What's On My Plate » epicurious

Sole Amandine with Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Tonya — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:13:45 +0000

Going through recent posts it feels like I’ve barely posted any dinner ideas as of late. Between traveling updates, my balcony garden and lots of desserts, it seems that dinner has fallen to the wayside. Truth be told in the summer I get a bit lazy and will do a lot of random market goodness meals, but I guess I’ve also been cooking a lot of old favourites vs. experimenting. There’s just something about the pace of summer that switches things up.

I’m forever on the hunt for new ways to cook fish. Fish fillets are one of my favourite things to have in the freezer because they don’t take long to defrost and I’m more likely to have a healthy meal if I’m doing it up with fish.

Usually when I’m looking for something new to try I’ll check a site like Epicurious for inspiration. On this particular day I knew that I wanted to make something with sole and was kind of leaning towards making the classic French dish, Sole Amandine. While not really a classic I was intrigued by this recipe. I’m a sucker for Brussels sprouts, so this was totally up my alley.

This recipe is super simple and perfect for a light meal. This would have worked nicely with some boiled potatoes but I opted to just stick with fish and sprouts. I’m excited to make this again when I can eat Brussels sprouts from my own garden… assuming they ever turn into Brussels sprouts!

Enjoy!

Sole Amandine with Shredded Brussels Sprouts

1 cup thinly sliced Brussels sprouts (6 to 8 )
2 (3- to 4-ounce) sole fillets
All-purpose flour for dredging
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Accompaniment: lemon wedge

Sprinkle Brussels sprouts with a bit of salt and steam until just softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from steamer.

Season fish with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour, shaking of excess.

Heat oil and a tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook fish all the way through, browning on both sides. Place fish on top of Brussels sprouts.

Discard remaining oil/butter from the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Add the almonds, remaining butter and sautee until the almonds are golden brown. Remove from heat and mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the fish and Brussels sprouts.

(Recipe via Epicurious)

Country Rhubarb Cake

Tonya — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:00:23 +0000

One of the downsides to living in Toronto (vs. say the tropics) is the lack of fresh amazing produce available year round. While I don’t strive for a totally local diet there are a few things that I avoid buying when they have to travel miles and miles to get here (strawberries come to mind). The upside to living here is that when the local produce does start rolling in it’s AMAZING and I want to eat it all.

My cooking class leaves me near St. Lawrence Market every Saturday morning which means I can shop at the Farmers market for most of the summer. This has been a lot of fun because I get to buy fresher produce, support local farmers and get out of the supermarket. I usually go with a list of things that I need but also let myself be taken by whatever looks fresh.

The other day I was strolling through the market and noticed that rhubarb was in season. Now, I’ve never made anything with rhubarb before but my heart (and stomach) were telling me to buy some and figure it out later. So I did. Once I got home I did a search on Epicurious for recipes involving rhubarb and settled on this recipe for Country Rhubarb Cake. A lot of the recipes combined rhubarb with other fruits or had you make a sauce out of it. What I wanted was a recipe that really featured the rhubarb, hence the cake.

This cake is partially like an apple cake and also kind of like a cobbler. You make the cake batter and pat some in the bottom of your pan. Then you scoop some rhubarb on top and top with some pats of batter. I knew this cake would be great when I couldn’t stop eating the batter. It was also super easy to assemble and I don’t see why you couldn’t substitute some other fruit in for the rhubarb (maybe strawberry or pear or raspberries and vanilla).

I also went ahead and made the whiskey cream but I only had brandy. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I didn’t get a strong boozy taste from the whipped cream at all… barely even a hint. It could be a function of swapping alcohols. Regardless the cake was yummy with a dollop of whipped cream.

Now I just have to figure out when rhubarb season ends so that I can sneak another cake in…

Country Rhubarb Cake
For cake
1 lb fresh rhubarb stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups), or 3 cups frozen rhubarb, thawed after measuring
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup whole milk
2 large eggs (1 separated)

For whiskey cream
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon whiskey (preferably Irish)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 10-inch glass or ceramic pie plate or a 2 1/2-quart oval gratin dish and chill.

