I am sitting in the living room of one of my closest friends in Philadelphia, Anj’s godmother Kristin.  I grew up in Philadelphia and have been very close with Kristin since I was 16.  That is over 40 years.  She is dying of lung cancer and I don’t know if this is the last time I will be with her.   

For the last year I have been making the purest and simplest food for her – organic chicken broth or very simple organic lentils with greens. Even though I can’t be there to cook for her every night, she can combine these simple foods to make soups and stews – giving her comfort, inspiration and the nutrition she needs to keep her strength. I freeze them and bring them to her about once a month.  Now most of what she is eats comes out of an intravenous tube. (What she takes by mouth she usually throws up.)

So here I am, sitting next to her, and writing this post while she dozes on my shoulder – a surreal experience. But work is an anchor that grounds the soul – so here we go.

This fall in Connecticut has been spectacular.  I never remember one more beautiful.  For weeks the maples have been aflame: red, yellows, oranges.  Storms come and go, trees swaying violently in the winds, rains turning everything dark.  And then the rains stop and I look up, expecting to see the skeletons of the trees nude without their brilliant fall display. But no, the show goes on.  What a privilege to live in New England at this time of year.

I love the seasons. Even winter, when I can sit around the fire and study my seed catalogs and dream about the spring.  Anj and my favorite festivity is Halloween.  We carve pumpkins and make scary dummies and tell ghost stories.   One year Anj went to a Halloween party in NY dressed as a dead prom queen.  She sent us a photo.  It was spooky, a little too real, freaked us out. We did not like to see her looking dead.  But we do get into it.  Look at Harry and Henrietta; you will see what I mean.

Every year in October I make a pilgrimage to a local farm of ours Tulmeadow. Not just for apples and pears but to buy big pumpkins, field pumpkins, sugar pumpkins and mums and gourds.  Field pumpkins, in my opinion, are for carving and sugar pumpkins are for eating.  I cut them in half, clean out the seeds and soak them to clean them and roast later. Then I roast the pumpkins until they are tender.  When they are falling apart I scrape out all the flesh – with its aroma of earth and cloves – puree it and freeze it to use in my pies, breads and other desserts during the holidays.

Today was the day. I am very happy I did it because the rest of the fall is filling up fast, including a trip to India.   Anjuli and Matt and Austin will be here for Thanksgiving and I have heard a rumor we may cook our turkey in a pit in the ground.  Whatever we do, my pumpkin puree will be there waiting for me for comfort and inspiration.

Roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) Makes 1 1/2 cups seeds from 2 6″ pumpkins
I always think I am going to roast the seeds of the sugar pumpkins, but most times they end up in the compost.  This year I did it.  It is something of a pain – I have to warn you – but they are worth it. They are very yummy.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pumpkins seeds, pre-soaked in salt solution and dried (see above
1 tablespoon ghee or butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Clean the and soak the seeds. Wash the pumpkins, cut them in half and remove the seeds and all those gooey fibers from inside the pumpkin. Transfer the seeds and fiber to a bowl of water and let soak a few minutes.  Remove the seeds, clean them of fiber and transfer them to a colander.  Run water over them and remove fiber until their clean. Clean the bowl and place them back in along with 1 cup hot water and 1 teaspoon salt. Soak for 30 minutes.  

Dry on paper or kitchen towels until there is no excess water. It’s Ok if they are damp.

Tip: So clean the pumpkin, first use your hands. It is messy and slimy but the most effective tool.  Then switch to a metal spoon to scrape the inside of the pumpkin smooth.

Season the seeds. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Put the dried pumpkins seeds on a cookie sheet.  Heat a small frying pan to medium low.  Melt the ghee.  Add the cinnamon, ginger, chili powder and salt and cook for 30 seconds.  Pour on the seeds and mix everything to combine.  Spread the seeds out in a single layer.

Roast and store the seeds.
Roast the seeds for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until toasty brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight bottle.

Pumpkin puree  Makes 4 cups of puree

Ingredients
2 6″ diameter sugar pumpkins, cut in half and cleaned of seeds and fibers
8 teaspoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Season and roast the pumpkins. Preheat the oven to 375F.  Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon of cloves in each pumpkin half.  Paint each half with 2 teaspoons of ghee.  Place the halves in a large roasting pan.  Put a small ovenproof bowl or ramekin full of hot water in the roasting pan with the pumpkins.  This water will keep the pumpkins from drying out as you roast them.  Roast for 75 to 90 minutes until really tender.

