Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is really comforting in the fall. I suggest serving this with maple syrup sweetened whipped cream. This recipe is similar to the Libby's Pie recipe off of the can. The difference is I add vanilla, one extra egg, five spice powder and a little less salt. It is delicious.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1/4 teaspoon of five spice powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 large eggs
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 can of evaporated milk

1 unbaked 9 inch never fail dough pie shell

Mix all the filling ingredients in a food processor and pour into the pie shell. Bake for 55 minutes in the lower third of your oven.

Tegolino or Tuiles

With just a few ingredients you can make one of the tastiest cookies. They are a little temperamental. You must make sure the batter is the right consistency. If you like you can use a template to make them perfectly. I did not have a template and mine turned out just fine. You will need a silicone baking mat. Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees.


3 ounces of all purpose flour
3 ounces of cake flour
6 ounces of powdered sugar
6 egg whites (3/4 of a cup)
4 ounces of melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Finely chopped almonds

In a food processor, place all the ingredients and pulse until well mixed. Pour half a tablespoon full of the batter on the Silpat and sprinkle lightly with the chopped almonds. It is very important that the dough should not be thicker then 1/16 of a inch. Bake until they are browned lightly. Remove the pan from the oven and place the cookies on a rolling pin to establish the tile shape. They will crisp up fairly quickly, so you must do this right away.

Now you can enjoy the cookies! There is a lot of variations to this cookie. So add grated orange zest to them which is quite nice. You can even make cocoa tulies by replacing 1 ounce of the cake flour with 1 ounce of cocoa powder.

 

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Roasted garlic becomes a magical thing when roasted in the oven. Add it to mashed potatoes and well you just have to try it. Left over mashed potatoes are great for all kinds of uses. Or even just heated up in the microwave.

2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes
1 whole garlic bulb
salt to taste
1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of half and half
freshly ground black pepper


Begin by heating your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the garlic bulb in half and place on a sheet of foil. Now drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven. This will take about thirty minutes to turn a lovely golden brown.

In a large pot for the potatoes, filled with cold water, add the potatoes quartered. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Now drain the potatoes and put them through a potato ricer. If you like chucks of garlic you can add them in as is or conversely you can put them through the ricer too. Now add the half and half, butter and salt & pepper. Top with fresh chives.

If you want you can skip the half & half and butter. For an alternative you can add extra vigin olive oil. This is equally as good.

German Apple Cake

Fall is in the air and the apples have come to market. There is nothing like warm apple cake with vanilla ice cream and carmel sauce. The cake is very simple to make. It stands on it's own with a hot cup of tea too! You must serve it warm, so if it cools, microwave it for a minute or two. Lovely fresh candied nuts would really throw this over the top!

 I added a new blog link from the UK.
Check out Dan Lepard's apple pastry recipes.

3/4 cup of flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large granny smith apples
2 eggs
grated zest from one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter melted
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 tablespoons of dark Jamaican Rum

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 inch spring form pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Peel the apples and cut slice them on a french mandeline on the thicker side.
Pour the juice and lemon zest over the apples. Now set this aside. In a bowl beat the eggs with a whisk and add the sugars. Mix until well incorporated. In a seperate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir into the eggs; alternately the flour and butter mixture. Now add the vanilla, rum and apples. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes.



 

Chicken Ballottine

I love chicken and I am always looking for a new and exciting way to prepared it. I was watching Essential Pepin and watch him bone a chicken. It looked pretty easy, so I attempted it. It turned out really well. You can stuff the chicken with what you like. I made a spinach, sausage & dill stuffing. I would suggest serving this dish with yukon gold mashed potatoes. I copied Jacque's sauce recipe. However, I added grated garlic and dry Spanish Sherry to the mix.

Stuffing:

2 garlic cloves minced
1 small package of baby spinach
2 hot Italian sausages casings removed
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese grated
1/2 cup of sour dough bread crumbs
4 cremini mushrooms diced
1 shallot diced
1 lemon zested
2 tablespoons of fresh minced dill weed
juice of one lemon
salt & pepper

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic, shallots and sausage. Cook until the sausage is rendered and add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside to cool.

You will now need to bone out a whole chicken. There is many websites that show you how to do this. You can watch Jacque's show too or ask your butcher to do this.