Toss rhubarb with brown sugar in a bowl until coated.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl until combined well. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk together milk, whole egg, and yolk. Make a well in center of flour mixture and add milk mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon to gradually incorporate flour and form a soft, sticky dough.

Transfer half of dough to chilled pie plate and pat out over bottom and halfway up side with well-floured hands, then spoon rhubarb and any juices onto dough. Using a tablespoon, spoon remaining dough in small mounds evenly over top. Lightly beat egg white with a few drops of water, then lightly brush cake with egg wash. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar over top.

Bake cake until top crust is golden and rhubarb is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 30 minutes.

Make whiskey cream:
Beat cream with confectioners sugar, whiskey, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature with whiskey cream.

Easter 2010

Tonya — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:52:34 +0000

Clearly I’m a bit behind on my posting. This is what I had for Easter dinner! For me Easter means ham. Growing up my mom would never buy a whole ham because she didn’t like ham and my sister (misguidedly) doesn’t eat pork. So one year when I was living by myself and had no plans to congregate with the fam for Easter I decided to buy myself a ham. Yes, I bought myself a 7 or 8 lb ham at Pathmark for my own consumption. It was magical and from then on I’ve had ham for Easter. Even my mom is on board with the idea of having ham.

I like to try different recipes for ham. This year I settled on this recipe for Thyme Honey Glazed Ham from Epicurious. I chose this recipe for practical reasons: 1.) we had a ton of thyme in the apartment from another recent dish and 2.) I’m forever looking for ways to use up the homemade honey that was gifted to use in Jamaica. The glaze was good. It wasn’t too strong which is key especially if you have weeks of ham leftovers. Next year I’m going to upgrade my ham purchasing. I usually just buy whatever ham is available at the regular supermarket in the weeks leading up to Easter. Next year I’ll seriously look into getting something a bit more “natural”.

For sides I decided to go the Julia Child route. My starch was Scalloped Potatoes and my veggie was Glazed Carrots, both courtesy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The potatoes were great. I mean potatoes cooked in cream and cheese are pretty delicious. The recipe was also really easy which is key. The carrots on the other hand were a lovely surprise. Okay maybe not that much of a surprise because what doesn’t taste better when braised in butter and sugar? Seriously. Definitely not an everyday side dish but a good one to have on file for sure.

There was also dessert but I’ll save that for another post…

Ropa Vieja

Tonya — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:02:32 +0000

Recently, I’ve been having a wicked craving for Cuban food. Problem is there’s barely any Cuban food in Toronto. I always here about a place called Julie’s Cuban but it gets mixed reviews and I never remember it when I’m picking restaurants. When I lived in New York there were a ton of Cuban restaurants to try. While they probably aren’t the best Cuban restaurants I’d often check out Cafe Habana, Havana Central, and Margon among others. Since living in Toronto I often find myself craving tostones, arroz con pollo, cuban sandwiches, rice and beans, maduros… you name it, I crave it.

I considered a trip to New York to squelch my craving but figured it would be more efficient to just make some Cuban food. I settled on Ropa Vieja because I figured a stew of beefy goodness would be a good choice. The recipe comes via Epicurious and has a a good rating.

Admittedly the recipe looks daunting. The list of ingredients is long and there are a few steps that take a lot of (inactive) time. I was up for the task. To make my life easier I did the first part of the recipe (braising the beef) the night before while putting around the house and finished of the dish the following evening. This did indeed make life so much easier. And truth be told none of the ingredients are that hard to find and there isn’t a ton of chopping involved.

The results were good. Next time I would add a bit more salt while braising the meat because the meat itself needed a bit more flavour to it. The stew itself was nicely flavoured and I loved the sauce. I wasn’t a fan of the rice. It was a bit too heavy on the cumin. I found myself craving the packaged yellow rice that I normally buy. If it ain’t broke…

For the record I made very few changes to this recipe. Instead of a yellow pepper I used another red pepper and I omitted the olives at the end. This isn’t necessarily going into my regular rotation but it’s a good recipe to have on deck for when I’m craving Cuban.

