Chicken and Black Bean Burritos with Pumpkin Cheese Sauce

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I know... it sounds weird, but I really enjoyed it.  Besides, I still had a little bit of pumpkin puree leftover from Halloween.  It is inspired by Closet Cooking's pumpkin and black bean burritos.

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos with Pumpkin Cheese Sauce (Yields 8 - 10):
1 recipe for spent grain tortillas

2 chicken leg quarters, cooked, deboned, deskinned and shredded
1/4 to 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
salt & pepper, to taste

1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 of a large onion (approx. 3/4 c.), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 c. beer
salt & pepper, to taste

Pumpkin Cheese Sauce
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. dried cilantro or 2 tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. cheese (I used a mix between American and cheddar)
salt & pepper, to taste

Garnish
sour cream
chopped tomatoes or salsa
fresh cilantro, chopped

In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium to medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook till softened and translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook a minute longer.  Add black beans, beer, and spices and let cook till most of the liquid has reduced.  When the liquid has reduced, do a rough mash on the black beans.  Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

In a medium bowl combine cooked chicken, spices and broth.  You may need to microwave this just before assembling the burrito to ensure it is hot.

In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin puree, spices, and milk over medium heat.  When mixed well and heated through, turn heat off and add cheese.  Stir till cheese has fully incorporated with the pumpkin sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Now for assembling the burritos.  Take a freshly made spent grain tortilla and place onto a plate.  Spoon the black bean mixture onto the center of each tortilla.  Place a spoonful of the cooked shredded chicken on top of the black beans.  Roll into a burrito (or enchalada style - with the ends open).  Top each burrito generously with the pumpkin cheese sauce and then garnish with a dallop of sour cream, tomatoes, and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Spent Grain Pumpkin Muffins

Halloween has just passed and last week I took our pie pumpkins that we had painted and made some pumpkin puree.  The last few days, I have been debating on what I was going to make with the pumpkin puree.  I've decided this morning that I was going to make some pumpkin muffins.  I found a pumpkin muffins with streusel topping recipe that sounded pretty good for a guide.  One of the ingredients that is listed in the original recipe is applesauce.  I do not have any applesauce on hand, but I do have an apple that I can use. 

So to begin with, I need to make the applesauce.  I took a Gala apple, cored it and cut it up into chunks ( I left the skin on).  I put the apple chunks into a small sauce pan and added just enough water to cover the apples by 1/2" to 1".  I also added a dallop of homemade applebutter that my mother-in-law gave us last year and part of a cinnamon stick and a single clove (it is only one apple afterall)! 

Heat the apples to boiling and let simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the apples are soft and the liquid has reduced by two-thirds.  By the way... this makes the house smell delicious!

 

 

After the apples have cooled, take out and discard the cinnamon stick and clove.  Pour the apples and liquid into a food processor and pulse till it is applesauce consistancy.

 

 

This yields approximately 1 cup.  Good thing I only need 1/2 cup for the recipe.

 

 

 

Applesauce (Yields approx 1 cup):

1 Gala apple, cored and chopped into 1/2" cubes

1/4 cinnamon stick

1 clove

2 tbsp of applebutter

water

 

 

Okay... now I can get back to the pumpkin muffins.  Here's the link to the original recipe.  Remember, my goal is to incorporate spent grain into normal recipes with a few tweaks here and there and hope for the best!

 

Pumpkin Muffins (Yields 20 muffins):

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. spent grain flour

1/2 c. oats

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger (using freshly grated)

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground nutmug (using freshly grated)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

2/3 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. applesauce

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Streusel Topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tbsp softened butter

2 tbsp oats

1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tbsp spent grain flour

 

To make spent grain flour, just dry out your grains in your oven on low heat (200F) till all the moisture in the grains are gone (this takes a few hours and typically should be done on your brew day).  This is now your dried spent grain.  To turn the dried spent grain into flour, just put the dried grain into a food processor or a coffee grinder... pulse till you get something that is similar to the consistancy of flour.  I will go into more detail about drying spent grain on my next brew day. 

 

It takes approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups of dried spent grain to get 1/2 cup of spent grain flour. 

 

Alright, lets get started.  Preheat your oven to 350F.  Line muffin pan with liners.

 

In a medium-sized bowl, combine your dry ingredients except for the sugars.

 

 

In a large bowl or in your stand-mixer bowl, combine your wet ingredients plus the brown and white sugars. 

 

 

 

Gradually add your dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed until all is thoroughly combined.  Scrape sides of bowl if necessary.

 

 

 

Mix steusel topping ingredients together in a small bowl.  Note:  use softened butter, not melted.  I don't know why I melted mine, but it turned into a paste rather than a crumbly streusel.  Oh well.  I'm sure it will taste great.

 

 

 

Evenly distribute batter into prepared muffin tins and top with streusel. 

 

 

 

Bake 12 minutes and rotate pans.  Bake for an additional 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick insterted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

 

 

 

Enjoy!