Pumpkin Pie

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. It is one of those things that doesn't quite taste right at other times during the year. You can have turkey through out the year, but one can not really have this tasty pie during July without thinking of Thanksgiving. Hmmm, actually, maybe I should make pumpkin pie during the summer. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Perhaps I should make a turkey dinner at some other point during year.

Lucky for me, I get two Thanksgiving dinners each year. It doesn't even matter that I have them less than a week apart. The first Thanksgiving I have is always the Saturday prior to the real Thanksgiving. Actually, it used to be on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but was moved a few years ago. This one is named "Wardwell Thanksgiving". It is named for the street that Mike lived on after school with his roommates Kate and Susan. Mike and I try to make it to the various Wardwells, but have not always been able to attend each one due to various reasons. The house on Wardwell saw it's last Thanksgiving a few years ago. Since then, dinner has been hosted in a few houses in Connecticut, one in New York, and tomorrow's will be in New Jersey. I think that 2009 marks the 9th or 10th Wardwell.

My contribution to dinner will be pumpkin pie. I just love pie....I found a few recipes for pie and decided to make a hybrid of them. I did make pie crust from scratch again. It isn't that I find my pie crust to taste bad, I always have difficulty with the transfer from rolling out the dough to placing it gently in the pie dish. On top of that, the crust never looks pretty. Maybe I should make more pies until I perfect this?

I posted a recipe that I use for a single crust pie.

This is the one for the pumpkin pie
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie crust

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir in the pumpkin.
3. In a large bowl, beat two eggs. Stir in pumpkin/sugar/spice mixture.
4. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
5. Pour into pie shell.
6. Bake in oven at 425F for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350F, bake 40-50 minutes or until knife near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
   

Refried Beans

Finally, I found a good recipe for refried beans! In the past, I usually would buy canned refried beans, heat them up, and then serve them. This summer I began a quest for a good recipe for this dish. My first attempt left me frustrated, the kitchen smelled great but the flavors did not make their way to the beans.

I found this recipe over the weekend when I was looking for new slow cooker recipes. I think that the slow cooker was the trick for this recipe. It allowed the flavors to meld together at a longer time versus my first try. After using the slow cooker, I once again realized the benefits of this kitchen appliance.

1 onion, coarsely chopped (the original recipe called for the onion to be halved, but the smaller pieces allow for the onions flavors to spread)
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (the original recipe called for 1/2 pepper)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (the recipe said this was optional, but I love cumin and used it)
9 cups water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Baked Pasta with Fontina and Mascarpone and Garlic Breadcrumbs

Nothing can be better than pasta and cheese. This is another take off on the classic mac and cheese. I used penne instead of macaroni. Also, I really liked the mac and cheese that I made a few weeks ago with fontina cheese, so when I saw this recipe for pasta with fontina, I knew I had to make it.

I made a few adaptations to the original recipe from the November 2006 issue of Cooking Light. I didn't have enough fontina cheese due to not being the one who did the grocery shopping this weekend. Instead, I made up the difference with Parmesan cheese. Also, I added some ham to the pasta mixture.

1 pound uncooked penne
1/4 cup flour
3 cups of milk (I used skim as recommended and it worked out)
2 cups shredded fontina cheese (I only had 1 cup of fontina and used Parmesan to make up the difference)
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup of ham, chopped into small pieces (Note, the recipe can be made without the ham for a vegetarian option)
3 slices of white bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 small minced glove of garlic

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. Combine flour and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir often. Remove from heat; add cheeses and stir until smooth. Add in the salt and pepper. Add cooked pasta, stirring until coated. At this point, I added the small chopped pieces of ham.
4. Tear bread into small pieces. Place in a food processor and and pulse into fine bread crumbs.
5. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs until well combined. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over pasta.
   
6. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
   

Restaurant Review - Drink

Technically, Drink is not a restaurant, rather it is a cocktail bar. They do serve food and I did sample the canapes so I think I can share my review on the blog.

I have been looking forward to trying Barbara Lynch's new bar for quite some time. Mike and I were going to try it a few weeks ago to celebrate my birthday, but we were too tired to go out that evening. Our friend Chris suggested that we go there for drinks last night after I said no to the Atlantic Beer Garden as I thought it would be too crowded because of the Pats/Jets game and I was thrilled.