Puree and freeze. Remove pulp, while it is still warm, and place in the bowl of a food processor.  Puree until smooth.  It may take about a minute.  Freeze in proper containers. This puree is a million times better than the stuff that comes in a can.

Tip: I find one cup containers give me the most flexibility.  If I am using it for bread or cookies I probably need 1 cup.  If I am using it pie it varies.  This way I don’t waste it by defrosting more than I need. I always write the quantity, date, and description of the contents (pumpkin puree with cloves) on the lid of the container.

I enjoy a good chewy sugar sweet, especially tiny squares of creamy caramel. I love sucking on them until you have just a tiny little drop on the tip of your tongue. Of course anything sweet paired with salt is a wet dream for your taste buds. I also love the more complex caramel flavor of dulce de leche. It’s the most beautiful reddish brown and has a velvety texture that hold its own but doesn’t feel like a thick, sticky caramel sauce. Oh, did I mention, I just adore dairy and sugar combined? Well, if my professed love of caramels and milk wasn’t cloyingly sweet enough for you, please, read on.

Sweets, well, I like them in small delicious doses. I prefer them chewy and melty when you can close your eyes as the layers of sweetness and butteriness unfold on your tongue. So naturally I thought to myself, why can’t dulce de leche come in a caramel? Since I’ve never made caramels before my self did not respond. Nevertheless, mom and I decided to investigate over Thanksgiving with a lot of whole milk, vanilla beans, raw sugar, cream, butter, some brown rice syrup, a candy thermometer, and a good sea salt. Christmas is definitely the time for sugar experimentation. Holy Christmas candy handouts Batman.

Caramels are funny little things – in basic form just sugar and some water heated slowly until the mixture caramelizes and then immediately cooled. Sugar daddies on a stick come to mind. When sucrose or fructose is heated over a prolonged period the sugar starts to break down. The destruction triggers many chemical reactions that form new compounds and result in new flavors and aromas. The water in caramels is eventually cooked off, but in the beginning allows the sugar to cook more slowly without burning, long enough to develop the flavors we so covet. Add in some milk and the proteins and sugars involved produce an even wider range of flavors. So naturally a milk-based caramel of different sugars combined with a good salt is a complex and prolonged party in your mouth.

We used the goldilocks approach to test this recipe:

First attempt. We cooked milk, sugar, and vanilla beans very slowly on low heat until it was a super thick leche, about 3 hours. We then attempted to raise its temperature to 250F without stirring (you never stir candy, right?), but the result burned too quickly and we were forced to remove it from the heat at only 220F, stir in some butter, and get it into our 8×8 pan quick. After letting the mixture cool we realized the texture would never get passed a thick, sticky fudge. So we cut it into squares, dipped in with spoons, delighted in its flavor, and called it a night. Our findings: When making caramel, the added water helps to keep the sugars from burning. Our dulce de leche, having cooked for so long, was too delicate and dry to get to the temperature we needed. Adding in the butter at the end caused it to ooze out the sides and did not enhance the flavor or texture. And… we probably rushed, heh. But it smelled so good!

Making more leche. A few days later mom had the ingenious idea to try simply making dulce de leche and making caramels and then combining the two. This would give us the flavor + the texture we wanted. Mom had a more traditional (and quicker, as in half the time) dulce de leche recipe from Uruguay that called for increasing the heat and also adding leavening in the form of baking soda. The resulting leche was exactly like the incredibly velvety smooth sweet leche we remembered from our trip to Lapataia in Punta del Este. Our findings: The recipes that call for no leavening and lower heats produce a slightly grittier, thicker, but delightfully complex dulce de leche that cooks with minimal attendance in 3 hours. The recipes that call for leavening and higher heat cook in half the time but requires much more stirring. If you can put in the work, the leavening leche is worth the effort.

Second and third attempts. The second and third times around we tried a more successful technique that involved heating cream, butter, and salt in one pan and sugar, water, and syrup in another pan. Once the sugar water had begun to turn golden, we poured in the milk and heated the mixture slowly to 250 F, stirring frequently. The results were much more dependable. But how to add in the dulce de leche? In one recipe we substituted it for butter, and in the other for syrup.

Our findings: Adding the cream into the sugar works much better. As for the leche, you can substitute 4-8 tablespoons dule de leche for sugar in the recipe but add it at the end and mix before placing the caramels in the pan. Brown rice syrup is an excellent substitute for corn syrup. It’s already caramelly and thicker in texture and more healthy because 50% comes from complex carbohydrates. The resulting caramel will be a delight to savor throughout the holidays, or any other time of year for that matter.

