Pumpkin-Ricotta Pie

Another great recipe from Food Network. We always have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to make it more interesting than the traditional pumpkin pie that I usually make. This recipe intrigued me because it’s half pure pumpkin and half ricotta cheese. It came out moist and delicious. The cream cheese crust is made from scratch—don’t worry, it’s not that complicated to make, as you will see if you try this recipe. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie

I made this easy-to-make but delicious dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner. It's adapted from Emeril Lagasse's recipe, and it's a welcome change from the standard pecan pie, which always tends to be cloyingly sweet. The addition of chocolate tempered the sweetness perfectly. The original recipe called for a caramel sauce for garnish, but I did away with it because it would have made the pie too sweet. Finally, I always try to make my crust from scratch because it's not really that difficult to make, but I have to admit that for this pie I used a pre-made crust, which I found in my daughter's freezer -- it wasn't too bad.

Cassava Bibingka (Cake)

Today I attended the monthly meeting of CHoWDC (Culinary Historians of Washington, DC). I love it that the group has this very nice tradition of members bringing a home-made dish or two. I decided to bring Cassava Bibingka, to give them a taste of Filipino desserts. This is another Chef Romy Dorotan recipe, from his and Amy Besa's cookbook, Memories of Philippine Kitchens (reviewed on this blogsite). I made a few minor changes, but basically remained faithful to the recipe--the bibingka was delicious, and they loved it (somebody even asked for the recipe). 

Today's guest speaker was Joan Nathan, the doyenne of Jewish cooking, and she gave a very interesting and informative account of the history of Jewish food, which is the subject of her latest cookbook (more on this in a separate blog posting).

Spiced Nuts (Yum!)

I have company coming for drinks and cocktails tonight, and I wanted to add something to the usual boring cheese board, prosciutto and salami that I'm serving. I remembered having seen this nuts recipe in a Cooks Illustrated magazine, so I thought I'd give it a try. Excellent results, if I may say so myself -- the nuts were crispy and well-flavored with the mild spices in it. They're truly so more-ish -- once you start eating them you can't stop! I will definitely make this for the coming holidays. [Note:  I used a mixture of almonds and walnuts, which were what I had at hand. Next time I will add cashews, macadamia, and pecans.]
   I have always found it tricky to make the spices adhere to the nuts, and the secret in this recipe is the water-diluted egg white, while the salt prevents it from coagulating. I have added some variations at the end of the recipe, for other exciting flavors.

Spaghetti Sauce, Filipino Style

Whenever I visit my children in New York and Boston (or they come to visit me), I always cook Filipino dishes – both are foodies and love to cook (yes!), but they live such busy lives and don’t often have the time to cook their favorite comfort food from home. Spaghetti sauce is one such dish and back home in the Philippines this sauce is always cooked with ground meat, in Ragu or Bolognese style (see my posting in this blog about Pasta Sauces). Bolognese is a robust meat sauce also known as Ragu; it is hearty, with ground beef or pork, pancetta, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and celery.  The sauce is sometimes enhanced with a bit of wine, cream and seasoning.

Couscous Salad

This is a super easy, healthful side dish that is excellent with meat or seafood entrees. You can cook it ahead, and keep covered at room temperature until ready to serve (you can even make it a day ahead -- store in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving, making sure to re-fluff it with a fork to loosen the grains). I made this at my cooking demo the other evening, and it made a fantastic partner for the Salmon en Croute and the "Smoked" Pork Tenderloin.

Fried Vegetable & Meat Lumpia (Eggrolls)

Lumpia (eggroll) is a wonderful Filipino food beloved by all back home in the Philippines, and it's one of the three most well-known Filipino dishes outside the country (the other two are, arguably, adobo (vinegar-braised meat) and pancit (noodles)). This can be a challenging dish for the uninitiated, and if you've never rolled an eggroll before, you are going to need some practice to make perfectly tight rolls like the ones you see in the photo above. A loosely-wrapped lumpia will not survive the frying -- it will open up and spew out the filling. There are several different kinds of lumpia, and the list is too long to include in this headnote; I'll test a few of them in the near future and post them here. 

Chocolate & Nuts Tart (Gluten-Free)

I have adapted this recipe to make it gluten-free, combining a standard recipe for a chocolate/nut tart (substituting gluten-free all-purpose flour for the regular flour, and agave nectar for the corn syrup) and Elana Amsterdam's gluten-free basic crust for pies and tarts. The recipe for this crust is posted on this blog site, but I have added it to this posting so you won't need to go looking, if you decide to try making this delicious dessert. I have made this into both a tart and in a deep-dish pie pan, and the tart came out better -- the flavor is the same, but the tart is easier to slice and serve because of the pan's removable bottom. [Note: You can use the recipe for the filling and make your own crust, if you don't need to worry about gluten.]

Basic Gluten-Free Crust for Pies & Tarts

[Photo to follow]

This is another of Elana Amsterdam's recipes (slightly adapted by me) from her "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook." It's very easy and simple to make, and you won't need a rolling pin since the dough is soft and is "pressed" into the cake or tart pan using your hands. Ms. Amsterdam says that the almond meal that is readily available at supermarkets (Bob's Red Mill brand) will not work in her recipes, and I would like to test this out because blanched almond is impossible to find anywhere except online (which makes it a bit expensive especially because of the shipping costs). We shall see.

