades to the mixing blade, and add chives.  Add milk a small amount at a time until the mixture balls up, and but doesn't stick to your hands.  Roll out the dough until it is very thing, alternatively, use a pasta machine to roll out dough.  I used setting 6. Place the dough on cookie sheet, and into 1" squares. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crispy.

Roasted Carrot Mousse

3/4 pound carrots
1 shallot
1 serrano chile
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt (or more)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 C Milk
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 egg whites

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp water

Chop the carrots and shallots.  Mix the chopped carrots and shallots in a bowl with serrano (with the top cut off), olive oil, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper until the carrots and shallots are coated with the olive oil and spices.  Place carrots, shallots and serrano on a cookie sheet and roast on 350°F for about 45 minutes or until the veggies are cooked.  Remove from oven, let cool, and puree in a food processor with olive oil.  Slowly add milk until the puree is creamy.

While the carrots are roasting, beat the egg whites  until the have hard peaks.  Set aside.

After pureeing the carrot mixture, in a one quart pot on the stove, add the gelatin to the water until the gelatin  absorbs the water, about 2 mins.  Then heat for a few minutes until the gelatin dissolves.  Remove from heat, slowly whisk in the pureed carrot mixture until it is all added.

Fold carrot mixture into egg whites and refrigerate until the mixture has thickened, about 1.5 hrs.

Toppings

Smoke Salmon
Bleu Cheese
Chives

Assemble the appetizer

Place a slice of smoked salmon on each cracker, topped with the mousse, bleu cheese, and chives.

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Epicurious.  I quadrupled the recipe to make four loaves.  They turned out to be a little too moist, and were difficult to remove from the pans.  They were, nonetheless, delicious.

Ingredients 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil Scant 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not flavored pie filling 2 large eggs Preparation 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan. 2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in a small bowl. 3. Beat the butter, sugar, and oil on high speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times, until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. 4. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until just incorporated. Mixing on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and 2/3 cup water and mix until just combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Pumpkin-Bread-367512#ixzz2HcmgpE7k

Pumpkin Soup with Roasted Red Pepper Mousse

This recipe was born out of our laziness.  We were hosting a Thai woman for a professional exchange program over Halloween and thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins with her for the celebration.  Turns out we never carved the pumpkins and ended up having two carving pumpkins that we didn't want to waste. So, the most obvious solution was to puree the pumpkins and make something delicious. We ended up making two somethings delicious.  Pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread.  See the subsequent post for the pumpkin bread.

I found this recipe on Epicurious.com, and thought it was good enough to share.  I didn't make any additions, but I think it would be better to add some hot peppers or sriracha pureed with the roasted red peppers to spice it up.  As it was, the combination of soup and mousse was very intriguing and tasty!  The pumpkin soup provided a thicker, heartier base that, when combined with the lighter, fluffy mousse, created the perfect airy yet robust soup.

Recipe

The soup and mousse lasted about 5 days in our fridge, but were definitely better the earlier they were consumed.

For mousse 1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, and patted dry 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar (we used red wine vinegar) 1/4 teaspoon hot smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce envelope) 2 tablespoons water 1/3 cup chilled heavy cream For soup 5 carrots, chopped (1 1/2 cups) 1 large onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf (I didn't have one, and it still tasted good) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 4- to 4 1/2-pound pumpkin or butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces (9 cups) 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (40 fluid ounces) 3 1/2 cups water Preparation: Make mousse: Purée peppers, oil, vinegar, paprika, and salt in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a 1-quart heavy saucepan and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Heat mixture over low heat, stirring, just until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in pepper purée 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until it just holds soft peaks. Fold in pepper mixture gently but thoroughly, then cover surface of mousse with plastic wrap and chill until set, at least 2 hours. Make soup while mousse chills: Cook carrots, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in oil in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add pumpkin, salt, cumin, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin begins to soften around edges, about 15 minutes. Stir in broth and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are very tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Blend soup in batches in cleaned blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), transferring to a bowl. Just before serving, return soup to pot and reheat over low heat. Ladle soup into bowls and top each serving with 1 1/2 tablespoons mousse.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Pumpkin-Soup-with-Red-Pepper-Mousse-230968#ixzz2HcdLF1of