Mike and I got to Drink before Chris and Joanna got there and we managed to find a spot at the bar. Our bartender came over to us and I asked how they serve drinks since there is no cocktail menu. She asked what we were interested in and what kind of flavors we liked. I said that I like fruit drinks and was in the mood for something "fall like". She created a delicious drink with apple cider, brandy, bitters, and something else. The drink hit the nail on the head, it was exactly what I wanted.

Drink is really cool because there is no menu. They bartenders will make you a drink to suit the mood you are in at the time. A cocktail menu can be too limited. Another cool thing about Drink is that they grow and display the fresh herbs for drinks. They also used fresh squeezed juices and squeeze the fruits at the bar.

Oh, and the food....We sampled a few canapes. When I first read about Drink, I saw that deviled eggs were on the menu. That was a big selling point for me. However, they were not on the menu the night we went to Drink. We did try the prosciutto with Gruyere and honey, the scallops, and quince and manchengo cheese. They were all good, but were too small. Chris did get a little extra with his prosciutto, there was a bit of paper with the phyllo dough.

On our way out, we looked in the door for Barbara Lynch's new restaurant, Sportello. The manager happened to be there and let us stop in for a look. It looks good and at the present time is only open for lunch. They will be opening for dinner in December. The manager was extremely friendly and took my good natured ribbing about his (and other people) calling the neighborhood Fort Point instead of Southie. As Chris said later on, neighborhoods are renamed for real estate purposes (Fidelity renaming part of Southie, "The Seaport"). Does that mean that one day, Fort Point will creep back to my neighborhood? It may help when we need to sell...

Restaurant Review - Black Mountain, NC

During the first weekend in November, I flew south for a much needed weekend away. The reason for the getaway was the First Annual Reunion Vacation Weekend. I was reunited with my dear friends, Mullins, Sam, and Browning for the first time in three years. We all worked together at my first ad agency in New York which at the time was called The Media Edge, or TME for short (I believe it is now called something else, but will be stamped in my memories as TME). Through this workplace, I got to know a lot of great people. Mullins, Sam, Browning, and I became good friends. Our friendship has endured the moves out of the area for each of us, me in Boston, Mullins in Knoxville, Sam in Raleigh, and Browning in the New Jersey suburbs.

A bonus to seeing these great women, was eating great Southern food. In the New York days, I was schooled on things such as grits and hush puppies and one can not find true Southern food that easily in Boston. My appetite was building in anticipation of the jaunt to Asheville, North Carolina. On Saturday morning, we went to the Morning Glory Cafe in Black Mountain. I had the Black Mountain breakfast, consisting of eggs, with a choice of hashbrown or grits, and bacon or sausage. Of course, I had to go for the grits. They were delicious and were provided great nourishment for our visit to the Biltmore Estate.

After exploring the estate, we headed to Asheville to walk around. Our late night festivities on Friday meant that afternoon caffeine was necessary. We stopped in the The Sisters McMullen for a dose of coffee. While there, we were tempted by the sweet and savory pastries in the display case. We all loved what we got, a cream horn for Mullins, a quiche for Sam, a black and white cookies for Browning, and a snickerdoodle for me. I was tempted to get the Boston cream cupcakes but gave into the temptation for a cookie as it would be easier to eat while walking. We wanted to get a late lunch/early dinner in Asheville, however restaurants were closed from 3 until 5. We headed back to Black Mountain where our cabin was located. The previous evening we had located Phil's BBQ Pit. Browning and I took on the menu and won that battle. She had a plate of BBQ pork and chicken with hush puppies. I had the ribs with hush puppies, baked beans, potato salad, and drank sweet tea. Everything was good, although the sweet tea was a bit too sweet for my liking.

All in all, this was a great trip. I loved spending time with the girls. I laughed so hard all weekend. There were many great memories that were made for the First Annual Reunion Weekend. I can not wait for next year's trip in a location to be determined. Some ideas include Maine or Savannah.

Macaroni and Cheese

I made another one of my favorites for dinner tonight. Tonight, I changed my recipe for this great comfort food. Perhaps my vote cast this morning at 8 inspired me to make a change to my recipe. Change is good.

