Tag: pumpkin

Back home, Penelope’s Aunt Marion introduced her to Victoria Wessler, who lives on a “mini-farm” in Lebanon, Indiana. Victoria is a talented food writer and an advanced master gardener who is also a big supporter of “eating locally and seasonally whenever possible.” Her website is www.goinglocal-info.com This recipe is one of her favorites, and now one of Penelope’s, too.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups cooked and pureed local pumpkin
2. ¾ cup pure Indiana maple syrup
3. 1½ cups Traders Point Creamery milk (or your own local favorite)
4. 2 local eggs, lightly beaten
5. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
6. ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
7. 1 tablespoon New Rinkel bread flour
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. ⅛ teaspoon powdered ginger

1 unbaked pie shell made with local flour and local lard, if you’re making the pie crust from scratch

Preheat oven to 350°

Line a mesh strainer with a paper coffee filter and place the pumpkin puree in the filter

Place the strainer over a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator to drain overnight (8 to 24 hours)

Measure out 1⅓ cups of drained pumpkin; save leftover for another use

In a large mixing bowl, blend the pumpkin, syrup, milk and eggs until thoroughly combined

Add remaining ingredients and stir

Pour into an unbaked pie shell or 8 half-cup oven-safe ramekins

If you’re using ramekins, place them on a baking sheet

Bake the pie for 45 minutes and the ramekin puddings for 35 minutes, or until the filling is just a bit firm in the middle

Remove from oven and cool

Cook’s Note: New Rinkel bread flour is available at Edibles Organic Grocery in Irvington or at www.newrinkleflour.com

Adapted from The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook

Pie pal, Debbie Judson (Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson) still thinks of Dr. Robert Atkins as her primary care physician, undiscouraged by the fact that she never actually had an appointment with him or that he is deceased. Still, she believes deeply in his philosophy of living the low carb vida, and decided to bake an Atkins verison of this Orange Pumpkin Pie. Having achieved near pie perfection with the true carb rendering of the recipe, she was totally confident, blithely substituting Splenda for sugar, Atkins Quick Cuisine Bake Mix for flour (1 cup of Atkins Bake Mix = 1 ½ cup flour), and sugar-free marmalade for the real thing. A few minutes in, however, the consistency of the low-carb dough wasn’t encouraging. It was softer and stickier than the true carb edition, with the butter bits not integrating well at all. Nevertheless, she persevered. Turns out the low-carb version was much better than she thought it would be, although not nearly as good as the real thing. So she had to eat twice as much to get not quite as much satisfaction as half as much of the original. Like Penelope told her, if you’re going to have pie, have pie.

The Filling and Topping

1. ½ cup orange marmalade
2. 2 cups canned pumpkin puree
3. ¾ cup sugar [or ¾ cup Splenda]
4. finely grated zest of 2 oranges
5. ½ tsp ground cloves
6. ¼ tsp ground ginger
7. ½ tsp ground allspice
8. ½ tsp salt
9. 3 eggs, lightly beaten
10. 2 cups heavy cream
11. 1 tbs confectioner’s sugar

Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust

Roll out the dough, place it in a pie pan, and prick the bottom of the dough with the tines of a fork

Prepare a double thickness of foil and line the pie shell

Poke some holes in it and fit into the pie pan

Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 425°

Put the orange marmalade in a small saucepan over low heat until melted; set aside

Take the pie shell out of the refrigerator and bake for 10 minutes

Remove the foil and bake until golden, 10-12 minutes longer

If the bottom of the pan puffs up (and it will) prick it with a fork

Take it out and brush the inside bottom and sides with the marmalade (Don’t brush the rim or it will burn when you bake it)

The Filling

In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, sugar, orange zest, cloves, ginger, allspice, and salt

Mix in the eggs and then 1 cup of the cream; stir until smooth

Pour into the pie shell and smooth the top

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325° and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes longer

Orange Whipped Cream

Whip one cup of the heavy cream, slowly adding the confectioner’s sugar and zest from the second orange

Spoon on individual slices of the pie

Hard work and healthy food. Respect for time, energy and resources. The Amish have been ahead of the curve for a long time. And as for pies, in Amish communities they’re almost as essential as bread. There’s always one ready to roll, as a breakfast food, an accompaniment to soup, a dessert, a bedtime snack or a pre-milking pick-me-up. And have we mentioned that the Amish have been off fossil fuel for centuries? Classic Amish Pie Crust (Family Size Recipe)

1. 4 cups flour
2. ¾ tsp salt
3. 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
4. 1 egg, beaten
5. 5 tbs cold water
6. 1 tbs vinegar
7. 1½ cups mashed pumpkin, pumpkin puree or butternut squash
8. 1 egg
9. ½ cup milk, heated
10. ½ cup cream, heated
11. 1 tbs flour
12. 1 tbs molasses or King Syrup
13. ¾ cup sugar
14. 1 tsp cinnamon
15. dash of nutmeg
16. 1 tbs brown sugar
17. pinch of salt

