I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!
Here are six vegetarian recipes to help you through the weekend. Enjoy!
PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE AND RICOTTA
This comes from David Tanis in The New York Times Cooking e-newsletter. David wrote, “This wonderful pasta is made with nothing more than fresh tomato sauce and good ricotta, plus a little pecorino. It’s most delicious if you keep the pasta quite al dente; use just enough sauce, no more; give it a good pinch of crushed red pepper; and season it with enough salt of course. For the best results, use good quality imported noodles made from hard Durum wheat.” Time: 30 minutes; makes 4 to 6 servings.
This, along with the Quick Fresh Tomato Sauce, was featured in “The Time Is Right to Make Tomato Sauce”, and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
1 pound dried pasta, such as farfalle or penne
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Crushed red pepper (optional)
2 1/2 cups Quick Fresh Tomato Sauce, warm (see recipe, which follows)
6 ounces ultra-fresh ricotta, at room temperature
Grated pecorino
Basil leaves, for garnish
Preparation
Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted water, making sure to keep it quite al dente.
Put butter in a wide deep skillet over medium heat. Add drained pasta to the pan and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, if using.
Add tomato sauce gradually and stir to coat pasta, using only enough sauce for a light coating (you may not need the entire 2 1/2 cups).
Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl and dot top with spoonfuls of ricotta. Sprinkle lightly with pecorino and garnish with a few torn basil leaves.
QUICK FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
This also comes from David Tanis in The New York Times Cooking e-newsletter. David wrote, “In August and September, when tomatoes are at their ripest, make a batch of fresh tomato sauce. At the market, look for the cracked, slightly bruised tomatoes sold at a discount. The flesh of the tomato should be dense, sweet and blood red. This makes a very fresh- and bright-tasting sauce in a manageable small batch. Take advantage of good tasty tomatoes and fill a few zip-top bags for the freezer.” Time: 30 minutes; makes about 2 1/ 2 cups.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
5 pounds tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 garlic clove, halved
1 basil sprig
1 bay leaf
Preparation
Cut tomatoes in half horizontally. Squeeze out the seeds and discard, if you wish. Press the cut side of tomato against the large holes of a box grater and grate tomato flesh into a bowl. Discard skins. You should have about 4 cups.
Put tomato pulp in a low wide saucepan over high heat. Add salt, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, basil and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a brisk simmer.
Reduce the sauce by almost half, stirring occasionally, to produce about 2 1/2 cups medium-thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt. It will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator or may be frozen.
QUICK & EASY APPLE CRISP
This was posted by Deb’s Recipes on Food.com. Deb wrote, “A traditional autumn dessert that's delicious served with vanilla ice cream. I've often made this recipe ‘diabetic-friendly’ without sacrificing taste or quality by using Splenda No-Calorie Sweetener. Directions are included.” Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 35 minutes; makes 6 servings.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
6 - 8 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (such as Granny Smith)
2 - 3 teaspoons lemon juice
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1⁄2 cup butter
vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream
Directions
Toss apples with lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon; turn into an 8x8" baking pan that has been lightly coated with no-stick cooking spray; dot with butter.
Cut together flour, brown sugar, and butter until crumbly; sprinkle evenly over apples.
Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes until apples are tender; serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
VARIATION: This recipe can be made diabetic-friendly by substituting Splenda for the granulated sugar and substituting 1/2 cup Splenda for 1/2 cup of the brown sugar - the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar is still used.
CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE
This is from Tearanii, also on Food.com. Tearanii wrote, “This is absolutely stunning and delicious!” Prep Time: 1 hour; Cook Time: 35 minutes; Servings: 8 - 12.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling, divided
1 10 inch graham cracker crust
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1⁄4 cup caramel topping
12 pecan halves, plus
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Reserve 3/4 cup apple pie filling.
Spoon remaining filling into pie crust.
Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Add eggs and mix well.
Pour over apple filling.
Bake 35 minutes or until center is set.
Cool to room temperature.
Mix reserved apple filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan.
Heat, about 1 minute.
Arrange apple slices around outside edge of cheesecake.
Spoon caramel sauce onto the cheesecake and spread evenly.
Decorate with pecan halves around edge.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
GARLICKY TOFU WITH SPINACH OVER PASTA
This comes from the October 2005 issue of Vegetarian Times, and begins, “A nonstick skillet is a must for this recipe—it makes the garlic cling to the tofu and form a sort of crust.” Serves 4 in 30 minutes or less.
To view this online, click here.
10 oz. whole wheat linguine
1 1/2 cups prepared pasta sauce
12 oz. baked tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz. baby spinach, washed
Cook linguine according to package directions; drain.
Warm pasta sauce in pot over medium-low heat.
Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium heat. Add tofu, and cook 5 minutes, or until crisp and browned, turning often. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute more, or until tofu is coated with browned garlic. Transfer to plate, and cover to keep warm.
Add spinach to same skillet. (Add spinach in batches, if necessary, stirring to wilt so remainder will fit.) Cover, and cook 2 minutes, or until tender.
Divide cooked pasta among 4 individual plates. Top each with equal amounts of spinach then garlic tofu. Spoon sauce on top, and serve.
nutritional informatio Per SERVING: Calories: 506; Protein: 28 g; Total Fat: 15 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Carbohydrates: 70 g; Sodium: 847 mg; Fiber: 18 g; Sugar: 8 g; Vegan
PERFECT MACARONI AND CHEESE
This comes from Diana Rattray, About.com’s Southern Food expert. Diana wrote, “Lots of Cheddar cheese inside and on top make this a delicious, creamy macaroni and cheese. Serve this casserole as a main dish with a salad or serve it as a side dish.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Cook Macaroni: 8 minutes; Total Time: 58 minutes; Yield: Serves 4 to 6.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
8 ounces macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard or a spicy brown mustard
2 1/2 to 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup soft bread crumbs, tossed with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
Preparation
Heat oven to 375°. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water following package directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with hot water.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth and bubbly. Continue cooking and stirring for 1 minute. Add the salt, pepper, cream, and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add mustard and 2 cups of the cheese.
Continue cooking, stirring, until cheese is melted.
Combine the sauce mixture with the drained macaroni. Spoon into the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining 1/2 to 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Scatter the buttered bread crumbs evenly over the cheese layer.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Thanksgiving Food
Are you ready for Thanksgiving? I'm almost ready...
If you're in the U.S., you know that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. It seems that everyone has some way to celebrate, whether it's a large gathering for a large, extended family, or a smaller, intimate affair. We all have our traditions, which seem to evolve over the years.
Here are six vegetarian recipes to help you through your Thanksgiving, as well as any other time. Hope your Thanksgiving is nice. Enjoy!
Note: Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, there won't any posts tomorrow. However, I'll be back here on Friday. (I might try posting another couple of recipes later today.) Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful!
SALTED MAPLE CHESS PIE
This also comes from The Baker Chick.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Single layer Pie Crust*
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Flakey sea salt (Like Maldon)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large bowl beat the eggs until fluffy and blended. Add in the cream, vanilla, maple syrup and brown sugar, mixing on medium high until smooth. Add butter, cornmeal and vinegar and mix everything until smooth and free of any clumps or streaks.
Roll your pie crust into a 11 inch circle and drape onto your pie plate.crimp or flute the edges with a fork or your fingers. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325F and bake for 40 minutes until the edges are set but the middle is still wobbly. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Allow to cool completely before serving, or chill and serve cold. Serve plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
*If you'd like to add the braided crust like I did, I recommend making 1 1/2 times the regular pie crust recipe. Having a little extra allows you to try a few times and use your favorite braid on the crust. To attach it, brush the edge of your crust with egg wash and then gently press it on. Then brush the whole this with the egg wash and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
**If you like a crisper crust on the bottom, I recommend par baking the crust before adding the filling. Fill with parchment and beans or pie weights and then bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and then add your filling.
SPICY PUMPKIN PIE
Servings: 8
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/154.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=154
Ingredients
1 (9-inch) pastry shell
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cup pumpkin (canned)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup low-fat milk
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp liquid cal-free sweetener
1 pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Light vanilla ice cream
Directions
Prick pastry shell with a fork. Bake in 450F oven for 8 min.
Stir together pumpkin, egg, milk, sweetener, sugar and seasonings. Pour into partially baked pie shell.
Bake in 350F oven for 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool slightly and then refrigerate.
Cut into 8 wedges and serve each with 2 tbsp light vanilla ice cream.
Nutritional Information Per Serving; Calories: 173; Protein: 5 g; Fat: 9 g; Carbohydrates: 20 g; Exchanges: 1/2 Starch/Bread, 1-1/2 Fat, 1 Dairy, 1/2 Fruit
DIY CRANBERRY JUICE COCKTAIL
This recipe and the next (Cranberry-Pecan Salad) are from an article on healing foods, titled Cranberries by Maria Lissandrello in the November/December 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. (Both of these recipes can be found online here.) This one starts off, “One of the biggest complaints about bottled cranberry juice is the high sugar (and low cranberry) contest: a 1-cup serving contains more than 130 calories – beating out a sugary soft drink! For an easy homemade version that delivers a higher concentration of cranberry juice and a lot less sugar, follow these steps:
1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. agave nectar
2-inch cinnamon stick
4 cups boiling water
Mix unsweetened cranberry juice with the agave nectar in a heatproof, 1-quart measuring cup.
Add the cinnamon stick to the mixture.
Stir in the boiling water. Cool, and enjoy.
CRANBERRY-PECAN SALAD
This starts off, “The antioxidant-packed vinaigrette for this salad is made with unsweetened cranberry juice rather than vinegar.” This vegan recipe serves 4 in 30 minutes or less.
Cranberry Vinaigrette
2 Tbs. unsweetened cranberry juice
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 Tbs. walnut or hazelnut oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped (2 Tbs.)
Salad
4 cups arugula
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
To make Cranberry Vinaigrette: Whisk together cranberry juice and mustard in small bowl. Whisk in canola and walnut oils until smooth. Stir in shallot, and season with pepper.
To make Salad: Toss arugula, dried cranberries, and pecans with vinaigrette.
Per serving: 207 cal; 2 g prote; 14.5 g total fat (1 g saturated fat): 21 g carb; 0 mg cholesterol; 242 mg sodium; 2 g fiber; 14 g sugar.
MOM’S SOUTHERN PECAN PIE
Servings: 10
Source: Sweet Inspirations - A Sugar Free Dessert Cookbook
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Ingredients
1 unbaked pie shell
1 cup fruit sweetener **
1 envelope plain gelatin
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp very strong coffee or espresso (prepared, not grounds)
24 pecan halves
**To make this fruit sweetener, mix together 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed) and 1/2 cup granulated fructose.
Directions
Prepare pastry and place in 9-inch pie pan.
In large bowl, combine fruit sweetener, gelatin and apple sauce. Beat with electric mixer.
In small bowl, blend water and cornstarch until smooth. Add cornstarch to fruit sweetener mixture and blend. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and coffee. Pour mixture into pie shell. Decorate top with pecan halves.
Bake 30-40 minutes (until custard is set) at 375F. Cool slightly before cutting.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 211; Protein: 3 g; Fat: 9 g; Sodium: 69 mg; Cholesterol: 82 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 1 Bread; 2 Fat
ACORN SQUASH STUFFED WITH VEGETARIAN SAUSAGE AND APPLES
This comes from Jolinda Hackett, About.com’s Vegetarian Food expert. Jolinda wrote, “A vegetarian and vegan recipe for acorn squash stuffed with vegetarian sausage and apples. Use store-bought vegetarian sausage to make this fall entree for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any special occasion meal. Stuffed acorn squash makes a very presentable centerpiece for a vegetarian of vegan meal. It's filled with a bread stuffing with plenty of fresh herbs, including sage and thyme - it's these herbs which will fill your kitchen and your entire home with that fabulous Thanksgiving aroma as it bakes.
“If you're looking for a gluten-free stuffed squash recipe, try using a quinoa stuffing instead of bread.
“This vegetarian and vegan stuffed acorn squash recipe serves four, but the portions are generous, so plan on it serving 6-8 if you're serving it as a side dish.”
Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 75 minutes; Total Time: 95 minutes; Yield: 4 as a main, 6 - 8 as a side.
Ingredients
1 package vegetarian sausage (use Gimme Lean brand)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 Tbsp fresh sage OR 1 tsp dried
1 Tbsp fresh thyme OR 1 tsp dried
6 oz plain stuffing cubes, OR 8 cups toasted bread crumbs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 medium apple, any kind, diced
1/3 cup apple cider
2 large acorn squash, cut in half, with seeds removed
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°.
Lightly brown the vegetarian sausage in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil, breaking it up and crumbling it with a spatula as it browns, just as you would with a meat sausage. Set aside.
Bring water and olive oil to a boil in a covered pot over high heat. Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme. Cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in stuffing cubes, salt and pepper, applesauce, apple cider, and the browned sausage, mixing to combine. Taste, and adjust seasonings to taste.
Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves. Arrange the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch.
Lightly spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan with olive oil spray. This will prevent it from sticking to the stuffing. Cover the pan tightly, tending slightly with the sprayed side down.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.
If you're in the U.S., you know that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. It seems that everyone has some way to celebrate, whether it's a large gathering for a large, extended family, or a smaller, intimate affair. We all have our traditions, which seem to evolve over the years.
Here are six vegetarian recipes to help you through your Thanksgiving, as well as any other time. Hope your Thanksgiving is nice. Enjoy!
Note: Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, there won't any posts tomorrow. However, I'll be back here on Friday. (I might try posting another couple of recipes later today.) Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful!
SALTED MAPLE CHESS PIE
This also comes from The Baker Chick.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Single layer Pie Crust*
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Flakey sea salt (Like Maldon)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large bowl beat the eggs until fluffy and blended. Add in the cream, vanilla, maple syrup and brown sugar, mixing on medium high until smooth. Add butter, cornmeal and vinegar and mix everything until smooth and free of any clumps or streaks.
Roll your pie crust into a 11 inch circle and drape onto your pie plate.crimp or flute the edges with a fork or your fingers. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325F and bake for 40 minutes until the edges are set but the middle is still wobbly. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Allow to cool completely before serving, or chill and serve cold. Serve plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
*If you'd like to add the braided crust like I did, I recommend making 1 1/2 times the regular pie crust recipe. Having a little extra allows you to try a few times and use your favorite braid on the crust. To attach it, brush the edge of your crust with egg wash and then gently press it on. Then brush the whole this with the egg wash and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
**If you like a crisper crust on the bottom, I recommend par baking the crust before adding the filling. Fill with parchment and beans or pie weights and then bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and then add your filling.
SPICY PUMPKIN PIE
Servings: 8
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/154.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=154
Ingredients
1 (9-inch) pastry shell
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cup pumpkin (canned)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup low-fat milk
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp liquid cal-free sweetener
1 pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Light vanilla ice cream
Directions
Prick pastry shell with a fork. Bake in 450F oven for 8 min.
Stir together pumpkin, egg, milk, sweetener, sugar and seasonings. Pour into partially baked pie shell.
Bake in 350F oven for 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool slightly and then refrigerate.
Cut into 8 wedges and serve each with 2 tbsp light vanilla ice cream.
Nutritional Information Per Serving; Calories: 173; Protein: 5 g; Fat: 9 g; Carbohydrates: 20 g; Exchanges: 1/2 Starch/Bread, 1-1/2 Fat, 1 Dairy, 1/2 Fruit
DIY CRANBERRY JUICE COCKTAIL
This recipe and the next (Cranberry-Pecan Salad) are from an article on healing foods, titled Cranberries by Maria Lissandrello in the November/December 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. (Both of these recipes can be found online here.) This one starts off, “One of the biggest complaints about bottled cranberry juice is the high sugar (and low cranberry) contest: a 1-cup serving contains more than 130 calories – beating out a sugary soft drink! For an easy homemade version that delivers a higher concentration of cranberry juice and a lot less sugar, follow these steps:
1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. agave nectar
2-inch cinnamon stick
4 cups boiling water
Mix unsweetened cranberry juice with the agave nectar in a heatproof, 1-quart measuring cup.
Add the cinnamon stick to the mixture.
Stir in the boiling water. Cool, and enjoy.
CRANBERRY-PECAN SALAD
This starts off, “The antioxidant-packed vinaigrette for this salad is made with unsweetened cranberry juice rather than vinegar.” This vegan recipe serves 4 in 30 minutes or less.
Cranberry Vinaigrette
2 Tbs. unsweetened cranberry juice
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 Tbs. walnut or hazelnut oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped (2 Tbs.)
Salad
4 cups arugula
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
To make Cranberry Vinaigrette: Whisk together cranberry juice and mustard in small bowl. Whisk in canola and walnut oils until smooth. Stir in shallot, and season with pepper.
To make Salad: Toss arugula, dried cranberries, and pecans with vinaigrette.
Per serving: 207 cal; 2 g prote; 14.5 g total fat (1 g saturated fat): 21 g carb; 0 mg cholesterol; 242 mg sodium; 2 g fiber; 14 g sugar.
MOM’S SOUTHERN PECAN PIE
Servings: 10
Source: Sweet Inspirations - A Sugar Free Dessert Cookbook
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Ingredients
1 unbaked pie shell
1 cup fruit sweetener **
1 envelope plain gelatin
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp very strong coffee or espresso (prepared, not grounds)
24 pecan halves
**To make this fruit sweetener, mix together 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed) and 1/2 cup granulated fructose.
Directions
Prepare pastry and place in 9-inch pie pan.
In large bowl, combine fruit sweetener, gelatin and apple sauce. Beat with electric mixer.
In small bowl, blend water and cornstarch until smooth. Add cornstarch to fruit sweetener mixture and blend. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and coffee. Pour mixture into pie shell. Decorate top with pecan halves.
Bake 30-40 minutes (until custard is set) at 375F. Cool slightly before cutting.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 211; Protein: 3 g; Fat: 9 g; Sodium: 69 mg; Cholesterol: 82 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 1 Bread; 2 Fat
ACORN SQUASH STUFFED WITH VEGETARIAN SAUSAGE AND APPLES
This comes from Jolinda Hackett, About.com’s Vegetarian Food expert. Jolinda wrote, “A vegetarian and vegan recipe for acorn squash stuffed with vegetarian sausage and apples. Use store-bought vegetarian sausage to make this fall entree for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any special occasion meal. Stuffed acorn squash makes a very presentable centerpiece for a vegetarian of vegan meal. It's filled with a bread stuffing with plenty of fresh herbs, including sage and thyme - it's these herbs which will fill your kitchen and your entire home with that fabulous Thanksgiving aroma as it bakes.
“If you're looking for a gluten-free stuffed squash recipe, try using a quinoa stuffing instead of bread.
“This vegetarian and vegan stuffed acorn squash recipe serves four, but the portions are generous, so plan on it serving 6-8 if you're serving it as a side dish.”
Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 75 minutes; Total Time: 95 minutes; Yield: 4 as a main, 6 - 8 as a side.
Ingredients
1 package vegetarian sausage (use Gimme Lean brand)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 Tbsp fresh sage OR 1 tsp dried
1 Tbsp fresh thyme OR 1 tsp dried
6 oz plain stuffing cubes, OR 8 cups toasted bread crumbs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 medium apple, any kind, diced
1/3 cup apple cider
2 large acorn squash, cut in half, with seeds removed
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°.
Lightly brown the vegetarian sausage in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil, breaking it up and crumbling it with a spatula as it browns, just as you would with a meat sausage. Set aside.
Bring water and olive oil to a boil in a covered pot over high heat. Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme. Cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in stuffing cubes, salt and pepper, applesauce, apple cider, and the browned sausage, mixing to combine. Taste, and adjust seasonings to taste.
Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves. Arrange the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch.
Lightly spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan with olive oil spray. This will prevent it from sticking to the stuffing. Cover the pan tightly, tending slightly with the sprayed side down.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Thanksgiving Recipes
Thanksgiving is this Thursday, so I'm posting a few more Thanksgiving recipes today. Of course, these can be enjoyed any time. Enjoy!
Note: Since Thanksgiving is Thursday, I'll be taking Thursday off. However, I will attempt to post a double-blog on Wednesday, then be back on Friday. Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful.
THANKSGIVING POT PIE
This is from the November 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times, and begins, “Working toward her master's in social work, Adrianne Dickson, who won first place in VT's 2009 Reader Recipe Contest for this recipe, still finds time to read cookbooks for fun. 'I first developed this recipe while living in Montana after my boyfriend told me he loved pot pie,' she explains. 'I started making the crust in a bag when we were working as raft guides and didn't have any place to roll out a crust.'" Serves 8.
To view this online, click here.
Note: The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of red wine. If you're like me and don't normally have wine (or any alcohol) around the house, no problem. I tend to use water in place of it. So don't let the red wine keep you from trying this recipe if you don't have it around; simply use water. Of course, someone's liable to think, "You can't do that!" Yes, I can, and so can you.
Filling
2 medium potatoes, diced (2 cups)
2 large carrots, sliced (1 cup)
3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 16-oz. pkg. firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. San-J Tamari Soy Sauce, divided
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic, divided
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, divided
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 large onion, diced (2 cups)
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup plain soymilk
3 Tbs. red wine
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbs. chopped fresh sage
1 tsp. hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage
To make Filling:
Cook potatoes and carrots in large pot of boiling salted water 10 minutes, or until just tender. Drain, and set aside.
Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, and cook 5 minutes, or until tofu begins to brown. Stir in 2 Tbs. tamari, 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, and cook until all liquid has evaporated.
Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and cook 2 minutes. Add onion, broccoli, and garlic, and sauté 6 to 7 minutes, or until onions begin to soften.
Push veggies to side of Dutch oven. Add remaining 1 Tbs. oil to bottom of pot. Stir flour into oil with fork to make roux; stir until smooth. Stir roux into vegetables.
Stir broth into vegetables. Once gravy is smooth, add tofu, potatoes, carrots, soymilk, remaining 1/4 cup tamari, and wine. Stir gently, then add thyme, sage, hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic, and remaining 1/8 tsp. cayenne. Remove from heat, and set aside, or transfer vegetables to large casserole dish.
To make Crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together flour, salt, and shortening with fork or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in up to 4 Tbs. cold water, if necessary, for dough to stick together. Gently knead rosemary and sage into dough, and shape dough into ball. Place dough ball in plastic bag, and push out from center of ball to shape dough to size of Dutch oven or casserole dish. Remove dough from bag, and lay over vegetable filling in Dutch oven or casserole dish. Poke holes in dough to allow steam to escape. Bake 45 minutes, or until Crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 394; Protein: 12 g; Total Fat: 22 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Cholesterol: less than 1 mg; Sodium: 978 mg; Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 5 g; Vegan
EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE
This comes from One Green Planet's newsletter. The recipe states, “My Easy Cranberry Sauce is not very sweet. It has a tangy tartness and makes a beautiful side dish for your holiday table.”
To view this and other cranberry recipes, click here.
12 oz. Bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, with 1/2 cup set aside
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbs. Water or orange juice
Set aside 1/ 2 cup cranberries in a bowl. Put the rest of the cranberries into a saucepan. Add sugar, orange zest and water or orange juice and cook over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until cranberries burst, about another 10 minutes. Reduce heat back to low and add in the cranberries you set aside. Add more sugar if you want, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool (you can refrigerate it if you like your cranberry sauce cold) before serving.
CARROT CORNBREAD
This comes from the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 65. The Chef is Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Modern Love in Omaha, Nebraska, and the recipe begins, “'This cornbread is the essence of autumn in Nebraska, with a warm orange hue that shines a little brighter at the Thanksgiving table than your average cornbread. It’s perfect for sopping up gravy and sauces,' says Moskowitz. Carrot purée keeps a simple cornbread recipe moist and gives it a gorgeous color." And what do I say about this recipe, which serves 12? Yum!
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/carrot-cornbread/
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup refined coconut oil, melted
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Steam carrots in steamer 15 minutes, or until very tender. Transfer to food processor, and purée until smooth. Cool.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Stir together almond milk and cider vinegar in measuring cup. Set aside to curdle.
