Pumpkin Hotcakes

Nothing says Fall like punkin' anything. I've been thinking about cooking with it for weeks now and finally got around to doing so this weekend. I'm sure the fact that EVERY food blog I've read lately has featured pumpkin recipes has had nothing to do with my thought processes. :-)
Thankfully, I was too lazy to get out of bed Saturday night when I remembered I hadn't soaked the oats in buttermilk for for our standard Oatmeal Pancakes and had to search for something new to try out. Pinch My Salt had just the homey recipe I was looking for.
I'd just bought a new bag of white whole wheat flour so decided I'd sub that for both the regular whole wheat and cake flour she used in her pancakes. They were a resounding success...yums all 'round. The recipe made 12 pancakes for us. We each ate 4 (plus 1/2 ea. of the "test meatball"...you know, the one meatball/pancake you have to try to see if it's done?), but I should have stopped at 3 max. Very filling! I'll be making these babies again for sure.

Pumpkin Hotcakes:
(Adapted only slightly from Pinch My Salt's blog)

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (I used about 1/4 tsp fresh ground)
1 cup+ buttermilk (you'll likely need more than 1 cup of buttermilk and you'll still have a thick batter)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs dark brown sugar (I used 1 Tbs mild flavor molasses and 1 Tbs Sucanat)

Heat a pancake griddle to 325.
In a bowl, whisk together white whole wheat (Pinch My Salt uses 1 cup regular whole wheat and 1/2 cup cake flour) through nutmeg.
In another bowl, combine buttermilk through dark brown sugar, stirring to combine.
Add wet ingredients to your dry ingredients bowl stirring until just combined. Some lumps are fine. My batter was waaaaaay thick at this point so I added some more buttermilk.

Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto your griddle, flipping the pancakes when the sides have started to dry out. Then cook the other side for several more minutes. Our pancakes were really thick, so make sure you give them enough time on the griddle to cook all the way through.
Place pancakes in oven at low temp to keep warm until all are finished.

Serve with whatever toppings you generally like on your hotcakes. I went for walnuts, pure maple syrup and some Greek yogurt dolloped on each. YUM.

Pumpkin Polenta with Chorizo and Black Beans

This recipe came from trolling the internet for recipes. Originally a Rachel Ray recipe, I ended up making it more of a Mexican dish than the Spanish one it was meant to be. The recipe didn't specify Spanish cured or Mexican fresh chorizo, so I bought some fresh Mexican chorizo from Central Market's meat department.
You can see the original recipe here at Yumsugar, but I'll write up my version instead, since it was quite delish.
I like to use a medium grind cornmeal that I cook in the oven as per Alton Brown's method instead of instant polenta. Hatch chiles are in season, so they made their way into the mix in lieu of the roasted red peppers the original recipe calls for.
The Spanish Manchego cheese, I'd already purchased...so in it went.
I used less pumpkin than the orig. called for too...it was plenty pumpkiny with about 3/4 of a can. This is good all round comfort food, that goes together pretty quickly.

Pumpkin Polenta with Chorizo and Black Beans:

a glug of olive oil
2 cloves garlic
a pinch of dried thyme
4 cups organic reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup Bob's Red Mill medium grind cornmeal
1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
~3/4 14oz can of pumkin puree
a dab of agave nectar
a couple grinds of pepper
~1 cup of grated Manchego cheese

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound fresh chorizo, removed from casing and broken up (Central Market's sausage wasn't hot at all)
1 medium onion, chopped (I used a red onion...nice color)
One 14-ounce can black beans, drained and washed
2-3 roasted hatch chilies, chopped or equivalent...maybe poblanos?
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (a generous handful)

Heat oven to 350.
In a 2.5-3 qt. oven proof saucepan, heat oil and saute garlic and thyme for ~1 minute.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Slowly add cornmeal, whisking all the while to prevent lumps.
Cover and put in the oven for 35-40 minutes total, whisking every 10 minutes to prevent lumps.
Add the pumpkin puree in the last 10 minutes of cooking in the oven.
When your polenta is done in the oven, add salt and pepper to taste and slowly incorporate the grated cheese.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the chorizo. Cook ~2-3 minutes, then add the onion and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the black beans and the chiles and heat through, another 1 to 2 minutes.

Place several scoops of polenta on plates or in shallow bowls and top with the chorizo and beans. Garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve.