Salt and Vinegar Potatoes and Green Beans

I can take exactly no credit for this recipe or idea. How I never thought of it myself...I don't know, because I love salt and vinegar chips. This one comes from Sweet Amandine. It's so simple, and delicious. I used Maldon sea salt, as she suggested, and I used haricots verts instead of regular green beans. I also used white wine vinegar instead of red, because I realized too late that's all I had. I cut this recipe in half - the measurements here serve 6 people.

2 pounds of baby red potatoes
1½ pounds of green beans
2-3 Tbsps. olive oil
5 Tbsps. red wine vinegar
A copious amount of coarsely ground sea salt
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Wash and trim the beans, and set aside. Scrub the potatoes, dry them, cut them into small pieces, and toss them with the olive oil in a large bowl. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Start with 3-4 generous pinches of salt and add more later on.

Dump the oiled potatoes onto a baking sheet and arrange them cut side up. I use a rimmed baking sheet so that the oil doesn’t slide off, and I line it with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Roast the potatoes for 20-25 minutes, until fork-tender. Hold onto that oily bowl. You’ll need it later.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Also, prepare your ice bath. You’ll want to use a bowl big enough to hold plenty of water and ice so that the temperature in there remains quite cold, even after you’ve dunked the hot beans. Add the beans to the boiling water and blanch for 1½-2 minutes. Immediately remove the pot from the heat, drain the beans into a colander, transfer them into the ice bath, and keep them there until you’re ready to toss them with the potatoes.




When the potatoes are brown, blistered, and cooked through, transfer them back into their original bowl. Be sure to scrape all of the oil that’s pooled around the potatoes into the bowl, too. Then, toss with the vinegar. Start with 5 tablespoons, and feel free to add more to taste. Taste, and add more salt, as needed. Dry the blanched and shocked beans, add them to the potatoes, mix, and serve immediately.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

It's been almost 2 months...but I'm still here! Still cooking...though not cooking new, fun things as often...hence the disappearance. This whole job thing really gets in the way, ya know? It takes a recipe that's really worth it to get me into the kitchen for a couple hours, and taking photos - and this one was really worth it. Better late than never, right?



That is a slice of heaven - chocolate pudding pie. I've always called it chocolate pudding pie, because it's pie crust, pudding, and whipped cream. But the recipe I used called it chocolate cream pie. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. What does matter is how good this pie was. You should probably make one. Right now. You can thank me later.

One warning - this pie has to set up in the fridge for 8 hours, so plan accordingly.

Recipe adapted from Flour cookbook (thanks Bub!)

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (62 to 70%), chopped
3/4 cup half and half
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter. Mix with graham cracker crumbs until evenly distributed. Press into a 9-inch pie dish. If you have a second pie dish, press it on top of the crumbs to flatten them out. If not, use your hands to evenly spread the crumbs and press them down. Bake for about 8 minutes.



Sprinkle 1 ounce of the chocolate on the crust and bake for another minute. Brush the melted chocolate over the crust. (The recipe says this will protect it from becoming soggy when you pour the pie filling in...but she used a regular pie crust so I don't think it's as necessary with a graham cracker crust. It does make a nice little hard chocolate layer in the pie, though.)



In a medium saucepan, combine the half and half and 1 cup of the cream and scald over medium-high heat (bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan, but the liquid is not boiling). Meanwhile, place the remaining 5 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Place over (not touching) barely simmering water and heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. Pour the hot cream over the melted chocolate and whisk until thoroughly combined.

**Note: no picture here...because I was worried I was messing it up. I couldn't get the chocolate to completely melt into the cream, it looked like cream with lots of tiny chocolate flecks in it. I put the mixture back over the simmering water and it still wasn't uniform. But it turned out fine, so don't worry if it doesn't look perfect.

Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and slowly whisk in the sugar. Slowly pour the hot cream-chocolate mixture into the egg-sugar mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly. When all of the cream-chocolate mixture has been incorporated, return the contents to the saucepan, and return the saucepan to medium-low heat. Cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon and making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan often to prevent scorching, for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon thickly. To test, draw your finger along the back of the spoon; the custard should hold the trail for a couple of seconds before it fills. (First, the mixture will be liquid and loose, and then it will start to get a little thicker at the bottom of the pan. As it continues to thicken, it will start to let off a little steam. When you see wisps of steam steadily rising from the pan, you know the filling is almost done.)



When the custard is ready, immediately strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof pitcher or bowl, and stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour the filling into the chocolate-lined pie shell and refrigerate, uncovered, for about 8 hours, or until set, or up to overnight.



