Pecan Pie vs Pumpkin Pie

Photo by Kat

 Today begins the cooking and preparation for tomorrows big turkey feast. And when I say "big turkey," I do mean it! We've got a 24 lb. free-range turkey, giving us something to be mighty thankful for this year!

I will be doing most of the cooking this year, though not all. My dear friend Mae will be playing hostess after we made a deal that if she had everyone over, I would do most of the work. I would like to have hosted myself but Kat and I only have room in our tiny house for about 3 guests. At last count, we're expecting 15 or so for Thanksgiving and that number may still rise! A few other friends will be pitching in on the cooking and bringing dishes. There will be absolutely no shortage of food!

Here is a brief rundown of this years menu:

Roasted Turkey, brined in apple cider with oranges and spices

Tofurkey (not mine, I promise!)

Polenta Giblet Stuffing

Gluten-free Vegetarian Stuffing

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with gravy

Orange Spice Cranberry Sauce

Waldorf Salad

Green Bean Casserole

Ginger Carrots

Homemade Whole Wheat Rolls with butter

Gluten-free Pecan Pie

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Scratch Pumpkin Pie

I'm fairly sure no one will go hungry tomorrow. I will be preparing all but the gluten free stuff, Waldorf Salad, the carrots and green beans. At the last minute I decided to make a Pumpkin Pie. That's a desert that seems to be falling out of favor more and more as people begin exploring more non-traditional Thanksgiving ideas. Some people are pumpkin pie aficionados. Others are not and most of those seem to downright hate the stuff. Myself, I've never been the biggest fan. This may be entirely to having spent my life eating pumpkin pie from a can. Tonight, I'm going to make a pie from scratch. I'm certain someone will eat it!

Now pecan pie, well that's a whole different story! Pecan pie is, hands down my favorite and I look forward to Thanksgiving just so I can make one. Chess pie, a corn syrup based custard of which pecan pie is but one variety, is a Southern specialty and there are endless ways to make it. Add pecans, buttermilk, maple syrup., whiskey, vanilla. The flavor combinations are endless and everyone has their favorite. Make a cornmeal crust and it will take you to another world!

Today's cooking begins with the rolls. These I made completely by hand, not even using a spoon! While the dough was rising, I set to work on other things, like getting the turkey into the brine. This year I took a tip from Pure & Yummy on making apple cider brine. I did mine a little differently, using the following recipe:

3 quarts apple cider

6 cinnamon sticks, broken

about 10 whole cloves

1 t allspice (I would have used whole if I had it)

2 bay leaves

2/3 c kosher salt

2/3 c sugar

I mixed all these together in a stock pot and brought the mixture to a boil in order to dissolve the salt and sugar. Once done, I set the pot out on the front porch to cool (it's about 31° outside right now). Once it had cooled, I took our turkey and cleaned it out real good, washing it and patting it dry. I put it inside a large 5 gallon bucket, adding ice and cold water to finish filling the container. I sealed it tight and put it in the shed out back until tomorrow. It will only get down to the mid-20's tonight, not enough to freeze the brine (the salt will see to that!).

Next on the list today - making Orange Cranberry Sauce. I already outlined this process in an earlier post. The difference this time is that I did not use vanilla bean, preferring the taste without.

Next up, pie crust. The recipe I like the best is a butter crust from America's Test Kitchen. I've never gotten anything but rave reviews anytime I've ever made it. At first, I was only going to make the Bourbon Pecan Pie but, since no one had offered to bring a pumpkin and because we have 3 little pie pumpkins in the basement, I thought that it would be just as easy to make 2 pies as one. I roasted one of the pumpkins and pureed the meat to use later.

I made a 2 crust batch of pie dough and split it in two pieces. I wrapped each in plastic and put it in the fridge until later.