Our real find, though, was that when we shared these caramels we found that each version had its own fans. Each one was delicious, rich, and complex, and each one a tiny reprise when melted on the tip of your tongue. Yet when we originally went to do research for caramels we found all the recipes the same. Same proportions, same shitty ingredients, same lack of panache. Caramelizing sugars, be it vegetables, caramels, or dairy needs much attention in the American kitchen. If we all love sugar so much, why not try for a more complex way to enjoy sweets?

Dulce de Leche de Uruguay Makes 2 3/4 cups

2 cups raw sugar
1/2 gallon Organic whole milk
2 fresh vanilla beans, their insides scraped (reserve pods)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Simmer ingredients over medium heat. Put the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Turn onto medium and slowly bring to a boil, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Once the milk comes a boil, about 20 minutes, turn down to medium-low and simmer until the thickness of bechamel just about 90 minutes. Stir often, every five minutes or so in the beginning and toward the end continuously, scraping the spoon along the bottom so the milk doesn’t stick.

Note: If the milk starts to foam, don’t be alarmed. Just stir until it reduces in size, about 1 minute. You want to be sure you do not burn the milk, which you will be able to tell by a browning on the side of the pan and also a burnt smell. A lower flame has much less chance of burning, so make sure your milk is simmering, with slow bubbles, not boiling.

After half an hour. After about half an hour, the milk will be the color of masala chai and have almost a cheesy aroma. It will have reduced its size by more than half. A foam will form on the surface of the milk when you stop stirring. Less an hour into cooking the color will start to darken, a thick coating will form on the sides of the pan, and the aroma will be more caramely, closer to dulce de leche. You can scrape the pan of the coating with your spoon and throw it away, but don’t mix it back into the dulce de leche.

After an hour. When you stir you will notice clots floating in the mixture, and when you leave the milk standing it will form a thicker skin. The texture will be incredibly velvety. At this point you need to stir more often, slowly dragging the spoon through the mixture.

After 75 minutes. The mixture will thicken further to about 2/5 its original size (its final yield is about 2 3/4 cups). You need to keep stirring now. You will know when its done when it has the consistency of a thick bechamel. As you drag your spoon along the bottom, the mixture will pull away from the pot for a moment and you will hear a hissing as it starts to stick. There’s very little water left now. The smell and color will remind you of the most heavenly caramel.

Remove from heat. Remove from the heat immediately and pour into a bowl. Only remove the velvety caramel. Don’t scrap around the sides of the pan where crust will have formed because it will change overall consistency. Eat whatever is left with your fingers straight from the pot! Your significant other will thank you for giving them the opportunity to lick the dishes clean.

Cool and store. Allow to cool completely before covering. To ensure a smooth consistency, stir the mixture every so often. When you first remove it from the pot the dulce de leche will be thinner on the spoon. As it cools it will become thicker, leaving its shape as you move it and sticking to the spoon. Once completely cool, it will have the consistency of warm chocolate pudding. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.

It’s that time of year again for lugging out the decorations. Thankfully in this house anyways, most of these decorations are homemade and many of them edible. Last year we made homemade gingerbread stained glass cookies. This year we finally decided holiday or no holiday we did not want to be chomping through some perfectly delicious gingerbread and encounter an insidious “lemon” or “orange” flavor at its center. We are also not about sugar that causes you to first bounce around the walls and then five minutes later fall on your face. So we opted for some homemade candy to accompany our hearts, stars, and spaceship, errrr, penis ornaments that hang on the tree.

We used brown rice syrup in place of the corn syrup, which surprisingly improved both color and flavor – making the candy slightly more caramel-y and also enhancing the “Rouge Noël.” What’s more, when you’re making stained glass you get to pick up a whole red pool of hardened candy and smash it onto another hard surface until it shatters like an old mirror.

Then you pick up the delicious shards, put them inside two thick ziplocs, and smash them with a hammer until you have dust.

It’s a delightful process evocative of the season itself – lots of “Christmas red” and bouts of (ahem) frustration followed by moments of jubilation. From there you mold little hearts and stars and whatever other shapes you desire out of gingerbread, bake them halfway, recut them, bake them a moment more, then pour some candy in and bake a few minutes more until the candy melts but before it gets all blood boil-y.

The resulting cookie is delicious of course, and wonderfully glowing red in the center. They’re divine.

For instructions on how to make and bake the cookies, go to last year’s gingerbread stained glass post.