Fit the stand mixer with the whip attachment (or use a handheld mixer) and whip together the remaining 1 1/2 cups cream, the confectioners' sugar, and cornstarch until stiff peaks form. Pile the whipped cream on top of the chocolate filling, spreading it to the edges.



The pie can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (You can also carefully, loosely cover it with tin foil if you don't have an airtight pie container.)

The recipe says to decorate the pie with chocolate curls (shaving pieces off a slightly warm slab of milk chocolate with a vegetable peeler), but I skipped that part because the grocery store only had really big, expensive pieces of chocolate. I was a little skeptical about making whipped cream with cornstarch, but it does need it so that the whipped cream doesn't get stiff when it's refrigerated. I can't even tell you how good this pie was...it didn't last long in our household.

Chard and White Bean Stew

2 feet of snow on the ground and nearly subzero temperatures definitely call for a hearty stew. The high for tomorrow is forecast to be 8 degrees. 8! That should be illegal. There's nothing I love more in a stew than cannellini beans. Some members of this household - who shall remain unnamed - can be a little wary of "just soup" for dinner. Especially when it's vegetarian soup. But all I had to do was pull up the photo from smitten kitchen of this stew with a poached egg on top. Sold!



1 pound Swiss chard (can also swap kale, spinach or another green), ribs and stems removed and cleaned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped shallots, about 4 medium
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 15-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pureed tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Toasted bread slices, poached eggs, chopped herbs such as tarragon, parsley or chives or grated Parmesan or Romano to serve (optional)

Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook chard (or any heavier green; no need to precook baby spinach) for one minute, then drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Coarsely chop chard.

Wipe out medium pot to dry it, and heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes. Barber warns not to brown them but I didn’t mind a light golden color on them. Add wine (scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pot) and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. Or you can ladle the stew over thick piece of toasted country bread or baguette that has been rubbed lightly with half a clove of garlic, top that with a poached egg and a few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese.

Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)

On Christmas tree-decorating-night (which was much later than usual this year), I made bread soup. I didn't make it on Christmas tree-decorating-night last year, but the year before that I did. That was our last Christmas in New York, and that year we bought our Christmas tree with change. Well kind of...I happened to take my change jar to the bank that day, and used that cash to buy the Christmas tree. But one day I'll tell my grandkids "you know (shaking my finger at them)...when I was young, I bought our Christmas tree with change and ate bread soup for dinner." I think the bread soup/Christmas tree night will become a tradition.



1/2 cupextra virgin olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic
1 large white onion
1 14.5 oz. can diced Italian tomatoes
1 28 oz. can crushed Italian tomatoes
salt, pepper
1 quart chicken broth
4-6 cups torn stale bread (if bread isn't stale enough, toast in oven until crispy)
2 15 oz. cans cannellini or Great Northern white beans
10 basil leaves
parmesan cheese

Finely chop garlic and onion. Saute in 3 tablespoons olive oil in large soup pot for about 8 minutes. Add diced and crushed tomatoes and some salt and pepper. Add broth and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts bubbling turn down to a simmer and add beans and bread. Keep stirring as it simmers until it becomes a thick stew, about 10-15 minutes. Add more salt, pepper to taste. Serve in bowls and tear basil over top, drizzle more olive oil and add cheese.

Sugar Cookies

I hesitate to call these Christmas cookies even though the recipe is from a very old Martha Stewart Christmas book, and they're decorated with red and green icing and red and green sprinkles, and we did make and eat them on Christmas...because they're really just sugar cookies. Don't limit them to winter holidays - egg shaped cookies with pastel colored icing for Easter, shamrocks with green sprinkles for St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, President's Day, the third Tuesday of every month...you get the point. A good cookie is a good cookie and should be enjoyed all year round.



1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (recipe calls for granulated, but I used what I believe was non-granulated cane sugar and it was fine)
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter and sugar. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture and beat well. Add the egg, brandy, and vanilla and beat again until well mixed. Shape dough into two flattened rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. and line baking sheets with parchment. On a well floured board, roll out dough until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes and set 1 to 2 inches apart on sheets. Leftover dough can be rolled out and cut once more. Bake for about 10 minutes; do not allow cookies to brown.



Royal Icing

1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large egg white
food coloring

Mix the sugar and egg white; divide among small bowls and tint each a different color. Spread onto cooled cookies.