Normally, I make mac and cheese with American cheese. In this case, I used Swiss and Fontina cheese. I was pleased with the substitution. I do wish that I put in some small pieces of ham. One restaurant that I had a lot of rep lunches had a great mac and cheese that I may have come close to replicating this evening. That mac and cheese was much creamier than mine. Skim milk does not make for a creamy mac and cheese.

2 cups elbow macaroni
1 small chopped onion
2 tbspn butter
2 tbspn flour
dash of pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
3-4 cups of cheese

1. Cook the macaroni according to package directions. When done, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender.
4. Stir in the flour and pepper. Slowly add and stir in the milk.
5. Heat the mixture until it gets thick and bubbly.
6. Add in the cheese and stir until melted. Stir in the macaroni.
7. Pour into a shallow dish and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
   

I really enjoyed the change with Swiss and Fontina. It was a rash decision to throw these cheeses in my grocery cart on Sunday.

Apologies for the choppy post, I have been completely distracted today because of the election. It is a historic night no matter the outcome.

Chicken Chili

I have never had chicken chili before and wanted to try it. When I recently replaced my slower cooker, the first only got one use and then the stoneware insert broke, I browsed through a cookbook for slow cookers and marked this recipe. There was some anxiety about leaving the slow cooker on all day when Mike and I left for work this morning, but it was nice to come home to a kitchen filled with the scent of dinner. Also a major plus, dinner was ready when we got home. It was nice to not have to prepare anything for dinner, with the exception of pouring a glass of water.

Now that I have been won over by the slow cooker, I will be sure to look for more recipes. Once again, it is so nice to come home to dinner. I think that I saw a recipe for pulled pork made in the slow cooker on Cooking with Jen. After my upcoming weekend in North Carolina, I will probably be in the mood for some pulled pork.

3 - 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained
2 cups of cooked chicken (I shredded it instead of chopping it)
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped (the original recipe called for 2 red peppers, but Mike hates peppers so I decided to use just one pepper. I like green peppers better than red, hence the substitution)
1 - 4 oz. can diced green chilies
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
(The original recipe also called for 3 minced cloves of garlic. I forgot it when I made dinner, but it tasted fine without).

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Mix thoroughly. Cover; cook on Low 10 hours.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of my all time favorite foods of the fall. I usually have it on Thanksgiving when Aunt Ellen makes a batch for us to enjoy. I love the soup so much that I had to try it on my own. I think I made my first batch a few years ago and now make it at least once each fall and winter. My soup is no where near as good as Aunt Ellen's, but it is not bad if I do so say myself. I think that the trick is the curry powder. Curry is quickly becoming one of my favorite spices to add to savory dishes.

Because this can require a lot of simmering, I make this on the weekends. I would not have the patience to try this on a weekday after work. On Sunday, I was delighted to use my new blender that was purchased to replace one whose motor burned out. The soup tasted great and I took a gamble taking the soup to work for lunch. Here is hoping the microwave heats it up hot enough.

2 cups of chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
Salt and pepper to your liking

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until they are tender (about five minutes).
2. Add the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add broth and squash. Bring the mixture to a boil. After it comes to a boil, decrease the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Once the squash is tender, bring the mixture to a blender in small batch and puree. Once the entire batch is pureed, bring it back to the stockpot and add salt and pepper.

Green Beans with Mustard Vinaigrette

I haven't updated the blog in quite some time. Things have been so busy lately and will be busy now through the end of the year. That said, postings may be few and far between until things calm down.

Back to food, this was a great side dish that took no time to make. Preparing the green beans is what took the most time. I love the combination of onions, green beans, and Dijon mustard. The flavors worked well together. I chose to serve this with pork chops and mashed potatoes. I let the green beans take the lead on this dinner.

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons course-grained mustard
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar (I used a pear Chardonnay vinegar)
6 tablespoons olive oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil)
Kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds green beans
1/2 small read onion cut into thin slices

1. Make the vinaigrette in a small bowl. Whisk the mustards and vinegar. Whisking constantly, add the oil in a slow and steady stream.
2. Prepare an ice bath for the beans. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook the beans until they are crisp-tender (about five minutes). Transfer the beans to an ice bath to stop the cooking and drain.
3. Add the beans to the vinaigrette and toss in the onions. Serve at room temperature.