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Recipe Mutiny steals recipes from food blogs and recipe sites. Then we publish them. With credit (Naturally).
Monday, September 30, 2019
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Don't throw away the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin! Roast them for a delicious healthy Halloween snack.
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The Great Pumpkin Beer Divide: Love It or Loathe It, It’s Here to Stay (and Older Than You Think)
Everything you need to know about pumpkin beer, including who invented it and how it’s made.
It usually tastes like warming pie spices; it reappears every year as we approach autumn; and it’s incredibly divisive, inspiring fervent delight in some and vehement disdain in others—and no, it is not the pumpkin spice latte! It’s its colder cousin in the fall beverage family: pumpkin beer. Love it or loathe it, find out exactly what’s in pumpkin ale, how it’s made, where it came from, and which brands are the best.
What is pumpkin beer?
This might seem like a silly question, but it’s worth addressing. First off, you should know that all beer is ale or lager. Most pumpkin beers, whether they’re in the style of a porter, stout, or amber (by far the most common types of pumpkin beer), are ales. There are a few notable examples of pumpkin lager, but they’re rare. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) classifies pumpkin beers as an “Autumn Seasonal Beer” and further defines those as “beers that suggest cool weather and the autumn harvest season, and may include pumpkin or other squashes, and the associated spices.” But they also note that “many interpretations are possible.”
Odyssey Beerwerks Fluffy Pumpkin Beer, $9.99+ on Drizly
This porter is brewed with roasted pumpkin, spices, vanilla, and marshmallow.
Indeed, some breweries get quite creative, from adding chile peppers (as in New Belgium’s Atomic Pumpkin Ale and Wicked Weed’s Xibalba, which also mixes chocolate with the peppers and pumpkin spice), to aging their brews in rum or bourbon barrels (Avery’s Rumpkin is officially one of the booziest pumpkin beers around, with an ABV well into the double digits). If you want to bridge the gap between pumpkin beer and PSL, you can find pumpkin ales that also contain coffee, like Elysian Brewing’s Stumptown-spiked Punkuccino. (Elysian puts out several other delicious pumpkin ales, and are so into the style that they throw a Great Pumpkin Beer Festival every year, at which they tap beers that were actually conditioned inside giant pumpkins).
You can find plenty of other departures from the standard pumpkin beer—for a baseline flavor, Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale is a reliable standby and good example of the basic form—but even the more inventive versions will usually include the familiar festive blend of spices.
So, is there actually pumpkin in pumpkin beer?
Sometimes, yes, but not always.
In the vast majority of cases, it might be more accurate to call these seasonal releases pumpkin pie beers, because most of them are brewed with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and sometimes ginger, and often include vanilla as well. These flavors are great in small doses, but easily become overpowering—which is why some pumpkin beers end up tasting too acrid or potpourri-like.
Paradox Beer Skully #33 Dark Pumpkin Sour, $9.99+ on Drizly
This tart, barrel-aged pumpkin sour includes pumpkin seeds, chile pepper, and cacao nibs too.
Conversely, beer brewed with nothing but pumpkin runs the risk of tasting like, well, nothing at all—or at least nothing special. The actual flavor of pumpkin and squash is pretty subtle, even when you’re talking about the sweeter varieties. There’s a little earthiness, and a certain…squashiness, but on their own, they’re rather unassuming, and even underwhelming. In order to influence a beer’s flavor, they have to be added in the right form and at the right stage(s).
In addition to being added along with the barley in the mash tun (where pumpkin primarily provides fermentable sugars), it can also be added to the brew kettle, where it imparts some flavor, and/or can be added afterward—along with the familiar spices pumpkin so often pals around with—to infuse a bit more of its squashy essence. It can be added in various forms too, whether raw, steamed (or more often roasted, which intensifies the flavor) and pureed, or cooked down into super-concentrated pumpkin juice.
However, since the flavor of actual pumpkin can remain so timid—or, as the BJCP guidelines put it, “elusive”—some breweries don’t even bother, and only add pumpkin pie spices to their ales. Whether or not these should technically be called pumpkin beers is probably a moot point by now. It also probably won’t shock you to know that some brewers use artificial pumpkin flavoring.
O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer, $5.99+ on Drizly
A more classic pumpkin ale, this is brewed with 136 pounds of pumpkin, plus cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Who invented pumpkin beer?
Pumpkin beer actually existed (in different form) all the way back in the Colonial era, which isn’t too surprising when you consider the fact that pumpkins are native to the Americas and already grew abundantly on this continent before Europeans even showed up. They loved beer, but were short on barley to make into malt in those early days of settlement, so they turned to pumpkins, since their surfeit of fermentable sugars made them a great ale ingredient. (Molasses was another favorite colonial alternative to grain.)