By this point the dough for the rolls had risen and could be rolled out into little balls about 1" to 1-1/2" in diameter. In retrospect, these were too small. I've only made rolls a couple of times and am still learning how big to make them. I placed the rolls on the parchment lined cookie sheets and let them rise until they had doubled in size. I then baked them at 350° for a half and hour or so.

Once I had finished with the rolls, it was time to start on the polenta. Since the oven was free for the time being, I decided to roast the seeds from the pumpkin. I cooked the polenta for a half an hour or so and poured it into a greased cookie sheet to cool overnight.

Photo by Kat

Now it was pie time. I started with the pecan. First, I preheated the oven to 400°. Taking one of the crusts out of the fridge, I rolled it out into a disc big enough for a 9" pie dish. I fit the crust into the dish, then covered it with foil, carefully pressing it down to cover the bottom and sides of the crust. Then I filled the foil with pie weights. You can buy these at a kitchen store if you like spending money. Or you can use rice or, as I did, pinto beans. I won't be eating these beans but I will keep them around for the next pie! I baked the crust for about 15 minutes. I set it aside while I made the filling.

Bourbon Pecan Pie Filling
Heat the oven to 275° and place the rack to the middle setting. Set up a double boiler or place a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of water. Melt:
6 T unsalted butter
Once the butter is melted, remove the bowl from the heat and stir in:
1 c dark brown sugar
Add:
3/4 c light corn syrup
3 eggs
1 shot Kentucky bourbon
1/2 t salt
Whisk everything together well and place bowl back over the heat. Continue heating, stirring regularly, until the temperature reaches 130°. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in:
2 c chopped pecans
Pour the filling into the prebaked crust and bake for 50-60 minutes until the custard jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack It is best to let the pie sit overnight, which is why I like to bake a pecan pie at least a day in advance.

Now that pie #1 was out of the way it was time for pie #2. This time there was no crust to prebake, and pumpkin is an easier pie to make than pecan.

From Scratch Pumpkin Pie
Heat the oven to 425°. Prepare a 9" pie dish with crust and refrigerate until ready for use. In a large mixing bowl, combine:
2 c pumpkin puree
1 c evaporated milk
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1 t allspice
1 t ginger
1 t cardamom
1/2 t ground clove
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
Whisk everything together until smooth and creamy. Pour into chilled pie crust and bake at 425° for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and continue baking for another 45 minutes. If the crust starts to get too dark before the pie is finished, take a strip of foil and carefully cover the outer edge of the pie. The pie is done when a knife stuck in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

All right, that's it! I'm off to bed to rest up for tomorrow. Have a Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Photo by Kat

The Flavor Bible: A Review

One of the most exciting cooking books to come out in a very long time is Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's joint effort The Flavor Bible (Hachett Books, 2008). This book is an absolute must have for the creative cook's kitchen!

The Flavor Bible is essentially an encyclopedia of ingredients and flavors; herbs, spices, meats, vegetables, grains, etc. Everything you can think of is listed alphabetically in these pages. With each entry is a list of other flavors and ingredients that pair well with that item. For example, let's say that I have almonds in my pantry and am trying to figure out what to do with them. I look up "Almonds" in The Flavor Bible and I find a lengthy list of things that work well with almonds. Some are obvious, of course, like chocolate, vanilla, and honey. Then come seasonings and flavors I hadn't thought of, like rosemary, plums, Italian sauces, and such. I also find recommended flavor combinations, like "almonds + chocolate + coconut" or "almonds + green anise + figs".

It's amazing how quickly this book became an indispensable part of my kitchen library! It's now the first book I pick up when I start planning a new recipe, or am trying to figure out something new and inventive to do with leftovers. The book has gotten me to consider flavor combinations that I might have overlooked if I were sticking to recipes tried and true.

The Flavor Bible took authors Page and Dornenburg eight years to put together. They drew upon the wisdom and experience of some of the country's most renowned palates, dozens of chefs whose knowledge gave this book the depth required to make it a truly effective tool for the modern cook. In addition to being an outstanding guide for ingredients, it contains helpful tips, dish ideas, recipes, antidotes and more. It is well worth the price and a fantastic gift for anyone you know who loves to cook!

