Just Pumpkin Pie

There’s a lot of ways that you can dress up pumpkin pie. Recipes are always trying to entice you with odd ingredients. But, on Thanksgiving, what’s really needed is just plain and simple tradition. Here’s a pumpkin pie that is exactly that – fullproof, reliable, and delicious.

Makes 1 9-inch pie, about 8-10 slices.

sugar pumpkin, about 2 pounds
your favorite pie crust recipe, one crust

Filling:
2 eggs, plus 2 more yolks
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 c. milk
3/4 c. cream

1. Rinse pumpkin. Remove stem. Cut it in half, horizontally. Remove seeds and filaments. Cut the pumpkin into about 2-inch chunks and remove the rind from each piece. In a large baking dish, cover the pumpkin pieces with water and cover with lid (or foil). Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Cool. Puree.
2. Roll out your crust and place in a buttered, 9-inch pie plate.
3. Whisk eggs into the pumpkin puree. Whisk remaining ingredients in, until smooth.
4. Pour the filling into the crust.
5. Bake at 350F for 1 hour in the center of the oven.
6. Cool and refrigerate until dessert time.

Notes:

• Save your pumpkin seeds for a crunchy snack.
• Pumpkin puree can keep for several days, stored in the fridge.
• Serve with sweetened whipped cream, of course.

Cranberry Chestnut Dressing

I’m posting a dressing recipe now so that, if you haven’t already done so, you can take this as a reminder to start saving your ‘dead bread.’ Dry out any bread ends you have, cube or tear to your preference, and throw in a bag in the freezer. Come Thanksgiving, hopefully you’ll have enough. If you’re cooking for a crowd, you’ll have to intentionally bake some loaves and dry them out a few days ahead of time.

Dressing/stuffing is a very personal matter. There have been Thanksgivings at my house where we’ve had more than three different kinds, based on peoples’ traditions and preferences. This is my version. I think it’s very pretty and the chestnuts give you something extra to chew, but get soft, so they don’t distract you with crunch.

Chestnuts are the hardest ingredient to source locally at Thanksgiving. Unless some show up at a Seattle market, I’m using some from PCC grown in Oregon. At least that’s better than Italy.

enough bread cubes to fill a 12X18 baking dish (about 2 loaves or 20 cups)
6 tbls. butter
2 onions, diced
about 5 stalks celery, diced
about 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 bunch parsley, leaves chopped
5 c. chicken stock
1-2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 – 1  1/2 pounds chestnuts (peeled, see below)
1 cup cranberries, chopped coarsely

1. Melt butter over medium-low and saute onions and celery for ten minutes.
2. Add stock. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients with bread and pour over stock. Add your stock a little at a time, so that you can evaluate the wetness of the stuffing. You may want to adjust the liquid according to your preference.
4. Bake covered at 350F for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until brown, about 30 more minutes.

Notes:

• To peel chestnuts, carefully score each one with an x on the flat side. Drop in boiling water for 20 minutes. Cool and then peel of the skins. You can store this in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.
• Usually, traditional along with Thanksgiving, is the event of me slicing my fingers while trying to score chestnuts. (This makes the rest of the preparation extremely not fun.) This year I splurged and bought “The Chestnutter” at City Kitchens. Yes, it’s a gadget that I will potentially use once a year, but hopefully it will save me from stiches. (And who knows, maybe I’ll take it home for Christmas and roast chestnuts over an open fire. Security had enough problems with my pasta roller last time I flew, I bet they’ve never seen The Chestnutter.. ..)

Hotlips Makes it Big

Now it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Hot Lips Soda, hand-crafted, real fruit soda which sources extra fruit from local farmers. Earlier this year, we were excited to know that you could purchase it in Seattle (though it had been well worth routing your road trip though Portland to pick it up.)

Now, HOTLIPS has made it big. Check out their blurb in the NYT.

Stocking up for holiday guests? Make the yummy soda choice. Read: Some Soda Starts at the Farm.

Poached Pears with Cranberries

Thanksgiving is fast approaching! We’ve been assembling our ingredients for a locally-based Thanksgiving for some time now. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of our favorite holiday recipes with you.