Peppermint candy
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red coloring (we used Wilton’s Christmas Red, which was much more saturated than store the bought ones we’ve used in the past)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (or flavor of your choosing)

Get ready. Make sure you are all setup with your food coloring and extract. Grease a cookie sheet with butter or ghee. Get a rubber spatula and wire rack ready. Set aside.

Cook candy. Put the ingredients (except the extract and coloring) in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Place a candy thermometer so it’s touching the bottom and close to the center of the pan (you can place it at a tilt). Turn on to medium and allow sugar to melt stirring periodically with a metal spoon, until it comes to a boil. Once there, allow it to boil without stirring until the candy thermometer reads 320 degrees (right below hard crack). It’s very important not to stir. This will take about 15-20 minutes. The candy will start to smoke slightly, but don’t be alarmed.

Tip: Many recipes say to put leave it on high and allow it to come to 340 degrees, but we find this unnecessary and more stressful.

Color, flavor, and cool. Once it comes to 320, remove from heat and quickly stir in the coloring and extract. Quickly spread out on the greased cookie sheet as thinly as you can. Place the cookie sheet on the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Smash candy After it’s cool, pick up and and sort of smash against a hard surface to shatter the candy on the cookie sheet. Repeat as desirable. Take a good cup of the shards and double bag in ziploc. Smash with a hammer on a firm surface that won’t get dented until it’s mostly dust and small pieces.

Go make some gingerbread cookies!

Generally on Thanksgiving the cranberry sauce is the odd man out. Either it’s guiltily shimmied out of a tin can and onto a small plate, homemade and then somewhat forgotten in the rush to get a first piece of pie, or just plain admired for its good looks against the turkey’s pale flesh. This year we decided to try something different. I had found this fabulous recipe for Cranberry-Date Chutney from One Hot Stove. I felt it needed a little smokiness and some citrus so we added a chipotle and some orange zest. The result was spectacular and unexpected. Not only was it a prize at the table, we’ve been using the leftovers ever since. It kept really well considering there’s no dairy or other highly perishable ingredients.

We put it into three beautiful pies to give some sweet and smokey umph to berries and apples. It was my first try at a butter crust! She was an incredible, flaky crust, but what a fussy little b*tch. Any overworking and she turned tough and hard. Thankfully, though we coaxed her into flaky submission.

We also swirled the chutney with yogurt and mixed it with wheat berries, nuts, and dried fruit for a smokey alternate to Heidi’s Wheat Berry Breakfast Bowl.

The special sauce that perks up the oldies at a holiday party is everyone’s favorite.

Beware of Bear

In other news a black bear has been roaming around near our back door. There was a 75 pound pumpkin not two feet from our door that the bear helpfully rolled down the front steps and ceremoniously plopped 10 feet away before abandoning the project altogether. We spent a few days all asking each other who had moved the pumpkin. When our horticulturist extraordinaire, Tom, rolled it over he discovered the above claw marks. Upon further investigation he found a huge bear print heading off of our front walk. Previous bear sightings included my dad encountering the bear in the driveway and Matt spotting it out by our wood shed some 100 feet from the door. We are accumulating a number of local black bear stories. The males, who can reach 600 pounds and 6 feet in height, have been spotted in the yards and dumpsters of many surrounding neighbors.

An electrician, Jeremy, who came to install lights near mom’s pizza oven admits to (probably drunkenly) feeding a bear marshmallows from the safety (ahem) of his deck through the (presumably skimpy) wooden railing. He considered the bear, “a dumb, lumbering animal” while it first seemed disinterested with the marshmallow and shuffled forwards and backwards, and then finally chomped down on one. Before he knew it, however, the bear spotted his cat and lept over Jeremy’s head to grab the small feline, which thankfully flew indoors like cats do. The moral of Jeremy’s story, as he so eloquently and wisely put it while he stood stunned on his porch and nearly escaped death: bears are not dumb. Our moral: humans are dumb. Stay tuned for more stories…

Chipotle Cranberry Date Chutney
3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and any bad ones discarded
3 cups dates, seeded and chopped
3 cups water
Sea salt
Zest of 1/2 orange
1 chipotle, stem removed and wiped down with a wet paper towel

Bring all the ingredients, except the chipotle, to a boil on medium in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Once it comes to a boil, add the chipotle and turn down to simmer. Cover and simmer until the berries are soft, about 15 minutes. Taste and add salt. Remove from heat and puree in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Apple Galette

Apple and Raspberry Galette

When Anjuli and I get together in a kitchen it is like the improvisation that goes on between jazz musicians. She has an idea and it sparks me, I enhance on it, back and forth we go until, from these sparks, a dish is created. It just flows from mind to mind and heart to heart with no effort and no ego. It is quite amazing to me. I used to sing in the 60s with a partner. Sometimes we would hit a perfect note together. The feeling of the perfection of the note would make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It had a life of its own. When Anjuli and I cook together sometimes we create a dish that feels like that. We can just feel that it is right.