Christmas

Oh heyyyy! Yes, I'm still alive. It's been a month of Christmas, Paris, family...and unfortunately stomach flu and working two jobs. Ok, I know having two jobs is a good thing, but it doesn't leave me much time to do fun things like cooking and eating and writing about it. At any rate - I'm back, and I've got a lot to tell you about!

So let's start with the most recent, shall we? Christmas. It was a Chicago Christmas this year, which I am very thankful for, because if I have to travel again within the next two months it will be too soon. Remember that snow storm that destroyed travel across Europe a couple weeks ago? Let's just say we were some of the lucky ones.

This was actually my second time hosting Christmas (first time being in New York a few years ago), although my mom really pulled most of the weight in the kitchen. However, I did make Christmas breakfast which was very easy and if I do say so myself, very delicious.



A slice of toast from a big loaf of semolina bread, a couple pieces of San Daniele prosciutto, and a poached egg. Simple and really good.

My family's traditional Christmas dinner has become beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce, roasted potatoes, and a few other sides. This year we did asparagus and haricots verts. The tenderloin was really out of this world. We bought the meat from Fox & Obel, and it was fantastic. The recipe my mom uses is basically an herb marinade that can sit for a few hours up to overnight.




Herb Roasted Beef Tenderloin

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, or to taste
4-4 1/2 lb. trimmed beef tenderloin, patted dry and tied
2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt, to taste

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, vinegar, herbs, garlic, and pepper. Rub the tenderloin with the mixture, wrap in plastic and chill for 2 hours, or overnight.

Arrange the tenderloin on a rack in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt to taste and roast in the oven at 500 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 130 to 135 degrees for medium rare. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let it cool, loosely covered, for 15 minutes.

Remove the strings, cut the meat into thin slices. 8-10 servings.

We used a 3 1/2 lb. tenderloin which was plenty for 5 people and a little bit of leftovers.



Horseradish Sauce

2 cups sour cream or 1 cup each low-fat plain yogurt and sour cream
1/2 cup peeled grated fresh horseradish or drained bottled horseradish
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients, transfer to a serving bowl, cover and chill until ready to serve. May be made one day ahead.

(The original recipe says to drain the sour cream in a piece of cheesecloth for 15 minutes, but....ehhh, we didn't do that.)

More Christmas recipes to come, and several reports on Paris to come as well!

Roasted Chicken 2.0

A whole roasted chicken is such a comforting meal, especially when it's as frigid as it has been here in Chicago the last couple days. (Is it REALLY 9 degrees outside right now? I can't go to work today. I just can't do it.) The movie "It's Complicated" has been on HBO lately, we've caught bits and pieces of it over the last week (I did see the entire thing in the theater) and I think the meal that Meryl Streep makes for Alec Baldwin, when he doesn't show up, has been subconsciously working its way into Peter's brain because yesterday he bought a chicken and potatoes for me to make for dinner. But no green beans, or chocolate cake ingredients. By the way, can I please have the kitchen in that movie? Pleeeeease?

I did things a little differently than my usual way, just out of curiosity. I roasted the potatoes (and carrots and onions) along with the chicken, instead of separately. This recipe is adapted from one of Ina Garten's.

1 3-lb. chicken, rinsed and patted dry inside and out
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, any kind you like (but I think the smaller, the better)
3-5 carrots, depending on size
1/2 white onion
1 head of garlic
1/2 lemon
thyme (fresh or dried)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into equal size pieces. I used fingerlings so I didn't have to cut much, but if you have bigger potatoes cut into about 1-inch pieces. Peel and cut the carrots into pieces, not too small. Chop the onion into large pieces.

Slice the head of garlic in half across the middle, not lengthwise. Save one half to go inside the chicken. Pop the rest the garlic cloves out of the other half, peel, and add to the vegetables. Toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper,and thyme and spread along the bottom of the dish.



Season the inside of the chicken with salt, pepper, and thyme. Stuff half of the head of garlic, and the 1/2 lemon inside the chicken. Truss the chicken - take a piece of kitchen twine a couple feet long. Flip the wing tips up so they are closer to the top of the breast. Put the center point of the twine at the top of the breast and holding the wings in place, bring it down across the back and make an X, and bring it back up by the legs and tie the legs together. It will kind of be a "figure 8".



Place the chicken, breast side up, on top of the vegetables. Season the top of the chicken with salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes, and let rest for 10 minutes when done.



