Mmmm, pumpkin pie

A television clip yesterday taught me that what my family calls "Irish Pumpkin Pie" may in fact be Canadian. In any case, the correct way to make it is with seven different spices.

Of course, since it's dairy, it must be served prior to your turkey dinner, and after the homemade salsas, guacamole, chips, and beverages everyone's been eating all day as they lurk around the kitchen waiting for you to finish preparing the meal.

MARY ELIZABETH DEVLIN’S DARK PUMPKIN PIE

(sorry for the non-metric measurements)

Piecrust:
Prepare the night before and refrigerate so it’s easy to roll out
2½ cups of flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
two sticks of butter (room temperature) or one cup of Crisco
if necessary: add ½ cup of icy cold water, a little at a time
(after placing in pie plate, poke holes in the crust to keep it from shrinking)

Pumpkin filling:

Bowl One: Combine
4 well-beaten eggs
29 oz. of pumpkin (watch out! make sure it's unsweetened)

Bowl Two: Combine
1¼ cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
¾ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. mace
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. pumpkin spices

Mix the contents of both bowls together
Add 8 oz. of canned milk (make sure it's unsweetened)
Pour into two pie crusts and bake
15 minutes at 425 degrees F and then
45 minutes at 350 degrees F

Whipped cream:
1 quart heavy cream
a generous splash of vanilla
(if you must: 1 tsp. powdered sugar)
whip until peaks form
then whip again for the same amount of time to keep it from turning back into liquid later

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Jalapeño Soup

After several soup disasters, I finally made one that I'm not ashamed to share! It was milder than I'd expected so next time I may throw in a few extra serrano peppers.

Here's my recipe for Jalapeño Soup:

boil a chicken carcass to make broth
add a heaping teaspoon of salt
chop the following:
    one russet potato
    one orange bell pepper
    one Anaheim pepper
    two jalapeño peppers
    two serrano peppers
    celery
    carrots
throw in some frozen peas and various salad greens
sweat a chopped red onion and add to soup
boil and blend ten tomatillos and add to soup
one clove of garlic
a little rice

Chag Pesach Sameach

This year's charoset, made with apples, kiwis, pears, oranges, dates, yellow raisins, almonds, pistachios, dried cherries, and ginger; sprinkled with cayenne, cloves, cardamom, and black pepper; and marinated in pomegranate juice, Manischewitz, and apple cider vinegar.

May your Passover be warm, inspiring, and only as kosher as you want it to be.

The Nocturnal Chef

I was surprised to see that it has been seven months since my last post! I did find some unpublished drafts, but nothing complete enough to share. So here's a little snack to tide you over until something meatier is ready. 
(“Tiding over” was originally a seafaring term that referred to floating with the tide before dropping anchor.)

* * * *


At four in the morning, cats play with their toys and chase each other around the house. What can humans do at that hour?


Make Mexican food.

BRO'S RED SALSA
1 onion, chopped and diced

4 cerano peppers, sliced

3 tomatoes, diced

2 sprigs cilantro, chopped

juice of one lime

Leave out in a covered jar overnight, then refrigerate

BRO'S GREEN SALSA
10 medium tomatillos (remove papery husk), wash and boil until soft

2 or 3 cerano peppers, sliced

3 sprigs of cilantro, chopped

put in blender with a pinch of salt, liquefy

add juice of one lime

Leave out in a covered jar overnight, then refrigerate

GUACAMOLE
2 avocados (per person)

1 tbs. finely chopped onion 

juice of one lime

1 tsp. of salt

2 cloves of garlic



When finished preparing these items, two questions remain. How long until your guests arrive? Is there any hope that you would fall asleep if you went back to bed?

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