use real butter

I know a lot of people are traveling today. I hope everyone got to or gets to their destination safely and without incident. We are staying put - the way we like it. Keeps things low key and stress free. I went to the dentist this morning to get fitted for a crown and realized that after an hour, I could feel my gums again. So I think that may be why I suffered such immense pain yesterday because my dentist was jamming the posts down my root canals about 2 hours after she numbed my mouth. *Great* I love it when that happens! Today was a walk in the park by comparison.

While most folks are preparing their turkeys, we have been contemplating the leftovers (there are a lot) as well as eating them. Those potatoes au gratin really do get better with time.

turkey reuben, anyone?

The salad I made was a very simple toss of mixed salad greens, orange slices (supremed), and pomegranate seeds. The dressing was inspired by my beautiful aunt, Elena, who is a KICKASS cook. When we were visiting just a few weeks ago, she gave me a bottle of lemon grapeseed oil before we left (she is also the one who provided me with truffle butter - I just love the woman).

so fragrant and delightful

Elena suggested making a simple vinaigrette with orange juice and the oil and a few other ingredients. I just stuck with the oil and juice: 1/2 cup fresh orange juice and 1/4 cup oil - I like my dressings on the watery side. A sprinkle of fresh ground pepper and it was good to go. A very nice and light contrast to heavier traditional Thanksgiving fare.

unplanned: butternut squash

So while I was gathering groceries for our dinner, I walked past the heap of butternut squashes and a moment later I had one cradled in my basket. I quite love butternut squash, but never seem to cook much with it. My last attempt at a butternut squash soup left me feeling “meh”. I wasn’t a fan of the sweetness from the apples.

roasted

puréed

This time around I decided to omit the apples and keep it simple: butternut squash, onions, bacon, chicken broth. Easy peasy. In this case, I quite prefer to let the butternut squash be the star of the recipe, not to mention it has been great to slurp down while I let my tooth recover.

sautéed onions

precious bacon

There are days when you go chunky and days when you go for smooth - this version was as smooth as my Cuisinart could get it. I puréed the roasted squash and onions with a little chicken broth until the big visible lumps were gone. A lot of recipes say to crumble the bacon, but I wound up chopping the hell out of it. Tasty.

stir in the bacon last

While I love the idea and the taste of adding cream to soups, I generally try to avoid it with butternut squash. I think the squash has such a nice texture and flavor that the addition of cream isn’t necessary (although it is admittedly delicious). Not to mention there was enough cream in the potatoes to last us a month… I found this version of roasted butternut squash soup to be far more satisfying than the last one without sending me over the edge toward food coma land.

plenty creamy on its own

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Simplified

4 lbs. butternut squash, quartered and seeded
2 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 slices bacon, fried crisp
1 quart chicken broth
salt to taste

Roast the squash on an oiled baking sheet in a 400°F oven for 45 minutes to an hour until soft. Remove from oven and scoop the flesh from the skin. Discard skin. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan (or if you want to be naughty, use some of the bacon grease) and fry the onions until translucent and soft. Place the squash and onions in a food processor and process until smooth, adding chicken broth as needed to keep it fluid. Pour the contents into a medium saucepan and add enough chicken broth to achieve the desired consistency. Heat over medium heat until steaming. Crumble or mince the bacon and stir into the soup. Add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Manisha had asked what I do with leftover turkey. I personally prefer the leftover turkey to the centerpiece turkey. This afternoon I had a turkey reuben sandwich (it’s just a reuben with turkey instead of corned beef) and Jeremy had an open-face hot turkey sandwich bathed in gravy. I’m debating what to do with the carcass - green chile stew?

I’m glad I got all of the cooking out of the way because today I went to have my root canal finished up at the dentist’s and OMFG!!!!! It hurt like a beyotch. I’m talking about the worst pain I have experienced in my life (and I have a fairly high threshold for pain). I’ve had a root canal before and I didn’t feel a thing, but today… They warned that if it hurt during the root canal, I would experience a lot of pain afterward when the numbing wore off. But my tooth doesn’t hurt at all now. They suggested chewing on soft foods.

freshly ground spices and brown sugar

A favorite soft food of mine is pumpkin pie. As I said in the previous post, I couldn’t care less about the crust when it comes to pumpkin pie (as opposed to pecan pie which desperately needs something to offset all of that sweetness). When I cook a big meal, I am very ambitious at the start. Something usually hits the cutting room floor by mid-day because I’m either too harried or too tired to get to all of it. This time, I tried to save future-me the trouble of nixing anything by keeping dessert very simple: crustless pumpkin pie. And I used canned pumpkin to further reduce my cussing frequency.