Ropa Vieja
For braising beef:
3 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olive, drained and halved

Accompaniment:

For yellow rice with toasted cumin:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cuminseed
1/4 teaspoon crumble saffron thread
2 cups unconverted long-grain rice
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt

To braise beef:
In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender. Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Strain braising liquid through a colander, pressing on solids, into a bowl. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Stew may be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.

In kettle cook green bell peppers and onion in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened.

While vegetables are cooking, pull meat into shreds about 3 by 1/2 inches. To onion mixture add shredded meat, 2 cups braising liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.

While stew is simmering, in a large skillet cook red and yellow bell peppers in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional braising liquid to thin to desired consistency and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and olives and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.

Serve ropa vieja with yellow rice.

To make the yellow rice:
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté cuminseed 10 seconds, or until it turns a few shades darker and is fragrant. Stir in saffron and rice and sauté, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, or until rice is coated well. Stir in water and salt and boil rice, uncovered and without stirring, until surface of rice is covered with steam holes and grains on top appear dry, 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Gourmet
January 1995
1998-09-17 15:09:30.0

Slow-Roasted Red-Wine-Lacquered Salmon Fillet

Tonya — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:28:53 +0000

Hello all! After week’s vacation in Jamaica I’m back to the cold and the blogosphere. Sadly no Jamaica related posts… it really wasn’t a take pictures of your food kind of vacation, although I did do some good eating. I ate a ton of fresh-caught, never frozen fish, locally grown yams, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, sugar cane and many other things. Eating “local” in Jamaica is so much more delicious than eating local in Toronto in February. Even the local “fast food” chains have better fast food grub than we have here. I’m not trying to move to Jamaica anytime soon but I could definitely get down with the food situation.

Anyways… as you know I always have salmon in the freezer. We buy the giant packs of salmon at Costco, portion it and freeze. It makes life easy because you can always quickly whip up something with a salmon fillet. As per usual I was trolling on Epicurious when I came across this recipe from Gourmet (RIP). What intrigued me here was the use of red wine and the idea of “lacquering” the fish.

This was one of those meals that seemed a bit cursed. For some reason I had it in my head that mirin was rice wine vinegar… it totally isn’t! Of course I go to make the recipe and realize this. I didn’t want to go to the LCBO to get some mirin so figured I’d use some rice wine vinegar mixed with water and sugar. Of course AFTER doing this I searched the internet for substitutions and everyone said to not use vinegar, oh well. The first time I tried to make the sauce it ended up burning. When I say burning I mean the bottom of the pan was covered in hard, black stuff. My apartment smelled AWFUL! Needless to say I ended up having something else for dinner that night.

The next night I tried again. This time using a sherry + sugar combination for the mirin. Luckily there was no burnt pots. The results were pretty good. It was definitely a different way to prepare salmon and was pretty easy. I love the way it looked when it was ready. It truly looked like it had been lacquered! I’ll definitely give this another time and may even spring and buy me some mirin to see how this should really taste. I served this with sweet potato gnocchi and broccoli, although I can see it being delicious with some potatoes.

Slow-Roasted Red-Wine-Lacquered Salmon Fillet
1 (4-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup soy sauce
2 cups dry red wine
1 1/3 cups mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (4 1/2-pound) salmon fillet (preferably wild king; about 1 1/2 inches at thickest point), small bones removed

Accompaniment: lime wedges

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 225°F.

Finely grate ginger on small holes of a box grater into a fine-mesh sieve, then set sieve over a bowl and press on ginger to extract 2 teaspoons juice. Bring soy sauce, wine, mirin, brown sugar, and ginger juice to a boil in a 3- to 3 1/2-quart heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to moderate and briskly simmer, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to about 1 cup, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, then quick-chill by setting bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Reserve 1/2 cup glaze in a small bowl for brushing after roasting.