Lay the chicken skin side down and lightly salt and pepper. Spread the cooled stuffing on top of the chicken and proceed to roll up and tie with kitcken twine. Lightly dust with herbes de Provence and salt, pepper. Place fresh bay leaves on top of the chicken secured underneath the twine.

I think it is very important to do this step, but you can skip it. However the skin will not be as crisp.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a roasting pan on your stove and add some olive oil. Brown the roast on all sides. Now place the roast into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.


Sauce:

1/2 cup of stock
1/2 cup of dry red wine
1 very small onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 celery stock diced
1 clove of garlic grated
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dry Spanish Sherry
1 tablespoon of Wondra Flour

Skim off and discard some of the fat from the pan drippings. Add the drippings to a frying pan and heat on medium high. Add the diced vegetables and saute until they are soft. Now add the stock, wine, soy, sherry and grated garlic to the pan. Cook out some of the wine for five minutes. Now add the wondra and you have a really tasty sauce to pass over the roast.






 

Chicken Milanese

 Chicken Milanese is really delicious. But it is only as good as its sauce and breading. Otherwise, it tastes like really bad airline food. Secondly, do not add additional salt to the chicken, breading or sauce. Season bread crumbs, Parmigiano and stock have salt. Additional, Cognac is the best to add to the sauce. But not having this you can add a dry Spanish Sherry. If you do not have either, I would not recommend making the dish. This
dish is best served along side a mix salad made with mesclen.

 

Sauce
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
2 medium shallots, minced
1 clove of garlic finely minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock 

2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs of your choice (sage, chives, tarragon)
2 tablespoons of cognac
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of Spanish smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper

 

Chicken
1 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 large eggs
Eight 6-ounce chicken breast cutlets, pounded 1/4 inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper, no salt!
Vegetable oil, for frying
1/4 cup chopped parsley for garnish



In a sauce pan melt one tablespoon of butter. Now add the shallot and minced garlic. Simmer until they are soft. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients with the exception of the remaining butter and lemon juice. Simmer for twenty minutes until the mixture has reduced.

While the sauce is simmering pound out your cutlets until they are 1/4 inch thick. Now mix  the breading ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Beat the two eggs in a bowl and set aside. Now heat a skillet with olive oil on medium high. Proceed to bread the cutlets and saute until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

To finish the sauce add the remaining butter as if it is a Bearnaise. Whisking until the butter thickens the sauce and add the lemon juice.

 A special note for those cooking enthusiast, Saveur has a really great Mexico Issue out now. Even if you are not into cooking it is a really interesting read! Diana Kennedy's a  expat who has influenced the cooking world with many cook books. Really great Oaxacan Enchiladas recipe too.

Amish Peach Slab Pie

Peach Filling:                                                         

6 cups peaches (about 9-10), peeled,
 pitted and cut into thin slices.

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

 1 Recipe of Never Fail Pie Crust (See Earlier Post)

Roll out half the dough on floured work surface....slightly larger than pan.
Spray pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the long sides. Transfer dough to prepared pan. Trim edges of dough.

For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, spices and salt. Add sliced peaches and lemon juice and stir. Pour peach filling into prepared baking sheet. Dot with a little butter for richness.
Roll out remaining dough. Place on top of filling. Trim edges of dough to hang over sides slightly.

Optional idea is to cut pretty designs on pastry top. Fold edges under and pinch to seal.
Dust top of pastry with sugar and a little cinnamon.

Bake at 375°F for about 45-50 minutes...or until golden and filling is bubbling.

Allow to cool completely on wire rack (several hours). Then pull up parchment paper to remove.

Nigel Slater's Sweet & Hot Plum Chutney

I love the red plums at my local farm stand. After reading Nigel's book, I was inspired to try one of his lovely chutney recipes. This is a loose adaptation.

 He says the character of a chutney changes over time. Thus the reason they must be heat sealed after you make them.

 I think they would make a great holiday gift. Chutney is great over cheese and to accompany meat dishes. The following recipe makes a couple of small jelly size jars.

1 1/2 pounds of plums seed removed and quartered
12 ounces of onion diced large
3/4 of a cup of raisins,
I mixed half currants with half golden raisins
1 cup of light muscovado sugar
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
zest of one orange
1 star anise
2/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup of champagne vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of candied ginger
2 teaspoons of yellow mustard seeds



Put all the ingredients into a stainless steel pot and bring to a boil. Once it is at a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for one hour. Spoon into sterilized jars and process with a heat seal for 10 minutes.         

