Tackling Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was extra special because whereas in 2013 we had chicken curry in lieu of turkey, this year I cooked my own 13 pounder. For 3 people...welcome to a Persian kitchen. I don't think I could make a small meal if my life depended on it! Luckily, the whole process was incredibly easy due to time management and the help of my dear friend, Silvija, who came down from DC so we could celebrate together. We were college roommates freshman year at Michigan so there was a lot of catching up to do.

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving was such a production - mostly because we were scrambling to make everything the day-of. My mom would do all the grocery shopping the night before with the other 10 million people who'd been avoiding the task and we'd start at 7am and cook until 8pm. Good times, although we were so exhausted come dinner-time that neither she nor I wanted to even look at the food. This year I did things in my own color-coded, highly organized, 10-lists needed, OCD way. Two days before Thanksgiving I made my cranberry sauce, cheesecake, and mashed potatoes (Ree Drummond is a genius with mashed potatoes and I religiously follow her recipe). One day before I chopped all the veggies and fruits I knew I'd be using. The day-of was so stress free I had time to enjoy Silvija's company over a cup of coffee, go on a walk, and take a nap - all while our little turkey was cooking in the oven. While it rested (1 hour), we made a salad, corn pudding, and the stuffing. Easy peasy. I am so looking forward to the day I am a real person with a real house which I can decorate with cute pumpkins and fill with the energy of family and friends. But this year was pretty special and memorable and honestly, I was the happiest I've been in a very long time.

Two things always accompanied my family's Tgiving spread: pumpkin pie and Persian stuffing (so called because it's our take on the American version - rice based and full of dried fruits and turmeric). Here's a dirty little secret: I don't like pumpkin pie. Something about the texture and the fact that I don't feel comfortable shoving a bunch of sugar into perfectly good gourd (jury's still out on whether pumpkin is classified as a gourd). I'd rather just eat the pumpkin roasted as a savory something. But throwing it into a cheesecake... I am totally on board with that little plan. So I came up with this recipe. Cheesecakes = help with time management because you can make them 2 days before and they actually taste better!

Happy holidays, loves - enjoy the cheesecake.



Pumpkin Cheesecake
Serves...a lot more than three people

For crust
1 ½ cup gingersnaps
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (put a little more after tasting)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (put a little more after tasting)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (put a little more after tasting)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

Topping:  1 cup sour cream + 2-3Tbs milk + 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar + 1/2 tsp almond extract

Make crust: Butter a cheesecake pan, mix the crumbs and butter then pack into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 min, until it is golden. Take out and allow to cool while you make the filling.



Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl until combined.




Stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.

Add cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, then add pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth.

Pour filling into crust, smoothing top, then put springform pan in a shallow baking pan (in case springform leaks).



Bake until center is just set, 50 to 60 minutes. The center of the cheesecake will jiggle but if the top is no longer shiny and there is springbuck to the touch, you are done. Turn the over off but leave the cheesecake in with the door closed while the oven cools down.  Then crack the oven door and let the cheesecake slowly cool off.

Once the cheesecake is cool, mix the topping ingredients adding more milk to thin it out if needed and more confectioner's sugar if it tastes too tart. Pour this over the cheesecake and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Wrap with plastic and chill overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Garnish with gingersnaps.

So You Say You Love Pumpkin?

I've been looking for a new breakfast idea and muffins have been on my mind lately. And I've had a can of pumpkin in the cupboard for a while now and thought it'd be fun to try making pumpkin muffins loaded with cinnamon and nutmeg. The results were good, but not great and I'd make a few modifications next time - see below.

I got the recipe here but I've added my revisions in:

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray
• Brown sugar - for sprinkling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine flour thru salt in a large bowl.

Combine pumpkin through eggs and add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Don't over-mix!

Spoon the batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

I found the muffins a little dry, so I might have added sour cream to the batter to loosen it up a little. Also, some cranberries would have been a tasty addition.