The consensus? Delicious. How could a roasted chicken with vegetables not be delicious? However...I think I like the old way better. You end up eating a lot of more of the fatty chicken drippings this way, and I don't feel like they added that much flavor to the vegetables that it was worth it. Definitely not as healthy...plus the original recipe from Ina said to spread some butter over the top of the chicken before cooking. Obviously I skipped that part. I did like adding carrots and big pieces of garlic to the potatoes though, and I did like stuffing the chicken with lemon and garlic. So I'll probably continue to do that part of the recipe in the future. Don't forget to save your chicken carcass in the freezer to make chicken stock!

Sufganiyot (jelly donuts)

I was looking around online for a Hanukkah cookie recipe, and I kept running into recipes for sufganiyot. Which are pretty much jelly donuts. And who doesn't like a good jelly donut? Although, my absolute favorite are maple donuts...which my parents used to bribe my sister and I with when we were little to get us to stop pinching each other in church. It worked.



Some methods are to make a sort of dough sandwich with jelly in the middle and fry it, and others are to fry a dough ball and then inject jelly. I went with the first method. This recipe is slightly adapted from the Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen, by way of epicurious.com.

1 scant tablespoon (1 package) dry yeast
4 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for dusting.
3/4 cup lukewarm milk or warm water*
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter or pareve margarine, softened*
Raspberry (or strawberry, or apricot) preserves
Sugar
Canola oil for deep-frying
*Use butter and milk if serving at a milk meal, and water and pareve margarine for a meat meal

Mix together the yeast, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the milk. Let sit to make sure it bubbles - it should look like it has a thick foam on top.



Mix flour, remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon, and egg yolks. Add to the yeast mixture. Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Add the butter or margarine. Knead some more, until the butter is well absorbed.



Cover with a towel and let rise on the countertop for 2 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator. The dough will double in size.



Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut out the dough into rounds with a juice glass, or any object about 2 inches in diameter. Take 1/2 teaspoon of preserves and place in center of each half of the rounds.



Top with the other rounds. Press down at edges, sealing with egg whites. Crimping with the thumb and second finger is best. Roll out the dough scraps and repeat. Let rise for about 30 minutes.



Heat 2 inches of oil to between 350° and 375°. Drop the donuts into the hot oil, about 3 at a time. Turn to brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.



Roll in, or dust with sugar.



That's it! This recipe makes about 12 donuts. They cook very quickly in the hot oil, barely a couple minutes. And they're definitely best eaten right away...ok on the second day, but not nearly as good. They're kind of a cross between donuts and beignets. Other good fillings would be different flavors of jelly, or chocolate or vanilla cream, nutella, or dulce de leche. Mmm. Happy Hanukkah!

Thanksgiving - Vegetables

First of all, I must say that I'm using the term "vegetables" very, very loosely. After adding butter and sugar and marshmallows, at a certain point I think these vegetables ceased to be vegetables.

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

3 large sweet potatoes or yams (About 2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (dark or light is fine)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1 cup mini marshmallows

In a covered saucepan, cook potatoes in enough boiling water to cover for 12 to 15 minutes or until just tender; drain and mash. Add brown sugar, cream, butter, cinnamon, allspice, and the scraped out insides of the vanilla bean - use a sharp, pointy knife to get all the grains out. Stir gently to combine. Transfer to a casserole dish. (this part can be done a day in advance)

Bake, covered in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until heated through, Remove from oven and top with marshmallows. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes or until the marshmallows are golden.

The original recipe I was working off called for crushed anise seeds, black pepper, and more vanilla. However...I think sweet potatoes taste pretty good on their own so they really don't need a lot of additional flavor.



Here's the brussels sprouts hash recipe again, because it's just so good. I didn't get a picture of it though. You could easily cut down on some of the butter in this recipe...but why would you want to do that?

6 Tbl. (3/4 stick) butter
1/2 pound shallots, thinly sliced
kosher salt
2 Tbl. apple cider vinegar
4 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 lbs. brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Saute until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes.

Halve brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cut lengthwise into thin (1/8 inch) slices. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sprouts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until brown at edges, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and 3 tablespoons butter. Saute until most of the water evaporates and sprouts are tender but still bright green, 3 minutes. Add shallots, season with salt and pepper.

Funny thing...as I'm rereading this right now I realized I used brown sugar instead of regular. So you can go either way.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my Thanksgiving feast. Delicious. Now I can move on to Christmasy chocolately pepperminty treats.

Thanksgiving - A Tale of Two Stuffings

Stuffing seems to be everybody's favorite part of Thanksgiving, right? Stuffing and the pies. I made two stuffings because I cannot have a Thanksgiving without my Nana's meat dressing, but I wanted to do a more traditional bread stuffing as well.