Line a 17- by 12-inch heavy shallow baking pan with foil and coat foil with oil (1 tablespoon).

Arrange salmon, skin side down, diagonally in pan, then spoon about 2 tablespoons glaze over salmon, spreading it evenly with back of spoon. Let stand 5 minutes, then spoon and spread another 2 tablespoons glaze over salmon.

Roast 15 minutes. Remove from oven and glaze again (use a clean spoon each time), then roast 10 minutes more. Repeat glazing and continue to roast until fish is just cooked through (opaque), 10 to 20 minutes more (35 to 45 minutes total, depending on thickness of fish; check frequently after 35 minutes). Transfer with 2 wide metal spatulas to a platter, then coat with a final layer of reserved glaze (about 2 tablespoons) using a clean spoon. Serve remaining glaze on the side if desired.

Cooks’ note:
Glaze can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.

Gourmet
June 2007

Salmon with Lentils and Mustard-Herb Butter

Tonya — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:02:19 +0000

Salmon is such a staple in my house and I’m forever looking for ways to jazz it up. Every once in a while I’ll log onto Epicurious and do a search for salmon and see what strikes my fancy. I came across this recipe for salmon with lentils and was totally intrigued. I love salmon with lentils generally but really loved the idea of adding leeks and a mustard butter.

This recipe was really simple to literally throw together. Okay, maybe that was an overstatement since there are quite a few steps involved but they weren’t hard and a lot can be done simultaneously, which is totally a bonus.

This is also a great recipe if you’re tired of the usual rice, potato or noodle side dishes. Plus it just feels healthy… despite the abundance of butter.

Salmon with Lentils and Mustard-Herb Butter (Saumon aux Lentilles)
For mustard-herb butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

For lentils
1 cup French green lentils
4 cups water
2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For salmon
4 (6-ounce) pieces skinless salmon fillet
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Make mustard-herb butter:
Stir together all ingredients with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Cook lentils:
Bring lentils, water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid, then drain lentils.

While lentils cook, chop leeks, then wash. Cook leeks in butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add lentils with reserved cooking liquid to leeks along with 3 tablespoons mustard-herb butter and cook, stirring, until lentils are heated through and butter is melted. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and keep warm, covered.

Sauté salmon while leeks cook:
Pat salmon dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (total).

Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté salmon, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes total.

Serve salmon, topped with remaining mustard-herb butter, over lentils.

(From Gourmet – March 2008)

Ding Dong Eight-Alarm Chili

Tonya — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:28:02 +0000

Don’t you love the name of this chili? I think that’s what drew me to it. I was craving chili the other day and normally I would make my normal chili (blogged about here). I don’t have a strict recipe, I kind of just use my judgment and throw things into the pot. It works out well enough but I wanted to try something more “authentic” or traditional. As usual my search turned to Epicurious where I found this recipe from Gourmet (RIP) circa 2003.

I knew right away that there would be some work involved. Well I guess the recipe clearly states that there’s 1 3/4 hours of active time and 6 hours total time required. But i was up for task. It wasn’t so much the heat aspect of the chili that I found interesting as the use of cubed stewing beef instead of ground beef, the use of multiple pepper varieties and the lack of veggies. I also like recipes that require me to head to Kensington Market to source ingredients (Toronto doesn’t make it easy to find a variety of peppers just anywhere).

I made the mistake of starting this chili at around 9PM on a Sunday night. I figured I’d cook it while watching Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters and then go to bed at a decent time. Of course I miscalculated and I ended up having to stay awake until 1AM tended the chili… NOT FUN. If I had started this at 9AM it would have been a lot more pleasant.