The earliest known written recipe for any form of pumpkin beer dates back to 1771:
“Let the Pompion [as pumpkins were then called] be beaten in a Trough as Apples. The expressed Juice is to be boiled in a Copper a considerable Time and carefully skimmed that there may be no Remains of the fibrous Part of the Pulp. After that Intention is answered let the liquor be hopped cooled fermented &c. as Malt Beer.”
Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson all allegedly brewed pumpkin beers (among harder alcohol), but they clearly would have been a far cry from the heavily spiced stuff we buy in bottles come autumn.
The first incarnation of that modern pumpkin ale was cooked up at Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in 1985; some sources say ’86, but all agree that Bill Owens was inspired to try it after reading about Washington’s squashy suds, in fact. Much like the colonists, he added home-grown roasted pumpkin to a batch, along with the mash. The finished beer’s flavor was lacking, in that it didn’t taste like pumpkin at all. So he went to the grocery store, bought some pumpkin pie spice, and added that to the ale, which greatly improved it—and led to our current style of pumpkin beer, for better or worse.
: @remoremodesign . . . . . . . . #pumpkin #pumpkinbeer #craftbeerlife #pumpkinbrew #october #beerstagram #craftbeers #craftbeer #beer #beers #craftbrew #craftbrewery #beeme #craftnotcrap #beersnob #beernerd #microbrewery #microbrewWhat are the best pumpkin beers?
It’s all subjective, of course, but Thrillist drank their way through a whole pumpkin patch’s worth of brews in an effort to find out which were tops, so that’s a great place to start. And you can always peruse all the pumpkin beers listed and rated on Beer Advocate, look up ones that pique your interest on RateBeer—or head to your local bottle shop (or grocery store with a good selection) and ask for recommendations. Sure, you run the risk of eye rolls, but if you like pumpkin beers, press on, and fight the gourd fight.
Incidentally, you can do other things with pumpkin beer besides drink it (convenient, because even when you adore it, it can be hard to get though a whole six-pack). The sweeter spices make pumpkin ale a good choice for autumnal beer desserts, but it can also work in beer chili and beer bread.
So strap in, enjoy drinking liquid pumpkin pie (and sometimes actual pumpkin) for the next couple of months—or at least graciously tolerate those of us who do have a taste for it—and prepare for the barrage of Christmas beers to commence once Thanksgiving is over. Pumpkin beer will then quickly retreat from our collective consciousness until returning to squash summer once again next October (or, if we’re being honest, probably more like late August or early September). Some of us can already hardly wait. For everyone else, be grateful that you can get IPAs all year round, or drink wine instead.
Check out all the best of pumpkins on Chowhound.
Related Video: Pumpkin Spice—So Much More Than a Latte
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Why Roasting Makes Vegetables Taste Sweeter
Here’s the scenario: You have a bunch of vegetables and aren’t sure what to do with them. You don’t have the energy or brain space to make anything remotely complicated. This is what you do: Just roast them to hit that sweet spot. It’s an easy method, and you’ll get lightly browned, crispy-skinned vegetables with tender, honeyed flesh within.
It’s All About The Caramelization
Raw vegetables can taste bitter, especially to people who aren’t totally sold on eating them (such as kids or grown-up kids). Roasting vegetables mellows the flavor, says registered dietician Susan Bowerman on Discover Good Nutrition. She’s the director of nutrition training at weight-management company Herbalife and a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics.
“Roasting is one of my favorite ways to cook vegetables – especially carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts,” Bowerman says. “The dry heat of the oven caramelizes the natural sugars in vegetables, which brings about an amazing depth of flavor. And, it’s super easy.”
Related Reading: Cauliflower Is King: Here’s Why It Rules
Dry-heat cooking, either by roasting or frying, helps release the natural sugars in vegetables. This caramelization is a non-enzymic browning reaction that happens when there is no water and sugars break down from the heat, according to the Science of Cooking. Different types of sugars caramelize at different temperatures: Sucrose and glucose around 320 degrees F and fructose at 230 degrees F. In the last stage of caramelization, hundreds of new aromatic compounds form, creating a range of complex flavors.
The result is a sweet, nutty, toasty flavor. Yes, we’ll take that please.
Don’t confuse caramelization with the Maillard reaction, which involves reducing sugars and amino acids. The best vegetables for caramelization are root vegetables, squash, and tubers. Beets have the highest sugar content, and carrots come a close second. In the case of the carrot, the reaction actually involves both caramelization and the Maillard reaction because it contains amino acids as well.
As far as texture, don’t try to soften your roasted vegetables the way you would with a tough cut of meat: low and slow. They need high heat to tenderize.