I really like these stuffing guidelines on marthastewart.com. There are countless ways to make stuffing, and this lets you make it your own.

1 one-pound loaf of bread set out overnight (or 1 1/2 pounds cornbread)
4 cups (2 pounds) chopped vegetables
1 cup fresh herbs, predominantly parsley, sage, and thyme
2 cups or less liquid (or 3 eggs)
1 pound meat
Butter and/or olive oil
4 cups or less fruit, vegetables, and nuts
3 tablespoons seasoning

Basically you cook the meat, remove it from the pan and cook the vegetables in the same pan. Mix everything together in a bowl and bake in a glass dish for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

Here's the breakdown of what ingredients/amounts I actually used.

1 one-pound loaf French bread, cut into cubes and set out overnight
1 1/2 cups white onion, diced
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
1 1/2 cups leeks, diced
1/3 cup fresh sage, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 fresh thyme
somewhere between 1 and 2 cups chicken stock, add as needed
1 pound bulk sweet Italian pork sausage
2 large apples, diced
1 cup pecans, chopped
salt and pepper to taste



And now, for Nana's meat dressing. The key ingredient here is Bell's Seasoning. I had my mom bring some to me the last time she visited Chicago because I can't find it at my regular grocery stores here. I don't think it's too hard to find, she bought it at Kroger, but you can order it online too. This is the full recipe but I cut it in half.

4 lbs. ground pork
1 lbs. ground beef
2 onions, chopped
1/2 bud garlic, chopped
1/2 cup water
salt, pepper, celery salt to taste
Bell's seasoning to taste
chicken broth as needed
1/2 package of bread stuffing (herbed)

Cook everything except chicken broth and bread stuffing together on medium high for 4 hours. Add stuffing near the end, and add chicken broth as needed to keep moist.

Ok now, I didn't want to mess with the recipe too much, but I changed a couple little things. I used one whole clove of garlic for the half recipe I made. I also used plain French bread that I cubed and left out overnight to get stale. It was probably 1 1/2 cups worth. My mom usually makes this for Thanksgiving about a week ahead, freezes it, and lets it sit in the a slow cooker all day on Thanksgiving. She waits to add the bread and chicken stock until it has thawed out in the slow cooker. I made it the day before, refrigerated it, and also gave it the slow cooker treatment the day of. 4 hours seems like a long time for the meat to cook on the stove, but you want it to get a really nice dark brown color.

Thanksgiving - Desserts (Maple Pecan Bars, Apple Cake, and Pumpkin Pie)

Ohhhh hey, remember me? You might not. It's been awhile. I almost forgot how to use this website thingy. Well, I'm back from the Great New Jersey Thanksgiving Adventure, and I'm back in one piece. The meal was a success. At least, I'm pretty sure it was. I didn't burn the house down, make anyone sick, injure myself, or wreak any other havoc. And I think I managed to make some pretty tasty dishes.

So, why not start with dessert? Going into the week, I was definitely planning on making a pumpkin pie. I was on the fence about whether I should do an apple cake or pecan bars. And in the end I decided to do both. It was kind of a gametime decision, I had enough time on Wednesday night to crank out one more thing, so maple pecan bars it was. It's kind of lame to write posts about Thanksgiving food the week after Thanksgiving, because what good does that do anybody? But a lot of these dishes are good for any holiday or occasion. Pumpkin pie, maybe not so much, but apple cake and maple pecan bars are good anytime. So let's start with the pecans.



Ever since I had that maple spice cupcake...oh no! I just realized I never posted a picture. Anyway, I had a delicious cupcake from Sprinkles that was a spice cake with maple icing, and I just couldn't stop thinking about that wonderful maple flavor. I figured - why not do a pecan dessert with maple instead of corn syrup? I found this recipe on Epicurious, courtesy of Bon Appetit.

Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9x9x2-inch metal cake pan. Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and egg yolk in bowl to blend. Add flour and salt; beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough together. Press dough over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Bake crust until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool.

For filling:
Combine first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Boil filling 30 seconds. Remove from heat; mix in vanilla, then nuts.
Pour hot filling into crust. Bake bars until filling is bubbling in center, about 15 minutes. Cool bars completely in pan on rack (filling will become firm). Chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.) Cut into 30 bars.



I didn't change anything except that I used salted butter. And I would like to note that it says to cut into 30 bars. 30?! From a 9" x 9" pan? Yeah right. That's got to be a mistake. Or I just like large servings of dessert. But really, I got 9 nice sized squares out of the pan.