The final product was meatier than I would have liked. I even added extra beans but it was just too meaty for me. Delicious, yes, but meaty. I’d consider making this again with less meat and more beans. OR maybe I’d taking the idea of making a sauce with the peppers et. al and incorporate it into my usual chili mix. We’ll see…

Ding Dong Eight-Alarm Chili

2 oz dried ancho chiles (4 large), stemmed and seeded
6 large garlic cloves, 3 of them finely chopped
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder (not pure chile)
4 lb well-marbled beef brisket or boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (28- to 32-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 lb white onions, chopped (4 cups)
1 tablespoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican), crumbled
1 to 4 fresh serrano or other small green chiles, finely chopped, including seeds (1 is fine for most tastes; 4 is the eight-alarm version)
1 (12-oz) bottle beer (not dark)
2 cups water
2 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans (optional; 30 oz), rinsed if canned

Accompaniments: cubed avocado; chopped white onion; shredded Cheddar; chopped fresh cilantro; sour cream

Soak ancho chiles in hot water to cover until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain well.

While chiles soak, mince 1 whole garlic clove and mash to a paste with 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon cumin, and 1/2 tablespoon chili powder. Pat beef dry and toss with spice mixture in a large bowl until coated.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide 6- to 7-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef in 3 or 4 batches, without crowding, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch (lower heat as needed; spice mixture burns easily). Transfer beef as browned to another bowl. (Do not clean pot.)

Purée anchos in a blender along with tomatoes (including juice), chipotles in adobo, cilantro, remaining 2 whole garlic cloves, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon salt until smooth.

Add enough oil to fat in pot to total 3 tablespoons, then cook onions and chopped garlic over moderate heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits from beef, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add oregano, remaining tablespoon cumin, and remaining tablespoon chili powder and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add chile purée and 1 chopped serrano and simmer, stirring, 5 minutes. Stir in beer, water, and beef along with any juices accumulated in bowl and gently simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally and checking often to make sure chili is not scorching, 2 hours.

Taste sauce, then add more serrano if desired and continue to simmer, partially covered, until beef is very tender and sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 hours more. (If chili becomes very thick before meat is tender, thin with water as needed.)

Coarsely shred meat (still in pot) with 2 forks and cool chili completely, uncovered, then chill, covered, 1 to 2 days to allow flavors to develop.

Reheat over low heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 30 minutes. Add beans (if using) and simmer, stirring, 5 minutes.

Gourmet
September 2003

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie with Whiskey Butter Sauce

Tonya — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:36:47 +0000

I don’t think you guys are ready for this one. I didn’t realize I wasn’t ready until I tasted it. I had a frozen pie crust in my freezer that had been taking up space for weeks. I finally decided to get my act together and figure out what to fill the pie crust with. I also had a jar of Lyle’s Golden Syrup that I bought about a year ago with the intention of making pecan pie. It never happened. So I logged onto Epicurious to find a pecan pie recipe when I stumbled upon this recipe and I knew I had found my calling.

The recipe combines the best of both worlds when it comes to harvest time pies. It has pumpkin pie on the bottom and pecan pie on the top! Literally a dream come true. And if that wasn’t enough there’s a whiskey butter sauce to go with it. Yes, a sauce with butter and alcohol AND cream. Seriously, heaven.

The photo above doesn’t show the sauce. It was late in the evening by the time the pie was ready and I wanted to consume it immediately. I made the sauce the next night and it was like a whole other dessert. The sauce isn’t necessary but definitely puts the pie over the edge.

For the record, I didn’t make my own pie crust as noted above. I’m just not in a place in my life where I want to make pie crusts. That place could be 2010 though. I followed the recipes nearly to the letter with the exception of subbing the Lyle’s Golden Syrup in for the dark corn syrup in the pecan pie portion of the pie. I didn’t use a deep dish pie crust so I had some leftover pecan filling. The sauce was a bit on the runny side but I’m sure one could troubleshoot and make that better.

This might be a great pie solution for any upcoming Thanksgiving or holiday feasts. I’m seriously in love with this pie.

