11.27.08
Posted in American, Cuisines, Dessert, Pies & Tarts at 11:37 am by julie
I’m at a lull in my Thanksgiving preparations, so I thought it was a perfect time to sit down, rest my feet, and quickly write up my new star pumpkin pie. The pictures are from earlier this month, as I first made this pie during my parents’ visit just after Halloween, but you better believe I made this recipe again yesterday. It is easy and delicious, with the perfect blend of spice, sweetness, and a hint of caramel bitterness. The other bonus is that it only uses a cup of pumpkin, so there is some leftover for Nolan’s cereal. I made the almond streusel variation last time, and a plain one for Thanksgiving, since I also made my favorite apple crumb pie.
Caramel Pumpkin Pie
1 9-inch pie crust, partially baked and cooled (I use her basic pie crust recipe for everything now)
1 C sugar
3/4 C heavy cream, room temperature
2 T dark rum, cognac, or apple cider
2 T unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 C canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
tiny pinch of ground allspice
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the sugar evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick skillet. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and staying close by, cook until the sugar melts and starts to color. Once you see a little color, gently swirl the skillet so that the sugar colors evenly. Cook the sugar, without stirring, until it turns deep amber, almost mahogany; the darker the sugar, the fuller the flavor.
Lower the heat to medium, stand back and pour the cream into the skillet. The sugar will bubble and hiss and may clump. Just continue to cook, stirring, until it evens out. Add the rum (or cider) and butter and cook just until the caramel is smooth. Pour the caramel into a heatproof pitcher or bowl and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Working with a whisk in a large bowl, beat the pumpkin with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, spices, salt, vanilla and eggs, beating until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the caramel. Rap the bowl against the counter a few times to de-bubble the filling, then pour the filing into the crust.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is puffed and set–tap the pan gently and the filling should not jiggle. A thin knife inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. Transfer the pie to a rack and cool to room temperature, or cool and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, spread with whipped cream
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours
, by Dorie Greenspan.
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11.19.08
Posted in Dinner, Fish, Lunch, Salads, Seafood at 11:53 am by julie
I’ve got a few tried and true salmon recipes that I make over and over, but they get boring after a while so I keep trying to mix it up. Here are a few I tried out on portions of a huge, beautiful fillet of salmon we cooked up a few weeks ago. Above is a simply baked piece of salmon over couscous with a lemon thyme beurre blanc sauce. It was very tasty, and a quick-fix meal for a night that I had very little available time. If I’d had my head on straight, I would have thrown some broccoli on to steam, because that would go beautifully with the beurre blanc as well.
This one was another simply cooked salmon, grilled this time, and topped with a balsamic glaze. I took my eye off the glaze for a bit too long thanks to the baby, so it was black and syrupy in the extreme. It tasted alright, but wasn’t particularly memorable; I’d make it again only if I was scrounging for a recipe to make from pantry ingredients, and even then I’d turn to that beurre blanc first. I served it with rice and some baby spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil.
This salad, made with the fraction of the fillet I had left after two full meals, was the best recipe of the bunch. I just cut the salmon into strips, pan-roasted it skin-side first, and placed it over a salad of greens, roasted red pepper, and the mustard vinaigrette from the Macrina Bakery Cookbook.
Mustard Vinaigrette
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T sherry vinegar
1 T finely chopped shallots
1 tsp honey
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 C extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshy ground pepper
In a small bowl, combine everything but olive oil and S/P. Whisk in the olive oil very slowly to form an emulsion, then season with S/P to taste.
Source: Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook, p. 207.
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11.18.08
Posted in Cookies & Candies, Dessert at 11:32 am by julie
I promised a while back to post the recipe for these cookies. They were one of my childhood favorites, and I always make them when I have a partial can of pumpkin leftover from another recipe. I’ve subbed in half white whole wheat flour with no noticeable discrepancy. Please note that they are very moist, cakey cookies; I actually like them better the next day.
Pumpkin Cookies
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 C canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C slivered or diced almonds
1 C chocolate chips
Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in egg, pumpkin and vanilla. Mix and sift together the flour baking powder, soda, salt and spices; add to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips. Use a 2-T (1/8 C) cookie scoop to drop onto a greased cookie sheet; bake at 350F for 15 minutes.
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11.11.08
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Poultry, Soups at 10:45 am by julie
No, I’m not dead. I just have a child who doesn’t want to nap or play by himself, and therefore little time to cook and even less to write about it. I haven’t even had time to make desserts, which, considering my sweet tooth, is a shocking turn of events. I had all the ingredients for my Daring Bakers challenge too, but the deadline flew by before I had a chance to make it, a huge disappointment for me because I was really excited to try making homemade pizza for the first time. I’ll still have to undertake it on my own one day soon.
I think for the time being I’ll try to keep posts short and sweet. I’ve had a bunch of photos waiting for exposition for what seems like months, so I’m just hoping I can recognize them. 
Here was a good one from the end of September (really?): arroz con pollo. The recipe, for which I subbed available boneless breasts at a slightly later point in the cooking process, made a huge amount of food and was pretty tasty. Probably not the best, and certainly not the most authentic recipe, so I’ll keep poking around, but the leftovers kept us fed for a week in various iterations.
After we tired of eating it plain, I made homemade flour tortillas for the first time. Reheated the rice and topped it with some scrambled eggs and cheese and called it a breakfast burrito. The tortillas were so wonderful and easy to make, that I’ve refused to buy tortillas ever since, even though Nolan thinks it takes me too long to roll out and griddle the dough. Guess I just need more practice!
Flour Tortillas
Makes about 8 8-inch tortillas, and takes about an hour from start to finish, including resting time
2 C AP flour
1/4 C shortening
2/3 C warm water
1 tsp salt
Cut shortening into flour. Dissolve salt in warm water, then add gradually to flour mixture. Mix until dough begins to form. Turn onto floured surface and knead about 3 minutes. Divide into 8 balls, and cover with plastic wrap to rest at least 30 minutes.
Heat a large cast iron pan over medium/medium-high heat. Preheat oven on low (~200 degrees). On floured surface, roll out ball until about 8 inches in diameter, or as thin as possible. Grill in dry pan, about 30 seconds on each side. Hold the tortillas in the oven under a towel while you finish cooking the rest, so they don’t stiffen up.
Update 4/6/09: To make a dozen tortillas, use these adjusted proprotions:
3 C flour (I use 2 C AP flour and 1 C white whole wheat)
6 T shortening
1 C warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
We had three tortillas and a ton of arroz con pollo still leftover after the breakfast burritos, so the next night I improvised a sort of tortilla soup that came out really well. Fortunately, I jotted down some notes for it, because otherwise now I would have no clue what I did. I didn’t measure, but you can adjust it to your own tastes.
Tortilla Soup
Half a sweet onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Dried oregano
Chipotle powder
Alder smoked salt
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained
2 1/2 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C leftover cooked rice from arroz con pollo
1 cooked chicken breast from arroz con pollo, shredded
1/2 C frozen corn
1/3 C sour cream
3 homemade tortillas cut into 1/2″ strips, fried until golden brown, drained and salted
Saute the onion and garlic with olive oil in a large pot until onion is translucent. Season to taste with dried oregano, chipotle powder, and alder smoked salt. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and half a cup of leftover rice; bring to a simmer and then puree until fairly smooth with a stick blender. Next add the shredded chicken, corn, and about a cup more rice; heat through and stir in sour cream at the end. Serve topped with a pile of tortillas and some cheddar cheese.
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