mixing cream into the pumpkin and eggs

Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe is always a standard and yet it leaves me wanting for something with a little more punch to it. I like the spices and settled on the Sugar and Spice Pumpkin Pie recipe featured on the cover of this year’s Thanksgiving Fine Cooking issue (Oct/Nov 2008). Not making the crust did save me some time, which I then frittered away by hand-grating all of the damn spices.

combining the spiced sugar with the pumpkin mixture

No matter the mess it made, the wonderful aroma was worth it as I mixed the ingredients together. This recipe calls for heavy cream, which is totally bonus in my book. I wonder if I should have named this here blog Use Real Cream instead? So if you actually grate fresh spices properly and don’t have to photograph the process, then I think slapping this recipe together takes less than 5 minutes.

divvied up in ramekins

I baked the pumpkin filling in ramekins because my intention was to serve them in the ramekins with a dollop of whipped cream. I wasn’t sure how well it would hold its shape if I baked it in a pie plate. When I pulled them out of the oven, I realized I had forgotten about something:

shrinkage

But that was okay. After letting them cool, I made sure to loosen the sides and place plastic wrap over the top. Then I turned the ramekin upside down and thwacked it down on a thick towel on the counter. After unwrapping the plastic from the ramekin, I inverted the pumpkin thingy onto a serving plate. Not too shabby and it held its shape relatively well. For garnish, I added a blob of whipped cream and sprinkled chopped crystallized ginger on top. Jeremy and I quite like this new version of pumpkin pie.

most excellent

Crustless Pumpkin Pie
adapted from Fine Cooking October/November 2008

15 oz. pure pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp brandy
3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of freshly ground cloves

cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsps packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger (freshly grated is good)
1 tsp brandy

Heat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, cream, and brandy. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, slat, nutmeg, pepper, and cloves. Whisk the sugar mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Divide the filling among 6 ramekins (3-inch diameter is what I used). Bake until center is slightly jiggly and wet, about 1 hour (I baked for 70 minutes, but I’m at high elevation). Let the pie(s) cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Whip the cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks (2 minutes). Add the sugar, ginger, and brandy and continue to whip until medium-firm peaks, about 30 seconds more. Serve with pumpkin pie.

Makes 6 3-inch ramekins.

This was supposed to be my week of relaxation. By relaxation, I mean getting shit done on my todo novel (it is no longer a list). But Mr. Tooth isn’t having any of that and we went in for a root canal today. It’s not all Tooth’s fault because I hadn’t seen Leyla in months and then there are things going on tomorrow and tentative things going on Friday with tons of medical appointments sprinkled in between for good measure and then I land face first on the weekend wondering where the hell my week went?

my week went straight into a roiling mass of hell

I used to have a fear of making caramelized sugar. Then I mastered it - at sea level. Then I moved to nose-bleed Colorado and bricked about 4 batches of caramelized sugar before I learned that a little acid (cream of tartar or lemon juice) helps to reduce the cussing stabilize the sugar. Caramelized sugar is great for many things, but my favorite way to have it is in flan.

pour dangerous caramelized sugar and coat the ramekin

The flan recipe I have was snarfed from a professor in graduate school. It’s easy. It’s straightforward. When I began baking seriously, I realized it is a cheater recipe of sorts. But I still like it.

extract instead of bean

Typically, I make one giant flan. These days, the beauty of the single serving means easier storage in the refrigerator and easier distribution to friends and neighbors.

straining the mixture

My roasting pan serves double duty and does a great job as hot water bath for all manner of desserts. Did I mention that I picked up an organic turkey?

ready for the hot water bath (turkey not pictured)

When the flans are done, I let them cool for a few hours and then place them in the refrigerator for several more hours.

chillin’

The release is always the maddening part for me as it sometimes comes out less than perfect. Jeremy asked why I don’t just serve it in the ramekin and I told him that was stupid. I unmolded three of the flans before I got a good one to shoot.

lovely, creamy, dreamy

Cheater Flan

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 tsps vanilla
3 cups milk
3 eggs

Dissolve the sugar and cream of tartar in the water, stirring over low heat in a saucepan. Increase the heat to medium high. DO NOT STIR. Allow the mixture to boil until caramel color begins to appear - usually 5 minutes or so. When sugar is a deep caramel color, remove from heat and pour into a 9″ round baking pan or quickly pour into 6 small ramekins and carefully swirl the caramel around to coat the sides. Set the pan(s) aside. Meanwhile whisk eggs in a large bowl. Then mix in vanilla and sweetened condensed milk. Stir in the milk. Strain custard into the pan or ramekins. Set the pan or ramekins in a water bath up to 1/2 or 3/4 of their height in an oven at 400 degrees F. Bake the 9-inch for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Bake the ramekins for about 35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool the flan until room temperature (a couple of hours) and then refrigerate for 12 hours. Loosen the sides of the flan with a knife. Invert the pan or ramekin onto a plate and let the flan release.