Next up, apple cake. I had one pie dish to work with that was already taken up by a pumpkin pie, and honestly I was worried about making an apple pie because I've had some (not my Aunt Linda's) that were soupy and watery on the inside. And I wanted to try this new recipe from Dorie Greenspan's newest cookbook that my mom bought for me.



3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan and put it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it’s coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it’s evenish.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. (Open the springform slowly, and before it’s fully opened, make sure there aren’t any apples stuck to it.) Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.



I didn't change anything there either, except I didn't line the baking sheet with silicone or parchment. I don't really see the point since the cake is cooking in a springform pan. I also dusted the top with a little powdered sugar.

And last, the pumpkin pie. I wanted to make a really, really good pumpkin pie. When I saw the recipe on Smitten Kitchen for "silky smooth pumpkin pie", I'm not going to lie (ooo, a rhyme!) but I was a little intimidated. It's more work than your average pumpkin pie, especially since I wanted to make the crust from scratch, too. But I decided to take on the challenge. Straining the pumpkin mixture through a fine mesh sieve was a pain. But it was all worth it.

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (I used 2 cups of half and half instead of one cup each of cream and milk)
3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can (regular canned yams can be substituted)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon table salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out dough on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to make 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang all around pie plate.

Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Using thumb and forefinger, flute edge of dough. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Remove pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate. Bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Remove plate and baking sheet from oven.

Make the filling: While pie shell is baking, whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream mixture slowly, until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture and transfer to warm pre-baked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Continue baking until edges are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175 degrees), 20 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. (The pie finishes cooking with resident heat; to ensure the filling sets, cool it at room temperature and not in the refrigerator.)



As you can see, the pie is adorned with dinosaurs, a dolphin, and a whale - courtesy of my nieces. Here's the pie crust recipe I used, it's better to read the original post with all her tips.

So there you have it. Thanksgiving desserts. More Thanksgiving recipes and photos to come throughout the week.

Kale and Chourico Soup

I've professed my love of chouriço before, and I bought some again last time I was home in Columbus. This time I wanted to do a little more with it than make sandwiches, and upon researching Portuguese recipes I found kale soup. This recipe is from Emeril (he's from Fall River, so I trust that it's pretty authentic), with a few of my changes.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chouriço sausage, sliced in 1/2-inch slices
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups kale, rinsed, stemmed, and cut into 1-inch strips
1 bay leaf
Pinch of crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chouriço and onions. Saute the mixture for about 5 minutes.



Add the garlic and potatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock and kale and bring the liquid up to a boil.



Stir in the bay leaf and crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and ladle the soup into shallow bowls. Serve with crusty bread.



The soup really doesn't need a lot of flavoring besides the chouriço. I saw another recipe that included kidney beans and cabbage in addition to the kale, but I liked keeping it simple. Crusty bread on the side is a must.

Matzo Ball Soup

I decided to make matzo ball soup for two reasons. Well, three if you count "it's delicious" as a reason. First reason is I've been eating it for lunch from Goddess at least once a week for the past month, and the second is because I wanted something nice and light for dinner after a wonderful weekend of friends visiting (*cough* cupcake binge *cough*).



I had never bought or cooked with matzo meal before. Matzo meal is ground up matza. And matza is made of flour and water. So there you have it.



This recipe is brought to you by Smitten Kitchen, with a couple very minor changes by me.

Matzo Balls
1/2 cup matzo meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons seltzer

2 quarts prepared chicken stock
1 carrot, thinly sliced

Mix all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.



Bring 1 1/2 quarts of well-salted water to a brisk boil in a medium sized pot.

Reduce the flame. Run your hands under water so they are thoroughly wet. Form matzo balls by dropping spoonfuls of matzo ball batter approximately 1-inch in diameter into the palm of your wet hands and rolling them loosely into balls.



Drop them into the simmering salt water one at a time. Cover the pot and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes.



About ten minutes before the matzo balls are ready, bring prepared chicken stock to a simmer with the sliced carrot in it. Ladle some soup and a couple matzo balls into each bowl and serve.



My minor changes were: canola oil instead of vegetable oil or reserved chicken fat. The original recipe called for the option of chicken stock or seltzer in the matzo mixture, but I really liked the seltzer. The original also calls for fresh dill as a garnish. The whole thing took a little over an hour to make, but most of that time was spent waiting - for the matzo mixture to chill, and then for it to cook. So it's really not labor intensive. Also, I used half homemade chicken stock and half store-bought. Good stock is important since it's a very simple soup.