back by popular demand: pumpkin tarts with ginger

i have been thinking a lot about these this week. pumpkin tarts are my most favoritist thing about autumn and thanksgiving. give me a plate of stuffing and a pumpkin tart and i am completely happy. here's a reprint of my favorite recipe, developed over the years, while pursuing my great love for pumpkin and related squash dishes of all kinds. i love the custardy texture and the combination of pumpkin and crystallized ginger.

pie crust

for two 9 inch pie tins or 8 small tartlet tins

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour or a mix of the two

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into slices

3 TBSP ice water (add one at a time, may need or less depending on humidity/age of flour)

2 TBSP heavy cream

mix flours with salt and sugar. place in food processor. add cold butter slices. pulse until combined and looking like coarse meal. add 1 TBSP ice water and 1 TBSP cream. pulse until just mixed. add another TBSP of ice water and cream. pulse. dough should be starting to come together now. add 1 more TBSP ice water if needed.

form two discs with the dough. allow to rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes. roll out and place into pie or tart pans. if making a pumpkin pie, it will work best if you warm the dough in the pie or tart pans in a 375 F oven for 5 to 7 minutes before adding the pumpkin filling mixture, as the pumpkin mixture is very wet and can make the crust a bit soggy.

filling recipe

filling
2 15oz cans organic pumpkin
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP minced crystallized ginger*
1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs, whisked
whisk the pumpkin, cream, milk, sugars, salt and spices together thoroughly. correct flavor if necessary (sweeter, ginger, etc) add in whisked eggs. pour into prepared pie crusts in pans (prebaked for 5 to 7 minutes). bake in a preheated oven set at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes for a tart and 45 to 55 minutes for a deep dish pie until done, should jiggle just a bit in the center. when you make it in a large tart pan it will be done in 30 to 35 minutes. allow pie to cool for 30 minutes before devouring (in my case, maybe you just eat pie in a restrained and civilized fashion, i do try). tiny tart pans cook much quicker in 25 to 30 minutes.

* if the crystallized ginger is very moist it may gum up as you try to mince it, sprinkle a teaspoon or two of flour on the crystallized ginger as you chop if it gives you any trouble.

** this time i made it with 2 cups milk and 1 cup cream, for a lighter version, still works well and is lighter. not quite the sinfully-rich version, but completely delicious all the same.

pomegranate persimmon salad with leeks, a simple thanksgiving part 4

i love this salad. the pomegranate seeds look like jewels. the persimmons are a slightly sweet and crunchy interesting counterpoint to the greens and the leeks. very festive and a nice light addition to a holiday menu.

pomegranate persimmon salad

serves 6 - 8

12 ounces mixed baby greens, rinsed and dried

1/3 pomegranate, seeds only (about 1/3 cup)

1 large or 2 small fuyu persimmons, peeled and sliced

1 leek, finely sliced

dressing

2TBSP pomegranate cherry juice

3TBSP seasoned rice vinegar

3TBSP extra virgin olive oil

(a touch of dijon mustard or some minced shallots is nice here but i usually skip it because i am overwhelmed in the kitchen at this point) assemble ingredients. whisk up the dressing. pour. toss. serve. bon appetit.

delicious sweet potatoes, roasted two ways. a simple thanksgiving part 3

way number 1: wash sweet potatoes, place in a large mixing bowl. pour 1/4 cup olive oil over the potatoes to coat. mix and massage them with your hands if necessary. sprinkle with up to 1 tablespoon sea salt. place in a baking dish in a preheated 375 degree fahrenheit oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly wrinkly and collapsed. enjoy with lots of fresh organic butter. these are so rich and creamy they taste like dessert.

way number 2: peel and cube the sweet potatoes. place cubes in a medium mixing bowl, pour a generous amount of olive oil and sprinkle a teaspoon or two of sea salt. mix to coat. place in a baking dish in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until browned on the edges of the cubes. serve as is. adorable, and delicious.

bread stuffing with apples and dried cranberries simple thanksgiving part 2

so easy this stuffing. and nearly fool-proof. i love the mix of salty and sweet, moist and chewy in this simple savory, but slightly sweet, dressing.

2 large loaves of freshly baked bread, like baguettes, pain levain or something with a bit of tooth to it. cut into 1 inch cubes and set out to dry overnight.

3 very large onions, finely chopped

4 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 large bunch of flat leaf parsely, leaves only, chopped

1 cup finely chopped apple, a tart one such as granny smith or braeburn

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup olive oil

2 to 3 cups chicken stock (could easily substitute vegetable stock here for a vegan version)

salt and pepper to taste

cook the chopped onions and celery over medium high heat in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. add parsley and stir to combine. reserve. heat the chicken stock. now in a large mixing bowl, place the bread cubes. add in the onion/celery/olive oil mixture on top of the bread cubes. combine with your hands or a large wooden spoon. add in the heated chicken stock until pleasingly moist, but not at all soggy, stop before you get to that point. season to taste with salt and pepper. it should already be delicious already, but bake it anyway as your guests will insist on it.

place mixture in large, lightly oiled casserole dish. bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 45 minutes to an hour. cover with foil if it is starting to brown too too much. (this dish can take longer to cook if there are lots of other things in the oven at the same time as is often the case on stuffing holidays). it should only take 45 minutes if it is solo in the oven.

yum. my favorite part of the holiday meal. delicious with gravy, or on its own. also quite good with crown roast of pork or roasted cornish game hens.

a simple thanksgiving part 1

i like to keep things simple. and when you are a simple cook, as i am, the ingredients are not far out and the procedure is not too too complicated, but all the elements must come together with care and attention. the details and quality are that much more important when the food itself, is rather simple. i buy the highest quality organic ingredients i can. as long as they are not outrageously priced or terribly inconvenient to get to as i think it also matters how far you have to travel to pick up this or that element of your meal, and perhaps also how far it has to travel to get to you. for the next few days i am going to post my simple thanksgiving recipes, which we've been making for about a decade now. though it took us another decade to get everything just where we wanted it. cooking takes time and experimentation, but there is not much more to it than that.

cranberry orange sauce

serves 6*

1 bag fresh organic cranberries

1 large tangelo, or orange, membranes removed and chopped into large pieces

1/2 cup freshly squeezed tangelo or orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

a tiny pinch of salt

*this recipe is dead simple and can easily be doubled or tripled depending on your needs.

peel and chop the orange or tangelo, do try and save all the juice from this process and add it all to a medium saucepan with the orange pieces. add in the bag of fresh cranberries. and now the sugar. allow to come to a boil over high heat, then turn down to medium. cook for 5 minutes or so, the cranberries will begin to make a pleasing popping sound. this is fun. cook another 3 minutes or so as the cranberries collapse a bit. taste for sweetness. most recipes call for 1 - 2 cups of sugar, i try to get away with as little as i can, some cranberries are sweeter than others, so i find it is a bit different every year. when you get it just right, turn off the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes. then pour into a serving dish and allow to cool the rest of the way. at this point the cranberry sauce can be chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. but i like it best still warm. yum. not to sweet. so simple. and so delicious.