Mix the flour and salt together

Cut in the shortening until the mixture looks like small peas

Combine the remaining ingredients and stir into the shortening and flour mixture

Let it stand a few minutes

Roll out dough on a floured board

Makes six 9 inch pie shells or three 9 inch double crust pies

Classic Amish Pumpkin Pie

Combine all the ingedients

Pour into the unbaked pie shell

Sprinkle additional cinnamon and nutmeg over the top

Bake at 450° for 15 minutes, then at 350° for 45 minutes

Makes one 9 inch pie

Adapted from The Best of Amish Cooking, Phyllis Pellman Good, 1988 Good Books, Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Penelope’s Aunt Lee was terrifically talented when it came to knitting, but in the kitchen, not so much. Still, every year she had the whole family for Thanksgiving, which was a bit of a trial for the cousins who knew they had to eat up if they wanted cool mittens for snowman season. Then one year things noticeably improved in the dessert department. Where Aunt Lee had gotten the idea of adding sour cream to the pumpkin pie, no one knew. Penelope suspected it had been left over from the potato pancakes. But whatever, the sour cream gave the pie an incredibly light and creamy texture so Penelope asked Aunt Lee for her secret. Not only was the recipe incredibly simple, a couple of weeks later Penelope received the most amazing red sweater in the mail. If simple is too easy, you can always spring for fresh pumpkin puree, but it’s really not necessary. Even Chuck Williams says it’s much easier to buy the pumpkin canned.

The Crust

Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust (Single crust pie)

Preheat the oven to 400°

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry dough and transfer it to a 9 inch pie pan

Press the pastry gently into the pan and trim the edge so there’s about a one-inch overhang

Fold the overhang under and flute the edges

Freeze the pastry until firm, about 20 minutes

Line the pastry shell with either parchment paper or aluminum foil, then put some dried beans or pie weights on it

Bake for about 15 minutes and remove the paper or foil

Then bake about 20 minutes more, until the crust is golden brown

Put it on a wire rack and let it cool completely.

The Filling

1. 2 cups pumpkin puree
2. 2 cups sour cream
3. 2/3 cup sugar
4. 3 eggs, lightly beaten
5. 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
6. 1tsp ground cinnamon
7. 1 tsp ground nutmeg
8. ½ tsp ground ginger
9. ½ cup sour cream
10. medium mixing bowl, chilled

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, sour cream, sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; whisk until smooth

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the baked pie crust

Bake until the filling is just set, about 45 minutes

If the crust browns too quickly, cover the edges with aluminum foil.

The Topping

1. 1 cup cold heavy (double) cream
2. 2 tbsp sugar

Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat together the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form

Using a rubber spatula, fold the sour cream into the whipped cream

Cut the pie into wedges and serve with the topping

Makes one 9 inch pie

Penelope finally found out where Aunt Lee got the idea. Holiday Favorites, The Best of the Kitchen Library, Williams-Sonoma, Oxmoor House

How many thanks are any of us about to give for the new 70-hour workweek and the healthcare crisis? The Pilgrims may have been grateful for a little corn on the cob but life is a lot more complicated now. First, you can’t get an island for $24 anymore, even one without insulation. Second, well, there are a lot of seconds. We won’t go into them. But after having eaten way too much Thanksgiving dinner, the only thing left is to keep on eating and try not to think about having to squish into your work clothes on Monday. Talk about the definition of “turkey.” For this reason the Penelope Pumpkin Pie adds brandy and sage to the super creamy filling because they induce forgetfulness. Penelope didn’t make this up. Brandy and sage were the “subtle essences” Gutrune gave Siegfried so he wouldn’t remember he loved Brynhilde. Besides, the brandy brings out the cinnamon and nutmeg. Not enough to impair your driving, but it might help you get past how much you’ve just eaten.

Preheat the oven to 450°

Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust (single crust)

Filling:

1. 2 cups pumpkin
2. ¾ cup brown sugar
3. 1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
4. ¾ tsp nutmeg
5. ½ teaspoon sage
6. 4 tbs brandy
7. 1/3 tsp ginger
8. ½ tsp salt
9. 2 eggs, slightly beaten
10. 1 ¾ cups milk
11. 1 cup cream

If raw pumpkin doesn’t intimidate you, cut a raw one into medium/small pieces, then peel, steam, drain, mash, and put through a strainer. On the other hand, if you don’t feel compelled to assault Mr. Pumpkin Head, it’s perfectly acceptable to buy it in a can. Whichever you decide, combine the prepared pumpkin with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Pour the filling into the piecrust

Bake 10 minutes at 450°

Lower the heat to 300°; bake another 45 minutes, or until it’s firm

Brandied Whipped Cream

You can leave the brandy out of the pie and put it in the whipped cream instead. If you’d rather have the whipped cream plain, substitute 1 tablespoon vanilla for the brandy.

1. 1 pint heavy cream
2. 1 tbs confectioner’s sugar
3. 1 ½ tbs brandy

Whip the cream, slowly adding the sugar and brandy as the cream thickens

Whip until it’s fluffy but not stiff

When the pie is cool, spread with the whipped cream

Enjoy it.Regret it.Go to the gym

Penelope’s been making this recipe for so long, she forgot where she found it. If it’s yours, post a response here and tell her before you call your legal department.

Debbie’s recipe only has three quick steps, and none of them are hers.

Step 1

Buy a graham cracker crust.

Step 2

Buy Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter (If you don’t live in New Jersey and can’t get to Ringoes for Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter, not to worry, you can buy it at your local Williams-Sonoma.) Debbie’s note: Steps 1 and 2 are interchangeable without affecting the outcome of the pie.

Step 3

If you did find Muirhead, the instructions are on the jar. If not…

1. 1 jar (13.5 oz.) Pecan Pumpkin Butter
2. 3 extra large eggs
3. 1½ cup heavy cream
4. 9 inch graham cracker crust

Combine the pumpkin butter, eggs and heavy cream

Fold into the graham cracker crust

Bake at 450° for 15 minutes

Lower temperature to 350° and bake for 40 minutes more

That’s it!

For extra decadence, top with fresh whipped cream. Or try vanilla gelato.