Fiesta Cheese Fondue

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite restaurants.  Making their fondues at home is actually way easier than it looks.  For Halloween I decided to make their fiesta cheese fondue, serve it in a roasted pumpkin, and make homemade tortilla chips.  Boy was it good!

Ingredients:
Fondue:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups colby jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa
2 tablespoons corn starch

Chips:
8 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Directions:
For the roasted pumpkin, you want a medium sized pumpkin.  Cut about an 8 inch circle in diameter off the top of the pumpkin.  Use a sharp knife to cut down at an angle.  Once you do this, you can pull the top off.  Clean out the inside with a metal spoon and get rid of the pumpkin seeds.  Roast them if you'd like.  Clean out as much of the flesh as possible to make a smooth inside.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Roast the pumpkin for a half hour or until it turns golden.  Set aside for later.

Heat the oil in a small sauce pan about 2 inches up the side.  Cut each corn tortilla into 8 triangles.  I use one to test the oil.  Once it floats to the top it is finished.  Toss in about 8 at a time and stir around with a slotted spoon.  Cook until they turn lightly golden.  It should only take about a minute or two.  Drain on paper towels and LIGHTLY season with salt.

Get a fondue pot of a small sauce pan and begin heating the vegetable broth with the salsa.  Grate your cheese by hand.  Do not buy pre-shredded cheese as this makes the fondue clump.  I learned that the hard way.  Once all of your cheese is shredded, mix with the corn starch.  This will also prevent clumping.

One the broth is hot, stir in your cheese one small handful at a time and slowly whisk in.  Allow all of the cheese to melt before adding more cheese.  Once all of the cheese has melted, pour into the pumpkin.  Serve hot with the chips!

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Brownies

So brownies are one of my favorite things ever.  I found a recipe for brownies that are actually faster than box brownies and way better.  And adding pumpkin in the middle made them absolutely unbelievable. Make these for any fall occasion.  They are warm, gooey, with just the right amount of pumpkin.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 1/2 sticks butter

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

7 oz canned pumpkin (usually half of a normal can, NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING)

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Stir in the white sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and eggs.  Once completely stirred, place about 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  It is very thick so it might take some good spreading, but don't worry if it doesn't completely cover the bottom of the pan.  Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

While the bottom layer is baking, in a separate bowl mix the pumpkin, chocolate chips, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Then put 1/2 cup of the remaining brownie batter and stir together.  

Once the bottom layer comes out of the oven, pour the pumpkin mixture on top and spread.  Then put the remaining brownie batter on top of that and spread.  Again it is very thick and may be difficult to spread.  I would put small spoonfuls all over the top and then try to spread.  

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Allow to cool for at least 2 hours.  Cut into squares and enjoy!  Beware, you can't eat just one!

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Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

It took me a long time to figure out the best recipe to mock the Cheesecake Factory's.  I tried a lot of fancy techniques that people say make a best cheesecake.  I searched all over the internet and I found the best recipe was actually the simplest and most like my Mom's recipe for cheesecake.  I made this recipe on Thanksgiving and it was a crowd favorite! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon of sugar

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3-8 ounce packages of cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Whipped cream for top if desired

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together.  Then add the melted butter and stir until a slightly moist mixture forms.  Press the crust into the bottom and 2/3 of the sides of a springform pan.  I use a metal measuring cup to press the crumbs in, but your hand will work just fine.  Bake for 5 minutes and then put into fridge to chill. 

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg and beat again until very creamy and there are no lumps.  Pour into the graham cracker crust.  Bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes.  Many professionals recommend to use a water bath which is just a roasting an full of hot water that the springform pan is immersed in for even cooking and to prevent cracking.  I personally don't do this step because I like the crack on my cheesecake.  It makes it look homemade.  After it is finished baking, chill in the fridge.  Preferably let chill for 24 hours, but 6-8 hours will do if you can't wait that long.  You can decorate with whipped cream if you want like they do at the cheesecake factory, but I prefer to leave mine plain.  Cut and Enjoy!

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