I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of family love and delicious food.
Here is my menu for today with links to the recipes.
Sweet Potato Casserole with Evaporated Milk and Pecan Topping
Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Pepperidge Farm Stuffing, because why mess with what’s already great?
And the pièce de résistance, gobble gobble
Of course we will have pumpkin pie and all the other goodies but I have passed that baton on this year. Happy Thanksgiving!
A few years back I planned on getting these but I never did, so now I improvise. It actually turned out to be a blessing because I don’t have room in my kitchen for much more and I really need a few other things. Like a mandolin, can you believe I don’t own one? Any way, making your own tostada bowls is a cinch, all you need is a muffin tin.
Place a warm/softened and lightly oiled tortilla {microwave for 10 seconds} in between the cups of an upside down muffin tin. Like this…
Bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Simple right? While it cools you can make all the fixin’s to go inside. I like smoky black beans and ground turkey with homemade taco seasoning. Yum
I gave Kaili some toys to sort and string for a fine motor activity while I made dinner. It was fun to watch her brain and little fingers at work.
Months ago we had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Del Mar. Turned out our waiter Angelo was from Rome and when we told him about our upcoming trip there he told us to hit up his good friend Marco’s restaurant, located near the Spanish Steps. He wrote down his friends name and the name of the restaurant on a business card. Fast forward to August when we were in Rome we set out to find the restaurant, I wrote a little about it here.
Last night we gathered some friends and headed back to the restaurant in Del Mar to deliver the post card from Marco in Italy to Angelo in San Diego. Being the middle man is fun!
We enjoyed a very good meal, Burrata, prosciutto and arugula to start. Pear and mozzarella ravioli in a champagne sauce. Fresh Fettucinne with smoked salmon and Kaili dined on steamed veggies.
Angelo was happy to see us and his postcard. We enjoyed ourselves, the food, the wine and the sunset over the ocean. It was a fun night!
Let me start out by saying that I am not a big pumpkin fan. Just because it’s October doesn’t mean every dish needs to have pumpkin in it, but there is nothing wrong with celebrating Halloween with one really good pumpkin dessert.
*Recipe from Fine Cooking
For the tart crust:
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. table salt
5-1/2 oz cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream; more if needed
For the pumpkin filling:
1 15-oz. can pure solid-pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. table salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon
For the streusel topping:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup walnut halves, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
Lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish (optional)
Make the tart crust:
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, orange zest, and salt in a large bowl on low speed for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and combine on low speed until the mixture looks crumbly, with pieces of butter about the size of dried peas, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and cream, mixing on low speed until the dough is just combined. If the dough is too dry to come together, add more cream, a tablespoon at a time. Gently mold the dough into a 1-inch-thick disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to a week; the dough can also be frozen for up to a month.
Make the pumpkin filling:
Spoon the pumpkin into a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Add both sugars and the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Whisk about 30 seconds. Whisk in the heavy cream and bourbon.
Make the streusel topping:
Combine the flour, both sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse briefly to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the butter has blended into the dry ingredients and the mixture is crumbly. Remove the blade and stir in the walnuts and crystallized ginger.
Assemble the tart:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Take the tart dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up until pliable, 5 to 15 minutes. Unwrap the dough and set it on a lightly floured work surface. With as few passes of the rolling pin as possible, roll the disk into a 13-inch round, about 3/16 inch thick. Drape the round into a 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom gently fitting it into the contours of the pan. Fold the excess dough into the sides of the pan and press to create an edge that’s flush with the top of the pan and about 1/2 inch thick.
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the unbaked tart crust. Scatter the streusel topping evenly over the pumpkin mixture.
Bake until the topping is evenly cooked and no longer looks wet in the center, 50 to 65 minutes. Let the tart cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before serving (or wrap it in plastic and refrigerate overnight; before serving, let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours). Serve warm, at room temperature, or slightly chilled, with lightly sweetened whipped cream, if you like.