This dish started from a telephone conversation between us the week before Thanksgiving:

Anj: let’s make something with my tagine; how about making something with grain?

We were both thinking Middle Eastern since the idea was to use a tagine. We thought of couscous or bulgur. We decided on bulgur which is a form of whole wheat that has been cleaned, parboiled, dried and ground. It comes in different grind sizes as well as whole kernel. It’s been a staple in the Middle East for thousands of years. It has a wonderful, nut like taste and slightly chewy texture. It is different from cracked wheat in that it has been cooked. If soaked in water or broth it can actually be used in salads without further cooking.

Bulgur and brown rice are comparable nutritionally in terms of protein and calcium, but bulgur is two and one half times higher in fiber with less calories. We decided to soak it over night with water, a little lemon juice and a sprig of rosemary. The acid in lemon juice helps to release locked nutrients in whole grain so our bodies can digest them. We often soak our whole grain in something slightly acidulated for that reason.

Anj: Now what to go with the bulgur? Onions? Leeks? Shallots?
Weezie: It’s Middle Eastern so dried fruit and mint? How about prunes?
The dialog flowed back and forth until we had the following list of ingredients.

What a lovely, hearty dish with a complex flavor, slightly sweet from the leeks and prunes, slightly salty, a little bite from the pepper and that wonderful flavor of mint combined with acid from the orange peel. It ranged from chewy to a satisfying crunch from the walnuts, a symphony of flavor and texture. We used it as a major side at our Thanksgiving celebration. It could also be used on any occasion as a main course or a side. It is very complete nutritionally. - Weezie

Bulgur with Peas and Mint, Leeks, Prunes, Walnuts and Orange Peel Serves 10 – 12

Ingredients
For soaking and cooking grain:
2 cups bulgur
8 cups water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 inch sprig of fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups chicken or turkey broth, homemade (1/2 cup used w/ bulgur and 1 cup with peas and mushrooms)
3 tablespoon fresh thyme, ground (to be divided and used below)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, ground
2 tablespoons orange zest

For the prunes:
1 cup dried prunes, quartered
juice of 1 orange

For the mushrooms:
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups shitake mushrooms, scrubbed with wet paper towels, stems removed, and cut in 1/2 inch strips
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the nuts:
1 1/2 cups raw walnuts

For cooking the dish:
3 tablespoons ghee, preferably homemade
3 medium leeks, (1 1/2 cups) halved, cut in 1/4 inch crescents, then washed in a bowl of cold water and drained
2 small handfuls of dried mint leaves, crushed
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 packages (2 lbs) of organic frozen peas, put in a colander until come to room temperature
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup red wine

Note: This dish was inspired from the idea to use Anjuli’s tagine. She actually forgot to bring it to Connecticut with the millions of other things she was already bringing for the holidays, so we made it in my dutch oven. But it would be wonderful and perhaps culturally more correct to make it in a tagine.

Soak the grain
We soaked 3 cups of bulgur not realizing that it swells to about 4 times its dry, pre-soaked volume. So we changed the recipe to 2 cups. Add the water to a large bowl along with the grain. Add the lemon juice and a sprig of rosemary to build flavor. Soak for 12 hours or overnight. Drain the bulgur.

Cook the grain
Add 1/2 cup of the broth to a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the drained bulgur, ground rosemary, orange zest, and 1 tablespoon of the thyme. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer about 5 minutes. Take off the heat, put a lid on it and set aside.

Soak the prunes
Soak the prunes in a small bowl with the orange juice and enough hot water to cover for one half hour.

Roast the Mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 350 F. On a cookie sheet toss the mushrooms with the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of minced thyme, salt, pepper, and the nutmeg. Roast for 20 minutes until the edges are brown. Toss the mushrooms twice during the roasting process. Remove from the oven and place on a paper towel. Let some of the oil drain then move to a bowl. Set aside.

Toast the Nuts
Turn the oven down to 325 F. Toast the nuts on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes until they change color slightly. Shake the pan once during toasting. Remove from the oven and cool on parchment paper. Once cool, break into pieces and set aside.

