Sunday, November 09, 2008

Holiday Frummus and Pumpkin Gingerbread

As much as I dread the stress of the holiday season, there is no denying its presence. For relief I go to the kitchen, and this weekend I’ve come up with two very nice recipes.

I have heard of frummus, but have never seen or eaten it, and the idea of fruity hummus is intriguing to me. I can’t imagine and certainly didn’t want anything sweet, so I decided cranberries would be perfect for my first frummus experiment. To make the frummus, I put together a low fat hummus recipe by using whole cranberry sauce for most of the oil and tahini. It is Holiday Frummus due to the addition of fresh cranberries and pistachios. (I set aside some chopped cranberries and pistachios for garnish. The rest were chopped up in the food processor, just so you know there are not chunks as big as the garnish in the actual frummus.) The final product isn’t quite as pink as I had hoped it would be, but it’s still a nice color. And how does it taste? It tastes great! It tastes like hummus with nice hint of tangy cranberry flavor. And I love the texture interest the pistachios give. I think almonds may be more appropriate for Thanksgiving and the pistachios are more appropriate for Christmas. Anyway, here is Holiday Frummus.



Holiday Frummus

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup whole cranberry sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. tahini
½ t. cumin
½ t. crushed red pepper
½ t. kosher or sea salt
¼ cup chopped fresh cranberries (plus extra for garnish)
¼ cup chopped raw pistachios or almonds (plus extra for garnish)

Directions:
Put in a food processor the chickpeas, cranberry sauce, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, tahini, and spices. Process until smooth. Add in ¼ cup fresh cranberries and ¼ cup pistachios and process until combined. Put into bowl and garnish with the remaining cranberries and pistachios.


What do you think? I love pumpkin hummus and have been making it for years. But what about apple cinnamon or pineapple jalapeno frummus? I don’t know…..


The next recipe is so exciting for me – Gluten Free Pumpkin Gingerbread. This is a recipe I found on cooking.com (which it got from Wild Oats Market) and adapted to replace the eggs, reduce the fat and sugar, and punch up the spices a bit. I also baked it in an 8x8 pan instead of a loaf. I must admit that my spice blend in this recipe made for one fantastic gingerbread! I must also admit that the batter in the middle of the pan did not firm up enough. I think another ½ to 1 cup of flour would make it perfect. Nonetheless, if you like a spicy, gingery gingerbread, I recommend using this spice combination in your own favorite recipe.



Gluten Free Pumpkin Gingerbread

Ingredients:
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup applesauce
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
2 t. vanilla
2 enerG eggs
3 T. molasses
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 T. fresh grated ginger
1 cup oat flour
½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. kosher or sea salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 ½ t. ground ginger
½ t. black pepper
¼ t. allspice
¼ t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup candied ginger, minced
2 T. turbinado sugar

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Light grease an 8x8 pan.

In a large bowl mix together the oil, applesauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, eggs, molasses, pumpkin puree, and fresh grated ginger.

In a separate bowl sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, then stir in the candied ginger.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
Please let me know if you try either of these recipes.


I was away most of the weekend so I didn’t get to cook very much at all. This afternoon I went to the Texas Veggie Chili Cookoff and sampled some wonderful creations from around the state. It was a beautiful warm day, but not too warm for chili. I only saw one person I knew – Amanda from Walking the Vegan Line – hard at work in the Society of Peace booth. I hope she got some pictures because I didn’t take a single one. I did notice a local news crew there, so I'll watch and see if vegans get a plug tonight.
Have a great week, everyone!

34 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I'm the same way with the holiday season, no worries, haha ;-)

Frummus, eh?? Intriguing!!

HOORAY FOR GF PUMPKIN BREAD!!! :-D

Sounds like you had a good weekend!!

jessy said...

frummus sounds really interesting! i might have to give it a try - it looks soooo pretty!

your pumpkin gingerbread - oooooooooooooooooooo! that looks absolutely awesome! i am printing off the recipe! thanks, Diann! :D

Anonymous said...

Any sort of gingerbread sounds awesome to me, so I'm sure I'd love this version too!

Anonymous said...