This recipe hails from Gourmet Magazine AKA Epicurious. Since our dinner theme was Oktoberfest and I am not a huge fan of German food, I decided to make something that sounded better than sausage and potatoes. I am pretty sure the German Chocolate cake isn’t really German, but hey… let’s just pretend. I mean, for christ’s sake, it’s called a German cake.
I decided to make this the day before our dinner, on the same day I was making homemade pizza dough AND pizzas. Let’s just say I bit off more than I could chew, well for a little bit anyway. Once I was under way and ready to pour the batter into the cake pans, I realized I didn’t have any parchment paper to lines the pans with. I considered hitting up my next door neighbors for some but then I thought to myself…’self, you have baked a many cakes without parchment paper, it will be FINE!” Not fine, not at all fine people. Each of the cakes stuck to the pans, ALL THREE CAKES WERE RUINED! There was no way I was going to make them again so I tried to salvage the first cake, with tears in my eyes, I just made it worse. Shane came in to save the day and said it would be OK and he could get two of the cakes to work. So I continued with the rest of the recipe, which took hours. I read the recipe before I started but I didn’t really read it. Every step was time consuming.{being something needed to bake for a few hours or chill for a few hours}
Once every step was done and the cake was ready to assemble, Shane was able to salvage 2 of the cakes, the one I messed with was not going to be part of the cake [ all though we did enjoy it that night] My three layer cake was now a 2 layer cake. Oh well.
If you are more prepared than I was, this will be a pretty easy cake to make. Just make sure to have parchment paper! It was a really good cake, REALLY good!
Ingredients
For cake layers
For filling
For glaze
Directions
Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin). Divide batter among cake pans (about 1 1/2 cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.
Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.
Make filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven.
Increase oven temperature to 425°F.
Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie plate from water bath.
Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.
Make glaze while milk is baking:
Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted. Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.
Assemble cake:
Put 1 cake layer on a rack set over a baking pan (to catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner. Top with remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze.
Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate.
Welp, our Oktoberfest dinner-turned-late lunch went off without a hitch. Once again I didn’t get pictures of all the food, what the hell is wrong with me? Wait, don’t tell me…. All of the food was good but there were a couple of highlights.
-Menu–
Goulash
Cottage Potatoes with Bacon
German Bean and Sausage Soup
Chicken Schnitzel
Pretzels with Spicy Mustard
Apple Strudel
Snicker doodles
Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake
Fruit Tart
German Wine + Beer
I made an Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake, A recipe I got from Epicurious. It was a little time consuming to make and I made one mistake that came close causing an emotional melt down but more about that later. The outcome was delicious, a definite keeper. Shane made Cottage Potatoes with bacon, the potatoes were cooked in beer, the onions cooked in a little bacon grease and butter and then you combine them all together. Pretty darn good. I will post the recipe to the cake in the near future…
It was great to get together with everyone. Our dinner themes aren’t monthly like they used to be since everyone’s calendars are always filling up. Kaili had a GREAT time playing with her friend and was in LOVE with all her cool toys.
We are hoping to have our next theme soon but I wouldn’t bet on it being before January. That gives us enough time to figure out a theme!
I have been on the hunt for the best pizza dough recipe. The last time I made a Cooks Illustrated 24-hour-cold-rise dough recipe, and it was good but it was a bit of a process to make. This time I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit. [Dad, you would be proud!] This is by far the best home-made pizza crust I have ever had. Thin, chewy, crispy and tastes like REAL pizza crust.
I came across a recipe for a caramelized onion, Brie and gorgonzola tart made with puff pastry. I thought that sounded pretty damn good but even better on homemade pizza dough. So that is what I did and it was AMAZING! I am talking fancy-shmancy-top restaurant- style pizza.
*Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes
Ingredients
Pizza dough
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cups of sliced onions, sliced root-to-top in thin slices
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 oz chilled Brie cheese, rind removed and diced
2 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
Directions
Heat pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile,Heat oil in a large deep pan on medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for about 10 minutes or until wilted and starting to brown. Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook gently, uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until richly caramelized. Add a little water if the onions look like they are starting to dry out. Cool.