The Black Sheep: through the eyes of a first-timer

My class schedule this term is, well, insane as usual. Except now, two days a week, I get out of class at 7pm instead of 2pm. Just imagine how it feels to be learning biomedical topics for 8 hours in a row- or maybe don't...The point is, a friend of mine suggested we go out for dinner after our night exam the other day and I was very excited at the prospect of spending my first school night trying the local cuisine. We decided on Black Sheep since I've been hearing left and right how good it is. I know the standard is to go there for brunch, but their dinner menu looked delicious as well, so off we went.

Let me just say, I was not exactly prepared for how cozy it was. I kind of imagined a more mainstream restaurant vibe, not a little nook with dimmed lighting and wooded benches. It was very sweet and I'd definitely suggest it as a date night spot. I was also unprepared for how small it was. Just us opening the door made the whole place cold for a few minutes. The waitresses were pretty laid back and - oh! can't forget: the salt and pepper shakers are THE CUTEST things ever.

But on to the food. I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich - I wanted something hearty and comfy...so I suppose the atmosphere whet my appetite because my stomach was telling my brain to ignore the prices and go with whatever I wanted. We started by sharing the sweet potato samosas and I will say that the pastry dough was perfectly flaky and amazing. The filling had a good flavor, but I like my samosas spicy, which these were not. The kicker, though, was the apple chutney. It was like a curried applesauce and I could it it straight up any day. My friend was going to ask if we could buy it to go.

For my main course I was debating between the focaccia with goat cheese and the pot roast - until the waitress told us the special for the evening: pork chop with pumpkin and artichoke heart orzo. At $13, it really was a steal. The flavors were wonderful - the chop had an apple smoked flavor to it and the orzo, although a tad over-cooked, was sauced nicely. The pumpkin added a certain richness to it and I very much enjoyed the fact that they didn't skimp on the artichoke hearts and had taken the time to de-brine them a bit. I also ordered a side of their corn pudding. A little on the sweet side for me, and the custard had broken because there was too much liquid. I should probably mention, also, that the chop was cooked perfectly! It was still juicy and succulent, which isn't easy with pork. And the cut was nice and large with a gorgeous frenched bone.





While dining we saw one of the infamous "battleships" the place is known for. If you are unfamiliar, they are basically enormo subs. I am going back for sure to try one of those - but I need some people to join me; if interested, just write me a comment! The gentleman seated next to us ordered the pot roast so I was able to see that it looked rich and delicious with a nice hearty sauce. Their banana pudding also seemed to be quite popular, so I'll have to try that as well.


All in all, the ambiance was excellent and the food did not disappoint in neither its flavor nor its creativity. I left Black Sheep with yet another excellent restaurant to recommend to others and, for the first time since I've moved here, feeling like a local.

Jump On the Bandwagon...

My brother loves pumpkin pie but I never completely fell in love with it. Something about the texture, I think. And the fact that if I wanted to eat a pie that tastes like pumpkin, why didn't I just roast some dang pumpkin? Cheesecake, though. I can do pumpkin cheesecake. One of my favorite things to do is experiment with different flavors of cheesecake until I get the right combo for the filling - I hate using only cream cheese because it is so one-dimensional and fattening. Switch to the 1/3 fat kind, add a few spoons of ricotta instead, and a dollop of sour cream and you've got an amazing concoction that will make people wonder how come there own versions are so bland.

Another way to take your dessert over the top is to find the right crust. I actually thought of this when I was about 15, so wayyy before Williams Sonoma suggested it in their 2007 Thanksgiving cookbook. For instance, if you're making a pumpkin cheesecake, forgo the traditional graham cracker and try a gingersnap version. Use shortbread cookies and spice them with the same ingredients you use in the recipe - lemon zest, orange peel, or sugared ginger, maybe?

And finally, you eat with your eyes first - so find creative yet simple ways to decorate the top (and sides) of your cheesecake. One of my personal favorites is to take pine branches, strip the tops slightly, and then arrange them around and under your cheesecakes during the winter holidays. It smells wonderful and looks even better. Just remember to wash them first. Caramelized limes are pretty on a key lime cheesecake (see a previous post), and dollops of whipped cream with a little cinnamon over the top are nice for any light-colored cheesecake, like this pumpkin one:

Yep, pumpkin is the new look for fall, so whether it's a cake, a bread, a pie, or a cheesecake, whip out those recipes, kids and embrace the craze!