Cheddar Cheese Pumpernickel Rolls

Today was another day spent in the kitchen getting some of the weekly cooking chores done. There was a pot of turkey stock to make, bread to bake and food for tomorrow, in addition to the meals of the day. I love days like this!

In making bread for the week, I decided to step away from the usual task of making a loaf of bread and opted instead to make rolls. One recipe I've made in the past and really enjoyed was for pumpernickel dough. I've always just made it into a loaf. Today, however, I thought I would make rolls with cheddar cheese in the middle. I've never actually tried something like this and it sounded like a good idea.

The first step is the dough. A good pumpernickel should be a nice dark brown and have a grainier texture than rye. Pumpernickel flour is nothing more than coarse ground rye flour anyway, like rye meal. The color comes from throwing literally everything black you can find in the kitchen into it. Balsamic vinegar, espresso, cocoa,  and molasses, all working together to create a unique flavor unlike any other bread.

To start the dough, begin by brewing:

2 c very strong coffee

I generally use a french press for this. Pour the coffee into a medium bowl and allow it to cool to about 115°. Stir in:

1-1/2 T dry yeast

1 t sugar

Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine:

4 T soft butter
1/4 c cocoa powder
3 T molasses
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T gluten powder
2 t kosher salt
2 t caraway seeds
Mix well and then stir in the coffee/yeast mixture with:
1 c rye flour
1/2 c coarse ground pumpernickel flour
1/3 c corn flour
Combine well and begin adding:
3 to 3-1/2 c unbleached white flour
Knead until the dough is just a little bit tacky but not sticky. Place it in a greased container and allow to rise in a warm place for about 40-45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
While dough is rising, cut:
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese 

into 1/2" cubes and set aside.

Once the dough has finished rising, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface and form into an oblong shape. Take a sharp knife and cut the dough into two equal pieces. Then cut each half into four pieces and each of those into three. This will give you 24 rolls. You may, of course, make them bigger if you so choose. Take each piece of dough and flatten it a bit. Place a cube of cheddar in the middle of the flattened piece and wrap the dough around it. Arrange the rolls on two (or more) parchment lined cookie sheets, cover and allow to rise for another 40 minutes or so. Then the rolls are nearly finished rising, heat the oven to 375° and place the rack on the middle setting. In a small bowl, combine: 
1 egg yolk
1 T cold water
Wisk the yolk and water together until will mixed. Brush on to rolls just before placing the rolls in the oven. Bake the rolls for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Delish! These rolls are wonderful for those wintertime soups and are perfect comfort food. Bon appetit!

The Gentle Art of Ratio Cooking

Often as I have watched other more experienced cooks ply their trade, I have marveled at their freedom from using recipes, how they just seem to know how much of what to mix together to make a delicious moist cake or a creamy custard. Of course, experience has much to do with this skill but just as important is the understanding of cooking ratios - what they are and how to use them. This is where Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking comes to save the day!

This might just be the most important book about cooking that I have ever read. Sure, there are some fun and interesting recipe ideas within its pages but the point of the book is to get you away from thinking in recipes and to get you to see why the recipes work the way they do. If you know, for example, that a basic cookie dough is 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour, you can use this 1:2:3 ratio to make just about any cookie your imagination can come up with! When you understand that muffins are 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part butter, you will have hundreds of recipes at your fingertips and will have the freedom to improvise with whatever flavor combinations you might have on hand at the moment. That, I believe, is what this book is really all about - culinary freedom. As Alton Brown put it, "...having a ratio in hand is like having a secret decoder ring that frees you from the tyranny of recipes." So many cooks are slaves to the recipe to the extent that when they are forced to forgo a pre-written recipe, they are lost and their cooking suffers. Knowing what works and why it works is a big part of elevating your cooking from being just food to being art.