Roll out pizza dough and measure to fit your pizza stone.
Take out the pizza stone, reduce oven to 450 and quickly put your pizza dough onto the stone. Sprinkle the onions all over your dough, dot with both cheeses and bake for 14-16 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and thyme. Let cool for a few minutes if you can wait, cut and enjoy!
Prepared to be wowed!
I am on a brussels sprout kick. I especially like them roasted with a little olive oil and garlic salt. Then one day I came across this. Healthy? Nope, good? Yes! The cheese sauce is so amazing, you could pour it over anything and it would be good. Pasta, potatoes, asparagus. Ooh, roasted asparagus with gruyere cheese sauce, now that sounds good. Reel me back in…Ok, so back to this recipe. Kaili loved it, a good way to get the kiddos to eat their veg is you have picky monsters at home, or husbands.
*recipe from A Cozy Kitchen
Ingredients
3/4 head of cauliflower, cut into large florets
3/4 lb of brussels sprouts, trimmed, and quartered lengthwise through core
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of grated nutmeg
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Prepare a large bowl filled with ice water and ice. Cook the cauliflower florets in a large pot of boiling salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain. Throw the cooked cauliflower into the bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking any further. Bring the pot back up to a boil and put in the quartered brussels sprouts and cook for 3-4 minutes. The cauliflower should be completely cooled. Drain them and set aside. After the brussels sprouts are done, throw them in the bowl of ice water and ice.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and stir until it comes to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, or until thickened. Off the heat, add 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, and the Parmesan.
Pour 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of an 8 by 11 by 2-inch baking dish. Place the drained cauliflower and brussels sprouts on top and then spread the rest of the sauce evenly on top. Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyere and sprinkle on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the gratin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned.
This was one of the first recipes I pinned on Pinterest. I can’t believe it took me so long to try it. I didn’t measure, I just threw all the ingredients into the crockpot and let it rock for 10 hours. The meat was SO tender it falling apart as I tried to transfer it to a baking rack. Tender, juicy, a little fatty, perfectly porky pork. Delish.
Ingredients
3 1/2 pound pork ribs ( country style or spare rib)
thumb-size piece ginger, grated
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp tabasco
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch + 1tbsp water to make a slurry
Directions
Place ribs in crock pot.
Whisk together the first 13 ingredients and lovingly pour over the ribs. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. When they are done you can transfer them to a baking rack and broil for 10 minutes if you like your ribs a little crispy on the outside, I know I do!
Mix together the cornstarch and water and stir into the leftover cooking juice, simmer the sauce for a few minutes until it thickens.
Serve over or along side ribs.
As I was looking through the freezer this morning, I came across a box of puff pastry buried in the back. I am embarrassed to even think how long it’s been in there, but I am pretty sure I didn’t have a kid or a bun in the oven the last time I used it. {hangs head in shame} So I decided then and there that I would use it today, but for what? Hmm that was the question. After some scouring of recipes I found this one from Simply Recipes. I have used a lot of her recipes and they all have turned out great, so I went with it.
Now since this was spur of the moment decision I had to use what I had on hand, that meant 2 small Fuji apples. Even though I had walnuts I decided to throw in some slivered almonds because I thought that sounded better. I omitted the currants, all I had were raisins and Kaili has now decided she likes them, so I shall save them for the K bear.
I managed to get the apples peeled, cored, diced, got all the ingredients mixed, rolled of the pastry dough, assemble the turnovers and throw them in the oven all while Kaili was down for a nap. Success.
Even though I felt like a rockstar once they were in the oven, I soon found out that I must have missed a step. I went back and re read the recipe only to find out that I was supposed to brush some egg wash along the corners of the pastry dough before folding it. I assume it’s so this doesn’t happen…
The inside oozed out all over the baking sheet. Oh well, lesson learned… They will still be yummy right?
Yummy they are! Even though they aren’t the prettiest things they are very flavorful and the the crust is perfectly flaky. Oh and all that goodness that oozed out, well it tasted like apple spice caramel, de-lish-ish!
The Art of Thyming 