The fall season is finally here and there are many new smells in our culinary kitchens. Our culinary teachers have shared great ideas of nice meals and treats for this season.

“Anything with pumpkin is also very popular, so we like making our pumpkin rolls, but we’ve also done pumpkin stuffed ravioli. Also, we make pumpkin cream soup, which is very nice,” Ms. Tubbs, culinary teacher, said.

                                   Pumpkin Roll recipe     

Yields: 1 jelly roll

Ingredients:             

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Filling

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Peel off paper & roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool by refrigerating 30 minutes
4. To Make Filling: Mix confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.
5. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Or maybe you have an idea of something nice, and warm, and very easy to make…..

“Other fall favorites, it’s sort of like anything that makes you think chilly or s’mores. Deer chili season will be coming into play, as soon as deer season opens, and as the days get shorter and the temperature decreases, we always like to turn to that. A nice comfort food of soup. and chili just sort of hits the nail on the head for that one,” Ms. Tubbs said.

Homemade Vegetarian Chili  Recipe

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 onion, minced

1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 – 3 teaspoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce       

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons sugar            

3 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and ground black pepper

1 ½ pounds

85 percent lean ground beef

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Before You Begin: The texture of the pureed diced tomatoes with their juice is very important here—do not substitute crushed tomatoes or tomato puree.

Directions

1. Pulse tomatoes and their juice in food processor until slightly chunky, about 5 pulses.
2. Bring tomatoes, beans, chipotle chili, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil, covered, in large saucepan. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until needed in step 5.
3.  Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, chili powder, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4.  Add beef, and increase heat to medium-high and add beef. Cook, breaking up beef with spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
5.  Add tomatoes and simmer: Stir in tomato-bean mixture, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

“You also have the fact that apples are coming into season and apples are probably one of our favorite fruits. The most popular fruit to use to make a pie, we have made an apple fritter, apple turnovers, which are basically a mini pie,” Ms. Tubbs said.

Apple turnover recipe 

Crust:

1 c. flour

¼  tsp. salt

1/3 c. plus 1 Tbsp. shortening

2 to 3 Tbsp. cold water

Directions

1. Sift flour and salt together.
2. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender. (Do NOT over cut-in.)
3. Sprinkle water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, over flour mixture and toss lightly with a fork.
4. Repeat with remaining water until all flour is moistened and pastry sticks together and cleans the sides of the bowl.
5. Press dough into a ball.
6. Shape into a flattened round patty and place on a lightly floured pastry cloth.
7. Roll into a 10 x 10 inch square.
8. Cut into 4 equal squares.

Filling

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 apple (peeled, cored, and thinly sliced)

1 tsp. butter or margarine

Directions

1. Stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Add apples and mix.
3. Spoon 1 Tbsp. of apple mixture on each turnover.  Dot with margarine.
4. Fold top triangle over filling.  Seal with fork.
5. Cut slits to allow steam to escape.
6. Bake at 425 F for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Another culinary teacher, Ms. Laura Stoner enjoys warm cozy soups, marshmallows, and just drinking some nice amazing apple cider.

“It is a large squash and you cut it up, and then you throw it up in a crock pot with some chicken both. You add some spice and let it cook all day, and then you blend it up and you eat it,” she said.

Enjoy this recipe from Love and Lemons on a fine butternut squash soup.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Equipment:

• 5.5-Quart Dutch Oven (I personally use the Staub Cocotte)
• Blender (I’ve used my trusty Vitamix for years)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil                             

1 large yellow onion, chopped ½ teaspoon sea salt                      

1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed 3 garlic cloves, chopped                                            

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage                                       

½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary                       

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

3 to 4 cups vegetable broth                                       

Toasted pepitas

Freshly ground black pepper                               

Chopped parsley

Crusty bread

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. 
2. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until soft, 5 to 8 minutes.
3.  Add the squash and cook until it begins to soften, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, and ginger.
5.  Stir and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant
6. add 3 cups of the broth
7. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer
8. Cook until the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes
9. Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth
10. If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend. Season to taste and serve with parsley, pepitas, and crusty bread.