Frummus? Sounds uniquely, bizarrely intriguing!! I love the idea of pumpkin hummus, too, so why not fruit? The gingerbread looks good, too. I've never tasted a true gingerbread. . .I think I'd like it, though :)

Katy said...

I've never heard of frummus before, but it sounds yummy!
And I love all things pumpkin!

Andrea said...

Frummus isn't something I would ever have thought of but it sounds interesting. Pumpkin gingerbread sounds delicious. I've made gingerbread with fresh ginger in the past and was surprised by the almost citrusy flavor, but I've never tried black pepper in a cake. I like the idea of adding pumpkin.

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Anonymous said...

I can't stop saying frummus. It's hard to say but funny, too. And it's a beautiful picture.

allularpunk said...

frummus...interesting! i'm not a big sweet dip fan, but i think your suggestions of cranberry, apple, and ESPECIALLY that pineapple/jalepeno! i might have to try that one out. and are the measurements for the pumpkin gingerbread with or without the extra 1/2 cup of flour you said was needed? i'd like to make this! (though i must admit that i will probably just use regular flour, because i already have 4 types of flour at my house and non of them are gluten-free...and i have no room for more!)

aTxVegn said...

Jessy and allular - the gingerbread recipe I posted is withOUT the extra flour, so you will need to add it.

A.M. said...

O, the gingerbread looks so good - I'm definitely bookmarking it!

Anonymous said...

Frummus and GF Ginger Bread!? Always so much goodness here! How fun that you saw Amanda - sounds like a good time.

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

i need that bread!! i mean, it i really need it!!! & how cool - a veggie chili cookoff!!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Can you believe I haven't even heard of frummus? Where have I been?!? Sound delicious. And your gluten free version of gingerbread makes me want to run to the kitchen and bake!!

So nice to see you (if ever so briefly) this past weekend at the festival!! Wish I had more time to chat....

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

never heard of frummus... I'm trying to wrap my head around it. at least yours is super pretty! I suppose I may have to try it someday, though (card-carrying vegans gotta try every hummus type, right? :D)

urban vegan said...

Frummus? Yummus!

And here's to gluten-free goodies. I think everyone, even those not allergic, should cut more wheat from their diet.

miss v said...

i've never heard of 'frummus'. i'm not sure i would like the cranberries, but the pistachios sound intriguing.

Jenn said...

Frummus sounds so interesting. I'll have to give it a try!

MeloMeals said...

pineapple jalapeno frummus!... oh boy that sounds amazing...

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Interesting! I am learning SO MUCH in bloggerland today! I knew it was educational to do ths!!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Whoa! I've never heard of Frummus! I have heard of pumpkin bread though & that looks GOOD!

Kelly said...

You better believe your sweet bippy Im making pumpkin hummus and cranberry hummus for thanksgiving this year, thanks to your recipes.

VeganView said...

Everything looks sooooo scrumptious! Awesome colors on all the dishes.
I am tagging you for this survey going around, just check my blog to see what to do ;)
veganview.blogspot.com
keep up the awesome work!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

I love the Frummus! That is genius! The Pumpkin Gingerbread looks SO delicious!!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

It's purple! *Does a happy dance*

Anonymous said...

Do you think if I used 1/4 cup dried cranberries instead of fresh it would be okay? Just curious. Thanks!

aTxVegn said...

Anonymous, I actually think it would be too sweet and throw the texture off if you use dried cranberries. Can you get some frozen whole cranberries? If not, maybe use just 1/4 cup more whole cranberry sauce or just leave out the fresh cranberries entirely.

Erin said...

Frummus! I've never heard of such an idea, but it sounds really cool.

Anonymous said...

Frummus is a great idea. Your cranberry frummus sounds and looks great, I can't wait to try it. I like pumpkin hummus too! But then again, I love all things pumpkin.

Renaissance Rik said...

hmm... oat flour isn't really gluten-free, is it? otherwise looks like a great recipe. I'll try subbing something else in for oat and let you know how it goes.

Bex said...

Frummus that sounds so neat. And my love of cranberries would mean I'd probably like this.

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