Cook the fruits, nuts, herbs and spices together
In a dutch oven or large heavy-bottom pan, melt the ghee on medium low. Add the leeks and saute until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add the mint, oregano, peas, mushrooms, black pepper, and salt. Saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and remaining 1 cup of broth and the prunes with their liquid. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat, put on a lid and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook off most remaining liquid on medium-high, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Assembly the dish
Add the nuts and bulgur. Toss lightly to combine with a large spoon, but don’t press or mash. Keep it covered until ready to serve. We served it directly from the dutch oven.

With the bird safely in the oven by 9:30, and mom onto making a pumpkin pie, we relaxed a bit, then got into full swing around 1pm. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is those three or four hours when we’re all cooking in sync, everyone handing around spoons for tasting, adding a little of this or that and tasting again. In the midst of all the activity, the oven was turned off accidentally for a full hour with the turkey inside. I’d have to say it actually improved the texture. The turkey turned out to be incredibly succulent and flavorful from the browning outdoors. We also found time to invent a new dish – bulgar with roasted shiitake mushrooms, peas, plumped prunes, and mint. It was a wonderfully sweet and savory alternative to bread dressing.

Among the other favorites this year were Indian spiced cauliflower with peas and olives, cornbread and sausage dressing, chipotle cranberry date chutney, beans and carrots with coconut, orange cranberry sauce, a salad of herbed feta, red onion, kalamata olives, and tangerines, and some very excellent pies. Everyone has their favorite dishes and their favorite way of eating them – some eat in courses, some tackle a heaping mound all at once, some drizzle gravy atop the whole meal, some eat one dish at a time, and some eat in a circle. But regardless of the way you like to enjoy Thanksgiving, it is always welcome once a year and never more than that! I hope everyone else had a delicious meal.

Matt and I are in CT all week, so we’re lining up things to cook outside. Yes, this is how we schedule time when we are in Connecticut. We’ll be doing some more turkey, pork, and of course pizza in the oven. Watch out.

Mom and I

Mom and Matt

Chipotle cranberry date chutney

Adding stock to the shiitakes and mushrooms

Cooking the bulgar

Cooking down the cauliflower and olives

Rosy from Kittery, Maine

The resting bird

The cut

The plate

The meal

That was very fun posting on Anjuli’s blog. I had no idea how excited I was going to feel when I actually saw it up there. It took me by surprise. Sharing with all of you is so tantalizing.

I have been cooking for 2 days straight, 8 – 10 hours per day. Can you believe anyone would actually still do that, more, that they would actually enjoy it? I have burned about 10 hours of music on CDs, all kinds of music; oldies, Latin music, classical and I listen as I cook. I even dance a little. Anjuli’s dad just retired and he cooks too so there actually is a shared experience going on. I can even get him to dance with me once in a while.

We are having 16 people for our Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow, family and friends and friends who are more like extended family than just friends. So we all make something, but I still take a lot of time because I am so hands on about everything. It is just the way I am wired. I have always been that way.

Anjuli loves pecan pie. So I made an old fashioned pecan pie with maple syrup and orange rind and an all butter crust. All butter crusts are really in right now, they are in all the cooking magazines and I urge you to use your fingers rather than the food processor to mix your dough. It makes a very flaky crust and it is fun to smear those little chunks of cold butter between your fingers. Anjuli has a very primitive mom. - Weezie

Maple Pecan Pie with Orange Rind
All Butter Pie Crust makes 2 9 inch pie crusts for single crust pies

The Pie Dough
3 cups (12 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup, (8 ounces, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut in 3/4 inch dice
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) ice water

Form the dough
Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl that is big enough that you can easily get both your hands in. Stir to combine. Add the butter chunks into the bowl and toss some of your flour on top of them so they don’t all stick together. Smear the chunks between your thumb and fingers of both hands, working as quickly as you comfortably can. Keep turning the bowl so you are working with different areas. Keep smearing the butter and flour until your mixture has butter flakes about 1/4 inch big.

Now drizzle 3 tablespoons or so of the water over the surface of the dough and toss with a fork as you drizzle. Keep turning the bowl. Continue to drizzle the water and toss with a fork until the dough is just moist enough to hold together when pressed between your fingers.

Divide the dough in two and put on 2 pieces of wax paper. Press the dough into two disks with straight sides. Wrap each disc in wax paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight. If you are not going to use it right away you can also freeze it for up to 2 months, but put the dough wrapped in its wax paper in a freezer bag.