On the first Thanksgiving that we spent in Seattle, my brother-in-law made poached pears. They were a lovely and a refreshing addition to the meal. Now, I make this version that includes cranberries. (We were lucky to be able to purchase some local cranberries at the U-district market.) This dish can be prepared the day ahead and benefits from sitting in the refrigerator overnight. It doesn’t usurp the cranberry sauce on the table but adds a little extra bite of fruit, just when you think you can’t eat any more heavy food. This also serves well the next day for breakfast with yogurt.

This year, I plan to use my home-canned pears. I’ll decrease the first simmering time by a few minutes.

about 8 pears
2 tbls. sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 tbls. honey
10 oz. fresh cranberries
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Peel and slice the pears into halves. Put in a medium sauce pan and just cover with water (about 4 cups).
2. Add sugar, cinnamon stick, and honey. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve sugar, and immediately reduce to a simmer. Simmer for ten minutes or until pears are tender.
3. Add cranberries and simmer for an additional 3 minutes.
4. Transfer the pears and cranberries to a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla. Ladle as much syrup as you would like over the pears. Store covered in the refrigerator when cool.

Chard Lasagna with Walnuts

You may have made a ‘charred’ lasagna before, but have you ever tried a ‘chard’ lasagna? (Ha  ha.) This is a tomato-less lasagna and is a good winter alternative to the traditional version.

1 lb. chard (after broken down, leaves should weigh 1 lb.)
1 c. walnuts, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups ricotta
1 c. Parmesan, grated
3 balls fresh mozzarella, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 c. milk
fresh lasagna noodles (or about 12 boxed noodles)
olive oil, salt, white pepper

1. Rinse chard and remove the stems and thick middle rib. To do this, press your knife down on the leaf  against the midrib and pull up on the stem. Zip! One side of the leaf will come off easily. Set the chard leaves aside.
2. Cook fresh pasta noodles for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from water with a mesh strainer to a bowl. When cool enough to touch, hang or lay out on a clean towel. (If your noodles touch, they may stick to each other.)
3. Toss the chard leaves into the boiling pasta water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain as much water from the chard as possible and set aside to cool.
4. Mince garlic.
5. With your hands (or wrapped in an old dishtowel), squeeze the chard out over the sink. Squeeze until most of the water is out.
6. Toast walnuts in a pan set over medium for about 5 minutes. (Watch these nuts carefully. Don’t multi-task.) Remove walnuts from pan and wipe it out, if needed.
7. Add 1 tbls. olive oil to the same pan. Cook garlic and chard for about 2 minutes. Cool briefly.
8. Mix chard, garlic Parmesan, salt, and pepper together.
9. Oil a 9X13 pan and pour 1/4. c. milk on the bottom. Proceed to layer:
   noodle, cheese/chard mixture, mozzarella, nuts, milk, noodle, etc.
   End with:
   noodle, mozzarella, nuts, sprinkle of Parmesan
10. Cover your lasagna with foil (see note). Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 10 more minutes, until the top is nicely browned.

• If you are making fresh pasta noodles, roll out to width 5. You do not need to be overly concerned about moisture content, however you do want to flour the noodles enough so that they won’t stick to themselves.
• If using boxed noodles, cook them until only al dente – they will cook more in the oven.
• If your homemade ricotta is too dry, add a few tablespoons of whey back in. When you stir the ricotta mixture, it should be loose enough that your spoon doesn’t give you much resistance.
• Tired of foil sticking to the top of your beautiful lasagna? Place a piece of oiled parchment on the top before covering with foil.
• If you’re making everything from scratch at the same time, I found this sequence to be efficient: heat milk for cheese, make pasta dough and, while it rests, break down chard, chop garlic, hang cheese, roll noodles, boil noodles, then remove and boil chard in same water

Fresh Pasta Dough

You can play around with the proportions of pasta recipes and decide what suits you best. This is the version that we like.

8.5 oz. AP flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 tbls. olive oil

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix with fork until partially combined. Finish the mixing with floured hands. Turn the dough onto a board and knead for 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. (Don’t cheat. This step allows the dough to absorb the flour properly.) When it is time to roll it out, cut the dough in half. Knead the ball that you are about to work with gently a few times. Run it through the rollers at the widest setting. Fold your dough into a little package or envelope shape and run it through again. Add flour as necessary. If cutting dough into strands, be careful with moisture content. Your rollers will not cut all the way through if your dough is too moist.