One of the best things about reading this book was that fact that I constantly found myself stopping and pondering the possibilities of the ratios Ruhlman discusses. I had never thought of using a Pâte à Choux (cream puff dough) as a base for dumplings in chicken stew but I can't wait to try! His explanation of the difference between a roux and a beurre manié has made me rethink the way I was making gravy, a basic sauce that I thought I had completely mastered.

The approach discussed in this wonderful book is so basic and yet is the foundation for literally everything else that happens in the kitchen. These are, as the title of the book claims, simple codes. With practice and technique, you will be whipping up handmade seafood sausages, fresh wild mushroom raviolis, and homemade butterscotch without ever cracking open a single cookbook. And that my friends is what the true Art of Cooking is really all about!

A Better Use for the Bread Machine

"Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. The countries are the soup, the meat, the vegetables, the salad but bread is king."

- Louis Bromfield

I love fresh baked bread. No, let me stress this - I love fresh baked bread! The aroma is one of my favorite scents in the world. For years I would bake my own from scratch, enjoying the therapeutic process of kneading the dough and watching it rise, knowing that it is a living thing filled with live yeast cultures. Each loaf had a personality of its own. It was all very personal and the end result gave me a whole new appreciation for this staple food. My mother, in an effort to encourage this new found love, bought me a bread machine for the holidays one year, not realizing that for me the joy was in the handling. I never used the machine and exchanged it for some much needed knives.

Egg Bread

As time went on, I found myself with less time to bake and would just buy my bread from the store. I still tried to stay with the rustic loaves when I could, occasionally buying the pre-sliced stuff off the shelves at the supermarket. It was on one such shopping trip a couple of years ago that my wife Kat and I realized just how much we were paying for this item that is essentially flour, water and yeast. Kat remarked that she had an old bread machine in the basement and we decided to start using it, in an effort to save a little money.

Her old Breadman took a little getting used to. In the past when I had made bread, I would start with a sponge or starter, and build the loaf from there. Bread machine recipes called for just throwing everything into the machine at once, turning it on for a few hours and - hocus pocus - you have bread! There were several problems with it though. The biggest issue was that the loaves tended to be rather inconsistent. Every bake cycle was identical, with the same rising times and baking times. Each loaf, however, was individual and the exact same recipe would vary based on the measurements, temperature of the kitchen, humidity, etc. Some loaves would rise too much, some wouldn't rise at all. I had no success whatsoever with whole wheat and rye breads. The loaves looked weird too, real boxy, not at all like the loaves I was used to. There was a big hole in the bottom of each loaf caused by the paddle from the machine. In addition, the odd shape made it difficult to fit into the toaster unless it was sliced horizontally, top to bottom. All in all, it was very unsatisfying.

Then I decided to try something different. I started a loaf in the machine and let it get through the second kneading cycle, about 40 minutes into the process. Then I pulled it out of the machine and placed it into a greased container to rise. From there on, I treated it like any other bread recipe, giving it one more knead and forming it into a loaf. I baked it in the oven and it was spectacular!

Since that day, I have never used the bread machine for anything other than a bread mixer. One of the benefits is that, even though the machine is designed to make 1.5 lb loaves, I can now make 2 lb loaves, as I am not baking the bread in the machine. Which brings up an important point. When you remove the bread from the machine, remember to turn the machine off! I forgot to do that once and found my kitchen filled with a nasty burning smell - never a good thing!

Here is a basic Egg Bread recipe that I am actually baking as I write this.