Flourless Orange & Almond Cake (Gluten-Free; Dairy-Free)

I'm always on the lookout for gluten-free or dairy-free recipes to test, because I have friends and family who are allergic or sensitive to gluten and dairy. I found--and adapted--this recipe from "Planet Cake" by Paris Cutler, and it was a success at first try--delicious, moist, with a subtle almond taste, intensified by a wonderful orange aroma and flavor. The cake is yummy as a dessert, snack, or breakfast item. Try to buy oranges with unwaxed and unblemished skin, since the whole fruit is going to be used. Finally, enjoy the nice orangey smell that envelops your kitchen while the oranges are boiling. [Note: I'm afraid you'll need a weighing scale to accurately measure the orange purée.]

Baked Potatoes Stuffed with Spinach &Gruyère Cheese

This is a perfect side dish for grilled meats or fish--it provides your starch and vegetables in one dish. Try to pick uniform-sized potatoes so they cook evenly and at the same time. It's important to use freshly grated Gruyère cheese, to make sure you get the full fresh flavor of the cheese. Left-overs can be refrigerated, then re-heated for another meal.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Fig & Port Wine Sauce

We've got another winner here! Believe me, the "wow" factor is quite high when you serve this to your guests because the presentation will blow them away. And then, when they taste it ..... another wow! I like serving this with either steamed rice, or orzo, or couscous, or mashed potatoes, all of which can soak up some of the delicious sauce so every bite is sure to please. A side dish of grilled or roasted vegetables, or even a salad of fresh greens tossed in a homemade vinaigrette would be great.

Shell Pasta Stuffed with Spinach & Panchetta (or Bacon)

This is another worthy steal from Giada di Laurentiis' recipe collection (I love Giada!)--it's quite hearty and very filling, so it can be an entree or a side dish, depending on how many people you're feeding. I made this while visiting my son in New York, and since it was a large dish, it lasted for quite a few days. It could be a bit tricky arranging the stuffed shells in the baking pan, as they kept rolling on their side -- the next time I make this dish I'm going to use a smaller pan so I can arrange them a bit more snugly.

Baked Asparagus & Carrots Parmesan

My apologies! I completely forgot to photograph the baked vegetables before apportioning them into the plates, but I hope you still get a good idea of how it looks like from the photo above. This is a very easy side dish to prepare; you can prep the veggies and put them into the baking dish ahead of time, then just sprinkle with the cheese when you're ready to bake it. It was a perfect partner for my Veal Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce (see the recipe on this blog site).

Veal Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce

I love veal, because it is the easiest meat to cook and will be always tender unless you are really careless and overcook it. I know there are people who won't eat veal as a form of protest for the way the calves are raised, but I better not go there. This is a stress-free dish (adapted from www.washingtonpost.com/recipes) to make especially for a large group, because it only takes a couple of minutes to pan-fry the veal pieces, and the delicious sauce can be made ahead. Many cooks prefer to use Wondra flour for dusting meat and fish, as it results in even

Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Nuts & Dried Apricots

Here's another easy, do-ahead dish, to serve for pre-dinner cocktails. Using these small, decorative cupcake liners makes it easy for your guests to pick up the food (the dates are a little sticky). Try to buy plump dates of the Medjool variety, which are bigger than other varieties and easier to stuff. You can be flexible with the recipe, adjusting the proportions of the goat cheese to the nuts and dried apricots, to suit your taste.

Mascarpone Parmesan Gnocchi

This is a delicious potato-less gnocchi, which can be prepared halfway through and kept in the freezer until you're ready to serve them. This recipe is borrowed from Giada di Laurentiis, but I have tweaked it a little bit, by adding the quick-frying last step to give the gnocchi that nice golden-brown color. I like serving gnocchi as a side dish to accompany meat entrees (like the Veal Piccata that I served for dinner to a large group the other night--will post that recipe next). I will tweak this gnocchi recipe a little more the next time, to try to make the dough a bit more firm so they keep their oval shape when fried.

Butternut Squash & Leeks Soup

If you're having a big crowd over for lunch or dinner, here is a healthful (no heavy cream!) soup that is not only easy to make, but can also be cooked two or three days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to re-heat and serve it. (I served this as an appetizer to 14 dinner guests the other night.)  Prepping the squash in the microwave saves a lot of time and effort, compared to first roasting the pieces to get rid of excess moisture and concentrate its flavor. Caramelizing the squash with the leeks in the butter takes care of intensifying the flavor.

Pesto Sauce, On the Ready

I like to make a quantity of pesto sauce and freeze it, so I have it on the ready when I need it for a recipe. As you can see, I put the finished pesto in an ice cube tray (mine has a lid, which is great) then freeze it so when I need to use some I just nudge them out of the cube slot and I'm ready to add it to my dish. I love cream pesto with grilled salmon (see the cook's note below, after the recipe).

Asparagus Mimosa

This timeless dish is an elegant and delicious beginning to a dinner, or serve it as a main item for a brunch. You get some inexpensive protein from the eggs. This is an easy dish that you can prep ahead of time--prepare separately the asparagus, the vinaigrette, and the shredded hard-boiled egg, and then just assemble the dish when you're ready to serve.