The basics in roasting vegetables: Cut the vegetables into 1-inch chunks and heat the oven to 425 to 450 degrees F. Toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, turning them occasionally, and when they’re crispy and a little brown on the outside and soft inside (test one), take it out. You can experiment with seasonings afterward so the seasonings don’t lose flavor during the roasting.
7 of Our Favorite Roasted Vegetable Recipes
1. Perfect Roast Potatoes
Chowhound
It’s good to have this basic in your repertoire. Toss some Red Bliss, white, or perfect potatoes with garlic cloves and fresh rosemary sprigs in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast at the bottom of a hot oven, to form a crispy, beautifully burnished crust. Get our Perfect Roast Potatoes recipe.
2. Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Chowhound
Don’t disguise the natural flavor of this roasted squash with a heavy tomato sauce. Stick with olive oil, pepper, and Parmesan. The flesh of one of our favorite fall vegetables cooks into long, tender strands (like … spaghetti) that are sweet and earthy-tasting. Get our Roasted Spaghetti Squash recipe.
Related Reading: From Blue to Cheese, Get Familiar with These Under-the-Radar Squashes and Pumpkins
3. Cauliflower Tacos
Chowhound
Blanched, roasted, then spiced, cauliflower is the main event in this taco, replacing meat. It’s accompanied by a cilantro-cabbage slaw and lemon crema. Get our Cauliflower Tacos recipe.
Cast Iron Tortilla Press, $19.99 on Amazon
Want to go the homemade tortilla route? You're gonna need a press.
4. Roasted Baby Carrots with Mustard-Herb Butter
Chowhound
Treat the most sugary vegetable (besides beets) with a royal roast and then a coating of tangy mustard-herb butter. Get our Roasted Baby Carrots recipe.
5. Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Almonds and Pecorino
How to get the much maligned and poorly cooked Brussels sprouts the attention it deserves? Add nuts and cheese. And roast those little mini cabbage heads until they’re browned and sweet. (Not smelling like dirty socks!) Get our Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe.
6. Spaghetti with Roasted Vegetables, Pine Nuts, and Olives
Chowhound
A tray of roasted red onions, zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell pepper is incorporated into this pasta dinner. Get our Spaghetti with Roasted Vegetables recipe.
7. Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing
Chowhound
Roasted until soft and sweet, fall’s ideal vegetable for forming a bowl is filled with wild rice, pecans, and dried cranberries, for a nutty, sweet, earthy flavor profile that mixes textures as well. Get our Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing recipe.
Keep Reading: The Fall Produce You Need to Try (Besides Pumpkin)
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Pro Chefs Love This All-Clad Cookware & It’s on Sale Now
When you talk about the best cookware brands in the game All-Clad is consistently in the mix, used and loved by serious home cooks and professional chefs alike. Nonstick is easy to use and clean, but a high-quality nonstick surface is key, and when deciding on a set, you want to find one with a strong anodized aluminum core. All-Clad has both features and coats their nonstick cookware with three layers of PFOA-free coating to keep it from scratching off.
Right now Macy’s has two sets of All-Clad anodized nonstick cookware on sale including a full 10-piece set with frying pans, saucepans, stockpots, and more, and a tight 7-item set with four essential pieces to get you through just about any recipe (plus lids, which account for the remaining three pieces in the set). It’s solid quality cookware you can feel when you hold it.
Related Reading: The Best Cookbooks for Fighting Food Waste
See more details on the All-Clad cookware sets below and hop over to Macy’s to strike while the hard-anodized aluminum is hot.
All-Clad 10-Piece Nonstick Cookware Set, $425 at Macy’s
Macy’s
Cookware may seem tough but it’s actually fairly sensitive and prone to warping, so getting a quality set of anodized aluminum, warp-resistant cookware will ensure it lasts longer. All-Clad gets consistently high marks from home cooks who rave and professional chefs who rely on it for even distribution of heat and unmatched durability. This All-Clad 10-piece set has all you need in a cookware set including a large and medium frying pan, 4-quart sauté pan with a lid, a saucepan, 7-quart stockpot with lid, and a huge 13-inch square pan for those big jobs.Buy Now
All-Clad 7-Piece Hard-Anodized Nonstick Cookware Set, $297 at Macy’s
Macy’s
A similarly durable set of nonstick cookware, this 7-piece set has the essentials for getting through most recipes with a 10-inch frying pan, 2.4-quart saucepan with lid, lidded 4-quart stockpot, and a 4-quart sauté pan with lid.Buy Now
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Apple Cider Glazed Donut Holes
Apple Cider Glazed Donut Holes tickle the taste buds with the flavors of fall. A touch of sweetness and the warm spices of apple cider make these donut holes the perfect morning treat to eat with a cup of steaming coffee.
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