3/4 c milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk.)
1/3 c water
2 T butter or oil (I used butter.)
2 eggs
3 c unbleached white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
3 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t yeast

Place all ingredients in your bread machine and set for basic white bread. After the second kneading cycle, turn off your bread machine and place dough in a large bowl that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Flip the dough over so both sides are greased. Cover with wax paper or plastic wrap and let rise for 60-90 minutes. The bread is done rising when it has doubled in size. Place loaf on a lightly floured surface and form into a loaf. You may use a loaf pan if you like, or you may form it into a rustic loaf in the shape of your choosing. Loosely cover with the same wax paper/plastic as before, sprayed with a small amount of non-stick spray if necessary to prevent sticking. Allow to rise for 60 minutes or so. When the bread is nearly done rising, preheat the oven to 350. Just before baking the bread you may, if you choose, apply a wash using a pastry brush. Using water will cause to crust to be crispier, egg white gives a shiny appearance, egg yolk causes the crust to darken, and milk makes the crust softer. You may also add seeds to the top of your loaf at this point if you are using an egg wash. Bake the loaf for about 40 minutes. For an extra crispy loaf, you may spray the loaf with water once or twice while it bakes, or you can place an oven safe dish of water in the oven with the bread. The bread is finished baking when the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees. Remove the loaf from the oven (and pan, if you're using one) and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

A couple of tips. First, don't give in to the temptation to slice into the bread early! As delightful as warm bread is, it ruins the loaf when it is sliced too early. What I used to do was make 2 loaves, one smaller than the other. I would eat the small loaf warm and allow the larger loaf to completely cool. Best of both worlds! Second, when buying yeast, be smart and go to the bulk section! The jars of yeast you find in the baking aisle run about $5 for a little jar. Winco (a Kroger chain) has it bulk for $3.01/lb.! That's a lot of yeast! For about $1 I got more than I would have gotten buying the $5 jar. I win!

Happy baking, friends! Remember, good bread is the greatest of all feasts!

Lemons + Poppyseeds = Love!

"Do you know the land where the lemon-trees flower?"

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When life gives you lemons...CELEBRATE! In addition to lemonade, these little fruits make some delightfully sweet and tasty treats! Like Lemon Poppyseed Bread, for example.

In preparation for the lecture and signing this Thursday, I made 2 of these wonderful loaves tonight. I'm making them early because it is best to let them sit for a day or so after applying the lemon syrup at the end. This will allow the syrup to really soak the bread and get all that lemony goodness spread around so that every single bite is tangy and mouthwatering!

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

A little prep work is necessary before beginning. First, preheat your oven to 350. Make sure your rack is on the middle setting. Then grease and flour an 8"x4" loaf pan (or what I find to be much easier is to just spray the pan with non-stick spray and then flour it). Then take a small piece of parchment and cover the bottom of the pan. Grease and flour the parchment and set the pan aside.

Next, grate the peal of:

1 fresh lemon

You'll need about 1 T worth of zest. Remember - yellow part only, no white! After you zest the lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice. You will need 1/4 cup. Set the juice aside.

In a small to medium sized bowl, whisk together:

3 large eggs
1-1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 c milk

Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together:

1-1/2 c all-purpose flour, sifted
3/4 c granulated sugar
3 T poppy seeds
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
lemon zest

When sifted together well, add half the egg mixture with:

13 T butter, softened

Mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed and beat for 1 minute. Add the rest of the egg mixture and beat for another minute. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. About 5 minutes before bread is done, combine in a small saucepan:

lemon juice
1/3 c sugar

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and simmer until the sugar completely dissolves. Set aside until bread is removed from the oven. Bread is finished when the top of the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the loaf from the oven and poke several holes through the top with a wooden skewer or long toothpick. Pour about half of the lemon syrup over the top. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, then invert the pan onto a wire rack (be sure to grease it first!). Using a pastry brush, apply the rest of the syrup to the bottom and sides of the loaf. Flip the loaf back over right side up and allow to cool completely before wrapping in wax paper. Like I said, it's best to let the loaf sit at least overnight, if not a full 24 hours.

The dangerous thing about this recipe is that it's so damned good and it's so easy to make! Bake it in the evening and have it with coffee the following day for brunch! Luckily, my wife Kat has more self-control and keeps me in line or I would be a lot bigger than I am!

Bon Appetit!