Whisk 1 cup carrot purée with maple syrup in large bowl. Whisk in coconut oil, then almond milk mixture.
Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in separate bowl. Fold cornmeal mixture into carrot mixture. Spread in prepared pan, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden and firm to touch. Cool. Cut into 12 squares, and serve.
nutritional information Per Per slice: Calories: 170; Protein: 2 g; Total Fat: 5 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Carbohydrates: 29 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 220 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 9 g; Vegan
HOLIDAY BREAD CORNUCOPIA
Both this and the Fork-and-Knife Roasted Vegetables can be found on page 54 of the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times. This one begins, "This cornucopia is easy to make using poster board and foil, and the result looks like a centerpiece created by a professional baker. Fill it with hot roasted vegetables, or use it as a bread basket for your holiday feast. The cornucopia can be made a day ahead." Serves 12
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/holiday-bread-cornucopia/.
1/4 cup sugar
2 0.25-oz. pkg. dry yeast
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (2 lb.), plus more for flouring work surface
1 Tbs. plus 1 pinch salt, divided
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more to coat bowl
1 large egg
1/2 cup melted butter, optional
Dissolve sugar in 2 cups warm water. Stir yeast into sugar-water mixture, and let stand 5 minutes.
Pulse flour and 1 Tbs. salt in bowl of food processor, or combine in stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Add yeast mixture and oil, and process 1 minute, or beat with mixer 3 to 5 minutes, or until dough forms smooth, sticky ball that hits against sides of food processor or mixing bowl.
Rub large bowl with oil, place dough in bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour in warm place. Punch down dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, and have small glass of water ready. Halve poster board so you have one 20- x 15-inch piece; shape poster board into cone, and tape to hold. Trim open edge of cone so it stands flat on baking sheet. (Trimmed cone should be 7 inches wide at mouth and 15 inches long.) Smoothly cover outside of cone with foil, turning edges in, as necessary. Fill cone with crumpled parchment paper or foil to keep cone from collapsing. Stand cone on prepared baking sheet, and coat foil with cooking spray.
Roll out one-third of dough to 20- x 6-inch rectangle. (Keep remaining dough in refrigerator so it won’t get too soft.) Cut dough into four 20- x 11/2-inch strips. Wrap 1 dough strip around wide base of cone on baking sheet, wetting ends, and pressing ends together to seal so you have a ring of dough. Wet end of second dough strip, press end onto first strip, and wrap around cone, overlapping first dough strip by one-third to one-half of strip width. Wet end, and press to hold in place. Continue wrapping third and fourth dough strips around cone, working your way up to narrow end. Repeat with remaining dough until cone is completely wrapped in overlapping strips of dough. When finished, braid three strips of dough, and wrap around base (wide end of cone). Lay cone on its side on prepared baking sheet, best-looking side up.
Beat egg with 1 Tbs. water and remaining pinch of salt in small bowl. Brush egg wash all over cornucopia.
Bake cornucopia 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove cornucopia from oven. Carefully remove crumpled parchment paper from inside of cone, then gently pull cone away from sides of cornucopia with tongs, and remove. Return cornucopia to oven, and bake 20 minutes more, or until inside of cornucopia is dry and beginning to brown. Brush hot cornucopia with melted butter, if using. Cool.
nutritional information Per Per serving: Calories: 338; Protein: 8 g; Total Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 53 g; Cholesterol: 16 mg; Sodium: 584 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: less than 1 g
FORK-AND-KNIFE ROASTED VEGETABLES
This recipe begins, "Winter squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts make a colorful roasted vegetable assortment that’s enhanced with a little sweetness and spice. (The food stylist used colorful cauliflower varieties and heirloom squash for even richer hues.) Spoon the vegetables into the Holiday Bread Cornucopia or pile on a platter, and serve with the Essence-of-Thanksgiving Gravy." Serves 8
2 small acorn squash, 1 small kabocha, or 1 red kuri squash (skin left on), cut into 3-inch wedges (3 lb.)
1 small head cauliflower, separated into large florets (1 lb.)
24 cremini or button mushrooms (12 oz.)
8 oz. Brussels sprouts, halved
2 small onions, cut into quarters, stem ends left intact
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1 tsp. spicy seasoning mix, such as barbecue rub or Cajun seasoning
Preheat oven to 350°F; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.
Toss together squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, and onions with 1/4 cup oil. Spread on prepared baking sheets, and roast 10 to 15 minutes, or until vegetables begin to brown. Flip vegetables with tongs, and roast 10 to 15 minutes more.
Stir together remaining 1/4 cup oil, honey, vinegar, and garlic.
Remove baking sheets from oven. Flip vegetables, and daub with honey mixture, sprinkle with seasoning mix, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Return vegetables to oven, and roast 5 minutes. Flip vegetables once more, daub with honey mixture, and sprinkle with seasoning mix. Roast 5 minutes more, or until glistening and browned.
nutritional information Per Per 1 1/2-cup serving: Calories: 229; Protein: 4 g; Total Fat: 14 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 25 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 100 mg; Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 6 g; Gluten-Free
ESSENCE-0F-THANKSGIVING GRAVY
This also comes from the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 56. It begins, "This savory sauce tastes like Thanksgiving because the long simmer time concentrates the classic fall flavors of onions, celery, mushrooms, and fragrant herbs. The gravy is thinner than most so that it can easily be drizzled over the Fork-and-Knife Roasted Vegetables." Makes 3 cups.
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/essence-of-thanksgiving-gravy/.
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 large onions, quartered and sliced (4 cups)
1/2 bunch celery, coarsely chopped (4 cups)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine, optional
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs marjoram
2 sprigs rosemary
Heat butter and oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and mushrooms, and season with salt, if desired. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Uncover, add garlic, and cook 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft and most of liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Stir in flour, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until flour begins to brown. Stir in wine (if using), and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add 5 cups water, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Strain gravy through fine-mesh sieve. Rewarm, if necessary.
nutritional information Per Per 1/4 cup: Calories: 53; Protein: 1 g; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 6 g; Cholesterol: 5 mg; Sodium: 16 mg; Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 1 g
Note: Since Thanksgiving is Thursday, I'll be taking Thursday off. However, I will attempt to post a double-blog on Wednesday, then be back on Friday. Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful.
THANKSGIVING POT PIE
This is from the November 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times, and begins, “Working toward her master's in social work, Adrianne Dickson, who won first place in VT's 2009 Reader Recipe Contest for this recipe, still finds time to read cookbooks for fun. 'I first developed this recipe while living in Montana after my boyfriend told me he loved pot pie,' she explains. 'I started making the crust in a bag when we were working as raft guides and didn't have any place to roll out a crust.'" Serves 8.
To view this online, click here.
Note: The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of red wine. If you're like me and don't normally have wine (or any alcohol) around the house, no problem. I tend to use water in place of it. So don't let the red wine keep you from trying this recipe if you don't have it around; simply use water. Of course, someone's liable to think, "You can't do that!" Yes, I can, and so can you.
Filling
2 medium potatoes, diced (2 cups)
2 large carrots, sliced (1 cup)
3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 16-oz. pkg. firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. San-J Tamari Soy Sauce, divided
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic, divided
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, divided
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 large onion, diced (2 cups)
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup plain soymilk
3 Tbs. red wine
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbs. chopped fresh sage
1 tsp. hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage
To make Filling:
Cook potatoes and carrots in large pot of boiling salted water 10 minutes, or until just tender. Drain, and set aside.
Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, and cook 5 minutes, or until tofu begins to brown. Stir in 2 Tbs. tamari, 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, and cook until all liquid has evaporated.
Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and cook 2 minutes. Add onion, broccoli, and garlic, and sauté 6 to 7 minutes, or until onions begin to soften.
Push veggies to side of Dutch oven. Add remaining 1 Tbs. oil to bottom of pot. Stir flour into oil with fork to make roux; stir until smooth. Stir roux into vegetables.
Stir broth into vegetables. Once gravy is smooth, add tofu, potatoes, carrots, soymilk, remaining 1/4 cup tamari, and wine. Stir gently, then add thyme, sage, hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic, and remaining 1/8 tsp. cayenne. Remove from heat, and set aside, or transfer vegetables to large casserole dish.
To make Crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together flour, salt, and shortening with fork or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in up to 4 Tbs. cold water, if necessary, for dough to stick together. Gently knead rosemary and sage into dough, and shape dough into ball. Place dough ball in plastic bag, and push out from center of ball to shape dough to size of Dutch oven or casserole dish. Remove dough from bag, and lay over vegetable filling in Dutch oven or casserole dish. Poke holes in dough to allow steam to escape. Bake 45 minutes, or until Crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 394; Protein: 12 g; Total Fat: 22 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Cholesterol: less than 1 mg; Sodium: 978 mg; Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 5 g; Vegan
EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE
This comes from One Green Planet's newsletter. The recipe states, “My Easy Cranberry Sauce is not very sweet. It has a tangy tartness and makes a beautiful side dish for your holiday table.”
To view this and other cranberry recipes, click here.
12 oz. Bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, with 1/2 cup set aside
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbs. Water or orange juice
Set aside 1/ 2 cup cranberries in a bowl. Put the rest of the cranberries into a saucepan. Add sugar, orange zest and water or orange juice and cook over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until cranberries burst, about another 10 minutes. Reduce heat back to low and add in the cranberries you set aside. Add more sugar if you want, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool (you can refrigerate it if you like your cranberry sauce cold) before serving.
CARROT CORNBREAD
This comes from the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 65. The Chef is Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Modern Love in Omaha, Nebraska, and the recipe begins, “'This cornbread is the essence of autumn in Nebraska, with a warm orange hue that shines a little brighter at the Thanksgiving table than your average cornbread. It’s perfect for sopping up gravy and sauces,' says Moskowitz. Carrot purée keeps a simple cornbread recipe moist and gives it a gorgeous color." And what do I say about this recipe, which serves 12? Yum!
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/carrot-cornbread/
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup refined coconut oil, melted
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Steam carrots in steamer 15 minutes, or until very tender. Transfer to food processor, and purée until smooth. Cool.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Stir together almond milk and cider vinegar in measuring cup. Set aside to curdle.
Whisk 1 cup carrot purée with maple syrup in large bowl. Whisk in coconut oil, then almond milk mixture.
Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in separate bowl. Fold cornmeal mixture into carrot mixture. Spread in prepared pan, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden and firm to touch. Cool. Cut into 12 squares, and serve.
nutritional information Per Per slice: Calories: 170; Protein: 2 g; Total Fat: 5 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Carbohydrates: 29 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 220 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 9 g; Vegan
HOLIDAY BREAD CORNUCOPIA
Both this and the Fork-and-Knife Roasted Vegetables can be found on page 54 of the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times. This one begins, "This cornucopia is easy to make using poster board and foil, and the result looks like a centerpiece created by a professional baker. Fill it with hot roasted vegetables, or use it as a bread basket for your holiday feast. The cornucopia can be made a day ahead." Serves 12
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/holiday-bread-cornucopia/.
1/4 cup sugar
2 0.25-oz. pkg. dry yeast
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (2 lb.), plus more for flouring work surface
1 Tbs. plus 1 pinch salt, divided
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more to coat bowl
1 large egg
1/2 cup melted butter, optional
Dissolve sugar in 2 cups warm water. Stir yeast into sugar-water mixture, and let stand 5 minutes.
Pulse flour and 1 Tbs. salt in bowl of food processor, or combine in stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Add yeast mixture and oil, and process 1 minute, or beat with mixer 3 to 5 minutes, or until dough forms smooth, sticky ball that hits against sides of food processor or mixing bowl.
Rub large bowl with oil, place dough in bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour in warm place. Punch down dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, and have small glass of water ready. Halve poster board so you have one 20- x 15-inch piece; shape poster board into cone, and tape to hold. Trim open edge of cone so it stands flat on baking sheet. (Trimmed cone should be 7 inches wide at mouth and 15 inches long.) Smoothly cover outside of cone with foil, turning edges in, as necessary. Fill cone with crumpled parchment paper or foil to keep cone from collapsing. Stand cone on prepared baking sheet, and coat foil with cooking spray.
