slight departure from keene, but the food is totally worth iti don't think i've stopped baking/cooking since i got home tuesday night :) it's been great. haha, so this might be a bit of a food photo dump, but enjoy!
pre-Thanksgiving food
wednesday lunch for m&d and s4 (they were driving down from RI). i also prepped the desserts for tday along with some other desserts for fun.
i also made pumpkin black bean burgers adapted from sproutedkitchen. see the recipe i followed at the bottom of this post. they were a bit wet feeling and sort of fell apart. i'm sure blending the ingredients would have made a more cohesive burger. i topped it on English muffins, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. this was great with the soup.main event- tday!!!
lunch:
- our turkey was a little over 13 lbs (smallest one yet!) so we popped it in by 8:45 after it was rubbed down with rosemary and butter.
- mushroom gravy: this is our go-to vegetarian gravy although every year more and more mushrooms get added until we have mushroom soup. we also took out the soy sauce again.
- rosemary biscuits: these are from the everything cookbook. s4 and i love this cookbook for all things cooking and baking
- cranberry sauce: we cooked the fresh cranberries down in orange juice (about 3:1 cranberry to oj ratio) and then mixed in some chopped walnuts
- roasted root vegetables: not only did i get to try cooking with leeks the first time but we all tried parsnips for the first time. the brussels sprouts cooked faster than the parsnips and other root vegetables even though we cut the vegetables even smaller but the spice mix was tasty
- cornbread stuffing: another go-to for the holidays. even though we try to do new recipes every year this one is so tasty it sticks around. i make the cornbread the night or two nights before and leave it to dry as cubes (instead of food processing).
- cheesy mashed potatoes: we put this into two larger baking dishes and i ran out of enough heavy cream so the topping was a bit light, but this was definitely healthier than our usual (although we missed out on the cauliflower puree)
- pecan pie bars: i made these healthier b/c first i ran out of AP flour and couldn't find the costco sized bag hidden in the garage and i figured more pecans, less butter is always better (see the end of this post for the full recipe)
- mile high apple pie: this was amazingggg. we peeled about 12 apples for this sucker, sliced them up, then cooked them down with some butter, sugar and cinnamon until they were completely cooked down. the butter crust came from kaf which worked amazing for our fruit hand pies (coming up in a sec). we loaded up the crust with all the apples, minus the juice so our crust wouldn't get too wet. can you tell what the top of the pie crust looks like?? (hint, it's not a snowman)
- maple yam potato pie: this one came from the brattleboro food co-op when i sampled it at their store. see the recipe at the end. this pie is so good and creamy. but i'm not sure how different it would taste with pumpkin instead of yam. i made the kaf classic crust with half whole wheat flour (still hadn't found the AP flour), this crust was a bit too dry
- cranberry-walnut muffins: we bought a huge costco sized bag of cranberries so time to bake! fiddled with the recipe (at the end of this post)
- ginger molasses french toast: adapted this ginger molasses cake on wednesday night and finally got to make french toast with it this morning- dipped in egg and milk mixture, cooked on a skillet then topped with fresh apples and maple syrup. the cake also tasted fantastic with a smear of maple cream
- pineapple and apple hand pies: we used the leftover crust from the apple pie to make these "poptarts," two with applesauce filling and two w leftover pineapple filling. these are delicioussssssss
- chocolate peanut butter cookies: this comes from the cake doctor- 1 box cake mix (whichever flavor you like), 1 can condensed milk, 1 egg, 1 c pb, combine then roll into cookies and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes
- pineapple shortbread cakes: these are taiwanese fig newton esque cookies called feng li su. recipe at the bottom. i think i mixed the batter too much as my dough got really dry and it cracked a lot, but these came out great (see recipe at the end of the post)
RECIPES
Pumpkin Black Bean Patties
Makes 4 patties
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c pumpkin puree
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin
15 oz black beans, slightly mashed
2/3 c cornmeal
1 egg
Combine all ingredients saving the cornmeal and egg for last. Form dough
into 4 patties, about 1/2" thick. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet
over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, coook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown
and flip and cook for another 2 minutes.