Roll the dough
Remove the dough a few minutes or up to 20 minutes before you want to roll it so it is not rock hard. Now lightly flour the surface where you are going to roll. Roll from the center towards the outside, lifting your pin before you get to the edge so it doesn’t get too thin. Keep rolling from the center towards the outer edge until you have a circle 13 to 14 inches in diameter. Fold your circle in half and then again to a triangle to make it easier to carry to the pie plate. Place the point of your triangle in the center of the pan, then unfold until your circle in the center on the pan. Trim excess to 1 inch between the edge of the pie plate. Turn the edge under and create the decorative edge of your choice, with your fingers or a fork.

Chill the crust
Prick the sides and bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Put the pie plate back in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight before adding the filling.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven.

The Filling makes for one 9″ pie
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves, toasted

Note: There is no need to use corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup. Maple syrup has more flavor in my opinion and is much better for you. Where we are in north west Connecticut and we can buy it locally from the guy who plows our driveway.

Heat the ghee in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan on low. Add the sugar and cook until it dissolves, stirring occasionally. Stir in the maple syrup, remove from the heat and add the vanilla, orange rind and salt. In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs. Very slowly add in about 1/4 cup of the sugar/maple syrup mixture, whisking the whole time so the eggs don’t cook. Keep adding in the sugar syrup, whisking continuously as you go until it is all incorporated.

Cook the Pie
Place the pecans in the bottom of the prepared pie shell. Carefully pour the filling over the pecans. Place the pie in the oven on the cookie sheet and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the filling is set.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Anyone who stopped by last year around Thanksgiving will remember I cooked some family recipes away from home.

This year is a family reunion, two families actually, each cooking in our own kitchens and bringing the food together. When my mother was growing up Thanksgiving was very much about tradition and ceremony. In our home it’s generally about new experiments, cooking what you like, and different families coming together to share what they love with each other. We split the menu in half and find out how it comes together on Thursday!

Our experiment this year will be cooking the turkey outside on my mother’s parilla that she just had installed (built alongside her incredible domed pizza oven). If you’ve never seen a parilla it’s an Uruguayan grill that’s built to accommodate a 45 degree slant. Hers, for instance, has a crank where you can adjust the desired angle and proximity to the fire. We have a tradition of rubbing the bird down in ghee, herbs, and garlic, and then stuffing it with onions, more herbs, more garlic, and salt and pepper. We don’t baste or fuss over cooking, and my mom always reduces the juices later along with flour and butter for the gravy. We’re not sure of exactly how the preparation will change for outdoors, but it’s bound to be tasty and a little exhilarating to cook outside.

Alongside our bird will be: Cornbread stuffing with sausage, a Spiced tagine of mushrooms, peas, shallots, walnuts, and mint, Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, a Pumpkin pie or two, Indian spiced beans, and a Cranberry date chutney.

Here’s some recipes from last year to whet your appetite on this chilly Friday afternoon. Happy cooking….
Peppery green beans with sage and Reggiano
Pumpkin bread pudding
Cornbread stuffing with chestnuts, cranberries, and onions
Winter salad with tangerines, blue cheese, and toasted walnuts
Garlic mashed potatoes + peas with mint and cremini mushrooms

What are you making?

I’ve had the urge lately to make a bite size piece of something fluffy, sweet, and totally unnatural. I am told this requires gelatin. I also happen to have a totally unhealthy relationship with marshmallows. I will indulge in campfire when I have to, but much prefer the pillowy, melty, homemade style from City Bakery. We’re on a baker’s schedule lately, so at 10:30pm on Wednesday it was go time. We needed gelatin and molasses (for an anadama sweet bread), which we guessed was a mission impossible. These once typical ingredients are not generally in high demand at the Manhattan supermarket/market/$8 peanut butter bodega, and especially not in the stiletto and cobblestone nether region of the Meatpacking District. Besides, why would you buy ingredients for bread and marshmallows when you can just purchase the products for under $5 with money left over for a couple of beers? Because I am the master of my belly and homemade is more delicious.

Our building is not exactly the kind of place where I can slap on some slippers, grab a one cup measure and head on over to the neighbor for some sugar, let alone gelatin. Maybe a fifth of whiskey. So we headed out in our PJs amidst the trashed pre-clubbers to find the elusive ingredients. We hit up a deli and then the Associated, where the response to our inquiry was a simple “Whaaaaat?” Desperate, we considered heading up to Chelsea’s Billy’s and offering to trade some “suga” for a couple packets of gelatin and 6 tablespoons of molasses. Thankfully on our third visit to the Westside Market we struck GOLD.