Roll out one-third of dough to 20- x 6-inch rectangle. (Keep remaining dough in refrigerator so it won’t get too soft.) Cut dough into four 20- x 11/2-inch strips. Wrap 1 dough strip around wide base of cone on baking sheet, wetting ends, and pressing ends together to seal so you have a ring of dough. Wet end of second dough strip, press end onto first strip, and wrap around cone, overlapping first dough strip by one-third to one-half of strip width. Wet end, and press to hold in place. Continue wrapping third and fourth dough strips around cone, working your way up to narrow end. Repeat with remaining dough until cone is completely wrapped in overlapping strips of dough. When finished, braid three strips of dough, and wrap around base (wide end of cone). Lay cone on its side on prepared baking sheet, best-looking side up.
Beat egg with 1 Tbs. water and remaining pinch of salt in small bowl. Brush egg wash all over cornucopia.
Bake cornucopia 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove cornucopia from oven. Carefully remove crumpled parchment paper from inside of cone, then gently pull cone away from sides of cornucopia with tongs, and remove. Return cornucopia to oven, and bake 20 minutes more, or until inside of cornucopia is dry and beginning to brown. Brush hot cornucopia with melted butter, if using. Cool.
nutritional information Per Per serving: Calories: 338; Protein: 8 g; Total Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 53 g; Cholesterol: 16 mg; Sodium: 584 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: less than 1 g
FORK-AND-KNIFE ROASTED VEGETABLES
This recipe begins, "Winter squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts make a colorful roasted vegetable assortment that’s enhanced with a little sweetness and spice. (The food stylist used colorful cauliflower varieties and heirloom squash for even richer hues.) Spoon the vegetables into the Holiday Bread Cornucopia or pile on a platter, and serve with the Essence-of-Thanksgiving Gravy." Serves 8
2 small acorn squash, 1 small kabocha, or 1 red kuri squash (skin left on), cut into 3-inch wedges (3 lb.)
1 small head cauliflower, separated into large florets (1 lb.)
24 cremini or button mushrooms (12 oz.)
8 oz. Brussels sprouts, halved
2 small onions, cut into quarters, stem ends left intact
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1 tsp. spicy seasoning mix, such as barbecue rub or Cajun seasoning
Preheat oven to 350°F; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.
Toss together squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, and onions with 1/4 cup oil. Spread on prepared baking sheets, and roast 10 to 15 minutes, or until vegetables begin to brown. Flip vegetables with tongs, and roast 10 to 15 minutes more.
Stir together remaining 1/4 cup oil, honey, vinegar, and garlic.
Remove baking sheets from oven. Flip vegetables, and daub with honey mixture, sprinkle with seasoning mix, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Return vegetables to oven, and roast 5 minutes. Flip vegetables once more, daub with honey mixture, and sprinkle with seasoning mix. Roast 5 minutes more, or until glistening and browned.
nutritional information Per Per 1 1/2-cup serving: Calories: 229; Protein: 4 g; Total Fat: 14 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 25 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 100 mg; Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 6 g; Gluten-Free
ESSENCE-0F-THANKSGIVING GRAVY
This also comes from the November 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 56. It begins, "This savory sauce tastes like Thanksgiving because the long simmer time concentrates the classic fall flavors of onions, celery, mushrooms, and fragrant herbs. The gravy is thinner than most so that it can easily be drizzled over the Fork-and-Knife Roasted Vegetables." Makes 3 cups.
To view this online, go to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/essence-of-thanksgiving-gravy/.
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 large onions, quartered and sliced (4 cups)
1/2 bunch celery, coarsely chopped (4 cups)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine, optional
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs marjoram
2 sprigs rosemary
Heat butter and oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and mushrooms, and season with salt, if desired. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Uncover, add garlic, and cook 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft and most of liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Stir in flour, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until flour begins to brown. Stir in wine (if using), and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add 5 cups water, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Strain gravy through fine-mesh sieve. Rewarm, if necessary.
nutritional information Per Per 1/4 cup: Calories: 53; Protein: 1 g; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 6 g; Cholesterol: 5 mg; Sodium: 16 mg; Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 1 g
Monday, November 21, 2016
Thanksgiving Recipes
Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was good. Ours was interesting, which is sometimes as good as one can hope for. Plus the weather here in Florida is finally cool enough to need to put on the heat. Yes, we had to put the heat on in Florida! Go figure! It doesn't happen often.
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, so I'll be posting food over the next few days that can be used for your Thanksgiving meal - including tacos tomorrow for Taco Tuesday stuff that, while you can eat at any time, can also be used as extras on your Thanksgiving table.
So, without any more chit-chat, here are today's six recipes to help you through the day while getting ready for Thursday. Enjoy!
Note: I'll be taking Thursday off to spend time with family, but will be back on Friday. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving is wonderful and peaceful.
CLASSIC MASHED POTATOES
This is from Julia Moskin in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Julia wrote, “Mashed potatoes are very forgiving, and with a good masher, hot potatoes and enough butter and salt, cooks can accommodate religionists of the fluffy style and partisans of the creamy and dense. Be openhanded with salt and butter but stingy with milk, which will flatten out the bright, earthy potato taste. (And for everything you need to know to make perfect potatoes, visit our potato guide.)”
Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Time: about 45 minutes.
This was featured in “The Secret? It’s Not the Potatoes” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
Salt
2 1/2 pounds potatoes (about 6 large potatoes), preferably a combination of russet (baking) potatoes and large Yukon Golds, or all Yukon Golds
4 tablespoons butter, more for dotting
1/3 cup whole milk
Preparation
In a large pot, bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil over high heat. Peel and quarter potatoes and keep in cold water until ready to cook. (This can be done up to 4 hours in advance.) Add potatoes to boiling water and boil about 15 to 20 minutes, until soft; a knife should go in with almost no resistance. (It is better to overcook than to undercook.)
In a saucepan or a microwave oven, heat butter and milk together until butter melts and mixture steams. Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Using an extruding masher or a ricer, mash hot potatoes until smooth. Lightly mix in about half of hot butter mixture, just until blended. Taste for salt and add more butter mixture until seasoned to your liking.
Stop here for fluffy potatoes. For creamy potatoes, keep stirring potato mixture, using a sturdy spoon to press it against sides and bottom of pot. Mix until dense and thick. For whipped potatoes, use a stand mixer to mash hot potatoes just until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add all the butter mixture and salt to taste, pulsing machine in short bursts at medium speed. When light and creamy, stop mixing immediately. (Potatoes can quickly become sticky.)
To keep hot until ready to serve, transfer to serving bowl, dot top with butter, cover tightly and keep in a warm place, like the back of the stove. Potatoes will stay hot for at least 30 minutes. To keep longer, place covered bowl in a pan holding about an inch of gently simmering water. Before serving, mix well.
Tip:
This recipe can be doubled, tripled and more.
BLOTKAKE (NORWEGIAN CREAM CAKE)
This also comes from Julia Moskin in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Julia wrote, “Blotkake, layered spongecake covered with drifts of whipped cream and fruit, is a dessert that Norwegians are passionate and possessive about. It is a traditional sweet finish for any festive meal, whether a long, dark winter lunch or a long, sunlit summer dinner. ‘Scandinavians really value lingering and feasting at the table,’ said Maren Waxenberg, a Norwegian-American cook who lives in New York City and serves this cake at Thanksgiving.
“Cloudberries are a protected crop in Norway and are rarely available fresh in the United States, but raspberries are a good substitute.”
Yield: 10 to 12 servings; Time: 1 hour, plus cooling.
This was featured in “The American Thanksgiving” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
For the Filling and Frosting:
3 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons cloudberry, raspberry or blackberry preserves
1/3 cup cloudberry or raspberry liqueur (such as Chambord), or berry juice of your choice
12 ounces fresh raspberries or blackberries, for decorating (optional)
Preparation
Bake the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees and mist a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer) until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Sift cake flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then fold into the egg mixture in 2 additions.
Pour batter into pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pan.
Make the frosting and filling: Beat whipping cream, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer 1/3 of the whipped cream to a separate bowl and stir in preserves.
Use a serrated knife to slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Arrange top layer of the cake cut-side-up on a platter. Poke a few holes in the cake layer with a toothpick, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the liqueur or juice.
Spread half the whipped cream and preserves mixture over the cake layer, then arrange middle layer on top. Poke holes in the middle layer with a toothpick and sprinkle with another 1/3 of the liqueur or juice. Top with remaining whipped cream and preserves mixture.
Arrange the bottom cake layer on top of the stack, cut-side-down. Poke more holes and sprinkle with remaining liqueur or juice. Frost top and sides of cake with the whipped cream, using a pastry bag to pipe on stars or other designs, if you'd like. Decorate with fresh berries.
GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
Kathy Kingsley is one of About.com's American Food experts. She writes, “Flavored with fresh ginger and honey, this pumpkin pie is sure to become one of your go-to holiday recipes.” Prep Time: 35 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes; Total Time: 85 minutes; Yield: Serves 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pastry
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
Pumpkin Filling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Honey Whipped Cream
3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, chilled
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Make the pastry dough: Combine the flour, sugar, vegetable shortening, and butter in a food processor and pulse on/off until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. With the motor running, add the ice water through the feed tube, and process just until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
Press the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disc, about 1-inch thick.
On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Turn the edges under, and crimp or flute the crust. Set the pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Brush about teaspoon of the egg around the edge of the crust.
Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, sugar, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt to the eggs, and mix until well blended. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is set. If the edges become too dark during baking, carefully cover them with foil strips (see Recipe Notes). Set the pie on a wire rack to cool. If not serving right away, cover and chill.
When ready to serve, make the honey whipped cream. Put the cream into a medium bowl. Add the honey and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Serve the pie topped with the whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
• To make a foil collar to prevent edges of pie from browning too much, fold a 12-inch-long piece of foil into a strip with 3-inch-high sides. Stand the strip on the oven rack around the pie dish. Secure the overhang with a paper clip. The collar doesn't have to touch or cover the crust to protect it.
SKILLET PUMPKIN CORNBREAD
This comes from Judy Kim on Delish. Judy wrote, “”Pumpkin bread goes the savory route.” Total Time: 35 minutes; Prep Time: 5 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 6 servings.
Note: According to the footnote with the recipe, “Judy Kim is a NYC-based food stylist, recipe developer, and photographer. She also writes recipes for her website The Judy Lab.” If you’ve never been to her sit, I highly recommend doing so. Very nice site!
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 c. pumpkin purée
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Directions
Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Grease 10" cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon butter, set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk, egg, brown sugar and 1/4 cup melted butter. Pour in cornmeal mixture and whisk together. Transfer to skillet and bake 25 to 30 minutes. (Test doneness by pricking center with a toothpick—it should come out clean.) Immediately spread remaining tablespoon butter all over.
Cool for 5 minutes and serve immediately.
GARLICKY GREEN BEANS WITH CRISPY ONIONS
This also comes from Judy Kim on Delish. Judy wrote, “Crispier and quicker than mushy casserole.” Total Time: 25 minutes; Prep Time: 5 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 6 servings
Note: Judy had 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth. Since this is a vegetarian blog – I am, after all, a vegetarian (99.9% of the time, anyway), I changed the chicken broth to vegetable broth. Judy, if you're reading this, I hope you're not offended.
Ingredients
Canola oil, for frying
1 large onion, thinly sliced using a mandoline
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
kosher salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1/2 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
Freshly ground black pepper
1 c. Grated Cheddar
Directions
Heat a large pot with 2" oil over medium-high heat. In a large mixing bowl separate onions into rings and toss with flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Shake onions and discard excess flour. When oil is hot but not smoking, add handful of onions; fry until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with additional batches.
Meanwhile in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat melt butter with garlic. Add green beans and chicken broth; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir and cover with lid to steam; cooked until al dente, about 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle cheese all over and cover with lid until melted.
Top with crispy onions and serve immediately.
ROASTED GREEN BEAN BUNDLES
This recipe comes from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 58. It starts off, “These individual bundles of seasoned, roasted green beans will impress guests and make serving a cinch.” Serves 8 in 30 minutes or less.