Pecan Pie Bars
Makes 16 squares
Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/3 c AP flour
1 1/3 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3/4 c sugar
2 T heavy cream
2 c chopped pecans*
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil so it goes
over the edges.
For the crust, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the flour
and salt until a crumb forms. Press the crumb mixture into the pan and bake for
20 minutes or until golden brown.
While the crust bakes, in a medium sized saucepan, combine the butter,
sugar, and heavy cream over medium heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a
bubble, then simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped
pecans.
Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the filling over
the top, spreading it out to cover the entire surface. Return the pan to the
oven and bake for another 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool
completely in the pan. Do not over bake as the bars will firm up.
Maple Yam Custard Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
Ingredients
2 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c cream
1 1/2 c cooked yams
1/2 c sugar
2 T maple syrup, Grade B
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
One 9-inch pie shell
Preheat oven to 425F. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until
smooth. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower temperature
to 350 and bake for 30 more minutes.
Cranberry Walnut Muffins
Makes 12
Ingredients
1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c no sugar added applesauce
3 T butter
2 eggs
1/2 c skim milk
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 chopped walnuts
2 c fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Beat sugar and butter together, add applesauce. Add eggs one at a time,
beating well after each. In a separate medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder
and salt. Add flour mixture, alternately with the milk to the butter mixture.
Stir in nuts and cranberries. Spoon into paper-lined or oil sprayed muffin
cups.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Ginger Molasses Cake
Makes 1 bundt cake, serves 12
Ingredients
3 1/4 c AP flour
5 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
~1/2 c molasses (dark)
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c applesauce
2 large eggs
1 c boiling water
7/8 c canola oil
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour baking pan. Sift first 5
ingredients into a medium bowl.. Whisk molasses, sugar, applesauce, eggs, and
vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Whisk in 1 cup boiling water and
oil, then dry ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center
comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.
Pineapple Shortbread Cakes
Makes 24
Ingredients
Filling:
24 oz crushed pineapple in juice, drained
24 oz crushed pineapple in juice, drained
3/4 c granulated sugar, + 1/4 c
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp cake flour
Shortbread:
1/3 c nonfat dry milk
2 1/4 c cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
12 T unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 T powdered sugar
1. Drain pineapple in a sieve, pushing out excess liquid. Place
pineapple in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat; cook 15 minutes or until
liquid evaporates, stirring frequently. Add granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp salt;
cook 10 minutes or until liquid mostly evaporates, stirring occasionally. Add
corn syrup; cook 5 minutes or until mixture is thick and sticky, stirring
frequently. Add whole wheat/cake flour; cook 1 minutes or until very thick,
stirring constantly. Scrape mixture onto a baking sheet, and spread into a thin
layer and chill completely.
2. For the shortbread, sift dry milk into a bowl and add cake flour,
1/4 tsp salt and baking powder. Place butter in a large bowl and beat until
smooth and creamy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, beat 2 minutes or until well
combined. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat 2 minutes
or until fluffy. Add flour mixture until just combined. Divide dough in half
and gently shape dough into 2 (10-inch) logs. Cover with plastic wrap and chill
for 30 minutes.
3. Arrange 1 oven rack 2 positions down from the top and another rack 2
positions up from the bottom of the oven. Preheat to 325F.
4. Cut each dough log into 12 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a
time, roll dough into a 3-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place about
1 T filling in the center; bring edges together over filling, and pinch closed.
Gently press into a floured 1 3/4-inch square mold or shape into a square by
hand. Place cake on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat procedure with
remaining dough and filling, placing cakes 2 inches apart. Bake for 25 minutes,
turning cakes over and rotating pans after 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans,
and cool completely. Sprinkle with 1 T powdered sugar, if desired.
I like your blog!!
ReplyDelete