Once home I looked up how to make marshmallows and was admittedly completely deterred. Corn syrup? Heating honey? Food coloring and a bunch of “extracts”? Yes, of course one of my favorite sweet treats call for crap (crack?). Lured in by their texture and gooeyness, I guess I neglected to think about the recipe. I chose to substitute some of the more refined ingredients for agave, maple syrup, raw sugar, and a little orange blossom nectar. The results were excellent. These mallows are fluffy and melty, and the perfect spring accompaniment to… my bet is on Guinness. No need to toast them, really. Just pop ‘em in your mouth. Although a couple of these dunked in some homemade hot chocolate never hurt anyone.

Homemade Marshmallows
Makes a massive amount to be stored in a mason jar
2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (3-4 packets)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided
2 cups raw sugar
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-5 drops orange blossom nectar (optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar, ground in a coffee grinder (or use powdered sugar if you have it)
Butter for rubbing

Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper, and rub down lightly with butter. Place the gelatin in 1/2 cup water and stir. Let sit until the gelatin becomes soft, about 6 minutes.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the raw sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, salt, and remaining 3 tablespoons water over medium heat. Stir. Once the sugar melts completely (about 10 minutes), turn up to boil and stir for 20 seconds. Add in the gelatin and vanilla extract and stir for 30 seconds more, making sure the sugar doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and continue stirring until all the gelatin has dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl. Beat for 7 minutes with a hand mixer, slowly increasing the speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Coat a rubber spatula with butter and transfer mixture to the pan, removing as much as possible. Heh. Cover with another piece of parchment rubbed with butter. Let sit at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours.

Transfer the marshmallows to a cutting board and cut with a bench knife into squares. Roll around in the powdered sugar. Enjoy.

This year’s Christmas dinner was homey and low-key. Everyone came together and cooked, and everyone felt a sigh of relief that we were making a no-fuss but excellent meal. This dish was surprisingly outstanding. By that I mean the recipe was of Indian roots, was repurposed and gussied up by a Californian and presented as a “holiday” dish, and turned out a flavorful and prosperous union of two different cultures. Not an uncommon find in this household, but still happily surprising.

It’s a one-dish meal, great for vegetarians, but still involves enough prep work that it’s more suited for a holiday. The original recipe is from Sunset, and is intended as a sort of “dressing” or “pilaf.” This is really a biryani in disguise. And quite elegant at that. We find traditional biryani suffers from too much starch and not enough flavor, while Western brown rice dishes many times taste like bird seed. This one is packed with nuts, peppers, spice, and dried fruit, and has all the warmth, sweetness, and moisture that you want.

In honor of this vegetarian Christmas dinner, pulling from both American and Indian dishes, we served this biryani with a mattar saag paneer, green beans with coconut, a romaine salad with herbed feta, olives, cucumber, and pepper, and, and a mom’s take on an Indian carrot salad. Whether a holiday or dinner on a Wednesday, our home is also a blend of different cultures, and a marriage of the culinary influences that we so cherish. Whenever you hail from and whatever your culinary passion, try this dish for your next party.

Serves 10
2 cups brown basmati rice
4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups dried unsulfur apricots, cut into quarters
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes (fresh or frozen will work)
2 cups raw almonds
3/4 cup ghee
2 cups chopped yellow onions (Spanish or Vidalia will also work if you desire sweeter ones)
1 cup chopped orange and yellow bell peppers (can use red if desired, but no green)
2 teaspoons (yield) fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons (yield) garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons Tumeric, mixed in a cup with a teaspoon of water
4 teaspoons Garam masala (or add 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon cardamom, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon grated lime peel

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a 2 quart pan over high heat, bring the water to a boil and stir in the 1/4 teaspoon salt. Once on the boil add the rice, turn down to simmer, and place a cocked lid on top. Cook until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine the apricots and cranberries. Cover with boiling water and let sit to plump, about 15 minutes. Drain.

Also place the coconut and almonds in two separate cookie sheets in the oven, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes for coconut, and 8-10 for almonds. Watch the coconut carefully, as it will burn easily. Remove and cool. Chop the nuts coarsely in a nut grinder or with a bench knife. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees.

Melt the ghee in an 8 quart pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Reduce to medium and stir in the ginger, garlic, tumeric, garam masala, salt, pepper, orange peel, and lime peel. Saute for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in the dried fruit, almonds, and coconut.

Once the rice is cooked, fold it into the mixture, but fluff don’t squash the rice. Spoon the mixture into a shallow 3-quart baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake in the oven until hot in the center, but before the rice turns soft, about 25-30 minutes depending on the firmness of the rice once cooked.

Serve warm.