This can be viewed online here.
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 Tbs. garlic-flavored olive oil
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
Lemon slices, for garnish, optional
Hawaiian salt, black salt, or fleur de sel, for garnish, optional
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray.
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and red onion, and blanch 3 minutes. Drain, then pat vegetables dry with paper towels.
Whisk together oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Add beans and onion slices; toss to coat.
Group beans and onion slices into 8 bundles (about 10 to 15 beans each), and tie each bundle with 8-inch piece of kitchen twine. Place bundles tie side down on prepared baking sheet. Bake 7 to 10 minutes, or until bean ends begin to brown. Flip bundles with spatula so tie side is up, and bake 7 to 10 minutes more, or until all bean tips are brown. Transfer bundles to serving plate, and garnish with lemon slices and Hawaiian salt, if using.
nutritional information Per Bundle: Calories: 35; Protein: 1 g; Total Fat: 2 g; Saturated Fat: less than 1 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 80 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 2 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, so I'll be posting food over the next few days that can be used for your Thanksgiving meal - including tacos tomorrow for Taco Tuesday stuff that, while you can eat at any time, can also be used as extras on your Thanksgiving table.
So, without any more chit-chat, here are today's six recipes to help you through the day while getting ready for Thursday. Enjoy!
Note: I'll be taking Thursday off to spend time with family, but will be back on Friday. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving is wonderful and peaceful.
CLASSIC MASHED POTATOES
This is from Julia Moskin in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Julia wrote, “Mashed potatoes are very forgiving, and with a good masher, hot potatoes and enough butter and salt, cooks can accommodate religionists of the fluffy style and partisans of the creamy and dense. Be openhanded with salt and butter but stingy with milk, which will flatten out the bright, earthy potato taste. (And for everything you need to know to make perfect potatoes, visit our potato guide.)”
Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Time: about 45 minutes.
This was featured in “The Secret? It’s Not the Potatoes” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
Salt
2 1/2 pounds potatoes (about 6 large potatoes), preferably a combination of russet (baking) potatoes and large Yukon Golds, or all Yukon Golds
4 tablespoons butter, more for dotting
1/3 cup whole milk
Preparation
In a large pot, bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil over high heat. Peel and quarter potatoes and keep in cold water until ready to cook. (This can be done up to 4 hours in advance.) Add potatoes to boiling water and boil about 15 to 20 minutes, until soft; a knife should go in with almost no resistance. (It is better to overcook than to undercook.)
In a saucepan or a microwave oven, heat butter and milk together until butter melts and mixture steams. Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Using an extruding masher or a ricer, mash hot potatoes until smooth. Lightly mix in about half of hot butter mixture, just until blended. Taste for salt and add more butter mixture until seasoned to your liking.
Stop here for fluffy potatoes. For creamy potatoes, keep stirring potato mixture, using a sturdy spoon to press it against sides and bottom of pot. Mix until dense and thick. For whipped potatoes, use a stand mixer to mash hot potatoes just until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add all the butter mixture and salt to taste, pulsing machine in short bursts at medium speed. When light and creamy, stop mixing immediately. (Potatoes can quickly become sticky.)
To keep hot until ready to serve, transfer to serving bowl, dot top with butter, cover tightly and keep in a warm place, like the back of the stove. Potatoes will stay hot for at least 30 minutes. To keep longer, place covered bowl in a pan holding about an inch of gently simmering water. Before serving, mix well.
Tip:
This recipe can be doubled, tripled and more.
BLOTKAKE (NORWEGIAN CREAM CAKE)
This also comes from Julia Moskin in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Julia wrote, “Blotkake, layered spongecake covered with drifts of whipped cream and fruit, is a dessert that Norwegians are passionate and possessive about. It is a traditional sweet finish for any festive meal, whether a long, dark winter lunch or a long, sunlit summer dinner. ‘Scandinavians really value lingering and feasting at the table,’ said Maren Waxenberg, a Norwegian-American cook who lives in New York City and serves this cake at Thanksgiving.
“Cloudberries are a protected crop in Norway and are rarely available fresh in the United States, but raspberries are a good substitute.”
Yield: 10 to 12 servings; Time: 1 hour, plus cooling.
This was featured in “The American Thanksgiving” and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
For the Filling and Frosting:
3 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons cloudberry, raspberry or blackberry preserves
1/3 cup cloudberry or raspberry liqueur (such as Chambord), or berry juice of your choice
12 ounces fresh raspberries or blackberries, for decorating (optional)
Preparation
Bake the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees and mist a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer) until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Sift cake flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then fold into the egg mixture in 2 additions.
Pour batter into pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pan.
Make the frosting and filling: Beat whipping cream, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer 1/3 of the whipped cream to a separate bowl and stir in preserves.
Use a serrated knife to slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Arrange top layer of the cake cut-side-up on a platter. Poke a few holes in the cake layer with a toothpick, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the liqueur or juice.
Spread half the whipped cream and preserves mixture over the cake layer, then arrange middle layer on top. Poke holes in the middle layer with a toothpick and sprinkle with another 1/3 of the liqueur or juice. Top with remaining whipped cream and preserves mixture.
Arrange the bottom cake layer on top of the stack, cut-side-down. Poke more holes and sprinkle with remaining liqueur or juice. Frost top and sides of cake with the whipped cream, using a pastry bag to pipe on stars or other designs, if you'd like. Decorate with fresh berries.
GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
Kathy Kingsley is one of About.com's American Food experts. She writes, “Flavored with fresh ginger and honey, this pumpkin pie is sure to become one of your go-to holiday recipes.” Prep Time: 35 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes; Total Time: 85 minutes; Yield: Serves 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pastry
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
Pumpkin Filling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Honey Whipped Cream
3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, chilled
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Make the pastry dough: Combine the flour, sugar, vegetable shortening, and butter in a food processor and pulse on/off until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. With the motor running, add the ice water through the feed tube, and process just until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
Press the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disc, about 1-inch thick.
On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Turn the edges under, and crimp or flute the crust. Set the pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Brush about teaspoon of the egg around the edge of the crust.
Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, sugar, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt to the eggs, and mix until well blended. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is set. If the edges become too dark during baking, carefully cover them with foil strips (see Recipe Notes). Set the pie on a wire rack to cool. If not serving right away, cover and chill.
When ready to serve, make the honey whipped cream. Put the cream into a medium bowl. Add the honey and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Serve the pie topped with the whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
• To make a foil collar to prevent edges of pie from browning too much, fold a 12-inch-long piece of foil into a strip with 3-inch-high sides. Stand the strip on the oven rack around the pie dish. Secure the overhang with a paper clip. The collar doesn't have to touch or cover the crust to protect it.
SKILLET PUMPKIN CORNBREAD
This comes from Judy Kim on Delish. Judy wrote, “”Pumpkin bread goes the savory route.” Total Time: 35 minutes; Prep Time: 5 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 6 servings.
Note: According to the footnote with the recipe, “Judy Kim is a NYC-based food stylist, recipe developer, and photographer. She also writes recipes for her website The Judy Lab.” If you’ve never been to her sit, I highly recommend doing so. Very nice site!
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 c. pumpkin purée
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Directions
Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Grease 10" cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon butter, set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk, egg, brown sugar and 1/4 cup melted butter. Pour in cornmeal mixture and whisk together. Transfer to skillet and bake 25 to 30 minutes. (Test doneness by pricking center with a toothpick—it should come out clean.) Immediately spread remaining tablespoon butter all over.
Cool for 5 minutes and serve immediately.
GARLICKY GREEN BEANS WITH CRISPY ONIONS
This also comes from Judy Kim on Delish. Judy wrote, “Crispier and quicker than mushy casserole.” Total Time: 25 minutes; Prep Time: 5 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 6 servings
Note: Judy had 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth. Since this is a vegetarian blog – I am, after all, a vegetarian (99.9% of the time, anyway), I changed the chicken broth to vegetable broth. Judy, if you're reading this, I hope you're not offended.
Ingredients
Canola oil, for frying
1 large onion, thinly sliced using a mandoline
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
kosher salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1/2 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
Freshly ground black pepper
1 c. Grated Cheddar
Directions
Heat a large pot with 2" oil over medium-high heat. In a large mixing bowl separate onions into rings and toss with flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Shake onions and discard excess flour. When oil is hot but not smoking, add handful of onions; fry until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with additional batches.
Meanwhile in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat melt butter with garlic. Add green beans and chicken broth; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir and cover with lid to steam; cooked until al dente, about 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle cheese all over and cover with lid until melted.
Top with crispy onions and serve immediately.
ROASTED GREEN BEAN BUNDLES
This recipe comes from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 58. It starts off, “These individual bundles of seasoned, roasted green beans will impress guests and make serving a cinch.” Serves 8 in 30 minutes or less.
This can be viewed online here.
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 Tbs. garlic-flavored olive oil
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
Lemon slices, for garnish, optional
Hawaiian salt, black salt, or fleur de sel, for garnish, optional
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray.
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and red onion, and blanch 3 minutes. Drain, then pat vegetables dry with paper towels.
Whisk together oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Add beans and onion slices; toss to coat.
Group beans and onion slices into 8 bundles (about 10 to 15 beans each), and tie each bundle with 8-inch piece of kitchen twine. Place bundles tie side down on prepared baking sheet. Bake 7 to 10 minutes, or until bean ends begin to brown. Flip bundles with spatula so tie side is up, and bake 7 to 10 minutes more, or until all bean tips are brown. Transfer bundles to serving plate, and garnish with lemon slices and Hawaiian salt, if using.
nutritional information Per Bundle: Calories: 35; Protein: 1 g; Total Fat: 2 g; Saturated Fat: less than 1 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 80 mg; Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 2 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free
Friday, November 18, 2016
More Pies!
Here are six more pie recipes to help go with your Thanksgiving dinner - or any time. Enjoy!
SALTED MAPLE CHESS PIE
This comes from The Baker Chick (otherwise known as Audra). If you haven’t signed up for her emails, I highly recommend doing it!
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Single layer Pie Crust*
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Flakey sea salt (Like Maldon)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large bowl beat the eggs until fluffy and blended. Add in the cream, vanilla, maple syrup and brown sugar, mixing on medium high until smooth. Add butter, cornmeal and vinegar and mix everything until smooth and free of any clumps or streaks.
Roll your pie crust into a 11 inch circle and drape onto your pie plate.crimp or flute the edges with a fork or your fingers. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325F and bake for 40 minutes until the edges are set but the middle is still wobbly. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Allow to cool completely before serving, or chill and serve cold. Serve plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
*If you'd like to add the braided crust like I did, I recommend making 1 1/2 times the regular pie crust recipe. Having a little extra allows you to try a few times and use your favorite braid on the crust. To attach it, brush the edge of your crust with egg wash and then gently press it on. Then brush the whole this with the egg wash and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
**If you like a crisper crust on the bottom, I recommend par baking the crust before adding the filling. Fill with parchment and beans or pie weights and then bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and then add your filling.
PEANUT BUTTER PIE
I’d driven cab for several years. One Friday afternoon, I got a call to pick up a single dad from the store. When I dropped him off, his son and daughter came out of the trailer to help bring in the groceries.
“Did you remember to get the stuff for the peanut butter pie?” his daughter asked. They were taking it to an early Thanksgiving gathering that weekend.
“Sure did,” he answered.
“Peanut butter pie?” I asked, as we finished unloading the groceries. “How do you make that?”
“With peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, and a few other things,” came the answer.
The following week, I managed to pick the dad up again. This time, I managed to get the ingredients: pie crust, peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, cream cheese and Cool Whip. It wasn’t until the third (and final) time I picked him up in as many weeks that I got the exact amounts. He used 1/3 cup each of peanut butter and sugar, both of which I upped to 1/2 cup each.
This is in my e-cookbook, Off The Wall Cooking.
8-ounce tub of Cool Whip (see note)
8-ounce block of cream cheese (see note)
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth is preferable)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Pie crust (see note)
Put Cool Whip, cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. With beaters, beat on high. Pour into pie crust, smooth out, and freeze for 1 hour.
