Falling for Fall Flavors

Inside the Ingredients

By Nora Rae Pearl | Oct. 26, 2024

As the leaves turn and the temperatures drop, let’s celebrate with familiar ingredients, but in new ways to highlight their best features. When pumpkins with rice and apple rings with spice hit the menu, there’s plenty of reasons to enjoy a cozy night in.

To stock up on ingredients, look to Bakkers Acres in Suttons Bay for your favorite style of squash and visit VerSnyder Orchards in Lake Leelanau for a variety of heirloom apples.

Pumpkin Risotto

A delicious, comforting meal for a crisp autumn day. Serves six.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup finely diced white onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 large sage leaves
Salt and pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups homemade pumpkin purée (see note)
3 cups hot vegetable stock or water, plus more if needed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more to serve
Fresh parsley to serve

To make the risotto: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and slightly golden. Add garlic, whole sage leaves, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook for one minute. Stir in rice, then add the wine. Cook until most of the liquid is evaporated, one to two minutes, then reduce heat to medium low.

Add pumpkin purée and 1/2 cup stock. Cook, stirring continuously, until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat adding stock in 1/2 cup additions, making sure the rice has absorbed all of the liquid before adding more. Once all the liquid has been added, around 35 to 45 minutes later, taste your rice. If it doesn’t taste cooked, add more liquid and continue cooking until tender. Stir in cheese and enough salt to taste. Serve with Parmesan and parsley on top.

To make homemade pumpkin purée: Cut one medium pie pumpkin or butternut squash in half. Remove seeds. Place cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, or until soft. Let sit until cool enough to handle, then scoop out flesh and purée in a food processor until smooth.

Caramel Apple Rings

If you can’t decide on donut or pie, look no further. Serves eight.

Puff Pastry Ingredients
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1/8-inch thick small cubes
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling and Topping Ingredients
2 large apples, Honeycrisp works well
1 egg
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Caramel Ingredients
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the puff pastry: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Toss in the butter until evenly coated in flour. Briefly pinch the butter into smaller pebbles with your hands. You still want to keep most of the butter pretty chunky. Drizzle over 6 tablespoons of ice water. Toss until you feel a dough come together, add additional 2 tablespoons of ice water if there is still a lot of loose flour.

Gently knead the dough until you have one shaggy clump. On a floured surface, press or roll out the dough to a rough 6-by-9-inch rectangle. Fold like a letter, folding the bottom third over the center followed by the top third over the center. Gently pat out to a 4-by-8-inch rectangle. Wrap in plastic, chill for two hours.

Roll out on a floured surface to an 8-by-12-inch rectangle, do one letter fold. Rotate dough 90 degrees, roll out again to an 8-by-12-inch rectangle, and repeat one letter fold. Wrap dough in plastic, chill for 20 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface to an 8-by-12-inch rectangle, do one letter fold. Rotate dough 90 degrees, roll out again to an 8-by-12-inch rectangle, and repeat one letter fold. Chill overnight.

To assemble: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring out dough and let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut your apples into 1/2-inch thick rounds. You want a total of eight. Cut a 1 1/2-inch hole in the center of each. On a floured surface, roll out dough to an 8-by-20-inch rectangle. Cut into eight long strips, measuring 1-by-20 inches. Cut each strip in half creating 16 strips measuring 1-by-10 inches. Working one apple at a time, pick up one dough strip and stretch to around 14-16 inches. Wrap around the apple slice, weaving through the center. You should get halfway around with one strip, then pick up another dough strip, stretch, and wrap the remaining half.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat the process until all the apple slices are wrapped. Beat together the egg and cream. Brush rings. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through, until nicely golden. Let cool for five minutes, then brush with melted butter. Generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

To make the caramel: Place the sugar in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan with tall sides. Shake gently to level the sugar so that it covers the bottom evenly. Drizzle over the water. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, until the sugar turns a deep amber color. Take off the heat. Carefully pour in the cream (the caramel will bubble and steam), then stir until smooth. Add salt and vanilla. Place in a heat proof container, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Drizzle over pie rings.

Nora Rae Pearl is 99 percent foodie and 1 percent chef. When she is not writing about food, she can be found waiting in line at the farmers market hoping to get a croissant before they run out. Photo credits Cody Werme.