Make your Thanksgiving special with this deliciously sweet and nutty pecan pie
Nobody will turn down this dessert, no matter how much turkey and stuffing they ate!
This year I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner. For the first time! Yes, I've been in the US many years and every single year I managed to NOT cook on Thanksgiving day. Just eat! A dessert, an appetizer or a salad to bring to friends' house is all I have ever done. This year is different and I will try, really hard, not to mess it up. I have been doing lots of research on perfectly cooked turkey, deliciously tasty stuffing, and oh-so creamy gravy. I will try my best, and I will let you know. Wish me luck! So far, the one dish I prepared is this traditional pecan pie. My Thanksgiving favorite dessert. Sweet, but not excessively sweet. Perfectly nutty and buttery. All made from scratch. And check it out: no corn syrup in this recipe! Ingredients: to make a 11 inch tart For the crust:
1.5 cups (225 gr) of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 oz (1 stick, 115 gr) of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of cold water
For the filling:
4 oz (115 gr) of butter - 1 stick
1/2 cup (100 gr) of brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 gr) of granulated white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup (50 gr) of chopped pecan
1 orange, zest
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
around 1.5 cups (150 gr) of pecan halves for decorating
Preparation time: about 1 hour and 45 minutes Directions: 1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter cut in pieces, and with the tip of a knife cut it in smaller pieces,mixing with the flour, until you get a coarse mixture, with pea size small butter lumps.
2. Add cold water, about half a cup total, adding a few tablespoons at a time, and mixing with a spoon. Add enough water until the flour is all combined and the dough comes together.
3. Grease the pie pan with butter and flour. Place the dough in the middle and with your finger and palm press down evenly, all around. Sprinkle with flour the top if too sticky. Pay attention to the edges, removing any extra dough with your thumb. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350º F (175º C). Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork, bake for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
5. Melt the butter in the microwave, by cutting in pieces, checking and mixing every 10 seconds. In a large bowl mix the brown and white sugar with the eggs until creamy.
6. Add the melted butter, the salt, the orange zest and the vanilla extract.
7. Mix in the chopped pecans, and pour the mixture into the crust. Decorate with the pecan halves, making circles starting from the edge, moving in. As you can see, I ran out of pecan halves, and used chopped pecans for the middle part ... yes! next time I need to carefully read the bag of pecans at the store! :(
Bake for 50 minutes, until the filling is set. Wait for the pie to cool down before removing from the pan, or it might break.
flavored with butter and sage, and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
A must-try recipe for this fall!
This is a recipe you must try this fall, made with one of the freshest farmers market product right now. I know, it may come as a surprise that gnocchi are not only made with potatoes. Butternut squash is also perfect in dumplings because of its tender and firm texture, as well as its creamy and sweet flesh. These gnocchi are as soft and delicate as the one made with potatoes, with the added sweetness and richness of the butternut squash. As I mentioned in my recipe for the potato gnocchi, the secret to soft and tasty dumplings is to use the least amount of flour possible, without the gnocchi falling apart in the boiling water. So it's best to bake the squash rather than boiling it in water. I like to peel and cut it in pieces before baking, so that the cooking and cleaning are a lot faster. Then all you need to do is pass the squash through the ricer, add flour and egg, and just drop small spoonfuls of the mixture in boiling water. So simple! No need to knead dough, roll and cut the gnocchi. Maybe less picture perfect than potato gnocchi, but a lot quicker and easier. And for sure as delicious!
Ingredients: serving 4-6 people
2.5 lb (about 1 kg) of peeled and cleaned butternut squash (mine was 3.5 lb before removing the skin and the seeds)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
1.5 cups (210 gr) of all-purpose flour
salt to taste
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (you could use extra virgin olive oil, as a healthier alternative)
6-8 leaves of sage
4 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in slices. Remove the peel and the seeds. Cut in smaller pieces, place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for about 25 minutes, until slightly golden and tender. You can test with a piece in the ricer and see. It should not be too hard to press it through. If so, add a couple of minutes in the oven.
2. Press the squash through a potato ricer onto a large bowl. Depending on the squash, there might be a little water coming out when you first start squeezing the ricer. If you can, throw the water out.
3. Mix the squash with the flour, the nutmeg, the eggs and a little bit of salt. Add the flour some at the time, until you find the right consistency.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using two teaspoons, drop small amounts of squash mixture into the simmering water. You probably will need to do this in three or four batches, depending on how big is your pot. Don't put too many gnocchi in the water or they won't have space to move and they might stick to each other.Wait for the gnocchi to float to the surface and let cook for 2 more minutes. It should take 4-5 minutes at most.
5. Melt butter with the sage in a large frying pan.
6. When ready, remove the gnocchi from the water using a hand colander or a large perforated spatula, drain well from the water and place in the pan with the butter and sage.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Chocolate cake pops, covered with white chocolate icing.
A few days ago I found a cake pop baking pan on sale and I have been waiting for the right occasion to try it out. Also, I've been inspired by Raise.com, a popular marketplace where one can save by buying or selling gift cards, to present to my readers a delicious Halloween themed recipe. With Halloween around the corner, and my new pan waiting for me, I jumped at the opportunity! So here are these adorable little chocolaty cake ghosts, perfect for my (and your!) next Halloween party. This was my first attempt at pops, and I have to say, the results were quite good: cute and soft chocolate cake covered in deliciously sweet, white chocolate icing. These pops are not too difficult to make, even though the decorating part was a bit labor intensive for me. But this is a great and fun project for a lazy weekend - the perfect activity to enjoy with your kids. They will love it! One suggestion. If you plan to make pops for more than one occasion, I recommend investing in the right pop pan. It's not too expensive, non-stick, easy to use and clean, and makes perfectly round pops. You can buy it from Amazon, if you'd like. Here is the link for the pan I have. And remember to check out Raise.com for savings for your Halloween shopping spree. I looked, they even offer Amazon gift cards!
Ingredients: To make 12 pops
4 tablespoons (half stick) of unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 egg
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1.5 cups of white chocolate chips
black icing for decoration
12 pop sticks (mine were included with the pop pan)
Preparation time: 30 minutes to prepare the pops, and about 30 minutes to decorate
Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butter in pieces and melt in the microwave, at medium-low power, checking every 20 seconds or so. 2. In a large bowl, mix the egg with the sugar and the cocoa until well blended.
3. Add the melted butter and stir some more.
4. Blend in the salt, flour and baking powder.
5. Grease the baking pan with butter and flour. Spoon the batter into the bottom half of the pan, evenly into the 12 spots.
6. Cover the top of the pan and secure it with the two pins provided. Bake for about 18 minutes. There is a little hole on top of the pan, so you can test with a toothpick for readiness! Let the pan cool for at least 5 minutes before opening and removing the pops.
7. Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler. If you don't have the double boiler pan, you can place the chocolate chips in a heat-safe glass container. In a larger pan, bring to a boil an inch of water. Lower the flame, so that the water is just simmering. Place the glass container with the chocolaate into the pan, and melt the chocolate mixing continuously. If you'd like, add little sips of water to the chocolate to make it less dense, until you find the desired consistency.
8. Insert a stick into each pop, and dip it in the chocolate. Helping yourself with a spoon make sure the chocolate covers the whole pop. Let some chocolate drip on the stick at the base of the pop, so that the stick will stay in place when the chocolate cools down. Let the excess chocolate drip back into the pan.
9. Let the chocolate cool down before decorating the pops with black icing. I simply drew two eyes and the mouth, but you can be as creative as you'd like. Have fun!
Delicious grilled eggplant rolls filled with melted mozzarella cheese,
served hot and bubbly with garlicky tomato sauce
Today I prepared another variation of the traditional Italian Melanzane alla Parmigiana. These eggplant Parmesan rolls are perfect for a special and inviting appetizer, or also for a light vegetarian dinner, maybe next to a few slices of toasted bread. The deliciously Mediterranean flavor of this dish is similar to the eggplant Parmesan, but the look is different. The eggplants are thinly sliced and grilled (not fried!), and rolled around lots of melted mozzarella cheese. The rolls are served hot and bubbly with a garlicky tomato sauce, and complemented with the bold aroma of the oregano. Here is the recipe!
Ingredients: to make about 15 rolls (based on the size of the eggplant) - appetizer for about 4 people
1 large eggplant
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
1.5 cups of crushed tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
some fresh basil leaves
oregano
extra virgin olive oil
salt
Preparation time: 45 minutes Directions: Step 1: Cut the eggplant in thin slices lengthwise - to obtain the largest possible slices. I got 15 slices. In one (or two to make it faster) large grilling pan, grill the eggplants over medium-high heat. I like to brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Step 2: In a saucepan, saute' the crushed garlic cloves with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt to taste and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the basil in the last couple of minutes.
Step 3: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Over each eggplant slice place about 1 tablespoon of shredded mozzarella. Roll the slice and place in an oven pan, seam side down.
Step 4: Sprinkle with oregano, the Parmesan cheese and a little bit of olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese are melted and bubbly.