Note: Cool whip (or store equivalent) can be fat-free. Cream cheese can be regular cream cheese or the 1/3 less fat kind, but do not use fat free, as the pie won't set up right. I usually use a store-bought graham cracker crust for the pie, which is what the man used to make this. However, you can also use an Oreo cookie crust.
MOM’S SOUTHERN PECAN PIE
Servings: 10
Source: Sweet Inspirations - A Sugar Free Dessert Cookbook
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Ingredients
1 unbaked pie shell
1 cup fruit sweetener **
1 envelope plain gelatin
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp very strong coffee or espresso (prepared, not grounds)
24 pecan halves
**To make this fruit sweetener, mix together 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed) and 1/2 cup granulated fructose.
Directions
Prepare pastry and place in 9-inch pie pan.
In large bowl, combine fruit sweetener, gelatin and apple sauce. Beat with electric mixer.
In small bowl, blend water and cornstarch until smooth. Add cornstarch to fruit sweetener mixture and blend. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and coffee. Pour mixture into pie shell. Decorate top with pecan halves.
Bake 30-40 minutes (until custard is set) at 375F. Cool slightly before cutting.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 211; Protein: 3 g; Fat: 9 g; Sodium: 69 mg; Cholesterol: 82 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 1 Bread; 2 Fat
CRANBERRY PIE
My dad loved to cook, and usually came up with decent recipes. He sent this one in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.” (It can be found in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking.)
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1 1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Make as above.
CHOCOLATE-CRUSTED PUMPKIN PIE
This comes from the October 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 71. It starts off, "Tweak the holiday pie tradition with a chocolate crust and pumpkin filling that's thickened with cornstarch, not eggs." Makes 1 9-inch pie (serves 8)
This recipe can be viewed online here.
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick Earth Balance margarine, cubed
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling
1 1/2 cups Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Purée or 1 15-oz. can puréed pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
6 Tbs. Earth Balance margarine, melted
To make Crust: Pulse flour, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar in food processor until combined. Add margarine, and process until mixture resembles sand. With processor running, add vanilla and 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water, and process until smooth dough forms. Chill 2 hours.
Roll out dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface. Press into 9-inch pie pan. Chill 30 minutes.
To make Filling: Drain pumpkin in mesh strainer over bowl 30 minutes.
Combine almond milk and lemon juice in bowl. Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Whisk in almond milk mixture, then pumpkin and margarine.
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place Crust on baking sheet, top with parchment paper, and fill with dried beans to weigh down. Reduce oven heat to 350˚F, and bake Crust 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans, and bake 5 minutes.
Pour Filling into Crust, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until Filling is bubbling in center. Cool completely before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 377; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Carbohydrates: 47 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 361 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 24 g; Vegan
GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
Kathy Kingsley is one of About.com's American Food experts. She writes, “Flavored with fresh ginger and honey, this pumpkin pie is sure to become one of your go-to holiday recipes.” Prep Time: 35 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes; Total Time: 85 minutes; Yield: Serves 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pastry
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
Pumpkin Filling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Honey Whipped Cream
3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, chilled
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Make the pastry dough: Combine the flour, sugar, vegetable shortening, and butter in a food processor and pulse on/off until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. With the motor running, add the ice water through the feed tube, and process just until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
Press the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disc, about 1-inch thick.
On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Turn the edges under, and crimp or flute the crust. Set the pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Brush about teaspoon of the egg around the edge of the crust.
Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, sugar, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt to the eggs, and mix until well blended. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is set. If the edges become too dark during baking, carefully cover them with foil strips (see Recipe Notes). Set the pie on a wire rack to cool. If not serving right away, cover and chill.
When ready to serve, make the honey whipped cream. Put the cream into a medium bowl. Add the honey and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Serve the pie topped with the whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
• To make a foil collar to prevent edges of pie from browning too much, fold a 12-inch-long piece of foil into a strip with 3-inch-high sides. Stand the strip on the oven rack around the pie dish. Secure the overhang with a paper clip. The collar doesn't have to touch or cover the crust to protect it.
SALTED MAPLE CHESS PIE
This comes from The Baker Chick (otherwise known as Audra). If you haven’t signed up for her emails, I highly recommend doing it!
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Single layer Pie Crust*
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Flakey sea salt (Like Maldon)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large bowl beat the eggs until fluffy and blended. Add in the cream, vanilla, maple syrup and brown sugar, mixing on medium high until smooth. Add butter, cornmeal and vinegar and mix everything until smooth and free of any clumps or streaks.
Roll your pie crust into a 11 inch circle and drape onto your pie plate.crimp or flute the edges with a fork or your fingers. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325F and bake for 40 minutes until the edges are set but the middle is still wobbly. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Allow to cool completely before serving, or chill and serve cold. Serve plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
*If you'd like to add the braided crust like I did, I recommend making 1 1/2 times the regular pie crust recipe. Having a little extra allows you to try a few times and use your favorite braid on the crust. To attach it, brush the edge of your crust with egg wash and then gently press it on. Then brush the whole this with the egg wash and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
**If you like a crisper crust on the bottom, I recommend par baking the crust before adding the filling. Fill with parchment and beans or pie weights and then bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and then add your filling.
PEANUT BUTTER PIE
I’d driven cab for several years. One Friday afternoon, I got a call to pick up a single dad from the store. When I dropped him off, his son and daughter came out of the trailer to help bring in the groceries.
“Did you remember to get the stuff for the peanut butter pie?” his daughter asked. They were taking it to an early Thanksgiving gathering that weekend.
“Sure did,” he answered.
“Peanut butter pie?” I asked, as we finished unloading the groceries. “How do you make that?”
“With peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, and a few other things,” came the answer.
The following week, I managed to pick the dad up again. This time, I managed to get the ingredients: pie crust, peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, cream cheese and Cool Whip. It wasn’t until the third (and final) time I picked him up in as many weeks that I got the exact amounts. He used 1/3 cup each of peanut butter and sugar, both of which I upped to 1/2 cup each.
This is in my e-cookbook, Off The Wall Cooking.
8-ounce tub of Cool Whip (see note)
8-ounce block of cream cheese (see note)
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth is preferable)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Pie crust (see note)
Put Cool Whip, cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. With beaters, beat on high. Pour into pie crust, smooth out, and freeze for 1 hour.
Note: Cool whip (or store equivalent) can be fat-free. Cream cheese can be regular cream cheese or the 1/3 less fat kind, but do not use fat free, as the pie won't set up right. I usually use a store-bought graham cracker crust for the pie, which is what the man used to make this. However, you can also use an Oreo cookie crust.
MOM’S SOUTHERN PECAN PIE
Servings: 10
Source: Sweet Inspirations - A Sugar Free Dessert Cookbook
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/162.shtml
Ingredients
1 unbaked pie shell
1 cup fruit sweetener **
1 envelope plain gelatin
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp very strong coffee or espresso (prepared, not grounds)
24 pecan halves
**To make this fruit sweetener, mix together 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed) and 1/2 cup granulated fructose.
Directions
Prepare pastry and place in 9-inch pie pan.
In large bowl, combine fruit sweetener, gelatin and apple sauce. Beat with electric mixer.
In small bowl, blend water and cornstarch until smooth. Add cornstarch to fruit sweetener mixture and blend. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and coffee. Pour mixture into pie shell. Decorate top with pecan halves.
Bake 30-40 minutes (until custard is set) at 375F. Cool slightly before cutting.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 211; Protein: 3 g; Fat: 9 g; Sodium: 69 mg; Cholesterol: 82 mg; Carbohydrates: 28 g; Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 1 Bread; 2 Fat
CRANBERRY PIE
My dad loved to cook, and usually came up with decent recipes. He sent this one in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.” (It can be found in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking.)
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1 1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Make as above.
CHOCOLATE-CRUSTED PUMPKIN PIE
This comes from the October 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 71. It starts off, "Tweak the holiday pie tradition with a chocolate crust and pumpkin filling that's thickened with cornstarch, not eggs." Makes 1 9-inch pie (serves 8)
This recipe can be viewed online here.
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick Earth Balance margarine, cubed
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling
1 1/2 cups Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Purée or 1 15-oz. can puréed pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
6 Tbs. Earth Balance margarine, melted
To make Crust: Pulse flour, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar in food processor until combined. Add margarine, and process until mixture resembles sand. With processor running, add vanilla and 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water, and process until smooth dough forms. Chill 2 hours.
Roll out dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface. Press into 9-inch pie pan. Chill 30 minutes.
To make Filling: Drain pumpkin in mesh strainer over bowl 30 minutes.
Combine almond milk and lemon juice in bowl. Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Whisk in almond milk mixture, then pumpkin and margarine.
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place Crust on baking sheet, top with parchment paper, and fill with dried beans to weigh down. Reduce oven heat to 350˚F, and bake Crust 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans, and bake 5 minutes.
Pour Filling into Crust, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until Filling is bubbling in center. Cool completely before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 377; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Carbohydrates: 47 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 361 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 24 g; Vegan
GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
Kathy Kingsley is one of About.com's American Food experts. She writes, “Flavored with fresh ginger and honey, this pumpkin pie is sure to become one of your go-to holiday recipes.” Prep Time: 35 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes; Total Time: 85 minutes; Yield: Serves 8
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Pastry
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
Pumpkin Filling
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Honey Whipped Cream
3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, chilled
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Make the pastry dough: Combine the flour, sugar, vegetable shortening, and butter in a food processor and pulse on/off until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. With the motor running, add the ice water through the feed tube, and process just until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
Press the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disc, about 1-inch thick.
On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Turn the edges under, and crimp or flute the crust. Set the pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Brush about teaspoon of the egg around the edge of the crust.
Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, sugar, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt to the eggs, and mix until well blended. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is set. If the edges become too dark during baking, carefully cover them with foil strips (see Recipe Notes). Set the pie on a wire rack to cool. If not serving right away, cover and chill.
When ready to serve, make the honey whipped cream. Put the cream into a medium bowl. Add the honey and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Serve the pie topped with the whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
• To make a foil collar to prevent edges of pie from browning too much, fold a 12-inch-long piece of foil into a strip with 3-inch-high sides. Stand the strip on the oven rack around the pie dish. Secure the overhang with a paper clip. The collar doesn't have to touch or cover the crust to protect it.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Thanksgiving Recipes - A Week Early
Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving (yes, already!!!), I wanted to post these to help out with your Thanksgiving meal.
Of course, you can fix these at any time. While the Spiced Almonds are festive snacks great for holiday gatherings, they can be used at any gather. And for any recipe calling for cranberries, here's a good idea: buy extra bags of cranberries and stash them in your freezer to use year round! I do that every year so that I can enjoy my dad's Cranberry Pie (posted November 17, 2016) all year.
So, here are today's six vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes to get you started. Enjoy!
Note: I'll be taking Thanksgiving Day off and will return on Friday. Hope your holiday is wonderful!
SPICED ALMONDS
This is from page 48 of the March 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. It starts off, “Tapas-style almonds are traditionally deep-fried in oil, but this recipe gets the same crunchy results from oven roasting.” This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 2 cups.
4 tsp. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp. hot smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups blanched whole almonds
1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt, or to taste
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Warm oil in small saucepan over low heat. Add paprika and cumin, and stir 1 minute to blend and release flavors. Remove from heat when mixture just begins to bubble. Transfer to medium bowl, and stir in almonds.
Transfrer almonds to parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Aprinkle immediately with salt, and transfer to wire rack. Let dry at least 2 hours before serving.
Per 1/4-cup serving: 233 cal; 8 g protein; 21 g total fat (2 g saturated fat); 8 g carb; 0 mg cholesterol; 131 mg sodium; 4 g fiber; 2 g sugars
CRANBERRY TART WITH NUT CRUST
This is from The Kitchn, one of my favorite email newsletters. Serves 6. Makes one 9-inch tart.
To view online, click here.
For the pie:
4 cups (16 ounces) fresh (or defrosted) whole cranberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup golden syrup
Zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
For the crust:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup nut flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 to 3 tablespoons cold water
In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar and golden syrup over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Add the cranberries and lemon zest and turn over several times to coat evenly with the sugar mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Prepare the dough: If using a food processor, combine the dry ingredients in the processor bowl and pulse to combine. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse several times until the consistency of oatmeal. If preparing by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter pieces and cut in with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal.
Continue preparing the dough by adding the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just barely comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto the counter and gather up and shape into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a rough 9-inch circle. Carefully transfer to a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough into the pan and then form a lip around the edge by turning the pan while gently pinching the lip between your left thumb on the outside and right thumb and forefinger on the inside. Chill the prepared pan for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
When ready to bake, remove the prepared pan from the refrigerator and prick the bottom a few times with the tines of a fork. Line the bottom of the tart shell with pie weights or a layer of parchment paper and uncooked beans. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust begins to show some drying and browning.
Remove the tart shell from the oven and pour the cool cranberry mixture into the shell, spreading it out from the middle so as not to drip on the lip of the crust. Drizzle any remaining sugar mixture from the pan throughout the shell, again avoiding the lip of the tart.
Bake for another 30 minutes, or until crust deepens in color and the filling is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack. Carefully remove the outer ring, and serve while still warm, or at room temperature. Top with a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of cream.
CHOCOLATE-CRUSTED PUMPKIN PIE
This comes from the October 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 71. It starts off, "Tweak the holiday pie tradition with a chocolate crust and pumpkin filling that's thickened with cornstarch, not eggs." Makes 1 9-inch pie (serves 8)
This recipe can be viewed online here.
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick Earth Balance margarine, cubed
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling
1 1/2 cups Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Purée or 1 15-oz. can puréed pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
6 Tbs. Earth Balance margarine, melted
To make Crust: Pulse flour, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar in food processor until combined. Add margarine, and process until mixture resembles sand. With processor running, add vanilla and 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water, and process until smooth dough forms. Chill 2 hours.
Roll out dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface. Press into 9-inch pie pan. Chill 30 minutes.
To make Filling: Drain pumpkin in mesh strainer over bowl 30 minutes.
Combine almond milk and lemon juice in bowl. Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Whisk in almond milk mixture, then pumpkin and margarine.
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place Crust on baking sheet, top with parchment paper, and fill with dried beans to weigh down. Reduce oven heat to 350˚F, and bake Crust 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans, and bake 5 minutes.
Pour Filling into Crust, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until Filling is bubbling in center. Cool completely before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 377; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Carbohydrates: 47 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 361 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 24 g; Vegan
SWEET POTATO PUREE WITH CANDIED PECANS
This comes from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 52. It starts off, This recipe straddles the line between luscious side dish and low-key dessert. To bring the dish to a potluck, keep the candied pecans crunchy by packing them separately and sprinkling them on the dish just before serving.
Candied Pecans
1 1/2 cups raw pecan halves
2 Tbs. pure maple syrup
1 Tbs. coconut oil, melted
2 Tbs. raw organic cane sugar
Sweet Potato Purée
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbs. coconut oil
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk, warmed
To make Candied Pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray. Spread pecans on prepared baking sheet, and toast 4 minutes.
Transfer pecans to large bowl, and stir in maple syrup and coconut oil. Stir in sugar until pecans are thoroughly coated. Return to baking sheet, and bake 3 to 5 minutes more, or until pecans look dry. Cool. Transfer to food processor, and pulse several times, or until pecans resemble chunky crumble. Transfer to small bowl, and set aside.
To make Sweet Potato Purée: Preheat oven to 400°F, and line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray. Toss together sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and coconut oil in large bowl. Transfer sweet potatoes to prepared baking sheet, and roast 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.
Purée sweet potatoes and coconut milk in food processor until creamy. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and spread in 2-qt. casserole. Sprinkle Candied Pecans over top.
nutritional information Per 1/2-cup serving: Calories: 285; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Carbohydrates: 26 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 23 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 15 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free
EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE
This comes from One Green Planet's newsletter. The recipe states, “My Easy Cranberry Sauce is not very sweet. It has a tangy tartness and makes a beautiful side dish for your holiday table.”
To view this and other cranberry recipes, click here.
12 oz. Bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, with 1/2 cup set aside
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbs. Water or orange juice
Set aside 1/ 2 cup cranberries in a bowl. Put the rest of the cranberries into a saucepan. Add sugar, orange zest and water or orange juice and cook over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until cranberries burst, about another 10 minutes. Reduce heat back to low and add in the cranberries you set aside. Add more sugar if you want, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool (you can refrigerate it if you like your cranberry sauce cold) before serving.
MULLED APPLE-CRANBERRY CIDER
This comes from Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, it was sent to me a number of years ago (try 2006) and while I tried to find the link for it on the WW site, I couldn’t locate it. If anyone reading this can shed light on this, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know.
POINTS® Value | 2; Servings | 6; Preparation Time | 5 min; Cooking Time | 15 min; Level of Difficulty | Easy
This begins, “This hot drink is perfect for chilly autumn nights. Curl up with a good book and indulge.”
Ingredients
3 cup apple cider
3 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp orange zest
3 average cinnamon stick
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a slow boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes and then strain into mugs. Yields about 1 cup per serving.
Of course, you can fix these at any time. While the Spiced Almonds are festive snacks great for holiday gatherings, they can be used at any gather. And for any recipe calling for cranberries, here's a good idea: buy extra bags of cranberries and stash them in your freezer to use year round! I do that every year so that I can enjoy my dad's Cranberry Pie (posted November 17, 2016) all year.
So, here are today's six vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes to get you started. Enjoy!
Note: I'll be taking Thanksgiving Day off and will return on Friday. Hope your holiday is wonderful!
SPICED ALMONDS
This is from page 48 of the March 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. It starts off, “Tapas-style almonds are traditionally deep-fried in oil, but this recipe gets the same crunchy results from oven roasting.” This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 2 cups.
4 tsp. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp. hot smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups blanched whole almonds
1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt, or to taste
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Warm oil in small saucepan over low heat. Add paprika and cumin, and stir 1 minute to blend and release flavors. Remove from heat when mixture just begins to bubble. Transfer to medium bowl, and stir in almonds.
Transfrer almonds to parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Aprinkle immediately with salt, and transfer to wire rack. Let dry at least 2 hours before serving.
Per 1/4-cup serving: 233 cal; 8 g protein; 21 g total fat (2 g saturated fat); 8 g carb; 0 mg cholesterol; 131 mg sodium; 4 g fiber; 2 g sugars
CRANBERRY TART WITH NUT CRUST
This is from The Kitchn, one of my favorite email newsletters. Serves 6. Makes one 9-inch tart.
To view online, click here.
For the pie:
4 cups (16 ounces) fresh (or defrosted) whole cranberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup golden syrup
Zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
For the crust:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup nut flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 to 3 tablespoons cold water
In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar and golden syrup over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Add the cranberries and lemon zest and turn over several times to coat evenly with the sugar mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Prepare the dough: If using a food processor, combine the dry ingredients in the processor bowl and pulse to combine. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse several times until the consistency of oatmeal. If preparing by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter pieces and cut in with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal.
Continue preparing the dough by adding the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just barely comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto the counter and gather up and shape into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a rough 9-inch circle. Carefully transfer to a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough into the pan and then form a lip around the edge by turning the pan while gently pinching the lip between your left thumb on the outside and right thumb and forefinger on the inside. Chill the prepared pan for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
When ready to bake, remove the prepared pan from the refrigerator and prick the bottom a few times with the tines of a fork. Line the bottom of the tart shell with pie weights or a layer of parchment paper and uncooked beans. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust begins to show some drying and browning.
Remove the tart shell from the oven and pour the cool cranberry mixture into the shell, spreading it out from the middle so as not to drip on the lip of the crust. Drizzle any remaining sugar mixture from the pan throughout the shell, again avoiding the lip of the tart.
Bake for another 30 minutes, or until crust deepens in color and the filling is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack. Carefully remove the outer ring, and serve while still warm, or at room temperature. Top with a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of cream.
CHOCOLATE-CRUSTED PUMPKIN PIE
This comes from the October 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 71. It starts off, "Tweak the holiday pie tradition with a chocolate crust and pumpkin filling that's thickened with cornstarch, not eggs." Makes 1 9-inch pie (serves 8)
This recipe can be viewed online here.
Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick Earth Balance margarine, cubed
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling
1 1/2 cups Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Purée or 1 15-oz. can puréed pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
6 Tbs. Earth Balance margarine, melted
To make Crust: Pulse flour, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar in food processor until combined. Add margarine, and process until mixture resembles sand. With processor running, add vanilla and 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water, and process until smooth dough forms. Chill 2 hours.
Roll out dough to 11-inch circle on floured work surface. Press into 9-inch pie pan. Chill 30 minutes.
To make Filling: Drain pumpkin in mesh strainer over bowl 30 minutes.
Combine almond milk and lemon juice in bowl. Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Whisk in almond milk mixture, then pumpkin and margarine.
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place Crust on baking sheet, top with parchment paper, and fill with dried beans to weigh down. Reduce oven heat to 350˚F, and bake Crust 10 minutes. Remove parchment and beans, and bake 5 minutes.
Pour Filling into Crust, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until Filling is bubbling in center. Cool completely before serving.
nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 377; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Carbohydrates: 47 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 361 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 24 g; Vegan
SWEET POTATO PUREE WITH CANDIED PECANS
This comes from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 52. It starts off, This recipe straddles the line between luscious side dish and low-key dessert. To bring the dish to a potluck, keep the candied pecans crunchy by packing them separately and sprinkling them on the dish just before serving.
Candied Pecans
1 1/2 cups raw pecan halves
2 Tbs. pure maple syrup
1 Tbs. coconut oil, melted
2 Tbs. raw organic cane sugar
Sweet Potato Purée
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbs. coconut oil
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk, warmed
To make Candied Pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray. Spread pecans on prepared baking sheet, and toast 4 minutes.
Transfer pecans to large bowl, and stir in maple syrup and coconut oil. Stir in sugar until pecans are thoroughly coated. Return to baking sheet, and bake 3 to 5 minutes more, or until pecans look dry. Cool. Transfer to food processor, and pulse several times, or until pecans resemble chunky crumble. Transfer to small bowl, and set aside.
To make Sweet Potato Purée: Preheat oven to 400°F, and line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray. Toss together sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and coconut oil in large bowl. Transfer sweet potatoes to prepared baking sheet, and roast 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.
Purée sweet potatoes and coconut milk in food processor until creamy. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and spread in 2-qt. casserole. Sprinkle Candied Pecans over top.
nutritional information Per 1/2-cup serving: Calories: 285; Protein: 3 g; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Carbohydrates: 26 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 23 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 15 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free
EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE
This comes from One Green Planet's newsletter. The recipe states, “My Easy Cranberry Sauce is not very sweet. It has a tangy tartness and makes a beautiful side dish for your holiday table.”
To view this and other cranberry recipes, click here.
12 oz. Bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, with 1/2 cup set aside
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbs. Water or orange juice
Set aside 1/ 2 cup cranberries in a bowl. Put the rest of the cranberries into a saucepan. Add sugar, orange zest and water or orange juice and cook over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until cranberries burst, about another 10 minutes. Reduce heat back to low and add in the cranberries you set aside. Add more sugar if you want, and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool (you can refrigerate it if you like your cranberry sauce cold) before serving.
MULLED APPLE-CRANBERRY CIDER
This comes from Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, it was sent to me a number of years ago (try 2006) and while I tried to find the link for it on the WW site, I couldn’t locate it. If anyone reading this can shed light on this, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know.
POINTS® Value | 2; Servings | 6; Preparation Time | 5 min; Cooking Time | 15 min; Level of Difficulty | Easy
This begins, “This hot drink is perfect for chilly autumn nights. Curl up with a good book and indulge.”
Ingredients
3 cup apple cider
3 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp orange zest
3 average cinnamon stick
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a slow boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes and then strain into mugs. Yields about 1 cup per serving.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Pies!
With Thanksgiving a week from tomorrow, here are five pie recipes and my great-grandmother's pie crust recipe to help you get ready for next week's feast. Enjoy!