Note if your chutney is not very thick, you can add 1 teaspoon of pectin to thicken it up.

Gateau Aux Amandes

This is a very unassuming cake, but let me tell you that this can be placed in any Parisian bakery!


1 1/3 cups sugar
8 ounces almond paste
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
6 large eggs
1/2 cup 60% cacao chocolate chips-must be 60%!

 Preheat the oven to 325º.  Grease a 9- or 10-inch cake or spring form pan with butter, dust it with flour and tap out any excess. In the bowl of a food processor, grind the sugar, almond paste, and 1/4 cup of flour until the almond paste is finely ground and the mixture resembles sand.

 In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt.
 Once the almond paste is completely broken up, add the cubes of butter, Crisco, nutmeg and the vanilla and almond extracts, then process until the batter is very smooth and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, processing a bit before the next addition.

 Add half the flour mixture and pulse the machine a few times, then add the rest, pulsing the machine until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, but do not over mix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Then sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the cake. Bake the cake for 65 minutes, or until the top is deep brown and feels set when you press in the center. Invert cake to cool on rack and serve.

French Tarragon Chicken Salad

This is a light chicken salad for summer. If you want you can serve it as a main course with cheese and crusty bread. Take a look at one of my earlier posts for a great Italian bread recipe.

2 chicken breasts roasted until they reach 160 degrees
1 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/3 of a cup of champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons of fresh tarragon minced
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 clove of garlic grated
3 level tablespoons of whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ground fresh nutmeg


1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of green Tabasco
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 pound of broccoli in small pieces
1/2 red onion diced
1/4 cup of smoked green olives-see previous post for source
1/2 pound of diced fresh carrots


Reduce homemade chicken stock by half or more. Set aside to cool. Dice chicken in cubes. Then add to the vegetables in a bowl. Now place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk. The reduced chicken stock is add to the dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and chicken.

St. Germain Potage

Traditionally, St.Germain Potage is made with dried marrow fat peas. Marrow fat peas are green mature peas that have been allowed to dry out in the field, rather than be harvested right away. One of the classic French preparations is the combination of fresh peas, soft lettuce, and onions to make Potage St. Germain, named for a count in the court of Louis XV. Over the past few years potager gardens have become extremely popular in the garden design world.

The potager kitchen garden (pronounced poe-ta-zhay), initially developed by French monks, became popular in the 16th century in France. The potager was quite widespread, from large chateaus to the common farmyard. Strictly speaking, the potager is really just a garden, but it now often means a decorative vegetable garden. The traditional potager garden contains symmetrical, geometrical garden beds, with the vegetables planted in patterns or groups rather than in rows, often with herbs and fruit intermingled.

Here is the recipe for my soup.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh peas
1 leek sliced thin
1 head of butter lettuce, chopped
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 oz of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of heavy cream
4 small sprigs of fresh mint

Shell the peas and drop them into boiling water for a minute or two. Then drain them and set a few aside to add to the soup later. In a sauce pan add the butter and leeks. Saute until the leeks are clear. Now add the remaining peas. Then add the potatoes, lettuce and stock. Cook for about 15 minutes and then process for a minutes in a blender. Season the soup with salt, pepper and reserved peas. Stir in the cream and ladle into bowls. Garnish with fresh mint.

Blueberries with Oats and Ground Almond

The english love their puddings and I think this one is my favorite. It is a twick from Nigel Slater's book "Ripe". His recipe calls for fresh black currants. But blueberries are equally delicious.

 In the evenings, when you are tired and want to relax, I suggest reading his book. It center's around his garden and includes stories about damsen and his ducks.

 He has written for The Observer for years and has films adapted into BBC film.

1 pound of fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 lemon zested
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice

Place the above ingredients in a large pie tin.

For the crumble

1 stick of butter finely diced
1 1/4 cups of flour
2/3 cup of finely ground almonds
1/4 cup of demerara sugar
3/4 cup of rolled oats

Mix the above ingredients and place on top of the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. The fruit should bubble through the crust.

Fried zucchini blossoms and elderflower jelly aside, this is a book about the virtues of cooking!

Tangerine Madeleines

10 tablespoons farmstead fresh butter, melted
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated tangerine zest
1 teaspoon of orange flavored brandy
3 tablespoons of chopped roasted hazelnuts
3 tablespoons cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh tangerine juice

Whisk 1 cup flour and baking powder in bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, brandy and tangerine zest in a bowl and add the cream. Mix the batter until smooth. Whisk in flour mixture to fully blend. Add the melted butter and whisk until the batter is thick and shiny. Cover and chill batter overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray Madeleine molds with non stick baking spray.  Add chopped roasted hazel nuts to batter. Divide batter among molds, filling each to the top. Bake until Madeleines rise and are a deep golden brown. This will be about eight minutes.

 Next whisk powdered sugar and
tangerine
 juice in a bowl.


Set a wire rack inside
 a rimmed baking sheet.

Unmold the Madeleines onto the rack. Let them cool and dip the tops of the Madeleines into the glaze. Let them sit at room temperature until glaze has set.

Fresh Asparagus Pesto

This recipe is a twinking of Fine Cooking Magazine's Pesto. I changed it up a bit. It is similar to Fava Bean Pesto and a great new idea for using fresh asparagus. The pesto keeps for one week and they suggest using it up by tossing it in hot pasta.

In a food processor place 1 large clove of garlic, 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup of best quality Parmesan Reggiano, 4 sprigs of fresh chives, 12 ounces of chopped fresh asparagus, 1/3 cup of olive oil, zest of 1/2 a lemon, few drops of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of Pimento De La Vera, kosher salt and pepper to taste. Puree until thick and the consistency of pesto.

I placed the fresh pesto on crostini, ham, tomatoes and hard goat cheese. Yum!

Pickled Fiddleheads

With luck, I was the last person to get the remaining fiddleheads from the Ballard Farmer's Market. Next week, the fresh morels should be in! Check out the fresh butter too! I am trying to get one of the dairies at the farmer's market to sell cultured butter. Maybe, if enough people ask for it it they will start making it.

1 lb fiddleheads, cleaned
½ a clove of garlic per jar
1 sprig of fresh dill per jar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 pinch of red pepper in each jar
1 pinch of whole black pepper in each jar
1 pinch of pickling spice in each jar
1 pinch of whole allspice in each jar
1 small cube of fresh ginger
1/2 lb shallots, sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 pint jars with lids and screw caps, sterilized


Pack fiddleheads tightly into canning jars, layered with shallots, garlic, ginger and spices.
Bring to boil water, vinegar, sugar and salt.
Pour over fiddleheads so that liquid reaches to within a 1/4 inch of rim, then secure lids and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.



You now must wait about 6 weeks for them to cure. I have had pickled Fiddleheads with Gravlax and creme fraiche and it is delicious. But, really any cured dish would be an excellent accompaniment to these pickles.

Chocolate Chip & Apricot Cookies

This is my very favorite chocolate chip recipe. It came from Rick Katz a pastry chef who lives in Boston. I guaranty they will only last five minutes. They are that good. I fiddled with the recipe a little bit. But really the recipe is Ricks. You got to try these babies!

2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of very finely ground espresso beans
12 ounce package of Ghiradelli Semi Sweet Chocolate chips
3/4 cup of dried apricots, you need to use the sulfured kind here
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of light brown sugar, it has to be light brown
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the eggs one at a time. Add all the other ingredients until well incorporated. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotating the pan several times to get a even golden color.

Abraco's Black Sesame Pear Tea Cake

When I came upon this recipe my mind went to Bilbo Baggin's party for Thorin and his band of dwarfs. It is really tasty and quite wonderful for any band of dwarfs. You will need the freshes black sesame seeds for this recipe. Take a look at my previous post for a source.

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups plus two tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 cup of almond meal
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup of black sesame seeds
1 1/3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of coarse sanding sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup of buttermilk
1 pear cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a blender grind 1/2 cup of sesame seeds with the buttermilk. Set aside. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixer and cream. Now add all the ingredients except the pears and coarse sanding sugar. Hand fold in the pears. Place the batter in the loaf pan and dust with the sanding sugar.

Bake for one hour and forty minutes.

Watch to see it does not get to dark. You may want to cover loosely with foil to insure a light golden brown color.

This is Elizabeth Quijada's recipe at Abraco. I would love to sit down with her over a cup of cappuccino. This is one of the most original and creative recipes I have seen in a long time. It is really delicious a must try.