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie with Whiskey Butter Sauce

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Pumpkin Filling
1 cup cooked pumpkin purée
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, beaten until frothy
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pecan Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 small eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
3/4 cup pecan pieces

Whiskey Butter Sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon very hot water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon whiskey

Pie Crust
Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and incorporate with your fingertips until the mixture resembles very coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture in tablespoon increments, stirring continuously with a fork. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Pumpkin Filling
Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Pecan Syrup
Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Assembly
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch springform cake pan.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to 3/16 inch. Very lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it into quarters. Carefully place the dough in the greased cake pan. Press firmly in place and trim the edges. Chill for 15 minutes.

Spoon the Pumpkin Filling into the pan, spreading evenly to distribute. Gently pour the Pecan Syrup on top. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool and serve with Whiskey Butter Sauce.

Whiskey Butter Sauce
Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler set over gently simmering water.

Beat the sugar and egg in a small bowl until blended. Stir the egg mixture into the butter. Add the hot water and stir until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes. Remove from the double boiler and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the cream and whiskey.

New Tastes from Texas
April 1993
by Stephan Pyles

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

Tonya — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:22:46 +0000

Me and this recipe go waaaay back. I found it in Bon Appetit back in 2005 and have loved it ever since. Prior to seeing this in Bon App I had never even thought about the idea of Sweet Potato Gnocchi but when I read the recipe it sounded oh so right.

Now you’re probably thinking that this a pretty intense project. It’s not that crazy, trust me. I even made this over the course of two weeknights. If you divide the work over two days this is a fairly quick weeknight dinner. The first night I made the dough and the second night I formed the individual gnocchi. The gnocchi forming is the most tedious part but it’s really not that bad. I think it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get the job done. Totally worth it. PLUS I have a ton of gnocchi leftover which promptly got put into the freezer.

The gnocchi are served in a simple brown butter and sage sauce. The sweetness of the gnocchi combines perfectly with spicy sage and toasted butter. I’m thinking there might be an opportunity to do something with hazelnuts and bacon with this recipe. I can kind of taste it already.

I served this with some steamed broccoli for a light dinner but in the past have served it alongside a protein.

Add this to your to-do list.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

Ingredients

2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork

1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish

Directions

Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into medium bowl and mash; transfer 3 cups to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until butter solids are brown and have toasty aroma, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add chopped sage (mixture will bubble up). Turn off heat. Season sage butter generously with salt and pepper.

Transfer half of sage butter to large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add half of gnocchi. Sauté until gnocchi are heated through, about 6 minutes. Empty skillet onto rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining sage butter and gnocchi.

Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls. Garnish with sage leaves.

(Bon Appétit | December 2005)

Folly Island Shrimp and Grits

Tonya — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:56:16 +0000

I love me some shrimp and grits. If you type in “grits” into the search field on this plug about 4 different recipes for shrimp and grits. There’s just something about shrimp on top of creamy grits. While I love the recipes that I normally use I’m constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try.

I found this recipe via Epicurious (as usual). What drew me to it was the addition of cream cheese to the grits and cooking the grits in chicken broth. It immediately sounded like a great recipe for creamy and flavourful grits. Perfecto! I was a bit nervous about the shrimp portion of the recipe since you literally just sautee the shrimp and the toss with lime juice. I couldn’t handle the simplicity and added salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

In the end the concoction was delicious! These might be my fave creamy grits yet. The chicken broth really makes this dish delish. AND the green onions didn’t taste that onion-y despite not being cooked.

I served these with oven-roasted plum tomatoes… my fave side dish of the moment.
Folly Island Shrimp and Grits
2 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup quick-cooking white grits
3 tablespoons cream cheese
2 tablespoons half and half
1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Combine chicken broth and 1 tablespoon butter in heavy medium saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in grits. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix cream cheese and half and half into grits. Cover and simmer mixture until almost all liquid has evaporated and grits are tender, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Stir in green onions. Remove mixture from heat.

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and sauté just until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Remove skillet from heat. Spoon grits onto center of plate. Top with shrimp and drizzle with lime butter from skillet.

Bon Appétit
October 1994
by Paula Keener-Chavis: Folly Beach, South Carolina