GREAT-GRANDMA'S PIE CRUST
This is my great-grandma's pie crust recipe. When Mom was in college, some group had a baking contest and Mom won with a pie baked in this crust. Years later, Mom called me several times for the recipe (she'd begun to use store-bought crusts), as well as the recipes for my grandmother's (her mom's) oatmeal cookie and peanut butter cookie recipes, thus letting me know that I was/am the unofficial family-recipe-keeper.
2 cups flour (do NOT use self-rising flour; you can use almost any other kind of flour, although I use unbleached flour for this)
2/3 cup shortening (I use Crisco)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 – 4 tablespoons cold milk
Grease one or two 9-inch pie pans.
Put flour in large bowl and add shortening. Cut shortening into flour. Note: Cutting shortening is basically cutting it (yup, makes sense, right?) with two knives so that the shortening is incorporated into the flour. Take the knives, one in each hand, with the sharp part of the blades facing each other. Work them together as if you were cutting a piece of food – large veggies, etc – so that the shortening is cut up. You're finished when the shortening and flour look crumbly (for lack of a better explanation) and the shortening is fairly mixed into the flour.
Add salt to mixture and stir once or twice.
Add milk, stirring into the flour-shortening mixture. For into a ball, then cut in half. You now have enough crust for two single-crust pies or one double-crusted pie.
Take a dish towel and cover it with flour. Place half of the crust-ball onto the floured towel. Roll crust out into a circular shape. (Note: Rub flour over the work-surface of the rolling pin to make this job a lot easier.)
When you're ready to place the crust into the pie pan, place the rolling pin near the edge of the crust. Using the edge of the towel, wrap part of the crust around the rolling pin, then drop the towel. Use this method (pin-crust-towel) to move the crust to the pan.
Do the same to the second half of the crust-ball. If making two single-crust pies, put the second crust into the second pan. If it's a double-crust pie, fill the pie crust in the pan, then top with the second crust.
Bake the pie according to the pie's instructions. However, if the pie is one that doesn't need baking, bake the crust alone for 10 – 15 minutes at 325 decrees or until lightly brown.
Note: Many fruit pies call for a top crust. This can be accomplished either by putting a solid crust on top, to which a few vent holes are added, or by making a lattice pie crust. With the solid crust, the vent holes are added so that any steam from inside the pie can be released (yes, this does happen). The holes don't have to be big; in fact, I usually take a sharp knife and simply poke a few vents in several spots across the top crust.
A quick tutorial for making a lattice pie crust can be found from Carroll Pellegrinelli's blog. Carroll is About.com Desserts and Baking expert. To find her tutorial, click here.
Photo: On left, two Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pies; Upper right, Apple Pie; Lower right: Cranberry Pie
CRANBERRY PIE
This recipe can be found in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking, which is for sale on Amazon.com. (To buy a copy of it for your Kindle or tablet, click here.) My dad sent this recipe in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.”
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1 1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Make as above.
LIBBY'S FAMOUS PUMPKIN PIE
I got this from the Libby's brand canned pumpkin label.
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Beat eggs in large bowl. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, & cloves in small bowl. Stir sugar-spice mixture & pumpkin into eggs. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie shell.
Bake in preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Note: Do not freeze, as this will cause crust to separate from filling.
1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger & cloves; however, the taste will be slightly different.
APPLE PIE
I got the original recipe for this from an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, years ago. I've tweaked the recipe a bit; the original called for butter, which mine doesn't, while I add apple cider or apple juice, which isn't in the original. Here's the semi-tweaked, originally Betty Crocker apple pie.
Crust for a 9-inch two-crust pie
3/4 + 1 tablespoon cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (do not use self-rising flour, but if you must use it, omit salt)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
6 to 7 cups apples (6 to 8 apples), peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crust and line pie pan with bottom crust.
Placed cut up apples in large bowl. Add sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and (lastly) apple cider or juice. Mix apples and additions with hands, then pour apples and additions into crust-lined pie pan.
Cover with top crust, cut slits into top crust, then seal edges of crusts. (Note: You can replace top crust with a lattice crust.) Cover top of pie with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY PIE - Vegan tofu cherry "cream" pie recipe
Jolinda Hackett, About.com's Vegetarian blog guide, writes, "Chocolate cherry pie - Vegan tofu cherry 'cream' pie recipe - delicious! I'd love to try this same method with strawberries or perhaps even Elvis-style, with bananas."
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz.) box firm silken tofu
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 prepared vegan graham cracker pie crust
1 (12 oz.) package frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed and drained
1 cup non-dairy whipped topping
Preparation:
First, prepare the cherries. Slice them in half and remove the pics, if needed. Set a handful of cherries aside to use as a garnish on top of the pie.
Next, prepare the chocolate "cream" filling. Process the tofu in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the cocoa powder, sugar, melted chocolate chips, and almond extract. Process again until mixture is smooth.
To prepare the pie, place about 1/3 of the chocolate tofu mix in a single layer in the prepared pie crust. Next, place the cherries in a single layer on top of the chocolate tofu mixture and spread the remaining chocolate tofu on top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish each slice with whipped topping and reserved cherries.
This recipe makes one pie of 8 servings.
Nutritional information, per serving: Calories: 270, Total Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 100mg, Carbohydrates: 36g, Dietary Fiber: 2g. Sugar: 24g, Protein: 6g
SPICY PUMPKIN PIE
Servings: 8
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/154.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=154
Ingredients
1 (9-inch) pastry shell
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cup pumpkin (canned)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup low-fat milk
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp liquid cal-free sweetener
1 pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Light vanilla ice cream
Directions
Prick pastry shell with a fork. Bake in 450F oven for 8 min.
Stir together pumpkin, egg, milk, sweetener, sugar and seasonings. Pour into partially baked pie shell.
Bake in 350F oven for 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool slightly and then refrigerate.
Cut into 8 wedges and serve each with 2 tbsp light vanilla ice cream.
Nutritional Information Per Serving; Calories: 173; Protein: 5 g; Fat: 9 g; Carbohydrates: 20 g; Exchanges: 1/2 Starch/Bread, 1-1/2 Fat, 1 Dairy, 1/2 Fruit
GREAT-GRANDMA'S PIE CRUST
This is my great-grandma's pie crust recipe. When Mom was in college, some group had a baking contest and Mom won with a pie baked in this crust. Years later, Mom called me several times for the recipe (she'd begun to use store-bought crusts), as well as the recipes for my grandmother's (her mom's) oatmeal cookie and peanut butter cookie recipes, thus letting me know that I was/am the unofficial family-recipe-keeper.
2 cups flour (do NOT use self-rising flour; you can use almost any other kind of flour, although I use unbleached flour for this)
2/3 cup shortening (I use Crisco)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 – 4 tablespoons cold milk
Grease one or two 9-inch pie pans.
Put flour in large bowl and add shortening. Cut shortening into flour. Note: Cutting shortening is basically cutting it (yup, makes sense, right?) with two knives so that the shortening is incorporated into the flour. Take the knives, one in each hand, with the sharp part of the blades facing each other. Work them together as if you were cutting a piece of food – large veggies, etc – so that the shortening is cut up. You're finished when the shortening and flour look crumbly (for lack of a better explanation) and the shortening is fairly mixed into the flour.
Add salt to mixture and stir once or twice.
Add milk, stirring into the flour-shortening mixture. For into a ball, then cut in half. You now have enough crust for two single-crust pies or one double-crusted pie.
Take a dish towel and cover it with flour. Place half of the crust-ball onto the floured towel. Roll crust out into a circular shape. (Note: Rub flour over the work-surface of the rolling pin to make this job a lot easier.)
When you're ready to place the crust into the pie pan, place the rolling pin near the edge of the crust. Using the edge of the towel, wrap part of the crust around the rolling pin, then drop the towel. Use this method (pin-crust-towel) to move the crust to the pan.
Do the same to the second half of the crust-ball. If making two single-crust pies, put the second crust into the second pan. If it's a double-crust pie, fill the pie crust in the pan, then top with the second crust.
Bake the pie according to the pie's instructions. However, if the pie is one that doesn't need baking, bake the crust alone for 10 – 15 minutes at 325 decrees or until lightly brown.
Note: Many fruit pies call for a top crust. This can be accomplished either by putting a solid crust on top, to which a few vent holes are added, or by making a lattice pie crust. With the solid crust, the vent holes are added so that any steam from inside the pie can be released (yes, this does happen). The holes don't have to be big; in fact, I usually take a sharp knife and simply poke a few vents in several spots across the top crust.
A quick tutorial for making a lattice pie crust can be found from Carroll Pellegrinelli's blog. Carroll is About.com Desserts and Baking expert. To find her tutorial, click here.
Photo: On left, two Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pies; Upper right, Apple Pie; Lower right: Cranberry Pie
CRANBERRY PIE
This recipe can be found in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking, which is for sale on Amazon.com. (To buy a copy of it for your Kindle or tablet, click here.) My dad sent this recipe in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.”
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1 1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Make as above.
LIBBY'S FAMOUS PUMPKIN PIE
I got this from the Libby's brand canned pumpkin label.
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Beat eggs in large bowl. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, & cloves in small bowl. Stir sugar-spice mixture & pumpkin into eggs. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie shell.
Bake in preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Note: Do not freeze, as this will cause crust to separate from filling.
1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger & cloves; however, the taste will be slightly different.
APPLE PIE
I got the original recipe for this from an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, years ago. I've tweaked the recipe a bit; the original called for butter, which mine doesn't, while I add apple cider or apple juice, which isn't in the original. Here's the semi-tweaked, originally Betty Crocker apple pie.
Crust for a 9-inch two-crust pie
3/4 + 1 tablespoon cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (do not use self-rising flour, but if you must use it, omit salt)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
6 to 7 cups apples (6 to 8 apples), peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crust and line pie pan with bottom crust.
Placed cut up apples in large bowl. Add sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and (lastly) apple cider or juice. Mix apples and additions with hands, then pour apples and additions into crust-lined pie pan.
Cover with top crust, cut slits into top crust, then seal edges of crusts. (Note: You can replace top crust with a lattice crust.) Cover top of pie with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY PIE - Vegan tofu cherry "cream" pie recipe
Jolinda Hackett, About.com's Vegetarian blog guide, writes, "Chocolate cherry pie - Vegan tofu cherry 'cream' pie recipe - delicious! I'd love to try this same method with strawberries or perhaps even Elvis-style, with bananas."
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz.) box firm silken tofu
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 prepared vegan graham cracker pie crust
1 (12 oz.) package frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed and drained
1 cup non-dairy whipped topping
Preparation:
First, prepare the cherries. Slice them in half and remove the pics, if needed. Set a handful of cherries aside to use as a garnish on top of the pie.
Next, prepare the chocolate "cream" filling. Process the tofu in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the cocoa powder, sugar, melted chocolate chips, and almond extract. Process again until mixture is smooth.
To prepare the pie, place about 1/3 of the chocolate tofu mix in a single layer in the prepared pie crust. Next, place the cherries in a single layer on top of the chocolate tofu mixture and spread the remaining chocolate tofu on top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish each slice with whipped topping and reserved cherries.
This recipe makes one pie of 8 servings.
Nutritional information, per serving: Calories: 270, Total Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 100mg, Carbohydrates: 36g, Dietary Fiber: 2g. Sugar: 24g, Protein: 6g
SPICY PUMPKIN PIE
Servings: 8
View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/154.shtml
Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=154
Ingredients
1 (9-inch) pastry shell
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cup pumpkin (canned)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup low-fat milk
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp liquid cal-free sweetener
1 pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Light vanilla ice cream
Directions
Prick pastry shell with a fork. Bake in 450F oven for 8 min.
Stir together pumpkin, egg, milk, sweetener, sugar and seasonings. Pour into partially baked pie shell.
Bake in 350F oven for 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool slightly and then refrigerate.
Cut into 8 wedges and serve each with 2 tbsp light vanilla ice cream.
Nutritional Information Per Serving; Calories: 173; Protein: 5 g; Fat: 9 g; Carbohydrates: 20 g; Exchanges: 1/2 Starch/Bread, 1-1/2 Fat, 1 Dairy, 1/2 Fruit
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